Gu Yanyue sat in the pavilion. Although there was no moon today, there were stars. The cool breeze and the rippling water made for a beautiful sight. After Yuwen Ran finished dinner at Fengqi Palace, he was summoned to the Imperial Study, saying he had something to discuss. Gu Yanyue followed him out of Fengqi Palace, and when they were about to reach the Imperial Garden, they parted ways.

Yuwen Ran went to the Imperial Study to handle urgent government affairs, while Gu Yanyue took a group of palace maids to the Imperial Garden to appreciate the lotus. When Yuwen Ran came back from the Imperial Study, the two of them went back to Fengqi Palace together.

The lotus flowers at night looked very different from those during the day. It was a pity that Yu Wenran was not around, so she could not see such a beautiful view. Gu Yanyue felt a little thirsty halfway through the appreciation, so she asked someone to make some flower tea. Drinking a small cup in the summer was also a very beautiful thing.

The palace maid stood behind her and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, the lotus flowers are blooming beautifully this year, much more beautiful than last year's."

Gu Yanyue glanced at it and smiled, "Last year when I planted the flowers, I specifically had someone change the seeds. This year, the flowers are indeed much more beautiful than last year. And it's refreshing to look at them in the summer. Paired with a cup of scented tea, it's one of the ten great pleasures in life."

After hearing Gu Yanyue's analogy, the palace maid laughed even more happily, "My dear queen, how come you are still so easily satisfied?"

Gu Yanyue poured herself a cup of scented tea and said softly, "It's good to be easily satisfied. I'm already Ah Ran's queen, so I won't force anything anymore. As long as Ah Ran and Xiao Yuntun are still by my side, that's all I need."

As they were talking, they saw someone walking by in the distance. It seemed that they had seen Gu Yanyue and the others. They paused for a moment, turned around, and walked towards the pavilion. When they got closer, they could see clearly that the person was none other than Liu Yanyan.

Compared to the past when Liu Yanyan was dressed in gorgeous clothes and wanted to wear all the pretty clothes in front of Gu Yanyue, and always had a gentle and soft green tea look, today's Liu Yanyan looked much more haggard than when she saw her at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet.

Or perhaps it shouldn't be called today. Liu Yanyan hadn't been in good shape in the past few months. She no longer had the energy to dress herself up. The events that had occurred in the Zhenbei Marquisate in recent months were almost overwhelming her.

However, when he saw that the person sitting in the pavilion was Gu Yanyue, his haggard look immediately turned into hatred.

She lifted the curtain outside the pavilion, stepped in, and said, "I saw someone here from afar and told my maids who was so interested as to come and admire the lotus flowers at night. When I got closer, I realized it was the Empress!"

Gu Yanyue smiled noncommittally and said, "I'm just drinking tea here, it's not really a big deal. Concubine Liu, would you like to sit down and have a drink with me?"

Liu Yanyan sneered at her and said, "Your Majesty is still in the mood to drink tea here, but I no longer have the mood."

Yuwen Ran has already begun to suppress Prince Xiang because she is too close to the Queen Mother. So Yuwen Ran naturally considers the Marquis of Zhenbei Mansion to be part of Prince Xiang's faction. In the past few months, the Marquis of Zhenbei Mansion has had a very difficult time.

Although Liu Yanyan was in the harem and didn't understand the previous dynasty, the wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei told her when she entered the palace that she must seize the opportunity and then hold Yuwen Ran's heart tightly. The survival of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion depended on her.

The current wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei is the second wife. Liu Yanyan's biological mother, the former wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei, died of complications during childbirth when giving birth to her younger brother.

Not only did her mother die of complications during childbirth, but even the younger brother her mother risked her life to give birth to died prematurely due to poor health and died before the age of three months.

Liu Yanyan was still very young at the time, and the Marquis of Zhenbei, a rough old man, had no idea how to take care of a young girl, so he had no choice but to remarry a year later. This second wife was not good to Liu Yanyan, but she was not good either. However, when Liu Yanyan grew up, she fell in love with Yuwen Ran at first sight and kept clamoring to enter the palace to become his queen.

Since then, the second wife has been dissatisfied with Liu Yanyan, the legitimate daughter of the former Zhenbei Marquis' wife. She didn't dare to show it in front of the Zhenbei Marquis, but secretly she tried to make trouble for Liu Yanyan. Now she suddenly came to the palace to ask Liu Yanyan for help, which meant a lot.

"Whether Concubine Liu is thinking or not, I have no right to control it." Gu Yanyue smiled and continued to pour tea slowly: "Tea still needs to be drunk. If you want to drink it, pour it yourself."

Liu Yanyan was so angry at Gu Yanyue that she was shaking. If it weren't for her, the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion wouldn't have reached this point today!

When the wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei came to the palace to look for her, she had told her that she must work hard to please Yuwen Ran. That way, if something really happened to the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion in the future, she would be able to speak up for Yuwen Ran. If she could conceive a dragon seed, it would be even better. Even if Yuwen Ran didn't give Liu Yanyan any consideration, he would still give the child in her belly some respect, and would more or less give Liu Yanyan, the child's mother, some face.

But Liu Yanyan did it, but it was useless. In fact, Liu Yanyan had been looking for Yuwen Ranran for two consecutive months, but each time she was rejected at the door of the imperial study, unable to even enter. Not to mention that Yuwen Ran went to Gu Yanyue's bedroom right after the court, so she didn't even have the chance to make a move.

She also tried to find the Queen Mother, but she couldn't decide which concubine's palace Yuwen Ran would stay in. Furthermore, Yuwen Ran had already fallen out with her in front of everyone on the day of her birthday banquet, so her words were no longer effective with Yuwen Ran.

Sometimes Liu Yanyan seemed to feel that Yu Wenran saw everything, but he was not interested in anything around him, unless that thing was related to Gu Yanyue.

Liu Yanyan has had a smooth life and has never suffered any hardship.

When she entered the palace, she was easily promoted to the position of concubine due to the background of Marquis Zhenbei. Now that the Marquis Zhenbei's mansion is in trouble, she suffers as well. However, she finds that since she entered the palace for so long, she has only been busy fighting with Gu Yanyue. There is no one in the palace with whom she can talk in confidence, and she has not received any favor from Yuwen Ran.

On the other hand, Gu Yanyue, whom she has always looked down upon, can now sit in the pavilion and drink tea leisurely, and even became Yuwen Ran's queen. For her, Yuwen Ran turned this harem into nothingness. This is something that Liu Yanyan will never be able to do in her life.