Siheyuan: Pushing Huairu, the Prime Minister admits defeat

"Why is Xiao Lingying secretly in contact with other eunuchs in the palace? Are they having an affair? But that doesn't make sense. This little girl is as innocent as a blank sheet of paper. It doesn't look like that."

Lin Chaosheng became interested and walked through the winding corridor and shouted, "Sister Lingying, I have been looking for you for a long time. I wonder where the kitchen in our palace is?"

"The kitchen? Humph!"

"So you still need to eat. I thought you could fill your stomach just by drinking dew like the cicada on the tung tree. Why, aren't you staying in the bathroom all the time?"

"You didn't expect that I had already eaten all the steamed buns and snacks in the kitchen, lah!"

When Lingying heard the villain Lin Chaosheng calling her, she wrinkled her nose and made a face in annoyance.

Her eyes were like water apricots, her face was pretty, and her two big, clear and bright eyes were staring at Lin Chaosheng fiercely.

"Ouch!"

"Who is so wicked that he doesn't fill the hole~"

After walking a few steps, Lin Zhuangyuan, who was only concerned with joining in the fun, was not paying attention and was almost tripped by the bumpy road surface.

"Hehe, I let you be a pervert, now you are getting your retribution."

Lingying said gloating words, but she pulled the big red lantern over to help Lin Chaosheng illuminate the collapsed bluestone road around him.

"Thank you! But since we have lanterns, why don't we light them up? It would be more mysterious if we painted them black."

Taking the dim lantern, Lin Chaosheng was about to light the wick but was interrupted by Xiao Lingying with a distressed look.

"Don't pick it so bright. Doesn't lamp oil require silver?"

Lin Chaosheng was suddenly speechless after hearing this. He didn't expect that a little maid like you would know how to save money for the empress dowager.

I feel so bad about using lamp oil.

If Xiao Lingying knew that the Empress Dowager Xiao, whom she admired, had once bought the only copy written by Kato for a thousand taels of silver, the little girl would probably cry her pillow wet in her dreams.

"Lingying, who is this?"

Seeing that the two were suspected of flirting, the eunuch Zuo Feng revealed a barely perceptible sadness in the corner of his eyes, but he quickly concealed it.

"Oh, you mean him? His name is Lin Chaosheng. He is a new eunuch who has just entered the palace and serves the Queen Mother with me."

Xiao Lingying didn't think much about it. After introducing Lin Chaosheng, she hurriedly grabbed his sleeve and begged.

"Eunuch Zuo, you work for His Majesty and you know that this donation banquet is very important, so just bring me an invitation."

Zuo Feng began to hesitate: "But, but Your Majesty really didn't prepare an invitation to Yongle Palace. I came here to tell you while delivering the invitation to the Empress."

"Besides, even if we let the Queen Mother go, it seems that she can't take out silver or valuables to donate. Why should she go and suffer humiliation..."

Hearing this, Xiao Lingying kicked the gravel on the roadside in frustration: "What! The emperor is so stingy. Not only has the money he has allocated to the palace become less and less in recent years, but now he doesn't even want to take out a tael of silver!"

Zuo Feng was frightened by her words, and hurriedly looked around. Seeing that no one was passing by, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Be careful with your words, be careful with your words, beware of the harm that may come from your mouth."

"Invitations? A donation dinner? What are you talking about?"

Lin Chaosheng was confused and couldn't help asking.

"Woo woo, that means we may have to starve in the future, with only bran and pickles to eat every day, no books to read, no charcoal to grill, and no reward money or flowers during festivals."

Thinking of this, Xiao Lingying choked up and started crying. Her tearful appearance made Lin Chaosheng even more puzzled.

Fortunately, Zuo Feng, who was watching from the sidelines, explained, "A few days ago, Lingling Prefecture in the south was plagued by bandits. A charlatan named Gongsun Yonghao gathered a large group of people to fight against the imperial court. Your Majesty wanted to use this as an opportunity to send troops to the south."

"There is a rebellion in Lingling Prefecture. Is there any movement in the Ancient Yue Kingdom?"

Lin Chaosheng's pupils shrank. The banditry that could be reported to the imperial court without going through the local governor's way was definitely not a minor matter.

You must know that the Great Zhou Dynasty is adjacent to the Ancient Yue Kingdom in the south, and the two countries have always been at odds. Lingling Prefecture, as a barrier line of defense against the Ancient Yue Kingdom, has a very important strategic significance.

Falling into the hands of the rebels would be relatively harmless, but if the Ancient Yue Kingdom took the opportunity to encroach upon it, the entire southern border of the Great Zhou would probably be in chaos.

"Well, I didn't expect a little eunuch like you to have such insight. Now His Majesty wants to use troops, but the treasury is short of silver. He can only call on civil and military officials, as well as royal family members, to donate money to suppress the bandits."

Zuo Feng looked at Lin Chaosheng in surprise and spoke to himself.

"The donation banquet will be held in Wuxiang Palace, and we in the harem must also attend the banquet. According to your majesty's wishes, whoever donates more will receive more monthly salary in the future. If you don't participate or are ranked at the bottom, your monthly salary will be cut off."

"Uh, donate money to fight bandits? Why does it sound so unreliable..."

Lin Chaosheng had a strange expression. If he remembered correctly, the last time he heard this term was when it was used on Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty...

"Yeah, I said that His Majesty had bad intentions. He clearly knew that our Yongle Palace was poor and could not afford to donate money, but he deliberately targeted our Yongle Palace like this."

Xiao Lingying stopped sobbing, and looked towards the palace where Yang Rong lived with her big watery eyes. She bit her silver teeth lightly with unspeakable anger.

She was a maid who came as a dowry from the Northern Wei Kingdom, and she had never shown much respect to the Emperor of the Great Zhou.

Lin Chaosheng thought for a moment and said slowly, "The monthly salary expenditure will be determined based on the amount of money donated by each palace. I think this is an opportunity for our Yongle Palace."

With a chuckle, the eunuch Zuo Feng laughed out loud.

He glanced at Lin Chaosheng with disdain: "You little eunuch, have you been blinded by greed? You still have a chance? Everyone knows that your Yongle Palace is extremely poor, and even the rats living in the kitchen can starve to death. Donating money? Where do you get the courage to do so!"

"Can mice starve to death in the kitchen?"

Lin Chaosheng has always had a very strange focus. He looked at Xiao Lingying, who looked a little embarrassed, with a frown on his face.

The little girl blushed with shame and kept explaining, "Eunuch Zuo, please stop talking nonsense. Those mice didn't starve to death. They obviously got lost and bumped into the wall."

Lin Chaosheng: …

Zuo Feng: ...

He did not dwell on this too much, and after a pause he said, "Since I said this is an opportunity, then I have my considerations. As long as Eunuch Zuo is willing to bring a copy of the invitation, I will not disappoint His Majesty at the donation dinner tomorrow."

Seeing Lin Chaosheng patting his chest to make a promise, Zuo Feng felt it was ironic. He was about to refuse, but he glanced at Xiao Lingying who was standing beside him with tears in her eyes.

He still sighed depressedly: "Well, it's bad luck for Concubine Chen next door. She displeased His Majesty a few days ago. I don't think this invitation will be sent to their palace. It's better to do them a favor."

After saying that, he took out a red invitation from his sleeve and handed it to the smiling Xiao Lingying. Seeing her excited, he felt warm in his heart.

After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Lingying, if the Empress Dowager's palace runs out of salary tomorrow, you can come to my palace to work..."

However, before he could finish his words, the little girl gave him a nice guy card: "Eunuch Zuo, you are a good person, but Lingying grew up with the Queen Mother since she was a child, and she will never leave Yongle Palace no matter what."

“Oh, so that’s it!”

Zuo Feng smiled. It was understandable that Xiao Lingying was unwilling to leave the Queen Mother, so he would not force her.

When the Queen Mother becomes debilitated, he will come and take Xiao Lingying away...

His good mood didn't last long, because the next second Xiao Lingying grabbed Lin Chaosheng's sleeve and said, "Let's go. There are some cakes left in the kitchen. Let's fill our stomachs."

Lin Chaosheng: "But I don't have any bedding in my room. What should I do if I catch a cold while sleeping at night..."

"Don't worry, I have winter quilts in my room, just don't think they're too thick!"

The shadows of the two people holding lanterns gradually lengthened under the light.

Only the poor eunuch was left petrified on the spot...