The little lady in the dining room

Chapter 176 Director
"Pfft...!" Xie Zhao, who was drinking tea, spit out the tea as soon as Xue Li said it. He wiped his mouth and was stunned, "Check the account of Liushang Bureau?!"

Xue Li nodded: "I just heard that there are too many dirty things in the Sixth Bureau. But most of the affairs in the palace are controlled by the Sixth Bureau. It's okay for them to make profits for themselves. After a long time, how much has the palace suffered? How many hidden dangers are here!"

Xie Zhaoshou was taken aback, probably knowing what she was referring to.After a moment of silence, he said: "The investigation of this matter involves too much, and I don't even have time to deal with it..."

"Your Majesty doesn't have time to deal with it, because His Majesty is too tired to be busy with government affairs." Xue Li pursed her lips, "But such a big problem, now that you know it, you have to deal with it? If not, wouldn't the palace It’s like when there are worms on the leaves of vegetables and no one cares about them, let them gnaw away bit by bit, until you have to throw the whole vegetable away?”

Xie Zhao smiled lightly, pondering in his heart, but did not answer yet.

It's hard to talk about the affairs in the palace, I'm afraid it's even more complicated than the imperial family.He has been ignoring this. Firstly, it is because there are too many government affairs to take care of; At present, the six bureaus are all cleared up, and in the next three to five years, new problems will come out.The older ladies have their little maids brought out by them, and the little ladies will become ladies one day. This kind of tradition passed down from generation to generation is not going to stop at all, and it is useless to check it on a whim.

So he is very open to the little calculations of the people below.This is different from the problem of the aristocratic family that must be rectified. The affairs of the aristocratic family can involve the whole world, but these court ladies and eunuchs... that is, stealing something from the palace or causing some small storms are things he can suppress.

To be honest, even though he was very angry when he thought about the people who were under him for eating and drinking, he didn't have the time to take care of it so carefully.It is their business that they have their unwritten rules from top to bottom. When it comes to him, what he sees is that everything that should be regulated is regulated.There are thousands of people in the palace, and it is unrealistic to ask everyone to be well-behaved without any crooked intentions.

Now Sydney suddenly brought up...

Xie Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and asked her, "What do you want to do? If you want to check the accounts of the Six Shang Bureau, you can almost go all the way to Luo'an, the capital of Daqi."

Sydney: "..." Is it a problem that has been accumulated for so long? !

She backed off immediately.This stall is too big, she'd better eat and drink every day.

But she also felt that this was really the duty of the queen.Putting it in front of her eyes, she will probably figure it out sooner or later, won't the longer it drags on, the more difficult it will be to investigate?

Xue Li thought for a while, and then asked him: "Then I don't care about it before, can't I check it? If we start from a date that is relatively close, such as when His Majesty succeeded to the throne or when the first emperor succeeded... There are many things."

She really struggled with this issue.

Xie Zhao lightly smiled, leaned on the backrest and waved to her.Xueli only said that she had something important to say in a low voice, and approached with a serious face, but was suddenly grabbed by him, and sat on his lap with a slip of the sole of her foot.

"I have a free time, but do I have to go to war?" Xie Zhao smiled lowly and flicked her forehead one after another, "I told you this is very troublesome, I don't even have the confidence!"

Xue Li covered her forehead: "If your majesty doesn't mention the matter of making me a queen, I won't talk about it."

When she raised her eyes, she saw that his hand was still trying to find an open place on her forehead to flick her, and couldn't help but stare.

She added: "I know that your majesty is too busy to take care of this matter. But the queen is here, isn't it just so that when your majesty is concentrating on government affairs, someone can take care of the affairs of the palace for your majesty? The people also It's all like this, a man is an official and a businessman, and his wife is at home to take care of the housework, there is such a person who keeps the rules in the mansion, it makes a big difference."

Not to mention the real "big family and great business" family, even her Ruan family, many things are thanks to the mother's decision-making.After moving to Luo'an, the house grew bigger and there were servants. This is especially obvious. When she went home to visit relatives twice, she saw her mother making up and down decisions, and her father was very familiar with the harvest of the family's fields. , All kinds of affairs after entering the house are wiped out.

Seeing that he was silent, Xueli put her hands on his chest and said, "Your Majesty, don't pay too much attention to this matter. You think... the people below join hands to fool us. It's not a big deal just to make some money, but in case When will we really work together to do something big? Take Shangshi Bureau as an example, if your majesty does not order meals in the imperial dining room or go to Jiugeyuan, the daily meals will be prepared by Shangshi Bureau. Reason does not dare to kill the king, because the eunuch serving the imperial court is watching, and the imperial hospital can find out the clues, but what if the Shangshi bureau colluded with the imperial imperial court and the imperial hospital?"

After she finished speaking, she looked at him and said nothing more.

Xie Zhao sighed, and he always understood these truths in his heart.

Probably, in the palaces of all dynasties, there can be counted a few incidents in which court ladies and eunuchs teamed up to kill the king or kill the concubines and the emperor's heirs.He doesn't think he can find out the muddled account in the palace, but if someone is willing to check it out, in exchange for five or ten years of "clearness"...

That's fine.

"Then I'll leave it to you, and it's also a practice." He smiled, and tightened his arms around her shoulders, "But take your time, don't worry, this matter can't be done in ten days and half a month .”

"No!" Xueli frowned, put her arms around his neck and sat up a little, leaned closer, and suddenly gave him a "snap" on his side cheek.

Xie Zhao: "..."

Whoops, this pear.

This time it was obviously she who helped him, he nodded, and she was as happy as how much he helped her.

The cold wind swept across the palace between autumn and winter, and when the wind was weak, the sound of dead leaves scraping on the ground was repeated one after another.

Most of the lights in the residences of the concubines in the harem had been turned off, but the Liushang Bureau was still brightly lit.

Shangshi Bureau, the four chefs heard the order and hurried to meet Fang Shangshi.As soon as the door of the room was closed, Xu Sishan said first: "Miss Shangshi, you have heard..."

"I heard about it." Fang Shangshi nodded and sighed, "I don't know how it happened. There was no news at all before, and I have to investigate if I say it. And it's not only Liushang Bureau, but also Gong Zhengsi, Huan Clothes bureaus, imperial hospitals, and internal officials' prisons must also be submitted, and there must be a book from the year when the first emperor succeeded to the throne to the present."

"What, what can I do..." Xu Sishan's face paled, "You know those unwritten rules, the female officials of Shangshi. After checking this way, I am afraid that not half of the female officials above the Dianji are innocent of……"

"It's not just the female officials who are in office?" Zhong Sishan's eyes drooped next to him, "The nuns in the palace who have retired, the female officials who have married, and even the two who have made great achievements and won the title of their wives and left the palace. I'm afraid there is nowhere to go clean."

Fang Shangshi sighed again: "These things that are customary, no one will ever poke at them. This time, I don't know where His Majesty heard about it, but it can be seen that he is annoyed."

"I think it's Miss Ruan herself." Yu Sishan smiled coldly, avoiding Fang Shangshi's awe-inspiring gaze, "The new official took office three fires. I thought she, the future empress, would at most ignite this fire." It’s going to the harem, but right now it’s coming directly to the Liushang Bureau.”

"It really doesn't show affection at all!" Zhong Sishan patted the table and said, "If she hadn't entered the Shangshi Bureau, she wouldn't be where she is today! Now that she has gained a firm foothold, she will bite back. We were blind before... ..."

"Okay, let's not talk about this." Fang Shangshi was not in the mood to listen to their useless arguments.

She was silent for a while, then looked at Yang Shi who had been silent all this time: "Yang Sishan, you have a lot of contacts, what's going on in the other five bureaus, let me tell you about it?"

"It happened too suddenly, and most of them are still in chaos. The Shanggong Bureau has closed its doors, and no one will let it out, pretending to be fair; the Shangfu Bureau has too many accounts for several years and needs to be sorted out first. People go to ask for a decree to postpone it for two days, and we don't know if it will be successful or not."

Yang paused while speaking, and then said: "This matter cannot be avoided. I thought... how about pushing out a few indictments to cover the charges, and saying that the account was not clearly recorded."

"The accounts for decades are blamed on those few people, and no one will believe it." Fang Shangshi frowned and shook his head, thought for a while, and asked, "Do you know who assisted her in investigating this matter?"

The four chefs were startled and shook their heads.

"Oh, that's all." Fang Sishan felt a headache, waved his hands and said, "Let's rest first, Yu Sishan and Yang Sishan will follow me to see Master Chen tomorrow, he should take care of this matter."

Early the next morning, the threshold of Chen Jijiang's residence was broken through.

This was supposed to be the day when he was on duty, but since he woke up, high-ranking female officials from Liushang Bureau, Gong Zhengsi and Huanyi Bureau have arrived one after another.He knew it must be an important matter, after thinking about it, he called Xu Shishui to take his place, washed and changed his clothes, and then invited the female officials to come in.

There was no room to sit in the main room, so he and the sixth female officer were the only ones seated, and all the six division officials stood by.

Hearing what the six female officials said in turn, Chen Jijiang was shocked!
He wasn't on duty yesterday, but generally speaking, whenever something important happened in the palace, someone would come to inform him, but he really didn't hear about it.Although it's not too late to hear about it now, it still made his heart tighten.

Sipping tea to calm down, Chen Jijiang finally maintained a calm attitude: "Oh, this... I heard a little about it. You probably all know what seat Ruan Niang will sit in in the future, and the affairs in the palace. Naturally, she needs to get acquainted with it. Check the account? Then let her check it! You guys are not usually lazy and forget about it. "

When the female officials heard this, their expressions were all wrong.After looking at each other for a while, cold sweat broke out on the forehead of the female officer in Shangfu: "...My lord, we know that you were called to His Majesty's side early, and you have not been in the Inner Prison for a long time. But, but the Inner Prison and even the entire palace You probably know the rules in the book, if you let her look it up..."

"If she is allowed to investigate like this, you will be involved more or less, my lord." The attitude of the female official Gongzheng, who is used to command orders and punishments, is a little bit colder.

She looked at Chen Jijiang: "My lord, you receive a lot of presents every New Year's day, when the palace maids are promoted, and on your birthday. If these things are found to be the palace property that the female officials secretly scooped up, You, my lord, can't tell."

Chen Jijiang's eyes flickered slightly.

The female officer Gongzheng lowered her eyes: "If you want me to say, we are all in the same boat in this matter. If Mrs. Ruan wants to cut a hole in this boat, none of us will survive. Your lord, you are the person who can understand the affairs of the palace best , if you pretend not to know..."

Chen Jijiang raised his hand to signal her to silence: "I know, it is the most difficult thing to tear yourself out of the stall in the palace."

"It's good if you know." Gongzheng female official nodded, "Then please help us when you protect yourself. Those who work in the palace together don't want to come in standing up and go out lying down."

The atmosphere was a little tense, but no one wanted to stand up and ease it right now. They all wanted to make Chen Jijiang realize how serious it was, and he had to help them.

Chen Jijiang smiled leisurely, picked up a pair of walnuts on the table and played with them in his hands.After turning around twice, he looked up at everyone: "Come on, I know about this. Ladies, please go back, I'll think about it."

What should be said, what should not be said, soft and hard things have been said, and the ladies did not stay any longer, and quietly retired.

After they left, Chen Jijiang called in the two apprentices who were guarding outside: "See, they belong to Liushang Bureau and Gong Zhengsi."

The two disciples hurriedly replied, "Yes, I saw it."

"Well, it is estimated that people from the Internal Supervisor, the Huanyi Bureau, and the Imperial Hospital will also come later." Chen Jijiang stood with his hands behind his back, pondered for a while, and chuckled, "It doesn't matter who came, I will never see them. Here The water is deep, if something goes wrong, you two will bear it yourself."

"Yes... yes!" The two apprentices nodded and bowed in agreement.Chen Jijiang waved his hand and asked them to retreat outside the courtyard.

Back in the house, Chen Jijiang closed the door and began to weigh the matter by himself.

This matter... is really involved!He kind of guessed why no one came to tell him such a big matter—it was definitely not deliberately concealing it, otherwise the Liushang Bureau would not be able to tell it, it could only be that no one under his command dared to report the letter.

This is all scary.

Chen Jijiang laughed softly, teased "no prospect", and wondered where he should put himself in this matter.

It is impossible to persuade His Majesty to let Lady Ruan stop.If His Majesty nodded, he couldn't block it back. Unless Mrs. Ruan didn't want to do it herself, otherwise everything would be nonsense.

Let Lady Ruan stop by herself...

It doesn't seem to work either.

People, we all need to save face.She mentioned it to His Majesty herself, and she would not be happy if she told His Majesty "I can't do this" afterwards.Besides, her recent behavior style is getting closer and closer to that later position. If he accuses her of not doing this properly, who knows whether she will listen to his persuasion or use the majesty of a queen to hold her back? He scolded away?

Chen Jijiang smiled and shook his head.If neither way works, then he has to stand on the sidelines.

It is impossible to help Miss Ruan to investigate.He doesn't block her limelight, but he won't offend others with her--if he offends the Liushang Bureau all over the world, will he still be good?Each of them tearing down a brick can make him fall from the seat of the superintendent!

It's up to her to check it out herself.If Liu Shangju asked him about it in the future, he would frown and say that he really couldn't get in the way, and no one could say that he was wrong.Besides, as Mistress Gongzheng said just now, he is really inseparable from this matter - then he should be charged with the crime.

He can be charged with multiple crimes for accepting gifts, and he knows better than anyone else.On a larger scale, it is a matter of being punished and fined for several months of salary.If His Majesty needs him by his side, he won't die, and even if he is sent to another place for a while, he will still be able to crawl back sooner or later.

The life and death of others, what does that have to do with him?
Chen Jijiang smacked his lips, took a sip of the tea cup, and decided to do it!

In Jiuge Courtyard, Sydney finally received the account book that should have been collected after allowing Liushang Bureau to delay for a few days.

The time is too short, and it is impossible to fake it. She knew this from the beginning.

On the first day she received the brochure, she spread the word and called Su Zixian and Mrs. Yi in according to what she had told the emperor earlier.In addition, there were several female officials transferred from the Yingshan Palace and the Linhe Palace, and they investigated the matter together.

Su Zixian pinched her arm in private and laughed and scolded her for being too thoughtful, and Sydney accepted all the comments.She really paid attention to the personnel arrangement. For example, she asked Su Zixian to come in because Su Zixian would not lie to her; another example was that she transferred people from the palace because all the female officials in the palace wanted to sneak into the palace, so the possibility of appeasing anyone was very small. many.

"What about Yi Liangyuan?" Su Zixian asked her in a low voice.

Xue Li took a peek at Yi Shi who was seriously reading the account books in the room, and whispered to Su Zixian, "Your Highness the Seventh Prince has never mentioned the matter of marrying a wife, why do you think so?"

"You want to..." Su Zixian was slightly surprised.

Xue Li smiled: "Help if you can. If His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince never mentions Fuzheng, we won't interfere. But if he mentions it, Yi Liangyuan has already shown enough face if she has received many errands in the palace. "

Su Zixian glanced at her sideways, and teased her that she was worrying about even Liu Shangju's extramarital affairs before she took the back seat.

Xueli raised her head, ignored her, and walked out of the courtyard to have dinner in Zichen Hall.

There are days when I haven't made a special trip to "eat imperial meals", but recently Xie Zhaofei had to force her to go, fearing that she would not eat well when she was busy.

——Xue Lixin said that she is not that stupid!The busier you are, the easier it is to get hungry, okay?Her appetite has improved recently!
But this is also good, she can also talk to him about the cooking during the meal, so as not to delay his other time.

As soon as she sat down at the dining table in Zichen Hall, she saw that the four dishes closest to her were all meat dishes.

Steamed sea bass, steamed pork ribs, pearl balls, and braised beef.

Dishes farther away are half meat and half vegetarian, such as fried pork with water bamboo and shredded pork with fish flavor.

Vegetarian dishes are far away from her.Every time Sydney sits here, the three big characters "eat more" and the smell of meat come rushing to my face!

She glanced at Xie Zhao, and picked up a piece of steamed pork ribs to eat.The rice noodles on the outside are soft and delicious, with a strong rib aroma, but not greasy.The ribs inside are marinated in advance, and every shred of meat is full of flavor, fat but not greasy, tender and delicious.

(End of this chapter)