My elder sister forced me to change my marriage? I became the favorite in the harem by eating melons

On the day Yu Huan entered the palace, the queen was busy all the time.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent over a stack of account books, which contained all the expenses of the palace in recent years as well as the expenditures of each palace.

The most obvious one is that the weather is hot now, and each queen in each palace is allocated corresponding ice cubes according to her rank. Among them, the ice cubes in Weiyang Palace are used most unscrupulously.

There is an ice cellar in the palace, which is used to store ice in winter and take it out in hot summer weather.

Because ice is difficult to store, even if it is stored in an ice cellar, a lot of ice will still melt on the day the ice cellar is opened.

According to their rank, the amount of ice that concubines in each palace could take every day was divided according to their level.

In the past, there was no queen in the palace, and the highest rank was held by Concubine Xia of the Weiyang Palace. Ice was distributed according to rank, and the Weiyang Palace could take away two basins of ice every day.

Next are the four concubines of the second rank, each of whom can take a basin of ice.

Next, the third-rank Zhaoyi could each take away half of the basin of ice.

Concubines of the fourth and fifth ranks could get half a basin of ice.

Those who are of lower rank and status, if they are favored by the emperor and have some grace, can also get half a basin of ice.

This is how the concubines in the harem divide their ice cubes during the hot summer days.

But things were different after Concubine Xia entered the palace. Not to mention that some of the things Concubine Xia said on a daily basis were so weird that people couldn't understand her. The key point was that Concubine Xia also invented a lot of new gadgets.

It's just like this summer when it's so hot that it's unbearable. Even if each concubine in the palace could get some ice cubes, it would really be much better if some icy ice cubes were put in the stuffy bedrooms.

It will be much better. I can only say that it is much better than having nothing in the stuffy bedroom.

"The Imperial Concubine likes to invent some rare gadgets. This newly invented fan seems to consume a lot of ice. Every day, Weiyang Palace takes at least four buckets of ice from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and sometimes these four buckets are not enough..."

Note that it is a bucket, not a basin.

One bucket of ice cubes is already the amount of three basins of ice cubes.

Nanny Zhang was the Nanny in charge of the distribution of complex ice in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Seeing Yu Huan silently flipping through the pile of harem expense account books in front of her, when she saw the bill for ice cubes, Nanny Zhang said, "Although the amount of ice cubes taken away from Weiyang Palace every day has completely exceeded the ice cube distribution quota for each palace, the imperial concubine is favored, and the emperor also particularly likes these little inventions of the imperial concubine..."

Hearing what Nanny Zhang had said, Yu Huan raised her eyebrows and looked at her with a half-smile: "So, the emperor knew about the excessive use of ice in Weiyang Palace?"

Aunt Zhang nodded respectfully: "Yes."

It is precisely because the emperor knows about it, and secondly, the imperial concubine is indeed very favored. Looking at the entire harem, everyone knows that the current imperial concubine Xia is favored by the emperor.

He stayed in the Weiyang Palace almost every night and treated the three thousand beauties in the harem as decorations. Even the empress dowager couldn't stand it and tried to persuade the emperor to treat all the concubines equally. The emperor never went to other concubines' bedrooms, but only favored the imperial concubine. All the concubines in the harem were so angry that they wanted to bite them but they could do nothing about it.

After all, Nanny Zhang is an old veteran in the palace. This is the first time she has seen the Queen’s true appearance. Judging from her appearance, she seems to be a gentle and virtuous woman.

Nanny Zhang couldn't help but say something extra: "Empress, the Emperor values ​​and favors Weiyang Palace to such an extent that he has become completely unscrupulous. Even when the Empress Dowager came forward, the Emperor has not shown any signs of restraint."

"And Imperial Concubine Xia is not only extremely beautiful, but also very favored in the harem. The power of her family should not be underestimated."

I know that Nanny Zhang has good intentions, and Yu Huan likes her quite a bit.

When Yu Baozhu entered the palace in her previous life, Nanny Zhang also came to see her with a pile of account books. When Yu Baozhu was looking through the account book of ice cubes, Nanny Zhang kindly reminded her.

But Yu Baozhu was proud and arrogant, and in her eyes, Nanny Zhang's kind reminder was seen as a deliberate verbal provocation by Nanny Zhang just because she had just entered the palace.

In her eyes, no matter how powerful Xia Wanning's family is, or even if she is the top general of the Great Xiliang, what does it matter?

The Xia family is the leader of the first-rank military generals, and her Yu family is also the first-rank, and the leader of the first-rank civil officials in Da Xiliang.

How inferior is one between the two?

Besides, Yu Baozhu has always looked down on Xia Wanning, a crude woman who only knows how to wield swords and guns, can't read a few words, is crazy and unruly like a wild woman.

The arrogant Yu Baozhu misinterpreted Nanny Zhang's kindness as a provocation, and she arbitrarily accused Nanny Zhang of a crime and ordered her to be dragged away and beaten with thirty sticks.

Nanny Zhang is so old that even a strong man might not be able to withstand thirty lashes, let alone Nanny Zhang who is over fifty years old.

Although he was not killed on the spot after being beaten with thirty sticks by Yu Baozhu, he lay in bed for more than half a month, suffering a fate worse than death, and died with hatred and unwillingness on a stormy, thundering night.

It is said that on the night that Nanny Zhang died, her eyes were as big as Tongling, her pupils were full of bloodshot, and blood flowed from her wide-open eyeballs like tears all over the floor, which was extremely creepy.

Yu Baozhu did establish her authority in the harem after what happened to Nanny Zhang, but at the same time, it also made the servants in the palace and the emperor even more disgusted and dissatisfied with her.

As the queen of Da Xiliang, she should have set an example by being generous and kind, and treating her servants well.

However, she was cruel and narrow-minded, and was not qualified to be the queen.

"I have taken note of Madam Zhang's reminder, but since I am the Queen of Great Xiliang and manage the harem for His Majesty, I should help His Majesty solve his problems and keep the harem in good order so that His Majesty can concentrate on the court."

As he spoke, Yu Huan waved towards Qiu'er beside him.

Qiu'er understood what she meant, and hurriedly took out an emerald green bracelet from the inner hall and handed it to Aunt Zhang: "Aunt Zhang, this is a little gift from my queen, please accept it."

Aunt Zhang was surprised and delighted, and looked flattered. She waved her hands and refused: "No, no, it's a blessing for me to work for the Queen. I dare not..." "I just entered the palace. I will definitely need Aunt Zhang in the future."

"They are just some worthless things."

Yu Huan smiled slightly: "Madam Zhang, there is no need to refuse. Just accept it and wear it for fun."

Hearing the queen's words, Nanny Zhang could no longer refuse, and hurriedly took the bracelet from Qiu'er's hand to express her gratitude: "Thank you for the queen's gift. If the queen needs me in the future, please let me know. I will go through fire and water and die without hesitation!"

Yu Huan was waiting for her to say this, and continued, "Right now, I do have something that I need Madam Zhang to do for me."

Hearing this, Nanny Zhang was obviously stunned for a moment, but she still said respectfully, "Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."

Yu Huan glanced at her first and said, "Madame Zhang is the housekeeper in charge of distributing ice cubes to concubines in each palace in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I believe that Madame Zhang knows the number of ice cubes that concubines in each palace have taken and distributed."

"Your Highness is right. I have been in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for decades. I can distribute the ice cubes evenly to the ladies in the palace even with my eyes closed."

"Oh?"

Yu Huan smiled slightly: "Madam Zhang, are you sure you distributed it evenly?"

Yu Huan's question actually made Aunt Zhang's heart skip a beat.

Is it even?

Of course not.

The Weiyang Palace alone is a good example.

Next is the second rank four concubines, followed by the Zhaoyi...

There are so many concubines in the harem, naturally some are favored and some are not, some have families with strong backers and some do not.

Those who had been favored by the emperor and promoted to higher positions had no backing in the court. Later, the emperor got tired of them and replaced them, so their situation in the harem was naturally not as good as before.

Because the Weiyang Palace used too much ice, she had calculated it carefully with several eunuchs and maids in charge of the Imperial Household Department. If the Weiyang Palace continued to squander the ice in the ice cave so recklessly, it would not be long before all the ice in the ice cave was used up.

By that time, the hot summer had not yet passed, and the ice stored in the ice cave had been used up, causing the entire harem to be in dire straits.

When the emperor questions them again, even if they have a hundred heads, they will not be able to bear the consequences.

But it was well known how favored Concubine Xia was. The Weiyang Palace wanted to take so much ice. How dare they, the servants, stop their master from taking the ice?

Moreover, the emperor knew about the countless amounts of ice taken from the Weiyang Palace, and it was obvious that the emperor acquiesced in this matter.

In short, the Weiyang Palace was the one that consumed the most ice, and it set a very bad example for the concubines in other palaces. However, in the harem, any concubine whose family had some status and could have a say in the palace would take more ice when someone was sent to get it.

Because of the previous incident at Weiyang Palace, no matter how much ice cubes the servants came to get, she was helpless and could only watch without saying anything...

Yu Huan's rhetorical question obviously did not have much killing power, and her tone was even gentle, like a simple question, but it went straight to the depths of Aunt Zhang's heart.

Nanny Zhang knelt down again towards Yu Huan with a plop. "Empress, you know that we servants have no choice but to obey our masters' orders in order to please them. We dare not say a word of objection."