Zi'an looked at him, carefully reading the emotions he tried hard to hide, and then smiled slightly, "You don't want to marry a concubine, right? If you don't want to marry, I can refuse on your behalf."
Murong Jie was a little annoyed. "It's not a question of whether I want to marry you or not, but whether you want me to marry you or not. If you don't like her, go and tell my mother yourself."
"I don't care." Zi'an saw what he was thinking and shrugged, "As long as you like it."
Murong Jie snorted, stood up and sat down again indignantly.
Zi'an held his chin with his hand and sighed heavily.
"Are you worried about Axin?" Murong Jie asked.
"I'm worried about him, I'm worried about Zhuangzhuang, and I'm even more worried about the current situation."
Murong Jie remained silent. Deposing the queen was only the first step. He first had to intimidate the Grand Tutor and then concentrate on dealing with Prince Nan Huai's return to the capital.
He said: "After the Queen is deposed, there will be a temporary chaos in the palace. I have proposed to promote Concubine Mei. You can go to the palace to talk to her occasionally."
"Princess Mei?" Zi'an was slightly surprised. "You actually promoted Concubine Mei?"
"She is the most suitable candidate. Don't remember that she helped the old lady before. Besides, Xia Lin's matter has nothing to do with her."
"I know, it was Xia Huaijun who did it." Zi'an didn't blame Concubine Mei too much. Concubine Mei only wanted to protect herself at the time, and also wanted to find a way out for the Third Prince. She was confused for a while, and later she fell into poverty, and the old lady and Xia Huaijun did not help her. She should have learned her lesson.
Indeed, Concubine Mei is the most suitable candidate. Her family is not strong, but she has been suppressed because of the old lady's affairs, so she knows how to restrain herself.
Zi'an looked at Murong Jie, "What do you actually have in mind? You deposed the queen, which means you want to dethrone the crown prince. Do you favor Prince Liang?"
Murong Jie shook his head, "Prince Liang will not compete for the position of Crown Prince."
"But aren't you doing all these things just to help him get promoted? To remove his bad reputation, to build connections for him, to create a good reputation for him. It all seems like you want him to be the emperor."
Murong Jie said nothing, just looked at her.
Zi'an thought for a moment, "Do you want him to be a shield, or a decoy? Do you want everyone to think that you want to make him the crown prince?"
Murong Jie remained silent, which was equivalent to not denying it.
Zi'an was a little angry, "You're drawing everyone's attention to him, it will kill him."
"He is a descendant of the Murong family. He should bear these responsibilities. Moreover, he is willing to do so. He was just decadent before."
"Have you asked him?" Zi'an asked.
"Sometimes, communication between men does not require words, a glance is enough."
Zian glared at him, "You old fox."
After a pause, she continued, "But if you promote Concubine Mei, the concubines in the harem will also try their best to suppress her, right? I'm afraid you may not be able to hide your thoughts from Grand Tutor Liang and Concubine Gui."
"So, Concubine Mei is only there to assist with the affairs of the harem, and we need to find someone else to assist her."
"Who?" Zi'an asked.
Murong Jie looked at her, "What do you think of Concubine Yi?"
Zi'an thought for a moment and said, "Not bad."
Murong Jie smiled and said, "I knew you would choose Concubine Yi."
It has to be Concubine Yi. Concubine Yi is insidious and cunning but has always been hiding in the dark. It is time to put her under the sun and let everyone worship her.
If a person holds an important position, there will always be people watching him. Someone will pay attention to who Concubine Yi interacts with, what she does every day, what she eats, and how many times she goes to the toilet.
Moreover, although Concubine Yi and Concubine Mei were friendly before, Concubine Yi felt uncomfortable with Concubine Mei, and Concubine Mei was also somewhat wary of Concubine Yi. Moreover, Concubine Yi's family was prominent, and Concubine Mei had something on her, so it was impossible for them to truly open up to each other.
Seeing that Murong Jie was still smiling, and his smile was very sinister, Zi'an asked, "What other plans do you have?"
"Don't you think it would be more fun if we add one more person?" Murong Jie said sinisterly.
Zian said unhappily, "Me?"
"As the regent princess, isn't it normal for you to help your mother share her worries? Of course, you can only stand on your mother's side and be neutral."
Zi'an sighed softly, "I am a concubine, how can I interfere in the affairs of the harem?"
"So, I'll only ask you to help my mother with the accounting. The accounts in the harem are very messy. The inner court reported that the palace's expenses in the past few years have reached 800,000 taels of silver, and this is just the palace's expenses."
Zi'an was a little shocked, "800,000 taels? Impossible?"
When she married into the palace, she had seen the palace's account books. The palace's annual expenditure was about three thousand taels. Naturally, the palace and the palace were not comparable. First of all, the population was incomparable. There were 58 people in the palace in total, but with an annual expenditure of three thousand taels, the palace was able to live quite well. How could the palace spend eight hundred thousand taels
Moreover, she remembered that in history, the most extravagant emperor in the Ming Dynasty spent about 900,000 taels a year. In the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi controlled spending and the annual expenditure was about 100,000 taels.
"Yes, when the emperor was healthy, he had already mentioned that the palace's expenses were too high and he intended to control them. This year's expenses have not been counted yet, but they must be counted at the end of the year. This king wants you to manage this account and control the expenses. The extra money will be used for food and wages, and cotton clothes and extra meals will be made for the soldiers at the end of the year, and an extra month's salary will be paid."
Zi'an nodded, but his heart felt heavy.
She knew that whenever the imperial court attached importance to soldiers, it meant there might be a war. The current frugality was probably a preparation for this. Was it the northern desert or the barbarians in the south
"okay, I get it."
The search for the blood antelope horn has not yet been completed, and Zhuangzhuang only has three days left. Everyone is as anxious as ants on a hot pan, but there is nothing they can do.
At this time, many officials in the court began to recommend candidates for the prince consort.
Sun Can also went to the palace that day to beg the Queen Mother, kneeling down and saying that he had liked the princess for a long time. Now he didn't care whether the princess would die or not, he just wanted to marry her and make her his wife before she died.
The Queen Mother scolded him, but he refused to leave.
If no one came to propose marriage, the Queen Mother might consider betrothing the princess to him. However, several ministers have come to recommend talented people today. How could the Queen Mother take this useless nephew seriously
Therefore, when the noble concubine entered the palace, the empress dowager angrily told her about Sun Can's request for marriage, and angrily said: "This guy only cares about Zhuangzhuang's wealth. He will never achieve anything in his life, just like his father. If we two sisters are gone, the Sun family will be scattered like monkeys when the tree falls."
The noble concubine smiled and comforted, "Sister, why are you angry? Just ignore him. Are you really going to marry the princess to him?"
"If he is successful, it's not impossible. After all, he married Zhuangzhuang and became my son-in-law. He has done something for our family. But I get angry when I think of the things he did."
"Okay, let's not talk about him anymore. Is there anyone who suits your taste?" asked the noble concubine.
The Queen Mother immediately became alert, "Do you have anyone to recommend as well?"
The noble concubine smiled and said, "I don't associate with those young men, so how can I know any talented people? I just want to help me take a look."
(End of this chapter)