Chapter 8 I say, rise!

Lan Wu looked around warily. There were not only concubines, palace maids and eunuchs here, but also guards standing on the perimeter. If they really stripped her clothes off, she would be dead.

Consort Shu looked at her with disdain, and slightly parted her lips, "Guards..."

Before she could finish speaking, a eunuch announced from behind, "Consort Li has arrived!"

The people in the pavilion looked at each other without prior arrangement, and their expressions all changed.

Consort Li arrived just in time. She stepped down from her entourage, seemingly unaware of Lan Wu standing at the foot of the steps, and gently walked into the pavilion to give Consort Shu a curtsy. Currently, only Consort Shu and Consort Rou have the power to assist in managing the six palaces, and their status is naturally higher than others.

However, Consort Li herself was no less capable.

She bowed to herself and said softly, "I just heard the commotion here. I was wondering why so many of my sisters came today. It turns out they've invited Miss Lanwu."

Consort Shu's smile remained unchanged, and she ordered someone to offer Consort Li a seat.

"Consort Li's ears are really sharp." She narrowed her eyes slightly, revealing a blatant disgust. "This is Consort Li's acquaintance. Taking off her clothes is one thing, but taking off her shoes and jumping is another. I have to give Consort Li some face."

As soon as she finished speaking, someone stepped forward to take off Lan Wu's shoes. Lan Wu took a step back and bent down to do it herself.

Consort Li looked slightly uneasy. She looked at Lan Wu and replied to Consort Shu: "What are you saying, Consort Shu? I only met this girl. How could I say that I am familiar with her? If Your Majesty wants to see her dance, I will just join in for a look."

Where there is dance, there must be music.

When Lan Wu stepped onto the pebbles mixed in with the shallow grass, she thought to herself, "Just as I suspected." She hadn't been wrong.

The other concubines had no interest in watching Lan Wu dance at the moment, as they were all intrigued by the two sentences spoken by Consort Shu and Consort Li.

No wonder Consort Shu summoned this Lanwu girl to teach her a lesson. She thought it was just that Lanwu had made a big splash at the Emperor's birthday celebration and was annoying, so as to prevent her from having any thoughts of seducing the Emperor. She didn't expect that Consort Li was also involved.

Is Consort Li trying to offer a beauty to His Majesty in order to gain favor?

There were quite a few sharp pebbles in the grass, and they soon pricked Lanwu's feet, drawing blood.

Consort Li was anxious. She still needed Lan Wu, and if Lan Wu injured her foot, it would take who knows how long to recover.

"Your Highness, look, her feet are bleeding. Why don't we stop here for today? It's all bloody and messy in the garden. What's there to see?"

Consort Shu was unwilling to release the person. She frowned slightly and looked at Consort Li with displeasure: "This person is from the music hall and was invited by me to dance. She has been practicing dance for so many years, and she got injured after dancing in the garden for a while. She is not that delicate."

Consort Li could see that Consort Shu intended to make Lan Wu's feet rot from jumping. With a sullen face, she was about to say something when Lan Wu stepped on a pebble, twisted her ankle, and fell to the ground.

The music didn't stop. Lan Wu looked at her foot. The unbearable pain was secondary. The key was finding the right balance. If she wanted a permanent solution, she would have to cripple the foot. But did she really want to do that?

Lan Wu raised her head and looked at the group of concubines in front of her. Perhaps the person who killed her in her previous life was among them. She still didn't know which one it was. She knew she wasn't smart. Her tragic death had instilled fear in her. So, if she had to do it all again, she would stay away from these people and these things, even if it meant losing her legs.

But now she's not sure.

Will she really be let off the hook?

Consort Li might have thought that she was no longer useful and would no longer have the intention of offering her up, but Consort Shu... in Consort Shu's eyes, only the dead pose the least threat.

She only understood such a simple truth after meeting Consort Shu and experiencing this incident.

"Why did you stop?" Liu Shuyi glanced at her unhappily. "The two ladies are still here. You dared to stop when I didn't tell you to."

As she spoke, Liu Shuyi looked at Consort Shu: "Your Majesty, this dancer is disrespectful to you. You should punish her severely. Look how unruly she is. Without any orders, she dared to look directly at your seat."

Looking directly at the person in the honored position?

In her previous life, when she was favored, she even dared to glare at this hypocritical and poisonous woman. She glared at her, and Chu Mingheng would only ask her if her eyes were comfortable, so no one else dared to say a word.

But she also knew that this was not the previous life, and her life was less precious than that of an ant.

So she pretended to be timid and was about to bow her head and beg for mercy when another voice came from behind her.

"His Majesty has arrived!"

That shout was enough to wake everyone up, including Consort Shu, who rose from her seat. The other concubines were all a little nervous, looking at the emperor who was slowly walking towards them from another path not far away.

Chu Mingheng did not come alone; he was accompanied by a newly arrived concubine named Rong.

Three months after the imperial concubine selection, this Consort Rong was still considered favored, having been initially granted the rank of Beauty. She didn't take sides, making her a rather peculiar figure in the palace. She seemed uninterested in the power struggles of the harem, focusing all her attention on the Emperor.

Chu Mingheng, dressed in a black dragon robe, had a tall and imposing figure that exuded a sense of intimidation and oppression. He walked over with slightly heavy steps, frowned slightly at the group of beautiful women in the pavilion, and sat down in the main seat, ordering someone to remove the chessboard in front of him.

Rong Meiren stood to the side, her gaze subtly observing the small, frail figure in the garden.

"Get up, all of you," Chu Mingheng said calmly.

He was a young emperor who had only been on the throne for five years. He did not establish an empress and had no children, yet he was able to firmly control the court and the harem. Similarly, he was also a cold-hearted and ruthless emperor, a fact that Lan Wu knew all too well.

Lan Wu lowered her head, her ears keenly listening to the sounds coming from above.

Once the concubines had all risen, they made a series of small movements, fiddling with their handkerchiefs and smoothing their hair. Among them were many concubines who had only seen the emperor a few times, and whose names he had not even remembered.

Consort Shu smiled. As the highest-ranking concubine and the one who had seen the emperor the most, she could naturally compete for his favor.

Before she could even speak, Chu Mingheng had already turned his gaze to Lan Wu in the garden.

"I say, rise." His tone was not displeased at all, but his face was indifferent. His tall body sat on the sandalwood chair in the main seat, leaning back slightly. He raised his chin, his deep eyes lowered, but seemed to be fixed on Lan Wu. His gaze was piercing, revealing a sense of laziness and aloofness.

Anyone would know that they should shut up at this moment.

Everyone turned their heads downwards to watch Lan Wu, who was trembling with pain as she stood up and staggered forward.