If An Lingrong was reborn before the draft

Lingrong was recuperating in Anlan Garden. Meizhuang and Zhen Huan came to see her. The weather was too hot, so Lingrong ordered Baoque to go to the imperial kitchen to get some snacks and iced sour plum soup. Who knew Baoque would come back with a flat mouth, "My lady, I am back."

"What's wrong? What happened? Do you want to cry or not?" Juqing cried for half the night last night, and today it was her turn. Lingrong even wondered if she would be drowned by their tears.

"My lady, the Empress has issued an order saying that the national treasury is short of funds, and that the expenses of the harem must be reduced. The regular dishes, even the snack portions, must be cut." Bao Que also knew that the lady was going to host a banquet today, so she took great pains to bring back these few things.

Lingrong and the other two looked at each other. Zhen Huan and Mei Zhuang were probably wondering why the allowances were suddenly reduced. But in Lingrong's previous life, she heard that it was Mei Zhuang who recommended the reduction of the allowances, which meant cutting out a meat dish. As a result, the Queen interfered and cut off most of the allowances, which made the six palaces jealous of Mei Zhuang, and Concubine Hua framed her with a false pregnancy. But since last year, Lingrong has been persuading Mei Zhuang to give up assisting in the management of the six palaces. So now is the Queen really going to cut down on expenses or is she using someone as a pretext?

"Bao Que, stop crying. Pour a bowl of sour plum soup for Concubine Wan and Concubine Shen first." Ling Rong was silent for a while and then told her. "Drink some sour plum soup to cool down first. What does the Queen mean by this? It's ok to cut the regular dishes, but why did she cut the snacks too?" Ling Rong complained. She didn't really blame the Queen, but she wanted to know what Zhen Huan and the others knew.

"I don't know. It's been too hot these days. I asked the people in the palace to make sour plum soup for me. Otherwise, let Caiyue teach Juqing so that you don't have to suffer the anger of the imperial kitchen." Meizhuang had just asked for a prescription for having a child, so she really didn't want to care about all these messes now. As long as she wouldn't starve, it was fine.

"I did hear something," Zhen Huan said, seeing that neither of them knew, "The Emperor looked at the account book of the harem's expenses and felt that the harem's expenses were wasteful..."

She didn't continue talking, so it's hard to say whether it was the emperor who ordered the reduction, the empress, or someone else who suggested the reduction, so we can't talk nonsense.

The three of them looked at each other and understood a lot. "Sister Mei, why do you drink so much sour plum soup? Aren't you sick of it?" Ling Rong saw Mei Zhuang drank two boxes of sour plum soup in a short while. She even felt her teeth were sour.

Mei Zhuang said shyly to Zhen Huan and Ling Rong, "Drink it, it's delicious."

"Sister, you forgot that I hate sour food the most." Zhen Huan smiled and glanced at her. Mei Zhuang also said embarrassedly, "Look at my memory, that's a good thing for me." Mei Zhuang's eyes sparkled as she went to take Zhen Huan's bowl of sour plum soup. As soon as she picked it up, she was pushed down by Cai Yue, "My lady drank four or five bowls before going to bed. Be careful not to hurt your stomach."

Lingrong saw that after Meizhuang heard that she couldn't drink the sour plum soup, her eyes were not as bright as before. At that time, there seemed to be stars in her eyes, and it seemed that she really wanted to drink it.

"It's been hot lately, and I like to drink sour plum soup the most." She said embarrassedly.

"That's because Fuling's sour plum soup is so good," Caiyue said with a smile. They all love to drink the sour plum soup made by Fuling.

"Who is Fuling?" Zhen Huan knew the people around Meizhuang, but this was the first time she heard the name Fuling.

"She is a little palace maid in the palace, assigned to serve the young lady," Caiyue replied.

"The sour plum soup is made with Poria cocos. I thought it was made by Caiyue." When Lingrong first heard Meizhuang ask Caiyue to teach Juqing, she thought it was Caiyue who made the sour plum soup.

"How could I have that skill? I'll ask Xiao Shi to go back and get two pots so that Miss Jing can have a taste." After saying this, Cai Yue looked at Mei Zhuang. After Mei Zhuang nodded, she went out to instruct Xiao Shi.