With the emperor's consent, Lin Xiang naturally began to deal with the reduction of the harem.

  The people in the harem are used to a life of honor and prestige. This kind of thing that affects the interests of the harem people will naturally be opposed by them.

  The emperor's harem is not large, and Cui Xianfei and Hu Zhaorong are echoing Lin Yi. Wu Guifei opposes in her heart, but with the comparison between the second prince and the crown prince yesterday, she fears that Lin Yi will again put on a "luxurious life" hat on her head, so she doesn't speak out either, just planning to let others make some small moves, while the remaining palace consorts are too low in status to have speaking rights.

  So the ones who rushed to Lin Ke's front to express their opposition were actually the imperial consorts of the Cian Palace.

  Starting with Consort Cao, she gathered together five or six consorts including Consort Duan and Consort Yun, who were all seated in the side hall of Changchun Palace.

  Cao Guifei was originally the De Fei of the previous emperor. When the current emperor ascended to the throne, he greatly rewarded the harem and promoted her to Guifei. Cao Guifei gave birth to the fourth prince of the previous emperor, Prince Hengwang. In the later years of the previous emperor's reign, the struggle for the crown prince was intense, and many princes were killed or injured. Prince Hengwang is the oldest among the surviving sons of the previous emperor.

  Duan Taifei gave birth to the emperor's eldest daughter, now known as Princess Jing'an. Princess Jing'an's husband's surname is Hang, and his legitimate eldest daughter married Wu Guifei's younger brother, now known as Madame Hang, wife of the heir apparent of Xuan State.

  As for Yun Taifei, she gave birth to the youngest son of the previous emperor, Xiangcheng County King. Xiangcheng County King was younger than both the Crown Prince and the Second Imperial Son. When the Emperor ascended to the throne, he conferred upon him the title of County King but due to his young age, he remained in the palace until last year when he turned ten years old and was allowed to leave the palace and establish his own estate.

  …………

  In short, these people all have sons and daughters, and Lin He cannot afford to treat them lightly as imperial consorts.

  "...We are old, afraid of the heat in summer and the cold in winter. Last winter, the silver ingots distributed as part of our allowance were used up before spring arrived. My palace maid advised me to ask for more silver ingots from the palace. I thought that if I asked for more, others would not have enough, so I endured it and wore more clothes every day, and boiled a bowl of pepper water to keep warm. Who would have thought that I still caught a cold, and was ill for many days before recovering? It caused a lot of trouble for you, Imperial Concubine..."

  After saying so much, it can be summed up in one sentence: If you cut down on your expenses again, you won't be human!

  Duan Taifei and Yun Taibin also chimed in, one of them saying "Isn't that right? Cao sister at least has clothes to keep warm, I couldn't even find any thick clothes, either they can't be worn for several years or there's no material to make new ones."

  Another person said, "That's right, the tea leaves we distributed last time were not enough. I'm not afraid to say it in front of the empress, but when my sisters came to visit me at home last time, I couldn't even take out tea leaves to entertain them, and had to borrow some from Sister Duan."

  Duan Taifei retorted: "I also only have this much left, you've taken everything."

  Lin Yan smiled and looked at them, letting them talk about their troubles one after another.

  Although Lin Xiao didn't like the people below being too greedy, she also knew the principle that clear water has no fish. So even if two-tenths of the share was reduced, the remaining share would still be enough for the masters of each palace to use with plenty to spare.

  Like brocade satin, they make one set a day, which is enough for them to wear, and even coarse fabrics like rough linen that are not suitable for making clothes are reserved for them to reward others.

  So doing so, Lin Yi asked herself that neither the emperor nor she had wronged these imperial consorts.

  But human hearts are always insatiable.

  Cao Guifei and others sang and harmonized for half a day, only to discover that the Empress sat there without saying a word. They all stopped one after another, looking at Lin Yi.

  Lin Huan's mouth curved slightly as she finally spoke: "This palace had no idea that the imperial consorts and concubines have suffered such great grievances over the past two years. But what can be done? This palace only entered the palace last month, and last year it was still the noble consort who managed the palace. These matters will definitely be thoroughly investigated by this palace after asking the noble consort about them."

  Duan Taifei frowned, her granddaughter had married into the Wu family, so she naturally sided with the Wu family and Wu Guifei.

  It's just that they were complaining about their miserable lives, but as soon as it reached the empress's ears, it became a case of the imperial concubine mismanaging the palace.

  Lin Ke said, "The consorts and concubines have already told me about this matter. The consorts and concubines are all seniors and have made great contributions to the emperor by giving birth to his children. As juniors, we cannot let them suffer even if it means going hungry ourselves. However, the consorts and concubines must also understand that the emperor and I have no choice in this matter. The entire harem, including the emperor, the crown prince, and myself, are all having our allowances reduced together. It's not just the consorts and concubines who are being reduced. Just a few days ago, Wu Shangshu from the Ministry of Revenue submitted several memorials saying that the ministry really has no more silver and suggesting that the emperor increase taxes. We women in the harem can't do anything else, but by helping the emperor and the people save a few taels of silver, we are also making a contribution. Don't you think so?"

  Cao Guifei and Duan Taifei exchanged a glance, then Cao Guifei continued: "Although it's said that way, the imperial harem can save a few taels of silver. Moreover, even if the Ministry of Revenue has no more silver, we cannot let everyone in the palace go hungry. The emperor cannot only think about cutting expenses, but also think of ways to increase revenue, Empress, don't you agree?"

  Lin Xuan's eyes sank, and her face became more severe. She said: "The imperial court's silver money mainly comes from taxes. I heard that ordinary people spend only 20 taels of silver per year, but the expenses for you alone in the palace exceed 3,000 taels every year. According to your logic, should we squeeze out these 20 taels of silver from the commoners to support your food and drink?"

  Empress Cao was choked with anger, almost unable to speak. She couldn't say that the empress should take money from the people for her own food and drink, nor could she say that the queen's reduction of their allowance was justified. After humming for a long time, she finally spoke up: "I didn't mean it that way, Your Majesty misunderstood..."

  Duan Taifei saw Cao Guifei and was speechless, hastily coming out to mediate, smiling at Lin Daiyu: "Cao sister is not good with words, Your Majesty, please don't mind..."

  Lin Xiang turned her head and smiled at Duan Tai Fei, saying: "Duan Tai Fei, you can talk, why don't you tell me, the common people can get by with 10 taels of silver a year, but you can't even fill your belly with 3,000 taels of silver a year. Tell me, do you eat silver for every meal?"

  Duan Taifei lowered her eyes and head, unable to speak a word.

  Yun Taijun saw Cao Guifei and Duan Taifei like this, with a belly full of words prepared to deal with the Empress, but now she didn't dare say them out loud.

  Cao Guifei and Duan Taifei were still like this, she was originally a palace maid, relying on the birth of Xiangcheng County King to be sealed as Taibei and stay in the palace. The Xiangcheng County King was young and had no difference in court affairs. The empress would not be polite to Cao Guifei and Duan Taifei, let alone her.

  The harem is going to change its sky, no wonder the noble consort was suppressed by her several times and couldn't lift her head.

  Looking at her small stature and small face, she usually has a smiling appearance, and her facial features also look soft. She thought she was just a gentle soul. Unexpectedly, her personality is even tougher than that of the Empress Yuan in her heyday.