Quick Transmigration: Irresistible Beauty
Chapter 155 - 155: Loyal Maid Who Died Because of Beauty (25)

Yue Ran had long known Chu Ning's purpose for doing this, and she neither agreed nor objected. The young girl only sat on the stool while sipping the warm tea from her cup in a lazy manner.

The young girl was just waiting for the meeting to end early.

If she had known that she had to listen to this kind of nonsense when she came here, then she might as well not have come so that she did not have to wake up so early in the morning for "an announcement". What bad luck!

"I have checked the account book sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and saw that the harem spends a huge amount of money on clothing materials each year," Chu Ning started. "Although my clothes are embroidered, they are sparse and simple, while the clothes that each one of you is wearing now, regardless of the material, are embroidered so ostentatiously and simply cost too much."

"What Your Majesty said is true, but it was not like the imperial palace could not afford the price," Li Xin said, feeling a little uncomfortable by the empress' words.

"The decorations in the harem are often sought after by the people, so the clothing materials from the south of the capital are doubled, and the price will only continue to increase," Chu Ning said. "As the price rises, then the imperial palace will only spend more and more money on these materials. If this continues, then this extravagance will only deplete the imperial treasury."

Seeing that no one was speaking after she had spoken, Chu Ning felt a little embarrassed. She looked down, and her gaze fell on Yue Ran, who sat the closest to herself.

"Noble Consort Yue, what do you think about this?" Chu Ning asked.

Everyone instantly turned their attention to Yue Ran. If one had to say who was the most gorgeously dressed person in the room, then Yue Ran would be that person.

From the beginning to the end, it was the emperor who personally asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to arrange Yue Ran's clothing with the best materials and to check everything that she wore, including jewelry and head accessories. Even the decorations and furniture placed in her room had to be checked very carefully to make sure that nothing she touched was wrong.

At this moment, the large, white fur coat Yue Ran was wearing on her body was the fur of several white foxes that had just been given as a tribute from the north. There were only four rare white fox furs in total, and they were all made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs into this large, soft, snow-white fur coat that Yue Ran was wearing.

Seeing that the fur coat was as spotlessly clean as snow, which made Yue Ran's face even more beautiful, makes everyone in the room feel so jealous of her. But who told the emperor to only like and favor Yue Ran alone among many of them?

Hearing Chu Ning calling her, Yue Ran lazily raised her eyelids and smiled softly as she said, "It is not that Ran Ran does not want to follow as Your Majesty wishes, it was just that..."

The young girl's eyebrows and eyes were bent into a very beautiful smile. It was as if Yue Ran was laughing at Chu Ning's pretentiousness like an audience watching a clown in a show.

"It was just that the clothes that the emperor has asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to rush to make are enough for me to wear until the next year," Yue Ran said in a soft and slow tone. "So I am afraid that I would not be able to follow as Your Majesty has wished."

Hearing Yue Ran say this made Chu Ning so angry that someone had actually dared to refute what she had previously said! And Yue Ran even ignored her (Chu Ning's) position as an empress and did not take her seriously at all!

Yue Ran deserved full marks for having such great power to show off.

In fact, everyone here, except the empress, does not agree with Chu Ning's suggestion at all. After all, who among them does not love beauty?

In this harem, they could only count on the emperor's favor to live grandly in a sea of wealth, so if they dressed like an old hag who had no fashion sense, then what else were they going to look forward to?

If they were to look like Chu Ning did, then they would not even get a glance from the emperor—not that they even did at all. Anyway, their situation would definitely be worse off if they were to follow the empress' wish.

This was especially so for Bai Fen. She now only wished to swallow the flattering words that she had previously said to the empress.

Right now, Bai Fen is very dissatisfied with her current position as a noble lady and wants to improve it by having children. But how could she seduce the emperor if she did not dress more luxuriously and gorgeously? Would her plain self be able to do so? Obviously not!

Yue Ran was greatly favored by His Imperial Majesty, so no matter how dissatisfied Chu Ning is with the young girl, she still has to bear it in her heart.

"His Majesty, the Emperor, loves you a lot," Chu Ning said with a forced smile on her face. "His Majesty knows that you are cold and weak, so he thinks of you in everything."

Chu Ning could only comfort herself with the fact that Yue Ran was too sick and weak to give birth to a child, so Yue Ran could never threaten herself and her position.

This kind of woman who could not bear any children will quickly wither like a flower that has long passed its most beautiful blooming age, and Chu Ning herself will be the one who has the last laugh!

Chu Ning turned her head around to ask Yi Lin, "Consort Yi, what do you think?"

Yi Lin, the female protagonist, no longer has any favor from the emperor and so could naturally not openly offend the empress. So, she could only flatter Chu Ning like the rest of the women in the harem.

"On one night, Emperor Song Ren Zong felt very hungry and wanted to eat roasted lamb very much," Yi Lin started. "But he did not want to start an endless slaughter just because of this overnight desire. If he were to order the palace staff to roast a lamb that night, then every night from then on, no matter whether he wanted to eat roasted lamb or not, the imperial dining room would definitely kill the lamb in advance to prepare for emergencies. After a long time, this will become a routine, and every night the imperial dining room will kill a lamb for preparation. As time goes on, how many lambs will be killed?"

Yue Ran listened to the story out of boredom. She lowered her eyes and let a dainty finger make a circle around the teacup as she listened to both the system's chat in her sea of consciousness and the female protagonist's flattering words.

"Emperor Song Ren Zong forbears the joy of eating and drinking, and he does not want the people in the palace to know his likes and dislikes to avoid waste and extravagance, which is why he seldom revealed his feelings or expressions on his face," Yi Lin continued. "And Your Majesty, the empress' behavior is just like Emperor Song Ren Zong. Your Majesty is merciful, tolerant, modest, lenient, and also frugal."

Chu Ning nodded in satisfaction. This is the kind of image and virtuous virtue she wanted and sought. With this kind of reputation, even if she was not loved or favored by the emperor, he still had to respect her in public.

However, Chu Ning only cared about her own reputation when doing this and completely ignored the interests of other people in the harem, which was a big mistake.

"What Your Majesty, the empress, said is indeed true," Hui Na, Concubine Hui, started. "But His Majesty, the emperor, has always said that the ancestors and the past emperors had worked hard to govern the country and make the country rich and peaceful, where the people would remain happy and strong even when they were to face adversities."

This statement was obviously made to oppose Chu Ning's words.

"Even if the country is rich and the people are strong, the harem still cannot squander extravagantly," Chu Ning said sternly. "Otherwise, the inheritance left by the ancestors will not last for several generations."

Hui Na pursed her lips in embarrassment.

"I will set an example and imitate the old system of our ancestors," Chu Ning started. "From now on, we will no longer use expensive clothes and materials brought in tribute from the south, and we will not wear any expensive jewelry either. The number of rouge powders used in daily life and the charcoal used in winter will also be halved, including the charcoal distribution for the imperial princes and princesses. The charcoal distribution to all the palace servants will also be halved."

Just for the consolidation of one's own status, Chu Ning can even ignore her own children.

As the empress, her Chu family could give her more than enough, so this kind of distribution that was to be cut in half would not affect her at all. It does not matter if those were halved.