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Chapter 780 Turmoil (V)

It’s the hour of Mao.

The sky was bright and the sun was shining brightly. The glazed tiles on the palace reflected the light so brightly that it was almost blinding.

Jiang Shaohua stepped into Ning'an Palace.

Queen Mother Li, whose eyes were red from staying up all night in fear, hurried out without any of the demeanor of a queen mother. She grabbed Jiang Shaohua's hands and said, "Shaohua! I'm so glad you're okay! I was scared to death when I heard the noise last night. But I don't have many people under my command, so I dare not interfere. I don't want to cause trouble for you, so I had the palace gates sealed. What's going on now?"

Jiang Shaohua raised his eyes and looked at Queen Mother Li, smiling slightly: "Queen Mother, don't worry, all those who disturbed the palace have been killed."

Jiang Shaohua was very beautiful, and was at the youngest and most beautiful age for a girl. Her smile was as beautiful as a blooming flower.

But for some reason, when Empress Dowager Li looked at the beautiful smiling face so close to her, she felt a chill in her heart: "Really... are they all killed?"

What about the Empress Dowager?

Was he also killed by Jiang Shaohua?
If Jiang Shaohua could kill the Grand Empress Dowager, would she be able to eliminate all the "hidden dangers" in the harem, including her, the Empress Dowager?

Jiang Shaohua caught the flash of fear in Empress Dowager Li's eyes and said softly, "The eunuchs in Jingyang Palace were causing trouble, so I killed them all. The Grand Empress Dowager was frightened and has to stay in the palace for a long time to recuperate. From now on, the affairs of this palace will have to be taken care of by the Empress Dowager."

Empress Dowager Li's heart, which had been hanging high, finally settled down a little.

Jiang Shaohua's words were very clear. The royal family had to save its reputation. They announced to the public that the palace servants and eunuchs were in turmoil and had all been killed. The Empress Dowager Zheng had all her claws cut off and became a sick tiger locked in a cage. She would never be able to show off her power and arrogance again.

Although Empress Dowager Li had always hated the Empress Dowager who had suppressed her tightly, after all, they had been mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for more than 20 years. If the Empress Dowager really died, Empress Dowager Li would inevitably feel the bleak feeling of being alone.

It would be much better if we sealed off Jingyang Palace and put him under house arrest!

Empress Dowager Li calmed down and said to Jiang Shaohua, "I will take good care of the harem and not let you worry about trivial palace affairs."

Without waiting for Jiang Shaohua to speak, he continued, "The Ministry of Internal Affairs needs to be replaced by a loyal eunuch. The emperor should choose someone."

In the harem, besides personnel, the most important thing is the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Just like the ladies in the inner house, when they manage the household, they must also manage the treasury. Everything else is empty, and money and grain are the most real and important.

Jiang Shaohua smiled slightly and said, "It's just a small matter, the Queen Mother will make the decision."

This truly brought honor to Empress Dowager Li.

There was no intention to take away the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Empress Dowager Li heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Alright, then I will pick someone from my side to be in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Every month I will have someone send the Ministry of Internal Affairs' account books to the Zhaohe Palace for you to take a look. When you need money, just send someone to Ning'an Palace to let me know."

Empress Dowager Li was indeed more thoughtful, and took the initiative to bring up the relief of the six counties affected by the flood: "This year, the Yellow River overflowed, and I heard that six counties were affected, and the people's houses and fields were destroyed. The court and Nanyang County are allocating grain for relief. The Ministry of Internal Affairs should also contribute to let the people know the emperor's kindness and generosity."

"Just like Nanyang County, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will raise as much grain as Nanyang County contributes."

Nanyang County is indeed rich. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has accumulated wealth for many years and is in charge of all the output of the imperial farms, as well as the tributes from various places to the royal family. Compared with Nanyang County, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is even richer. Jiang Shaohua is quite satisfied with the efforts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and said with a smile: "I'll trouble my aunt to take care of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

From Empress Dowager to Aunt, it is just a change of title, but the feeling is completely different.

Empress Dowager Li's heart was completely relieved: "We are all family. The emperor's affairs are my affairs. There is no need to worry about them."

Jiang Shaohua nodded with a smile: "Aunt is right, I won't be polite with you. And Prince Ping, I'll have someone send him to Ning'an Palace. From now on, please take good care of Prince Ping."

Empress Dowager Li nodded without saying a word.

Prince Ping was a bit of a nuisance, and was previously kept by the Grand Empress Dowager Zheng. Now that Jingyang Palace was sealed, it was only natural to send him to Ning'an Palace, and it was also reasonable to explain it to the outside world.

Jiang Shaohua handed over the power of the harem to her, so it was her duty to share Jiang Shaohua's worries.

"There are still many miscellaneous matters to deal with today. I have to go back to the Showa Palace." Jiang Shaohua said, "Fighting and killing are bloody and unlucky, so please don't ask about it, aunt. Close the palace gate and come out tomorrow."

Empress Dowager Li nodded in agreement, and after sending Jiang Shaohua out, she immediately closed the palace gate.

Dealing with smart people is so worry-free.

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As for Concubine Fan Gui and the other concubines in the harem, they were not considered by Jiang Shaohua at all. It was enough to feed them with good food and drink.

For the whole next day, heads of people fell to the ground in the palace.

Cleaning up the palace may seem complicated, but it is not difficult. The standard is very simple. Those who participated in the rebellion will be killed. Those who planned to take action but did not have time to do so will also be killed. There is also a group of people who usually obeyed the orders of the Empress Dowager and expressed their loyalty, but did not participate in the turmoil. There is no need to kill them. They will be locked up in the prison and sent to the mines in the future. They will never see the light of day again in this life.

All the hundreds of imperial guards who attacked the Showa Hall were beheaded. The families of these guards were also implicated. They would be confiscated, their entire clan would be executed, or they would be exiled. This was all the job of the Ministry of Justice.

When Minister Yang received the task, his scalp was a little numb, but he quickly pulled himself together and summoned all the officials of the Ministry of Justice. According to the densely packed list, they arrested people one by one for interrogation and conviction. The prison of the Ministry of Justice was not big enough, and in the end, ten or twenty people were directly crammed into a cell that could hold three people.

The Ministry of Revenue, which was originally the busiest, is now relatively idle compared to the Ministry of Justice.

This turmoil seemed to have only occurred in the palace, but in fact it had a far-reaching impact on the court.

The remaining officials of the Empress Dowager's party were so frightened that they turned against the Empress Dowager. Chen Changshi was busy with disaster relief and had no time to see them. So they shamelessly went to find Chen Sheren.

Chen Sheren had to take care of the baby and Princess Baoer, so he turned away anyone who came to see him.

If they couldn't find Chen Sheren, they would go look for Ma Yaozong, Tang Youyin or Yang Zheng. They were like a bunch of headless flies, flying around everywhere.

This is no wonder. The Empress Dowager has completely fallen. If they want to continue to stay in the officialdom, they must turn around and obtain the emperor's forgiveness.

Ma Yaozong and the other three were all in the six ministries, so they couldn't hide away even if they wanted to. They had to come up with their prepared words: "The emperor is currently worried about disaster relief and has no time to settle old scores. You just need to be at ease."