"Leaving the palace again?"

"how?"

"No, it's nothing." Cheng Jing quickly shook his head and said, "Your Majesty will not follow you when he leaves the palace this time."

Zhou Yu glanced at Cheng Jing and nodded with a smile: "That's fine. If you make arrangements, go to Concubine Hang to inform me."

It was indeed a bit inappropriate to ask a palace servant to go to a brothel to drink wine. Since Cheng Jing said he didn't want to go to Zhou Yu, he didn't force it, but Ma Shun had to follow.

Nowadays, Concubine Hang's place is quite lively. It is also the most lively place in the harem except Zhou Yu. After all, without a queen, Concubine Hang is not only the only mistress in the harem, but also the biological mother of the only prince. , this importance naturally goes without saying.

And now there are not only princes living in the palace, but also two princesses who have been fostered by Concubine Hang. Counting four nobles to take care of, and three more who need careful care, there are naturally more eunuchs and maids in the palace. Yes, it will definitely be lively when there are more people.

Concubine Hang is now arranged by Zhou Yu in the Yongshou Palace, which is close to his Qianqing Palace. The place is good and the environment is acceptable. The key is that it is close to the emperor. But now there are two princesses and a prince living together, and there are so many people to come in. The care in and out does seem a little smaller.

How many people are there? All the palace servants who served the Empress Dowager before and who have not left the palace have been arranged to come over. In addition to the old people from the Prince's Palace, you can imagine how many people need to come in and out of this place.

Every time Zhou Yu comes over and enters the palace gate, he feels like there are two worlds outside. The outside is cold and quiet, and the wind is biting. When he comes in, it is very popular and lively. In order to keep warm, several stoves are set up in various corners of the courtyard. , there is also a hot kang available in the house, there are many people and there are few things going on, and the whole yard is so clean that not even a fallen leaf can be seen.

Entering the main room with his hands behind his back, Zhou Yu saw Zhu Jianji playing with his two sisters at a glance. Several palace maids were guarding him carefully, while Concubine Hang was doing something with needlework on the warm couch. I knew it was something for children.

When Zhou Yu came, he had to stop whatever he was doing. Concubine Hang also got up in a panic and stood up to salute.

"No need, old couples, don't engage in such tricks." Zhou Yu waved his hands and smiled, hugged the three children respectively, and then sat on the warm couch: "Are the children still well-behaved here?"

Concubine Hang quickly asked someone to pour tea for Zhou Yu and at the same time replied: "Well, they are all obedient and sensible."

Zhou Yu nodded: "The courtyard is well decorated and quite warm. Don't let the children stay in the house all the time and have to run around in the yard. The windows must be opened from time to time to ventilate the house."

"There are all of them." Concubine Hang nodded with a smile and said, "I let the children play in the yard every day. I just open the windows and doors for ventilation when they go to the yard."

Zhou Yu nodded slowly: "Well, it's hard for you to have three children crowded here."

Concubine Hang shook her head and said: "I'm not working hard, I just look at it and talk. Everything is done by the maids and eunuchs. It's not hard work. They are also very serious about their work. It's almost the New Year. I'm still here." I’m thinking about what I should reward the people in this courtyard.”

"It's a reward." Zhou Yu nodded slightly. The role of reward is not only to reward but also to win people's hearts. What's more, there are three children in the palace to take care of, so these people must be careful.

You must know that in this era, even in the royal family, not every prince and princess can grow up healthily. There are countless princes and princesses who die young.

And Zhu Jianji, who is now running around the house lively, is also a boy who died young. According to history, he only had a few years to live. But now that Zhou Yu is here, it will naturally be a completely different development, as long as nothing happens.

Whether it's serious illness or man-made problems, many problems that are generally difficult to solve in this era can be solved easily in Zhou Yu's opinion.

Zhou Yu said with a smile: "In this case, I will send craftsmen to make a batch of jade pendants specifically for the people in this courtyard as symbols of the people in your palace. In addition, each person will be rewarded with two pieces of silver cloth to encourage them to continue to do good work in the future.

It’s almost enough to add 20% to each person’s monthly salary. On New Year’s Eve, it’s enough to give food and wine to each person and give a red envelope to ask for good luck. They are all real things and don’t engage in those vain things.

With the money, they can buy whatever they lack."

"It's up to you to decide how much money you will be rewarded. You can just let me know when the time comes."

Concubine Hang quickly bowed and said, "I would like to thank you, Your Majesty."

"Ha." Zhou Yu focused his eyes on Zhu Jianji, narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "As long as they can take good care of the children, it doesn't matter if they give them more rewards. You should also pay more attention to them."

"I know this."

Zhou Yu looked at Concubine Hang: "There are more and more people in this courtyard now. When the children grow up, they will have a place of their own to live. How about I change the courtyard for you?"

"I, my concubines, all obey your Majesty."

"Yeah." Zhou Yu nodded lightly and said in deep thought: "Choose one between Qingning Palace and Renshou Palace."

Concubine Hang was a little surprised: "Your Majesty, wouldn't it be appropriate for my concubine to live in these two palaces?"

Zhou Yu said: "What's inappropriate? After the death of the Empress Dowager, Qingning Palace became vacant, and Renshou Palace became ownerless. If you were not allowed to live in Kunning Palace, it would send a wrong signal to the previous dynasty. Otherwise, living in Kunning Palace would be a wrong signal."

Ning Palace is also quite suitable."

Previously, the Empress Dowager lived in Qingning Palace, while Sun lived in Renshou Palace. Now that the two original owners are gone, it is natural to welcome new owners.

Kunning Palace is the residence of the queen. This palace is really not suitable for anyone to live in if they are not planning to establish a queen.

Before Concubine Hang could make her decision, Zhou Yu thought about it and decided for her: "Let's go to Qingning Palace. The Empress Dowager's place is better."

Concubine Hang didn't have any objections: "I listen to your majesty."

After dinner, Cheng Jing appeared in front of Zhou Yu, probably counting the time. After drinking a cup of tea, Zhou Yu stood up from the chair: "I still have some things to do, so I won't stay here any longer."

Concubine Hang stood up and said, "I will send you to your majesty."

"Okay, just take care of yourself and the children. Don't send me away in the cold outside."

After stopping Concubine Hang to prevent her from sending her away, Zhou Yu took Cheng Jing out of the yard and got into the carriage.

The carriage moved forward, and Cheng Jing, who was also following the carriage, held up a suit of clothes and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Ma is already waiting outside the palace wall. Everything has been arranged. Here are your Majesty's casual clothes and the prepared silver pieces. They are in the box.

There are also gifts prepared for Miss Xi’er.”

What Zhou Yu was wearing was a uniform, a dragon robe.

You definitely can't wear dragon robes when you go to a place like a brothel, so you have to change into more convenient clothes. As for the broken silver, it's for rewards, and it's definitely for gifts to build closer relationships.

Zhou Yuxiao glanced at Cheng Jing: "The arrangements are well made. I found out something about Li Xi'er."

Cheng Jing said: "Li Xi'er, eighteen years old, is from Jiangnan. He was sold into a brothel at the age of nine and redeemed himself at the age of fifteen. After the redemption, he still stayed in the brothel and became the most popular oiran by the river. He was good at playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

Mastery was highly sought after by scholars from the south of the Yangtze River. When he was seventeen, he came to the capital. At that time, Zuixiange also gave Li Xier a large amount of money."

Zhou Yu was a little surprised: "He is still a free agent??"

"It's not just a free life." Cheng Jing shook his head and said: "This Li Xi'er has earned at least tens of thousands of taels of silver from Jiangnan and Beijing in a few years. He is a well-rounded and wonderful person and has attracted many young masters from Jiangnan's aristocratic families to follow him.

It is said that no one has really taken advantage of Li Xier until now."

Zhou Yu asked: "Who is behind Zuixianju?"

"Yang."

Zhou Yu was stunned for a moment: "Huh?"

Cheng Jing said: "It used to be Yang Ji, the son of Yang Shiqi, but the Yang family and his son passed away successively. The property is still in the hands of the Yang family. It's just that the adults from the Ministry of Rites now have some shares. Now the people in charge are also from the Yang family. The people in charge are also smart."

The relationship between the whole family is well managed. After all, the Yang family has contributed to the imperial court and is quite well-connected. Having someone to take care of it can ensure stability and we don't dare to cause trouble inside."

Yang Shiqi and his son... Needless to say, Yang Shiqi was a capable minister and a powerful minister who could do anything he said, but he was also a man who was good at fighting for power and would use any means to suppress his political opponents.

But in his later years, he became old and confused. While letting his bastard son Yang Ju do whatever he wanted, he turned a blind eye to the eunuchs' interference in government affairs. In the end, Yang Ju was imprisoned and died, and he died of too much worry.

But generally speaking, Yang Shiqi's reputation is pretty good, but his son Yang Ju is a completely different situation. It seems that all the negative things about Yang Shiqi have fallen on Yang Ju, and he has done many bad things and killed many people.

Human life, the audacity to do whatever one wants, is a good example of the I Am King method.

Zhou Yu nodded understandingly: "I see, this Zuixianju's protective umbrella should also have a guard in royal robes."

Zhou Yu can tell just by looking at Ma Shun's familiar posture over there. Zhou Yu can understand these, so he is not prepared to pursue anything. He can only say that some situations are inevitable in different eras and environments. Even if it is...

In the future, conditions will be in place to eliminate these collusions in management, but this is still not possible.

The carriage left the palace and stopped outside the palace gate. Cheng Jing got off the carriage directly and returned to the palace. The person who got on the carriage to accompany Zhou Yu became Ma Shun.

"His Majesty."

"Well, everything has been arranged?"

Ma Shun patted his chest: "Everything has been arranged. No one will disturb His Majesty's interest."

Zhou Yu closed his eyes and leaned forward and asked, "What has Li Xi'er done these days."

"Every day is just about performing on stage and having a few drinks with familiar guests, and nothing else."

The carriage left the palace and stopped outside the palace gate. Cheng Jing got off the carriage directly and returned to the palace. The person who got on the carriage to accompany Zhou Yu became Ma Shun.

"His Majesty."

"Well, everything has been arranged?"

Ma Shun patted his chest: "Everything has been arranged. No one will disturb His Majesty's interest."

Zhou Yu closed his eyes and leaned forward and asked, "What has Li Xi'er done these days."

Ma Shundao: "Every day I just perform on stage and have a few drinks with familiar guests. There is nothing else. How much wine I drink every day, who I meet and what I say are all recorded.

"

"Well, good job."

Ma Shun looked at Zhou Yu and wanted to ask but didn't dare. The emperor was too strange. He just let people protect Li Xi'er and then went to the brothel to find Li Xi'er. It looked like they fell in love at first sight, but in fact Ma Shun was really

It's clear that this is not the case at all, and this kind of caring has nothing to do with liking.

As the commander of the Jin Yiwei, Ma Shun was exposed to many things. He probably saw that Li Xier was treated as a toy, a chess piece, and a bait by Zhou Yu, but he did not know Zhou Yu's purpose of doing this.

No one said it was okay to speculate on the Holy Will, but everyone was doing it. He, Ma Shun, was also guessing what His Majesty was thinking in his heart, but he really couldn't understand it at all. A prostitute, even a pure husband, might not be able to do it.

It's still a perfect jade, but so what, after all, it's still a prostitute.

Zhou Yu didn't dare to ask Ma Shun, and honestly didn't dare to make a sound.

Zhou Yu suddenly said: "Prepare an identity for Li Xi'er."

"Huh?" Ma Shun was stunned for a moment, and then immediately said: "Yes, Your Majesty, but His Majesty would like to prepare a suitable identity for Miss Xi'er."

Zhou Yu said: "Neither high nor low, neither light nor heavy, it is best to be able to reach the level of entering the palace... It is a daughter of a hundred households. As for the name, change it, Li Xi'er... Li Xiyue, just Li Xiyue, don't do it too neatly."
To be continued...