The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2391: Chapter 2366: Filing a Complaint

The Emperor and Empress, along with numerous princes, princesses, and concubines, are served by the Palace Eunuchs Department and the Department of Palace Affairs. The Palace Eunuchs Department is responsible for internal affairs, entering and exiting the palace, and promulgating decrees. Under it, there are the Department of Palace Servants, Department of Palace Interiors, Department of Attendants, Department of Palace Stewards, and the Department of the Inner Treasury; the Department of Palace Affairs includes the Bureaus of Food, Medicine, Clothing, Residences, Carriages, and Sedan Chairs.

Both these departments are managed by palace officials, who are either eunuchs or female officials, with few external ministers in charge.

However, above these two departments, there is the Chief Steward. The current Chief Steward is Lord Luo, who manages the royal properties, or to put it another way, the Emperor’s personal assets.

But he only manages external matters with his subordinates, such as the management of imperial estates and the Emperor’s shops and mines, keeping him extremely busy, as both departments are essentially self-governing.

All previous Chief Stewards understood their position well and were cautious not to overly involve themselves in the affairs of these departments, as these are familial matters of the Emperor.

Moreover, the Chief Steward is not only a subject of the Emperor but also a subordinate of the Empress.

Indeed, Lord Luo, besides following the orders of the Emperor, also must obey the Empress, as the Empress has the power to appoint or dismiss the Chief Steward of the Inner Treasury and handle its affairs.

Thus, after taking office, Lord Luo diligently managed the properties of the Emperor and Empress, occasionally taking some items for himself. The interactions between the two departments were merely requests for money or goods, which he approved and then provided.

Of course, he did not need to handle these tasks personally, as most miscellaneous matters were delegated to Xin Chun.

The imperial estates near the capital, since they were often visited by the Emperor, Empress, and princes and princesses, were entrusted to the Palace Eunuchs Department by Lord Luo.

Who would have expected that such convenient arrangements would end up like this?

Lord Luo is still kneeling inside the palace.

Gu Zhong handed in a cup of tea, carefully placing it by the Emperor’s side, whispering, "Your Majesty, please taste the tea today."

The Emperor picked it up and took a sip, easing the feeling in his chest a bit, and then looked at Lord Luo, who was still kneeling nearby, and snorted coldly, "Stand up."

Lord Luo sighed in relief, got up from the ground, and stood with his head lowered.

The Emperor said, "I have always trusted you all, which is why I entrusted you with everything. The Ministry of Revenue claims a deficit, and now the Inner Treasury claims a deficit too. It turns out the deficit isn’t mine, but yours!"

Speaking of this matter made the Emperor angry, causing him to heavily place the tea cup on the table.

Lord Luo knelt again, hurriedly admitting his fault.

The Emperor sneered, "Liu Hui might be average in other areas, but he’s an expert in accounting. You will hand over all the accounts of the Palace Eunuchs Department and the Department of Palace Affairs to him, alongside the accounts of your Inner Treasury and the Ministry of Revenue. I want to see how my Inner Treasury becomes poorer every day."

Lord Luo respectfully acknowledged and slowly stepped back to stand.

The Emperor then looked at Gu Zhong, "You go with them. If the Palace Eunuchs Department and the Department of Palace Affairs are disobedient, give them a warning."

Gu Zhong complied with a smile, bowing before departing.

Lord Luo waited outside for him, and the two walked out together; it wasn’t until they were far away that Lord Luo let out a breath of relief.

Unlike external ministers like Wei Zhi, Lord Luo frequently dealt with Gu Zhong, and they were quite familiar with each other. Therefore, he glanced over and said coolly, "I heard that before His Majesty erupted in fury, only Eunuch Gu was attending him?"

Gu Zhong sighed, "Lord Luo, it is indeed my fault in this matter. I didn’t expect His Majesty to be so angry."

Lord Luo frowned, "Did you really say something to His Majesty?"

Gu Zhong quickly explained, "Lord Luo, listen to my brief explanation. I wasn’t lodging a complaint. Alas, it’s too late to say this now. I’m feeling quite distressed and guilty myself."

Lord Luo simply listened to these words, wondering if the guilt was real or not, who could know?

These eunuchs often dealt with life and death; how much conscience could they possibly have?

Currently, Lord Luo only wanted to know why the Emperor was so furious.

Gu Zhong softly explained, "I was talkative. This morning, His Majesty was in a good mood; all the memorials were arranged early. With nothing to do, His Majesty wished to go out for a walk."

"But Lord Luo knows, because of Lord Wei’s impeachment concerning the Rare Animal Garden, His Majesty does not dare to go there. Yet the wind outside was strong, and the spring chill was harsher than the winter cold. His Majesty had caught a bit of a cold recently; how could I let him go out?"

Lord Luo: "Get to the point."

Gu Zhong looked apologetic, "To keep His Majesty indoors, I shared some interesting stories, mentioning Junior Imperial Doctor Zhou."

Lord Luo: "Zhou Man, Lord Zhou?"

"Precisely."

Lord Luo: "What does she have to do with this?"

"Nothing," Gu Zhong replied dismally, "It’s just that His Majesty likes Lord Zhou, so I shared some amusing anecdotes about her. I remembered Lord Zhou mentioning before that she was adept at management from a young age, thus the Zhou Family and Bai Family allotted a small manor for her and Deputy Magistrate Bai, the Prince Consort, to manage. They cultivated wheat and rice there and raised many chickens and ducks."

"The number of chickens was so huge that the price of eggs in their county dropped from three wen for two eggs to one wen per egg, eventually to two wen for three eggs. I’ve heard that now the eggs in their county have dropped to two eggs for one wen." Gu Zhong sighed, "Who would have known, just at that moment, on His Majesty’s desk, Director Xiao from the Imperial Hospital submitted a memorial requesting supplementary funds, as the initial funds from the Ministry of Revenue and Inner Treasury were consumed rapidly, and with more people entering the imperial estates, expenses increased further..."

Gu Zhong looked sympathetically at Lord Luo, "My lord, you must have known why His Majesty was so angry, right? Not only were the procuring prices of supplies for the Imperial Hospital from the imperial estates inflated, but also the supplies procured for the palace..."

Lord Luo’s mouth moved, after a while, he said, "I certainly know that my subordinates are not entirely clean, but if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. The palace needs the best supplies, some markup over market price is to be expected."

Lord Luo said wearily, "Even if the price of these chicken, duck, and produce doubled, how much more could it really be?"

Gu Zhong laughed, "It wasn’t just double, but three times. It’s said that eggs in the market outside are two wen each, but the eggs bought by the purchasing manager were six wen each. How many eggs does the whole palace consume daily? The money accumulates quickly over time."

He said, "If they hadn’t overdone it, His Majesty wouldn’t have reacted so harshly."

Lord Luo frowned, "I am not in a position to interfere in palace procurements, which have always been managed by the Palace Eunuchs Department, as the Inner Treasury only disburses funds..."

Gu Zhong said indifferently, "But Lord Luo’s subordinate, Lord Xin, has been handling these matters. It’s said that since Eunuch Tong fell ill, the procurement has been managed by Lord Xin."

Upon hearing this, Lord Luo immediately fell silent; meddling in palace affairs is a taboo, even as the rightful Chief Steward of the Inner Treasury, he must be circumspect. What boldness does Xin Chun have to interfere?