Chapter 666: Concubine Lan
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The mother and daughter were exactly the same. One was beautiful, while the other was delicate. They were both bright and dazzling.
Compared to her, others inevitably fell behind.
It wasn’t that they didn’t look as good, but that the County Head of Shaoyi was glowing. The spotlight was on her.
Yu Youyao quickly stood up and bowed to Consort Lan. “Thank you for your praise.”
If it weren’t for the fact that there had long been conflict between the Yu Residence and Ning Yuanbo’s Residence, it would be extremely good for such a delicate beauty to be matched with the clueless Emperor’s son. Concubine Lan felt that it was a pity, but she didn’t show it on her face. She smiled and said, “County Head Shaoyi, there’s no need to be so polite. Hurry up and sit down. Otherwise, the Empress Dowager will blame me for troubling her delicate guest. ”
Yu Youyao thanked her and sat back down.
Concubine Lan glanced at Princess Liyang for a split second. She took a brocade box from the palace maid. “The Empress Dowager wants to raise money for disaster relief. I also have the intention to share the Emperor’s burden.’
Auntie Shen took it with a smile.
Yu Youyao noticed that Concubine Lan’s gaze flashed past Princess Liyangs. It was cold and indifferent, unlike the att.i.tude of a palace concubine towards a legitimate princess.
She casually picked up her teacup and used sipping on the tea as a facade. She glanced at Princess Liyang from the corner of her eye. When Princess Liyang looked at Concubine Lan, her smile faded a little.
“You’re too kind.” Even though she did not like Concubine Lan’s ostentatious behavior, the Empress Dowager had to admit that Concubine Lan was a smart and sensible person.
The Emperor had made such a big move, and the Yu Residence was not a fool.
Concubine Lan had chosen the time when Old Madam Yu brought County Head Shaoyi into the palace to specially deliver the disaster relief money. She was telling the Yu Residence that this money-raising initiative was legitimate and not made to target the Yu Residence. She showed that even the Palace was doing their part.
This could be considered to have fulfilled the palace’s plan.
Concubine Lan took the opportunity to mention the flood in Zhejiang. The few adults in the house had to join in. After talking about the flood, it was inevitable that she would mention the drought in the north.
With that, she became more talkative.
It wasn’t until quarter to noon that the Empress Dowager looked exhausted.
Only then did Concubine Lan tactfully leave.
Old Madam Yu also did not want to overstay.
The Empress Dowager said, “It’s getting late, and I’m tired. Matriarch and the County Head of Shaoyi can go to the side hall to rest and stay in the palace for lunch.’
Old Madam Yu and Yu Youyao quickly thanked her.
When she returned to the inner room, the Empress Dowager first opened the brocade box that Old Madam Yu had handed over. There was a stack of banknotes inside, and she had also prepared a booklet. The booklet indicated the number and limit of this stack of banknotes, which totaled 100,000 taels.
Old Madam Yu had donated money on behalf of the first branch of the Yu Residence. 100,000 taels of silver was already beyond her expectations.
In the past, when the palace was collecting money, it all depended on how much each family was willing to give. Those with weaker families had dozens or hundreds of taels of silver, and those with stronger families had hundreds or thousands of taels of silver. Those who had donated more than 5,000 taels of silver could be counted on one hand.
The Empress Dowager sighed softly. “It hasn’t been easy for Old Niadam Yu all these years either. She spent 100,000 taels at once. Other than eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures and consecrating
Bodhisattva, it’s also because of the Emperor’s great kindness that she wanted to contribute more.’
Auntie Shen also said, “Old Madam Yu is kind-hearted.’
The Empress Dowager had originally estimated that if the Yu Residence could take out 50,000 taels, they would already be repaying the Emperor’s grace.
It was impossible to rely on just money to relieve the disaster.
With this number, the various families in the capital more or less had a considerable sum. There was not enough to resolve the disaster, but at the very least, it could resolve their urgent needs.
Now that it had far exceeded this number, it was obvious that the Yu Residence was really considerate.
The Empress Dowager opened the box of the County Head of Shaoyi and took the book. She was stunned for a long time.
Auntie Shen’s breathing tightened.
The Empress Dowager closed the book and placed it into a box. “Now, I feel that it’s still a little lacking for the Emperor to just confer Eldest Miss Yu the t.i.tle of County Head of Shaoyi. With this deep sense of righteousness, it’s enough to be conferred the t.i.tle of Princess.” She handed the box to Auntie
Shen and said calmly, “Take it to the imperial study and hand it to the
Emperor.” At this point, she hesitated for a moment and added, “The Yu
Residence has lived up to its loyalty and unity. In the future, we’ll treat them even better.’
She had donated a total of a million taels of silver, and the palace knew all the businesses under the County Head of Shaoyi’s name. This one million taels of silver was almost half of the profits of all the manors under her name for ten years.
Other than for the sake of the Emperor’s grace, she was probably like Old
Madam Yu, and was raised with a Bodhisattva’s heart to be willing to fork out
sucn a large sum 01 money.
Auntie Shen carried the box all the way to the imperial study.
Eunuch Zhu quickly welcomed her. He glanced at the brocade box and smiled. “Auntie Shen is here. The Emperor has just finished dealing with the memorial and is having a headache over who he should send to Zhejiang to relieve the disaster. Please come in.’
Auntie Shen looked down at the brocade box in her hand and understood. She smiled and entered the imperial study with Eunuch Zhu.
The Emperor’s face was pale, but his cheeks were abnormally flushed. Clearly, he had just taken the medicinal pill not long ago. Auntie Shen handed the brocade box to Eunuch Zhu and relayed that Old Madam Yu and the County Head of Shaoyi had entered the palace to thank him. After saying a few words, she said, “The Empress Dowager is full of praise. The Yu Residence had shown their loyalty and integrity. The County Head of Shaoyi did not let down the Emperor’s grace.”
There was no need for her to say the rest. The Emperor would understand.
Eunuch Zhu handed over a brocade box.
The Emperor smiled. “l naturally know how loyal the Yu Residence is.” Auntie Shen left after hearing this.
The imperial study fell silent. The Emperor opened the brocade box and looked satisfied when he saw the number inside. However, there was an unfathomable glint in his turbid eyes.
The Emperor looked at the box for a long time before closing it. He said ambiguously, “Even an unmarried young miss of the inner residence is richer than me. Tell me.” His gray eyes stared at Eunuch Zhu and he asked word by word, “Am I a failure as the Emperor?”
Eunuch Zhu knelt on the ground with a thud, and his heavy shirt was instantly drenched in sweat. “The Emperor has been benevolent, so the Yu Residence and the County Head of Shaoyi County have given up their family wealth to share the Emperor’s burden.” At this point, even his teeth were chattering, and his voice was trembling uncontrollably. “It’s, it’s because someone betrayed the Emperor’s kindness and deceived…”
In the past, there was the Zhejiang capital that embezzled money from the army. Later, there was the Ministry of Works that joined forces to supervise the river. The officials of Zhejiang embezzled money from repairing the river. This money was a huge sum every year.
Eunuch Zhu lowered his eyes.
Only with a comparison could the loyalty of the Yu Residence be highlighted.
Indeed!
At the mention of this, the Emperor sneered. “That’s right. There are loyal and unyielding officials like the Yu Residence in the court, and there are also blood-sucking leeches.” At this D0int. his expression suddenly darkened.
“They think that I won’t be able to deal with them because they are far away from my authority. I’ll make them spit out everything they’ve swallowed since the past with interest!”
Eunuch Zhu lowered his head a little more, not even daring to breathe loudly..