"It's all lovely."

Cao Feiyan looked up at them, praised them casually, and then changed her tone and said in a deep voice:

"But Uncle Wan, the prince won't be easy to ask."

"If that's the case, then I'll go and serve you first." He pressed his forehead to the ground, raised his head again, and whispered:

"You two go down first, and wait outside the door."

The two men were very obedient and went down to guard the door.

Cao Feiyan took a sip of tea, and said in a low voice:

"Uncle Wan, why didn't you see the fifth lady in this palace? She went to her hometown in Jiangnan for more than half a month, hasn't she come back yet? ”

Steward Wan nodded, "It's almost there, it should be on the way back." ”

The queen's slender hands paused slightly, as if she could guess what she was about to say.

"Now the Cao Mansion has encountered some difficulties, and there are thousands of singers, concubines, maids and slaves in the house, and it is rumored that there are more women in the Cao Mansion than in the palace, but the vast majority of them are eating and waiting for death, which is a large amount of expenses, and now the prince advocates opening up sources and reducing expenditure, and the monthly money of the royal members and the royal palaces has been halved."

"Our Cao Mansion, no matter how you say it, is still a first-class national mansion, a high-ranking family, we should respond to and learn from the royal family's practices, and take the lead in responding to the prince's call, and we should not continue to be extravagant and wasteful, the impact is very bad. The meaning of this palace is that all personnel need to be laid off, and more than half of the personnel will be reduced first. ”

"The prime minister of the house will no longer need so many women to wait in the future, except for the concubines and singers, who have children in the house, the rest will be dismissed, even in the imperial city, the next step in the palace will require the palace maids and eunuchs to be reduced by thirty percent."

"Yes, the old slave follows the queen's decree and handles it according to the regulations."

Cao Feiyan lowered her eyes, and her fingertips gently pinched the fan embroidered with two flying pink butterflies in her hand, only to feel that Steward Wan had done this ridiculously.

How could the prince be so easy to fool.

She gently rubbed her forehead, remembered something, and asked, "Does Uncle Wan know that the Qin family in Jingzhou back then, who are still left in this world?" ”

Seeing that she resisted this, Steward Wan once again felt ashamed of her master, and listened to the queen revisit the old past, and sighed in his heart.

Could it be that the queen wants to investigate the cause of the death of the eldest son of the Qin family back then, as well as the Qin family's beheading?

He thought for a moment before looking up and said:

"When the old slave heard the head of Dugu Shao say that there is still a pair of sisters in the Qin family whose whereabouts are unknown, because they are still young, the old man said that it is not a son, forget it, what? Suddenly, the mother remembered... What's wrong? ”

Cao Feiyan went to the Shujing Hall of King Jin yesterday evening and found that there were several case files on the table in his study.

One of them turned out to be the case of Jingzhou's assassination of Shi Qin Xu ten years ago?

King Jin was arranged by the crown prince to walk in the Privy Council before the Jin Dynasty, and it was natural to come into contact with some cases.

She was surprised, and immediately asked King Jin.

The king of Jin told her that when the crown prince returned from Xianyang a few years ago, he asked the Privy Council to re-examine the case of Qin Xu in Jingzhou.

Xu Xinchun felt that this matter was tricky, so he handed over the case to King Jin to host.

Unexpectedly, King Jin just began to arrange manpower to prepare for the review, and suddenly received an order from the prince, saying that he would not let the investigation first.

Everyone was at a loss.

Since the crown prince decreed, the king of Jin put this matter aside.

The queen knew in her heart that this was most likely the prince protecting her privacy, and she didn't want to be reminded of the affair back then.

The people in the Cao Mansion who knew about it were some old people.

This time, the eldest brother Cao Yanchun was ambushed, in addition to the prince being the most suspicious, could it be the enemy of the Cao Mansion?

She thought about it, and it was possible for Jingzhou Qin Xu.

"I heard that the young master is not in Beijing, please send a letter to Baoqin, let him check carefully, who else in the Qin Xu family missed the net back then."

Cao Feiyan emphasized:

"Don't be too impatient and lose something that's easy to overlook."

Steward Wan seemed to have an understanding, "Please rest assured, wait for the news." ”

Cao Feiyan bowed her head lightly and said in a deep voice:

"Don't tell my father in advance, okay, you can retreat first, Bell and Xiyan will stay by the side of the palace for the time being, and let them come in with some meals, the palace is a little hungry."

"Yes." Steward Wan withdrew.

After the steward Wan went down, the big maid of Qinyuan Courtyard returned to the building and brought a group of maids in to serve.

……

Cao Qichang's condition worsened again.

Early in the morning, officials from the military department came and officially announced:

On his way to his post, Cao Yanchun, a general of Luoyang, was ambushed by a group of horse bandits and bandits in a Yudao valley within the Yu Boundary.

General Cao Yanchun and Adjutant General Yang Kai-shek, seventy-two guards of the government, none survived, all of them were killed.

The personal guard, that is, Cao Yanchun's eldest son Cao Zewei, is missing.

Cao Yanchun's wife and concubines and other children, as well as Cao Zhijun and other ten government soldiers, are currently safe and temporarily placed in the Hangu Guanyu Juluo Department.

This official announcement completely cut off a trace of Cao Qichang's remaining thoughts.

He couldn't stand the blow and vomited blood again, then fainted.

Cao Fu immediately invited the imperial doctor, and after some discussion, he prescribed him a calming medicine, and told him not to be stimulated again.

Cao Feiyan heard the strict order:

Except for the concubines and maids who serve in front of the old man's bed, no one is allowed to enter the old man's bedroom without her permission.

From now on, Jia Gongwang is responsible for all external affairs, and the internal affairs of the mansion are in charge of Wan Butler.

Cao Feiyan didn't fall asleep until midnight last night, and was woken up after not sleeping for two hours.

After hearing the news of the death of the prince, the house suddenly exploded.

The wailing, the crying was all over the place, and there was a lot of noise.

The big girl came in and whispered a few words.

"Kill all those Aunt Zhao's maids, and send someone to watch Aunt Zhao's yard and be grounded for three months."

Cao Feiyan lightly covered her chest, frowned and said coldly.

"Yes."

After Guizhu left, she took the female official Biyu and got up to go to Dongyuan, ready to visit her father.

Just about to go out, I met Jia Gongwang, the bloody hand door of the qin, the ruler.

They came to greet the body of the prince, the bones of the lieutenant general and the family, and the wife and concubine of the prince.

"Let's do this thing, we must bring back the coffin of the young patriarch, as well as the bones of the deputy general and the family, as well as the eldest sister-in-law and other family members of the palace, and bring them back by the way.

Cao Feiyan said very calmly:

"Mr. Jia asked the account office to arrange the pension of the deceased, which was allocated at double times, and in addition, a mourning hall was set up in the front yard, and the back yard was not allowed to set up a mourning hall and cry and make noise from the fifth entrance."

The people took the command and departed.

When Cao Feiyan came to the door of the main hall of Dongyuan, a smell of medicinal soup greeted her.

A few maids were decocting medicine in the corridor, and the imperial doctor had just left not long ago.

There were also a few maids, with goose feather dusters in their hands, dusting off the celadon vase, and when they saw the queen, they knelt down to her to say goodbye.

Cao Feiyan didn't squint, and walked into the Dongyuan bedroom with her head held high.

The beaded curtain hanging from above here is sleek and colorful, with a faint and soft light.

There are only two maids left in the house to serve, combing their buns and wearing light pink clothes.