Leader Lan Palace

Chapter 2404: Just Waiting for This Leap Month (Bi)
As Concubine Xin said, she felt uncomfortable in her heart.

She reached up and grabbed the skirt of her shirt, as if she wanted to widen the neckline.

"Since I entered the palace, I have been competing with her for favor! With my family background and my age, I should win her no matter what... Even if it's not that easy, not in one year, three years, three years No, five years...but why have I still not been able to compete with her after ten years?"

"So, in the past ten years, I have been arguing with her, and it has become my daily routine. It's not that I just focus on arguing with her at the moment, but that everything in the palace, no matter what I want to do, always She stood in front of me! In the end, I didn't get what I wanted, but she snatched it all away... You say, can you blame me for this?"

Le Rong and Le Yi glanced at each other again, and hurriedly persuaded, "Master thinks so, it is naturally reasonable. It's just that master really don't need to worry at this moment... Even if you want to compete with her, you can wait for the master to return to favor. After the prince is born, it's not too late to compete with her..."

"Open your mouth and don't go there. At this time, the noble concubine is pregnant, which is the master's better chance."

Concubine Xin also knew that Le Rong and Le Yi were thinking of her, she also wanted to nod, but when she lowered her head, her heart still darkened.

"I thought it was my chance, so this autumn is the best opportunity... But the emperor failed to take me with me this time. Then I was afraid that I would miss this opportunity, and instead I would just drive along with me." Those seven who went have a chance to go!"

"Among those seven people, except for the newly-appointed Xinchang, who is still low in rank, the rest are all above the rank of concubine. No matter who among them seizes the opportunity and wins the favor, they will naturally step on it again. I'm on my head."

Le Rong and Le Yi looked at each other again, and it was Le Rong who said first, "...But why did the master forget that no matter whether it is above the position of concubine or concubine, only the master has given birth to an imperial heir, and The rest of the people have nothing to do."

"Even if the master gave birth to princesses, they are also the emperor's blood; even concubine Yu was pregnant with an emperor's heir, but she was stillborn... As for concubine Wan, even though she raised the seventh princess, she was not born by herself after all. Besides, the birth mother of the Seventh Princess has a higher status, and a daughter is more expensive than a mother, so why would the royal family regard the adoptive mother as more important than the higher-ranking birth mother?"

Concubine Xin also raised her eyebrows, and her heart went through in one breath.

She laughed, "That's not true! Anyway, I still have Shunying by my side at this time, and this is the biggest reliance! No matter whether they are concubines or concubines, they can't compare with me!"
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Le Rong and Le Yi managed to coax Concubine Xin well, let's press Concubine Xin's thoughts on Xiao Shiwu for the time being, the two of them struck while the iron was hot, and quickly quit.

Let Le Si and Le Yu take care of Concubine Xin for the time being.

The two of them left the sleeping hall together, walked quickly through the corridor, and reached the moon gate leading to the courtyard, they both stopped and turned to look in the direction of the sleeping hall.

After making sure that Concubine Xin didn't look over from the window, and no one else looked at the two of them, the two of them looked at each other again, and walked quickly to the courtyard side by side.

Standing under the back of the wall, it was still Leyi who couldn't hold back and said, "... I see that you seem to have the same thoughts as me: now I regret that I was rewarded by Mrs. An Ning. Since May, I have been trying to return the reward money; but Master An Ning died of such an illness, so I don't know who to return the two money rewards to!"

Le Rong also sighed, "Isn't it? Master An Ning died like this, we can't return the silver to the master..."

Le Rong glanced at Le Yi, "I'm thinking, even though Mrs. An Ning is no longer alive, he still has family members. Even if we can't return it to Mrs. An Ning, we can try to give it back to Mrs. An Ning's heirs."

Although Le Yi nodded, she still frowned, "But Master An Ning has been an official in Jiangsu for many years, and his family members are also in Jiangsu. We official women are always trapped in the palace wall and cannot go out. How can we do this?" Safely return the silver to Jiangsu?"

Le Rong sighed softly, "It's not that there is no way. At any rate, our two families are also under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so we can find a relative who works in Jiangsu weaving. At that time, please relatives try to find a job in Jiangsu. Give the money to Mrs. An Ning's family first according to the amount, and at worst, wait for the relatives to return to Beijing, and we will make up for it."

However, Le Yi bit her lip, raised her eyes and glanced at Le Rong, "...the two letters of silver are not small. It is the relatives of our two families, who can take out those silver at hand?"

Le Rong's eyes turned, "You don't have to underestimate them. Anyone who works in weaving and taxation will always have money, at least there is still money to go. It shouldn't be difficult to help us with this sum of money for the time being. "

Yue Yi thought it was reasonable, so she also nodded.

But after a while, he suddenly turned his eyes from the upper eyelids to look at Le Rong again, "...that money, to be honest, are you really willing?"

Le Rong also let out a wry smile of "hey", "I want to say that I am willing, but how can it be so easy? Mrs. An Ning is really generous, that money is enough for me to support my parents, and I can also leave a sum for myself. ...It really hurts like gouging out flesh and bones~”

Le Yi also almost shed tears, "Who said it wasn't? I managed to hand over the two letters of money to my brother, and asked him to take them home... When my brother took the money, the joyful expression on his face, now The coin is still dangling in front of my eyes. Now I want to get the money back, what kind of expression should my brother have on his face?"

Le Rong's eyes were also wet, and he reached out to hold Le Yi's hand, "Forget it... No matter how important the money is at this moment, it is not as important as the lives of ourselves and our family members. If the money can be refunded, we will return it as soon as possible." Alright, so as not to have long nights and dreams."

Le Yi nodded with tears in her eyes, "Who said it wasn't? Master An Ning died strangely. Jiangsu already had Yin Jishan, the Governor of Liangjiang, and the emperor sent Eighth Prince's uncle, Jin Hui, to succeed Suzhou Manufacturing and manage Hushu Customs. ... I was worried that after Master An Ning died, it must be hard to find peace."

"If Yin Jishan and Jin Hui really work together to find out what's wrong with Mrs. An Ning, then the money we took will be a bitch... We should return it early, so as not to implicate us after Mrs. An Ning's death. .”
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I don't know if God intends to confirm Le Rong and Le Yi's worries. On the sixth day of August, bad news came from Suzhou.

With a pale face, Le Rong went into the palace to report to Concubine Xin, Concubine Xin was hugging the Eighth Princess Shunying, and teaching her to write in small letters with hairpin flowers.

Shunying was a little impatient, she kept twisting her body on the kang, and muttered when she couldn't write two strokes, "Enie...I want to write big characters."

Concubine Xin got a little annoyed, and raised her hand to slap Shunying on the back of her hand, "How old are you, and you still write big characters? You are a girl, after all, you can't just write big characters, you have to learn to write lower case like this."

Le Rong stood on the edge of the kang, biting her lip, thinking about how to speak.

It was Shunying who saw Le Rong first, and clapped her hands as if seeing a savior, "Ernie, Aunt Le Rong came in to answer! Er Nie, talk to Aunt Le Rong quickly, my daughter will leave first!"

Concubine Xin raised her eyes and glanced at Le Rong, and from Le Rong's expression, she also saw that something was wrong.Even though he didn't want to let his daughter go, he had to let her go for the time being.

"You go to play in the yard for the time being, and you are not allowed to go out of the gate. When Le Rong finishes replying, you have to come back to me and continue to write lower characters!"

Shunying literally jumped from the kang to the ground, with a smile all over her face, twisted her body and ran out.

Concubine Xin felt helpless, so she looked at Le Rong impatiently, "What's the matter? What made you come in and face me with a mournful face?"

Le Rong's heart trembled, "Back to the master, there is news from Suzhou. It is said that... Jin Hui found out the fault of Mr. An Ning."

"What did you say?" Concubine Xin trembled, and stood up, standing on the red sandalwood pedals, staring at Le Rong in a daze, "What did you find out, tell me!"
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Le Rong lowered his head cautiously, his hands were twisted together.

"Although the emperor was in Mulan, he still passed the decree back to Beijing today."

Concubine Xin stomped her feet anxiously, "What's the matter?"

Le Rong herself felt cold too. She had just made an agreement with Le Yi to refund the money, but before it could be finished, something happened to Anning—as expected, it was the eighth elder brother's own uncle. Jin Hui found out!
Le endured the coldness all over his body, and carefully said word by word: "... Hushu customs tax silver is rated at 3 taels per year. If there is a year with a leap month, there are thirteen months in a year, but Hushuguan However, the performance is still based on the annual expenditure of 3 taels."

"In the year of the leap month, this means that Hushuguan will have an extra month of silver every year. The amount is 500 taels. It will be stored in the weaving treasury and will not be handed over to the court."

Concubine Xin narrowed her eyes.

This year happened to be Leap May, and her brother-in-law An Ning also died in Leap May.

Concubine Xin gritted her silver teeth lightly, "What a coincidence, my brother-in-law died of illness in May, and Jin Hui took over Suzhou Weaving in May. So this extra 500 taels of silver happened to hit He has it."

"Master Mingjian, that's exactly the case." Le Rong bowed his head deeply, his heart was as confused as his master's, "Jin Hui will report to the emperor that if there is a year with a leap month, the silver should be handed over in thirteen months. It should be a total of 500 taels."

"The emperor has already given permission to play, and asked the Qing Dynasty to urge the Qing Dynasty to surrender the remaining intercalary silver, totaling [-] taels."

Concubine Xin was also taken aback, "Twenty thousand taels? That much?"

Her legs gave way, and she sat back down again.

"Your Majesty, this is... turning over old scores. My brother-in-law's body is still alive, and His Majesty is about to start turning over old scores!"

Concubine Xin stared nervously at Le Rong, "Is the [-] taels in the treasury of Suzhou Weaving? The emperor asked to hand it in, so the money must be there, isn't it?"

Le Rong bit her lips tightly, "...Back to Master, Jin Hui said in the playbook that Lord An Ning is short of 300 taels of intercalary silver."

"What!" Concubine Xin hit the top like a heavy hammer, "There is a total of [-] taels of leap moon silver, but [-]% is missing?!"

300 taels of silver, if you convert it with the annual silver standard of Concubine Xin, it will take 60 years for a Jiazi!For Concubine Xin, this number is not only the top of Mount Tai, but also the collapse of the whole sky.

Concubine Xin tried her best to support the carved edge of the Kang table with one hand, took a big breath, and tried to find an excuse.

"Jiangnan Sanwei weaves, every year, buys Jiangnan tributes for the emperor. Even if there is a shortage of silver, it may not all be in short supply. Maybe the flowers have been used and turned into objects! Did Jin Hui's memorandum ever state that the inventory Have you been to the warehouse of Suzhou weaving?"

Le Rong nodded, "Master Mingjian, Jin Hui has already found out that there are silks, satins, wooden lacquers and other tributes in the inventory..."

Concubine Xin interrupted Le Rong's words, clapped her hands and laughed, "I knew it! It's just that there is a shortage of money, and it's time to buy tributes!"

Le Rong's face became even paler, "The slave dared to tell the master: The nuclear price of these tributes is only 6000 taels... there is still a shortfall of 300 taels."
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Concubine Xin had a lump in her throat and stared at Le Rong, unable to speak.

Le Rong lowered his eyes sadly, "It has always been the old practice that if there is a shortage of silver in weaving, in addition to using the material to compensate, it must be deducted from the maintenance silver to make up for it. But now that Mrs. Anning has passed away... how should the maintenance silver be?" How to count on it?"

Concubine Xin gritted her teeth, "I don't believe that there is no other source for the 6000 taels. The emperor's tour to the south, Suzhou Weaving will also use this money to pick him up. This year the emperor just toured the south and wants to come to my brother-in-law It must have been used to pick up the driver with this money. If the emperor knows about it, what's the problem?"

Le Rong looked at Concubine Xin, the corners of her lips murmured, but she hesitated to speak.

Concubine Xin stared at Le Rong, her pupils also dilated, "What do you want to say? Could it be that you want to say that my brother-in-law embezzled the 6000 taels of silver to prepare for the pick-up; but the emperor decreed that no officials along the way should be allowed to come?" Giving tribute food, not to mention luxuriously repairing the palace...so my brother-in-law's money won't be recognized by the emperor and can't be written off, and this has become his personal shortfall?"

Could it be that Le Rong's scalp was numb, he clenched his fingers, and said hoarsely, "...the slave is just so worried."

What Le Rong is even more worried about is that the two letters of silver that she and Le Yi got will also be included in the 6000 tael shortfall...

Concubine Xin was sitting on the kang, her heart was already fried.She knew that she had to quickly figure out a way to deal with it, but right now, the news came too unexpectedly; and the amount of money was too huge, which made her mind go blank, and she was at a loss what to do for a while!
"No, the emperor won't let my brother-in-law go just for 6000 taels of silver... After all, my brother-in-law is dead! A dead person, the emperor himself decreed to posthumously give my brother-in-law the Minister of Internal Affairs En The emperor won't pursue it anymore. Otherwise, wouldn't the emperor be slapping himself in the face?"

Le Rong thought for a while, then nodded nervously, "The slave also feels that the master is right. After all, Lord An Ning has died of illness. If the emperor wants to pursue the matter, wouldn't it be a grave digging? The emperor would not do such a thing. of things."
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In the sleeping hall, Concubine Xin and Le Rong comforted each other just now, and felt a little relieved.But when she raised her eyes again, she saw Le Yi also walking in in panic.

"What's wrong with you?!" Concubine Xin raised her heart just as she let go, and raised it up to her throat.

Yue Yi glanced at Le Rong, trembling all over, said, "Back to the master...it's a letter from the third uncle of the master's mother's family."

Concubine Xin's third brother-in-law is a secretary in the cabinet, and has the opportunity to see various reports.

"...The three weaving factories in the south of the Yangtze River need to purchase raw silk every year, and report it to the imperial court at their respective local prices. Then the imperial court will approve the value and finally determine the silk price. The price reported by each weaving prefecture is in the middle of the price approved by the imperial court. There is quite a price difference. In the end, the report from the Weaving Mansion cannot be used as the standard, but the payment should be written off according to the price approved by the imperial court."

Concubine Xin roared, "Of course I know! Then what's wrong with my brother-in-law? Did he report a higher silk price than the one approved by the court? Is this another loss?"

Le Yi nodded tremblingly, "Master, Jin Hui has been working in Suzhou weaving this time, and found that the silk price reported by Mrs. An Ning was more than 300 taels more than the one approved by the court. Mrs. An Ning has made up three thousand in succession. 700 taels to go, at this moment there is still a shortfall of [-] taels..."

"Jin Hui said that this happened to Jiangning Weaving in the past. At that time, Jiangning Weaving Zhangbao, who succeeded Jiangning Weaving, accepted the raw silk handed over by the former Weaving Tuoyong. The money was recovered from the name of the former Tuo Yong; then this time, Jin Hui believes that the 940 taels of silver weaved in Suzhou should also be recovered from the name of Master An Ning..."

Concubine Xin's heart was pierced like a sharp knife, and she asked her to raise her hand to hold her heart, and shouted, "It's another 700 taels! There was already 300 taels earlier, and here comes another 700 taels! In one place, it was a whole 3000 taels!"

After Concubine Xin finished yelling, she felt a sweetness in her throat, and when she opened her mouth, she vomited out a mouthful of blood...

"master!"

"master……"

Both Le Rong and Le Yi screamed and ran forward, one on the left and one on the right to support Concubine Xin, both of them were so frightened that they shed tears.

Le Rong took out a handkerchief to wipe off the blood on Concubine Xin's mouth, and said with a choked voice, "Master... It is Lord An Ning who has suffered a catastrophe, but at any rate, Lord An Ning has passed away, and the emperor will not pursue it if he wants to; She is already the emperor's concubine, and Mrs. An Ning is only a brother-in-law, so the master will not be able to help make up for it."

"The sum of these two items of silver is huge, but it's none of the master's business...why did the master bother to make such a fuss?"

The bloodstains on the corners of the lips can be wiped off, but the blood red still stubbornly remains between Concubine Xin's lips and teeth.

She clenched her silver teeth, which were stained red with blood, and said hoarsely, "...it's not my turn to help him make up for the shortfall. But since the emperor can't dig my brother-in-law out of the tomb and flog his corpse, how can the emperor make up for it?" Maybe don't blame me!"

"Originally, this year, I wanted to regain my favor... Originally, this year, I was counting on the help of my brother-in-law to fulfill my wish during the southern tour. But who would have thought that instead of fulfilling any of my wishes, after the death of my brother-in-law, unexpectedly Such a thing was found out!"

With the support of the two women, Concubine Xin looked up at the sky outside the window.But in those black eyes, there is a void of whiteness.

"The emperor...he must have hated my brother-in-law, how can he restore the old relationship with me? My brother-in-law died, and everything is settled, but he left such a mess to me to take care of him for him!—— He failed to help me, on the contrary, he killed me..."

Le Rong and Le Yi also cried, because of the master on the one hand, and on the other hand, they were more and more afraid of the situation of their own money.

But at this time the emperor was far away in the Mulan paddock, and now they stayed in Beijing, they could not guess the emperor's attitude at all.So he could only wait helplessly, waiting for the emperor's return, waiting for the emperor's decision.

This kind of waiting is even more torture like Ling Chi.Worries and fears will turn into blunt knives, picking up their flesh little by little, leisurely, piece by piece...
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Because Wanxi was pregnant with a child, she needed peace of mind to raise her baby, but she only found out about An Ning later.

It's a big happy event, but the happy event may also cause people to be overly excited, so Yuqin and Yurui endured it for several days until the emperor's birthday on August 13th. Only then did I try my best to tell Wanxi as tactfully as possible.

Wanxi was also stunned when she heard it, and it took a long time before she burst out laughing.

"I knew who the emperor sent to pick up An Ning's errand, but it was not good to send Yongxuan's uncle, Jin Hui, because the emperor was holding back bad water! Sure enough, Jin Hui had only been in office for three months, and he had been out of office one after another. There is such a big movement!"

Yuqin and Yurui both laughed when they heard this, but they all came forward to cover Wanxi's mouth, "Shh...what did you say about the emperor just now? I'm not afraid to send the wind to Rehe and into the emperor's ears." Already!"

Wanxi lowered her head and smiled, "I did it on purpose, so that the emperor can hear it. Let the men know that when he lives forever, I can talk about him..."

Yuqin sighed softly, "Look at this stubborn person, if you want to be the emperor, just say it, but you have to do the opposite."

Wanxi held back a soft sigh, "...The emperor has been away for more than a month now. But according to the emperor's habits in previous years, I'm afraid it will take two months to come back."

Yurui laughed, "Sister, I'm worried that the emperor won't come back when it's time to give birth?" Yurui stepped forward and grabbed Wanxi's hand, "Definitely not. The emperor's schedule this year is very urgent, and the emperor will definitely come back." Come back before my sister gives birth!"

Wanxi pouted coquettishly, "...Don't look at me having given birth to so many children, but the closer I get to the present, the easier it is to get scared. After all, I am not as old as I was then."

Yuqin explained, "When you first gave birth to Xiao Qi, you were 30 years old. Now you are not yet [-], and you are still in your [-]s. What has changed?"

Only then did Wanxi laugh, and lightly bumped Yuqin with her shoulder, "My sister really knows how to explain things away, I, I was persuaded by my sister at this moment."

The three chatted and laughed for a while, but Yuqin couldn't help but sighed softly.

"It's a pity that An Ning has a good life. He died at this juncture, and the emperor was spared from punishing him. If he is still alive, how can the emperor let him go? Not to mention rewarding the chief of internal affairs The title of favor of the minister of the government has gone."

　New Year's greetings to everyone~~ The congratulatory gift from Su is - don't be lazy during the Chinese New Year, and update as usual!Thank you for your support and encouragement over the past year~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)