Chapter 576 Concubines enter the palace, Li Yunrui leaves the palace
After the queen was chosen, the list of candidates for the four concubines and nine imperial concubines also came out one after another.

Lin Wan'er, who was originally one of the candidates for the queen, was named a noble concubine and lived in Changchun Palace.

Ye Ling'er was named Defei and lived in Zhongcui Palace.

Originally, the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother were both angry with Ye Ling'er and wanted to demote her to one of the nine concubines, or even make her lose the election altogether.

In the end, it was Hong Sixiang who advised that the Ye family had a great master, Ye Liuyun, who needed to be won over, and only then was she reluctantly rewarded with the title of concubine.

There was also Mei Zhili's daughter Mei Ruohua, who was named Empress Xian and lived in Shufang Palace.

Mei Zhili was a close confidant of Crown Prince Li Chengqian. After Su Mingzhe ascended the throne, he was transferred to serve as the Minister of the Dali Temple.

In this election, Mei Zhili also registered his eldest daughter.

Considering that Mei Zhili was one of the Nine Ministers, the Queen Mother gave Mei Ruohua the title of concubine.

The last position of concubine was given to Wang Tong'er, the daughter of Wang Zhikun, the Grand Commander of Yanjing, who lived in Bingquan Palace.

(In the novel, Wang Tong'er married the eldest prince Li Chengjiang and became a concubine. Now she is taken into the harem by Su Mingzhe one step ahead of time.)
Wang Zhikun guarded Yanjing and led the troops to defend against Northern Qi and Dongyi at the same time. He was also a high-ranking and powerful minister.

For Wang Zhikun's sake, the Queen Mother also gave Wang Tong'er a position as a concubine.

In addition, the beautiful girls who were selected as the Nine Concubines also had excellent family backgrounds.

Some were ladies of noble birth with military merit, some were daughters of prominent families, and some were princesses of vassal states or small countries that were dependent on Nanqing.

It can be said that the selection of a queen is a comprehensive consideration.

The selection of the four concubines and nine imperial concubines is all about human relations and worldly wisdom.

mid-October.

Four concubines, nine imperial concubines, twenty-seven beauties, and seventy-two talented ladies entered the palace before the empress.

That night, Su Mingzhe first went to Changchun Palace to stay overnight.

Changchun Palace is located on the west side of Yaohua Palace, close to Yanfu Palace. Concubine Lin Wan'er lives here.

When Su Mingzhe came in, he didn't let the eunuch inform him and walked in directly.

Inside the bedroom, a girl in a white double-breasted dress was quietly combing her long hair in front of the glass mirror on the dressing table.

Perhaps she noticed the man's fiery gaze, Lin Wan'er turned around suddenly and saw the man.

When Su Mingzhe and Lin Wan'er looked at each other, they were slightly stunned.

Lin Wan'er's eyes were very intelligent, clear and bright, and her facial features were also delicate and beautiful. Her fair face without any makeup was pink and tender, and she looked like a person who had walked out of a painting.

"cousin."

Under the man's gaze, Lin Wan'er began to avoid looking at him, not daring to meet his gaze. It was this shy expression, coupled with her natural charm, that made Su Mingzhe unable to control himself and he walked towards her step by step.

"Wan'er."

Su Mingzhe has seen Lin Wan'er several times since he traveled through time, but Lin Wan'er tonight is obviously more charming.

"cousin."

Lin Wan'er waited for Su Mingzhe to come to her side before she remembered the knowledge that the teaching nanny had taught her, and she hurriedly wanted to stand up and kowtow.

Su Mingzhe did not give Lin Wan'er a chance to react. He picked her up and put her on the bed.

"cousin……"

Lin Wan'er was a little flustered and wanted to tell Su Mingzhe that it was her turn to undress him.

However, Su Mingzhe's fingers were very flexible, and in no time, he had skinned Lin Wan'er like a little white sheep.

Seeing this, the palace maid nearby hurried over and lowered the curtain.

Soon, the bed began to vibrate rhythmically.

When the palace maids who came with the dowry heard the noise, they lowered their heads shyly, but did not dare to leave.

Princess Li Yunrui had already instructed that several palace maids must serve from beginning to end and must not let Princess Chen make any mistakes.

A crazy night.

On the second day.

Su Mingzhe looked at the wrinkled little face in his arms and felt guilty.

I was a little too excited last night and even forgot that Lin Wan'er was delicate and weak.

If it weren't for the reminders from several palace maids, an accident would have almost happened.

Su Mingzhe got out of bed quietly and stopped the palace maid from waking up Lin Wan'er:
"Wan'er is not feeling well, let her rest for a while. I will go to the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother to tell them that she doesn't need to go over to pay her respects."

Su Mingzhe said, asking the palace maids to carefully serve Lin Wan'er, while he went to pay his respects to the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother, and also asked for a "sick leave" for Lin Wan'er.

After returning to the imperial study, Su Mingzhe dealt with government affairs. During a short break, he saw that Eunuch Hou seemed to be constipated and kept stealing glances at him. He couldn't help but laugh and scold:
"Old Hou, you old fellow are starting to break the rules. If you have something to say, just say it. If you don't have anything to say, just stop being an eyesore. Who are you trying to show off to with that expression?"

"Your Majesty, you are very busy. I am sorry to trouble you."

Eunuch Hou had served Su Mingzhe for more than two months and understood that this master was indeed kind-hearted, so he smiled innocently, flattered him first, and then told the story:
"Last night, another maid was beaten to death in Guangxin Palace. I heard that when the maid got up at night, she woke up the princess who had finally fallen asleep..."

When Su Mingzhe heard what Eunuch Hou said, a trace of helplessness and entanglement flashed in his eyes.

This Li Yunrui is very beautiful, she is worthy of being the most beautiful woman in Nanqing Kyoto.

However, her style of doing things is somewhat "spoiled and arrogant", similar to the first wife of Emperor Wu of Han in history, "Chen Ajiao".

After Su Mingzhe ascended the throne and became emperor, he tried several times to sneak into Guangxin Palace and take her away.

But because of Li Yunrui's crazy personality, Su Mingzhe could only suppress his anger.

"This woman can no longer stay in the palace."

Although Su Mingzhe was nostalgic for the old times, he was not the type to be indecisive. He frowned and took out a memorial handed to him by Chen Pingping from the imperial desk.

This memorial contained the details of the investigation into the "Pingnan Prince Rebellion". It was reported that the Ming family had colluded with pirates and the inner treasury for more than ten years and embezzled 100 million taels of silver.

Among them, more than 50 million taels have been delivered to Li Chengze, King of Pingnan.

Most of the rest was embezzled by the Ming family and used to buy land, real estate, shops, fleets and other businesses.

Chen Pingping was at the end of the memorial, requesting an investigation into Li Yunrui and the elimination of this source of trouble.

After receiving this memorial, Su Mingzhe has been thinking about how to deal with Li Yunrui.

Now it seems that this memorial should go where it belongs.

Until noon.

Su Mingzhe rushed to Yanshou Palace, paid his respects to the Empress Dowager, and handed over Chen Pingping's memorial:

"Grandma, there is something I want to tell you."

The Empress Dowager looked at the memorial and her face suddenly darkened:

"You all stand down."

"Here!"

Upon seeing this, Hong Sixiang led all the palace maids and eunuchs of Yanshou Palace to retreat.

"Qian'er, is this true? Is your aunt really colluding with the Prince of Pingnan?"

The old lady couldn't believe it, so she wanted to confirm it again.

If this is true, then Li Yunrui is too scheming.

It was concealed for so many years.

"I can't believe it either, so I want to ask grandma to help me ask my aunt and see what she says."

Su Mingzhe maintained a gentle smile and said:
"Besides, no matter what the reason, it is not convenient for the aunt to keep the financial power of the inner treasury."

When the Empress Dowager heard Su Mingzhe say this, she suddenly understood.

My grandson should have known about this a long time ago, but he kept it to himself for more than a month before telling me. The real purpose was probably to seize the financial power of the inner treasury.

Although the Empress Dowager understood Su Mingzhe's purpose, she did not intend to speak for Li Yunrui.

After all, the person in front of him is his grandson and the Emperor of Daqing.

There is a difference between close and distant relatives, and the Empress Dowager is definitely on Su Mingzhe's side.

"Qian'er, you are right. Your aunt is indeed not suitable to be in charge of the inner treasury anymore. However, do you have anyone to take over now?"

"Have."

Seeing that the Empress Dowager supported him, Su Mingzhe did not hesitate and simply said the candidate he had already thought of:

"My grandson's queen is the daughter of the Minister of Revenue. I believe that if I give the inner treasury to her, she will definitely be able to manage it better than my aunt."

"Qian'er, just think about this matter carefully."

The Empress Dowager did not expect that Su Mingzhe thought so highly of Fan Ruoruo, but she herself was also optimistic about Fan Ruoruo, so she nodded in tacit agreement:

"Do you plan to do this now, or wait until after the wedding?"

"My grandson thought that I should first let my aunt hand over the power of the inner treasury, and have the inner eunuchs clean it up before handing it over to Ruoruo."

Su Mingzhe told her his plan, and the Empress Dowager nodded after hearing it:
"This is a good arrangement. Don't worry, I will ask your aunt to hand over the power of the inner treasury today!"

"Thank you, grandma."

Su Mingzhe knew that the old lady was also a powerful person. Seeing that she agreed, he chatted with her for a few more words and then said goodbye and left.

That afternoon, Li Yunrui was called to Yanshou Palace by the Empress Dowager and was slapped twice.

Afterwards, Hong Sixiang brought the Internal Affairs Office and took over the financial power of the inner treasury.

In the feudal dynasty where "favor comes from above".

In theory, the entire dynasty belonged to the emperor alone.

Su Mingzhe wanted Li Yunrui to hand over the financial power of the inner treasury, and Li Yunrui had no choice but to do so.

What's more, Li Yunrui committed such a heinous crime.

That night, Su Mingzhe stayed at the Bingquan Palace of Concubine Wang Tong'er.

the next day.

Eunuch Hou reported that the Internal Supervision Office had begun to take over the financial power of the inner treasury.

Su Mingzhe immediately issued an order to expand the royal villa where Princess Chen originally lived and turn it into Princess Yongtao's Mansion.

Li Yunrui was "driven" out of the palace just like that.

The reason why Su Mingzhe wanted to "drive" Li Yunrui out of the palace was not only to make it easier for him to steal the beauty at night, but also to send a signal to the outside world.

It's like a woman holding flowers early in the morning on February 15th.

These women are sending a signal:
I had an appointment last night, and the night was seductive.

Now that the Internal Supervision Office had taken over the financial power of the Imperial Treasury, Su Mingzhe "drove" Li Yunrui out of the palace.

He just wanted to send a signal to tell the civil and military officials that Li Yunrui had gathered together to sever ties with Li Yunrui as soon as possible and not wait for him to settle the score with him.

At night.

Su Mingzhe came to Changchun Palace again.

(End of this chapter)