Harem for a living

Chapter 189

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I found that little eunuch just now, and he is already dead." Liu Cheng came back very quickly, the Emperor had just taken a bath, and Liu Cheng came back with the results of the investigation: "He was strangled to death. The little one has already asked, the little eunuch is the cleaning eunuch of Shoukang Palace, he was on duty tonight, and then he sneaked out, no one knows where he went."

The emperor's face darkened, and he paused before asking: "Send the body to the Criminal Justice Department and let them start the investigation immediately."

"Yes, Your Majesty, what about the Jiaotai Palace?" Liu Cheng asked again, and the Emperor turned his head to look at Chen Manrou: "Zitong, I will leave the fire in Jiaotai Palace to you. If you want help, tell me Let me know, and I will make arrangements for you."

"Well, good, Your Majesty, since you won't be able to find out who is behind the scenes for a while, you should let it go first. You have to go to court tomorrow, and it's getting late, so you should also rest." Chen Manrou nodded in agreement. , this matter was originally her responsibility, so the emperor's explanation was not surprising to her at all.

The next morning, when the emperor went to court, Chen Manrou didn't send someone to Chongwen Hall to ask Xiao Si for leave, instead she let him go to class normally.On the side of the third prince, because he was frightened, the Empress Dowager Ci'an specially sent someone to sue for leave.

"From now on, you don't have to come here to pay your respects for the time being, and don't come out at will if you have nothing to do, just stay in your own palace and guard it. When the palace investigates the matter of Jiaotai Palace, you can walk around at will. "

Chen Manrou looked at the concubines who came to pay their respects, and carefully scrutinized their expressions while talking. After finishing speaking, no one's expression changed, and she couldn't help but sigh in her heart. These people who entered the palace this year are all top-notch. This guy's skills are so profound that he doesn't even miss a single expression.

"Your Majesty, I am somewhat responsible for the fire on the stage. I am willing to help you investigate this matter." Concubine Shu bit her lip, stood up and saluted and said, Concubine Hua also got up quickly: "I am also somewhat responsible. , and ask the empress to let my concubine do a little bit of work."

"No need, this matter didn't come to an end, and it's not sure whose responsibility it is." After a pause, Chen Manrou took a few sips of tea from the teacup in hand, lowered her eyes and fell silent for a while.Then he waved his hands and said, "Sit down for now, both of you."

When Concubine Shu and Concubine Hua sat down, Chen Manrou put down the teacup: "There is another thing, you are not allowed to move around at will for the time being, and you can't inquire about matters in the palace, I will send someone to you later Get things like ledgers and prepare them when you go back."

As soon as these words were said, the faces of several people changed.Paying the account book is just an excuse, and some things have no account book at all.The meaning of these few words of Chen Manrou can be summed up in one sentence - hand in all the palace affairs.

Anyone who worked so hard to manage the palace affairs for more than half a year suddenly said to hand it over, and he was not very willing in his heart.It's just that the empress is the lord of the palace, and it was the empress who asked the matter to be handed over back then, not the empress dowager who refused to let the empress take care of it.So, now that the queen says to take it back, it doesn't need to go through other people at all, and they can't object.

Concubine Cheng is the most generous, and immediately responded: "Okay, originally the concubine was to share the worries of the empress, and the matters in the palace should be decided by the empress. You see, when you are in charge, don't talk about it in this palace. It’s on fire, it’s not even a small matter. If you don’t care about it, all evil spirits will come out to make trouble.”

Chen Manrou smiled and said: "I didn't notice it, you are getting better at talking. If it is possible, I really don't want to take on this job. However, the fire in the Jiaotai Palace is bound to be given to the harem. If I give an explanation to the previous court, I don't feel at ease handing it over to others."

Throughout the ages, a fire in the palace has always been a major event.Especially the Jiaotai Palace, an important place where banquets are held to confer concubines, once it catches fire, it is easy to be connected with words like "the emperor loses his virtue, and the heavens punish him".

More importantly, the fire took place on the Emperor's Longevity Day.If there is no reason for the result, if it is more serious, the emperor may have to write an imperial edict.

Therefore, when it comes to this matter, if Chen Manrou wants to take back the palace power, even the Empress Dowager Ci'an can't say anything against it.What Empress Dowager Ci'an values ​​most in her life is her son's throne.Although she is not smart, she also knows that her current status is all based on her son.

"The concubine will go back and tidy up. I don't need to bother the girls around the empress. I have someone send the account book." Concubine Hui changed her mind and said with a smile immediately. Concubine Shu followed suit and Concubine De also nodded. Should come down.

Concubine Xian didn't take care of many things. Now that the fourth concubine has the third concubine to answer, she couldn't delay and said with a smile: "The concubine will send someone over later."

"Well, you sisters have worked hard a while ago, and I will never forget your contributions." Chen Manrou said with a smile. Today, the Empress Dowager Ci'an said she was not feeling well, so she didn't let everyone go to pay her respects, so Chen Manrou didn't have to run errands up.

After taking back the palace power, all the people who came to pay their respects were sent away.Turning around, I greeted Li Chun: "You pack up the squeezed cloth in the storeroom, there are two for the fourth concubine, and one for each of the concubines Cheng, just say, it's the palace, thank them for taking care of it. Palace affairs."

Lichun responded, and he and Lixia and the others packed up the fabrics one by one.Chen Manrou has a lot of fabrics here, and the cloths that are tributed by the local government every year and the cloths sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs are at least fifty or sixty.

She can't use that much herself, and Xiaosi and Xiaowu are young, and they can't use too much.Even if I occasionally make two suits of clothes for the emperor, plus rewards for others, there will still be a lot left over. After two years of accumulation, there are at least more than 100 horses.

The colors of the fabrics are still very bright, and the weaving flowers on them are not out of date.So there is nothing wrong with these rewards going on.

In the end, Li Qiu led a group of little maids and eunuchs to send it off.After turning around and returning, dozens of pieces of fabric were scattered, and a pile of ledgers were harvested.

Chen Manrou sent Lichun and others down, and began to look through the ledgers and check them one by one.She had read all these ledgers before, so she knew it in her heart. After looking through it again, it turned out that there was something wrong with the fabric and candles.

Because there are newcomers this year, the expenditure on fabrics is double that of previous years.The candles are [-]% more than last month.Obviously, a group of them went to the paddock last month, so the candle should be reduced by [-]%.

Chen Manrou pinched the space between her eyebrows, so, the fire was indeed set off by someone on purpose?

If this is the case, then Concubine Hua is very suspicious.She had quarreled with Concubine Shu about the fabric, and she also brought up the matter about candles. ,

"Li Qiu, go and check Concubine Hua and Concubine Shu carefully, and see what they did when I was not in the palace." Chen Manrou called Li Qiu in, thought for a while, and then said: "By the way, check on Concubine Xian, Bengong always feels that she has changed a bit too much compared to the day she first entered the palace. Moreover, although Concubine Xian likes to show off during the draft, she does not miss the rules when paying her respects."

The month when the show girls entered the palace, they didn't end up doing needlework and wandering around the imperial garden all day. What they had to do was to relearn the rules, which were more cumbersome and more suitable for use in the palace.

In the past, Chen Manrou only thought that Concubine Xian was domineering because she had the Empress Dowager Ci'an, but now that she thought about it, in that month, none of the nuns said that Concubine Xian's manners were not good enough.

Since you have learned the rules, you should come to pay your respects to the queen first after serving the bed. You should not forget this most basic rule, right?Even if you want to show yourself off, it's impossible to use the rules of the palace for hundreds of years to damage your reputation.

Li Qiu's complexion also changed. If Concubine Xian's matter was really a faux pas, then what he got in exchange for half a year's confinement must be big enough.After all, the most important thing for a new concubine to enter the palace is to fight for favor, but the concubine Xian let herself be grounded. What is more important than fighting for favor?
"Your Majesty, I will go and investigate right away." Li Qiu responded, and after waiting for a while, seeing that Chen Manrou had nothing to say, he turned around and went out, and began to urgently contact the nails he had placed in various palaces.

"Mother, the Chen family handed over the sign." While Chen Manrou was continuing to analyze the account book, Lidong came in to report, and Chen Manrou raised her head: "When did you hand it in?"

"Just now, the guards at the gate of the palace did not dare to delay, and immediately sent it to Yongshou Palace." Lidong handed over the sign, Chen Manrou took a look at it, nodded and said: "Please come in, and don't forget to give a reward to the guards. "

It was Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Chen who entered the palace. Chen Manrou hurriedly got up to greet her: "Grandmother, why are you here now? But what's the matter?"

"I heard that there was a fire in the Jiaotai Palace last night." The old lady Chen was getting old, and she was a little out of breath when she spoke. Chen Manrou helped the old lady to sit on the side couch, and Chen Manrou brought tea for the old lady : "Well, I'm investigating this matter now."

"Do you have a clue?" The old lady hurriedly asked, and Chen Manrou shook her head: "Not for the time being, I went to the paddock with the emperor a while ago, and I left all the affairs in the palace to Concubine Shu and the others. What's going on? Whether it was an accident or man-made, we have to investigate first before we can say.”

"Do you want it?" The old lady grabbed Chen Manrou's hand and asked worriedly, "Those vixens didn't push the matter on you, did they?"

"Grandmother, don't worry, there is the emperor." Chen Manrou said with a smile, the old lady frowned, and paused for a while before saying: "How can you push things to the emperor? The emperor is the master of the world, and everything he does every day It is a big matter related to the people of the world, how can you let the emperor handle some small things in the harem? Before you entered the palace, what did I say? In the palace, you have to stick to your duty!"

In this palace, no one can believe it, even the emperor.Therefore, Mrs. Chen was deeply afraid that her granddaughter would put her hopes on the emperor and let the emperor make decisions for her.

Maybe the emperor treats her well at this moment, but what about the next moment?Who knows which one the emperor will favor and treat better!Therefore, in the harem, you must not put all your hopes on the emperor.

Besides, who knows if some of the foxes set up a trap on purpose, just waiting for the emperor to see.If my granddaughter didn't investigate in person, I'm afraid she was framed, and she couldn't find out who the murderer was behind the scenes.

Chen Manrou felt warm in her heart, and nodded with a smile: "Don't worry, grandma, I haven't forgotten what you said, it's just about the emperor's heir, the emperor only asked a few words."

Knowing the old lady's painstaking efforts, Chen Manrou quickly explained a few words, the emperor did not intervene in this matter for her sake, but for the emperor's heir.

The old lady breathed a sigh of relief, and soon became worried again: "The matter of the fire, today there is an excerpt from the imperial history, saying that there are sinners in the palace, and that's why the fire fell from the sky, you have to be careful. Who dug this hole for you, if you don't deal with the other, your reputation will be ruined!"

Chen Manrou immediately turned serious, and nodded seriously: "Grandmother, don't worry, my granddaughter has never forgotten your words. The emperor wants me to trust him, so I naturally believe in him. It is better to say that I am the master of the harem than the emperor." It is the last master, I understand, you don't have to worry. Whose family is the censor?"

(End of this chapter)