Inner courtyard living room.
Qi Yun, the third princess, Wenren Yunshu and the other beauties straightened their expressions in the back hall, and then walked into the front hall together.
Li Chengbai, Qin Ziying, Yu Qiutong and others saw the beauties headed by Qi Yun walking into the living room one after another, and they all stood up and gave a big salute.
"We meet the Queen, who is a thousand years old."
"See you ladies, you are thousands of years old."
Qi Yun glanced at the guests in the hall calmly, and raised her hands lightly.
"Everyone is free of charge."
The third princess, Qi Ya, Qing Lian, Hu Yan Yunyao, sisters Yun Xiaoxi and others also waved their hands.
"No gifts, no gifts."
"Everyone is free of charge."
"Thank you, Queen, thank you all."
Qi Yunlian walked slowly to the main seat in the living room, gently adjusted her cuffs, and sat on the chair elegantly and dignifiedly.
"Sisters, please take your seats."
"Thank you sister."
After all the beauties smiled and bowed, they dispersed one after another, walked to their seats and sat down.
"Qin Shangshu, Li Zongling, Qiu Tong...you all should also take your seats."
"Thank you, Queen."
"Yu'er, watch the tea."
"Slave, I obey."
Yu'er turned around and looked at the group of little sisters behind her, and waved gently.
"Tea."
"yes."
A group of little maids responded in unison, and immediately dispersed towards the crowd with the trays in their hands.
Yu'er walked to Qi Yun'e with her own tray and put a cup of tea for Qi Yun with a smile.
"Miss, please have tea."
"Um."
Qi Yunsu raised her hand gently to pick up the tea cup. After taking a sip of tea with her mouth slightly open, she looked at Yu Qiutong, Li Chengbai and others with a faint smile.
"Everyone, you are not busy in the palace right now. Why do you come to see my sisters this time?"
Li Chengbai, Qin Ziying, Eunuch Feng and others looked at each other when they heard Qi Yun's question.
He looked at him, he looked at him, he looked at her.
After some eye contact, no one spoke back first.
When Qi Yun saw this situation, she frowned slightly and turned to look at Yu Qiutong, the female officer in charge of the dressing room, with a toothless smile.
"Qiutong."
Seeing Qi Yun directly calling Yu Qiutong's name, everyone except Yu Qiutong secretly breathed a long sigh of relief.
Yu Qiutong immediately stood up and saluted Qi Yunfu.
"I'm here."
Qi Yun looked at Yu Qiutong, smiled slightly and pressed her hands: "No need to get up, just sit down and answer."
"Yes, thank you, Queen Mother."
"Qiutong, come and tell me why you and others came to see me this time."
"In reply to your Majesty, the reason I am seeking to see you this time is to discuss with you and other ladies the wedding of your three Highnesses."
"Oh? What's wrong? Did you encounter any problems?"
"Back to your Majesty, your Majesty ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate money to our various ministries and offices. Some of it is not enough to support all the expenses for the wedding of the three His Highnesses."
Qi Yun frowned slightly, turned her head slightly and glanced at Li Chengbai, Qin Ziying and others.
"Qiutong, don't you have enough money?"
"Yeah, yeah, not enough."
"Is it just the money in your dressing room that is not enough, or is the money in all your government offices not enough?"
Yu Qiutong glanced sideways at Li Chengbai and others.
"Reply to my wife, all our government offices don't have enough money."
When Qi Yun heard Yu Qiutong's answer, she glanced at Li Chengbai and others calmly, and a hint of imperceptible doubt flashed quickly deep in her eyes.
Immediately, she turned sideways to pick up her tea cup, and put it towards her red lips with a smile.
Qi Yun used the action of drinking tea to gently squint her pretty eyes and began to think secretly.
What kind of person your husband is, as one of his pillowcases, I naturally know very well.
Based on my understanding of him, he should not have made any mistakes in such important matters as the lifelong events of his children.
Could it be, could it be.
Could it be that some of them wanted to use the reputation of their three children's weddings to secretly enrich themselves?
Is that what some of them want to do? Or does everyone want to do this?
Qi Yun had this idea, not because she judged a gentleman with a villain's heart.
It's just because they believe in their husbands more than Li Chengbai, Qin Ziying and others.
Qi Yun's mind was racing and she muttered to herself. She put down the tea cup in her hand with a slight smile and raised her eyes towards Li Chengbai, Qin Ziying and others.
"Li Zongling, Qin Shangshu, is this true?"
"Reply to my wife, it is indeed true."
"Back to your Majesty, it's exactly what Master Yu said.
"Tell me, how much money do all your government agencies lack together?"
"Back to the empress, there is a total lack...a lack..."
"There's no need to hesitate. If you have something to say, it's okay to say it."
"Yes, yes, I'm going to reply to you. All our ministries and offices, combined, are short of between 400,000 and 500,000 taels of silver.
The specific number will definitely be different, and I can't give you an accurate answer now. "
Upon hearing Yu Qiutong's answer, Qi Yun's pupils suddenly shrank, and the faint smile at the corner of her mouth also disappeared.
"What? It's so different?"
"To tell you what I'm saying, that's exactly what it is."
Qi Yun calmed down her mood, looked calm, and glanced at Li Chengbai and others calmly.
"Compared with the money allocated to you by the Ministry of Accounts, there is actually a difference of about four to five million taels less. Isn't this too much of a difference?"
People like Li Chengbai and Qin Ziying are all old foxes who have matured into masters.
Although Qi Yun's expression was very calm, several of them could still hear something amiss from Qi Yun's tone.
The few people looked at each other quickly, and vaguely understood in their hearts.
What the queen meant by this was that she suspected that she and others were lining their own pockets.
The Zongren Mansion's Zongling Li Chengbai quickly took out an account book from his sleeve, stood up and saluted Qi Yun.
"The Empress, every expense incurred by the ministers and other ministries and agencies on the wedding of your three highnesses has been recorded in the accounts. Please take a look at it."
Seeing this, Yu Qiutong, Eunuch Feng and others also took out an account book from their arms and held it in their hands.
"Queen, we all have accounts, please take a look at them."
Qi Yun casually glanced at the accounts in everyone's hands, turned her pretty eyes a few times, and waved her hands with a smile on her face.
"No need, since Your Majesty has left all matters to you to handle, it means that Your Majesty still trusts you very much.
Your Majesty believes in you, and I naturally believe in you too.
Sit down, sit down and talk. "
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Qiutong, please give me a brief introduction."
Yu Qiutong was silent for a moment with a somewhat hesitant expression, and then replied softly: "Back to your Majesty, if we follow the normal procedures, the money your Majesty ordered the Ministry of Accounts to allocate to our various ministries and offices is actually quite sufficient.
Not only is it very sufficient, but it is more than enough. "
"Oh, if that's the case, then this time you still..."
"Mother, what I just said is that the calculation is based on the normal process, and that's why this is the case.
However, the deadline His Majesty set for us is too tight.
According to the time limit set by His Majesty for us, the money allocated to us by the Ministry of Revenue is completely insufficient! "
As soon as Yu Qiutong finished speaking, Li Chengbai and others started to echo.
"The Queen, I second my opinion."
"Your Majesty, I also agree with you."
"My Majesty, it is clear that it is not because we are incompetent, but the date set by His Majesty is actually a bit too tense."
Qi Yun looked at the helpless and depressed expressions of everyone, and picked up the tea cup thoughtfully.
"Your Majesty, what date is the deadline he has set for you?"
"Replying to your Majesty, Your Majesty ordered the veterans and others to make all preparations for the wedding day of the three Highnesses before the beginning of March."
Qi Yun took a small taste of the tea and glanced at Yu Qiutong and others with a slight frown.
"Oh? Are you nervous about the deadline that Your Majesty has set for you?"
"Back to you, Madam, we and others got together two days ago to do a rough accounting.
According to our estimates, with the money allocated by the Ministry of Accounts to our ministries and offices, we will have everything ready around the tenth day of March, and there will be no problem.
The key is, the key is that the deadline His Majesty has set for us is before the beginning of March. "
Qi Yun was thinking rapidly, looked up at everyone, pretended to be confused and said with a faint smile: "Qiu Tong, Li Zongling, according to what you just said.
Comparing the date that His Majesty has set for you and the date that you estimate yourself, the difference between the two is only about ten days.
About ten days, is it so urgent? "
This time, Yu Qiutong did not speak, but turned to look at Qin Ziying, the Minister of Rites.
"Master Qin, I don't know much about this kind of thing, so you should tell me."
"Okay, okay."
"Queen, you don't know something.
For a major event like this that involves thousands or tens of thousands of people, every time a day is added, the manpower and material resources consumed are three times the normal amount.
Even more than three times.
If there is a slight error, four times or five times is not impossible.
There was a difference of ten days. Lao Chen and others only estimated the difference of about four to five million taels of silver. They had already tried various ways to save one province after another. "
Qi Yun thought for a moment and nodded with a clear expression.
"I see."
"Empress, I really have no other choice, so I have no choice but to come together to see you.
The old minister boldly begged the empress, could you please go to your majesty and help the old minister to beg for mercy. "
Li Chengbai and others stood up in unison and saluted Qi Yun in unison.
"I beg you, the Queen, to intercede for you."
Qi Yun narrowed her beautiful eyes and glanced at the people who were saluting, frowned slightly, and turned her head to look at the sisters sitting on the left and right sides.
The third princess, the queen, sisters Qi Ya and others noticed Qi Yun's gaze and turned around to look.
Qi Ya gently rolled her eyes, chewed the tea leaves between her teeth and was silent for a while, then nodded her head a few times with a slight smile.
Qi Yun received her sister's response and held up her hands with a smile without showing her teeth.
"No gifts, please forgive me for now."
"Thank you, Queen, thousand years old, thousand years old, thousand years old."
"Li Zongling, Qin Shangshu, He Siqing, I wonder how you plan to ask me to plead with His Majesty for you?"
"Back to your Majesty, I hope that you, the Queen, can help me and tell your Majesty about our difficulties.
Or you can give me some more grace, or you can allocate more money to me. "
"The veteran seconded the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
"I understand. I will tell Your Majesty your difficulties as soon as possible."
"Thank you, Queen. Thank you, Queen. I am a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old."
Qi Yun smiled slightly and waved her hand, then picked up the teacup on the table and began to fiddle with it gently.
"Besides this matter, do you have anything else?"
When Li Chengbai, Yu Qiutong and others saw that Qi Yun had already served tea to see off the guests, they all bowed in unison.
"Go back to the Queen, I have nothing else to do."
“At this juncture, you should still have a lot of things to be busy with.
In this case, I will not leave you sitting for a long time. "
"The Queen, ladies and gentlemen, please take your leave first."
"Well, walk slowly or not."
"Everyone, walk slowly."
"I'll take my leave first."
"Yu'er."
"My slave understands."
"My lords, my servant is here to guide you, please."
"Okay, okay, thank you so much, Miss Yu'er."
"Hehehe, thank you for your work, Miss Yu'er."
Qi Yun watched Yu Qiutong go. The voices of Li Chengbai and others gradually faded away. Dai Mei frowned slightly and looked around at the sisters on the left and right.
"Sisters, you are helping me with my advice. What is going on?"
"Who knows? With your husband's ability, it is expected that there will be no mistakes in such an important matter?"
"Yes, if it were other things, my husband might be negligent.
However, it was impossible for him to neglect something as important as the wedding of Yiyi, Chengzhi and Chenggan. "
Qi Ya turned her head slightly to look in the direction of the house door, gently adjusted her clothes, and a faint smile flashed in her watery eyes.
"Okay, okay, why do we sisters have to guess here?
If you have any questions, wouldn't it be enough to go directly to your husband and ask her? "
"Yes, yes, sister Ya makes sense. If there is anything we can't figure out, just go to your husband and ask for clarification."
"Oh, my husband, he should be in the study now, right?"
"Yes, yes, right after breakfast in the morning, he rushed to the study."
"What else are you talking about? Just go there."
"Sister Yun?"
"Keke, I think so too, let's go over there."
"Sister Yun'er, no, no, no, Queen Mother, please."
"Shou Lingyi, your butt is itchy again, isn't it?"
"Hehehe, oops."
soon.
The beautiful figures of Qi Yun, the third princess, Murong Shan and other sisters appeared together outside Young Master Liu's study.
Qi Yun walked to the door with gentle steps, raised her hand and knocked on the ajar door a few times.
"Who is it?"
"Husband, I am my sister."
"Yun'er, you sisters, come in,"
"Why."
Qi Yun gently opened the ajar door and walked into the study first.
The third princess, Qi Ya, Yun Qingshi, sisters Su Weier and others followed in succession.
Young Master Liu raised his eyes and glanced at the ladies walking towards him, and happily put down the ink pen in his hand.
"Hey, what day is it today? All your sisters are here."
"Sisters, please meet your husband."
Young Master Liu waved his hands casually, stretched out his hands with his hands raised, and leaned happily on the chair.
"Okay, okay, there are so many etiquettes, just sit down."
"Hey, thank you husband."
"You sisters come here together, there is something wrong!"
(End of chapter)
