Peach Blossom.

Si Yuan watched Si Rong's sedan chair disappear, then turned around and looked at the musicians and singers led by Tao Ye: "So many people are singing together, and they all sing the same tune, it's amazing."

Hearing this, Queen Mother Meng glanced over and saw that there were about two hundred singing girls, standing in neat rows. The first row was standing on the ground, and from the second row on, each row was a bit higher than the previous row, and each row had one more person than the previous row. The tall girls stood in the middle and the short girls stood on both sides, and everyone in the back row showed their head between the two people in the front row, with no one blocking anyone's face. From a distance, it looked like a fan-shaped staircase, which was indeed interesting.

The palace servants present could not help but admire the magnificence of the procession and the unison of their singing.

Only Si Yao rolled his eyes and showed disdain.

Tao Ye thought the wedding ceremony was over, so she stopped the performances of the musicians and singers, and stood up to salute Si Yuan, Meng and others.

Si Yuan looked at Tao Ye and asked with interest: "I have never seen hundreds of people singing together, and standing in such a way. How did you come up with this?"

Tao Ye bowed again and replied, "Your Excellency, this is called a chorus. This custom exists in my hometown. Whenever there is a celebration or a happy event, many people are gathered to sing together to show solemnity."

Si Yuan nodded and asked, "Then what does it mean that you are standing in front and waving your hands?"

Tao Ye smiled and replied, "This is called 'beating the beat'. We have to stand opposite each other so that they can see my hand shape and control when to sing and when to stop, so that it is not easy to make mistakes. Even if there is some reason to delay a sentence or two in the middle, when I open my mouth again, I can keep up with the beat and stay consistent at all times."

"I see..." Si Yuan smiled with satisfaction, thought for a moment, and then said, "It seems that Miss Tao is not only talented and beautiful, but also very good at controlling people. I remember that there is a vacancy for the Music Minister of the Imperial Music Bureau. From now on, I will promote you to the position of Music Minister."

Perhaps it was vanity that made Tao Ye feel a little surprised and complacent, and she knelt down to express her gratitude.

Si Yuan took a step forward, staring at Tao Ye intently, and said softly, "I hope... next time the palace holds a banquet, you can surprise me again."

"Yes, sir." Tao Ye had a flash of inspiration and came up with a good idea. She couldn't help but smile happily again.

Since going to the Imperial Music Bureau, Tao Ye has been learning the skills of other music directors and musicians, while also organizing all the singers in the Bureau together to teach them the vocal knowledge of her time.

She stayed at Taile Office during the day and returned to Meixiangxie at night.

Shen Hui no longer cared about her, and Meixiangshe seemed to have become just her free dormitory at night. She often felt like a nine-to-five office worker, walking between Taile Office and Meixiangshe every day.

This seems not bad, life has a different flavor.

Now that his official position has been promoted, his salary should naturally increase as well. Tao Ye actually feels quite a sense of accomplishment.

At that moment, Madam Han looked at Si Yuan, then at Tao Ye, and her expression was extremely ugly.

Mrs. Meng stood behind with a faint smile. Anyone could see that Mrs. Han was jealous.

"Okay, let's go back." Si Yuan smiled and waved at Tao Ye.

Tao Ye bowed and left, telling the musicians and singers to pack up. Si Yuan, Meng, Madam Han and others all went back.

Madam Han stretched her face and smiled: "Since the emperor values ​​Tao Lecheng so much, why not take him into the harem?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Miss Tao is Prince Consort Wang's concubine, how could I have any other thoughts?" Si Yuan half smiled and pretended to be guilty.

Si Yao, who was walking behind, was very angry when he heard this and muttered in a low voice: "What concubine? She is just an abandoned mistress!"

Meng glared at Si Yao, and Si Yao had to shut up.

Madam Han still asked Si Yuan in a strange tone: "Your Majesty, what you mean is... if Miss Tao is not Prince Consort Wang's concubine, you are interested in her?"

Si Yuan smiled and shook his head: "I didn't say that."

Madam Han sighed, and suddenly acted like a pitiful little woman: "I am the only concubine in your harem. If I don't persuade you to choose a new one, the concubines in the previous dynasty will think I am a jealous woman."

Si Yuan smiled and shook his head again: "How could it be? I have just ascended the throne, and everything needs to be prepared. The treasury is empty. Adding new people will be a huge expense. Who in the former court and the harem would not understand this?"

Madam Han lamented repeatedly, "That's true. Just looking at the daily expenses of these concubines left by the late emperor, I am scared to death! One month's expenses are enough for me for a year!"

Si Yuan's expression changed immediately, and he rebuked, "My beloved concubine, how can you say that? I am supposed to support the late emperor's widow, and you should be frugal when managing the harem. How can you compare yourself with them?"

Madam Han seemed frightened and quickly apologized: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I know that I am not worthy to be compared with the concubines of the previous emperor. I am just worried that your Majesty has few children, and sooner or later you will have to choose new people to fill the harem and expand your family. There are so many widows of the previous emperor that almost all the harems are occupied, and there are countless palace maids and eunuchs to serve them. When you choose a new person, where will you have room?"

"This..." Si Yuan seemed to be at a loss for words.

After a moment of silence, Madam Han suddenly spoke again: "I have come up with an idea, but I don't know whether I should tell you or not."

Si Yuan said, "Tell me about it."

"I sorted out the list of palace maids a few days ago and found that some of the maids in the Queen Mother's palace have reached the age to be released from the palace. Now it would be better to ask the concubines of the late emperor to serve the Queen Mother, isn't it just right?"

Si Yuan was furious: "How dare you treat the late emperor's widow as a palace maid?"

Madam Han argued, "But they are not the main wife and have no children. According to the laws of our ancestors, they should be banished to the ancestral temple..."

"You...you are getting more and more outrageous..." Si Yuan pointed at Mrs. Han, as if he was extremely angry. He suddenly felt dizzy and just as he put his hands on his head, he fainted.

"The emperor..." Madam Han hurriedly supported Si Yuan and called other palace servants, "Quickly send the emperor back to the East Chamber and summon the imperial physician."

The palace servants then hurriedly carried Si Yuan away.

Madam Han looked aggrieved. She held onto Meng's arm and begged, "Empress Dowager... I was only thinking about the emperor and the Great Qi, but I didn't expect to make the emperor so angry... If the emperor wakes up and punishes me, please, Empress Dowager, take charge of me..."

Meng narrowed her eyes and smiled coldly: "Now it is Madam Han who is in charge of the harem. Is there anything that she cannot decide?"

Madam Han looked at Meng and asked timidly, "What do you mean by this... do you agree or not?"

"To enrich the harem and expand the official family, how dare I not agree to such a big thing?" After saying this, Meng pushed Madam Han away and left.

Si Yao was full of confusion and hurriedly caught up with Meng.

When Madam Han was no longer in sight, Si Yao asked in a low voice, "Mother, what happened to you? The emperor has fainted. Should we go over to visit him?"

"What are you visiting? They are acting, can't you see?" Meng's face was full of anger and she walked quickly.

"Acting...acting?" Si Yao still didn't quite understand.

Meng walked towards the bedroom and thought. Most of Xiaozong's concubines came from official families who were loyal to Meng. When Xiaozong passed away and Si De ascended the throne, Meng made an exception to allow these childless concubines to continue to stay in the palace in order to win over the ministers in order to fight against Zhou. She didn't expect that Si Yuan, who had just ascended the throne, would demote these people to slaves. This was a greater humiliation than exiling them to the ancestral temple...

After returning to Anshou Palace, Meng immediately ordered the windows and doors to be closed and all the palace maids to guard outside the door.

This made Si Yao nervous: "Mother...what does this mean?"

Meng's expression was very serious. She told Si Yao solemnly: "Before the emperor wakes up, Xiaozong's concubines will be sent to me. Then Madam Han will claim that there are too many people in Anshou Hall and the palace is not big enough to live in. She will use this as an excuse to release all of my trusted maids from the palace."

"Ah?" Si Yao was surprised and didn't quite believe it: "She...why did she do this?"

Mrs. Meng smiled faintly: "The main reason is, of course, money. Most of Emperor Xiaozong's concubines came from famous families, and they all brought rich dowries when they entered the palace. They also received many rewards when they served Emperor Xiaozong. Especially those who were favored in those days, I wonder how much money they secretly accumulated!

Once they lost their own palaces, where would they hide their treasures? Hasn't Madam Han been clearing the accounts of the harem recently? When the time comes, she will count the valuables in each palace and confiscate them all into the treasury, just like confiscating the property.

Moreover, the maids and eunuchs who served them were also dismissed, which saved a lot of monthly salary. It increased revenue, reduced expenditure, and drove away all the old palace servants who were loyal to their old masters. It was really a win-win situation. "

Si Yao was stunned, as if these words contained too much information and he couldn't process it for a while.

Mrs. Meng supported the jade table and slowly sat down, and then said, "First, they will take out some of the gold and silver they brought from Yongchang to support us, and then confiscate all the private purses of the entire harem. Si Yuan's calculations are very shrewd. I'm afraid that even my savings of several decades may not be able to be kept!"

"But...how dare they..." Si Yao still seemed confused.

"What is there to be afraid of? Si Yuan is not Si Yu, who is always timid. Don't look at him as sickly, he is a man of many ideas! Besides, he didn't really demote Si Yu's concubines to slaves. He kept their titles and salaries. He just asked the widowed daughter-in-law to serve the widowed mother-in-law and be filial to the late emperor. There is nothing unreasonable about it. He really found the best time to rejuvenate the harem."

"Then how can we stop this?" Si Yao was confused, expecting Meng to come up with an idea.

Meng shook her head and said, "I can't stop it. You were chased by a wolf by accident, and you had no choice but to use a tiger to bite the wolf to death. Can you still expect to tame the tiger into a cat now? Back then, it was I who ordered Chen Xi to send people to hunt him down, which caused his first wife and son to die on the road. How could he not want revenge?

Si Yuan has always advocated loving the people like one's own children and cherishing human life, but on the day of my family's birthday banquet, he allowed more than 8,000 Chen family soldiers to be beheaded, and blood flowed like a river, which is a clear proof of his revengeful heart. He hates me so much that one day, he might even take my life. "

"Then...what should we do?" Si Yao grabbed Meng's arm, his heart pounding with fear and even his legs going weak.

"I am already quite old. Actually, it doesn't matter how I live. But you..." Mrs. Meng looked up at Si Yao, her eyes full of love. "You are not good at living. I must plan for you before I die. The first step is that you have to go back to the Wang family, and then pack up all my belongings as your luggage and take them away."

"Go back to the Wang family?" Si Yao opened his eyes wide in astonishment, and quickly shook his head: "I'll go back to the princess's mansion and hide the things there. As for the Wang family... forget it..."

"No, the Princess's Mansion was given to you by the late Emperor. It is public property, not private property. Si Yuan can always find an excuse to take it back. You are still nominally a daughter-in-law of the Wang family. You can go back and take shelter for a while. I will find a way to find you another suitable place as soon as possible."

Si Yao lowered his head and said embarrassedly: "But...but, Wang Jing said that in Taiji Hall last time, and now everyone knows about us...it would be too embarrassing for me to run back by myself."

Meng held Si Yao's hand and smiled: "Don't worry, I have a way to let Wang Jing come to pick you up in person."