The Legend of the Long Room in the Red Mansion

Qiu Shi'an announced loudly again at an inappropriate time: "His Royal Highness is here."

As soon as the words fell, Yingchun staggered in with a long line of maids holding account books, bowed obediently and said: "Greetings to the father, greetings to the emperor, and wishing the father and the emperor a long life. To the queen's sister-in-law Greetings, Empress's sister-in-law Qiantui. How good is my little nephew? I have been busy calculating the expenses of the last quarter these days, so I didn't take care to greet my sister-in-law, please don't be offended by my sister-in-law."

Yinghua knew very well that Yingchun was loved and was much more capable than herself, so she never got married in front of her. When the two met privately, they called each other without waiting for Yingchun to perform the salute. Now it was natural for Ningshan to Not to mention welcoming the Spring Festival.Nanny Hua knew her master's intentions very well, so she rushed over to help her up after Yingchun had finished asking Jia Amnesty to get her up. The timing was just right, and she took advantage of the opportunity to help Yingchun up after finishing asking Ning Shan's Ann.

Jia Amnesty was jealous of Yinghua at first, thinking that she stole the eldest son's attention, but now he saw another woman who could stand up to him, his face was sour and jealous: "What are you doing here?" Is the palace affairs all handled? Are all the arrangements properly? Don’t neglect your duties, you just want to have fun all day long. A few days ago, I heard a few court ladies complain that the monthly payment was late.”

Yingchun smiled slightly, ignored Jia Amnesty, turned around and took the account book in Si Qi's hand, held it in front of Ning Shan and said: "Father and emperor are just talking about trivial matters, but brother, look at this, now the master of the palace is less than ten. There are many people, but there are no fewer than [-] palace maids and eunuchs. These days, my sister has often gone to various places to investigate, because there are so many people in the palace, and the food supply cannot be taken care of. In some remote palaces, such as Xiuxinyuan, Yangxingzhai, etc., where few people come to visit, the palace people starved to death."

Ning Shan was surprised and said: "There is such a thing? Are there still so many people in the palace?" The eunuchs and maids in the palace have never been changed. The personal servant girls brought into the palace by Yingchun, Xichun and Daiyu have all risen up and become high-grade female officials.None of the Ning family's children could enter the palace, even an old servant like Granny Ping, because her husband was still there, she only took the title of nanny and nurse to spend her days outside the palace.

Yingchun tapped the account book lightly with her hand and said: "The younger sister has already sorted it out, so the emperor will know it with a glance."

Ning Shan picked up the account book, flipped through it and asked, "Isn't there a custom order for the servants in the palace? And I have kindly let the maids out of the palace before, why are there so many left?"

Yingchun curled her mouth and said: "There are customizations, and someone must abide by them. The last dynasty prospered, and the two emperors stood side by side. In order to show their dignity, each of them tried their best to fill in the waiters with the mentality that the more the better, it seriously exceeded the regulations. The harem of the two emperors is even more competitive, competing for places with dignitaries in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as if which palace has more maids and eunuchs, the master of which palace can be superior. The concubines are more dependent on their seniority If you are taller, you will have to employ twice as many people as concubines. Just think about it, how many people are there in the palace now?"

After flipping through an account book, Ning Shan couldn't stand it anymore: "Let people go, let people go, let them all go to the palace." Several counties along the coast were hit by disasters. They also need to prepare military pay and food to prepare for the war. Where can they have spare money to support so many idlers?

Yingchun said: "It is true that people should be released, but who and how many should be released, sister-in-law cannot decide."

Jia She took the opportunity to belittle and said: "You can't do it? Why are you showing your timidity?"

Yingchun glanced at the triumphant Jia She, and said angrily, "Why don't you work so hard, father?" She doesn't believe that Jia She can handle this matter well. She has seen how much this father has since she was a child, and now she has entered the palace. After becoming the Supreme Emperor, he will be pampered and pampered all the time, and those who don't work hard and don't turn their minds, are probably not as useful as Cong'er.

Jia Amnesty took it for granted, "Except for those who serve personally, let them all go out."

Even Yinghua couldn't listen to these words: "Then who will do the daily cleaning? Who will be responsible for running errands and passing on the news? Who will be in charge of the imperial dining room, clothing bureau, and bedroom department? Who will pay attention to the auspicious vat? Who will be in charge of the cooked fire? The palace It's so big, if only those who are close to him are left to serve, wouldn't it be as empty as a ghost town..." Before she finished speaking, she was pulled back by Nanny Hua, which was too outspoken, Nanny Hua was frightened out by her master In a cold sweat.

Jia She said awkwardly: "Then besides these..."

Yingchun finally couldn't hold back and rolled her eyes to show him: "Father, you better stop talking." After speaking, she turned to Ning Shan and said, "Brother Huang, what advice do you have?"

Ning Shan said: "Maids put more, since it's not difficult to live after returning home, but eunuchs, once out of the palace, I'm afraid they won't have a good life." Sensitive to his superiors, he is respectful but not flattering to his superiors, stern but not rude to his inferiors, and has a good sense of proportion in his dealings with the ministers.After following her every day, Ning Shan changed some of her views on eunuchs.

Yingchun asked Xiuju to take notes, and said seriously: "Sister Chen also thinks the same way, the court ladies can talk about it, young people can marry when they go out of the palace, and old people can also be nuns, there is always a way out. But the life of the eunuchs is indeed difficult, except for the respectable eunuchs in each palace, they can hardly save any money, and even if they have food and clothing in the palace, life is difficult, let alone the palace pension."

Jia Amnesty struggled to snatch back his sleeve from under the big fat grandson's mouth, and asked, dripping saliva, "All the maids will be let out, only the eunuchs?"

Nanny Hua hastily declared: "This old slave must serve the empress to the end." Si Qi also shouted anxiously: "My lord, no, the Supreme Emperor is kind enough to let my servants serve the eldest lady, no, it's Her Royal Highness the eldest princess." Ju and the others were not as bold as Si Qi, although they were nervous, they didn't dare to shout out.

Ning Shan stretched out her hand to hug her fat son who said "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The only role of this person is to cause trouble, so it is more appropriate to send him away first.

Jia She snorted angrily, "Everyone crosses the river and demolishes the bridges. If you haven't crossed the river here, you will kick me away. All right, just leave. Let me see who can do the job of ordering people out?"

Ning Shan thought about it, so far, all the orders of the harem have used Jia She's seal, he is not good at stamping such trivial seals with jade seals all day long, Yinghua doesn't know how to manage palace affairs, welcomes the spring with a low profile, and doesn't like to make publicity Well, outsiders don't know that the current master of the harem is actually the eldest princess, and this matter will really fall on Jia She.

With a glance, Yingchun hurriedly stepped forward to hold Jia She, and said with a charming smile: "Father is the great one, I still need to learn more from you and ask for advice, you are always kind, leave a few pointers, and let the son The minister has increased his knowledge."

Jia She came back happily after earning enough face. He did it shyly, and said in a pompous manner: "We are not waiting for the fish and meat people, why don't we let them voluntarily, and those who want to leave the palace and go home are allowed to take away their bedding and savings. Wouldn't it be decent and approachable to give some extra money?"

Yinghua blurted out: "What if none of them are willing to leave?" All the young female officials in the palace longed to enter Ning Shan's harem, how many of them were willing to leave the palace on their own initiative?

Before Ning Shan could understand why she refused to leave, Yingchun smiled and said: "Young people still have something to look forward to, but most of the old people are willing to leave the palace. When they are all gone, those who do not want to leave the palace will be transferred to leave the palace." The place far away from the emperor's brother is the one who refused to leave this time, and next time let people out of the palace, and keep them begging to go out." Yinghua saw that her little thoughts were seen through by her sister-in-law, she blushed, lowered her head and said nothing up.

Jia She pouted and said, "Why do you come in batches once or twice? Wouldn't it save effort to send them away together?"

Ying Chun said in a gentle voice: "Too many people sent at one time will easily lead to riots. Most of the palace people are illiterate and have little knowledge. Rushing to inform them that they are going to leave the palace will only cause panic. There must be chaos in the palace."

Ning Shan rubbed her forehead, feeling that the harem is much more troublesome than the previous dynasty, she couldn't help spreading her hands, and asked Yingchun to think of a way: "Just tell me what you want to do."

Yingchun bit her cherry lips lightly, hesitated for a while, and then tentatively said: "I think, it's better to start with the more remote palaces first, and cut down some less important personnel to see the effect. Every few years, of course, in order to maintain the normal operation of the harem, it is also necessary to hold small elections to recruit newcomers, as long as more people come out than come in, the population of the palace will always decrease slowly."

As soon as Jia She heard about the draft, he went to look at Ning Shan in a ghostly manner. Now that he is looking forward to Shu, he can't help but fantasize more about having a big fat grandson. Although Yinghua is pregnant, she is weak after all. At the speed of one, it takes 20 years to have a dozen grandchildren. Jia She has the intention to push Ning Shan to fill the harem, but he is afraid that Ning Shan will be unhappy, so he dare not bring up this issue, but always hopes for some opportunity to break it. This balance.

Ning Shan got dizzy when she heard that there was going to be a talent show, and she refused again and again: "Releasing people is also releasing palace maids. The eunuchs don't leave the palace, so there won't be too many missing manpower for a while. It's fine to put more palace maids around you little girls. There is no shortage of people around me to serve me, so there is no need to choose someone to come in."

Yingchun frowned and said: "The selection of candidates is a formality, and you should go for a while, not to mention that if you can only discharge but not recharge, sooner or later there will be enough. Our Dugu Dynasty will last forever, how can we give it to the future in the first year?" I know the big brother is afraid that the number of people will get out of control again, but we can decide how many people to choose. For example, if we let 300 people out of the palace this year, we will only choose three to come in next year, and the number is still decreasing. .”

Jia Amnesty was very satisfied with this suggestion. It would be good to let three hundred useless court ladies go out and bring in three palace concubines who could give him fat grandchildren. But thinking that he once ordered to stop the draft, Jia She's eyeballs rolled around, and he wanted to fool Ning Shan and the others away, so that he could pull Qiu Shi'an to help him think about how to take back what he said.His Majesty Ning Jiashe, the half-way emperor, had no concept of golden words, but the courage to correct mistakes when he knew his mistakes was worth learning from the emperors of all dynasties.

Maybe it's because the more excited the more you think about it, the more impactful the expression, Ning Shan looked at Jia She vigilantly and said, "Although I don't know what you are thinking, I hope you will give up immediately." It's okay to cause trouble for him, but it's very busy right now, so it's necessary to prevent problems before they happen.

Jia Amnesty felt guilty all of a sudden, even the big fat grandson didn't bother to snatch it up, and directly said, "I'm sleepy, I need to take a nap, what should you all do?"

Hearing this, Ning Shan supported Yinghua to stand up and said, "You also go back and take a nap, as there are still memorials in Qianqing Palace that have not been approved, so I won't accompany you."

Yingchun hurriedly said: "I will go back with the queen's sister-in-law."

Ning Shan nodded: "The harem is completely entrusted to you, just draw up the regulations and show me."

Yingchun smiled and said, "I'm afraid it will take some time."

Jia Amnesty couldn't help but enlightened: "You can't do it alone, wouldn't it be faster to find a few more people to help you?"

Yingchun asked curiously, "Is there anyone you can recommend, Father?"

Jia She said with a smile: "Daiyu's girl is very smart and smart. She used to help you with housekeeping, so let's invite her out of the mountain again. There are also two girls from the Xue family, both of them are very shrewd and good-looking. ...No, I mean, even if you have a good brain, you can borrow it and use it."

After hearing this, Yinghua said, "I'll ask Miss Xue to help you when I go back." Speaking of which, as long as Xue Baochai is not allowed to dangle in front of Ning Shan all day long, the advantages of keeping her in the palace will outweigh the disadvantages, and giving it to Yingchun can bring out the best It's worth it, and it can keep her away from Ning Shan's sight, killing two birds with one stone, it couldn't be better.Before knowing Jia She's secret plan, Yinghua was really grateful to him for offering to send Xue Baochai to Yingchun.

Yingchun looked at Jia She and smiled straight, her pensive look made Jia She even more guilty, she always felt that this girl was becoming more and more shrewd, as if she could read people's hearts with a glance.

In fact, Yingchun did see that Jia Amnesty was making plans for the pretty little girl, but unfortunately, her understanding was a bit skewed.After all, Ning Shan's self-cleaning, upright image makes people think that she is addicted to female sex, but Jia She's past life is corrupt, and the beautiful maids in the room are often changed every month, but they are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess, who was strolling back to the Yuqing Palace, summoned the sweet-scented osmanthus who stayed behind, and lazily ordered: "Find a chance to speak out, and say that the Supreme Imperial Palace is lonely, and see if there is anyone who is ready to move. If there is, the first batch will be distributed." The candidate for leaving the palace is ready."

Osmanthus osmanthus wrote it down respectfully, and was about to go out to do some errands, but Si Qi asked curiously: "Can someone take a fancy to... er, the Supreme Emperor?"

Yingchun smiled sweetly: "If you use big brother to fish, I'm afraid there will only be an inner eunuch left in this palace."