Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

Xiao Lan carefully helped Consort Tong back to Weiyang Palace. After Consort Tong was seated, Xiao Lan gently released her hand and was about to turn and leave. However, at that moment, Consort Tong suddenly reached out and grabbed Xiao Lan's sleeve.

"Lanlan, when you go back to His Majesty to ask for the imperial edict later, remember not to have any more conflicts with that Consort Ye. That person has always been narrow-minded and is most prone to holding grudges," Consort Tong earnestly advised, a hint of worry in her eyes.

Xiao Lan nodded slightly, indicating that she understood, and then replied softly, "Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will act carefully. However, Your Highness... there is something I wish to say to you." After speaking, she cautiously glanced around, and seeing that the maids around her were standing far away, she lowered her voice and continued:

“Your Majesty, there’s actually a story about my birth. When my mother was pregnant with me, my father was overjoyed when he found out it was a girl! He took great care of my mother, personally overseeing and arranging all the precious tonics and exquisite meals. During that time, my father would try every possible way to coax my mother to eat more, and most of the ingredients he chose were nourishing.”

At this point, Xiao Lan couldn't help but sigh, a complex expression appearing on her face. She continued, "But unexpectedly, things started to go wrong in the fifth month of pregnancy. When the doctor came to examine her, he found that my mother's belly was growing far too fast. Although she was only five months pregnant, she looked like an eight-month-old fetus. After some questioning, everyone realized that it was because my father had spoiled my mother too much, letting her eat too many nourishing foods. Although the doctor took some measures to adjust things, my mother still experienced a difficult labor during delivery, and her condition was extremely critical, almost resulting in the death of both mother and child."

After speaking, Xiao Lan slowly turned her gaze to Consort Tong, her eyes filled with concern and doubt. She said softly, "Forgive my bluntness, but I don't know who meticulously arranged this palace banquet today. Look at the other tables; at least there are some fresh vegetables on them. However, on Your Highness's table, there isn't a single leaf of greens to be seen, replaced instead by greasy and meaty dishes. Although investigating this matter would likely be difficult, as the person responsible for organizing the banquet could easily claim that Your Highness is pregnant and needs more care, arguing that cold dishes are bad for your health and that you should consume more nourishing foods. As for Your Highness's usual dietary preferences, I have no idea, but in my humble opinion, a balanced diet of meat and vegetables is ultimately the most appropriate. If someone is only sending Your Highness numerous nourishing foods, Your Highness must be extra cautious!"

Xiao Lan spoke so earnestly and earnestly simply to warn Consort Tong. In her previous life, Consort Tong had suffered a tragic childbirth. Her labor lasted three days, yet she was unable to deliver her baby. By the time Xiao Lan heard the news, Consort Tong had already perished, along with her unborn child. Xiao Lan was filled with remorse whenever she thought of this. If she had known this sooner, she would have spared no effort to find capable individuals to help Consort Tong. Even if she couldn't save Consort Tong's life, she could at least have saved Yan Nan Hui's younger siblings. This way, Yan Nan Hui wouldn't have to live a lonely and desolate life like in her previous life.

After listening quietly to Xiao Lan's words, Consort Tong fell into deep thought. She recalled that since she became pregnant, Consort Ye had only sent her gifts twice. Although these gifts were all nourishing items, they were not rare or precious, which made it easy to imagine how reluctant Consort Ye had been to send them. More importantly, these two gift-givings were conducted in accordance with palace rules, without deviating from the norm in the slightest.

In stark contrast, the Empress would send various nourishing tonics every so often, all of which were highly potent remedies. However, precisely because this was so unusual, Consort Tong remained suspicious, and thus, she had never dared to use even a single one of those tonics.

Thinking of this, Consort Tong raised her head, her gaze falling on Qiu Yue beside her. She softly instructed, "Qiu Yue, quickly go and organize all the tonics the Empress sent earlier, pack them all up, and deliver them to Lan Lan at Wutong Residence." After Qiu Yue left, Consort Tong gently took Xiao Lan's hand and whispered cautiously, "Lan Lan, I've heard you have many highly skilled physicians there. When you return to your residence, you might as well have them thoroughly examine these tonics, making sure there are no abnormalities or improprieties. Only after ensuring absolute safety can you use them with peace of mind."

Xiao Lan quickly nodded and replied, "Thank you for your concern and reminder, Your Majesty. I will certainly follow Your Majesty's instructions upon returning and have the physicians examine me carefully."

Xiao Lan chatted with Consort Tong for a while, then asked Yue'er to send the medicinal herbs back to Wutong Residence. She and Dingding went to the Imperial Study. Xiao Lan originally thought that as a woman, she was not allowed to enter the Imperial Study, but when she arrived at the door, Eunuch Fang said, "This old servant is ordered to wait here for Miss Xiao. His Majesty invites Miss Xiao to enter the Imperial Study."

"Eunuch, is there some mistake? Xiao Lan is a woman and cannot enter the Imperial Study," Xiao Lan quickly said. "Don't be afraid, young lady. His Majesty said that Miss Xiao is Young Master Lan, and with such great talent, she is not affected by ancestral rules regarding gender," Eunuch Fang said, gesturing for her to enter. Seeing this, Xiao Lan thought for a moment, guessing that she had praised the Emperor quite a bit in her poetry collection, which made the Emperor not only like Young Master Lan, but also treat her differently now that he knew she was a woman. So she nodded and smiled at Eunuch Fang and went inside.

In her past life, Xiao Lan had been to the Imperial Study, but the emperor then was Yan Linfeng. However, in this life, without her, Xiao Lan didn't know if Yan Linfeng could still sit on the throne. But today, she was going to use the emperor's decree to extort a large sum from the Ye family and Consort Ye. As soon as Xiao Lan entered the Imperial Study, she knelt down and respectfully kowtowed to Yan Zhen. Yan Zhen was already pleased with her obedient appearance, this future daughter-in-law. Furthermore, Xiao Lan resembled Jiang Nihuang by seven or eight parts, so Yan Zhen, out of affection for her, quickly told her to rise and said, "Lan girl, you've come to collect the imperial decree, haven't you? I'll write it for you right away."

"Your Majesty, please wait a moment. May I offer a small suggestion?" Xiao Lan said softly. She had already thought of the wording before coming, determined to persuade His Majesty to include it so that she could obtain the maximum compensation. "Oh? What suggestion?" Yan Zhen was also curious. Wasn't it enough to just write that the Ye family should pay compensation? What else did this little girl want? "Your Majesty, although you are the supreme ruler, the Fifth Prince has said that his father was a diligent and benevolent emperor. Therefore, I think that when you issue an imperial edict, you will surely do so with virtue. So, I estimate that the edict will state that Consort Ye and Ye Lanyi are both from the Ye family. That's why His Majesty asked me to take the edict to the Ye family to demand compensation. As for..." Xiao Lan paused and said, "The compensation should also have a standard. Just state that it will be compensated at market price. This will also show that Your Majesty is fair."

“That is indeed the case. Then, Eunuch Fang, come and serve me immediately! I need to issue an imperial decree right away.” As soon as Yan Zhen finished speaking, he picked up a brush and wrote an imperial decree for Xiao Lan on the Xuan paper with flowing strokes. He wrote down everything Xiao Lan had mentioned, leaving nothing out.

Xiao Lan accepted the imperial edict with great joy, carefully cradling it in her hands as if she had received the most precious treasure in the world. Her face beamed with barely suppressed delight. She was about to bow and bid farewell to Yan Zhen before hurrying to the Ye family to demand her money. However, at that moment, Yan Zhen suddenly spoke up, asking, "Xiao girl, what exactly is the market price? I know that people outside the palace buy vegetables by weight. But what standard is used to price these writing implements? Tell me."

Hearing this, Xiao Lan inwardly cried out in alarm. If it were an ordinary person asking this question, she might have been able to make up a few things to get away with it. But the person asking was the Emperor himself; if she uttered even a single lie, she would be committing the crime of deceiving the Emperor, with unimaginable consequences. She frowned slightly, her mind racing as she searched for a solution. After a moment, a thought struck her, and she slowly replied, "Your Majesty, regarding the price of this writing implement… I truly do not know about others, but I do know that Your Majesty seemed to have praised Young Master Lan's poetry collection highly, even saying that his poems were worth a thousand pieces of gold per word!"

Xiao Lan cautiously glanced at Yan Zhen's expression, secretly relieved that the Emperor's demeanor hadn't changed much. She composed herself and said softly, "Your Majesty, as the Son of Heaven, your words are law, and your promises are worth their weight in gold. Since that's the case, let's proceed as you say. However, this Ye Lanyi is far too audacious; she has plagiarized far too much! As far as I know, the poem recited by Consort Ye alone, along with the calligraphy displayed by Consort Tong, is probably worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver! Moreover, if we include the works she sold to other imperial relatives, the total amount is likely at least a million taels!"

“However, my daughter’s successful exoneration this time is entirely due to Your Majesty’s wisdom and insightful understanding! Therefore, I have always considered that, regardless of whether the final compensation is hundreds of thousands or millions of taels, I will not hesitate to donate sixty percent of it to Your Majesty’s treasury. Although the Great Xia Dynasty is now enjoying good weather and abundant harvests under Your Majesty’s careful governance, a full treasury is always of paramount importance. Only with a full treasury can we exert a strong deterrent force against those states abroad, and better promote various domestic construction projects. After all, having money in hand is essential for accomplishing many important things; this is an unchanging truth.” Xiao Lan said earnestly, her gaze fixed intently on Yan Zhen. In truth, Xiao Lan knew perfectly well that if such a huge fortune were kept solely by her family, the emperor would certainly be displeased. Although the emperor usually bestowed generous rewards, anyone who saw a young girl acquiring such a vast amount of wealth for no reason would find it hard to accept. However, Xiao Lan's act of offering most of the money to the emperor not only appeased his conscience but also earned her a reputation for generosity and righteousness.

At this moment, if the emperor were more reasonable and understood human nature, he should at least have promoted his father. However, Xiao Lan never expected that Yan Zhen had no intention of promoting her father, Xiao Daren, and that this situation was unlikely to change in the future.

Just then, Yan Zhen learned that Xiao Lan was willing to donate 60% of her wealth to the national treasury, and he was naturally overjoyed. However, after hearing Xiao Lan's explanation, he realized that she could only offer a few hundred thousand taels of gold, and even giving away 60% was still not a large amount. Therefore, Yan Zhen couldn't help but feel suspicious and asked Xiao Lan, "Lan girl, I heard that a woman from the Ye family is impersonating Young Master Lan elsewhere? Do you have any solid evidence of this?"

"Your Majesty, just now when I came out of Consort Tong's palace, Consort Tong handed me the list of the ladies who purchased Ye Lanyi's writing implements. However, if we really take all of these into account, I'm afraid the Ye family will have to pay a staggering amount of one million taels of gold!" Xiao Lan said, secretly delighted.

The thought of those millions of taels of gold, even though most of it had to be offered to the emperor, still meant she would receive a full 400,000 taels! Just imagining such a huge sum filled her with excitement and exhilaration, making her extremely happy. So much so that the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up, revealing an undisguised smile.