A middle-aged emperor, childless, was blessed with a beautiful and pregnant concubine who entered th

"Your Majesty, the palace maid Chunhui seems to have something to say. Perhaps we should let her finish speaking before dragging her out."

Zhou Mingyi raised her chin, her tone cold but her attitude resolute.

Princess Chaoyang immediately said, "Father, this palace maid has ulterior motives. I don't know who she's acting on her behalf, but she dares to implicate my mother! Drag her away immediately!"

Consort Chen, of course, did not have the authority to directly command Emperor Qianwu's personal guards.

But Princess Chaoyang is qualified.

Emperor Qianwu once granted his beloved daughter special privileges.

This situation is truly giving Emperor Qianwu a headache.

At that moment, Emperor Qianwu actually hoped that Zhou Mingyi wouldn't be so much like that old scoundrel Zhou Yanjin.

If only she were a gentle and compliant woman!

The situation remained deadlocked for a time.

In the end, Emperor Qianwu chose Princess Chaoyang, his only child, whom he could not ignore or neglect.

As for Consort Zhen, we can make it up to her properly later.

"Take the palace maid Chunhui away."

At Emperor Qianwu's command, the palace maid was immediately gagged and taken away.

A fleeting look of injury crossed Zhou Mingyi's eyes.

But she kept a stern expression on her pretty face.

Princess Chaoyang and Consort Chen exchanged a quick glance, and then suddenly smiled.

Consort Rong naturally understood the whole situation.

His Majesty is truly heartless!

Although he favored Lady Zhou, he cared even more about Princess Chaoyang.

As the birth mother of the princess, Consort Chen's status was enough to guarantee her wealth and honor for the rest of her life.

Your Majesty's protection of Chaoyang is protection of Consort Chen.

How could Consort Zhen, who had no children, compete with Consort Chen?

Consort Rong thought of herself in relation to Consort Zhen.

In the entire harem, only Consort Chen had a princess.

Who can fight against this mother and daughter?

Therefore, she naturally sided with Consort Chen.

"Your Majesty, although Chunhui was acting under orders, the matter of Consort Zhen is ultimately your concern..."

Emperor Qianwu pondered for a moment, then said, "The palace maid Chunhui, out of jealousy, slandered Consort Zhen. She is to be given poisoned wine."

Consort Rong: ...

"Consort Zhen was unjustly implicated; she was truly innocent."

He paused for a moment, then said, "I remember that the greenhouse cultivated a twin peony."

He beckoned, and Grandpa Fuquan immediately ordered someone to bring in the rare tricolor Wei Zi peony.

This peony is truly rare; not only are its colors vibrant and varied, but it even blooms with two flowers on one stem.

Emperor Qianwu said:

"This flower is called 'Ruyi Purple,' and only one plant was cultivated in the greenhouse over ten years. I believe that only you deserve it."

Consider this my apology to you.

As soon as she finished speaking, Consort Chen's eyes narrowed, and the expressions of everyone in the hall were varied.

Princess Chaoyang immediately said, "Father, the peony is the national flower! Only the mother of the nation is worthy of it! I have wanted this Ruyi Purple peony for a long time, but you have never been willing to give it to me. Now you are willing to give it to Consort Zhen!"

"Father, you no longer love your son! I will not accept this!"

Emperor Qianwu frowned slightly. "Nonsense! When I have something good, don't I always give it to you first?"

"Now that your mother, Consort Zhen, has been wronged, this is my apology gift. No need for formalities. Don't be foolish!"

He looked at the Empress Dowager and said, "Mother, the atmosphere in the harem is not good. The palace servants are gossipy and spread rumors! It seems that Consort Rong is useless."

"I do not wish for my mother to suffer."

Consort Chen's eyes lit up instinctively, just as she thought her power in the palace was about to return, when Emperor Qianwu said, "Why don't we let Consort Zhen and Consort Rong help the Empress Dowager manage the affairs of the inner palace?"

Consort Chen's face suddenly turned pale, and she subconsciously looked at Princess Chaoyang.

Princess Chaoyang immediately said, "Father!"

She paused for a moment, then quickly regained her composure. "Consort Zhen has only been in the palace for a little over a month. How could she possibly assist Consort Rong in managing the affairs of the inner palace on behalf of the Empress Dowager?"

Emperor Qianwu had made up his mind. "It is precisely because she is not familiar with it that Consort Rong should teach her more."

Princess Chaoyang was about to say something when Emperor Qianwu interrupted her, "Alright, I still have state affairs to attend to."

After saying this, he strode away from Cining Palace without waiting for Princess Chaoyang to speak again.

The group was left looking at each other in bewilderment.

Shi Liu was overjoyed and cried out, "Your Majesty!"

Zhou Mingyi lowered her eyes, gave a slight curtsy, and said, "Respectfully seeing Your Majesty off."

Her gaze briefly met Consort Chen's, and the smugness in her eyes was undisguised. Consort Chen was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage, "You vile woman! You did this on purpose! You…"

However, as soon as she finished speaking, the hint of smugness in Consort Zhen's eyes vanished, as quickly as if it were her imagination.

She regained her aloof demeanor, seemingly still somewhat puzzled, "Why does Your Highness say such things? I don't know when I offended Your Highness. Your Highness can simply say so; why say such unpleasant things in front of the Empress Dowager?"

Consort Chen: "You!"

"Alright!" The Empress Dowager looked at Consort Chen's impatient appearance and was disappointed in her.

"You are the emperor's concubine, the birth mother of Chaoyang, not a shrew from the marketplace."

"No wonder the emperor doesn't trust you. He would rather have Consort Zhen and Consort Rong, who have only recently entered the palace, learn to manage the affairs of the six palaces than hand over power to you."

Consort Chen was speechless, yet felt wronged.

She always believed that her loss of power was a completely undeserved disaster.

Although it was Jin who instigated the disturbance at the Consort Zhen's investiture ceremony, didn't Jin later gain favor with the emperor?

She didn't force her to cause trouble for Consort Zhen, did she?

Ultimately, it was because Consort Zhen's virtue was unworthy of her position that Lady Jin was dissatisfied.

How can you blame her?

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager..."

"Alright, go back and reflect on your actions."

The Empress Dowager didn't want to hear her excuses and directly ordered her to leave.

She didn't say anything more hurtful, partly out of consideration for her granddaughter, Chaoyang.

But that doesn't mean she liked Consort Chen.

When the late emperor was alive, the infighting in the harem was even more intense than that in the current emperor's harem.

What kind of "demons and monsters" hasn't the Empress Dowager seen?

She could see through everything that was going on in the emperor's harem at a glance.

However, since Chaoyang was the emperor's only son, the empress dowager had to consider her granddaughter's feelings and thus didn't hold a grudge against Consort Chen.

Consort Chen left indignantly. Princess Chaoyang knew that her mother had done a lot of things recently, but her father and grandmother had all found fault with her.

Let Consort Zhen be smug for a while longer; they have plenty of time ahead of them.

So he stopped pursuing the matter.

"Grandmother, your granddaughter will come to have lunch with you again later!"

The Empress Dowager immediately put on a smiling face, "Alright, go and play first, don't stay cooped up. Have palace maids and eunuchs follow you, but don't climb trees or artificial hills, be careful not to fall!"

"knew!"

Princess Chaoyang ran off in her little leather boots, "thump thump thump."

As soon as they left the Cining Palace, Chaoyang's expression darkened, and her lively and charming demeanor vanished.

Consort Chen and others were outside the palace.

The mother and daughter stood side by side.

Consort Chen looked anxious.

"Your father not only granted you palace power, but also gave that Ruyi Purple flower to that wretched woman. What are we going to do?"

Princess Chaoyang seemed somewhat frustrated. "What else can we do? What's done is done."

She looked at Consort Chen, "Mother, do you think we're being too hasty?"

"Father just ordered you to apologize to that vile woman last time, and we're already in a hurry to pin charges on her?"

Consort Chen calmed down as well, "You mean...?"

Princess Chaoyang said, "Why don't we plan slowly? Once that Zhou woman falls out of favor, we'll strike her down in one blow, ensuring she never has a chance to rise again!"

Consort Chen remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright, Mother, I'll do whatever you say."

After talking about Zhou Mingyi, Princess Chaoyang naturally thought of Zhou Mingchong.

That damned Zhou Mingchong! She just called out to him and tried to talk to him, but he avoided her like the plague, as if she were something filthy...

This greatly hurt Princess Chaoyang's self-esteem.

The more unattainable she was, the more interested Princess Chaoyang became in Zhou Mingchong.

Consort Chen was particularly perceptive to her beloved daughter's emotional changes. "What's wrong? Who upset you?"

"Your mother will avenge you!"

Princess Chaoyang: "It's that Zhou fellow, the compiler of the Hanlin Academy. He's just an insignificant minor official, yet he dares to refuse me, the princess."

Consort Chen: "He is so ungrateful; why should we tolerate him?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Consort Chen remembered that the scholar Zhou Hanlin her daughter had mentioned also had the surname Zhou…

"You mean, that third-place scholar? Zhou's elder brother?"

Princess Chaoyang's expression grew even colder. "It's him."

Consort Chen: ...

Why are all people with the surname Zhou so annoying?

One man was vying with her for the Emperor's favor in the palace, while the other was just a minor official in the court, yet he made Chaoyang unhappy...

That's really annoying!

However, the women in the inner palace were not allowed to interfere in politics.

If she could get involved in politics, she would definitely find someone to kick Zhou Mingchong out of the Hanlin Academy!

Consort Chen came from a humble background; when she entered the palace, her father was merely a minor official of the seventh rank.

However, after Consort Chen gave birth to Princess Chaoyang, her father's official position was also promoted.

However, none of the family members are ambitious enough, and now, more than ten years later, they are all holding less important positions in the court.

This made Consort Chen feel extremely frustrated.

……

Weiyang Palace.

"That's wonderful! Your Majesty, not only have you been exonerated, but His Majesty has also allowed you to assist Consort Rong in managing the affairs of the inner palace."

"This Ruyi Purple plant is so beautiful!"

Although Shiliu has changed a lot in front of outsiders, she is still the same as before in private, and loves to talk.

As soon as she returned to the palace, she circled around that flower.

Zhou Mingyi also stared at the flower, finding it quite rare.

But she always felt that the flowers didn't quite suit her taste.

Lianwu quickly noticed that Zhou Mingyi seemed unhappy.

"What's wrong, Your Highness?"

Why do you seem unhappy?

Shiliu immediately came to her senses and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, we should be happy that our injustice has been redressed."

Zhou Mingyi stared intently at the "Ruyi Purple" plant.

Are the flowers blooming in pairs?

What does it mean when flowers bloom in pairs, sharing the beauty of spring equally?

She still prefers to stand out alone...

Unfortunately, this flower was a gift from the dog emperor, and it's not an ordinary thing. If she were to cut off a branch, she wouldn't be able to explain it when the dog emperor came.

If someone were to slander her, they might think she harbored some resentment towards the dog emperor…

Although there's a lot of dissatisfaction, they still have to put on a show...

Shi Liu glanced at Zhou Mingyi, then at the Ruyi Purple Plant, "If Your Majesty doesn't like these words, then this servant will..."

"Fine, let's keep it. If people find out where we moved this flower, who knows what they'll say about it."

"Perhaps they'll also charge us with disrespecting His Majesty!"

Shi Liu was startled and immediately dared not move.

"yes!"

"Grow this peony in the most prominent place in the palace, so that His Majesty can see it at first glance every time he comes."