Chapter 478: Krypton Gold Palace Intrigue System (13)

【Host, the Sub-system's host has been promoted again.】

The Main System, responsible for keeping an eye on the Sub-system and its host, caught this piece of gossip and hurriedly shared it with Xie Yang.

Xie Yang had already heard from the Main System before the New Year that Xie Ping had given birth to an imperial prince; at today's full-month banquet, she was promoted in rank and would henceforth be Noble Lady Li.

This development was entirely within Xie Yang's expectations.

Palace intrigue, after all, naturally involves constant vying for favor, securing that favor, and rising in rank.

And the most convenient and effective way to vie for favor is to bear a son for the Emperor.

One birth is hardly enough!

She will certainly continue to give birth!

Moreover, after giving birth, one's figure changes, and there is no guarantee against stretch marks or melasma, so it is inevitable that she will need to use Slimming Pills and Beauty Pills.

In short, to sail smoothly through the inner palace and rise step by step to a high position, one needs to constantly spend Krypton Gold.

Because of this, she will have to reach out and ask her maiden family for Silver again.

Unsurprisingly, after sending gold and silver into the palace this time, the First Branch will start to hatch other schemes.

Because they know there is not much Silver left in the treasury; at Xie Ping's rate of spending, the Duke Mansion will be stretched thin in less than a year.

And they still want to help their daughter vie for that highest position in the inner palace!

In the past, she was just a Small Promise of the lowest rank, neither favored nor pregnant with a Dragon Fetus, so that was one thing; but now, having been promoted two levels in just a year and having birthed a healthy imperial prince for the royal family, their ambitions have soared along with her.

If they can capture the Emperor's heart and add one or two more princes to the royal family, the dream of becoming the father-in-law of the Emperor is not entirely out of reach for their First Branch.

Yet, apart from the Farm outside the city and a few shops that were neither doing well nor poorly, the Xie Family had no other means of livelihood.

The masters of the mansion, even those holding posts in the imperial court, held no real power; where were they to get the Silver?

The First Madam, who managed the mansion's procurement and the distribution of monthly allowances, turned her gaze toward the power in her hands and, behind the backs of the other masters, began to quietly engage in usury.

It would have been one thing if she had just done it quietly, but she knew the gravity of the situation—

Once exposed, it would not only disgrace the Zhenguo Duke Mansion but might also affect her daughter in the palace; if it hindered her daughter's promotion, that would be disastrous, so she wanted to find a scapegoat.

And so, she set her sights on the Third Branch.

"She actually wants to take my Fourth Brother over to help? So that when the matter is exposed later, she can push the blame onto my Fourth Brother and make him the fall guy?"

Hearing the gossiping Main System report the First Madam's calculations, Xie Yang was so angry she almost laughed.

This First Madam is truly cut from the same cloth as Lady Wang from Dream of the Red Chamber.

"My Fourth Brother has no idle post, nor does he spend his days holding books and pretending to be diligent like Xie Qi and Xie Huan of the Second Branch; if I don't find him something to do, the Third Branch might really agree to the First Madam's proposal."

After all, setting aside the dirty tricks behind the scenes, the First Madam's proposal really did look like it was for the good of Xie Jing on the surface.

The couple of the Third Branch would likely be tempted.

"Is my Fourth Brother at the age to get married?" Xie Yang pondered for a long time and decided to send some things home, "If he starts looking for a match early and gets busy with his own marriage, he won't have time to do chores for the First Branch."

It was early spring, and the ice and snow in the north had mostly thawed, so Xie Yang quickly found a reliable Escort Agency and sent several carts of holiday gifts to Jingcheng:

One cart was mainly dried seafood, with a few Nanyang Spices, medicinal herbs, and pewterware tucked in; one cart was filled with the famous Three-Flower Wine of Jiaozhou; the remaining carts were all loaded with Wood from Nanyang.

Jiaozhou is too far from Jingcheng, and it would not be strange for a journey to take two months if there were any delays on the road.

Therefore, everything entrusted for transport was easy to store and durable.

This way, there would be no need to worry even if there were delays on the road.

When the caravan arrived in Jingcheng, the Dragon Boat Festival was just around the corner.

Hearing that the "Saintess of a Thousand Faces" had again sent several carts of Dragon Boat Festival gifts for her disciple's parents, the entrance to the Xie Mansion was crowded with gossiping onlookers.

While watching the escorts unload the chests, wine jars, and Wood, they whispered among themselves:

"They say martial arts experts in the Jianghu are very arrogant, especially the higher their martial arts, the more they look down on people outside the Jianghu; the 'Saintess of a Thousand Faces' is actually quite sentimental."

"Shouldn't the Xie Family Third Branch be the ones sending gifts when Xie Qi Xiaojie becomes an apprentice? I've never seen a master send holiday gifts every festival, and several carts at a time. She is truly generous."

"Then you don't know! When others become apprentices, it's the disciple begging the master, but Xie Qi Xiaojie was taken away by the 'Saintess of a Thousand Faces' on her own initiative; if she had been a step late, she might have been rejected by Third Master Xie. The Xie Mansion is not an ordinary family; where would a legitimate daughter need to go out and show her face to learn martial arts from someone in the Jianghu? Can this be the same?"

"So that's it! No wonder the 'Saintess of a Thousand Faces' sends gifts via the Escort Agency every festival. I heard she sent several carts of fur last time; what is it this time?"

"Yo! There's actually wine this time?"

"The wine that the 'Saintess of a Thousand Faces' would send from thousands of miles away must be good wine that money can't buy, right?"

"Why is there Wood too? Hahaha! I'm dying of laughter! Who sends Wood as a holiday gift? People in the Jianghu really don't stand on ceremony."

Seeing the carts of Wood being unloaded, some in the crowd couldn't help but laugh.

But they were soon interrupted by an exclamation:

"Whoa! Purple nanmu! Is this rosewood?"

"This cart seems to be all mahogany."

"This cart is yellow pear wood!"

"These are all top-quality furniture woods! Is there a wedding in the Xie Mansion?"

Third Master Xie took a moment to finish reading the letter sent by the Saintess and was left between laughter and tears: "The little girl is thinking of her Fourth Brother's marriage and specifically asked her master to transport several carts of good Wood from Jiaozhou Fu for her Fourth Brother to make furniture and take a wife. She even said that when her Fourth Brother gets married, she will beg her master to send her back to drink the wedding wine. The little girl is precocious; there's really no helping her! Hahaha!"

"..."

If there's no helping it, why are you laughing so happily?

True! If their own three- or four-year-old toddler was thinking of an older brother about to discuss marriage and sent good Wood from thousands of miles away for him to make furniture, who wouldn't laugh with joy?

"A three- or four-year-old toddler, not even as tall as a table, working hard to learn martial arts away from home with her master, yet still remembering to send holiday gifts home during Mid-Autumn and the Dragon Boat Festival—truly filial and sensible!"

"More than that! She's even thinking of her legitimate brother's marriage, sending several carts of good Wood from thousands of miles away. It shows the Xie Family's upbringing is really good!"

"That's not necessarily true. Xie Qi Xiaojie is the seventh; several legitimate older sisters above her are already married, the eldest daughter of the First Branch has entered the palace, but the second and third daughters are married right here in Jingcheng—have you ever seen them bring holiday gifts back to their maiden home in carriages? And I've never heard of them arranging Wood for their brothers to buy furniture."

"Looking at it this way, it's the Third Branch of the Xie Family that knows how to teach children."

"In my opinion, it's the Seventh Miss, who was taken as a disciple by the Saintess of a Thousand Faces, who is straightforward and generous! Whoever becomes the daughter-in-law of the Xie Family Third Branch in the future will definitely be marrying into a nest of blessings!"

Before the several carriages of timber had even been carried into the Third Branch's storehouse, news regarding the Xie Manor's Fourth Young Master, Xie Jing, reaching the age to begin marriage discussions had already spread a step ahead.