The time for the competition was suddenly shortened, and the Imperial Guards seized the time to make a last ditch effort.
Yun Si held her breath and calculated desperately in her mind. Now she and His Majesty each have a winner and a loser, and the numbers are even...the winner or loser depends on this last stick of incense!
After the stick of incense burned out, Yun Si and Xie Yan spoke in unison.
Yun Si: "I won!"
Xie Yan: "You win."
Due to her excitement, Yun Si's cheeks were dyed a light pink, and her eyes were bright.
She really didn't expect that she could win!
The winner was indeed Xie Yan's imperial guards, and Xie Yan made him a captain on the spot.
But just one person coming out on top does not determine the outcome. In the competition between the two sides, Yun Si's imperial guards won more.
In the end, Yun Si's side won!
This result surprised and delighted her. When she heard that Xie Yan had rewarded the officer, she thought she was destined to lose. But now that I think about it carefully, Xie Yan's reward of officers does not improve morale as much as her reward of money.
After all, there was only one official to be rewarded by Xie Yan, and only the strongest among the imperial guards could hope to compete.
The five taels of silver rewarded by Yun Si does not limit the number of people. As long as you defeat the opponent's imperial guards, you can get the money!
In the end, a total of 62 people from Yun Si's side won, and each of them got five taels of silver.
On the carriage back to the palace, Yun Si could not hide the joy in her eyes.
Xie Yan saw her appearance and smiled: "Do you really want to win?"
Yun Si nodded: "If you can win, who wants to lose?"
"But I know His Majesty will let me." Yun Si was happy to win, but she didn't know if Xie Yan would be stingy if he lost? He quickly coaxed Xie Yan.
"Your Majesty can reward the same amount of money, or even more money, and reward a few more officials...then I will definitely not be able to win!"
When Xie Yan heard Yun Si's words, he shook his head helplessly and smiled: "Nonsense!"
"What if a small, random competition results in too much money and official positions? What if big things happen in the future?"
"In the military, the most important thing is rewards and punishments."
Xie Yan smiled and pinched Yun Si's chin: "You rewarded me with more than three hundred taels of silver in one breath today."
"If you raise soldiers like this, I'll see how long you can keep them."
"Will you spend all your money just by raising her?" Xie Yan smiled evilly.
"I won't pay for you then."
Xie Yan "kindly" reminded Yun Si: "Your concubine ceremony is coming soon. For such a big happy event, do the Imperial Guards still need to be rewarded?"
"The maids and eunuchs up and down the Liuyun Palace will also be rewarded."
"Do you still have enough money to spend?" Xie Yan looked at Yun Si with interest.
Yun Si felt guilty.
Xie Yan suddenly got the idea right!
If it were in the past, Yun Si really wouldn't take this little money seriously. More than three hundred taels of silver is just money for a flower viewing banquet.
But now, the expenses in the palace are indeed high.
One hundred guards and dozens of palace servants all depend on her to support them!
According to the stipulated rules in the palace, if the service in places such as the imperial dining room and the clothing bureau is extra careful, Yun Si will also give a reward.
Yun Si had been in the palace for a few months and spent money like water.
The most important thing is that now she only has room to spend money, but she has no income!
The imperial concubine's monthly income is very high, but the monthly income is not money. Most of it is the delicacies she eats and the silks she wears.
Yun Si had food and drink that the ladies below her were not entitled to enjoy. But if she relied on the imperial concubine's monthly routine, she would not be able to support the 100-strong imperial guard.
If you want to raise a team of loyal and elite guards, the military salary is only a small part of it, and the money spent on weapons, armor, horses, etc. is the big part!
His Majesty has rewarded her with a lot of things, but the gifts were all jewelry with the seal of the Shang Palace Bureau on them. Yun Si could not sell them for money.
With His Majesty's temperament, if he knew that she sold the things he rewarded for money... I don't know if she would still be able to spend the money!
The money Yun Si is spending now was all given by Mrs. Zheng Guo when she came to the palace last time.
Sit back and eat the mountains in the sky... Yun Si experienced this feeling for the first time.
Every time there was a large amount of expenditure, Yun Si looked at the dwindling numbers on the account and felt a little panicked.
The Prime Minister's Mansion prepared a lot of dowry for Yun Si, but none of it was brought into the palace!
Shili Hongzhuang entered Prince Rui's Mansion with Yun Si's wedding sedan.
Xie Yan snatched Yun Si back to the palace from the bridal chamber in Prince Rui's Mansion, but he didn't snatch her dowry back to the palace!
Today, her dowry is still parked in Prince Rui's Mansion, waiting for the outcome of the dispute between Prince Rui's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion.
When Yun Si and Xie Changze were engaged, the process of six rites went through for more than half a year. Prince Rui's Mansion sent betrothal gifts to the Prime Minister's Mansion again and again...
When the Prime Minister's Mansion purchased a dowry for Yun Si, they also used some of the betrothal gifts sent by Prince Rui's Mansion.
For example, Prince Rui's Mansion sent a box of East Pearls, and the Prime Minister's Mansion added gold and jade to make a hair crown.
Prince Rui's Palace wants to refund the betrothal gift, and the Prime Minister's Palace wants to refund the dowry, but how to withdraw is a difficult problem. Do they have to pluck out the Dongzhu from the hair crown one by one?
If both parties talk peacefully, a charter can be negotiated.
But Yun Si was snatched into the palace on the big day and changed from the daughter-in-law of Prince Rui to the royal concubine of the palace overnight. How can Prince Rui's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion still get along harmoniously?
Mrs. Zheng Guo and Princess Rui, the biological sisters, can no longer be sisters.
In addition, Yun Si's mother and father want to reconcile. How to divide the property when divorce is even more troublesome.
If Prince Rui's Mansion returns Yun Si's dowry, will it go to Prime Minister Yun or to Mrs. Zheng Guo?
Was Yun Si's dowry prepared for her by her mother or by her father?
She and Xie Changze only left six gifts, and the bride price and dowry were all mixed together, not to mention that her mother and father had been husband and wife for more than ten years!
Yun Si naturally wanted all her dowry to be returned to her mother... But whether it was legal or human, it was difficult for her mother to get it all.
Yun Si also thought that it was her dowry, and it would be best if it could be returned to her own hands.
But no.
The only one who can bring a dowry into the palace is the queen!
All ladies in the harem, even if they are concubines, only come to the palace to serve His Majesty.
The queen is "taking a wife", they are just "taking a concubine".
The women who serve His Majesty will naturally be raised by His Majesty, and the palace will not allow them to bring dowry.
Yun Si has been learning housekeeping to calculate accounts since she was a child, but she never thought that one day she would be calculating accounts that a clever woman cannot do without rice!
Yun Si never thought that she would be short of money one day.
Who knew that she, a noble-sounding concubine... could even struggle to raise a hundred guardsmen?
Xie Yan saw that Yun Si, who was in high spirits after defeating him, wilted like flowers and plants beaten by frost when he heard about Yinzi. He immediately knew that he had guessed right.
Xie Yan said deliberately: "When you can no longer afford it, return it to me."
How could Yun Si be willing to give up?
She has never really used the Guards, but the hundreds of elites just standing there made her feel at ease, not to mention that she had just witnessed the capabilities of the Guards with her own eyes!
Yun Si dared to say that no one who had raised soldiers under his command would be willing to hand over his soldiers again!
Yun Si said warmly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration. I can still afford to support you for the time being."
Xie Yan saw Yun Si gritting her teeth and holding on, and a smile appeared in her eyes.
He asked deliberately: "How much reward are you planning to give after the concubine ceremony?"
Yun Si bit her lower lip lightly. She was short of money now. As a reward after the concubine ceremony, she originally wanted to play a little trick - to advance half a year's military salary to the imperial guards.
She talked about increasing the pay for the Praetorian Guards.
But for the Imperial Guards, there was a huge difference between hearing this good news and actually getting the general's pay into their own hands.
After the concubine ceremony, she advanced half a year's military salary in advance, which made the imperial guards happy!
Yun Si didn't need to pay more, so she just passed this reward away!
But now when His Majesty asked, Yun Si couldn't open her mouth and was embarrassed to tell her little plan.
She gritted her teeth and said: "The reward after the concubine ceremony is the same as this time, still five taels!"
Yun Si's heart was bleeding as she finished speaking... Her words cost another five hundred taels of silver!
Why did Xie Yan seem to be deliberately forcing her to pay?
Such a thought flashed through Yun Si's mind, but she did not think about it carefully. His Majesty, sitting all over the world, could not possibly care about the three melons and two dates in her pocket.
Yun Si never expected that her flash of intuition would be so accurate.
Xie Yan just had time to wait, waiting for the day when Yun Si ran out of money, waiting for the day when Yun Si came to him asking for money.
Xie Yan is looking forward to it very much. I wonder how the imperial concubine will ask for money then?
Is it tenderness or... throwing yourself into my arms?
