Houmen's step-wife

Chapter 345
Concubine Hu Gui knelt down on the ground, her face was flushed red, she was filled with hatred and shame, she finally restrained her expression and said, "Your Majesty, this concubine is wrong, it was my concubine who was blinded by jealousy and did not intend to target Madam Chu. "

After a pause, he gritted his teeth and said, "The concubine is willing to donate 5 taels of silver to build the Yuying Hall, and I hope His Majesty will forgive the concubine for this unintentional mistake."

Emperor Xian De said with a half-smile: "Since the imperial concubine has said so, if I don't agree, it would be unreasonable. Okay, you get up first, and then pay attention to your own morals, and next time, I will never It's as simple as tapping."

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty." Concubine Hu Gui was bleeding from pain in her heart, 5 taels is not a small amount, but after the matter has come to this point, she can only spend money to eliminate the disaster. At the same time, she hates Su Wan even more in her heart , if it wasn't for her, why would she be here?
Empress Ning said with a smile at this time: "Your Majesty, my concubine is not from a high family background, and I don't have so much private money like Concubine Hu Gui, but I also want to do my best, so I plan to set up a concubine. For a palace banquet, invite all the orders, persuade them to donate generously, and contribute their own strength to the Yuyingtang, what do you think, Your Majesty?"

Although it was Mrs. Chu who proposed to build the Yuyingtang and took the lead, she could not show weakness. No matter what, she had to add a strong stroke to it, so that when people think of Yuyingtang, they think of themselves as the queen, not Chu. lady.

What's more, this kind of thing can only be justified by her as a queen, isn't it?

Hearing what the queen said, Emperor Xiande couldn't help being slightly startled, and subconsciously looked at Su Wan, because Su Wan had already made this plan.

Su Wan was also taken aback when she heard the words, but when she saw Emperor Xian De looking at her, she couldn't help but smile slightly, and nodded to him unobtrusively.

Anyway, she didn't want this kind of credit.I wanted to host a banquet to raise funds before, but I just wanted to do my part. Since the queen wants to do it for me, let her do it.After all, the empress is more legitimate than her. Others may not be willing to sell her face, but they will definitely sell the empress's face.Why does she have to compete with the Queen for the limelight?

When Emperor Xiande saw Su Wan nodding, he knew that she had no intention of competing with Empress Ning, he sighed slightly, but felt a little distressed in his heart, even Su Wan felt worthless, but this was in line with her temperament.

Forget it, if Wan'er's limelight completely overwhelms the empress, it would indeed not be a good thing for her.Moreover, raising money is not a good thing to deal with, it is easy to offend people, and Su Wan has such a sensitive identity, she might be offended or even used by others.At the beginning, when Su Wan brought it up, he didn't quite agree with it in his heart, but he couldn't bear to see Su Wan disappointed, so he let go.

But if it was done by the queen, there would not be so many worries.

Since the queen wants to grab credit, then go for it!With him around, Su Wan's achievements will never be erased.

Therefore, Emperor Xian De nodded to Empress Ning and said: "Since Empress has such a heart, of course I will not refuse, so this matter is settled."

Empress Ning was overjoyed when she heard the words, she quickly bent her knees and said: "My concubine thanked Your Majesty in advance."

After getting up, she looked at the concubines and said: "The imperial concubine and Mrs. Chu have already set an example, and all the younger sisters have to show something, no matter how much, it's just a little heart."

The queen has already said so, and the emperor is watching them again, do they dare to disagree?The concubines could only suppress the grievance in their hearts, and said yes with a smile on their faces. Concubine Shu, Concubine De, and Concubine Xian donated 4 taels of silver on the spot, slightly lower than the imperial concubine, and 1 more than the lady of Chu State. Ten thousand taels.

Others also donated 1 taels, 5000 taels, 1000 taels, and hundreds of taels, all of which were of relatively high status.As for those with low status, there are fewer donations, most of which are dozens of taels. Even so, it still makes their hearts tremble with pain.

Even if they are both concubines, the gap between rich and poor is huge.

Although there is no shortage of money in the palace, there are rules for what to use and eat, and there is even a set amount of money, but even so, there is not much money in the hands of low-ranking concubines.Especially those from low backgrounds, whose families can’t help and have no source of money.If you are favored, it’s okay, there are many rewards, and you will naturally have a lot of money, and you don’t care about a little money, but most of them are not favored, there are very few rewards, and you only live on ordinary money, and even donate money to the palace. People have even less money in their hands, and it is already very good to be able to take out dozens of taels of silver.

Therefore, Empress Ning's proposal made many people feel dissatisfied——

The queen wants to take credit and get a good reputation, so why should they let them take money?The benefits are all taken by the queen, and they don't get any benefits at all. Wouldn't it be like making wedding dresses for others by doing this?
Of course, there were also a few people who complained about Su Wan, thinking that she was doing too much. If she hadn't proposed to build a nursery, they wouldn't have spent so much money.

Empress Ning has managed the harem for so many years and knows their situation.Therefore, after the incident, people gave those low-ranking concubines a lot of subsidies and rewards, which can be regarded as calming down the complaints in their hearts, but there is a knot in their hearts.

Emperor Xian De said to the Empress Dowager: "Empress Mother, until now, do you still think Mrs. Chu is a beauty?"

After hearing the words, the Empress Dowager Yu said calmly: "Emperor, the Ai family's views have not changed. Could it be that the Emperor has forgotten that the Emperor Taizu has long issued an order that the harem is not allowed to interfere in politics. You follow the advice of Mrs. Chu and build the Yuyingtang. Isn’t she a model of women meddling in politics? She can influence your decisions and judgments, and if one day she pushes you to build this and that again, costing the people and money, will you listen? Isn’t this a disaster for women?”

"Empress Dowager, I have something to say." Su Wan stood up and said without waiting for Emperor Xiande to speak.

Empress Dowager Yu narrowed her eyes to conceal her displeasure, and said lightly, "Madame Chu, what do you want to say?"

Su Wan first bowed her knees to the Queen Mother, and then said: "Empress Dowager, my concubine disagrees with your words."

"Oh, are you questioning Aijia's words?" Queen Mother Yu said coldly.

Su Wan smiled lightly, and said calmly: "The Empress Dowager keeps saying that concubines are troublesome women, so why not allow concubines to defend themselves?"

"Self-defense?" A trace of contempt flashed in the empress dowager's cloudy eyes, as if she didn't take Su Wan seriously at all, "Okay, tell me, Ai's family is all ears."

Su Wan didn't care about her contempt, and said: "The queen mother has been prejudiced against the concubines from the very beginning. It seems that your majesty's doting on the concubines is a heinous crime and is not tolerated by the ancestors' etiquette. But what the concubine wants to say is that the empress dowager It's too high to think highly of Chen Qie, Chen Qie is just an ordinary woman, she doesn't have an overpowering appearance, at least she is far inferior to Guo Meiren, and she doesn't have that vicious heart, and she has never urged His Majesty to do anything cruel. How can such an inhumane thing become a so-called disaster? The concubine is too wronged. What's more, the concubine just proposed to build a baby-raising hall. What kind of politics is this? This is a good thing that will last forever. Here, it becomes a waste of money and people?"

(End of this chapter)