Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 389: No Good Banquet, No Good Face

Dai Quan nodded: "Yes. The three noble ladies' mistresses have all reached the age to leave. The young palace maids below are clumsy and stupid.

"So each of them brought in a senior maid and asked the head aunt to teach her how to do the job.

"It was reported at the time that these three would leave the palace in half a year. So that would be the first day of April."

Cheng Qian understood and nodded: "That makes sense."

He also pointed out another item, "Since we moved to Taiji Palace, the Supreme Lord and the Queen Mother have ordered that only these few places where people live should be renovated.

“As for the rest of the gardens, rivers and ponds, they will be cleaned and inspected as usual every month, with no other changes made.

"Why did an additional pruning fee suddenly appear last month? And it's quite a lot?"

Dai Quan looked at her in surprise and said, “Last month, I was outside with the Empress Dowager.

"Didn't Concubine Xiao feel bored and wander around the garden, so she told you about it, and that's why she spent some money to decorate the flowers and trees?"

Cheng Qian frowned: "I have never heard of this."

Dai Quan stood up with a serious expression, "I'll go check it out."

"Yes." Cheng Qian also stood up and saw him out.

When they were almost at the door, Cheng Qian caught a glimpse of Qingwen and suddenly remembered something, so she hurriedly said, "There's one more thing."

Dai Quan looked back at her with a look of shock: "What else?!"

"Oh, after the princess and the county lady entered the palace, they should each have two more eunuchs under their names.

“Because I have been in the Yanjia Palace, I didn’t mention this matter.

"Today they went out for a walk, and when I looked, only Chu Qian and Lei Kun followed them, which was really unbecoming.

"I asked Chu Kai, and he said that when he was working in the Palace Administration Department, he had two young eunuchs that he was familiar with, and they could be transferred over."

Cheng Qian smiled and bowed to Dai Quan, "Could you please give me a message, Eunuch Dai?"

Dai Quan heaved a sigh of relief and pretended to wipe his forehead: "You scared me to death! I thought there was something wrong!

"This is a small matter. In an hour, ask Chu Qian to come to me and I will write him a warrant."

After that, he walked quickly.

Cheng Qian smiled and watched him go out, then turned around and glanced at everyone in the hall one by one without saying a word.

The palace has an unclear population and funds are not available, which is a mess.

She couldn't control other things, but Yanjia Palace couldn't afford to make any mistakes at this time.

Princess Zhaoqing and Princess Yimin brought in a total of five maids, all of whom were trustworthy confidants.

Most of the other palace servants in Yanjia Palace were old men who had served the Empress Dowager and herself for many years.

Only the palace maids and eunuchs who did the rough cleaning were transferred here one after another from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Cheng Qian pretended to take a stroll and slowly walked around the main hall of Yanjia Palace, looking at every palace servant who was doing their work quietly.

Still need to be cautious.

Not yet.

The Empress Dowager and Daiyu took a light nap, then woke up one after another, got up to wash and combed their hair, and then chatted and laughed with Tanchun and Hongchang for a while.

Daiyu took the opportunity to say that she wanted to have plain noodles for dinner: "It's really greasy these days."

The Queen Mother also nodded: "I miss that taste too."

He looked around and frowned as he asked, "Where is Chu Qian? I was just about to ask him to go and tell the emperor.

"I prefer the vegetarian noodles made by the emperor's imperial kitchen that Tao Xingjian sent me last time. They are very much to my liking."

Cheng Qian stepped forward with a smile and said, "Chu Kai has gone to ask for someone." She repeated the reason she had told Dai Quan.

But he didn't say that this was actually a request that Chu Kai had made to him in private.

Chu Qian's original words were: "There is no peace in the palace. We need more people who are good at fighting in Yanjia Palace."

Cheng Qian agreed with this deeply, but she couldn't say it out loud.

The Empress Dowager then ordered Qingwen to go and talk to her.

Qingwen was eager to go out for a walk, so she agreed with a smile. She casually called a little palace maid to accompany her and went to the Xuanzheng Hall.

As soon as Qingwen said this, Emperor Zhaoming immediately said: He was tired of eating these days and wanted to eat this for dinner. Why not go to Yanjia Palace and have dinner with his mother.

Before the news reached Yanjia Palace, the Emperor Taishang had heard about it and was unhappy. He wanted to ask Dai Quan to complain, but he was told:

"There are some miscellaneous matters in the Ministry of Internal Affairs that require the signature of Eunuch Dai. He will be here as soon as he says he will."

Just as he was about to lose his temper, someone from the Yanjia Palace came to ask, "Your Majesty wants to come and have noodles with you for dinner. Is Your Majesty free?"

Tai Shang immediately turned his anger into joy, but said reservedly: "There is one more thing. I will go over after I finish it."

The palace maid agreed and left.

Dai Quan came back, his face looking normal, but he was dazed from time to time.

The Grand Master was boasting to Dai Quan smugly: "Young couples stay together in old age. Your Queen Mother still thinks of me in her heart. She thinks of me even when she has a bowl of noodles."

However, Dai Quan's answers were not as clever and funny as before.

After carefully looking at him for a few times, he found that Dai Quan's eyes actually flashed with murderous intent. He could not help but frown and twirl his beard and asked him:

"It's only the beginning of the new year, where is the important matter in the Ministry of Internal Affairs that needs your signature?

“Is this last year’s account?

"I'm going incognito this time, so the expenses are not much..."

Dai Quan was originally thinking about how to word this matter to the Supreme, but when he heard him mention going to the south of the Yangtze River, his eyes lit up, and he bowed with a smile and said:

"No matter how little the cost is, it's still a journey of several thousand miles. Besides, the Queen Mother also traveled by sea.

"Isn't it silver?"

The Emperor glared at him and shouted, "The money for the sea voyage that the Empress Dowager took was all donated by Zhaoqing, and it didn't cost the Empress Dowager or me a penny!

"What? Are they going to report this to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as well? Are they crazy?"

Dai Quan hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the Tai Shang's arm, pulling him into the inner room, saying:

"Everyone says that it's good for the princess to be filial. But she can't really use other people's money just because of this!

"There are several thousand taels in total, and their salary is just a fraction of that. Do we really have the nerve to do that..."

But when she was out of sight, she lowered her voice and said, “Three new maids have arrived at Linhu Palace.

"After checking his resume carefully, I found that he has some connection with the Xie family of Dingcheng Marquis and the Qiu family of Jingtian Marquis..."

The Supreme waved his hand nonchalantly: "They are relatives visiting each other, helping to find jobs..."

"But those three palace maids all reported that their parents were dead."

"As an orphan girl, it's normal for me to help out..." Tai Shang stopped talking halfway.

Because palace maids could become the emperor's concubines at any time, the inspection upon entry into the palace was the most stringent.

Orphans entering the palace have always needed to have their nine clans of relatives as guarantors.

But among the three palace maids who were suddenly replaced, two were related to old nobles.

The Supreme narrowed his eyes and said, "As I recall, the Xie family kid is now serving as a guerrilla in the Beijing Camp?"

"Yes. Xie Jing, the second-class baron, served as a guerrilla in the Beijing camp.

"Qiu Liangze from the Jingtian Marquis family is working for the Wucheng Bingmasi." Dai Quan said, his expression becoming more and more solemn.

Tai Shang hummed, his eyes turning cold.

"I beg your pardon." Dai Quan bent down again and whispered through gritted teeth, "This was stuffed in when we went south of the Yangtze River.

“The old slave came back but didn’t find anything wrong.

"This was only discovered when Cheng Qian checked last year's account books."

Tai Shang raised an eyebrow: "Did Cheng Qian just tell you?"

"Yes. He just said it this afternoon. I will go and check it carefully." Dai Quan lowered his head.

The Supreme thought of the plain noodles he had that night, and suddenly felt unhappy:

“No banquet is good, no face is good!

"Humph!"