Lin Daiyu finished washing and dressing, then sat down on the couch and took from Mu Jie's hand the first letter sent back by Lin Ruhai and his wife and young Yu from northwest.

  Zhuang's letter mainly talks about some daily trivial matters in the northwest, saying that her belly has been getting bigger and the child has been moving more and more fiercely, worrying that this one will be a mischievous kid. She also said that they had just arrived for a few days when a small number of Huren invaded the northwest, and 10-year-old Chengliang argued with his father and brother to go together to fight against the Huren, but ended up falling off his horse and almost died under the golden sword of the Huren, fortunately, he was saved by Chenggang.

  She sighed and said that although Cheng Gang usually looked dull, he still had the hearts of his parents and brothers. She also mentioned that it's been a long time since Shang Juniang's affair, and she should let go of her anger towards Cheng Gang's wife. Moreover, she said that although Cheng Gang's wife was not very intelligent in the capital city, considering their sisterly relationship, they could teach her if possible, help her out if needed, and best of all, correct her foolish temper.

  Lin Ying's letter was a bit shorter, more like a report to the emperor, reporting on military affairs and mentioning his intention to adjust the northwest border defense, only at the end saying "I beg the empress to give a name to my unborn child".

  Yu Yu's letter is full of interesting details. It was her first time traveling far from home, and the customs and people of the northwest were completely different from those in the capital city. She was curious about everything: the big horses of the northwest, the earth castles, the vast expanses of yellow soil with no one in sight, and even the small boots and sheepskin goods sold by some Hui people at the border. She also said that her sixth brother had taken her to a Hui village dressed as a Hui person, and they had walked around together. In the end, she sighed and said that the people of the northwest were really poor, unable to afford houses and having to live in holes in the ground.

  She was talking about the cave dwellings in the northwest. The northwest has strong winds and sandstorms, so houses are easily blown down by the wind, which is why many people live in cave dwellings.

  Lin Dai couldn't help but smile, carefully putting these letters away in a box.

  Shang Yi Ju's servant brought over the previous month's calendar and Lin Daiyu flipped through it casually.

  Jiang was favored for three days, Wang for two days. The new consorts who entered the palace didn't get a turn each day. It seemed that Wu Guifei, Cui Xianfei and Hu Zhaorong, these old people in the palace, the emperor would often go to sit when he had time, but rarely stayed overnight. Most of the remaining time, the emperor still stayed in Changkun Palace.

  The emperor roughly wanted to treat the imperial concubines fairly, trying to make sure everyone got an equal share, but he did show some favoritism towards Jiang, although it was quite restrained. The fact that Wang was able to come out a day earlier than others was entirely because she shared the same surname as the emperor's plans to reuse the people of the Wang family.

  Lin Xiao looked at it and then stamped it before handing it back to Tong Shi to take back and file away.

  But Li Tong handed over the Tong Ce, and did not leave immediately. Instead, he said to Lin Xiao: "Your Majesty, the noble concubine wants to flip through the Tong Ce, what do you think..."

  After more than half a year, the harem was basically under Lin Yi's control. If Wu Guifei wanted to do something as she used to without going through Lin Yi, it had become almost impossible. According to the rules, only the Emperor and Empress Lin could read the imperial records. Of course, before Lin Yi entered the palace, Wu Guifei was also able to do so, but not because she had the authority herself.

  Lin Dai nodded and didn't say anything, waving her hand for her to leave.

  When Gongfei asked for peace, Lin Xiao looked at Wu Guifei sitting below her.

  The Crown Prince has begun to attend court and listen to politics, Wu Guifei has been anxious and irritable lately, and has been running around with the Wu family for a while, trying to get the Emperor to agree to let the Second Prince also attend court, even agreeing to the Emperor's policy of increasing commercial taxes, but the Emperor ultimately still did not agree to let the Second Prince attend court and participate in politics like the Crown Prince.

  For this reason, Wu Guifei's temper was also somewhat big. It is said that yesterday she even punished a palace maid to the Yeting Palace, just because she broke a teacup.

  "Consort Lin spoke up: 'Noble Consort, I heard you want to flip through the imperial family register?'"

  Empress Wu snorted disdainfully in her heart, unaware that at some point, the Empress would slowly erode and dismantle her foundation in the harem. If it were before, she wanted to flip through a book of imperial decrees, who dared to say anything.

  As a result, this time she let the palace maid go to Shang Yi Ju to ask for it, and the person in charge of Shang Yi Ju smiled and said that the red book had not been sorted out yet, and would be sent personally to Chao Yang Palace after sorting. But soon, he reported the matter to the Empress Dowager. The palace maid was also foolish, and actually came back empty-handed, but she knew as soon as she heard it that the person in charge of Shang Yi Ju was just putting on a show for her.

  The Empress Wu stretched out her hand, looking at her fingers stained with vermilion, and said indifferently: "I think it's nothing strange for the concubines to want to turn over. The Empress should ask everyone in the harem, who doesn't want to turn over? The Empress herself is living a life of luxury, but don't even give us concubines a sniff of the meat soup." She turned her head to look at Jiang Xi and said: "You say so too, Concubine Jiang."

  Jiang Xi looked somewhat haggard today, with a pale complexion and insufficient blood flow. Sitting in the chair, his spirit also seemed somewhat dazed and confused, it was unclear whether he was ill or what.

  When she heard Wu Guifei pulling her into the dispute with the Empress, she felt a little annoyed in her heart, but pretended that she hadn't heard anything and asked vaguely: "Ah? What did the Princess say?" She stood up and bowed to Lin Xiang and Wu Guifei respectively, saying: "Sorry, Your Majesty the Empress, Princess, I have been feeling unwell lately, my spirit is not good, just came out for a while, and didn't hear what you two were talking about."

  Cui Xianfei and Hu Zhaorong exchanged a glance, but neither of them spoke.

  Lin Xuan bypassed Jiang Xi and nodded thoughtfully, saying: "The imperial concubine's words also make sense. Since everyone is so concerned about the Tong Shu, from now on, after using the seal every month, I will let the Shang Yi Bureau copy a few copies and send one to each palace. This way, you won't have to secretly inquire about it."

  Mu Qing furrowed his brow as he listened.

  The other consorts and concubines had originally been lowering their heads, but upon hearing Lin Yu's words, they suddenly raised their heads in shock, hardly believing that the Empress would say such a thing.

  Only the empress can read the imperial register, but since ancient times, it has been impossible to prevent the concubines and palace maids from prying into the affairs of the harem. This is, after all, a matter involving the emperor's private life, and no empress in history has dared to openly proclaim it to the world. Of course, if they could read the imperial register, they would naturally be delighted.

  The imperial concubines looked at each other in dismay, momentarily unsure whether they should kneel down to thank the emperor or apologize for the empress's words "sneakily inquiring".

  Lin Xiao didn't have time to care about what they were thinking, waved her hand and said: "Let's disperse today." After finishing speaking, she took a sip of tea, indicating that it was time to see the guests off.

  Gong Fei retreated and left, Mu Qing looked at Lin Yi with some disapproval: "Your Majesty, the matter of Tong Ce, you shouldn't be so rash."

  It is forbidden for the imperial concubines to privately browse through the historical records, originally it was feared that after browsing they would tamper with the records of history, let alone this involves the emperor's private matters, this is somewhat disrespectful to the imperial body.

  Lin Dedao said, "No harm done. What I gave them was just a copied version, the original they can't get their hands on anyway. Rather than letting them secretly investigate and causing the palace maids and eunuchs to run around, it's better to bring it out into the open."