Concubine Hu Shun held her in her arms and comforted her softly: "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid, Ju'er."
She had seen that woman's miserable condition with her own eyes.
For so many years, she would be frightened awake when she dreamed about that scene.
No matter how much Lao Zhu doted on them on the surface, in fact he never regarded these concubines as human beings.
So, why is there any need to work hard to win Lao Zhu's favor and make other women jealous?
Living a plain and quiet life is the best.
Zhu Ju raised her head, her big watery eyes like autumn lake water: "Are you my biological mother?"
Concubine Hu Shun touched her head and said nothing.
Zhu Ju lowered his head: "Why doesn't Ju'er have a biological mother? Everyone has one."
She suddenly understood this after she fell into a puddle and fell seriously ill.
Concubine Hu Shun squeezed her hand tightly: "If you feel hungry or cold from now on, come to me."
Zhu Ju raised her head again: "Can you be my biological mother?"
Concubine Hu Shun's eyes were sore and she didn't know how to answer her.
-----
Aunt Qi over there has fainted.
Everyone in the palace turned pale.
Lao Zhu felt Zhu Bai's hand was cold and knew that he was afraid, so he said: "If you are afraid, just leave. We will definitely not let you suffer in vain. Or just tell us directly who you want to punish."
Zhu Bai said, "It's okay. I'll just take a look."
Lao Zhu was speechless when he saw the trick, and secretly sneered: Well, since you insist on showing off, let's scare you more so that you, the traitor, don't have to worry about life and death and act naughty.
Grandma Qi was doused with water and was dragged to her knees until she was almost alive.
Queen Ma glanced around: "Should you recruit them yourself, or should I review them one by one?"
The two female officials from the Shangshi Bureau and the Shangfu Bureau hurriedly knelt down.
The female official of the Shangshi Bureau said: "Ms. Qi often takes back the snacks and fruits sent by the concubines, saying that the princess can't eat them, so why not exchange some money to buy some gadgets for the princess. I don't want to offend others, so she will do it every time.
Every time, I converted it into money and gave it to her."
The female officer of the Shangfu Bureau also said: "She said the same thing to my concubine. Because of her face, I could only give her money."
Queen Ma was also angry: "Face, whose face is she taking on? It's so big?!"
The female officers remained silent.
Queen Ma said solemnly: "It seems we still have to fight."
The prince hurriedly knelt down: "She is a relative of the slave. But the slave has no idea what she did."
He was scolding Nanny Qi to death now, and for this little profit, he got her involved too.
Eunuch Wang followed Lao Zhu and worked under Guo Zixing.
Lao Zhu had great trust in him, otherwise he would not have let him hold such an important position.
Queen Ma did not dare to touch Lao Zhu's people.
Queen Ma glanced at Lao Zhu.
Lao Zhu's face turned dark at this time: "Just do it, don't be afraid. We are here."
Empress Ma said to the eunuch in charge of the ceremony: "Ask a few people to search his room."
The eunuch who printed the seal hurriedly went out, said a few words, and then came back and stood there.
Queen Ma said: "On weekdays, you bring some things out. I turn a blind eye and don't want to be too strict. Now it seems that you slaves really don't know how to be grateful at all. Instead, you have become even more shameless.
You'd better recruit them yourself. When I search them out one by one, I'll beat them to death with sticks."
Several wet nurses and nuns knelt down in a hurry: "This slave deserves to die."
Most of the little princesses are looked after by their own mothers, so they are doing fine.
However, the little princes did not dare to take any more care because of their own mothers, and instead allowed these servants to take advantage of the loophole.
Lao Zhu glanced at Zhu Bai with interest: This guy said early on that he didn't want a wet nurse. It turns out he knows these tricks.
What is his purpose today?
Well, that's not right...
If he wanted to rectify this, he would have told us long ago, without waiting for Concubine Hu Shun to be framed.
Empress Ma was so angry that she trembled and said to Gong Zheng: "Go and search their rooms carefully. Give each of them 20 bucks. Once they are done, they will be kicked out and they will never be hired."
The wet nurses and nuns did not dare to say anything anymore, and they all went down obediently to receive their punishment.
Lao Zhu clenched his fists to suppress the murderous aura surging in his heart: Empress Ma is too generous. If she calls me, she will skin her and hang her on the wall of the imperial city. Let's see who dares to do this to our children.
The people who went to search the prince's room came back with a box of silver.
Lao Zhu knew with his toes that it was impossible for Grandma Qi to deduct so much money from Zhu Ju in such a short period of time.
The things Lao Zhu rewarded were also in bits and pieces and could not be so neat.
These are all corrupted by the princes and father-in-law.
Wang Gonggong is the eunuch in charge of Shang Baojian.
The power he can use is the imperial seal, imperial talisman, and general's seal in the palace.
When Lao Zhu thought about it carefully, his hair stood on end.
He has seventeen jade seals, plus imperial talismans, and a lot of general seals, so he needs someone to manage them.
As long as the prince and his father-in-law produce a few less important jade seals, they can pardon and reduce the prisoner's sentence, and grant someone the right to use minerals that have not been registered in the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Money will flow into his pocket.
Since none of these are major matters involving government affairs, if I hadn't come to investigate today, I'm afraid no one would ever find out.
Lao Zhu gritted his teeth and said, "You are so brave."
The prince kowtows desperately: "Old slave, you have been wronged. These silvers are from the ladies in the palace, and are rewarded by the emperor."
Zhu Bai smiled and said, "Tsk, tsk, it's true that I won't shed tears until I see the coffin."
Lao Zhu saw him smiling and tilted his head: "If you have anything to say, just say it. Don't just watch the fun."
Zhu Bai said: "Not all his things may be hidden in the palace."
Is my residential survey done in vain?
This time I require that the name of the buyer must be added to the new property deed. Firstly, it is to avoid lawsuits in the future, and secondly, it is also to check how many properties you eunuchs, officials, and relatives of the emperor have in your hands.
Nowadays, the list in the Ministry of Household Affairs is not as comprehensive as what I have here.
I didn't say anything, I just didn't need it until the time came.
Lao Zhu suddenly realized: "Ask the Ministry of Finance to immediately report this bastard's residence outside the palace, as well as the residence registered under the name of his relatives."
The prince must have relatives outside.
Those relatives collect money to take care of the work and deliver the things they need.
The prince just stamped it and took it out.
The Ministry of Finance dared to hide it, so they reported it quickly.
The result is that if you don’t look at it, it will scare you to death.
The prince does not have a mansion in his name. However, his younger brother has seven or eight large mansions and countless fields in his name.
I haven't checked other sisters, cousins, etc. yet.
Lao Zhu smiled half-heartedly and asked Wang Gonggong: "What does my father-in-law's brother do for a living that makes him so rich?"
The prince and his father-in-law kowtowed as if they were pounding garlic and turning their flour into ashes: "My slave deserves to die."
Lao Zhu looked at Erhu: "You tell me."
Erhu handed over his hand and said: "Back to the emperor, the prince's brother turned out to be a gangster on the street. Now he doesn't do any legitimate business. He fights cocks, walks birds, drinks and visits the brothels every day."
Lao Zhu stared at the prince gloomily: "What else do you have to say?!"
The prince raised his head with tears streaming down his face: "I beg the emperor to spare my life."
