The Empress sighed imperceptibly, then frowned as she looked at Consort Qi's two maids.

Seeing that she also looked unhappy, Consort Qi continued to add fuel to the fire in her complaint: "Your Majesty, those palace maids are also human beings. They were also born of mothers and fathers. Now that they have been beaten like this, how heartbroken their parents must be. Your Majesty has always been magnanimous and has never laid a finger on any of the palace maids. I really can't imagine that anyone would dare to beat someone right under Your Majesty's nose!"

As she spoke, she suddenly knelt down on the ground with a thud.

Upon seeing this, the two smiling palace maids behind him also knelt down.

The Empress frowned even more as she looked at the three of them, master and servant.

They're making it clear today that they won't leave until they get an explanation.

Consort Qi understood the Empress's meaning from her expression, and continued to cry, "What's even more outrageous is that Consort Shen said she only relied on the Emperor's favor. Does this mean I'll have to move out of the main hall of Changchun Palace soon?!"

"Enough!" The Empress slammed her hand on the table, interrupting her. "You're getting more and more absurd!"

Consort Qi shrank back as she looked at the Empress.

Although the Empress usually appears dignified and elegant in public, only a few people who know her well know that she is actually more ruthless than anyone else.

So they usually don't dare to provoke her.

The Empress glanced at Lin Mama behind her and said, "By order of the Empress, Consort Shen has committed insubordination and assaulted a palace servant. She is hereby confined to Changchun Palace and fined one month's salary!"

Lin Mama curtsied to the Empress: "Yes, this old servant will take care of it right away."

After saying that, she turned and left.

The Empress looked at the three kneeling figures below: "Are you satisfied now?"

Consort Qi lowered her head, her anger having subsided considerably. She muttered softly, "What do I mean by 'satisfied' or 'unsatisfied'? I just can't swallow this anger."

"Alright, you don't need to fawn over me here." The Empress looked coldly at Consort Qi kneeling below, her tone not so pleasant: "Instead of wasting your time, you should think about how to win over the Emperor's heart. As the head of a palace, you can't even control the people in your own palace. What will people say if word gets out!"

Consort Qi lowered her head even further and nodded: "Your Majesty, I understand."

After saying that, she didn't dare to say another word.

"Alright, alright, you can go back now. I'm tired and need to sleep." After saying that, the Empress reached out and rested her head on her hand, then closed her eyes.

Seeing that she had no intention of paying attention to her, Consort Qi awkwardly got up and curtsied to her, saying, "This concubine takes her leave."

As soon as she stepped out of Jingren Palace, she clenched her fist. The Empress was right. No matter what, she was the head of Changchun Palace. If she couldn't even take care of the servants in her own palace, then being the head of the palace would be quite pathetic.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and the more she felt she should do something.

...

Bright Moon Palace.

When Sang Jiang woke up again, it was dinnertime. She smacked her lips a couple of times and slowly opened her eyes. When she saw the big face in front of her, she almost screamed.

Fortunately, Long Jingchen pounced on her in time and covered her mouth.

Sang Jiang: ...

She tried to back away but Long Jingchen pressed the back of her head down, and she frowned and struggled.

However, she was no match for his strength, and Long Jingchen only released her when he felt she was about to suffocate.

After letting go, he propped his head up and looked amusedly at the woman next to him who was breathing heavily with a pained expression...