coobybook Chapter 142 Deliberate Concealment, Make Up the Expenses
Chapter 142 Deliberate Concealment, Make Up the Expenses
"I've never heard of this incident, I thought."
No matter how stupid Shen Meizhuang was, she knew that something seemed to be wrong here. She looked at Zhen Huan in a daze.
Zhen Huan looked at Sister Mei's helpless look and suddenly felt distressed.
She quickly said, "Sister Mei, I have also heard about this matter, so I was thinking of mentioning it to you."
"So everyone in this palace is very resentful of the suggestion I made earlier?"
Shen Meizhuang still repeated her doubts uncertainly.
She didn't understand why it turned out like this, she just wanted to save some money for the emperor.
She had never thought that this incident would have such a big impact on the people in the palace. But logically speaking, she just asked people to exchange the original extra allowance for silver. Although there was some reduction, it shouldn't be so serious.
"Sister Mei, we all know what happened that day. Sister Zhen and I also know that what you said is not what you meant. You probably didn't think so much when you said it."
"But Sister Mei, you overlooked a very important issue."
Seeing this, An Lingrong couldn't help but speak softly.
"what is the problem?"
Shen Meizhuang eagerly grabbed An Lingrong's hand, staring into her eyes and asked.
"In the past, the rations distributed to each palace were nothing more than some food. There might be some corruption among these things, but after all, one person can only eat this much food, and more can't be used. As for reselling it, it is even more difficult."
"So generally speaking, with the previous arrangement, not much corruption will be done. From the master to the servants, everyone can get what they deserve, so naturally, no one will have too many complaints."
"But now that sister has made this change, although it saves a lot of money, the share given to each palace has changed from food to silver. How much corruption will there be?"
"You know, money is a good thing. Everyone likes it. You take a little, I take a little. But at the bottom, not only can they not get any money, but even their own food quotas have been embezzled. How can they not complain?"
An Lingrong looked at Shen Meizhuang seriously and began to explain.
"So that's how it is. I didn't realize this problem."
After hearing An Lingrong's words, Shen Meizhuang's usually straight waist suddenly bent. She looked ahead with wide eyes in shock, not knowing what to say.
"Sister Mei, it's okay, we can still find a way to make amends."
Zhen Huan looked at Shen Meizhuang worriedly and comforted her.
"We will go to the Queen Mother right now to admit our mistake and ask her to correct it."
"Sister Zhen, are you confused too?"
An Lingrong didn't expect that someone as smart as Zhen Huan could also make stupid mistakes sometimes.
Doesn't the other party realize yet that it was the Queen who fanned the flames and caused things to become what they are now?
"Why does Sister An say that?"
Zhen Huan didn't quite understand why An Lingrong wanted to stop her.
"Sister Zhen, do you think this matter is really just because of Sister Mei?"
An Lingrong did not directly answer Zhen Huan's question, but asked in return.
"what do you mean?"
Zhen Huan's pupils suddenly shrank, as if she had thought of something, and she looked at An Lingrong in disbelief.
"I think the person Sister An is talking about should be the Queen Mother."
Shen Meizhuang suddenly remembered the incident when Xiangpin's carriage lost control on the way to the Old Summer Palace. At that time, she found that there seemed to be something wrong with the Queen. Now thinking about it, she quickly realized that the Queen was also heavily suspected here.
After all, he was only learning how to manage the affairs of the six palaces from the queen, and the queen was the only person who was in charge of the power of the six palaces.
"Sister Mei is right."
"Since Sister Mei and Sister Zhen were not aware of the complaints in the palaces, I think the two sisters should not have known that the Queen had specifically ordered the Imperial Kitchen to stop supplying expensive snacks and precious supplements."
An Lingrong quickly guessed that the news must have been deliberately concealed by someone, so these two people did not hear any news.
"What? There is such a thing."
Zhen Huan looked at An Lingrong in surprise. She indeed had not heard of the decree.
"This information is not a secret in the palace. Perhaps everyone knows it except the two sisters."
An Lingrong frowned slightly and spoke in a serious tone.
"Well, what a queen."
Shen Meizhuang laughed in anger. She once thought that the queen was a good person. How blind she was.
When the other party was in trouble with Concubine Hua, she took the initiative to stand up and speak for the Queen, but now it seems that neither she nor Concubine Hua are good people.
"Not allowing the supply of expensive snacks, Concubine Hua has always been extravagant in her diet, so this is aimed at Concubine Hua, and not allowing the supply of rare supplements is targeting Concubine Xiang."
Zhen Huan also understood the true meaning behind the Queen's order.
"The Queen is really good at prescribing the right medicine. In this way, even if Xiangpin is good-tempered and won't argue with Sister Mei, I'm afraid Huafei will hate Sister Mei even more."
"If this is the case in the palaces of these two favorite concubines, then the palaces of the other concubines will be in chaos."
After listening to what Zhen Huan said, Shen Meizhuang was so angry that she slammed her hand on the table, and the sour plum soup in the bowl splashed out.
"Okay, the Queen is planning to make us fight to the death with Concubine Hua, so she can just sit on the sidelines and watch the fight, right?"
"What a good plan!"
"So the most important thing for you two sisters now is not to go to the Queen, but to go to the Emperor to apologize. This is the only way to stop this matter quickly. Otherwise, the longer it is delayed, the worse the situation will be."
Seeing that Shen Meizhuang was extremely angry, An Lingrong quickly spoke.
"Yes, Sister Mei."
"Sister An's words make sense. The most important thing for us now is to stop this matter immediately, and then use our own money to make up for the missing quotas of each palace. Otherwise, each palace will have a lot of complaints about us."
Zhen Huan looked at An Lingrong in agreement and nodded, then turned to Shen Meizhuang and said.
Now they only hope to reduce the negative impact caused by this incident as much as possible, otherwise the two sisters, especially Sister Mei, will probably find it difficult to survive in this harem in the future.
After all, Sister Mei has offended everyone from the master to the servants by doing this. If Sister Mei falls out of favor, her fate will certainly not be good.
"Yes, Lingrong, you and Huan'er are both right. I should make up for these things."
"I will go to the emperor to plead guilty now."
Shen Meizhuang looked at the two of them with a firm gaze, nodded and said.