King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 750: Dependence on Others
Prince Xiang’s Mansion, in the back garden.

"Your Majesty, I have a favor to ask. I hope you can grant my request!"

A woman with white hair on her temples was following Daiyu carefully, smiling and expressing her willingness to make this trip.

That’s right, it was indeed Daiyu, not Baochai.

Daiyu was actually quite annoyed by this kind of thing, but since the woman was her father's wife of the same age, it was inconvenient for her to avoid seeing her.

"It's just a question. Uncle Wang is an honest official and nothing will happen to him... You don't have to worry too much!"

Wang Zhou smiled awkwardly. She also had a scale in her heart to judge whether her man was honest.

If she went back like this, her husband would be dead, after all, the Eastern Depot had intervened this time.

"Your Majesty, my master did make mistakes, but now he has acknowledged his mistakes and feels deeply sorry for his past actions. If the palace is willing to help him this time, he will never forget your kindness!"

Wang Zhou's husband, like other punished officials, was a person who had risen high in the political struggle.

It’s just that Lord Wang was unlucky. When he saw that the situation was not good and wanted to withdraw, he was betrayed by his colleagues.

To put it simply, when he submitted a memorial to the emperor, his name was signed on it.

Wang Zhou had explained all these things to Daiyu, but the latter was not a three-year-old child and would not listen to her one-sided story.

"My lady, please help me!"

Having said this, Wang Zhou ignored everything else and fell down at Daiyu's feet.

"Why are you doing this!"

Daiyu winked at the maids on both sides, and they immediately stepped forward to help Wang Zhou up.

"My lady..."

Wang Zhou was about to continue speaking, but she saw Daiyu frowning slightly, so she had to swallow the words back.

"If you are truly innocent, you will be safe. If you are truly at fault... you will be punished. How can I abandon the public law for personal reasons?"

Daiyu's tone was relatively gentle, but to Wang Zhoushi it sounded irresistible because of the huge gap in their status.

"If you can handle this impartially, even if you dismiss me from office and send me back, I will still thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"

What this means is that once someone enters the East Factory, there is a high possibility that they will not be treated impartially, but will be tortured to death by the eunuchs in order to improve their KPIs.

Not only the East Factory, but also the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been doing the same in the past few months, so they have made a lot of money, but the price is the ruin of many families.

It is foreseeable that in future generations, when people talk about the rampant eunuchs and guards during the Zhengtong period, the people were living in misery, and Zhu Xianming's reputation would be very bad.

Sighing, Daiyu replied: "Forget it..."

"They will deal with it impartially. The key is up to you. Only when you are upright can you be afraid of your own shadow!!"

Deng An, the eunuch in charge of Prince Xiang's mansion, had been transferred to the East Factory as the head eunuch a month ago. All the affairs of the Wang family could be taken care of with just a word, which was as easy as breathing for Daiyu.

There was no need to even tell Baochai about such a trivial matter, but of course she still told her about it.

"Thank you, ma'am, thank you, ma'am!"

Wang Zhou kowtowed again, joy gushing out of her face like a torrent.

Then Daiyu gave Wang Zhoushi a few more warnings before letting her leave.

"Send someone to tell Deng An that if the Wang family violates the law, they should be punished accordingly. Don't punish them too severely, and don't punish them too leniently just to save my face!"

"Yes!"

Deng An was the chief eunuch in the East Factory. There were seven eunuchs at the same level as him, three foreman eunuchs above him, and then the supervising eunuch Cheng Ying.

But because Deng An was born in the Prince Xiang's Mansion, he had an independent status in the East Factory, and even the head eunuch was quite polite to him.

It is worth mentioning that Deng An’s old rival Zhang Ping’an was transferred out of the palace earlier than him and went to the Imperial Stables as the chief eunuch, just below the eunuch Liu Zhong who held the seal.

The Imperial Stables were responsible for supervising the Imperial Guards, and Zhang Ping'an was placed in this position by the Imperial Household Department, of course, at the emperor's request.

In addition, there have been many personnel adjustments in the past five months. Among them, Chen Yuntai has been promoted to a thousand households of Beicheng, Li Wenzhao has been promoted to deputy commander of Nansi, Lu Yuxin and Zhang Lin have both been promoted to thousand households of Longjinwei, and the rough man Xu Guangfu has also been promoted to a thousand households of Donghuamen.

The above series of official adjustments have conveyed the direction of the wind to the outside world. The emperor is paving the way for Zhu Jinghong.

"I wonder when Sister Bao will come back!" Daiyu looked towards the direction of the imperial city.

Just as I was thinking about this, Zijuan suddenly reminded me: "Madam, do you want to ask the imperial physician to take a look at your menstrual period..."

Zijuan said this out of the blue, but it was definitely not a sudden thought, but rather she had been thinking about this matter for a long time.

That’s right, Daiyu didn’t come last month, and she hasn’t come yet this month, which made Zijuan start to guess.

Daiyu could actually guess what was going on. When she heard Zijuan say this, her face turned red with shame. Then she said, "Who told you to say this? Go to Tongxin Palace and take a look. If the princess comes back, come and tell me!"

"Yes!" Zijuan answered reluctantly.

Baochai went to the palace today, mainly to talk with Concubine Jia, which can be regarded as an expression of filial piety.

In fact, her arrival also brought pressure to Concubine Jia. Although she was an elder, she was also worried about saying the wrong thing.

After entering the palace, Baochai was talking with the concubines. On her left and right were Princess Xu of Qingyang and Princess Zhao of Jinghai.

Both Xu and Zhao have been very arrogant in the past six months, simply because they have extremely close relations with Baochai.

As the saying goes, rising tide lifts all boats, so much so that the two of them felt very impressive in front of all the other concubines, and so they enjoyed this occasion very much.

Everyone had been chatting for half an hour, but the main focus was on Baochai's belly, because she was pregnant again and was now almost six or seven months pregnant.

"Baochai, there is something I don't know how to deal with. How about you help me think about it?"

After going around in circles, Concubine Jia finally found the right time to bring up the topic she wanted to talk about.

"Your Majesty, you are too kind to me. What do we youngsters know? If you have any questions, just tell me. If I know something, I will tell you. If I don't know, don't blame me!"

Concubine Jia didn't waste any words and smiled and said, "This is what happened. The Eastern Palace sent a message saying that the Crown Prince is not feeling well, and they want to get some more old ginseng and other medicinal herbs!"

"But we have already allocated money twice this month, which has already exceeded the Eastern Palace's quota by a lot. Now we need to allocate more... This is really against the rules and it doesn't make sense!"

"Tell me...how should we deal with this matter?"

Concubine Jia was not asking questions; it would not be an exaggeration to say that she was seeking Baochai's advice. She was also afraid that her excessive care for the Eastern Palace would cause a rift between her and Baochai.

After all, a hundred years after the emperor took office, the promotion of Concubine Jia to Concubine Dowager was entirely dependent on Baochai's nod!

The so-called "ginseng" is just an excuse. The key point lies in Concubine Jia's attitude, which Baochai realized.

At this moment, she did not feel proud, but replied solemnly: "Your Majesty is confused, what are those herbs used for? Aren't they used to cure diseases and save lives? If the East Palace needs them, just allocate them directly. Even if we use up all the precious medicines in the inner treasury, we must protect the safety of the crown prince!"

"That's right... That's right, I was really confused!" Concubine Jia kept shaking her head, with an expression that showed she regretted her negligence.

Everyone present was very smart. They either praised Baochai for her wisdom or comforted Concubine Jia that she was too busy and didn't think things through. This topic ended here, and then everyone talked about other things. Soon, another half hour passed.

Seeing that lunch time was approaching, the concubines returned to the palace, and Baochai also went out accompanied by the two princesses.

"I heard Sheng'er is ill recently!"

"I caught a cold and am recuperating now!" replied Mrs. Xu.

Zhao replied, "I went to see her a few days ago. Third sister looked pretty good. I think she will be well soon!"

After nodding slightly, Baochai replied, "I am not feeling well, so you two should go visit her more often and talk to her...to make her happy!"

Xu and Zhao nodded, this was what they had been doing all along.

"Sister-in-law, have you heard any rumors?" Xu asked in a low voice.

"What rumor?" Baochai asked casually.

"I heard from people that Old Six often speaks crazy words in the mansion, and they are all directed at Old Thirteen!"

How could Baochai not know what even Xu knew? In fact, she knew it even better.

"Oh? Is this happening?"

Zhao followed up by saying, "I heard that he often drinks and gets drunk... He dares to say anything outrageous!"

"The emperor ordered him to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors, but he is so unrepentant. He really failed the emperor's will!"

Hearing Baochai's sigh, Xu said with a look of anger: "People like this should be punished!"

Zhu Jingyuan was indeed a traitor. Not only did Xu dare to call him "Sixth Brother", she even dared to say that she wanted to punish him.

Baochai smiled and said, "Let him reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors and not leave the house without permission. This is already a punishment!"

Then Zhao said, "That's not enough. We need to at least let them suffer a little, so that they know there is justice in this world!"

"Sister-in-law, don't worry about it. We will help you vent your anger!" Xu said.

She told Baochai not to worry about it, but now she expressed it in front of her. Her intention of "seeking credit and currying favor" was not even acted.

Baochai has become accustomed to this, because there are so many people who want to please her that she can't even count them all.

Baochai was actually very angry after hearing Zhu Jingyuan's various outrageous remarks, so she was not opposed to dealing with this family. Her only worry was that something might go too far and end badly.

"How can you vent your anger?" Baochai asked with a smile.

"Of course it's for his own good, for example..."

Listening to Xu's story, Baochai couldn't help but laugh even more happily. After listening, she said, "You guys... really know how to think of a solution!"

"Forget it, do whatever you want. If anything goes wrong, don't blame me!"

Hearing this, Xu answered first: "Even if the emperor knew, he would only reprimand me, and at most I would be punished with house arrest. Why bother my sister-in-law to finish it off!"

This also illustrates a truth: when power and status reach a certain level, some people are willing to go through fire and water and serve you wholeheartedly.

The few of them chatted and laughed as they walked out of Donghua Gate, then took a car past the gate of the East Palace and headed towards Dong'an Gate.

Xu and Zhao had strong execution abilities. That afternoon they dispatched their servants to the Twenty-Four Yamen and the Women's Affairs Bureau to greet them.

Two days later, there was an uproar in Prince Rui's mansion, simply because the food and drinks delivered that day were either restricted or downgraded.

For example, the previous Imperial rice was directly replaced with ordinary white rice, the types of fruits were reduced from ten to three, Zhu Jingyuan's favorite Imperial wine was gone, and of course some other things had changed.

The Prince Rui's Mansion is now under blockade and has no purchasing channels of its own, so it has to use whatever the palace sends.

Therefore, these restrictions will indeed reduce Zhu Jingyuan's quality of life, and to a great extent.

Everyone in Prince Rui's mansion was outraged. The eunuch in charge of transporting the things was detained by Chen Zhi's order, and now someone was sent to interrogate him about the reason.

This eunuch was only responsible for delivering things and had no idea about the struggles above, so he could only explain that he was "following orders."

There was a huge commotion in Prince Rui's mansion, but they could only make a fuss. The guards who were responsible for protecting them were also responsible for watching over them, and no one in the mansion could leave.

Just because they couldn't get out, it didn't mean that others couldn't get in, such as the two princesses Xu and Zhao.

Because they have a good relationship with Baochai, they have been bullied by Chen Zhi many times before. Now they want to take the opportunity to deal with this person, so how could they not come in person?

Accompanied by a group of maids and eunuchs, the two entered the Prince Rui's Palace and came to the west courtyard where the dispute took place, which is also the location of the Prince Rui's Palace's storehouse.

"Oh my, why is it so lively here!"

"Oh my, why is Sixth Sister-in-law in such a filthy place!"

Xu and Zhao sang in unison and walked into the center of the courtyard, attracting the attention of Chen Zhi and the servants of Prince Rui's mansion.

When these two people arrived at this time, Chen Zhi knew that they were not here with good intentions, and secretly thought that today's incident might be related to them.

"What are you two doing here?" Chen Zhi looked unfriendly.

"What are you talking about, Sixth Sister-in-law? If you can't get out of the palace gate, can't we come and see you?"

"The days of house arrest are tough. If you need any help, just tell us!"

Looking at the two people laughing and joking in front of her, Chen Zhi was basically certain that they were the ones behind today's incident.

"Help? If you are willing to help, why are you making things difficult for me?" Chen Zhi suppressed her anger and spoke as calmly as possible.

Seeing her like this, Xu and Zhao were so happy.

"I really don't understand what Sixth Sister-in-law said. Why did the two of us come to visit today and cause trouble for Sister-in-law?"

Xu still had a smile on her face, which made Chen Zhi grit her teeth, but she had to suppress her anger. She didn't want to break down in front of the two girls.

"The expenses of the palace have been reduced so much today. I guess it's not you. How dare you two be so presumptuous? I think it's the Thirteenth Family who is causing trouble!"

"Sixth sister-in-law, you can eat whatever you want, but don't say anything nonsense!" Zhao said calmly. She didn't even look at Chen Zhi, but was adjusting her clothes.

"The expenses of your house were carefully arranged by me and Sister-in-law Fourteen, just for you and Brother Six to live comfortably!"

Sitting on the other side of the stool, Xu also said: "This is the truth. We have spent a lot of effort on this!"

Seeing that these two people had no intention of hiding anything, Chen Zhi felt like a tiger in plain land being bullied by a dog, which made her so uncomfortable that she wanted to cry.

"How dare you!" Chen Zhi shouted angrily. At this moment, her defense was truly broken.

"Sister-in-law, we all have good intentions, why do you speak so harshly to us?" Xu was surprised and looked at Chen Zhi as if she were a fool.

Zhao quickly replied, "I think he has been locked up for too long. Like Sixth Brother, he has lost his mind, which is why he is talking nonsense!"

"You, you two... stupid women, vicious women, evil women!"

(End of this chapter)