The movement in the harem naturally could not be hidden from the emperor, and he was curious about what the soap really was. He ordered Eunuch Huang to go and buy some to him to see what it really was.
“Your Majesty ……”
If Your Majesty wants to see it, why don’t you go to the Empress Zou or the Empress Xian, both of them have a lot in their hands.”
After saying that, without waiting for the emperor to ask, he added, “Consort Soft was sent to the palace by the Second Prince, and Consort Xian was sent to the palace by the Lady of the Ding State.”
The emperor did not even think, “Prepare the palanquin and go to Kunli Palace.”
Eunuch Huang had the palanquin prepared, and the Emperor left the imperial study and went all the way to Consort Xian’s quarters.
The emperor had not been here for several days, when he heard the report, Consort Xian came out to greet her, the emperor picked her up, took her hand and sat down in the room, “I heard that you have soap in your hand, bring it to me to see.”
The company’s main business is to provide a wide range of products and services to the public.
The emperor naturally did not believe it and asked eunuch Huang to fetch water and try it out himself before he knew why the concubines in the harem liked it so much, it was convenient and useful, and he liked it too.
Seeing how much he liked it, Consort Xian covered her mouth and smiled, “Which scent does Your Majesty like? I will give it to you.”
If it were any other concubine, they would not dare to speak to His Majesty like this, everything in the palace was His Majesty’s, even them. But Consort Xian was different, the Emperor liked her like this, and smiled at once, “Then I thank you very much, I like all of these.”
Consort Xian’s smile froze.
Rarely did he see her like this, and the Emperor laughed out loud.
Consort Xian reacted and pushed all the soaps in front of His Majesty, “Since Your Majesty likes it, I will give it all to Your Majesty, anyway, in some time, my mother’s family will send quite a few more to the palace.”
“I’ve heard that the shops are all sold out and you can’t even buy them, so I’ll take them all, don’t feel bad.”
“I heard from my mother that Yue’er had predicted that the soap would sell well and had ordered a lot from the Meng family, and that a boatload would be sent over soon.”
Thinking of the Meng Yang mentioned in the memo, the Emperor asked without moving a muscle, “Is the Meng family you are talking about the one the Xu family tied the knot with?”
“It is the same Meng family.”
No wonder the Meng family could take the lead in making donations, it was too easy to earn money.
The emperor had eunuch Huang put all the soaps away and sat for another half hour before leaving Kunli Palace, and everywhere he walked along the way, he could hear faint talk about the soaps.
In the evening, Consort Zo sent word to ask the emperor to come over.
The two of them now jointly manage the harem and often have the palace come to invite the emperor to talk to him about harem matters.
The emperor was grading a memo and did not raise his head, “Tell Concubine Zuo that I will go over for dinner.”
Eunuch Huang responded and went out to tell the grand palace maid who was sent to deliver the message.
After receiving the exact answer, the grand palace maid walked all the way back to Zhong Yi Palace, full of joy, “Your Majesty, the Emperor is coming over for dinner.”
Concubine Zuo was also happy, “Go tell the kitchen to make more of His Majesty’s favourite dishes.”
The first palace maid answered and went away quickly.
Consort Soft also ordered the palace staff to clean up the inside and outside of Zhong Yi Palace, and just as she finished, His Majesty’s sedan arrived.
When the Emperor’s sedan arrived, Consort Zuo went out and knelt down to greet her, “I have seen Your Majesty.”
“Please be at ease.”
His Majesty walked past her and Consort Zo turned to follow.
Stepping inside, the Emperor sat down and asked, “Is something wrong?”
“Yes there is one, I can’t decide on it and thought of discussing it with Your Majesty.”
The Emperor seemed to be a little tired, his body moved back and leaned against the back of the chair. Seeing this, Concubine Zo went behind him and helped him with moderate pressure.
The emperor closed his eyes, “Go ahead, what is it.”
“A few days ago, the second prince sent me some soap, I saw a lot of them, so I let people distribute them to many of my sisters, they use them all said good, have sent people to buy but did not buy, all came over to me, I thought whether to let the palace to buy some, distributed to the sisters of the palace, so that they do not have to send people out to buy again and again.”
The emperor opened his eyes.
Concubine Zo stood unseen behind him and continued, “I heard that this soap was shipped back from the south and there is only one shop in the capital that sells it. Although there is not much silver, but after all, the palace uses a lot of it. If Your Majesty agrees, I will think of sending someone to the south to buy more back, so that I can save some silver.”
The emperor patted her hand and Consort Zo came over and sat down, waiting for him to answer.
But the emperor just said, “Pass the meal.”
Consort Zo had the sense to stop asking questions and ordered someone to pass the meal.
After eating, the emperor did not stay long and went back to the imperial study, picking up the folders of the governor of Jinling and reading them again.
He knew that the successive governors of Jiangnan were called the emperors of the land, but the sky was high and the road was far.
He was not able to control the situation even if he wanted to, so he turned a blind eye to many things, like this donation, but he could only find out from the folds of the governor of Jinling how much the merchants had donated and how much they had spent.
He also wanted to put someone in the Jinling government, but no matter who he sent, he would end up being assimilated.
But what if it was an outsider?
Meng Yang was credited with leading the donation this time, rewarding him as an imperial merchant and giving him an official position that seemed unimportant but actually gave him a clear picture of the various revenues of Jinling, so that he could be used for himself.
Even if Meng Yang does not do his best, with the Xu family’s connections, he will not be subservient to him.
Thinking of this, the emperor raised his voice, “Huang De, you go to ……”
The words were not finished when he saw the darkness outside and remembered that it was already night, so he changed his tone, “Tomorrow after the morning court, you go and invite the old man over.”
Eunuch Huang answered yes.
The next day, after the emperor finished his morning court, he came to the Xu family.
Song Wangyue and Meng Jiao were about to go to Meng’s courtyard when they saw Bo Xu leading Eunuch Huang over and hurriedly bowed, “Greetings, Eunuch Huang.”
Hearing her shout “Eunuch”, Meng Jiao was startled and hurried to follow suit.
Eunuch Huang hurriedly gave her a false support, “Miss Song, please do not salute.”
The two of them stood up straight.
Meng Jiao was curious if Eunuch Huang had no beard as the legend said, but she didn’t dare to look openly, so she just lifted her head a little and rolled her eyes upwards as far as she could.
Eunuch Huang didn’t care about her, so naturally he didn’t see her movements and said with a smile, “I am here to invite old sir by order of the Emperor.”
Song Wangyue pulled Meng Jiao back a few steps.
Eunuch Huang passed by them, keeping his eyes on Song Wangyue out of the corner of his eyes.
He didn’t understand how such a young girl could grow a brain, just going to the south and bringing back a money-making deal.