An Lingrong's Rebirth: The Lock of Qingqiu

The queen reduced the number of concubines in the harem, and Concubine Xiang, Concubine Qi and others vented their dissatisfaction on Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang. Although the harem obeyed the queen's orders, Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang jointly took charge of the Sixth Palace.

Qi concubine had been spoiled since she was a child. She looked at the three dishes and one soup with clear and watery soup. She looked sad and tasted the food. She couldn't help but vomited her bitterness to An Lingrong and said: "Empress Li concubine, this is the closest thing to concubine Hui concubine and concubine Guan concubine." It’s you. Can you eat such a meal? If it’s not rich enough for me to feed cats and dogs, how can this person come to the palace to enjoy the glory and wealth? , The emperor is in charge of the world, how can he save this little money from the concubines in the harem? "

An Lingrong said calmly: "If Concubine Qi says she can't eat it, then the queen's food is the same as that of the concubines in the harem. Isn't the queen's body more valuable than that of the concubines in the harem? The queen can eat it, and she has no objection. I Don’t you dare have any objections! If you are unhappy, go and argue with the queen yourself!”

An Lingrong was not angry with her, so Qi concubine asked for her own displeasure, so she left Yining Palace with her servants.

An Lingrong looked at her walking away and sighed softly. When she turned her head, she heard Qin Sanyue watching Qi Concubine leave the palace and a slight cold snort coming from her nostrils.

For this Qi concubine, like her father, she must be like her daughter, and the father and daughter have the same character and virtue. An Lingrong has changed his mind now and has no intention of provoking her at all.

The concubines in the harem were in various situations. Qi Guiren simply changed his meals from three meals to two meals because the food did not suit his taste, and he also performed weight-loss exercises. Concubine Xiang asked Concubine Qi to kill her cat and use it to stew soup to nourish her body. However, Concubine Qi mistakenly killed the cat in the Queen's Palace, which made the Queen furious; Fucha Gui and Xia Ruchun, who usually disliked each other, actually had a meal together and shared the bird's nests that the Queen had given them. Give it to An Lingrong.

An Lingrong carried a jar of bird's nests and went to Tangli Palace to visit Zhen Huan. Shen Meizhuang and Chun'er also came. Chun'er said that it was okay for her to eat less, but she could not mistreat her precious daughter, Bao'er, at this time. Bao'er is really pitiful. His big innocent eyes have lost their luster and he is screaming for big chicken drumsticks.

Chun'er impatiently lifted the noisy Bao'er across her lap, stretched out her hand and patted her butt twice, and said angrily: "Where can I find chicken drumsticks for you at this time! Are you obedient? If you don't, you will be punished. Send it to the Queen's palace."

Bao'er burst into tears and hunched up like a shrimp, making the fuss even more intense: "I want to eat chicken legs, I want to eat, I want to go to my father..."

Now Chun'er was really angry. He picked up the scriptures on the cabinet beside him and slapped Bao'er's butt gently and hard. Bao'er's temper was also stubborn. His mouth was opened wide and he could cry. Out of breath, looking like he's about to faint.

Shen Meizhuang quickly reached out his hand and lifted Bao'er's body up so that she was close to his body. He gently patted her back with his hands. Bao'er finally took a breath and said "Wow!" burst into tears.

"Okay, okay, Bao'er, don't cry, be good." Shen Meizhuang comforted her gently.

Bao'er finally calmed down. Chun'er stood up and carried Bao'er back to the palace.

Shen Meizhuang frowned slightly, feeling worried. An Lingrong couldn't help but asked: "Sister Mei, Sister Wan, if this portion is halved, is it too much? Such a meal may be outside the palace, and it is not as ordinary as that." Where’s the food for the common people?”

Zhen Huan nodded thoughtfully and said: "It is indeed too much. The emperor said that he wanted to promote frugality, and the queen wanted to take frugality to the extreme."

Shen Meizhuang said worriedly: "If such a period only lasts for a few days, and they complain a few more times, the matter will be over, but if it goes on for a long time, the contradiction will become apparent. So what should we do?" According to what I think, we may be able to invest our own money to provide more regular dishes for the concubines in the harem, thus improving everyone’s quality of life.”

Zhen Huan nodded and said: "This is a feasible method, but how to distribute the money? The money is collected according to the concubines' palaces, and they will definitely not be willing. The salary has already been halved, and they are asked to pay another two taels of silver. I guess he’s full of resentment again.”

Shen Meizhuang waved his hand and said: "No, there is no need for each harem to collect silver coins. Let's do this. I brought a lot of silver coins from my mother's family into the palace. I gave all the silver coins to add special dishes to them. It's just that the two sisters carefully selected the good ones together. Each palace has its own ingredients and cooking materials. Sister An is good at cooking and needs help from Sister An. After the food is cooked, it will be distributed to the various palaces of the concubines. By the way, ask them to go ahead on their own. You can also come and pick up food.”

Zhen Huan carefully asked for advice: "Does the Queen's palace need to send special dishes?"

Shen Meizhuang said with gloomy eyes: "How can the Queen's decree be broken by her own rules? The Queen will definitely lead by example. At this time, if a dish is sent to the Queen's palace, she will not only refuse it, but also probably She will also criticize us for saying that if we want to feed other concubines in the harem privately, we have to go through her hands, which is inappropriate. "

An Lingrong pursed her lips and said: "Yes, I also think that there is no need for the Queen's palace to send her regular dishes. If the Queen wants to punish her, there will be extra regular dishes in each palace in the harem, and what about the flowers? It’s not her money, so she can’t blame any of the concubines.”

After the three people discussed it, they decided to provide taels of silver to add regular dishes to the concubines in the harem. Shen Meizhuang was born into a noble family and her family was extremely wealthy. Her monthly daily expenses exceeded the monthly monthly silver issued by the palace, so An Lingrong and Zhen Huan no longer competed with her for money.

An Lingrong took Qin Sanyue, Shen Meizhuang took Caixing Caiyue, and Zhen Huan took Liu Zhu and Cui Jinxi out of the palace. The three groups split up and gathered at the three-way intersection of Jingdong Street after the purchase was completed.

Taking advantage of the break from shopping, An Lingrong asked Qin Sanyue to go home. She also gave some money to her parents for living expenses. Her parents were in harmony and in good health, so she felt at ease.

After returning from shopping, everyone poured everything into Tangli Palace. It was a very messy and busy scene. An Lingrong, Zhen Huan, and Shen Meizhuang were so busy that they were sweating profusely, while the palace maids and eunuchs were shuttled back and forth, extremely excited. .

An Lingrong set up a big pot in the courtyard to cook black-bone chicken soup. Next to it was a large pot of chicken in pieces, as well as many chicken legs. Liu Zhu picked up a chicken leg and shook it and said: "Chungui family "Bao'er, I have some chicken legs to eat now, leave some more for her."

Zhen Huan stuffed a piece of firewood under the pot with her own hands, and Shen Meizhuang was counting the number of cold bacteria and beef. The fire became hotter and hotter, and the aroma of the black-bone chicken soup in the big pot became stronger and stronger.