Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1142 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 68

Queen Jiang Xinxin is very busy throughout the year, especially in the second half of the year. The birthdays of the princes and princesses, the birthdays of Yixiu and Dapangju, as well as major festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Golden Award Festival, and New Year's Day are all in the second half of the year. There is almost no time to have a good rest, so Jiang Xinxin is ready to quit.

But as a queen, she could not push away the palace affairs without reason. She had to have a legitimate and reasonable reason. So she fell ill in bed due to a cold and no longer had the energy to manage the affairs of the harem.

When Jiang Xinxin pretended to be sick before, Da Pangju came to visit her every day. In the end, Jiang Xinxin pretended to be virtuous and finally sent Da Pangju away, saying that she was worried about spreading a cold.

Now that her cold has healed, she is weak and lacks energy, so she can no longer worry about palace affairs. But Da Pangju comes over to sit with her every day to show his appreciation for Jiang Xinxin, the queen. In particular, Da Pangju does not allow Jiang Xinxin to push palace affairs out of her way.

"If the queen is not energetic enough, she can just distribute the affairs under her control as before and just be the overall supervisor. However, she cannot push all the palace affairs to others and increase the appetite of the subordinates."

The word "balance" has been running through the entire reign of an emperor. Previously, Jiang Xinxin's strong retraction of palace power was not to show that she had no support from the Ulanara clan, so that Big Fat Orange did not really resist. Now, in the harem, except for Concubine Qi and Concubine Jing, power must not be given to Concubine Shun and Concubine Qi, who were born in the Manchurian clan and had princes.

Jiang Xinxin sincerely suggested: "Now that Concubine Rou's maternal family is in decline, even if there are concubines in the palace to suppress it, the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince are still neglected because of their maternal family. Of course, it's not that anyone dares to go against the wind and tamper with the various quotas and treatments of the princes, but the emperor also came from the identity of a prince, and he should understand the difference between being attentive and not being attentive."

"So I thought it would be better to ask Concubine Rou and Concubine Shen to share some of the palace affairs, especially since there are many festivals and celebrations in the second half of the year, and I really can't manage it like this now."

What Jiang Xinxin said was true. Could Big Fat Orange really pull someone up from the sickbed and manage palace affairs?

Besides, Big Fat Orange does have some feelings for Queen Jiang Xinxin now. Didn’t you see that he helped conceal the causes of death of so many children in the Fourteenth Prince’s mansion?

So after hesitating for a moment, Big Fat Orange agreed to Jiang Xinxin's proposal, "Since the Queen is so optimistic about Concubine Rou and Concubine Shen, I agree to this matter."

Big Fat Orange is now very good at giving Jiang Xinxin face. He asked Gao Wuyong to accompany Jianqiu to inform Concubine Rou and Concubine Shen about the matter of letting them assist in the palace affairs. The two were naturally very happy to receive the oral order, but Concubine Shen was more cautious now. She was happy for a while and then quickly declined: "I should not refuse to share the worries of the Queen, but I am just a concubine, and I have been convicted. There are also Concubine Xin, Concubine Shen, Concubine Shun, Concubine Qi and other concubines above me. How can I bypass them?"

Jianqiu stepped forward to comfort Concubine Shen, saying, "It is precisely because Concubine Shen has learned how to manage palace affairs that the Empress deliberately promoted her. As the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching and the palace is full of affairs, the Empress hopes that Concubine Rou and Concubine Shen can get started as soon as possible."

Since Jianqiu could give a reasonable reason, Shen Guiren knew that she could not refuse no matter what and could only agree to Jiang Xinxin and Dapangju.

After receiving the oral order, Concubine Rou hurried to Jingren Palace to express her loyalty to Jiang Xinxin.

Roupin was a thoughtful woman, and she had Fuguiren, her clear-headed helper, by her side. She had long understood the reality that there were many favorite concubines in the palace, but only the queen would last forever. Therefore, she had always been very respectful to Jiang Xinxin, and she would always be the first to support whatever Jiang Xinxin said.

Now, without Concubine Fu’s specific reminder, she could just pass the message to Concubine Shen, and the two of them would go to Jingren Palace together to express their gratitude.

From outsiders' perspective, Jiang Xinxin was still ill, so of course she couldn't engage in excessive greetings. So she directly handed over the assigned palace duties to Concubine Rou and Concubine Shen, and also introduced them to the relevant managers.

Seeing that they understood what she meant, Jiang Xinxin let them go directly. "This Mid-Autumn Festival, I have discussed with the emperor and decided to make a few more lanterns to reward the various royal palaces. In addition, important officials of the court will also be rewarded. This has been decided. You two just need to focus on preparing everything."

"The palace will still keep things simple on the Double Ninth Festival, but we will reward the elderly in the royal family and officials in the capital. There will also be other rewards for the elderly over 60 years old in the suburbs of Beijing. You two should come up with a plan as soon as possible so that you can make preparations early."

"There is also the Golden Award Festival. This year's celebration, Mongolia and the vassal states will pay tribute, and you must quickly coordinate with them, and prepare the return gifts as soon as possible. There is also the Wanshou Festival and my birthday, which will be simple. Mongolia and the vassal states will also pay tribute, and the return gifts must also be prepared in advance. I mean that this year's return gifts from the vassal states should mainly be porcelain, tea, and fine silk, and other things can be omitted if possible."

"After that, it will be the New Year's Day. All the ladies in the capital will come to the palace to attend the New Year's Eve banquet. The rewards will be decided by me personally. I will come up with a plan as soon as possible, and you will be responsible for supervising the preparation of the rewards as soon as possible."

Oh my god, hearing about these festivals one after another makes my scalp tingle. There is really no time to rest in the second half of the year!

Concubine Rou had never taken care of these things. She was able to keep the people in her own palace and around the Eighth Prince under control, all thanks to the help of Concubine Fu.

So when she came out of Jingren Palace and looked at the thick stack of account books held by the palace maid behind her, Concubine Rou sent the maid back first and she went to Suiyuxuan herself.

Noble Lady Shen knew that Concubine Rou had never properly learned how to manage a household. If it was when Concubine Rou had just entered the palace, she would have offered to teach her a thing or two. But now she was still following Noble Lady, and Concubine Rou was already a concubine. So even if she had good intentions, she couldn't say some things on her own initiative.

Fortunately, Concubine Rou no longer cared about being hypocritical, and when she arrived at Suiyuxuan, she explained her intentions: "Sister Mei, my life at home was not satisfactory, and I never learned how to manage the household since I was a child. Now we have to obey the orders of the Empress and the Emperor, so Sister Mei, do you have any rules?"

It would have been better if Concubine Rou had asked. Concubine Shen said frankly, "Right now we need to look at the account books and gift lists from previous years as soon as possible to understand how these things were handled before. The Mid-Autumn Festival is next month. The Empress said that the lanterns given as rewards are the most important. Let's not worry about the style for now, just focus on the quantity."

What Lady Shen said was right. The Imperial Household Department's Imperial Household Department had already submitted a catalog of lanterns, and Jiang Xinxin had already decided on the style. All they needed was enough quantity.

When Concubine Rou heard that Concubine Shen had a plan, she couldn't help but feel relieved, but afterwards she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. However, she also knew that this matter had nothing to do with Concubine Shen, but that her own family could not provide her with such good conditions.