The Princess and Her Rough-Rider Khan
Chapter 136 Haven’t you realized that Khan likes you? (One more update)

Chapter 136: 136 Haven’t you realized that Khan likes you? (One more update)

Li Xianyun walked up to the gold and silver jewelry, picked up an emerald earring, and said, "Please thank the Khan for his generous gift on behalf of this consort. I will keep this one; the rest should be sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be recorded and stored."

The Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said with some difficulty, "Consort, if you do not accept them, this servant has no way to explain to the Khan."

Li Xianyun said, "I will go and explain to the Khan myself; you just do as I say, and you will not be blamed."

Hearing this, the Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was relieved and, bending his arm, saluted respectfully, "As you command."

The group carefully covered the gifts with the brocade cloth and left respectfully and orderly.

Zhuo Ma and Youlan watched them leave with regret.

Both girls had flushed faces from excitement.

Zhuo Ma looked at Li Xianyun and said, "My lady, why didn’t you accept the rewards the Khan gave you?"

Li Xianyun, looking down at the emerald earring in her hand, said, "This was probably not prepared by the Khan."

Yelu Yan did not seem like someone who would bother himself with such matters.

Youlan said, "My lady, surely the Khan prepared this especially to please you."

Li Xianyun turned and walked toward the inner chamber, saying, "What nonsense are you talking?"

The two maids hurriedly followed to serve her.

Zhuo Ma said, "My lady, can’t you see that the Khan is fond of you?"

Li Xianyun’s hand paused while opening the jewelry box, then she placed the gemstone earring inside and said, "Impossible."

Yelu Yan was not the kind to indulge in pleasures of the flesh; his kindness towards her was solely because she had saved his mentor and designed weapons for the arsenal, nothing more.

Li Xianyun had not forgotten Yelu Yan’s initial promise:

To provide her with endless wealth and honor, but not love.

Thus, she knew very well that Yelu Yan could not possibly have feelings for her, while these two ignorant girls kept making wild guesses.

Zhuo Ma persisted earnestly, "My lady, I have served the Khan for many years and never have I seen him come close to any woman, hardly speaking a few words to them, except for you, whom he treats with kindness and utmost care."

Li Xianyun, looking at Zhuo Ma, said, "There are many things you two do not understand. It is impossible for the Khan to like this consort, so stop thinking in that direction from now on, and do not speak of it."

She paused and added, "The Khan is a good man, and I do not wish to trouble him over baseless matters."

Seeing the seriousness in Li Xianyun’s expression, Youlan and Zhuo Ma did not dare to say more and respectfully saluted, "Understood."

Although Li Xianyun said this, she started to entertain the thought herself.

Fearing the improbable, she resolved to avoid Yelu Yan in the future.

Being with someone like her could only bring disaster, and she did not want to harm Yelu Yan.

Li Xianyun exhaled softly, deciding to set aside these troubling thoughts and focus on important matters.

She looked at Zhuo Ma and instructed, "Zhuo Ma, have the chiefs of each palace bring their account books to the Khan Palace, as I have something to discuss with them."

Li Xianyun planned to reform the rules within the palace.

Although her time in the Imperial Palace had been brief, she had already noticed several issues and thus decided to establish new palace rules addressing these problems, making them enforceable to ensure people’s compliance.

Zhuo Ma saluted respectfully, "As you wish."

Li Xianyun specifically ordered, "Do not omit the Empress Dowager’s Palace."

Zhuo Ma said with some difficulty, "My lady, what if the Grand Imperial Consort does not allow Rong Ge to come?"

"She will definitely let Rong Ge come," Li Xianyun said with certainty.

The Grand Imperial Consort, after losing her grip on power, was just looking for an excuse to make trouble, so calling for her would surely result in Rong Ge coming over.

On the other hand, if she ignored only the Guli Palace, Li Xianyun would leave the impression that she was very afraid of Guli.

With Guli holding such privileges and exceptions, it would be hard to command respect and manage people later on.

After Zhuo Ma finished speaking, she assigned maids to call people from various palaces, while she went personally to the Empress Dowager’s Palace.

In less than the time it takes to finish a pot of tea, all the Chiefs of the palaces had arrived, including Rong Ge.

Rong Ge, having been publicly disciplined by Li Xianyun last time, was still traumatized and acted very submissive, with her eyes downcast.

Her purpose today was not to stir up trouble, which of course she didn’t dare to do; she was there to be Guli’s eyes.

Guli wanted to see how Li Xianyun would manage the Harem and then come up with countermeasures.

Having made repeated trips to the toilet last night and barely slept, she felt totally exhausted today and saw stars whenever she sat for too long.

It was extremely painful.

Guli had now realized that one should not easily provoke someone skilled in medicine.

The women who had surrounded Li Xianyun at the horse racing event and had been drugged by her still had dense red marks on their faces and didn’t even dare to go out.

Guli had grown wiser now, and what she needed to do was to know both herself and the enemy completely before taking any action.

The Chiefs of the palaces stood respectfully and orderly in the vast hall, while Li Xianyun sat in the main seat, reviewing the account books and records of major events of each palace.

The management of each palace could be deduced from the distribution of wealth.

If the management was chaotic, the financial affairs would also be disorganized and unclear.

Li Xianyun had an excellent memory and a sharp eye, and quickly spotted issues.

The ledgers were not recorded in a set pattern, were too casual, and incomplete, which made them difficult to inspect.

Moreover, most of the ledgers were superficial and blatantly falsified.

During the time Li Xianyun reviewed the account books, the Chiefs of the palaces didn’t even dare to breathe heavily.

The incident that occurred in the Haoyang Palace the day before had already spread throughout the palace, and they knew that while Li Xianyun looked gentle and delicate, she was strict in rewarding and punishing, decisive, and not someone to provoke.

After going through the books, Li Xianyun closed the ledgers, sat upright in the main seat, and looked at the Chiefs of the palaces, saying in a calm voice, "Who among you is newly appointed?"

Seven or eight Chiefs hurriedly knelt down and bowed respectfully, saying, "Reporting to the Princess Consort, I have just taken office."

This included the Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Chief of the Haoyang Palace.

Yelu Yan said that after the incident of Xiao Dilu being poisoned, he replaced all the important positions in the Harem with his people.

It could be very certain that these new appointees were Yelu Yan’s men.

The other Chiefs, who had been in the palace for many years, were smooth operators, slick in every direction, and needed further observation to determine their loyalty and usefulness, in case there were any who slipped through the net.

Li Xianyun said in a calm voice, "Stand up."

The seven or eight Chiefs rose to their feet.

Li Xianyun looked at them and said, "I have just reviewed the ledgers from each palace. The records are incomplete and not according to regulations. From now on, each palace must have two people record the ledgers, supervise each other, and only count the records when both have signed."

Next, Li Xianyun made clear regulations regarding the responsibilities of the Chiefs, including how to manage personnel and finances, and also established the boundaries for rewards and punishments.

In the courts of Houtang, the phenomenon of the strong bullying the weak and the old picking on the new was common, making life difficult for the young Palace Attendants; some even died unnatural deaths, which were ultimately left unresolved.

Li Xianyun would not tolerate such situations.