Lin Di looked at the flower name list in her hand.

  This is a list of palace maids who were loyal to her aunt and handed over by Mu Qing.

  At that time, Lin Xian died, and the palace power fell into the hands of Wu Guifei. Wu Guifei carried out a large-scale purge in the harem, and those who were promoted or valued by Lin Xian were either demoted or transferred. In the current six departments and twenty-four offices, not one of them holds a regular position, but is either serving as a deputy with no real power or has been transferred to another place to do miscellaneous tasks.

  Fortunately, when they were replaced and transferred that year, these people did not conflict with Wu Guifei's people because of this. They kept a low profile, temporarily retreated, and managed to preserve themselves, waiting for the arrival of a new master.

  From this point on, her aunt was very good at using people and promoting those who were at least very clear-headed and could see the situation.

  If these people had been dissatisfied with Wu Guifei back then and had conflicts with her, Wu Guifei would have had enough reason to dismiss them from the palace. Now if she wants to reuse them, she needs to spend more effort, or she can only cultivate new people by herself, but cultivating loyal and reliable palace staff is not a matter of one day.

  Mu Qing walked in from outside.

  Lin Dai looked up at her and smiled: "Has it been sent over by the palace maid assigned to Wu Guifei?"

  Mu Qing nodded and smiled at her, making a "two" hand gesture.

  Lin Xiao naturally understood the meaning and nodded with a smile.

  In the Zhao Yang Palace.

  The Empress Wu looked at the palace maids kneeling on the ground, sent over by Lin He, and raised an eyebrow, her tone sarcastic as she hummed: "The Empress Dowager is indeed kind to me!"

  The eunuchs kneeling on the ground hung their heads and stuck their ears, without saying a word.

  Her senior palace maid, Yu Lian, spoke up to remind her: "Your Highness, be careful of the people here, there might be a mole from Chang Kung Palace."

  Yu Lian was a palace maid brought into the mansion by Wu Guifei from the Wang household, serving Wu Guifei for the longest time and also gaining her heart.

  The last time the palace maids of Chao Yang Palace were tied up, Yu Lian was also taken to Yi Ting Palace, but Wu Guifei personally went to fetch her back. Lin Di was quite easy-going, she wanted someone and would give them away readily.

  The Empress Wu nodded slightly and said, "Since they are new palace maids, they must first learn the rules in the Imperial Harem. Have someone take them down to ask about their names, backgrounds, and family histories, then have them learn the rules before entering the palace to serve."

  Empress Wu naturally wouldn't believe in the person sent by Lin He, and this scholar of etiquette was also not an ordinary scholar of etiquette.

  After Wu Guifei finished speaking, she entered the inner palace. Yu Lian signaled to a nearby palace maid with her eyes, letting her take the person away, then followed into the palace to attend to her duties.

  Wu Guifei pulled out a hairpin from her head and played with it in her hand, then asked Yu Zhan: "What has the Empress been doing these days?"

  Yu Lian looked at Wu Guifei, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating. After a moment, she carefully said: "The Empress Dowager says her chess skills are itching, and for the past few days, she's been dragging the Emperor along to play chess with her."

  Now everyone in the palace knows that the emperor favors the empress, and for the sake of the empress, even the face of the noble consort is put down. Seeing this, all the people in the harem have started to learn Go, wanting to win the favor of the empress.

  The Empress Wu was annoyed, slapping the hairpin in her hand on the table and saying: "The imperial power is still in my hands, but she doesn't seem to be in a hurry." Then, frowning, she continued discontentedly: "The Emperor really has nothing better to do, ignoring so many state affairs and national policies, just accompanying a woman playing these trivial tricks. Last time I heard Father say that the Ministry of Revenue is short of silver, he submitted a memorial proposing an increase in land taxes, but it was like throwing a stone into the sea without any response. Why doesn't the Emperor care about these things?"

  This is a major national affair and not something palace servants can interfere with, Yu Lian lowered her head and stopped speaking.

  Empress Wu's eyes suddenly lit up and she asked: "Have the allocations for each palace been calculated for next quarter?"

  Yu Lian said: "Yes, I am waiting for Your Ladyship's instructions."

  Empress Wu asked again: "What about the one from Changkun Palace?"

  Yu Lian Dao: "I'm ready too."

  According to the rules, the allowance for Changkun Palace should have been sent together with the previous quarter's allowance a few days before the grand wedding. However, after Wu Guifei took over the palace power, she changed the rules of the harem, and each palace's allowance was calculated separately and first sent to Zhaoyang Palace, where each palace would pick up their allowance with their corresponding token.

  But now that the harem has an empress, the imperial power still lies in the hands of Concubine Wu, yet Concubine Wu seems to have forgotten this and handed over the imperial power back to Her Majesty the Empress.

  Now the Shanggong in Liu Shang Bureau is also in a dilemma, not knowing whether to send the shares of Changkun Palace directly to Changkun Palace or to send them to Zhaoyang Palace first. If they are sent to Zhaoyang Palace first, and the empress takes the shares from a palace concubine's hands, it will be a joke in the harem.

  If the emperor didn't favor the new empress, it would be fine. The joke was between their masters. They were people promoted by the noble concubine and naturally stood on the side of the noble concubine. But now, seeing that the emperor is more and more fond of the empress, it's only a matter of time before the empress takes over the palace power.

  But if they directly send the share of Changkun Palace to Changkun Palace, the noble consort can eat them now.

  Two tigers are fighting on one mountain, neither of the two old tigers can be provoked, so they can only drag their feet, and the shares of other palaces have not been issued yet.

  At the end of each season, it's also the time when the imperial consorts' allowances are running out and they have to tighten their belts. Especially for those with lower ranks, who live on their allowances, several consorts have already sent people to ask around in the Rong Shang Palace Bureau about when the next allowance will be issued.

  The Empress Wu's eyes suddenly lit up and she said: "Go, let the Sixth Bureau bring over the portion of Longkun Palace. I will personally deliver it to Longkun Palace."

  Lin Xie heard Wu Guifei and the people from Liu Shangju, carrying things, making a loud noise, heading towards Changkun Palace, when she was playing chess with her own left hand against her own right hand.

  She was brutally defeated by the emperor in Go for two days, losing all confidence and almost jumping into the river to commit suicide.

  But she insisted that as the queen, she should be consistent with him, the emperor, in terms of interests and hobbies, maintaining a common language. So despite being abused to the point of being inhuman, she continued to delve deeper into the study of Go, this technical field.

  Lin Xiao flashed a glance at her eyes and smiled at Mu Qing: "The noble concubine is indeed a person who does not admit defeat."

  She still hasn't learned her lesson from the last time she lost face, yet she's willing to try again despite knowing it won't end well. Hmm, in this regard, she and him do share some similarities - both are more courageous in the face of setbacks.

  Mu Qing also had a faint smile on her face and said: "The imperial concubine can only use this method to regain her dignity."

  It's just that the people in the harem see that the favor of the emperor is biased towards Changkun Palace, and they won't think that the noble consort has suppressed the empress.

  Lin Xiao put down the chess piece in her hand, patted her hand and said: "I originally wanted to come over a few days later to ask about Gong Quan's affairs. It seems that I couldn't steal a lazy day off after all. Let's go, we'll meet with the Imperial Consort."