On the moat duty room side, Li Yu was squatting at the foot of the wall, picking up charcoal for burning a copper pot from the charcoal basket.
There were many small pieces of charcoal in the basket, and the bottom layer was almost broken into pieces.
Li Yu said as he picked, "It looks like there's nothing good left."
Song Yun came over with the water in his hand, glanced at the charcoal basket, and said to Chen Hua, who was chopping vegetables with his sleeves rolled up, "The money allocated to the 24th Bureau this year is not less than in previous years."
Chen Hua put down the knife temporarily, raised his head and sighed, "I said we're going to cut down on the inner court's expenses, but the basket I asked them to bring here doesn't have any small pieces. They're big enough to pick out a few, right? Li Yu, please look through it carefully."
Li Yu patted the ashes off his butt and stood up. "I've turned them all over. Only these few can burn for a while."
As he spoke, he showed it to Song Yunqing, "Sister, take a look. I think it's enough."
Song Yunqing said: "When it's enough, just throw it under the pot and light it up. Eh... forget it, you still need to help Chen Hua. You are very impatient. Cook it carefully."
Chen Hua said this, wiping her hair and walking out from behind the chopping board, "I haven't done this for a long time."
"When I met you, you were probably working as a stove maker in a government office."
Chen Hua was surprised that she had revealed her true colors, so he gave a helpless laugh and nodded in resignation, saying, "Okay, let's go back to my old ways."
As he was speaking, Yang Wan came over from the direction of Chengqian Palace, carrying a box of cakes.
Song Yun waved at her lightly, "Where's Governor Deng? Aren't you going to look for him at Donghua Gate?"
Yang Wan put down the cakes and said, "He has gone back to the factory office and will be here in a while. Are you guys ready to cook now?"
Chen Hua said: "Well, the charcoal is not good. I'm afraid it will cook slowly."
After Yang Wan finished speaking, she made a joke, "Master Chen, don't you want to harm me? I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow. You're in charge of Xixinsi, so you don't have any good charcoal, but you just give me these."
Chen Hua said, "Oh, Master Yang, please don't say anything nonsense in front of Yun Qing. Nowadays, the charcoal is purchased according to the number of charcoal that is registered by the government. In the past, when there was plenty of money, the charcoal soldiers (1) could keep some for themselves. Now it is difficult. Even the ones I have brought were taken out from the warehouse at the beginning of the year to show my respect to the Imperial Household Department. Finally, the ancestors showed mercy and gave them back as a reward. I think this winter will be even more difficult."
Song Yunqing asked, "Why has it shrunk so much?"
Chen Hua shook his head and said, "Who knows?"
"The Ministry of Revenue is tight."
Yang Wan replied casually, opened the snack box, picked out a piece of mung bean cake and handed it to Li Yu, "Little brat, you eat it first."
Chen Hua didn't pay much attention to Yang Wan's words. Song Yun said lightly, "The Ministry of Revenue is tight? What do you mean?"
Yang Wan said: "Just pretend I didn't say anything. It's better for us not to discuss the affairs of the court."
Song Yun held his chin lightly, "This is not just a matter for the court. Haven't you seen that our salaries have been reduced? Anyway, I know why."
Chen Hua said: "Then you can't ask Yang Zhangji, she is just a female official of the Shangyi Bureau, how can she know more than you? We go there every day and don't know anything, what can Yang Zhangji tell you?"
Song Yunqing said: "Who are you looking down on? I can't do that. Yang Wan is more sober than you and Li Yu."
Yang Wan laughed, "It's not complicated, actually. After the clearing of land in the south is completed, the Ministry of Revenue will give a sum of money to buy back the official land. But at the beginning of this year, the inner court was in a big deficit because of the reward for Concubine Jiang's family, and the Ministry of Revenue is holding on to the money and refusing to make up for it. Doesn't this mean that we have to cut back?"
Song Yun finished speaking and raised his chin towards Chen Hua, "Look, I'm more sober than you, what else do you dare to say?"
Chen Hua smiled apologetically: "I dare not..."
Just as he finished speaking, he happened to see Deng Ying walking over from the moat. Chen Hua hurriedly stood up and saluted: "Master, you are finally here. I am almost helpless after being scolded by the two ladies."
After Deng Ying finished speaking, he just looked at Yang Wan and smiled without saying anything else.
Seeing this, Chen Hua covered his forehead and said, "Oh, I forgot, you are the only one who dares not talk back."
Song Yunqing stood up and saluted Deng Ying, and Yang Wanqing stood up and saluted Deng Ying.
Deng Ying bowed in return, "How can I sit down if you are like this?"
Song Yunqing said, "Master, just sit down and don't pay attention to us servants. Yang Wan is the one who prepared the meal today. All the food, bowls, plates, and charcoal are paid from her salary. We servants will sit with her and serve her naturally."
Yang Wan leaned over and moved the stool behind Deng Ying closer to the table, "Sit down, Yun Qing talks like this."
"good."
Deng Ying lifted his robe and sat down, followed by Yun Qing and others.
Chen Hua turned over the charcoal under the pot and said, "This charcoal is not very good. It's been burning for a while, but the soup is not boiling yet."
Song Yunqing said, "Don't keep turning it over. Let it wake up on its own and it will flourish." After that, he looked at Deng Ying and asked, "By the way, Governor, I heard today that the Imperial Household Department is selecting a few wet nurses for the second prince at the Eastern Wet Nurse's Mansion (2)."
Li Yu took a bite of the mung bean cake and said vaguely, "There are already two wet nurses serving me, why are you still being picky?"
Song Yunqing said, "When Concubine Jiang was pregnant, the Wet Nurse House had about 80 wet nurses ready. The Guanglu Temple fed them 4 taels of meat and 8 he of rice every day. Every few days, the local government sent gifts and money to prepare for Concubine Jiang's pregnancy. I still remember that when Empress Ning was pregnant, they only prepared five or six wet nurses, and only one or two were actually used. Later, when the eldest prince turned one year old, Empress Ning sent all the wet nurses back. Look at the situation in the Yanxi Palace now, hey..."
She sighed, "The money that the palace withheld from us is now spent on these weanlings, isn't it?"
Deng Ying held his finger on his knees. With others present, he sat very straight. In Yang Wan's eyes, he looked inexplicably well-behaved.
Song Yun asked him lightly, and he coughed lightly and responded seriously, "Zheng Bingbi is in charge of selecting wet nurses. Originally, there was no usual practice in the palace. Empress Ning was frugal, so she only used one or two. But Empress Jiang is young, so it is the Queen and the Queen Mother's wish to use more wet nurses in Yanxi Palace."
When Yang Wan saw that Zheng Yuejia was in charge of selecting wet nurses, she suddenly felt a chill on her back and the chopsticks in her hand fell to the ground with a "pa" sound.
Li Yu hurriedly held the cake in his mouth and went under the table to pick it up for her. "Hey, you dropped your chopsticks when you were treating us. This is unlucky."
Song Yunqing heard the words and knocked him on the forehead, "What nonsense are you talking about? Be careful or I'll kick you out."
Li Yu held his head and said "Oh", then quickly lowered his head and continued to bite his cake.
Yang Wan raised her head and asked Deng Ying, "Are all these wet nurses women sent here from nearby counties and prefectures?"
"Yes, but there are some military personnel."
"oh… "
Yang Wan didn't ask any further questions. The chill in her back didn't subside at all.
Fortunately, the soup in the pot had boiled in time. In order to ease the embarrassment, Song Yunqing asked Yang Wan to cook mutton.
As soon as the mutton was put into the pot, a layer of white blood foam floated on the originally clear bottom of the pot. Yang Wan was a little hesitant to put it down. Compared to the scene of dropping her chopsticks just now, she felt that this fishy scene was even more ominous.
Deng Ying noticed the uneasiness in her expression, put down his chopsticks, turned sideways and asked her:
"What's wrong."
Yang Wan looked at the boiling soup and didn't know how to tell Deng Ying.
She recalled the "Heju Case" at the turn of spring and summer, the tragedy in which hundreds of people were killed for a palace maid, and also recalled her mentor's speculation about Concubine Ning.
There is no specific record of the year, month, and date for the Tsurui case, and most documents only give a vague time of "the turn of spring and summer."
Yang Wan initially agreed with the mainstream view, referring to the record in the "History of Ming Dynasty" which said that a palace maid could not bear the hard labor and punishment and took the risk.
To put it simply, this explanation is that an "ignorant girl" is taking revenge on society, which is totally unbelievable.
However, many cases in the history of the Ming Dynasty are full of realistic magical realism, which makes this "ignorant" girl seem less bizarre.
However, for some reason, although these things did not form a complete closed loop of speculation at the time, ever since she learned that Zheng Yuejia was responsible for selecting a wet nurse for the emperor's second son, Yang Wan had a hunch that Zheng Yuejia seemed to be the cause of the Heju case, or it could not be completely determined, but at least he was a link in it.
"Deng Ying, is there any way to get Zheng Bingbi to quit this job?"
Deng Ying shook her head. "This is a mission assigned by the Queen, and I cannot refuse it without a reason."
"oh… "
This "oh" was almost a sigh.
Song Yunqing was puzzled and said, "This is a good job. Being the prince's wet nurse will bring honor to the local area. All local government offices will be unwilling to lag behind and will compete to give money to the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department. Although... Zheng Bingbi doesn't seem to be that kind of person, he is still respectable. Why did you ask him to resign?"
Li Yu suddenly said, "She thinks something is wrong."
Yang Wan was startled. Li Yu didn't know what he had said. He was busy scooping mutton from the boiling water and continued, "Didn't she drop her chopsticks just now?"
Yang Wan was a little dazed by the smell of the pot. Deng Ying saw her rubbing her eyes and stood up, "I'll sit next to you."
Yang Wan shook her head, pulled his sleeve, sat down, and took a deep breath.
"Hey, you said I would treat you, but I messed up the meal myself and you guys couldn't even eat well."
Chen Hua said: "How could that be possible? We never stopped eating. In fact, Yun Qing is sometimes like this. When encountering something, it is easier to do it. But I think it's good. This person is really meticulous and prepared for a rainy day. Li Yu and I don't have this kind of brain."
Deng Ying and Chen Hua finished speaking, then lowered their heads and said to Yang Wan, "I'll go tell Zheng Bingbi tomorrow and ask him to keep an eye out."
Yang Wan nodded, raised her head and patted her neck twice, puffed her mouth and exhaled, and couldn't help but raised her head and said, "No, you still have to let him quit."
Li Yu said to her, "You are so mean. I have already said that it was the Queen Mother's appointment. If you ask him to resign, that would be against the Queen Mother's order. You should be dragged out and beaten. Zheng Bingbi is a person who is like a bodhisattva. Why are you so mean to him..."
Song Yun gently knocked away the meat that Li Yu had picked up and said seriously, "Don't eat it. Go down."
Chen Hua hurriedly said, "Forget it, forget it. You are all so kind. Come on, there is still a piece of meat here. I see that Governor Deng and the head of the household haven't eaten yet, so I'll give it to them."
Yang Wan pinched Deng Ying's sleeve, lowered her head, pursed her lips, and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know how I said such a stupid thing."
Deng Ying lowered her head and glanced at Yang Wan's face.
She had always liked pinching his sleeves. Such contact was based on affection but limited to courtesy. It gave Deng Ying enough respect under the clothes, but it seemed insufficient for Deng Ying to fully bear her anxiety and fear.
Deng Ying smiled, and slowly lowered her arm so that she could hold it more comfortably.