It is noon, and the leopard room is at the quietest time of the day.

Zhu Houzhao was hiding during the day and leaving at night, which determined that the living rules of the people in the leopard room were also inverted. In order to serve Zhu Houzhao well at night, most people had to choose to sleep in broad daylight.

However, Concubine Li got up very early because it was Concubine Hua's turn to accompany Zhu Houzhao on this day. She was happy to be quiet and could do something she liked.

Concubine Li is very satisfied with her current life. In her opinion, the leopard house is rich and comfortable and can rest at any time. This is much better than enduring the wind and rain outside.

These days, Concubine Li has been reading medical books. She seems bored and just looks for books to pass the time, but in fact she is studying how to get pregnant. She wants to be pregnant with Emperor Zhengde's descendants so that she can gain supreme status. Zhu Houzhao has no children so that she can see opportunities. After all, the Lord of the Six Palaces has not been favored by Zhu Houzhao.

After lunch, Qian Ning came to see Concubine Li and informed him of some of the situations he had investigated, so that Concubine Li knew what Chen Xi did outside the capital.

Unlike Xie Qian and others who only got some one-sided news, through the Jinyiwei's intelligence system, Qian Ning's investigation was relatively complete, and even the details of the negotiations between Chen Xi and Folang Jiren were found out.

Concubine Li held a medical book in her hand and was separated from Qian Ning with a curtain of Taoism. After a long time of silence, she asked, "In other words, the Folang Jiren wanted to do business with our Ming Dynasty, and all of them were settled with silver... How many are there?"

Qian Ning said: "What specific numbers are still to be verified, but it should be no less than a few hundred thousand taels depending on the situation. After the negotiations, Shandong Governor Hu Lian led his troops to Tianjin Wei and escort the silver into Beijing. Now we should find a way to grab the silver, or should we wait and see what happens?"

Qian Ning's eyes were full of greed and was determined to plunder wealth, so he came to discuss with Concubine Li, hoping that Concubine Li could stand by his side and the two would make a fortune together.

Concubine Li sneered: "You are really brave. You dare to steal the money from Shangshu Chen. It is obviously a matter of seeking death... Your Majesty must have a share of this money, which is inseparable from the military spending of the grassland. If the incident happened, even if Your Majesty remembers your previous contributions, he would not be able to escape the disaster of killing."

Qian Ning smiled and said, "If His Majesty is really found out, how dare you expect His Majesty to forgive me? However, if Secretary Chen made such a great contribution at once, our life will be difficult in the future. Concubine Li, didn't you ask me to investigate the situation of Secretary Chen before? It seems that you have long regarded him as a thorn in your eyes. Isn't we really going to use our brains on the money this time?"

Concubine Li lowered her head, continued to read medical books, and asked casually: "In this way, do you think the only opponent in Shangshu Shen is left?"

"this……"

Qian Ning couldn't answer, and I wonder why Concubine Li asked this.

Concubine Li said: "You have so many enemies in the court, and Eunuch Zhang alone is difficult to deal with. In addition, there are so many forces. Who are you going to surrender to to deal with Shangshu Chen's counterattack? Do you think that if you establish such a powerful opponent at this time, who will benefit from it? In addition, do you have the ability to deal with several opponents at the same time?"

Qian Ning turned his mind and asked, "What Concubine Li means is to let me reveal the news to that old guy Zhang Yuan and let him fight with Shangshu Chen?"

Concubine Li shook her head: "You don't need to notify some things at all. Eunuch Zhang has his own channels to obtain news. Besides, even if you tell him, what can he do? Shangshu Chen has military power, is brave and resourceful in the military. To put it bluntly, even if you are with Eunuch Zhang, you are not his opponent..."

Qian Ning's face was a little unfair, but he nodded consciously: "Shangshu Chen is indeed powerful, otherwise why could he become the minister that His Majesty trusted most at such a young age?"

"That's it."

Li Fei said lightly, "You'd better keep your mouth shut... Do you know why? Because the biggest problem that Shangshu Chen has to face next is to purchase goods from the market. If the merchants know that the Ming Dynasty is doing big deals with the Gentiles, do you think the goods can still be traded at the current market price?"

Qian Ning didn't understand the economy at all and was even more ignorant of market laws. He might not be able to calculate addition and subtraction within ten, so he asked him to consider complex price issues at this time, but he didn't have that brain.

Qian Ning stammered: "I didn't understand very well... Can Concubine Li explain it clearly?"

"well!"

Concubine Li looked disappointed and sighed, "You should learn something, otherwise how can you fight with others? What Shangshu Chen is most afraid of now is that merchants are on the ground to raise prices, and the information you have is the reason why merchants raise prices... You have two choices. One is to use this as a condition and join hands with Zhang Yuan to deal with Shangshu Chen, and the other is to join hands with Shangshu Chen and work together to deal with Zhang Yuan."

Qian Ning waved his hand: "Who wants to join forces with Shangshu Chen? What ability does he have to mobilize me?"

"Do you look down on Shangshu Chen?" Concubine Li widened her beautiful eyes and asked in surprise.

Qian Ning said: "It's not that he looks down on him, but that he is different from his own way and does not plan to each other... He is a minister in the court who can call the wind and rain. He has more resources than me. I join him and can only act as a pawn. It's better to stay in front of His Majesty to do things. At least so far, His Majesty has a lot of trust in me, and there is also Empress Li who helps me..."

Concubine Li looked at Qian Ning with anger and inconvenient eyes, "If you want to do big things, you cannot just care about immediate interests. You feel that relying on Shangshu Chen is restricted, but don't forget that now, the only one who can deal with the two major forces in the court, namely, Eunuch Zhang and Master Xie, is Shangshu Chen. If the party struggles in the end, if you want to join, and if others look down on you, you can only accept the fate of the loser."

"Um!?"

Qian Ning looked at the figure of Concubine Li behind the curtain, his eyes full of confusion.

Li Fei explained again: "When you are still valuable, you don't take the initiative to surrender, but want to be your own party. Others are fighting hard, so naturally they can't do anything to you. But when they decide the winner, the winning side will be pressed with a thunderous momentum. Then it will be too late to want to surrender again."

Qian Ning smiled and said, "It seems that Concubine Li is quite optimistic about the future of Shangshu Chen... Does the Empress think that he must be the final winner?"

"It is the real skill to be able to generate money out of thin air to meet the needs of Your Majesty. Liu Jin was favored by this and was able to dominate the world. If it were you... could you do it?" Li Fei asked.

Qian Ning said awkwardly: "Why does Concubine Li always speak to Shen Zhihou? That boy is very ignorant. Don't think that he can buy him. It's better to respect ghosts and gods and stay away from him. The Empress wants to choose a partner... Who else can I do? I am loyal to you."

Concubine Li said bluntly: "When looking for a partner, of course, you must find someone with ability. Commander Qian is capable, so I am willing to believe you, but in the long run, I can even go further into the palace gate. Only by finding someone who has the greatest influence on Your Majesty, Commander Qian is afraid that he can't help this, right?"

Qian Ning looked at the beautiful figure behind the curtain, with a vulgar expression, and said with a humble smile: "That may not be necessary..." As he spoke, he stood up and wanted to break into the curtain, as if he wanted to invade Concubine Li.

"You'd better stop, otherwise I'm afraid others will think randomly!"

Concubine Li also stood up: "I have more than ten eunuchs here. Just call you and you will come in at any time, so you should be more disciplined. In addition, your ideas are very dangerous and may cause you to kill yourself. The only thing you can do now is to please Your Majesty... Your Majesty's trust in you is a great gift, don't be arrogant!"

...

...

Qian Ning was scolded by Concubine Li, and was a little dirty.

Although he was full of anger, Qian Ning did not dare to turn against him on the spot. When facing Concubine Li, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness, because Concubine Li was too strong, and this strength was based on wisdom and courage, which he asked himself. In addition, Concubine Li is now the most favored woman around Zhu Houzhao, and he could not be punished casually.

"...This woman forgot who sent her to His Majesty at the beginning? I don't know what she is, but she is so protective of Shen Zhihou. Could it be that the two of them are in contact? Or is this woman originally Shen Zhihou sent her to His Majesty with my hand?"

Qian Ning was thinking while walking. He had little to do anyway. After three years of Zhengde, he was inclined to fall out of favor. The main problem was that he was not able to rescue Zhu Houzhao when he was in trouble. As the commander of the Jinyiwei, the only criterion for testing loyalty was to protect Zhu Houzhao's safety. After Qian Ning took office, Zhu Houzhao had accidents one after another.

Qian Ning left the courtyard of Concubine Li, stopped and thought for a while, and decided to go back and rest. After all, he had to be ready to deal with the summons from Zhu Houzhao at any time at night.

Just as Qian Ning walked through the corridor to his room, a man with a stingy look came over and nodded at him from a distance.

"Who are you?"

Qian Ning looked at the man in front of him with a familiar face. He should be his Jinyiwei, but there were a lot of Jinyiwei under his command, and many of them did not recognize him.

The man came over and said with a smile: "The villain is under Lord Qian, Liao Han, a hundred households of the Jinyiwei."

"Liao Han? Are you the godson of Eunuch Liao?" Qian Ning asked.

"no."

Liao Han explained, "I'm very sorry. The villain doesn't know who Eunuch Liao is. This month, the villain just took over the post of the Jinyiwei hundred households, and it was His Majesty's special kindness."

Qian Ning said disdainfully: "Then I will say congratulations here. Do your business well in the future and don't let Your Majesty down." After that, he turned around and left, and Liao Han quickly followed: "Mr. Qian, the villain is willing to help you do things."

Qian Ning turned around, his eyes full of mockery: "You can be loyal to your duties, just help me do things. Do you still have to serve me tea and water? If you still want to be by my side and disturb people's tranquility, believe it or not, I will punish you now?"

Liao Han could not have imagined that Qian Ning was so inhumane, so he lowered his head and said carefully: "Mr. Qian, the villain has resources in his hands and can find good things to honor you, and you will respect His Majesty."

Qian Ning was stunned and then understood what was going on.

In the leopard room, everyone wanted to find a way to curry favor with Zhu Houzhao and give him food, drink and fun, so as to gain the trust of the emperor and then get promoted and make money. In fact, this is how Qian Ning got up.

Qian Ning thought to himself: "This kid has a lot of ideas. If you dare to say this to me like this, aren't you afraid of death? But you can make good use of it... He thought he could borrow a ladder to go up the wall, so why don't I wait for him to pull the ladder halfway through?"

Qian Ning smiled and asked, "What resources do you think you have and what good things can you offer?"

“There are all kinds of good things.”

Liao Han was very confident and patted his chest and said, "The villain has many friends in the south. They all want to serve Lord Qian, so they will naturally spare no effort to provide resources to Lord Qian..."

Qian Ning was full of hope, thinking that Liao Han could find a way to the capital, especially in collecting women and gold, silver and jewelry. However, after hearing that it was the relationship between the south, he suddenly became interested and waved his hand and said, "Friends from the south? What do you mean is to ask me to go to the south to find people and then entrust them to reuse them? I am just the commander of the Jinyiwei, not the Minister of Personnel. They are afraid they have worshipped the wrong temple gate, right?"

Liao Han was very surprised. He thought that the celebrity in front of the emperor would have a broad vision, but he did not expect that he was just short-sighted. He immediately said: "If Lord Qian is dissatisfied with this, the villain can recruit a group of people..."

"No need, just do your job well."

Qian Ning was very impatient, "Just one hundred households in the Jinyiwei, do your part well. Don't always think about currying your boss and having relationships everywhere. Don't mention this matter again in the future!"

Qian Ning was tired and didn't want to talk nonsense to Liao Han because he felt that Liao Han was a flatterer and was not worthy of attention.

When Qian Ning left, Liao Han had not come back to his senses and thought to himself: "Why did you flatter and hit the horse's hooves? Could it be that Lord Qian doesn't need his subordinates to do things for him? But I think so, he is deeply favored by His Majesty, and there must be a bunch of people around him. Even if I am a subordinate, I am afraid there will be no way to do things well... Alas!"

Liao Han was discouraged and could only go back to find someone to drink, but he didn't know that his conversation with Qian Ning was heard by someone who was interested, and secretly spyed on the man who had been bribed by Concubine Li long ago, and the matter soon reached Concubine Li's ears.

"...That person is the hundred households under Commander Qian, who said they have the resources from the south?" Concubine Li looked at the guards who came to report the news and judged the pros and cons of the matter for her.

Concubine Li bought many people in the leopard house, the point was to stare at Qian Ning... After all, she and Qian Ning were using each other's relationship, for fear that Qian Ning would stumbling behind her back, and Qian Ning was not wary of Concubine Li at all, because he felt that Concubine Li was like a bird in a cage and could not escape control, and he didn't think Concubine Li would have any trouble.

The guard said, "It's true that Liao Baihu did tell Commander Qian this way, but Commander Qian seemed a little impatient and left. As for why, the villain didn't know."

Concubine Li smiled and nodded: "You have done a good job and are rewarded. Come and get the money."

With the order from Concubine Li, a palace maid came over immediately, holding a purse. Concubine Li took out ten taels of silver from the purse and asked the palace maid to send it to the guards. Concubine Li said: "This is a reward for your work, but if the matter is leaked, it may cause your head to move."

The guard took it respectfully, but his face disagreed: "Empress, the matter is not that serious, right? Although the villain's head is not expensive, he can't just chop it!"

Concubine Li said angrily: "You guards are used to being spoiled by the emperor and act without any scruples. It is best to restrain yourself... Do you think this palace is to scare you? If you don't lose your ministers secretly, your ministers secretly lose your body secretly. If you don't have any matters secretly, it will cause harm. If you anger me, it will be so easy to kill you and kill an ant?"

The guard lowered his head: "This is, the Empress is the hero in front of His Majesty."

"It's good to know. Now you have done something to betray Qian Ning. If he knows, he will never let you go. What kind of torture methods do you have in the Jinyiwei have? Don't you need to remind me?" Concubine Li's tone was calm, just like gossiping.

The guard smiled bitterly when he heard this. He thought it was nothing big, but now he was so serious that he felt a little worried.

However, Li Fei immediately changed her color and said, "Don't worry, since you are sincere in doing things for me, can I still treat you badly? Go back and try to invite Liao Baihu here. I want to see him and tell him something."

The guard asked in surprise: "Empress want to cultivate her own people?"

"Rareless! What to cultivate your own people? You all belong to Your Majesty. I just want to find a few people to help... Do I still have to explain to you what I do?" Concubine Li said angrily.

The guard did not dare to argue anymore, weighed the money in his hand and said, "The villain will inform Liao Baihu now and let him see the queen."

"Um."

Concubine Li was indifferent and waved her hand, "You go back, you must remember that there is any trouble in Commander Qian. Be sure to inform me as soon as possible. I will not treat you badly... As for whether others will attack you, it depends on whether you can do things!"

The guard shivered, and Concubine Li gave her kindness and power, making him feel that this woman is like a thorny rose, which is the impression that everyone who has come into contact with Concubine Li has.

After the guards left, the palace maid returned to Concubine Li. Concubine Li raised her hand and gently stroked the palace maid's smooth and delicate chin, and said, "You must remember that no one can betray me, otherwise I will regard you as enemies and will never be reborn."

"I dare not."

The palace maid lowered her head in fear.

"Of course, I believe in you. As long as you do your job well, I will let you be favored by Your Majesty. Then you can go from a slave to the master of the leopard room!" said Concubine Li.
Chapter completed!