Harem Daily Life

Qing Er seemed to see the difficulty of Concubine Xian, so she said, "The things in the palace always sell for high prices outside. Why not take some things whose origins are not obvious and sell them for silver. Part of it can be donated, and part of it can be used to supplement daily expenses."

Since entering the palace, Concubine Xian has been living an extremely extravagant life in food, clothing and other expenses. Part of her income came from the emperor's reward, and part of it came from the Lu family. Now the Lu family is extremely poor, and there is no money to support herself in the short term. She thought about it and realized that there was not much money in the account, so she had to do so.

"You two should go to the warehouse and look carefully. Pick out some that are not obvious and ask someone to take them out and sell them. But be sure to look carefully and don't cause any trouble!"

Jing'er and Qing'er nodded in agreement and hurried to take inventory in the warehouse.

On the second day, everyone went to Fengyi Palace to pay respects. For the first time ever, Concubine Xian was not late. When they saw her come in, they were all amazed. After all, she was the one who was given the title "Li". Her appearance was indeed the best in the harem.

However, what they didn't know was that in order to cover up her pale complexion, Concubine Xian spent more than an hour putting on makeup and tried on five or six sets of clothes before finally choosing one that suited her complexion the best.

This was the first day of greeting after the birthday banquet. The Queen first praised the concubines who assisted in the preparations and gave each of them a reward. Shu Fei received the best reward, which was a necklace with eight treasures.

He also mentioned some of the shortcomings slightly, mainly to criticize Concubine Xian.

Xianfei usually refused to tolerate even the slightest anger and would always fight back. But today, for the first time, she did not refute anything and stood up respectfully and said, "Yes, thank you for your advice, Queen. I knew I was wrong after returning to the palace the night before last. I have been reflecting on myself behind closed doors for the past two days. Your Majesty is worried about state affairs, and I have made your Majesty upset. This is really wrong. So I have thought about it and want to make up for my mistake. Today I have a proposal and I hope that the Queen will agree."

Everyone immediately pricked up their ears to listen to what Concubine Xian had to suggest.

Tao Yanyan was sitting at the back, and was bored and dazed at the moment. Concubine Xian's words brought her back to her senses.

The queen narrowed her eyes and snorted in her heart: I thought she had changed her personality. She was not late or refuted today, and looked so well-behaved. It turns out she was waiting here!

The Queen smiled but her eyes did not reach the bottom of her eyes. "Oh? What's your suggestion? You might as well tell me first."

The virtuous concubine nodded slightly, glanced at everyone and said, "The weather is getting colder, and winter is coming. In another month, it will be winter. In previous winters, people often froze to death on the streets, which is really heartbreaking. Your Majesty has also been worried about the cold disaster recently. After thinking about it, the harem should share your worries and troubles. Why not donate generously to help your Majesty?"

The queen's hands clenched tightly like iron pliers, and she was so angry that she almost vomited blood. As the queen of the central palace, she should have been the first to propose and lead the fundraising, but this virtuous concubine didn't say a word beforehand, and now she suddenly appeared and stole all the limelight.

The queen looked at the imperial concubine. Last year, she was ill and the imperial concubine was in charge of palace affairs. She had distributed porridge in winter to help the people, which won unanimous praise from the harem and the previous court. This year, a virtuous concubine appeared, and everyone wanted to take credit and gain face in front of His Majesty!

"The Empress is very busy with her affairs, so I am willing to take the lead in fundraising and share Her Majesty's worries. By then, the amount donated by each palace will be recorded in a book and submitted to Your Majesty for your review. I wonder what the Empress and the concubines in each palace think?" Concubine Xian smiled and glanced at everyone.

This is a good deed that benefits the people and relieves the emperor's worries. How can there be any reason to object? So the queen naturally agreed. However, she did not want the virtuous concubine to take the lead, so she said: "The virtuous concubine is not well yet, so she can't be tired. Why not find another capable person to work with you on this matter. I wonder which sister is willing to help?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Concubine Xian coughed and said, "This is not a difficult task. It won't take much effort. Tomorrow, I will bring people and account books here. All the palaces need to bring silver or silver notes here. We will register them in front of the Empress. It's such a simple thing. There's no need to trouble other sisters for help."

The queen was so angry that she rolled her eyes in her heart. This was a really good plan. Others gave her money and she wanted fame. The abacus beads were about to jump onto her face.

The Queen originally wanted to see if other people would stand up to oppose, but today, everyone was like quails and no one stepped forward. So she had no choice but to agree to Concubine Xian’s decision and let her handle the matter.

When the dust settled, Tao Yanyan puffed up her face. She had to use the money to raise her children and buy a shop. She really couldn't bear to part with just three thousand taels of silver!

I wonder if the ladies in the palace are prone to comparison?

Tao Yanyan decided to send Chang Tai to various palaces to inquire. As long as he knew how much the high-ranking concubines donated, he could halve his own donation.

Well, what a little genius!

After saying good morning, the concubines in each palace took their leave, and Concubine De still invited Concubine Gui to go with her.

"Last year, you, the Imperial Concubine, distributed porridge for three months, and you spent all your money on food, doing everything yourself. This year, the Virtuous Concubine raised money directly, and she gained a good reputation in just a few days." The De Concubine said dissatisfiedly.

The imperial concubine smiled and said, "When doing good deeds, the most important thing is the intention, not asking for anything in return. Last year, I distributed porridge to the public, which was just a common practice. All the noble families in the capital would do it, and it was nothing special. What surprised me was that she claimed to be the only one favored in the palace, and she had always disdained to do these things to compete for favor, but today she was so active."

After a brief thought, Concubine De understood: "It's because of the appearance of Lady Tao that she couldn't sit still! Oh my, maybe she was so angry that she couldn't sleep the whole night. After thinking about it, she came up with this idea to attract His Majesty's attention again and gain His Majesty's affirmation and favor."

The imperial concubine raised her eyebrows: "It's a pity that she is not well-informed and doesn't know one thing."

De Fei became interested: "What is it? Oh, Sister Guifei, please stop keeping me in suspense and tell me quickly. I usually don't know much about the news."

The imperial concubine smiled and said, "Don't be so annoying. Haven't you heard that Lady Tao presented His Majesty with the blueprint of a brick bed?"

Concubine De frowned and said, "As you know, my family is full of military generals. If you want to talk about the news of the Ministry of War and the border, then I will definitely know it. But I don't know about the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue."

The imperial concubine saw that she didn't seem to be joking, so she said, "I was also the eunuch in the palace who went out to buy things. I stopped by the Taifu Mansion to see my grandmother for me, and that's when I got a little information. The blueprint for the earthen kang is hard to come by, but Lady Tao knows it. Once it was drawn, it was approved by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, and it has been copied and distributed to all prefectures and counties. The people can build kangs according to the blueprint, and their homes will be warmer, no matter how cold it is. The most rare thing is that this has made a great contribution to preventing the cold and helped the Ministry of Revenue a lot. How can Your Majesty not be happy?"