12dz Chapter 164 Lu Zha's Nightmare
Chapter 164 Lu Zha's Nightmare
But now, the dream has been shattered.
She did become the young prince's aunt, but what good was that?
Not to mention the young prince, even the seventh princess was sent to other concubines. She couldn't enter the palace, couldn't visit them at all, let alone cultivate any relationship. Therefore, this path was a failure.
When she heard from the servants that her husband was fooling around with the newly acquired courtesan again, she didn't feel any heartache or indignation, but she had a feeling that she wanted to run away before the house collapsed.
Inside the room, he took out the "redemption money" he had swindled from those concubines. After calculating the odds and ends, he still had less than 160,000.
He initially received 180,000 taels, and in the past few months he has spent nearly 20,000 taels. It is conceivable how generous Lü Yi is.
Hua Wanzhi made a mental calculation, and then took out the land deeds for the Lü family mansion. If you are unkind, I will be unkind too. In any case, it will all end with the rabbit being killed and the dog being cooked, so I can't wrong myself!
So he silently memorized the key points and went out again.
She's not the kind of person who would put all her eggs in one basket, so having a backup plan is the most important thing for her.
Lu Yi had spent most of his life growing up with the support of his mother and elder sister, so he had little understanding of the dangers outside. Therefore, he had no idea that he had been plotted against and completely destroyed by someone behind his back.
Still indulging in a sweet embrace, thinking how capable they are.
A heat wave swept in, affecting both inside and outside the palace.
The area where the ministers knelt was temporarily shielded by three layers of silk cloth suspended in the air, which was much better than kneeling directly under the scorching sun.
As for calming soup, mung bean soup, and plum juice, these heat-clearing and fire-reducing drinks were continuously sent from the imperial kitchen to help everyone cool down in the summer.
Inside the Hall of Prayer for Peace.
It was ice-cold. To prevent the old emperor's body from decaying, eight large vats filled with ice were placed next to the coffin, so the chill went straight to your head.
The crown prince, kneeling before them, had been observing mourning for almost ten days. He looked utterly exhausted, but the more exhausted he looked, the more satisfied the ministers became. This meant that the new emperor they supported was benevolent, filial, and loyal!
Crown Princess He Lingyi did not accompany him, but instead looked through the palace affairs that Consort Qin had "snatched" from Consort Liang in the side hall, and did not find anything amiss.
Thanks to the rules established by Empress Wen during her years of managing the palace, Consort Qin took over after she arrived. Following the old practice, there were no major problems. In the following six months, Consort Liang focused her attention on dealing with Consort Jia and did not interfere much in the affairs of the palace. Therefore, what she left behind was not a mess, but a well-ordered set of palace rules.
In the past few days, He Lingyi has been acting in accordance with the palace rules set by Empress Wen, but with some more humane measures added. As a result, she has received high praise from everyone, including the Crown Princess.
With only a few days left until the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne, people from the Ministry of Rites kept coming in and out to discuss various procedures with the Crown Prince and her. Only then did she realize how complicated the process of a new emperor's ascension to the throne was, and most importantly, how huge the expenses were.
There is no doubt that the affairs of the palace are well-organized.
However, the national treasury was not so abundant. The recent confiscation of Prince Jin's mansion and his associates had filled it up considerably, but the old emperor was not exactly frugal when it came to spending.
The old emperor's death coincided with the summer season, and the expenditure on ice alone amounted to tens of thousands of taels of silver, not to mention other expenses. As a result, with these two events combined, the national treasury was only seeing money going out and not coming in, which made He Lingyi frown.
Just then, the Crown Prince came over from his nap and saw her flipping through the account books, and he roughly understood what was going on.
"Your Highness."
He Lingyi stood up and bowed, then skillfully took the medicinal wine and wiped and massaged his knees. Kneeling for the past few days had taken a toll on even the strongest body, resulting in redness, swelling and bruising.
The Crown Prince didn't seem to care much about it, but He Lingyi couldn't just ignore it. So the couple, one accepting it with a clear conscience and the other carefully massaging her, ended up in a harmonious situation.
Are you worried that the money won't cover the expenses?
"Well, although we're not in deficit right now, it's not good to keep spending without earning anything. So I'm thinking about whether there are any ways to cut costs, but we can't cut back on the two most important things right now, so I'm having a bit of a headache."
"Since we can't cut costs, we'll just have to make up for it from outside."
"Your Highness is referring to the King of Li?"
"Yes, Prince Li will arrive in the capital in three days."
Hearing this, He Lingyi was taken aback. She felt that the arrival of the Prince of Li had been too smooth. They had "imprisoned" the Third Princess for half a year. Logically speaking, the Prince of Li should have been on guard long ago.
However, the spies in Hengzhou said that the Prince Li's residence was calm and peaceful, without any unusual activity.
For the first ten days or half a month, He Lingyi could still believe he was acting, but after half a year without any signs, He Lingyi even began to doubt whether he had made a mistake in his approach.
"Three days? Then he can make it in time for His Highness's enthronement ceremony."
"That's what he came for. I'd like to see what surprises the King of Li has in store for us after all these years."
Upon hearing this, He Lingyi understood that the Crown Prince must have laid a trap for him. He continued to massage his knee with the same intensity, but his mind was elsewhere.
Seeing the change in her expression, the Crown Prince took her hand, helped her sit down beside him, and asked, "What's wrong?"
He Lingyi didn't hold back and directly revealed that the Guo family was planning to take action against the Lü family.
“I had Xinglu spread some rumors, and I reckon the Guo family will soon expose that Lü Yi was having an affair with a prostitute at home. This matter could be big or small, but I want the Lü family to pay the price they deserve.”
The Crown Prince's face darkened upon hearing that the Grand Funeral had been indulging in prostitution.
He immediately called out to Xia Jing outside, and Xia Jing quickly came in.
"Your Highness."
"Issue the order for a thorough search. Anyone found drinking, making merry, or engaging in lewd behavior during the mourning period should be arrested immediately and handed over to the Court of Judicial Review for interrogation. I want to see just who these people are who have shown such disrespect to the late Emperor!"
"Yes."
As soon as the news spread, officials from various prefectures quickly sprang into action.
Guo Yong was one of the officials involved in the preparation of the coronation ceremony. He received the news the next day. Coincidentally, the matter of the Lü family also reached his ears. Therefore, he acted faster than anyone else and found a so-called "neighbor of the Lü family" to sue the person!
Lü Yi was still drunk and writing poetry in the arms of a beauty when he was caught red-handed by the guards who broke in.
During the mourning period, not only was the air thick with the smell of alcohol, but they were also writing lewd and obscene poems here. This was intolerable! Therefore, they caught Lü Yi and the singing girl red-handed and arrested them together.
The steward was very anxious and wanted to consult with Madam Hua for a solution.
But when he arrived at the main courtyard, he couldn't find anyone. The steward thought to himself that something was wrong. Upon closer inspection, he found that everything in the house was there except for the silver notes and the land deed of the house.
This disaster has only just begun, and they've already scattered to the winds?!