Zui Gu🔞 ( mtl)

63

　　"Have you heard? Someone saw it again in Chuxiu Palace..."

　　On the palace road, groups of palace maids gathered together and whispered quietly, with terrified looks on their faces. Some palace maids even covered their ears with their hands, as if they dared not to listen, but they couldn't help their curiosity and quietly leaned over to listen.

　　"Hush!" One of the palace maids hurriedly stopped the palace maid from talking, and then looked around in panic, "Don't say that word, what if they hear it and come after us later!"

　　The palace maid's face turned pale, and she really didn't dare to continue. After a long silence, another palace maid couldn't help but whispered curiously: "You, you said... someone really saw Yan, Yanpin in Chuxiu Palace..." She didn't have the courage to say those two words, for fear that they would really hear it and entangle them innocently.

　　But the maid who spoke first knew what she was talking about, and nodded in horror, "It was the maid who was in charge of sweeping the Chuxiu Palace who saw it with her own eyes. It is said that Concubine Yan was wearing a white dress with blood all over her face, and she kept shouting for injustice."

　　A cool breeze blew, making all the maids present shiver.

　　The harem was originally a place of gossip. The rumors were spread by the mouths of the harem, and gradually became a matter of fact, as if everyone had seen the strange things that happened in the Chuxiu Palace.

　　"Empress, there have been many rumors in the palace recently. Do you know?"

　　In Shoukang Palace, the empress dowager sat on the main seat at the top, holding the Buddhist beads, with an ugly look on her face. She dismissed the maids serving in the palace, leaving only the most trusted aunt Yumin to add tea by the side.

　　"My Queen Mother, I have heard about it. It's just some unfounded rumors, but they were spread by the servants as if it was true. I will order severe punishment for those servants who don't know how to control their mouths, and I will not let this matter continue to ferment."

　　The Queen Mother was still suspicious of Yan Zhaozhao because of her disappearance on the hunting day, and now this kind of thing happened, she was even more dissatisfied with her. "Queen, you are the central palace, holding the gold treasure and the golden book, and holding the power of the queen, you should know how to maintain peace in the harem. If the harem is peaceful, the emperor can have no worries in the previous dynasty. A gentleman does not talk about strange things. If such absurd rumors are heard by the courtiers of the previous dynasty, it will be a joke of the royal family. Do you understand?"

　　Yan Zhaozhao's expression suddenly became a little stiff. Everyone in the palace knew that the emperor had been claiming to be sick and not attending court for several days. He took advantage of Xie Ciyan's absence and no one else could handle the government affairs except him, so as to force the courtiers to collect taxes and build a palace outside the palace.

　　The original intention of collecting taxes was to make officials above the fifth rank pay a few more percent of taxes, and use the money they paid to build the palace. But most of the officials above the fifth rank in the court were corrupt officials, and the emperor never stopped them in the past. He turned a blind eye and let them go, just to ask them for money to fill the treasury. But

　　the money of corrupt officials came from the people's fat and blood. If the construction of the palace was implemented, the people's lives would only become more miserable. The names of these people were nothing more than grass and ants in the eyes of the emperor.

　　Yan Zhaozhao suppressed the emotions that surged in her heart and bowed to the empress dowager, "I understand."

　　When she returned to Fengyi Palace, Yan Zhaozhao immediately summoned the maids who were responsible for sweeping in Chuxiu Palace to come to the hall. Several maids knelt down, their heads buried very low, their eyes were dark and blue, and their faces were terrified.