"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to Consort Nian. May Consort Nian enjoy boundless blessings and peace." The women knelt on the ground in perfect unison, like robots.

Nian Yuyao secretly counted and found that, apart from himself, he had only eight concubines, which was very few for an emperor of supreme status.

"No need for formalities," Nian Yuyao waved her hand, wearing a fake smile just like the others.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The concubines slowly rose, but Songyin was the first to stand up. Before Nian Yuyao could even say to take a seat, she sat down.

Such arrogant behavior aroused the dissatisfaction of the other concubines, who began to whisper and speak ill of Songyin.

Songyin gave them a mocking look. "Last night I served the Emperor and I was exhausted. This morning, my legs were weak and I really couldn't stand for long."

"How shameless! How dare you say such things in this setting? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were a prostitute from the brothel," one of the concubines couldn't help but retort.

“You…” Songyin was instantly furious, her face turning red. She was about to get angry, but seeing the warning look in Consort Li’s eyes, she shut her mouth and remained silent for a while before saying, “Empress Nian didn’t say anything, but you spoke first. It seems that you haven’t been favored by the Emperor for many years and don’t know the hardships inside.”

"You..." Now it was the concubine's turn to get angry. She looked up at Nian Yuyao unwillingly, wanting to ask her for help.

Nian Yuyao waved her hand, "Say less. As a concubine, you must set an example, be careful with your words, and not quarrel over trivial matters."

Seeing that Nian Yuyao did not stand up for her, the concubine snorted and muttered, "A dignified Consort Nian is afraid of a lowly concubine. She is truly useless."

Nian Yuyao saw her lip movements, but pretended not to notice.

At this moment, a palace maid dressed in light purple rushed over. She supported herself and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress's headache has flared up again, and she cannot attend the banquet." As she spoke, she took out a piece of fine mutton-fat jade from her bosom. "This is a full-moon gift from the Empress to the little prince. I hope Your Majesty will not find it offensive."

The jade was engraved with the words "May you have peace year after year," which truly showed that the Empress genuinely wished Fu Pei, the child, well.

Nian Yuyao nodded slightly, "Your Majesty is too kind. I will accept this gift."

After speaking, Chen Xi stepped forward and accepted the mutton-fat jade.

"In that case, this servant will take her leave now," the palace maid said, bowing.

After the palace maid left, the troublemaking Songyin spoke again, "Her Majesty the Empress is really stingy, only giving a piece of mutton fat jade. But there are plenty of mutton fat jades in the palace, and I give them to my servants as rewards."

If you don't cause trouble, you won't die. The palace maid hadn't actually gone far. When she heard Song Yin speak, she paused for a moment before leaving.

"Ha, as expected, your status is lowly and your knowledge is limited. Do you think that's ordinary mutton fat jade?" It was the same concubine who had just been criticizing.

According to Chen Xi, the concubine who loved to argue was Consort Xin.

"How expensive can mutton fat jade be? Even the best quality is only worth ten taels of gold. Sister Xin is too stingy, thinking even ten taels of gold is too precious." Song Yin said leisurely, fanning herself with her fan.

“To call you stupid would be an insult to the word stupid. That mutton fat jade was carved from the snow-capped mountains of the Western Regions. When you hold it in your hand in the summer, it will feel cool, and you don’t even need ice. This piece is worth a fortune!” Consort Xin gave her a mocking look.

"Hmph!" Songyin scoffed. "What's so special about it? I'll ask the Emperor to give me one too."

Consort Xin rolled her eyes at her, "You? You want it? Let's see if you're worthy of it. Or maybe you'll have it in your next life!"

“You…” Songyin stood up angrily, unable to bear Xin Guiren’s mockery any longer.

Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Consort Li became a little flustered, fearing that things would go wrong. She quickly interrupted, saying, "My good sister, my good sister, please stop arguing today. Today is the little prince's full moon celebration. Please don't spoil Consort Nian's mood."

Her voice was gentle, but to Nian Yuyao, it was full of sarcasm.

"Yeah yeah!"

The other concubines echoed this sentiment, and then each presented their own generous gifts.

Song Yin was the lowest in status among them, so her gift was naturally given last.

Seeing that there were no problems, Nian Yuyao received everyone's congratulatory gifts one by one, until Songyin picked up the gold necklace, at which point she began to be on high alert.

The person holding Fu Pei was Jun Si. Just as the collar was about to be put around Fu Pei's neck, he suddenly grabbed Song Yin's hand tightly.

Songyin was already feeling guilty, and when she saw someone stopping her, she stammered, "You lowly servant, what... what do you mean by this?"

Jun Si frowned and asked, "Young Master Yin, there's something wrong with your bracelet!"

"What's the problem?" Before Songyin could speak, Consort Li spoke first.

Nian Yuyao smiled slightly, watching Consort Li's flustered expression.

Consort Li forced herself to remain calm, and in order not to arouse Nian Yuyao's suspicion, she chuckled and said, "I was just curious. No one else noticed anything wrong with it, so how did she see it at a glance?"

Jun Si replied respectfully, "My father once owned a gold shop, so I know a bit about goldware." As she spoke, she kept her hand on Song Yin's, afraid that she might escape.

"I see." Consort Li nodded with an awkward laugh. "Then can you tell me what the problems are?"

“The coil is wrapped in gold on the outside, but it’s definitely not gold inside,” Jun Si said firmly.

"Bullshit! Utter nonsense!" Song Yin was so angry and embarrassed that she spat out her saliva as she spoke.

This caused the concubines standing nearby to cover their mouths and laugh.

Consort Li did not laugh, but simply asked, "If it's not gold, then what is it?"

"Judging from its shape, it should contain silver."

Upon hearing this, Consort Li breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to herself: I overestimated you.

Little did she know that all of this was Nian Yuyao's scheme; she was deliberately trying to make her lower her guard.

"Ha ha!"

Seeing this, Consort Xin laughed loudly, "You said the Empress was stingy, but it turns out the least respectable person is Consort Yin. She even knows how to fool people with this gold-wrapped silver project."

“I didn’t. There’s gold in here. Don’t listen to this lowly servant’s nonsense,” Songyin argued.

Consort Xin smiled and said, "Then why doesn't she say that other people's gold is problematic, but only yours?"

“This…” Songyin stammered, “She must have seen that the Emperor favored me and neglected Consort Nian, so she deliberately embarrassed me.”

Hearing what she said, it seemed to make some sense, so everyone's eyes turned to Jun Si, looking at her with suspicion.

Seeing that everyone believed her, Song Yin's lips curled up slightly, her face showing undisguised pride.

Even the deep-thinking Consort Li didn't notice anything amiss.