Mu Qing took the things sent by Wu Guifei into storage with the palace maids, while Lin Xiao flipped through the account book.

  After all, Wu Guifei was born into a noble family and was quite skilled at managing palace affairs. To prevent the head of the palace from embezzling the allowances of the smaller palaces, she came up with the idea of dispatching palace maids to conduct monthly inspections. Following the system of circuit inspectors, after each palace received their allowance, Wu Guifei would select a few senior palace maids from the Chao Yang Palace to conduct checks. Each time, the selected palace maids were different, and the palaces being inspected were also different, thus preventing the inspecting palace maids and the heads of the various palaces from colluding with each other.

  There is also Wu Guifei's system of issuing seasonal allowances, which will save the Shao Yang Palace a lot of trouble.

  Lin Xiao called Mu Qing and instructed: "Go to the inner monitor's office, ask Manager Wan how many public officials are needed to come over for calculation."

  "Your Majesty, are you planning to investigate Guifei's accounts?"

  Mu Qing furrowed his brow and disagreed with Lin Xiao's approach, just about to offer some words of advice.

  "Don't worry, I have a measure of self-control."

  When the water is clear, there are no fish. Wu Guifei has been managing the harem for two years. If she were to check the accounts, she would naturally be able to find fault with her. However, when pulling out a radish, the mud comes out too. Before Wu Guifei, it was her aunt Lin Xian who was in charge of the harem. Even if Lin Xian's hands and feet are clean, it is hard to guarantee that all the people under her are also clean-handed.

  Especially in the last few years before Lin Xiang's death, she was bedridden and her control over the harem weakened. If this matter were to be dragged out and discussed, it would be impossible to clarify.

  Besides, imperial power is now back in her hands, and bringing up Wu Guifei's past wrongdoings can only slightly punish Wu Guifei, but has no other benefits.

  "We won't bring up old debts, but we must also be clear about the accounts of the harem."

  Moreover, through auditing, many things in the harem can be inferred. For example, who is the closest confidant of Wu Guifei, and what are the movements of each palace.

  At the time of the Duke of Wu's government, Li had told her that account books were not only account books but also a pair of eyes for the person holding them. What these people wanted or didn't want this month could be seen at a glance through the flow of funds on the accounts. Through these accounts, one could also guess what they had been doing recently and what they were preparing to do.

  Mu Qing finally felt at ease.

  She was afraid of Lin He's youthful vigor and only thought of using all means to suppress Wu Guifei, but did not understand the crux of the matter.

  It seems she was indeed overthinking things.

  Mu Qing smiled slightly, feeling a little ashamed. The empress had never been an impulsive person, although young, she would always weigh the pros and cons before doing anything, her stability was better than most people's, it was herself who was overthinking.

  The things given by Mr. Wan are naturally very useful.

  These people have been stationed in Changkun Palace for several days. As soon as it's daytime, the abacus is clicking away non-stop.

  The Emperor sometimes came back early and heard it, teasing Lin Daiyu: "Your Ningguo Palace is even busier than my Ministry of Revenue."

  Lin Di handed him a cup of tea and smiled: "I'm young and ignorant, I think it's better to be careful in everything, especially when it involves the palace accounts."

  The emperor held the tea bowl and shook his head helplessly with a smile on his face, he wanted to see what she was going to do, making such a big show of settling accounts in the harem.

  Changkun Palace took over the palace affairs, and the first thing was to thoroughly investigate the accounts of the harem. The concubines of various palaces naturally also knew about it.

  Empress Wu was in the Shao Yang Palace, raised an eyebrow and snorted disdainfully, saying: "This palace is eager to see what she can find out."

  Before handing over the imperial power to Lin He, she naturally settled the accounts. But even so, it's hard to guarantee that there won't be any mistakes or omissions. Even if the empress could find something out, she wasn't afraid, she dared to push her into the water, and she would drag Lin Xian down with her to drown together.

  But on the second day when the palace concubine came to pay her respects, Wu Guifei couldn't help but say: "I heard that Her Majesty the Empress has been checking the accounts of the harem for several days? Does Your Majesty not trust me?"

  Lin Xiang put down her tea bowl and smiled, saying: "The imperial concubine is quite aware of the movements in Changkun Palace."

  Empress Wu thought to herself, the sound of abacus from Changkun Palace has spread outside the palace, who wouldn't know about it.

  Empress Wu said: "To tell the truth, I feel very wronged in my heart. In the past two years, I have managed the harem with all my heart and soul, without any credit but with hard work. Who would have thought that Her Majesty the Empress would question me like this?"

  Lin Yan said: "When did I ever say I didn't believe in you, Imperial Consort?"

  Empress Wu's eyebrows rose, her aura was majestic, and she was about to speak.

  Lin Xiao spoke up first, "When the Emperor ascended to the throne, he also ordered the Ministry of Revenue to review the accounts from the previous Emperor's reign. According to your meaning, Consort, does that mean the Emperor doesn't even trust his own father?"

  Empress Wu was suddenly speechless, but how could things in the harem be compared to matters on the court?

  Lin Xiang glanced at her, then looked at Cui Xianfei, Hu Zhaorong and He Baolin among others in the hall, before continuing: "This palace is only checking accounts to make the expenses of the harem clearer, so as not to be confused when managing palace affairs. There's no meaning that this palace doesn't trust anyone."

  Cui Xianfei and Guifei exchanged a glance, but didn't say anything.

  The Empress continued, "Since the Imperial Concubine asked about the audit, I have discovered something very interesting over the past two days. The annual expenditure of the Crown Prince's Yanqing Palace is only 4,500 taels, while the expenditure of the Second Prince's palace is actually more than that of his elder brother, reaching nearly 6,000 taels."

  Empress Wu stood up angrily and stared at Lin Xiang: "Your Majesty, the allowance of the Second Prince is within the prescribed limit."

  "The Empress said, 'I know, so I say that the Crown Prince should be praised for his frugality and simplicity. The father of the Noble Consort Wu, Wu Shangshu, cried to the Emperor a few days ago about the Ministry of Revenue having no silver and asked the Emperor to increase taxes. The Emperor has always advocated for frugality and ordered that all things used by the palace should be simple. The Crown Prince sets an example with his own behavior, following the imperial edict, showing filial piety and the style of a future ruler.' Turning her head to look at the Noble Consort, she continued, 'Noble Consort, you should instruct the two princes to learn from the Crown Prince.'"

  Empress Wu was so angry that she almost jumped with rage. Praising the Crown Prince for being frugal, wasn't that just saying that the Second Prince was extravagant? Where did he get the nerve to come up and give his own cousin a high hat?

  These two little rascals have been harboring evil intentions since they were young. Back in the days at the Wang Manor, they would often join forces to bully Jing Er. Now that they've just entered the palace, they're already colluding with each other again.

  Empress Wu sat down and hummed, saying: "The Crown Prince is not only the Emperor's nephew but also grew up with the Emperor since childhood. The Emperor naturally speaks for the Crown Prince."

  "Consort Lin said, 'Imperial Concubine, which sentence do you think I said incorrectly? Is it that the expenses of the Second Prince's palace are greater than those of the Crown Prince's palace and thus wronged him, or is it that one should not advocate for frugality?'"