Chapter 175

Not only was the palace busy making military uniforms, but so were the various mansions and even the common folk.

For a time, the autumn end in Luo’an City was filled with “flying flowers and drifting catkins.”

Apart from the homes of the emperor and his generals, ordinary households also sent people to help make the military uniforms.

Of course, the materials were uniformly distributed by the Clothing Bureau, and the women usually went in batches to the bureau to work on the uniforms, ensuring no one hoarded cotton for personal use.

Once a certain number of uniforms were sewn, their corvée duty was considered fulfilled, and another batch of seamstresses would take over.

The finished products were then handed over to the Ministry of Revenue for counting.

The official in charge of military supplies was Meng Xian, who had recently been transferred from the Ministry of Works to the Ministry of Revenue.

Naturally, the uniforms sewn by the noblewomen in the palace were to be collected by him personally.

Speaking of Meng Xian, he was an old colleague of Jiang Xiurun.

Back when Jiang Xiurun was in charge of the Agricultural Department, they had been at odds with the Ministry of Works, engaging in fierce disputes.

If it were anyone else with such a history of causing trouble for the empress, they would be trembling with fear.

But Meng Xian remained calm and composed.

After all, the Meng family was deeply rooted and a major clan of the Qi Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, the Meng family had already shown great respect to the royal family by allowing Feng Liwu to smoothly ascend the throne.

Now, with the empress disguising herself as a man to serve as an official, the emperor had not explicitly exposed her, so they turned a blind eye.

If the emperor were to punish Meng Xian for this, the entire Meng family would not stand for it.

Moreover, Meng Xian had an impressive track record in the Ministry of Works, though half of it was likely inflated.

Still, based on seniority, he deserved a promotion.

Initially, the emperor wanted to promote someone from a humble background, but faced strong opposition from several major families, resulting in Meng Xian being assigned to the Ministry of Revenue.

Now that Meng Xian had come to the palace gates to collect the uniforms, Jiang Xiurun, as the empress, had no choice but to meet him.

In officialdom, one needed to have thick skin and a short memory.

Even if they had once fought bitterly, wishing to strangle each other, a change in position could make them forget the past and smile as if they were long-lost relatives.

Meng Xian was a seasoned player in this game, with thick skin and a knack for forgetting past grievances.

He completely ignored the fact that he and the young master Jiang had once hurled insults at each other in court.

Instead, he wore a smile of admiration, claiming that he had always believed the Empress of Bo to be exceptionally talented, far beyond ordinary people, and that the Great Qi was fortunate to have such a virtuous empress.

Since Meng Xian was spouting such oily official rhetoric, Jiang Xiurun responded with a smile, praising Meng Xian as a great talent in governance and an indispensable right-hand man to the emperor.

After paying his respects, Meng Xian took the military uniforms from the empress’s palace and couldn’t help but praise the fine stitching.

As he left, he gently pinched a piece of cotton lint on the uniform and smiled, “The cotton used in these military uniforms is of excellent quality. I wonder where it was produced?”

Jiang Xiuru, knowing that Meng Xian was new to the Ministry of Revenue and might not be aware, explained with a smile, “This is long-staple cotton purchased from the Yue in the Western Regions. It’s soft and warm.”

Meng Xian nodded in understanding and said, “It must be thanks to the empress’s favor that the Clothing Bureau could acquire such material.”

After some small talk with his former colleague, he finally left.

However, Jiang Xiurun sat holding her teacup, deep in thought.

She knew Meng Xian all too well—he was a master of deceit and trickery.

Although the funds for the materials used in the Clothing Bureau’s uniforms came from the Ministry of Revenue, the counting of the finished products didn’t necessarily require the ministry’s direct involvement.

Such a thankless task, and yet Meng Xian had fought to take it on.

This was not the cunning Meng Xian she knew.

With this in mind, Jiang Xiurun became more alert.

She called for her personal guard and instructed him to accompany a eunuch from Fengming Palace to the Clothing Bureau to fetch some uniforms for the palace servants.

These guards were secretly trained by Feng Liwu, skilled not only in martial arts but also in covert operations.

While collecting the uniforms, they managed to steal two of the newly made military uniforms.

Jiang Xiurun examined the uniforms.

Under the supervision of the Clothing Bureau, the stitching was fine, and the cotton was thick, clearly designed for warmth.

But when she had a palace maid cut open the fabric to reveal the cotton inside, something was off—the cotton was too white!

She had personally made clothes for Feng Liwu before and knew how the cotton should feel—soft and elastic to the touch.

But this cotton, while looking similar, felt completely different.

Frowning, Jiang Xiurun immediately summoned her sister-in-law, Wenniang, to the palace.

Wenniang had a sharp eye.

When Jiang Xiurun showed her the “cotton,” she immediately noticed something was wrong.

Upon touching the slightly stiff cotton, she exclaimed, “This… this isn’t new cotton! It’s old cotton passed off as new!”

Old cotton was cheaply bought, bleached, and fluffed up to resemble new cotton.

It cost less than half the price of new cotton and was far less effective at keeping warmth.

But looking at the uniforms, which were clearly military gear, how could old cotton end up in them?

The cotton for these uniforms had been purchased by her own men from distant lands.

Although the transportation costs were high, the cotton itself was cheap and far superior in warmth to local cotton.

Even with the added shipping costs, it was still cheaper than local cotton.

Hearing Wenniang’s explanation, Jiang Xiurun immediately understood.

The cotton had been unloaded from the ships and sent directly to the Clothing Bureau.

Something must have gone wrong in between, or someone had embezzled the funds and swapped the cotton.

If this wasn’t clarified, Wenniang would be accused of embezzling ministry funds, substituting inferior cotton for the real thing.

But Wenniang was not that kind of person.

Someone must be deliberately framing her, and the target was Jiang Xiurun herself.

If these uniforms were issued to the soldiers, many would suffer from the cold, and the blame would fall on Wen Niang and the empress.

Before Jiang Xiurun could investigate further, the next day in court, someone impeached the merchant responsible for procuring the military supplies, claiming that the Ministry of Revenue had discovered discrepancies in the weight of the uniforms.

Upon inspection, they found that the cotton was not new but old.

The Ministry of Revenue’s report caused an uproar in the court.

The censors were outraged, accusing the unscrupulous merchants of endangering the nation.

If the Ministry of Revenue hadn’t discovered this early, wouldn’t the soldiers have frozen to death in the harsh cold of the three counties?

After discovering the inferior cotton, the Ministry of Revenue immediately sent people to seize the merchant’s ships.

To ensure fairness, officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate, along with several respected censors, inspected the ships and found large quantities of old cotton that had not yet been unloaded.

The evidence was irrefutable—the merchants were unscrupulous and had endangered the nation!

Having personally inspected the ships, the censors were especially furious.

They spoke bluntly to the emperor: “Your Majesty, it is said that the merchant responsible for purchasing the military supplies is the empress’s sister-in-law. Although close to the emperor, she has no qualms about embezzling funds. This matter concerns the fate of the nation in the war against the three counties, yet someone is profiting from this national crisis. If not punished, wouldn’t this chill the hearts of the soldiers? Therefore, I request that the culprits be arrested and severely punished to serve as a warning to all.”

Feng Liwu sat on the throne, silent, his eyes slowly scanning the officials below as if memorizing each of their faces.

At that moment, the eunuch announced, “The empress requests an audience with Your Majesty!”

Meng Xian smirked.

This woman, what did she eat to become so shrewd and slippery? When she was the head of the Agricultural Department, she never suffered any losses.

Now, as the empress, she was equally sharp.

Just yesterday, after meeting her once, she must have suspected something and sent someone to steal the uniforms.

If he hadn’t been at the Clothing Bureau and noticed the discrepancy, and seen the people from the empress’s palace, he wouldn’t have realized Jiang Xiurun was behind it.

His original plan was to wait until the soldiers marched out and the cold set in, causing suffering, before exposing the issue.

By then, the delay in military operations would be a serious crime, and not only would the merchant Wenniang lose her head, but the empress Jiang Xiurun would also lose the people’s support.

After all, the common folk of Luo’an who worked in the Clothing Bureau knew the quality of the cotton.

Once this was exposed, it would cause an uproar among the people.

A foreign empress trying to secure her position as the empress of Great Qi? She would need more than luck!

But the entire plan was disrupted by the two missing uniforms.

Realizing this, Meng Xian acted swiftly, calling in officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate, along with several censors, to inspect Wenniang’s ships under the pretext of receiving a tip.

He had to ensure that the charge of embezzling military supplies was firmly pinned on her.

The throne of Great Qi should be occupied by a daughter of the noble families, not some foreign empress! If Feng Liwu wanted to weaken the power of the noble families, he would have to see if the Meng family allowed it!

Now, as Jiang Xiurun entered the court, Meng Xian was confident and composed, smiling as he watched his former rival—the utterly despicable young master Jiang.

The other officials looked at the empress with mixed expressions, some disdainful, others angry, all with a strong sense of disapproval.

But Jiang Xiurun remained dignified, holding her head high as she gracefully ascended the steps.

Feng Liwu personally descended the steps to assist his heavily pregnant empress, seating her beside him on the throne.

Jiang Xiurun spoke softly, “I heard that someone has impeached regarding the issue with the cotton. I came to the court to hear the details and beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness for my abruptness.”

Feng Liwu glanced at the officials below and said slowly, “Since this matter involves many, if not clarified, wouldn’t it be an injustice?”

A censor coldly said, “Empress, you’ve come at the right time. May we summon your sister-in-law, Princess Guiya, for questioning?”

Princess Guiya was Wenniang.

The censor knew that although she was a merchant, she couldn’t be arrested immediately.

They had to follow protocol to handle the matter officially.