‘Boom, boom, boom…’

Zhao Bing helped the Queen Mother down the city tower, and more than a hundred fireworks lit at the same time, illuminating the bright moon sky. The music sounded again, but the lights in the palace were lit one after another. The palace city was beautiful under the inscription of fireworks and lights, like a mythical world, making people unconsciously intoxicated. But the wonderful moments are always short-lived, and as the fireworks dissipate, everything returns to nothingness.

After passing through the main hall and passing through the Imperial Garden, the lights here are even better. Not only are the lights on the roadside, lanterns are hung on all the pavilions and pavilions, and the trunks are also decorated. Lotus lanterns are floating in the lake, which is even more grand than during the Spring Festival. After the team passed the Imperial Garden, they turned to the Cining Palace and sent the Empress Dowager back, and everyone turned to the East Palace.

"Wang De, put out the lights on both sides of the path in the palace, and put out all the ones in the imperial garden, leaving only the lights on the three halls outside to keep them out!" Zhao Bing still did not take a chariot, and the others could only accompany him. After walking for a while, he looked back and ordered.

"Yes, the official!" Wang De immediately said.

"Wang Du knows, please wait a little bit." When Wang De was about to send someone to do it, Wu Xi, who was following the little emperor, said.

"What else does the queen do?" Zhao Bing stopped and turned around and asked.

"Officials, after the Lantern Festival, the wealthy families in Shangyuan City will invite hundreds of operas, set off fireworks, and hang lamps at their homes. In the quiet alleys, everyone will set up more five-color glass bulbs, which will be more elegant and clean, with beautiful makeup and laughter, looking like gods. Some people use figures to make big movies on small buildings to make children and grandchildren smile, and the lights will continue all night long. The lantern festivals in the palace are all extinguished, which is not in accordance with the usual rules and will cause criticism!" Wu Xi said with a smile after crossing his hands and saluting.

"I am tired after one day. I will get up early tomorrow to process the official documents. I see that everyone is busy all day and they are tired. I will get up early to greet you tomorrow morning, so I will be spared if I travel at night. And the candles have to be taken care of, and it is consumed a lot. I can save some convenience. Why bother to care about other people's comments!" Zhao Bing said that, and waved his hand to order Wang De to execute it quickly.

"I know that the government has always been frugal, but this year the government has just taken power and is celebrating together. Why do you have to care about these trivial matters? Besides, it's only once a year, and it's okay to be extravagant once, otherwise the people would think that the royal family can't afford some money for the candle!" Wu Xi stopped Wang Dedao, who was about to leave.

"Haha, I have been short of money since I was a child, and I wish I could spend a penny in half. Naturally, I can't compare to the Wu family. If I don't lack money, I will naturally have to be petty!" Zhao Bing laughed dryly after hearing this.

"The official family is joking, and the official family is rich in the world. How could the Wu family be compared?" How could Wu Xi not hear the teasing in the little emperor's words and said embarrassedly.

"The Queen should also know that I am the lord of a country, and you are also the mother of all people. I should know that every porridge and meal of the royal family comes from taxes paid by the people of the world, but they are hard to fill their stomachs every day. How can I eat it? What power do I have to enjoy this luxury!" Zhao Bing snorted coldly, "A lantern festival costs millions of yuan, which is a tax for several states a year, and it takes more than ten years for Qiongzhou to obtain it. The Queen said it was so light. But this year, the lamp makers have to survive the spring famine. They could not even sell their children and daughters to borrow money to survive the shortage."

"The official has a heavy word. This lantern festival did not cost so much. Moreover, I have already allocated all the money to buy lanterns. How could it be difficult to survive the desolation of spring?" Wu Xi did not expect that the matter would be so serious and quickly defended himself.

"Xianfei, I heard that you were a family manager when you were young and were good at managing the business. You must know how to pay tribute!" Zhao Bing did not listen to his excuses, but pointed at Lei Yan.

"The officials, I only know a little bit." Lei Yan stepped forward and gave a blessing to the emperor and the queen, "The things contributed by the governments in various places are collected from the people, or forced to be collected in the name of a buy. Even if the officials in the middle are honest, the levy households can barely get half of the property. If the palace officials are vicious and exploited from it, they will often get less than one in ten property, resulting in bankruptcy."

"Have the queen understood that the amount you allocated can only be half of the money you allocated, and a small lamp costs ten guan, and a hundred guan more. The amount spent so much is just to make you happy for a night, but this money can pay the military expenditure of the three armies for more than a month, and the needs of 20,000 households in a year. This is not the expense of Lin'an Prefecture and the counties. I just repaired a residence and was impeached by all officials. I had to go to the palace to defend myself. How should you explain to the officials and the people?" Zhao Bing said angrily.

"I have also followed the Queen Mother's decree to be responsible for the handling, and I have also reviewed the annual regular regulations, but there is no overtake. But I forgot that it is the time of national crisis, so I ask the officials to punish me!" Wu Xi said with deep tribute after hearing this.

"I only think that the Wu family is famous, but it is hard to pay for it. In fact, the queen should think about her own mistakes first!" Zhao Bing said that afterwards, she turned around, leaving only the concubines looking at each other. Wu Xi was even more upset, and she watched the lights in the palace extinguish one by one, and the huge palace city returned to darkness, leaving only the bright moon in the sky, and the shadows left behind, and my heart was filled with depression...

The next day was the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. Today, according to the usual practice, the lights were turned on until the seventeenth day. Therefore, the capital was still noisy, enjoying the prosperity that had been lost for many years. The court also sealed the yamen. Although Wu Xi did not sleep all night last night, he still got up early to pay tribute to the Empress Dowager, but learned that Your Majesty had already arrived. The Empress Dowager issued an oral order to not be accompanied today, so they would go out for a trip.

Wu Xi left, and agreed with the concubines to go to the garden after breakfast, and invited the emperor to have a banquet in the garden. After thinking for a while, she turned to Zhiyuan Hall in the imperial garden. Speaking of which, after living with His Majesty for one night after the wedding, the emperor did not return to the Qianqing Palace, but moved back to Zhiyuan Hall, but had never visited her once. Going today can ease the somewhat stalemate relationship that happened last night.

When he approached Zhiyuan Hall, Wu Xi got out of the sedan chair and asked them to turn it back, and he only brought two maids to him. But when she arrived, the little emperor was not back yet, so only Su Lan was tidying up the room.

"Su Shanggong, why do you have to do it yourself? Just let them organize it!" Wu Xi was welcomed into the house. Su Lan asked her to sit down for a while, and then hurriedly cleaned up. She smiled and said.

"The Empress doesn't know that the items used by the government are regulated. If you can't find them, you will lose your temper. If you are careless, you will be placed in the wrong place, you will make the government angry!" Su Lan said with a brief politeness after hearing this.

"In this way, it is difficult for the government to serve. It's really a blessing for my sister!" Wu Xi said after hearing this.

"The Empress is such a bad word. The official family treats his subordinates very well and never scolds him for no reason. Since she was a child, she has been organizing her own internal affairs and never dealing with others. It is hard to serve the official family!" Su Lan replied with a smile.

"Oh, so that's it!" Wu Xi saw it in the temple and knew that Su Lan had a very different relationship with the little emperor. After entering the palace, he learned that Su Lan served the little emperor for many years and had never changed it. What he said was true.

"My lady, don't turn over the document file on the case!" Wu Xi got up and walked around the house. When he entered the study, he saw that the official documents on the document were a little messy, so he wanted to sort it out, but Su Lan stopped him.

"Why? I just want to sort it out and don't look through it." Wu Xi was startled and hurriedly took back his hand.

"Impress forgive me. It's not that I have too many troubles, but that I really can't move!" Su Lan saw that the queen was frightened and quickly apologized.

"I want to thank Shanggong for some advice, what's the crime?" Wu Xi raised his hand and chuckled.

"The Empress Dowager doesn't know that there are two things in the official family that cannot be moved. One is that it cannot be entered without summoning." Su Lan thanked again, "One is that the documents on this book are sent by various departments and provinces. After being sorted out by the Imperial Library Office according to the priorities, the officials will review, refute, and arrange them one by one, in order, and they will be arranged in order. Therefore, even if they are messy, they will never organize them by others, otherwise the place will be messed up and you will be angry if you can't find it."

"So that's it. I wonder what taboos there are in the official family?" Wu Xi nodded and asked again after hearing this.

"Grandma, please come with me!" Su Lan bowed again, led Wu Xi out of the study room, and pointed at the cubicle, "In addition, there is a map in the official war room, and the document should not be moved lightly. This is the important place for the official to plan the war. It involves confidentiality, and pieces of paper should not be taken out, and it should not be read without permission. If it is violated, the minor ones will be punished. If it is a serious matter, even if it is not executed, it will be expelled from the palace!"

"The other place is the West Room, where not only are there people on duty all year round, but the officials never allow others to enter. All the items entering and leaving are escorted by the guards. The slaves have been by the official family for more than ten years, and they don't know what is placed in the room. They only know that if the official family travels far away, they will carry them, and they often stay alone in it for a long time, even for several days."

"The official family is so cautious, I think the things that are all related to the country are so strict." Wu Xi nodded. She didn't expect that the little emperor would have many quirks. It's no wonder that the spacious Qianqing Palace did not live in, and insisted on moving to this narrow and remote Zhiyuan Hall.

"The officials often teach lessons, be cautious in everything and keep secrets strictly. Some things will cause disaster if leaked!" Su Lan said, leading the queen to visit the house and familiarize herself with the environment.

"Why is the official bed so thin? How can I rest well?" Wu Xi already knew that the little emperor lived a simple life, but she was surprised when she entered the dormitory. There was nothing else in the room except a bed, a set of tables and chairs, two lampstands, and a knife hanging on the wall. The most conspicuous ones were the clearly angular quilts on the bed and the sheets without any wrinkles. There were several books beside the pillow. She touched the bed and found that there was only a felt pad on the bed, and asked with a frown.

"The official family has always been like this. If they were fighting with the army, they would be able to find a comfortable bed, so they would be the same in the palace, so they would not let their bones go soft!" Su Lan said with a smile.

"The officials like reading very much?" Wu Xi sighed lightly and said nothing, picked up the book beside her pillow and read it.

"Officials like reading, but they don't like classics. Instead, they like to read travel notes, local chronicles, military books, miscellaneous notes, etc., and sometimes they read historical books recently." Su Lan replied.

"The preferences of the official family are always different from others!" Wu Xi looked through it. Sure enough, in addition to the miscellaneous notes of the author's predecessors, those books were Huaixi Geography. Another agricultural book that surprised her was also a farm book. She couldn't help but shake her head and smiled bitterly.

"The Empress doesn't know anything. The official sayings are nonsense, and only the unofficial history records some truths. The geography records the local situation, geography and cultural customs. If you don't understand these, you will suffer a loss if you don't understand them." Su Lan defended the young emperor.

"Are the officials very martial and willing to be with the military and military?" Wu Xi asked curiously when he heard Su Lan's words.

"The official family has been practicing martial arts under the guidance of Master Yuanmiao since childhood, and has practiced hard without intercourse. He also studied military affairs with the Minister of the Anti-Japanese War for many years. When he was in Qiongzhou, he had to fight with the Mongol Yuan almost every year, and was commanded by the officials, and even went to the front line to lead the troops to attack and kill. But this was a last resort. Without the official team's strategy, Qiongzhou was no longer guaranteed, and it would not recover Jiangnan. This is something that the government and the people knew about it." Su Lan said, "As for being with the military and Han, you must not mention it in front of the official family. The official family can be said to be good at the army, and they are both good at life and death, and they share the joys and sorrows. The relationship is extraordinary, and it is even more common for staying in the army!"

"Thank you, Su Shanggong for giving me some advice in the future!" Wu Xi knew that he was disliked because he didn't understand the emperor's temperament. Su Lan served the emperor all year round and knew better than ordinary people, so he should ask more questions.

"You're welcome, Empress, this is all my duty!" Su Lan said with a polite politely, "The official family is coming back, I'm going to take a shower and change clothes. I'm going to prepare. Empress asks you to use tea here!"

"The official family is such a strange guy..." After Su Lan led her to the hall, this was the place where the little emperor rested every day. Wu Xi looked around and sat down to try it. The shaking lounge chairs and the soft and hard blankets on the floor, especially the soft couch. Whether sitting or lying down, it made people feel very comfortable and relaxed. These are very different from the stereotypes seen in the dormitory and study. She murmured in confusion.

"Please use tea with my grandmother!" The palace maid next to her cooked the tea, and after presenting it, she changed into a copper pot to continue boiling water.

"What are you doing?" Wu Xi asked when he saw this.

"Immortal, after the official family returns, they will make a cup of tea, so I have to boil water separately and drink it when the official family comes back!" The palace maid replied.

"Making tea?! It's really unheard of. Could it be that you are lazy and think that it's hard to make tea to fool the officials?" Wu Xi was very surprised. Everyone in the world cooks tea, so there is no saying that brews. He frowned and scolded him halfway.

"Empress, how dare I? It's because the officials disliked the cumbersomeness and difficulty in cooking tea. They asked for tea to drink, saying that this would make the tea taste good." The palace maid was startled and quickly bowed and explained.
Chapter completed!