You take on two husbands, I'll turn around and marry the tyrant and rule the world.

"Tea-making is something only senior palace maids serving the Emperor or the Empress need to learn," Aunt Xia Dong said in a flat voice, her eyelids drooping. "She's clearly just slacking off here."

As she spoke, she stepped forward, glanced at the tea, and pursed her lips: "Besides, this skill is so crude, how could it be worthy of serving the Emperor?"

Aunt Lan realized it at this point.

These two came specifically to cause trouble.

Although she didn't know the specifics of their feud, she thought that if Chu Nianci was really punished, she would inevitably be implicated as well. So she gritted her teeth and said respectfully, "Aunt Xia, Chu Nianci is not an ordinary palace maid. She was granted the title of official lady by His Majesty and the Empress. I saw that she was learning diligently and thought that she might have the opportunity to serve in the Imperial Palace or the Empress's palace in the future, so I taught her how to make tea."

Aunt Xia Dong knows Aunt Lan.

She was known for her strictness in the palace, sometimes even more so than herself.

It was rare to hear her speak up for someone like this, so I couldn't help but look at Chu Nianci more closely... She had a bright and beautiful appearance, and her demeanor was elegant. What was most remarkable was the dignified and calm aura she exuded. I was startled.

With such looks and appearance, if she were to rise to the position, the Empress would likely pale in comparison... She must not be given the chance to shine.

But she knew that Aunt Lan came from the side of the Dowager Consort, so she had to give her some face and couldn't directly refute her. She just glanced at Chu Shunqing with a gloomy face.

Chu Shunqing immediately understood and said urgently, "Aunt Lan, don't be fooled by her! My sister is a master of pretense. She puts on a dignified front in front of others, but behind their backs, she's incredibly despicable. I was deceived by her, which is why I begged the Empress for a favor to enter the palace. Who knew she would repay kindness with enmity? She even instigated my uncle to disrupt the wedding banquet, causing me to lose face in the mansion and alienating my husband from me. Tell me, shouldn't such a vicious person be sent to the Imperial Laundry?"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Lan's gaze immediately fell on Chu Nianci. Tuanyuan was so angry that her face turned red, but because she had been taught manners by Aunt Lan for several days, she dared not interrupt.

The young palace maids looked at each other in disbelief, never expecting that she had such a background before entering the palace.

Seeing her half-sister publicly break off relations, Chu Nianci showed no mercy.

"Chu Shunqing, I was going to give you some face out of sisterly affection, but since you're shameless, I don't need to be polite anymore."

She scoffed coldly, "You're talking about yourself, aren't you!"

"Knowing that I was about to get married, she secretly followed my fiancé south. When she realized that she couldn't earn the position of the principal wife, she came up with the absurd idea of ​​'taking over two wives' and said that she would 'send me to the palace through merit'. But she just wanted to take my position as the principal wife. Now that I have been summoned to the palace, you see that things have gone wrong and she wants to blame it all on me."

"Shut up..." Chu Shunqing's face turned from black to red, and he suddenly raised his hand to slap her face...

Tuanyuan, anticipating her move, suddenly sidestepped and blocked her.

The slap landed squarely on Tuanyuan's face, and a bright red handprint immediately swelled up on her fair cheek.

Tuanyuan immediately covered her face, looking aggrieved.

Seeing this, Aunt Lan narrowed her almond-shaped eyes, walked straight to Tuanyuan, lifted her chin and examined her closely, her tone calm and even: "Although palace maids are of lowly status, once they enter the palace, they are His Majesty's women. To disfigure His Majesty's woman, tell me, what is the punishment?"

In both his past and present lives, Chu Shunqing was specially recruited into the palace by the Empress. With the Empress's support, he never seriously studied the palace rules.

That slap was really inappropriate. Only concubines or head maids have the right to punish palace servants.

Chu Shunqing's smile froze upon hearing this. He wanted to say something in his defense, but in the end he didn't dare to speak and just lowered his head sheepishly.

Aunt Xia Dong's lips twitched with anger. Seeing that she was so useless, she had no choice but to take matters into her own hands: "Aunt Lan is right. If there is a conflict in the palace and the rules are broken, it is not something that you or I can handle on our own."

She raised her voice, "Guards, take all three involved to the Imperial Household Department!"

Several burly old women behind him immediately rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward.

Chu Shunqing was terrified and immediately knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly: "Spare me! It was...it was just a moment of anger..."

Chu Nianci remained expressionless, neither admitting guilt nor offering explanations, simply standing quietly.

Tuanyuan clung tightly to her arm, trembling all over, but did not back down an inch.

Aunt Lan watched this farce with a cold eye and wanted to step forward to stop it, but she was too lowly to speak up.

Several old women tried to pull them apart for a long time, but they couldn't separate them.

The burly old woman got anxious and reached out to grab Tuanyuan's ear.

"Stop!" Chu Nianci shouted sternly, which actually frightened the old women into stopping.

She thought that even if things went wrong, it was better than being taken away by them.

Judging from Xia Dong's posture, he must have come here behind the Empress's back.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have let his half-sister take the lead and cause trouble first.

She took it upon herself to share her master's burdens, but if she succeeded, she might not be rewarded; if she failed, it would certainly be detrimental to her.

She was secretly on guard, preparing to use the gold needles from her ring to deal with these bullies who preyed on the weak...

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Jingxi respectfully leading a young man dressed in bright yellow clothes into the garden from behind a holly tree in the distance.

Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the person who was high and mighty that made Jingxi bow her head and bend her back like this?

In a flash, she knelt down, her gaze fixed on the bright yellow hem of the dress.

Aunt Xia Dong and the old women, having their backs to that direction, did not see anyone coming. When they saw Chu Nianci suddenly kneel down, they did not think much of it, stepped forward to hold her down, and immediately prepared to drag her away.

"What are you doing?"

Jingxi suddenly shouted, "You damned fool! The Emperor is here! Why don't you kneel and greet him?"

Just as Xia Dong was about to drag the person away, a furious shout suddenly came from behind.

She turned around and her legs went weak... Why would His Majesty be here?

But as the Empress's head maid, she was capable of adapting to changing circumstances. She took a deep breath, straightened her clothes, and respectfully prostrated herself.

The old women were so frightened by what they saw that they all knelt down on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, everyone in the courtyard seemed to have shrunk by half.

The courtyard was completely silent; no one dared to utter a sound.

The only sound was the faint rustling of the wind through the treetops.

Chu Nianci had seen this emperor from afar in her previous life, so she wasn't too alarmed. Tuanyuan, however, was trembling with fear, clinging tightly to her side, her head bowed and shrinking into a little quail.

A few breaths later...

A pair of spotless, deep blue boots embroidered with intricate dragon patterns stopped in front of her.

Chu Nianci lowered her eyes and looked at the pair of boots embroidered with dragon patterns in gold thread.

Memories of his past life flashed through his mind, Emperor Mingsu, Duanmu Qingyu.

Her impression of this Emperor Mingsu... Duanmu Qingyu was still lingering in the fleeting memories of her past life.

I only vaguely remember him as an exceptionally handsome young man.

He was handsome as jade and had an ethereal air, but he seemed to be in poor health.

Later, she became preoccupied with domestic affairs and paid little attention to the political situation, only vaguely remembering that he died of illness after five years on the throne.

Although I had gazed at the emperor from afar a few times, I had never seen his face so closely before.

Unexpectedly, in this new life, I will meet the young emperor here.

Just then, he saw the boots walk toward the tea table. The eunuch Jingxi quickly dusted the stool with a whisk and laid a snow-white fox fur cushion on it. Only then did the young emperor slowly sit down.

He happened to be sitting directly in front of Chu Nianci.

She quietly raised her eyes, her gaze shifting from his boots to his hands resting on his knees.

Those hands were loosely clasped together, with distinct knuckles, fair and even skin, as if they were carefully carved from the finest mutton-fat jade, and the fingertips even had a faint flesh-colored luster.

His long, strong hand rested on the dragon pattern, as if he had the world at his fingertips.

Chu Nianci couldn't help but slowly shift her gaze to the dragon robe.

The dragon robe embroidered with auspicious clouds shimmered with fine golden light under the sun, and a few strands of long, jet-black hair were scattered on the bright yellow fabric, the hair as smooth as satin, or like a waterfall flowing in a mountain stream.

She was engrossed in watching when she suddenly heard Jingxi cough softly.

Chu Nianci suddenly woke up, hurriedly lowered her head and held her breath, not daring to look up again.