Harem for a living

Chapter 148

In July, the emperor suddenly ordered Chen Huaijue to take full responsibility for the construction of the embankment. In order to let Chen Huaijue do things cheaply, he directly promoted Yuanwailang from the fifth rank to the fourth rank minister of the Ministry of Industry.

As soon as the news came out, the court was in an uproar, and almost everyone told the emperor that Chen Huaijue was too young to bear this important task, and he had no special achievements before, so the emperor could not entrust this matter to Chen Huaijue.

From ancient times to the present, building dikes and dams has always been a lucrative task. Even if you grab it lightly, you can fill your pockets.

So from the beginning of the flood in May, everyone has been focusing on various errands.Like disaster relief, like building embankments.Everyone tried their best to gain benefits for themselves or their party. As a result, the biggest benefit now fell to a brat.

So what if Chen Huaijue has been a Beijing official for several years?In this hall, who can go to the pilgrimage to meet, which one has not been in Beijing for more than ten years?So what if Chen Huaijue's father is a general?Isn't it an invisible person in the court now?
This kid Chen Huaijue has no power behind him, how can he get such a benefit?
Of course, many sensitive people thought that the Chen family still had a daughter who was a concubine in the harem, and she was currently the highest-ranking concubine.But the more this happened, the more unwilling those people were to let Chen Huaijue go out to make meritorious service. If Chen Huaijue really got the credit, then would the plan be successful for a family with a daughter?
Everyone regarded the court hall as a vegetable market, arguing every day, looking for reasons to say that Chen Juebai is not qualified to take charge of this matter.

In a rage, the emperor asked someone to bring a bag of things to the court: "Since you say that Chen Huaijue is not qualified, then I will let you see whether Chen Huaijue has the qualifications. Chen Huaijue spent several years on this thing. For research, I will let you see the effect now."

Chen Manrou listened to Xiao Xizi talking about the affairs in the court with joyful eyebrows, and even repeated what the emperor said word by word, she couldn't laugh or cry in her heart.The little four next to him also listened with gusto: "Xiao Xizi, hurry up, what's next?"

"Later? Of course those people were stunned. No matter what methods they used, they couldn't break the cement layer. They could only admit that Mr. Chen can take on the job of building the embankment." Xiao Xizi said cheerfully.

Chen Manrou asked Lichun to give Xiao Xizi a purse: "Okay, you are optimistic about the people in Zhongcui Palace, don't go to Qianqing Palace to inquire about news easily in the future, you have been in the palace for a long time, you should know what the crime of spying on the emperor's tracks is." , don’t let me remind you in the future.”

Xiao Xizi's expression froze, and she quickly responded: "Yes, I will obey the imperial concubine's order." During this period of time, people always talk about the empress dowager, and they also think that the imperial concubine will definitely be made a queen Yes, the more I think about it, the more I get a little flustered.If it wasn't for the reminder from the imperial concubine today, I'm afraid it would really cause trouble in the future.

"Okay, you go down and order them not to move around without my order." Chen Manrou waved her hand and said, Xiao Xizi took the order, turned and walked out of the room.

Xiaosi looked up at Chen Manrou with some doubts: "Mother, why can't you inquire about things?"

Chen Manrou blinked and thought for a while before saying: "Inquiring about the news will make your father feel that we are spying on him, and it will make your father very disgusted, and he will not like you in the future."

After explaining, I was sweating profusely, thinking in my heart that I had to quickly find a husband for Xiaosi.She can explain all kinds of fallacies, can slowly cultivate Xiao Si's character, and can teach Xiao Si some things, but the real emperor's art can only be taught by great Confucians.

She is a woman in the harem, if Xiao Si is completely in her hands, it will only harm Xiao Si.

Xiao Si was a little confused, and after hearing Chen Manrou's explanation, he didn't think too much about it. He just turned around and took a rattle to tease the fifth princess.

Chen Manrou did not inquire about matters in the court, but she could still receive information about the Chen family.For example, Chen Huaijue took the imperial decree and went to Shaanxi.The Chen family sent a list to the palace, which listed the names of seven or eight children, and planned to choose companions for Primary Four.

Chen Manrou looked at the list, crossed out three more, and sent the remaining five back to the Chen family.In the next year, the Chen family will carefully observe the five children and pick out the ones with good dispositions, which will be used when the fourth graders go to school next year.

Because there is no queen in the harem, concubines are not regarded as serious daughter-in-laws, so the greetings to Empress Dowager Ci'an are not every day, but only every few days.Thinking that it was time to go to pay her respects tomorrow, Chen Manrou felt a little depressed.

The Empress Dowager Ci'an didn't know what was going on, so she was a little bit displeased and picked on her again and again.She thought it didn't matter, but she was afraid that it would affect the emperor's impression of her.Although the emperor doesn't like the Empress Dowager Ci'an's meddling in the harem, the Empress Dowager Ci'an is the emperor's own mother after all.

Chen Manrou was very depressed, when Ci Ning left, why didn't the Empress Dowager Ci'an be taken away?
Although she didn't like to go to pay her respects, when the time came, Chen Manrou led Xiaosi and carried Princess Five over.The eldest princess was talking with the Empress Dowager Ci'an, when she saw Chen Manrou saluting below, she quickly avoided it.

"Come on, Xiao Si came to the imperial grandmother, why didn't you come to play with your third brother recently?" The Empress Dowager Ci'an didn't even look at Chen Manrou, she waved her to sit aside, and then pulled Xiao Si to her side asked.

"Little Si has homework to do, so I can't come out to play." Xiao Si said childishly, looked at the third prince who was sitting on the soft couch playing with Jiu Lianhuan, and said, "Brother San Huang can go to Xiao Si Si, Xiao Si has a lot of interesting things there."

The Empress Dowager Ci'an's face darkened, and she glanced at Chen Manrou: "The child is still young, what are you always doing with the child? You haven't even started school yet, so you have to assign homework every day. After school, you still have to give my grandson Exhausted?"

Chen Manrou calmly got up and saluted: "What the empress dowager taught is that I will pay attention to it in the future."

Ci'an seemed to have hit the cotton with a fist, snorted twice, then turned to talk to the eldest princess again.Without the order of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, Chen Manrou didn't dare to sit down, so she had to stand aside respectfully.

When Concubine De came in, she saw Chen Manrou standing there, immediately raised her eyebrows and showed a provocative smile, and then went to greet Empress Dowager Ci'an: "Empress Dowager, what did Sister Guifei do to make you angry? You are the most merciful old man." If you are kind, don't bother with her. You see, the fourth prince loves the imperial concubine."

The corners of Chen Manrou's mouth twitched. Is this to show that you have more face in front of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, or are you here to provoke the Empress Dowager Ci'an and Xiao Si?

The Empress Dowager Ci'an looked down at Xiaosi, and seeing that Xiaosi turned her head to look at Chen Manrou from time to time, she felt even more dissatisfied, she gave Chen Manrou a disgusted look and said, "Why, the Ai family asked you to stand for a while, why don't you Feel wronged?"

"I don't dare. I just feel that I have been sitting for a long time, and my legs and feet are a little inconvenient. Standing for a while can just make the blood flow better." Chen Manrou said quickly, and looked at Concubine De, smiling very gently: " The concubine is not as good as the concubine de concubine, she is in very good health, she was walking around the imperial garden for more than two hours yesterday, the concubine saw a concubine de concubine wearing a magenta dress but didn't recognize her, only later did she know it was the concubine de concubine younger sister."

Ci'an's face became even more gloomy. Although she wished that the whole world would not honor Empress Dowager Ci Ning, but if someone really did this, it would be a slap in the face.After waiting for her, these people will be even more unwilling to keep their filial piety, right?
"My empress dowager, please forgive me, my concubine was negligent yesterday." Concubine De panicked, and quickly got up to apologize.Yesterday she got the news that the emperor was enjoying the scenery in the imperial garden. Since the empress passed away, the emperor has not let anyone go to bed for more than half a year. The women in the entire harem are always watching the emperor's movements.So, she changed her clothes and went out. Unexpectedly, the emperor didn't see her, but Chen Manrou, that bitch, caught her.

At this moment, no matter what you say is wrong, it is better to admit your mistake directly.Anyway, the Empress Dowager Ci'an saw that Chen Manrou was not pleasing to her eyes, so she would definitely not punish her too much.

"Okay, you go back and copy ten Buddhist scriptures." The Empress Dowager Ci'an said impatiently, Concubine De bit her lip and could only agree, she turned her head and glared at Chen Manrou. Chen Manrou didn't care, anyway, she didn't take it The knife dug.

Immediately, Concubine Fu and others also came in to invite them.The Empress Dowager Ci'an asked someone to come over and take the children to the side hall. The eldest princess got up and bowed to the Empress Dowager Ci'an: "Grandmother, granddaughter also go to see."

"Go, you are the eldest sister, and you need to take care of your younger brothers and sisters in the future." The Empress Dowager Ci'an treated the eldest princess with a pleasant face, and waved her hand to let the eldest princess pass by.When the figure of the Eldest Princess entered the side hall, the Empress Dowager Ci'an turned her head and asked Chen Manrou: "Has the cloth for the House of Internal Affairs arrived?"

"Yes, Empress Dowager, they arrived the day before yesterday, and my concubine asked them to keep them for the time being. I will send them directly to Ci'an Palace today. Empress Dowager will choose a few horses first, and divide the rest." The matter of distribution is handed over to the Empress Dowager Ci'an.

Ci'an can give a few more horses in the name of rewards to those who are pleasing to the eye.If anyone doesn't like it, then don't give it.In the end, after Ci'an made the selection, there were not many good fabrics left.If Chen Manrou didn't want to get a mean reputation, she definitely couldn't keep all the good ones for herself. There are still a few princes and princesses around, so she has to take care of her reputation.

The Empress Dowager Ci'an was very satisfied with Chen Manrou's decision, and she gave a rare compliment: "You are a filial person. However, since you are in charge of palace affairs now, you have to learn to be the master of these trivial matters. If your family decides for you, then you might as well give the Phoenix Seal to someone else."

This is a typical case of scolding your mother while taking advantage. Chen Manrou was almost speechless to the Empress Dowager Ci'an, she lowered her eyes and replied, "Yes, thank you for your instruction, I will definitely make a regulation in advance in the future, so that the Empress Dowager will not be like this." bother."

Concubine Fu would inevitably say some harsh words, but now, Chen Manrou's status is too high, she can't say what she said too bluntly, Chen Manrou just pretended not to hear it.She is not just entering the palace now, as long as she pretends to be straightforward, cute and heartless.

Her current goal is the queen, so she must show tolerance and not haggle with others.Although they don't have the same knowledge as them and are suspected of being doormats, this is Ci'an Palace.Being a doormat in Ci'an Palace means a lot.After leaving Ci'an Palace, Concubine Fu dared not say such a thing even if she gave Concubine Fu ten guts.

"Your Majesty, I found out some big news. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has already started to prepare the queen's auspicious clothes." Just over a month after such a day, Xiao Lezi came to report in a hurry, with a still expression on his face. With some panic: "Ma'am, will things change?"

After Xiao Lezi finished speaking, her heart became more and more flustered.At this moment, Mrs. Chen Huaijue and Mrs. Chen are still back, and there is no news of the construction of the embankment. The emperor didn't even say hello, and directly asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to start preparing the queen's auspicious clothes. Could it be that things have really changed?
Chen Manrou also panicked, and her face turned pale.However, she immediately calmed down again. Even if there was an accident, she had to calm down now, otherwise, there was really no way to recover.

(End of this chapter)