Harem Daily Life

The Minister of War said, "We have already made 40,000 winter clothes, but we still need a lot to reach 100,000. Firstly, the fabric is in short supply, and secondly, we are short of manpower, so it is really hard to make them. 40,000 clothes have been shipped to the border and will be used by some people first. As for the rest, I am afraid we can only make as many as we can and try to make them as soon as possible."

The Minister of Finance said: "The annual cost of a hundred thousand troops is no less than one million taels, which is really a lot of money."

He Linzhang frowned and said, "The army is the barrier of our Great Zhou against foreign enemies. No matter how difficult it is, we have to maintain it. You all understand the principle of raising an army for a thousand days and deploying it for a moment."

The two ministers looked at each other and understood, but it was still difficult.

Every year, weapons, armor, clothes, salaries, and food cannot be saved, and money has to be spent everywhere.

"As for the winter clothes, continue to make them. Every time you make 10,000 pieces, send them to the border."

"Yes, I obey your order." The two ministers took their leave.

He Linzhang sighed. He seemed to be an emperor in a good position, but in fact he was extremely poor and had to spend money everywhere. He could not increase taxes and burden the people. His income was really small and unstable.

It is said that among the four classes of people, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are the lowest class, but at this moment he really wished he was a wealthy businessman.

Seeing that it was getting late, Eunuch Zhang stepped forward and asked if he wanted to go to Yingyue Pavilion.

Your Majesty has not visited Concubine Tao for four or five days. Today, she got a little angry in the Imperial Garden. I'm afraid you will have to go and comfort her in the evening. The thoughtful Eunuch Zhang can just say a few words to give Your Majesty a way out.

Unexpectedly, a young eunuch came to report that Shu Fei's personal maid asked His Majesty to go and see her. Yongning Palace had invited an imperial physician, and Shu Fei seemed to be pregnant.

Everyone knew that Shu Fei's identity was not ordinary, and the eunuch did not dare not report it. Eunuch Zhang frowned, glanced at the emperor's face, and glared at the eunuch.

The eunuch didn't understand what was going on and immediately lowered his head nervously.

He Linzhang was silent for a moment before he said, "Then let's go over and take a look. Shu Fei is pregnant, I think the Queen Mother will be very happy."

He remained silent the whole way, thinking that he had only been there so seldom, yet this happened! It seemed that some things could not be avoided just because one wanted to.

He Linzhang sighed and said, "Let the imperial physician take good care of the queen's body, and then look for a good day for pregnancy. In the next month, I will try my best to go to Fengyi Palace."

He Linzhang urgently needed a legitimate son. Only if the queen gave birth to a legitimate son could the Shu family be prevented from giving birth to another grandson who would become the crown prince.

Too many external relatives would be detrimental to the country. He Linzhang did not want to see that in the end, the He royal family would be constrained by external relatives.

At this moment, Shu Fei's palace was very lively. The Empress Dowager and the Queen had arrived, and Imperial Doctor Xu was taking her pulse.

When the emperor arrived, Doctor Xu was about to report.

Seeing the emperor come in, the empress led everyone to pay their respects. After He Linzhang paid his respects to the empress dowager, he asked about the emperor's pulse.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Concubine Shu is indeed pregnant, but the baby is still young and needs to rest."

The Queen Mother said happily: "Thank God, thank the Bodhisattva for blessing, Concubine Shu is pregnant, this is really the best news this year!"

The queen smiled and said, "Congratulations to the Queen Mother, congratulations to His Majesty, and congratulations to Concubine Shu. Don't worry, Queen Mother, I will take good care of Concubine Shu and let her give birth safely."

The Queen Mother looked at the Queen and smiled, "Well, you are a virtuous woman. I am relieved to leave Shu Fei in your care. But it will be cold soon. I have to go to the hot spring palace to spend the winter in previous years. Why not take Shu Fei with you this year? It will be warmer there and I can see her from time to time."

The Queen naturally would not object. If the Queen Mother took the person away, she would have less to worry about!

She looked at the emperor and said, "I'm afraid that I won't be back until spring comes. By that time, it will be March next year. I wonder if Your Majesty is willing to not see Shu Fei for a few months?"

He Linzhang smiled faintly and said, "I feel relieved to have the Queen Mother take care of me personally. I will trouble you now."

Shu Fei, who was lying on the side, felt nervous and said, "I also want to follow the Queen Mother to the hot spring palace, but I am worried that I will feel uncomfortable in the early stages of pregnancy due to the exhausting journey. Besides, it is too far away from Your Majesty and I can't bear to leave. Please let me stay in the palace. I will take good care of the baby and won't go anywhere until the Queen Mother returns to the palace."

The Empress Dowager and the Emperor both looked at Shu Fei deeply.

The Queen Mother took the person away to protect him, but Shu Fei refused to go, which made the Queen Mother a little unhappy.

He Linzhang felt conflicted as he listened to Shu Fei's confession. He didn't want a child with Shu family blood, but this cousin was deeply in love with him, and he felt helpless.

The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows and said, "In that case, then you should stay in the palace. It will be the same even if the Queen takes care of you. You must be careful about your food, clothing and other expenses, and never be careless."

If the other party didn't appreciate it, the Queen Mother wouldn't rush to help. After saying this, the Queen Mother gave a few instructions and returned to the palace.

The empress stayed with him for a while and said that she had to go back to take care of the second princess. He Linzhang made an excuse that he had some memorials to review in the imperial study, and the emperor and the empress left together.

Shu Fei sent the people away, and Fu Xin said, "My queen, if you reject the queen mother's good intentions, will it anger her?"

Shu Fei sneered, "I can't care about that. He will be back in the hot spring palace for at least half a year. How can I bear not seeing him for half a year? The child between him and me needs to be under his nose and see him often, so that we can develop feelings for each other."

Fu Xin wanted to say something, but Zi Ling gave her a stopping look.

Zi Ling said, "Your Majesty, the news has been sent to the Shu family. Lord Shu said that His Majesty is worried about the winter clothes for the army recently. The solution is not so easy to think of, but he said that he can buy a batch of coarse cloth and buy it at a low price and send it to the court to make winter clothes. But he wants a lot of silver, at least 10,000 taels."

Shu Fei agreed without even raising her eyelids: "It's only 10,000 taels. Go to the storehouse and take it tomorrow. Let my father hurry up and do this. Your Majesty will definitely be very happy."

The empress dowager had gone to Yongning Palace happily, but now returned to Changchun Palace in a huff. Eunuch Qin, who had been busy investigating the case of that year, had not seen the empress dowager for a few days, so when he saw her, he quickly winked at the eunuch who followed her and asked what had happened.

The Queen Mother snorted coldly, "Instead of asking him, why not ask me directly! Everyone else, go out, and Eunuch Qin stay."

When there were only two people left in the palace, the Queen Mother complained about Concubine Shu: "Didn't you see how stupid she is? Am I trying to separate her from the emperor? I'm trying to protect her pregnancy and the Shu family's prosperity! Since she doesn't appreciate it, I'll just ignore it and let her be!"

Eunuch Qin advised, "Your Majesty, you are just speaking in anger. The heir is the most important thing, not to mention the baby in Concubine Shu's belly, which is very precious! Your Majesty, rest assured, I will arrange for someone to protect her. Even if she is not in front of you, I will still take good care of her."

The Queen Mother said stubbornly: "You can manage it if you want, but it's not my place to manage it."

Eunuch Qin just laughed and didn't reply.

"Okay, how much have you found out in the past few days? Is there any trace of the earrings that Lady Tao mentioned?"