Red Mansion Rebirth: Ghost Phoenix

Jing Li smiled secretly as he answered according to Wang Xifeng's instructions, and then said with a smile: "Our Imperial Concubine is really like a worm in His Majesty's stomach, her predictions are extremely accurate."

Emperor Chongzhao raised his eyebrows when he heard this.

After Jing Li finished explaining with a smile, Qing Hai also laughed: "I think the imperial concubine wants to invite Your Majesty to eat something real, but she is afraid that you are too busy to take care of it, so she said this.

"How about I prepare and serve you to have lunch in Yinyu Palace?"

Emperor Chongzhao smiled and shook his head: "You are wrong.

"With her personality, if she wanted me to go over, she should just say so.

"I specifically pointed out that Miss Lin was also here to tell me that she would have to have lunch with He Ke, Miss Lin, and Lady Zhai. If I went there, it would be inconvenient for Lady Zhai and Miss Lin.

"But since there are new chefs from the northwest coming to the Shangshi Bureau, I can ask them to serve me a lighter meal of noodles."

After Jing Li finished delivering his message, he was about to leave.

Emperor Chongzhao did not let him go and asked him what Wang Xifeng was doing.

Jing Li thought about it, and first said that his royal concubine had begun to teach the princess how to organize the Dragon Boat Festival, and then reported the whole story of the Yunjin matter in detail.

Qinghai was beside him, trying his best to wink at him. Jingli looked at him blankly. While Emperor Chongzhao was lost in thought, he asked him quietly, "What's wrong?"

Qing Hai lowered his head while holding the whisk, feeling extremely depressed: "It's okay."

When he raised his head again, Emperor Chongzhao's face was uncertain, and he said calmly:

"Concubine Wang is very clever!

"He used the private treasury of His Majesty and me to curry favor with the Jiangning Weaving Factory and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and then used it to buy the hearts of the imperial concubines. His reputation is so good!

"Inside and outside, apart from that idiot Wu, I am the only one who is being taken advantage of, right?"

Jing Li's face changed drastically, and he fell to his knees with a plop, prostrating himself on the ground: "Your Majesty, please forgive me! It was just a few days before the abdication ceremony, and the Imperial Concubine didn't want to cause trouble, so she covered it up!

“This matter was actually secretly reported to Qian Gang, who then reported it to Prime Minister Dai!

"After Your Majesty ascended the throne, there were numerous important state affairs, so the Imperial Concubine did not bother you with such a small and unmentioned loss in the harem.

"But the accounts of these ten pieces of brocade, the people who handled them, and the confessions that were written down are all kept intact! If His Majesty needs them one day, the Imperial Concubine will definitely hand them over to him with both hands!"

Emperor Chongzhao looked at the top of Jing Li's head calmly and sneered, "Jing Li, don't forget that you are of the Jing generation, a name I personally gave you.

"Now I am merely giving you to Wang for temporary use!

"Your foundation is here with me!"

Jing Li kowtowed twice: "I never dare to forget!

"All under heaven belongs to the king; all within the four seas are the king's subjects.

"The Imperial Concubine always says that she is the Emperor's person, and that she only needs to consider the Emperor at all times and in all matters, and does not need to be worthy of others!

"I will naturally follow the master's instructions!"

Just consider the Emperor.

There is no need to be worthy of others.

How cold and indifferent, how... flattering!

Emperor Chongzhao's expression eased a little, but he snorted again and asked Qinghai: "How much brocade do I have left in my storehouse?"

Qinghai paused and said awkwardly: “When we moved the warehouse, Chen Duo and Han Lue followed the whole process, and Old Xia was here to accept the income.

“Later, you gave the order to hand over your private vault to Old Xia.

"Slave, I was too lazy to look at the account."

Emperor Chongzhao glared at him, annoyed: "Call me Chen Duo."

Jing Li stepped back silently.

Chen Duo rushed over and heard that it was Yun Jin who was being asked. He paused for a moment and then said respectfully:

“There were ten pieces of brocade left from the year before last, and His Majesty gave them all to the Imperial Concubine a few days ago.

"Last year, there were 23 pieces of brocade flowers left. There were not many patterns, mainly flowers and birds. There were only four pieces of each of the Eight Treasures and Eight Immortals, Four Wishful Thinking, Auspicious Clouds Holding Longevity, and Eight Clouds of Blessings.

"I have checked the records and found that this year's tribute will probably not arrive in Beijing until around the winter solstice."

Emperor Chongzhao hesitated for a moment and asked again, "Where is the Shu brocade?"

"There are even fewer Shu brocades. From five years ago until now, there are only 16 pieces in the collection. Most of the patterns are plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo, peony, grape, pomegranate, etc.

"The precious brocades in the warehouse, as well as kesi and Song brocade, are all tributes from Suzhou. There are not many left, about 20 to 30 bolts of each."

Chen Duo glanced at Emperor Chongzhao's expression, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "The brocade is thick and heavy, even if you wear it, it will only be suitable after autumn.

"If Your Majesty wants to reward people, there are still a lot of lingering silk, flowered silk, and soft silk in the warehouse. I remember that there seem to be two large boxes of soft smoke silk and shadow yarn, which are more suitable for Futian."

Emperor Chongzhao was slightly stunned: "Since the brocade is so thick, why did she cut this dress during the Dragon Boat Festival..."

Of course it’s because we need to get rid of this hot potato as soon as possible!

Emperor Chongzhao immediately understood Wang Xifeng's intention and couldn't help laughing:

"Call her stupid, but she still knew how to pick the most inscrutable method to cover up the matter;

"She is so smart, but she gave others so many handles in her haste!"

He shook his head and told Qinghai, "Have someone go look through all the silks and satins in the warehouse, pick out the colors and patterns that Wang likes, take two pieces of each and send them to her."

After a pause, he asked Chen Duo, "Isn't the Xiayingsha red?"

"Silver-red." Chen Duo replied with his head down.

Emperor Chongzhao nodded: "She and Heke both like red. Give her all the Xiayingsha."

After thinking about it, she felt a little disappointed. "I heard her say that her mother's dowry shop included several silk and satin shops and clothing shops. I think the materials she has seen may not be less than mine.

“Send the things over and see if she likes it.

"If she likes it, leave two more for her when the gifts come this year. If she doesn't like it, avoid it in the future."

Qinghai agreed, smiled and pointed at Jianzhong beside him, asking him to follow Chen Duo to find Xia Shouzhong: "You two go together to choose, Old Xia must know what the imperial concubine likes."

Jing Li also breathed a sigh of relief and left happily.

There was no one else in the palace. Qinghai came to the side of Emperor Chongzhao, offered him a cup of tea, and smiled slyly:

"The Emperor just complained that the Imperial Concubine had taken the initiative to hide the truth from you. But he turned around and was no longer angry. He gave away good things without asking for money. How can this be justified?"

Emperor Chongzhao glared at him and said, "I want to have cold noodles from the northwest for lunch. Go and tell the chef in person!"

"You are too late, I have already sent someone to tell them!" Qing Hai said, "I will go there now, I think the noodles are already cooked. It is so hot, I don't want to go there in vain."

Emperor Chong Zhao was amused by his rogue appearance, then he took a cup of tea to moisten his throat and sighed softly:

“You want the horse to run, but you also want the horse not to eat grass.

“Court officials cannot do this, and neither can imperial concubines.

"The situation is not stable right now, and everything is mixed up like a tangled mess. I really don't feel like going into the harem to see the women's faces.

"It's good enough that the queen doesn't cause trouble, she can't control it.

"If I don't coax Wang Shi to work for me wholeheartedly at this time, wouldn't that be like waiting for a fire in the backyard?"

Qing Hai was confused: "Then what were you angry about before?"

"Of course I am not angry about these fabrics. There is nothing to be angry about. Even if she broke up a warehouse of fabrics and spread them in the yard, I would just wear old clothes for a few days."

Emperor Chongzhao lowered his eyes and looked at the teacup and said no more.

Qinghai also shut his mouth and dared not ask any more questions.