The reason why Brother Ninth was in trouble was not because he felt it was troublesome, but because he was worried that Concubine Tong was seriously ill.

If that really happens, the follow-up will be very troublesome.

"No matter what, tomorrow I will go to Yuqing Palace to see the Crown Princess and ask..."

At present, the palace affairs are in the hands of the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess has the right to check Concubine Tong's pulse and call people to Yongshou Palace.

Shu Shu said: "Perhaps it's because of the change of seasons that I feel unwell. Concubine Tong is young, so there should be nothing wrong with her."

This person is also a person with a long life in history.

It's just that the current situation is completely different from that in history.

At this time in history, the title of imperial concubine should be given, and she would become the highest position in the palace after the Kangxi Dynasty for more than 20 years.

Brother Jiu nodded and said, "Well, I guess it's mostly a mental illness. I just feel a little pitiful. I hope I can think openly."

Everyone in the Tong family is arrogant, and Concubine Tong is no exception.

Brother Jiu still thinks that this illness is related to his concubine's move to the Qian Palace.

The next day, the first day of August, the ninth elder brother took a rest.

The couple went to Fucha's house to send birthday gifts together.

Ma Qi was already a bachelor, but he behaved very respectfully and did not arrange birthday gifts for his wife.

But who knows the rules of officialdom? Before the official day, there was an endless stream of horse-drawn carriages delivering gifts in front of Fucha's house.

When Shu Shu and Brother Jiu's carriage arrived, it took them a quarter of an hour to arrive at the door of Fucha's house.

Brother Ninth got off the carriage, helped Shu Shu down, looked at the various parked carriages, realized something was wrong, and said: "It's my birthday, why haven't those grandsons from the Ministry of Internal Affairs made any move this year?"

When he said this, Shu Shu also remembered that people started giving gifts at the end of July last year.

Shu Shu thought for a while and said: "Maybe I don't know yet, just wait and see..."

During the Dragon Boat Festival, half of the gifts from the Prince's Mansion were collected.

The remaining half was sent to Third Brother.

Now that Brother Ninth's birthday is approaching, everyone probably doesn't know how to give gifts.

If you give too lightly, you will offend someone. There are examples of concubines belonging to other people's families.

I gave away too much, and at this juncture, I was worried about being stared at.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has its own Yushi Yamen.

I haven't been idle in the past few months and have caught a lot of borers.

It was not arranged by Brother Nine, but dog bites dog.

Just like the previous dynasty, sometimes the censor is the sword, and the sword is held in the hands of the emperor or the courtiers.

The imperial censor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has also been found to be of wonderful use.

For example, a while ago, there was a vacancy for a doctor in Guangchu Treasury, and several principals were on standby. Then a series of corruption scandals broke out, and two principals were arrested.

Brother Jiu watched the excitement and did not interfere or stop it.

This was the purpose of introducing the imperial censor into the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was to wind up these coats.

Brother Jiu supported Shu Shu and whispered: "Oh no, we won't give it away to less, our income will be less in the future."

Shu Shu smiled and said: "It's not like this money is missing, it's okay."

If the Ministry of Internal Affairs really becomes clean, that would be a great thing, but it is unlikely.

I have been greedy for several generations, and even if I have been frightened for several months, some problems cannot be corrected.

At this time, Mrs. Ma Qi had already received the report and knew that Brother Jiu and his wife were coming, so she personally greeted them.

"Jiuye, Jiufujin..."

Mrs. Mazie stepped forward and saluted.

Brother Jiu avoided it, Shu Shu helped Mrs. Ma Qi to stand up and said: "Master, please get up, there is no need to be a heretic."

Ma Qi has gone with his retinue and is no longer in the capital.

The older sons of the Fucha family had all gone out, and the younger ones were still studying at Banner School. Brother Ninth was accompanied by a member of the Fucha family to the living room.

Shu Shu was welcomed into the main room by Mrs. Ma Qi.

Today is not the official birthday day, and there are no foreign guests here for Mrs. Ma Qi. Only a few daughters-in-law who have separated have come to help.

Except for Fu Qing's wife, I don't know Shu Shu very well, and she seems very reserved.

However, since Brother Jiu and Ma Qi are known as teachers and students, Shu Shu is also somewhat polite to Mrs. Ma Qi.

Mrs. Ma Qi was from an ordinary background, but she had outstanding appearance, behaved in a very grand manner, and was close to her daughters-in-law.

Shu Shu socialized around and finally met Fucha Erge, her future sister-in-law.

Father Xiao...

Shu Shu's expression did not change, and she was already very surprised.

Not to mention her appearance, which is only 70% of Mrs. Fucha's, but is she also a little fat in stature?

Plumpness is not popular among Eight Banners, but rather dignified and polite. Girls tend to have flatter figures.

Shu Shu's eyes turned around Fucha Gege.

New clothes, new shoes and socks.

Gege, who lives in a wealthy family, lives at home without such rules and meets guests in a brand new outfit.

Then there is only one possibility left.

The clothes I wore earlier can no longer be worn, and now that the season has changed, I have all new clothes.

She gave her a gift, which was a coral bracelet she had prepared before.

Fucha Gege had a round face and glanced at Mrs. Maqi. When she nodded, she accepted.

"My sister looks shy at An Jing..."

Shu Shu said to Mrs. Ma Qi.

Mrs. Ma Qi smiled and said: "I am very spoiled and ignorant. I don't expect to marry well..."

Shu Shu knew it in her heart. This was a trap for her daughter. She was afraid of being cheated. She was preparing for next year's draft.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have any effect.

There are fourteen characters indicating marriage, and Shu Shu can guess what Kangxi meant.

Pity the weak.

A prince whose biological mother has a low status should find a decent father-in-law.

This Fucha Gege should have been decided before the draft.

Brother Ninth had to go to the palace, and Shu Shu and Mrs. Ma Qi had nothing to talk about. They went through the motions, put down the gift list, and left.

Brother Jiu is already waiting in front.

Mrs. Ma Qi brought her daughters-in-law and sent them out again.

The two families were relatively close, so Brother Jiu sent Shu Shu back and went to the palace.

Here, Shu Shu also changed into homely clothes, but she thought of her twelfth elder brother.

The prince's brother is really not someone everyone wants to marry.

Especially a powerful old fox like Ma Qi is not willing to marry his daughter into the royal family to get into troubled waters.

I hope that after the wedding next year, Fucha Gege can figure it out. Otherwise, how will he live in the future with such reluctance?

After a while, Cui Baisui came.

Finally, the person who gave the gift came over, and it turned out that the person signing the gift was the doctor of the Shenxing Division and the manager of the imperial kitchen.

These two people took the lead in sending birthday gifts.

Shu Shu took the gift list and looked at it. It was similar to last year's birthday gift, with no additions or subtractions. It was about eighty taels to one hundred silver.

She ordered the walnuts to be put away and said: "You can organize them later. If there are any differences from last year, list them separately."

This is indeed a bad habit in the officialdom. The annual salary of a fifth-grade doctor is only a small amount, but after "three festivals and two birthdays", the amount of money required for gifts is several hundred taels.

Layer by layer, when it comes to the officials and petty officials below, if they don’t have the money to show their filial piety, they can only use their hands to get rich.

Shu Shu knows this truth, but who doesn’t know it from top to bottom?

Shu Shu leaned on the kang, thinking of the famous "Yin Lian Yin" in later generations. That money was not taken from the court, but also from the people. It was the money that was "returned to the public at the cost of fire".

This is not suitable for trial implementation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Every cent of money in the Ministry of Internal Affairs belonged to Kangxi. It would be a joke to use Kangxi's money to "raise integrity."

*
To be continued...