concubines

After the Qianqiu Festival, King Qing will get married.

Qi Yunruo had to deal with this matter in the second month of being the housekeeper. There was no such old rule in the mansion, so Qi Yunruo found the congratulatory gifts sent by King Jing when Li Chen got married and compared them. After reading it over and over again, I prepared to show it to Li Chen.

Nanny Song was very angry and angry at Qi Yunruo for not discussing everything with her, but no matter how much she sneered at Qi Yunruo, she seemed not to understand and did things on her own. It is a big deal for Wang to send congratulatory gifts, and she really doesn't believe that Qi Yunruo can do it well by himself.

After being reprimanded by the prince, I still can't come to find myself, hum.

In Guanhe Tingzhou, Yu Zhi is the one who runs outside, and Lu Lan is in charge of the house. Nanny Song wants to stand up with Tassel to compete with Lu Lan, but Lu Lan used to be a female official of the sixth rank in the palace, not an ordinary court lady. Nanny Song dared not compete with her in spite of her age, let alone Tassel, who was severely suppressed by Lu Lan.

Liusu is now in Guanhe Tingzhou, and is only in charge of disciplining the little girl. Qi Yunruo is always served by Lu Lan. Liusu Qi Yunruo originally felt guilty, and he was not as good at things as Lu Lan. Fighting heart.Nanny Song persuaded: "Girl, it's so easy for you to serve the master. When you were in our mansion, which one of you eight Liuzi girls would not be able to take charge of it alone. You were wronged to serve the third young master. Now There is no sense of being a first-class girl in doing these things."

Liusu's face is troubled: "But the mother doesn't understand my suffering, the master doesn't believe me, what can I do, if the master has some support, I can stand up and carry it with Lu Lan, but the master likes Lu Lan more, I love you There is no other way."

Nanny Song murmured: "It's okay if something happens. When something happens, the master will know who is loyal..."

Liusu trembled for a while, but then she couldn't help thinking, what Nanny Song said was reasonable, the master has offended many people these days, if he disturbed the prince, Lu Lan would not be devoted to the master, but she still Here, I will serve him faithfully.

Today when Li Chen was taking a rest, Qi Yunruo went in to look for him with a list of congratulatory gifts, Su Ge said: "My lord is out in the study with some gentlemen, my lord, go to the lord's room and wait."

"Okay, thank you, father-in-law." Qi Yunruo smiled.

The war broke out in the Northern Qiang, and the disputes between the court and China continued. Li Chen had no chance to "steal half a day of leisure in a floating life", and he was very busy when he was at home.

During the break, Su Ge said to Li Chen, "Master Xiao Qi has a list of congratulatory gifts for King Qing's marriage."

"Hmm..." Li Chen stood up, "Everyone, wait a moment, my king will be back later."

"Your Majesty will go on his own."

Li Yue stood up and stretched his waist, rolled his eyes, and followed Li Chen out, but Su Ge didn't stop him with a half-smile.

After Li Chen saw Qi Yunruo, he naturally sat aside, took the list to read, and after reading it, he asked, "Let's talk about it."

Qi Yunruo said: "His Royal Highness King Jing's congratulatory gift included a box of nine pieces of fox fur, mink fur and other furs of various colors. I replaced them with fabrics such as Su embroidery, brocade, silk, snow satin, silk silk, and woolen. For example, I made porcelain and medicines similar to King Jing’s ceremony, and there are eight other treasures, six sets of men’s accessories, the silver is still 9000 taels, and the gold is 600 taels.”

Li Chen left the list and said, "That's right, reduce the silver by one thousand and the gold by half, let the warehouse prepare it."

Su Ge hurriedly followed the list and left.

Su Ge met the sneaky Li Yue at the door, and said helplessly, "Master Yue, you're embarrassing me again."

Li Yue smiled and shouted at the door: "Cousin, I'm coming in."

Qi Yunruo looked over curiously, and saw a man of eighteen or nineteen years old, tall and strong, he heard Li Yue call "cousin", but he didn't know who it was, so he didn't speak.

Li Yue took a look at Qi Yunruo, and asked enthusiastically, "Who are you?"

Li Chen squinted at him, "Why do you ask this?"

Li Yue said calmly: "In the past, my cousin never left during the discussion, and your yard never called concubines over. I am naturally curious about what called you away."

Qi Yunruo lowered his head a little embarrassedly, secretly looking at Li Chen.

Li Chen asked Li Yue to sit down, and said with a sneer, "If it's really my concubine, and you barged in so carelessly, I think you're old, but not smart enough."

Li Yue said: "Even if it is your concubine, I will naturally treat her as a sister-in-law. Who is this young man?" He looked at Qi Yunruo curiously.

Qi Yunruo said: "My lord, I'll go back first."

Li Chen smiled and said: "Okay, the mansion has been busy recently, Xiao Qi should pay attention to his body, if he feels tired, he should take a good rest."

"I see." Qi Yunruo didn't look at Li Yue, bowed slightly to Li Chen and left.

After he left, Li Yue asked, "Could this be Uncle Ziyang's young master, the princess' younger brother?"

Li Chen gave a "hmm", and Li Yue said: "A few years ago, I saw that Uncle Ziyang was burly and capable of carrying a tripod, how could he give birth to such a thin son?"

Li Chen said: "Uncle Ziyang's sons are not strong-backed, Xiao Qi is young and hasn't grown up yet."

"Cousin is preparing a congratulatory gift for King Qing's marriage?"

Li Chen looked at Li Yue and raised his eyebrows, "I'm afraid your father and brother have also prepared congratulatory gifts and are ready to transport them to the capital. I don't know if it's Li Yong or Li Yao coming this time?"

Li Yue smiled, "The south of the Yangtze River is rich and rich, my brothers are all fat and fat from fish and rice, but I am skinny and skinny in my cousin's mansion. I don't know how much my brothers feel sorry to see them."

Li Chen glanced at it during the day and was too lazy to say anything.

But Li Yue said with a smile: "Such a little beauty is actually in my cousin's house, tsk tsk, really, really... oh."

Today has never been a party of peace. In the early years, a civil servant thought that maintaining a prosperous age would not be easy to engage in militarism. The emperor sneered and said, "Are you asking me to send money, beauties, and horses to the tigers and wolves in the Northwest?"

The minister gritted his teeth and said: "What I mean is that even if we lack all these things, our great country can develop better in a stable period. The people live and work in peace and contentment, and businessmen come and go. Get your money back."

The emperor said coldly: "Since Aiqing has such a heart to love the people, then I will send your daughter to get married, give your money to the Qiang Shanyu for squandering, and give your beloved horse to our enemy troops for use." Attack our borders."

Afterwards, no one in the court dared to propose peace anymore. It has been six years since the last time the Qiang people provoked something. Six years... What happened in that year shamed all the men of the royal family, and the emperor knelt down in the ancestral hall Three days later, Li Chen, who was only 14 years old, also vowed that he would completely eliminate the serious troubles of the Qiang people in his lifetime.

In order to take back his favorite elder sister, Princess Changping Li Yao, in a legitimate way.

In September, the veteran general Situ Xu was dispatched to the frontier with 20 elite soldiers to support Si De, the guard of Yushu Gate. Today, he led the princes to see him off at the gate of the city. The emperor held Situ Xu's hand and said: " Aiqing, whether I can have a good year this year depends entirely on you."

Situ Xu bowed again, crying, "I will live up to your Majesty's trust."

King Qing looked sick. When he took the initiative to invite Ying for the second time and was about to lead troops out of the customs, he was reprimanded by his father, who even said that he only thought about himself and did not want to strengthen the country.

Li Chen sighed deeply, after all, he didn't say anything about leading the troops, but he looked at Situ Xu's far away back, and he felt a sense of worry in his heart.

King Jing who was on the side said, "What is the second brother worried about?"

Li Chen forced a smile, "Brother."

King Jing said: "If General Situ goes all out and flattens the Northern Qiang, we will have no more worries."

"I hope so."

After Li Chen returned home, he sat quietly for a while, he wanted to talk to Ji Huan, Yue Ya'er said that Ji Huan went to Guanhe Tingzhou to see lotus flowers.

Li Chen was taken aback, "Are there still lotus flowers in this season?"

Yue Ya'er was stunned for a moment, and said: "Yes, this servant remembered, the young master said that he wanted to eat lotus pods with young master Qi."

He has already missed the best season of lotus. Looking from the bridge, the lake is already full of gray lotus.

Qi Yunruo and Ji Huan were drinking the lotus seed porridge that had just been harvested this year. The porridge was warm and had rock sugar in it. Before the weather started to get cold, they sat by the lake and chatted one after another.

Qi Yunruo didn't have to be idle, while drinking porridge, he was watching the preparation of the autumn clothes in the mansion. Fortunately, Ji Huan also had something on his mind, so he was not disturbed, and he silently stirred the lotus seed porridge with a spoon.

The autumn clothes in Fuzhong are made first by the master. Qi Niqun in Dongmeiyuan has its own sewing room, and the other concubines are measured by the nurses in the sewing room, and the masters are asked to choose the color of the material before making it. The master requested that the craftsmen at the workshop also make matching hairpin and ring jewelry for the masters, or buy them outside. Qi Ni skirts are rewarded by the palace every year, and there are also compliant ones made by the Shaofu Supervisor of Taifu Temple. Jewelry rarely needs to be crafted separately.But the subordinates are simple, and everything is done according to the old rules.

After Qi Yunruo read the numbers reported by the various courts, he checked them himself and stamped them.

When Li Chen came, neither of them noticed. He stood behind Qi Yunruo, watched him finish each item, and asked, "What about you?"

Qi Yunruo was taken aback, and Ji Huan almost knocked over the porridge in his hand.

Li Chen took the brochure from Qi Yunruo's hand and looked at it, then smiled, "I never thought you would be so thoughtful in doing things."

Qi Yunruo smiled embarrassedly, looked at the lotus seed porridge, and asked, "Do you want a bowl too?"

"okay."

Lu Lan hurriedly went to serve the porridge, and asked: "My servant sees that the prince's face is a little pale, why don't I put some brown sugar in your porridge."

Li Chen nodded, "That's it." Saying that, Yu Zhi sat down on another chair brought by him.

Seeing that Lu Lan was so familiar with Li Chen, Liu Su was not afraid at all, and her heart was even more sour.

Ji Huan saw the exhaustion on his face, thought for a moment, and figured out that it was about sending troops to the Northern Qiang. Qi Yunruo looked at both sides, and said: "I think it will be the prince's 21st birthday in one month, I don't know Is it the same as last year?"

Li Chen was stunned for a moment, and said: "Let's cut it in half." Both Wangfei and Weifei are pregnant, so it's not appropriate to make a lot of noise, let alone border wars, so it's not good for him to celebrate his birthday.

Qi Yunruo said: "Then I know, how about entertaining guests?"

"Let's make a post for my brothers."

"it is good."

Ji Huan was already packing his luggage, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, even if the prince doesn't favor Xiao Qi, it's good if Xiao Qi can stand alone and no one dares to look down on him. He has his own family, Xiao Qi is not someone who can examine officials and enter the officialdom, it is the best thing for him to be free and rich.

The autumn clothes and jewelry were slowly delivered by Qi Yunruo to the various courtyards. Concubine Ji looked at the clothes and hairpin rings in her hands that were much worse than before, sneered, and threw them all on the ground.

"My sister is pregnant with a child, so she doesn't take this side concubine seriously? What does he think he is!"

Pei Er knelt aside and silently picked up the broken things.

"Last time he dared to hit the people in Shuangqiu Court, and this time he dared to fool me like this! He really thought I was easy to deceive! Pei'er, go and throw these things in his face."

Pei'er hesitated and said, "Master...and the princess."

"What about the princess? Who is like the princess who has a whole room of sewing girls, 120 sets of dowries, and endless silks and satins!"

"...Slaves look at Concubine Wei's place, they probably have the same things."

"Wei Shi's cowardly nature, apart from daring to choke on me, how dare he say a bad word in front of the princess. If I were like him, I would have been eaten by others."

A little maid rushed in and whispered a few words in Concubine Ji's ear.

Concubine Ji's complexion was even worse, and she said angrily: "My things are even inferior to Concubine Wei's. Concubine Wei's inner clothes are all made of high-quality snow satin this time, and her outer clothes are either Suzhou embroidery or brocade!"

Pei Er couldn't say anything now, and murmured: "Perhaps it's because Concubine Wei is pregnant."

"Hmph, when I was pregnant, I was still in charge of the house. When did you see that I used such a good material! This matter... can't be left alone."