Harem Daily Life

After informing Dong Fang, Tao Yanyan asked Xiao Quanzi and the eldest princess's nanny to take the two children downstairs to play, and then asked if anything had happened in the palace during the months she was away.

Mingyue reported back, "The Queen Mother was very strict, so nothing serious happened. However, Concubine De was reprimanded by the Queen Mother. We don't know the reason. Chang Tai privately inquired and found out that something went wrong with the Dragon Boat Festival gift that Concubine De sent to Fengyi Palace, and the Second Princess got sick from it."

Tao Yanyan frowned: "Aren't the Dragon Boat Festival rituals prepared according to the regulations? The Fengyi Palace and other palaces are the same. Only the Fengyi Palace has bad food?"

Mingyue nodded: "That's the weird part. Later Qingfeng said that it was a good thing we didn't do that, otherwise if the eldest princess and the second prince got sick from eating that, they would suffer."

Tao Yanyan's eyes turned cold: "You didn't give it to Changle Palace? Then how did you celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival?"

Mingyue smiled and said, "Don't worry, Madam, we are not hungry. Caiyun steamed glutinous rice and made rice balls with red bean paste and fresh meat fillings for everyone."

Tao Yanyan had seen how petty Concubine De was.

Qingfeng said: "The Queen Mother was too busy during that period, so we didn't report this little thing to her so as not to worry her. But in the past few months, the eldest princess and the second prince had several fights with the eldest prince in elementary school. The Queen Mother knew about it and always defended us, so we didn't suffer any loss."

Tao Yanyan was a little puzzled: "Why are they fighting? Two against one?"

Qingfeng nodded: "It was almost always the eldest prince who provoked first. The children of several adults in the elementary school also followed the eldest prince to make trouble. Even the teacher couldn't control him."

Tao Yanyan originally thought that since His Majesty had warned Concubine De and the eldest prince before, they would restrain themselves. Unexpectedly, she didn't expect that they still bullied the two children as usual. She was really angry.

Seeing that she looked unhappy, Dong Fang immediately said, "But there is also good news. In the past few months when the majesty was away, the business in the shop has been very good. We received more than 1,200 taels of silver as dividends, and all of them were put into the warehouse."

Tao Yanyan looked at everyone and said: "I wronged you before, but now that I am back, I will never let you suffer any more injustice again."

Just as he finished speaking, he heard someone from outside reporting that Manager Li had arrived.

When Li Zongguan saw Concubine Tao, he immediately stepped forward to greet her: "I am relieved that Her Majesty Tao is safe! I have not heard from Her Majesty for several months and I was very worried. Fortunately, God has mercy on Her Majesty and it is a great blessing that She Majesty has returned to the palace."

After that, he took the initiative to report the workshops: "Several workshops have already started production, and the products are sent to the shops in the city for sale every day. The goods are fresh and the business is pretty good. However, the war in Yan State is tight and food is urgently needed. The Queen Mother asked me to collect 10,000 taels of silver worth of food and send it to the Ministry of Revenue to the border."

The army had already set out before Tao Yanyan was tied up. Several months had passed, and the war was still not over. She couldn't help but worry, "Helping Yan fight, don't they have any support at all? They don't provide money or food, and the Great Zhou has to send troops and manpower, and they have to provide their own food and grass?"

Da Zhou is definitely the one being taken advantage of!

Li Zongguan smiled and said: "The people have been sent out. If there is no food supply, the soldiers of Da Zhou will suffer in the end. Now we have to grit our teeth and win this battle no matter what!"

"How much reserve grain is left? Can it last until the new grain harvest in September?" Tao Yanyan asked anxiously.

Chief Steward Li said in embarrassment: "Hey, that's the problem. We have tried to save as much as possible on what the palace uses and what the shops sell, but judging by the stock, I'm afraid it can only last for two months."

Tao Yanyan thought for a moment and said, "How about this? Send some people to the surrounding areas to buy some food as a backup. If the war continues, we may need food later. It's better to be prepared."

Manager Li agreed: "Your Majesty is decisive. In fact, I reported this to Empress Defei a while ago, but she was hesitant and never responded, so I sent someone out to buy it."

As Li was about to leave, Tao Yanyan quickly asked Qingfeng to bring some seafood to Li: "I have prepared some sea cucumbers and dried abalone for Li. You have worked hard these days. Take them back and stew some tonic food to nourish your body."

Manager Li thanked him profusely, then smiled and left with the gift.

For dinner that day, Tao Yanyan asked Caiyun to stew some seafood for everyone. The meal was quite sumptuous on the first day back in the palace.

The two children insisted on sleeping with her at night, and Tao Yanyan readily agreed. The mother and her two children chatted a lot and went to bed more than an hour later than usual.

Looking at the two cute little ones sleeping, Tao Yanyan slowly fell asleep.

The next morning, the two children had to go to elementary school, so Tao Yanyan got up early and prepared breakfast for them personally.

They ate bite-sized pan-fried buns, soft and fluffy brown sugar cakes, stewed eggs, and a plate of fried seafood noodles. The two little ones ate half a bowl more than usual.

Little Jinan wrapped a piece of brown sugar cake in oil paper and put it in his school bag: "Mother, take this cake to the second princess. She is envious of the food in our Changle Palace and always asks me what I ate today."

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother packed a food box for her, and I'll give it to her when we meet later."

Before Empress Tao was away, Changle Palace didn't dare to bring food to the second princess, for fear of something going wrong. Today, Empress Tao made breakfast herself, so Caiyun packed some of each into a food box and gave it to Changtai to take away.

Tao Yanyan took the two children to primary school, holding one in each hand. As soon as they reached Yuhua Gate, they saw the second princess waiting there.

"Empress Tao!" The crisp baby voice melted Tao Yanyan's heart.

She quickly took the food box and said with a smile, "Good morning, Yue'er. I prepared some food for you. How about having a bite first?"

He Yue happily threw herself into her arms: "I haven't eaten the delicious food made by Concubine Tao for several months. My mouth is almost watering."

Tao Yanyan just wanted to laugh, this cute girl is so adorable!

After feeding him two pan-fried buns and a few mouthfuls of seafood noodles, He Yue couldn't eat any more. She quickly asked her nanny to take the rest back: "Put it away. I need more food when I get back from school."

The nanny smiled and took it: "Thank you, Empress Tao. Your Majesty went to the palace to recuperate. It seems that she is getting better now. Her complexion is much better than before."

Tao Yanyan said "hmm" softly and asked a few questions about the queen's situation along the way.

The nanny said, "Now that she is pregnant, her belly is getting bigger day by day. She can't even lie down at night. She can only use the quilt to cushion her waist and fall asleep. Normally, Concubine Shu should be one month pregnant than the Empress, but Concubine Shu's belly is not as big as the Empress. If you don't know, you would think the Empress is going to have a baby."

Tao Yanyan smiled. Shu Fei was He Linzhang's cousin, and it was still unknown what would happen to the baby in her belly after it was born.