Wangfu Shenyuan

When he woke up, the sun was already in the west, Xia An took a few sips of herbal tea and started to work.Drawing and coloring the gift list will not trouble Xia An, so it should be regarded as drawing, as long as you don't break any taboos.

Fortunately, Qingtu has already made a blank mold, otherwise, according to Xia'an's current level, no matter what, he would not be able to make such an exquisite and meaningful gift list.

Xia An was just halfway through when Guanshi He sent someone to ask. He also wanted to hurry up, but painting is slow work after all, and it would be rough if it was too fast.When it came time to apply, I asked Manager He to review it, and was sent back for redoing.According to He Guanshi's suggestion, it was improved, and it was finally completed in time of Youshi.

At the beginning of autumn, the envoys, the sky is still bright in Youshi.Xia An tidied things up a bit, and was accompanied by a newcomer called Bai Su who was next to Steward He.That Bai Su was just transferred to He Guanshi's side to serve him today, he behaved unsmilingly, with a cold face, making Xia An stay away with respect.

The two entered the Huaying Courtyard and went straight to Huawulou where the manager was.Huawu Building is just a two-story building, the first floor is the main hall, and the second floor is the bedroom of the chief manager. It is a bit small in terms of other courtyards in the palace, but it is extraordinarily luxurious. The eyes of all the stone beasts are genuine black gemstones.

Whenever the people from Adu Courtyard told Xia An that the palace was struggling to make ends meet, Xia An always wanted to say that as long as the manager was sold, it would be enough to cover the expenses of the palace for several years.

There were many people standing downstairs, there were a lot of maids and servants, seeing this, Xia An and Bai Su wanted to avoid it.Unexpectedly, Yun Bi's sharp eyes saw the figure standing at the archway through the crowd.

"You two, come here."

Xia An pretended not to hear, and pulled Bai Su to escape.

Yun Qing shouted loudly: "You two, stop quickly."

Xia An had no choice but to turn around, pretending to be enlightened, and smiled apologetically: "It turns out that the two sisters are calling slaves. The slave saw that the sisters are busy, so I thought about coming to greet you later." Didn't the princess go to the palace with the prince, why did she appear in the palace? Huawulou?If the princess comes back, will the prince also come back?Thinking of the prince, Xia An recalled the daydream, and his cheeks were slightly hot.

"Don't be busy. You came to see the manager for the gift list of the fifteenth prince. Go in quickly. The empress and the side concubine are also here. The masters are just about to summon you to come. I didn't expect your yard to be considerate. Come first." Yun Bi had already drawn up the gauze curtain as she spoke.

Xia An said "Thank you", and as soon as he stepped into the house with one foot, he was caught up by Bai Su, who had been following silently, and Xia An was behind and Bai Su was in front.

"Slave Adu Courtyard Deputy Director Bai Su, I have seen the empress, the side concubine, and the head steward." Qiang An also rushed ahead.

Vice-principal?Xia An was surprised.But at this moment, Xia An didn't care about anything else, he didn't want to stand out anyway, so he immediately knelt down obediently behind Bai Su and greeted him.

The concubine wore a purple butterfly silk dress, she was very dignified, she sat at the first place, and she answered first, "What are you doing today?"

The manager Xu Qingrui closed the folding fan with a "snap", attracting everyone's attention. He said with a smile, "I'm here to report the congratulations to the Fifteenth Prince. Right?"

"Yes, Manager He asked the manager to give instructions first, and if there are no serious mistakes, then ask the master to review it." Bai Su's words were smooth, and the princess felt comfortable after listening to the manager. After listening to the manager, he couldn't tell who the master was referring to.

The concubine followed the words and said: "Since that's the case, you don't need to make another trip. Let me have a look." Seeing that the manager didn't intend to stop him, Bai Su signaled Xia An to present the gift list.

"That's right, it's very rich. Our lord likes the fifteenth brother the most, so it's not out of the ordinary to give these. It's just that our palace needs too much expenses now, and sometimes we should be more frugal. I'm not in good health. I have never been in charge of things, and the general affairs of the house have always been entrusted to the general manager to take care of them, but now this day is not as good as every day, people outside who don't know think that I, the head of the house, can't manage the family well."

After hearing this, the steward was not annoyed, and asked, "Oh? I don't know what your empress means, but do you want to lower the treasures on this gift list?"

"Giving congratulatory gifts is a matter of face for our palace, so we can't be stingy. But we should save some things in the mansion."

The woman who has been sitting and playing with her nails is dressed in a bright red dress, and she is the concubine Xi of the prince Xinna.She finally raised her eyes at this time, and said clearly: "Is there any place in our mansion that the empress thinks it belongs to the province?"

"I looked at the account books sent by Dongxue Pavilion yesterday. The monthly expenses of many courtyards in the mansion are really too high. Take the ice in summer as an example. Not every courtyard has to send it. Female sex, but a servant, they are also worthy of expensive ice."

Concubine Xi is the most bitter master. After listening to the words, she also clapped her hands in agreement: "It should be like this. Those servants have ice to quench the summer, but I have been there several times but no one has brought ice."

The concubine looked at the manager: "Manager Xu, this is your fault. My sister is delicate, how can she be compared to a lowly slave? How can you provide for the slave, but treat the master poorly?"

Xia An knelt on the ground, listening with gusto.The two mistresses, one servant and the other, pointed at Sang and scolded Huai.Glancing up secretly, the manager didn't look annoyed, on the contrary he was calm and relaxed, he seemed to be used to it.

I just listened to the manager explaining: "It's not that slaves don't distinguish between master and servant, but to serve the prince more wholeheartedly, so they distribute ice cubes to each courtyard. Madam, you know that the prince will go to more than 20 different courtyards every month. , if the slave doesn't arrange these courtyards well, and the prince goes, wouldn't he blame the slave for not being able to do things? Ice cubes are used up quickly, so it is inevitable that there will be times when the offerings cannot be made, so I ask the side concubine to forgive me."

"Forget it, after all, I want to serve the prince well." The princess held up the teacup, wanted to drink but felt relieved, and told the maid beside her: "Look, the ice cubes will disappear so quickly. Go, Give me two ice-cold cups, don't heat up sister Xi'er."

The servant girl smiled and said: "The concubine Xi is afraid of the heat, so she drank this herbal tea, and the weather has turned cold, so let's drink it warm, so don't go back and spoil your stomach."

The princess complained: "Look at this girl, take care of your skin."

Concubine Xi said: "Your Majesty really knows how to train slaves, and she knows how to love the master."

But the princess said: "What kind of slave is this? He can't even learn to listen to the master's words as a slave. It should have been pulled out and sold long ago."

Xia An couldn't hold back, and wanted to see the manager who was being turned around and scolded, but the atmosphere in the room was too weird, and he was timid, so he only dared to listen carefully.

Soon, the little maid brought tea.The princess ate a few mouthfuls, and then she suddenly remembered that there were two people kneeling on the ground: "Yo, we are just talking, but these two servants are anxious."

Concubine Xi kept holding the teacup to freeze her hands, and suddenly said: "Your Majesty, the Fifteenth Prince is marrying a concubine's boudoir friend, I wonder if I can allow my concubine to take a look at the gift list?"

"Yes." The princess signaled the servant girl to show the gift list to Concubine Xi.

"Ah, my sister is blessed. I heard that this crocodile silk brocade is the only one in the world. It has exquisite patterns and is as thin as a cicada's wing, but it can keep out the cold in winter." Concubine Xi's eyes were full of envy.

The concubine said: "If my sister likes it, why don't you ask the prince to give it before the gift is delivered. The congratulatory gift of the fifteenth prince should be sent as a farewell instead."

"Is it okay? I am afraid of cold and heat. I can't move my eyes when I see this baby."

Concubine Xi actually wanted to ask the prince to bestow the silk brocade.The princess hid her ridicule by drinking tea.Suddenly hearing the scream of the maid who brought the tea just now, she almost lost her hand and dropped the teacup.

"Blood, the side concubine has blood on her hands."

Concubine Xi also jumped up, looked at her hands and shouted: "You're not injured, why are your hands full of blood?" Although she was surprised, she was not afraid, but the princess suddenly saw such a scene, her eyes were black and her breath was short of breath, and she fell down. Sitting on the chair, I couldn't slow down for a while.

A woman next to the concubine comforted the concubine, pointing at Bai Su and Xia An and cursing: "What a bold slave, I don't know what kind of monsters were used to harm the master, so hurry up and drag these two offending slaves away!" Go out and chop."

"The slave is wronged." Both Bai Su and Xia An cried out for their innocence.Xia An was puzzled, how could he bleed, although the sheet was thick, it was only three layers of thick paper, how could it hide other things?

The steward uttered a voice to stop the guards who were about to enter the house to take someone away: "Your Majesty is frightened, why don't you go to the imperial doctor first."

The mother-in-law said stubbornly: "The imperial doctor must be invited, these two dead slaves dare to try to murder the master, they must be killed."

"Presumptuous." The manager, who had been smiling all the time, pulled his face down: "It's not up to you to intervene in how to deal with it."

Concubine Xi washed her hands in the basin brought by the maid, and said: "I'm not injured, I'm afraid it's just a joke by some slave, let's not make a fuss about it."

The concubine regained her composure, frowned and said: "It's not that we treat the slaves harshly, but that these slaves don't think much of us. If you can joke today, you'll be serious tomorrow. We should make an example of this matter, so that everyone Take a good look at those servants with ulterior motives. No matter how bad the master is, he is still their master. It is not our word to kill, beat or sell. Come, take these two dog slaves..."

"Your Majesty." The steward was also a little anxious, and interrupted Wang Hao: "This matter is very strange. If someone really wants to harm Your Majesty, the two of them are of low status, and they will definitely not be the masterminds. Kill these two people. Wouldn't the clues be broken, it's better to put these two people in prison first, and then find out the person behind the scenes.

Concubine Xi also said: "That's right, I don't care about these two people. What I'm afraid of is that there are people with malicious intentions hiding in the dark. We can't guard against them."

The concubine nodded and said: "It should be like this. Come and put these two people in the dungeon. Mama Qi, go to the dungeon and interrogate them well. Use whatever punishment you have. Since you dare to make trouble in front of the master, they must have done it well." Prepare for punishment."

"Yes, leave it to the old slave. Madam, don't worry, wait for the result." It was the woman who kept talking back to the manager.She is the mother-in-law who disciplines the girls and servants next to the princess. She is vicious, and everyone is more afraid of her than the princess.Mrs. Qi entered the mansion last year. When she came, the princess who had been worshiping the Buddha seemed to be a different person.

Bai Su didn't talk much, until he was dragged out, he just yelled "I'm wronged" twice, and had nothing else to say.Xia An knew in his heart that it was useless to cry out for injustice, except for the first two calls of injustice in surprise, he kept his head down and remained silent.He had already recalled all the details of today in his mind, but he still couldn't figure out why the gift list would bleed.

The two empresses had another conversation in Huawulou, the manager was upset and impatient, and presented the account books purchased by the inner courtyard, and the princess left satisfied.

He hurriedly called his confidant servant and whispered a few words, and the servant rode a fast horse and went into the palace.