mtl008 Chapter 215: Investigate and Lose the Wife
Chapter 215: Investigate and Lose the Wife
With Kangxi's people and Shi Nanxi's planning skills, everything was quickly investigated.
The incident started when Zixia's younger brother outside the palace had been suffering from a long-term cold and could not be cured. The family had run out of money and could only look to Zixia for help. Zixia was implicated in the "murder" of Shi Rongyue during the re-election period and was sent to the Xinzheku.
Originally, she had some savings and rewards from her master, but because she was demoted to the Xinzheku for a crime, she had to do the most tiring and difficult work, and the food and clothing were not good. Not long after she arrived at the Xinzheku, she fell ill.
The illness cost her all her savings, and when she recovered, only the jewelry was left.
Unexpectedly, it rains but it pours. Her younger brother outside the palace caught a cold and died. She could only look forward to her monthly salary, but the manager deducted it again. The remaining money was not enough to pay the people who helped to deliver the silver. So she thought of selling her jewelry.
Keren was so unlucky that even drinking cold water would get stuck in her teeth. As soon as she took out the precious bracelet that Shi Nanxi had given her before, it attracted the greed of others, who tried to snatch it away, which triggered this series of events.
This is what was found on the surface. In fact, the real process was that Zixia's brother did catch a cold, but he had recovered long ago. The reason why she told Zixia that the cold was incurable was just to cheat her of money.
Shi Nanxi had investigated everything early on, and she happened to have a plan, so she asked Zixia to pretend that she didn't know and pretended to be in urgent need of money, and she also deliberately attracted a greedy eunuch.
As expected, as soon as Zixia showed her wealth, the eunuch snatched her away on the spot.
The eunuch was just a small fry, but because he was good at making money, he got close to a manager in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. That manager was actually Concubine Nianhulu's man.
Shi Nanxi is a stingy person. Last time, Concubine Nianhulu gave her musk, but she could not be convicted because the witnesses were silenced. This time, she deliberately chose someone related to her.
As for the deduction of the share of the salary, that was very simple, because anyone in the palace who did not have status, position or background would have their share of the salary deducted to some extent, even the concubines who had fallen out of favor in the harem were the same, not to mention the criminal slaves who were demoted to the Xinzheku for their crimes.
Since Zixia was sent to the Xinzheku, her share of allowance has been deducted, which has nothing to do with Shi Nanxi, the person who has just come to power.
That's how the game was done.
Shi Nanxi's purpose in setting up this trap was to use Zixia's incident as a lead to bring up the matter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs withholding the allowance.
There are always more oppressed slaves in this palace than powerful slaves. Shi Nanxi wants to win the hearts of those stubborn slaves.
Moreover, the servants in the Imperial Household Department even dared to deduct the allowances of the concubines in the palace, causing many of them to make a living by selling their jewelry. It was really unbearable to see a dignified imperial concubine being bullied like this, not to mention that if it were exposed, it would also be a disgrace to Emperor Kangxi.
From now on, she will be responsible for distributing the monthly allowance. If someone takes advantage of this to do something, she may have to take the blame for those who make things difficult for her.
So, she took the initiative, cleaned up the place, and replaced them with her own people. This was her entire plan.
As for the profit chain after selling the jewelry, those related to the palace guards are too complicated and she has no intention of touching it for the time being. Besides, sometimes this is also a way for palace people.
After the truth was discovered, Shi Nanxi naturally had to report it, and it happened to be the day when one paid respects to the Empress Dowager every five days.
Shi Nanxi first briefly described the incident and then produced the evidence on the spot.
The concubines looked at the evidence in silence. With the Emperor's people helping with the investigation, it would be a problem if Concubine Xian couldn't find out anything.
The Empress Dowager doesn't care about the affairs of the harem, but this matter has caused a lot of uproar and it involves Concubine Xian. She had just ordered Concubine Xian to send someone to ask if she has any questions. Now that the evidence has been produced, she naturally has to ask about it.
"Madame Hu, bring it to me."
Nanny Hu stepped forward, took the evidence from Concubine Xian, and handed it to the Empress Dowager. She called it evidence, but in fact it was the confessions of the relevant personnel.
The Empress Dowager's Chinese was not very good, and she could hardly recognize Chinese characters, but this was the result of an investigation by the Emperor's people, and she naturally believed the Emperor, so she just looked at the signatures under each confession and nodded slightly.
"Yes, Concubine Xian did a great job. Some servants in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have forgotten that they are just servants of the royal family. They dare to enrich themselves and disrespect their superiors. They should be punished."
Upon hearing this, Shi Nanxi showed a flattered expression.
"Your Majesty, you are too kind. It was because I failed to discipline my servants that these things happened. Your Majesty is willing to give me a chance to redeem myself and even lend me someone to investigate. I am already very grateful. Thank you, Your Majesty, and Your Majesty for your grace."
The reason why I thank the Empress Dowager is that her people also helped during the investigation.
The Queen Mother put down the evidence, picked up the Buddhist beads again, looked at Concubine Xian and said:
"You don't have to blame yourself. The evidence proves that the deduction of quotas had already happened a long time ago, and it didn't happen after you took over. As for the servant who snatched the bracelet, he had snatched it more than once before, and it just happened to be exposed this time. In this way, you still have merit."
Hearing this, Shi Nanxi was both frightened and happy, and thanked him repeatedly.
The other concubines present watched this scene in silence.
Among the palace concubines, Concubine Hui's expression changed slightly.
Before Empress Xian, she was in charge of distributing the monthly allowance.
Is the Queen Mother referring to her?
But she only took over for a month. Before that, it was Imperial Concubine Niuhulu who was in charge, and Imperial Concubine Niuhulu had heard it herself.
What’s even more annoying is that the servant who snatched the bracelet was also related to her people. Even if it was not her order, it was related to her.
Concubine Nianhulu clenched and unclenched her hands on her knees, and finally gritted her teeth and stood up to apologize to the Empress Dowager.
When Concubine Hui saw Concubine Nianhulu apologizing, she took a deep breath and followed suit.
"I was incompetent in managing the harem and failed to discover in time that the servants were embezzling and withholding their share of the allowance. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
The Queen Mother looked at the two of them.
"I know that it was the slaves who hid the truth from their superiors. You have also been deceived. Get up. Be careful in the future and don't let this happen again."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Nianhulu and Concubine Hui stood up to express their gratitude.
The Empress Dowager turned to Concubine Xian and asked:
"Empress Xian, now that the whole story has been investigated, have you thought about how to deal with it?"
Shi Nanxi saw that the Queen Mother did not want to intervene, so she said:
"I want to punish the steward who deducted Zixia's share, or those who deducted concubines or other servants according to the palace rules. I want to use the silver that was deducted to compensate those who were deducted before. If it is not enough, deduct it from my share. As for Zixia and Ah Zao, they have also made contributions in exposing the truth, so I will transfer them to Chuxiu Palace to be servants. What do you think?"
This is a great idea. Not only does it comfort the victims, it also considers compensating those who have been deducted. It is very thoughtful.
The Queen Mother turned around with a smile on her face.
"Just do as you say."
Imperial Concubine Nianhulu and the others did not show any expression on their faces, but they felt sad at heart. This time they not only lost the wife but also the army.
After the greetings, everyone left, but Shi Nanxi stayed.