The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 121 Quarrel
It's cold. If she waits for Emperor Yuanwu's bowl of wontons to be served so they can eat together, the wontons in her bowl will probably get cold by then.

Shen Qingwan thought for a moment and then simply continued eating. Although they were just strangers who had met by chance, there was really no need to be so polite at the dinner table.

Watching Shen Qingwan eat wontons one bite after another, Emperor Yuanwu, who was already starving, became even hungrier.

Shen Qingwan asked the kitchen to cook another bowl of wontons. She was afraid that Emperor Yuanwu might not be used to the taste of scallion oil since it was his first time eating it, so she only added a little bit.

However, it appeared that Emperor Yuanwu himself was holding a bottle of scallion oil and adding two more spoonfuls.

He still seems to really like the taste of scallion oil.

Shen Qingwan discovered that Emperor Yuanwu seemed to have similar dietary preferences to hers, except that he did not eat crabs.

In this light, having a meal buddy in the deep palace doesn't seem so bad. As long as Emperor Yuanwu doesn't have any other thoughts about her, she's still happy to cook for him.

"Your Majesty, I've finished eating. Most of the concubines who came to pay their respects have arrived. Please continue your meal. I'll head to the main hall now."

Shen Qingwan rose and bowed. After Emperor Yuanwu nodded, she turned and went to the main hall.

"Her Majesty the Empress is a little later than usual today," Consort Xian said, adjusting her hair.

"Your Highness, although you are of noble status, you are not as noble as the Empress. The Empress is kind and has allowed us sisters who arrived early to wait inside. There is charcoal, hot water bottles, and fragrant osmanthus tea to drink. Your Highness, for saying such things, isn't that a bit..." Consort De covered her mouth and smiled, "Did I misspoke?"

Consort Xian's eyes darkened: "Consort De, don't try to sow discord here. When have I ever disrespected Her Majesty the Empress?"

"Huh?" Consort De's eyes lit up: "This is what Consort De herself said, we all heard it!"

Consort Xian's eyes flickered, only then realizing that she had been tricked by Consort De. Half of her anger instantly subsided: "Consort De, I am now a Noble Consort, while you are only a Consort. How can you speak to me like this? Isn't this disrespectful and insubordinate?"

"Your Highness is too kind. As a concubine in the harem, my heart naturally belongs to the Empress. Do you think you are on equal footing with the Empress? It seems that Your Highness will have to hold the morning greetings at Jingyang Palace from now on?" Consort De sneered.

"I am a Noble Consort, the head of all the concubines in the harem. Is this a great disrespect to me, Consort De?" Noble Consort Xian deliberately suppressed her anger and took a deep breath.

"Your Highness, you are now of a higher status than me. Whether you speak ill of me or punish me, I dare not complain. But shouldn't the head of the concubines in the harem be the Empress? Could it be that Your Highness wants to become the Empress...?" Consort De withdrew her contemptuous gaze, picked up the tea in her cup, and took a small sip.

"you……"

Consort Xian was so angry that she trembled all over. She slammed her hand on the table, and when she raised her hand, she accidentally knocked over a teacup on the table. The scalding tea splashed everywhere, burning the back of Consort Xian's hand red.

"Your Highness, please calm down." Consort De rose and gave a perfunctory bow: "It was my fault for speaking out of turn. I apologize to Your Highness. I shouldn't have said that Your Highness wanted to become Empress."

"Shut up! Someone, open your mouth for me!" Consort Xian's fingertips trembled with anger as she stared intently at Consort De.

The moment she finished speaking, the previously noisy room fell silent.

Now, Consort Xian is a Noble Consort, while Consort De is only a Consort. According to the ranks in the palace, the Noble Consort naturally has the right to punish the concubines in the palace.

However, Consort De held the power to assist in managing the six palaces, while Consort Xian, although a consort, had no real power.

Therefore, it's really hard to say who is more noble in status. Throughout the entire palace, no servant dares to lay a hand on a concubine who has the power to assist in managing the six palaces; if the matter were to be investigated later, no one would be able to bear the consequences.

Moreover, Consort De was not one to be easily taken advantage of.

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze, just as everyone was stunned.

Xia Mei walked up from behind Consort Xian and raised her hand to slap Consort De across the face.

The incident happened so suddenly that Consort De hadn't even had time to react when Consort Shu, who was sitting to the side, quickly grabbed Xia Mei's wrist.

"Your Highness, even if Consort De has done something wrong and displeased you, it's not right for others to speak up for her," Consort Shu said with a forced smile as she glanced at Xia Mei.

Xia Mei hurriedly let go and retreated behind Consort Xian.

"Consort Shu, could it be that you're planning a rebellion?" Consort Xian said through gritted teeth, enunciating each word clearly.

"Your Highness, Consort Shu bowed. "This humble concubine would not dare to offend Your Highness. However, Your Highness has only been conferred the title of Consort for a few days, yet you have already punished a mere Consort in front of the other concubines in Kunning Palace. I fear His Majesty might think that Your Highness is being arrogant because of His Highness's favor."

"Your Highnesses, please don't be angry. This is the first time we've paid our respects to Her Majesty the Empress this year, and the time is about right. If Her Majesty the Empress hears us, it might not be good," Consort Chun said, trying to smooth things over.

However, given her lowly status, no one would listen to anything she said at this moment.

"Your Highness, you keep calling me 'this palace' so seriously, it makes me feel truly terrified!" Consort De persisted, not only failing to step down from the position of Consort Chun, but instead intensifying her attack, her tone filled with disdain and mockery.

"Consort De, I know you're resentful. After all, we both entered the palace together to serve the Emperor. Now I'm a Noble Consort, but you're still just a Consort. You're unhappy, but who can you blame? It's because my father is serving the Emperor on the frontier." Consort Shu sneered.

"What are they all talking about? I can hear it from far away. It's so lively here, ladies."

Shen Qingwan, who was standing outside, lifted the curtain and walked in.

Consort Xian's smile froze: "No... we didn't talk about anything, we were just chatting and joking around when we had nothing to do."

"Oh?" Shen Qingwan walked to the middle seat and sat down, her voice trailing off.

The concubines rose and bowed, saying, "Long live the Empress!"

Normally, one could stand up and sit down after bowing, but this time, although Shen Qingwan didn't say anything and even had a faint smile on her face, the powerful sense of oppression made one feel that the charcoal fire in the room wasn't as warm as before.

"What jokes did you make? Tell me, so I can have a laugh too." After Shen Qingwan finished speaking, she lowered her eyes and looked at Consort Xian.

Consort Xian lowered her head and remained silent.

"Your Majesty, the sisters in the palace were just arguing a bit out of boredom. Your Majesty, please don't pursue the matter," Consort Shu said slowly.

(End of this chapter)