Tong Guowei said helplessly, "The two families have already separated. Although they are still connected by blood, the Emperor will probably not blame his daughter for the sake of the Empress. You can put your mind at ease."

How can I put my mind at ease? This is a big deal for my daughter.

Tong Guowei's wife could only hope that the emperor would remember their past relationship; there was nothing else she could do.

Because of this incident, Tong Guowei's wife disliked Tong Guogang's wife very much. As the eldest sister-in-law, Tong Guogang's wife knew that her own household was at fault, but she felt that her younger sister-in-law was too stingy, and the two sisters-in-law even had a falling out.

Because of the feud between the two families, new topics have emerged in the capital. As for the rumors that Consort Xian brought disaster to the country, almost no one mentions them anymore. After all, the Qing Dynasty now seems to be politically clean and the people are doing well, so there is no credibility to them.

The imperial edict appointing her as empress was finally issued, and no one dared to actually stop it. The date was set for May of the sixteenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

Although everyone in the harem knew that Consort Xian was destined to become Empress, they were still somewhat unwilling when the imperial decree was actually issued.

The others besides Consort Hui and Consort Rong are alright, after all, the Emperor can't stay without appointing an Empress forever. Although Consort Xian is favored, she has a good personality and doesn't interact much with the harem, so she hasn't made any enemies. Even if the Empress isn't Consort Xian, it won't be one of them.

But Consort Hui and Consort Rong are different. They are both old servants who have served the Emperor and have given birth to his children. Although they have lost their children, the Empress is from a similar family background but has less seniority. You can imagine how unwilling they must be.

But there was no use in being unwilling; no one could change the emperor's decision.

Consort Hui and Consort Rong could only secretly curse Yunrong, hoping she would also be unlucky.

Yunrong's coronation ceremony was held very smoothly in May. Because of Yinzhen's emphasis on it, it was very solemn and grand, which made Consort Hui and Consort Rong feel even more resentful.

After being crowned empress, Yunrong never moved palaces again. She was used to living in Yongshou Palace, and moving around would only annoy her.

The day after the coronation ceremony, the women of the harem began their first round of greetings to the Empress.

It was obvious to everyone that Yunrong was very favored. No one wanted to make things difficult for a favored empress. Even though Consort Hui and Consort Rong were resentful, they dared not be late in paying their respects, for fear that the emperor would find out and punish them.

Yunrong had just finished her breakfast when she heard that all the women to be selected for the harem had arrived. With such enthusiasm, Yunrong wondered if she had gotten up late.

Yunrong entered the main hall in a bright yellow dress that only an empress could wear, making her very dazzling.

Everyone rose to greet the Empress. After the greetings were completed and everyone sat down, Yunrong said, "My sisters have all arrived quite early today."

Consort Duan smiled and said, "It's only right that I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Empress. I've been longing to get closer to Her Majesty!"

Consort An smiled and replied, "Consort Duan is right. It is only right to arrive early to pay respects to Her Majesty."

Yunrong said with a smile, "You are all so kind, thank you for your thoughtfulness."

However, Yunrong was inwardly complaining, "You guys came so early, I can't even sleep in anymore, how annoying!" But she couldn't show it.

Consort Hui and Consort Rong were unusually quiet today. They didn't dare to approach Yunrong, who was now the Empress, but they also didn't want to flatter her, so it was best for them to speak as little as possible.

Consort Duan and Consort An, for various reasons, did not get along well with Consort Hui and Consort Rong, so naturally they wouldn't miss the opportunity to curry favor with the Empress and fawn over Yunrong. (Wu Yiming)

Therefore, Yunrong's first greeting to the Empress was exceptionally harmonious, and Yunrong was happy with this atmosphere.

The rule was that all the women in the harem had to pay their respects to the Empress every day. However, Yunrong wanted to sleep in, so when the greeting was almost over, Yunrong said, "All of you sisters live in the East Six Palaces and have to go back and forth like this every morning. I feel sorry for you, so from now on, it will be fine to pay your respects once every two weeks."

Actually, nobody wants to get up early to greet you. It's okay when it's not cold in the morning, but it's the most painful thing to crawl out of bed when it gets cold.

Since the Empress had spoken, everyone in the harem was naturally happy.

Everyone said in unison, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty the Empress."

The Empress was kind, and then, in the following days, the concubines, led by Consort Duan and Consort An, began to flatter her. And it must be said, they flattered her quite well; at least Yunrong found it very pleasing.

Yunrong felt that it was about time before she told everyone to go back.

After everyone had left, Yunrong said, "Quickly change out of these clothes." They were quite formal and gorgeous, but not very comfortable.

Consort Hui and Consort Rong were feeling quite frustrated during their morning greetings. Consort Hui had been angry for so long, and seeing Consort Duan and Consort An smiling like flowers only made her more unhappy.

Consort Hui smiled insincerely at Consort Duan and Consort An, saying, "You two sisters are quite the smooth talkers. We should be careful, though, as we don't know if they'll even appreciate it."

Consort Hui mocked Consort Duan and Consort An for flattering the Empress.

Consort An feigned surprise and said, "What do you mean by that, Consort Hui? How can I be so eloquent? Wasn't everything I said just now the truth? Does Consort Hui think I'm wrong?"

Seeing this, Consort Rong said, "Why take it so seriously, Consort An? Consort Hui is always straightforward and didn't mean it that way. Why does it sound so different coming from you? Could it be that you've been reading too much lately and have learned to be pedantic?"

Consort An came from a good family and entered the palace. She was literate, but her academic talent was rather average. When she first entered the palace, she was humiliated because of this, which caused her a lot of laughter.

Consort An was furious. She had made a fool of herself because of her studies back then, something she was most reluctant to mention. Now that Consort Rong had brought it up, Consort An's face immediately darkened.

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