"Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"

At the eunuch's shout, all the concubines in the harem stood up and looked at Song Xia with curiosity.

Yesterday's coronation ceremony was filled with elaborate rituals, and they didn't even get a clear look at what the Empress looked like. The harem had been vacant for two years, and everyone was vying for that position. His Majesty suddenly and without warning appointed a young girl as the Empress, which displeased everyone.

Fortunately, His Majesty embarrassed the new Empress yesterday by not staying overnight at Fengyi Palace on their wedding day. This was a huge joke. At this moment, they realized that His Majesty might not have married the new Empress out of love, but to balance the harem.

Tsk, in the end, none of the five of them can be empress, otherwise the stability of the harem will be broken. Currently, only the eldest prince has no harem, so they can only choose from the eldest prince's maternal family. In the end, the new empress can only be appointed as empress because she is lucky and happens to be born into the eldest prince's maternal family.

Song Xia scanned the concubines in the harem one by one. Apart from the mothers of several princes, there were also some concubines of lower rank. Because they did not have princes or princesses under their care, and their power was far less than that of these five concubines, they had little presence in the palace.

"This humble concubine greets Your Majesty the Empress."

"Rise," Song Xia said slowly, not intimidated by her young age or the fact that His Majesty had not stayed overnight in the palace the previous day. Instead, she met their gazes with a calm and steady expression.

The concubines felt a chill run down their spines; it seemed the new empress was not as simple and easy to deal with as they had imagined.

This is a difficult situation. As the eldest son of the Empress, the eldest prince had the highest chance of being made Crown Prince in the court. They finally outlived the late Empress, and now there is this unpredictable new Empress. It seems that their chances of winning are only greater if they defeat the eldest prince and the new Empress. Otherwise, as long as the eldest prince is alive, he will continue to occupy the rightful position.

"Your Majesty, I heard that His Majesty did not stay at Fengyi Palace yesterday. Please don't worry about it. His Majesty is busy with affairs, and this is a common occurrence." Consort Li was favored, and His Majesty visited her palace the most each month. She was usually spoiled and acted as the first to speak out.

Song Xia glanced at her indifferently and asked in a tone devoid of emotion, "Who are you?"

Consort Li's face twisted in disbelief. She never expected that the new empress wouldn't even remember who she was. The other concubines couldn't help but cover their mouths with their handkerchiefs and stifle their laughter.

The female official whispered, "Your Highness, this is Consort Li."

Song Xia continued to look at her with a calm gaze, as if not remembering was not a big deal: "Consort Li is well-informed and knows all the news in the palace. I thought Consort Li was from Cui Di and would be a little unfamiliar with the harem."

Upon hearing this, Consort Li's anger ceased abruptly, replaced by worry. Wasn't the new empress's words putting her in opposition to the other palaces?

She glanced around, and sure enough, everyone's wariness of her had intensified.

The new empress is quite cunning. With just a few simple words, she first weakened the empress's status in the harem, making her seem like just an insignificant concubine, and secondly, she reminded everyone that she was not as powerful as she seemed.

Consort Li stiffly explained, "Her Majesty the Empress said with a smile that it's just that His Majesty visits my palace more often, so that's why I made that guess."

"I didn't say anything, Consort Li, there's no need to be afraid."

Consort Li was even angrier. What was she afraid of? She was just a young girl who had never even received any favor from the emperor. What was she afraid of?

Seeing that Consort Li, who usually acted arrogantly because of the Emperor's favor, had been humiliated, the other concubines temporarily put aside their thoughts. There was plenty of time in the future. His Majesty had only just established an Empress and would certainly not depose her immediately. It would be better to find another opportunity later.

Judging from how Li Pin suffered today, it's clear that the new Empress is no simple woman. Don't let her fail to bring down the Empress and end up getting herself all dirty.

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is still at the temporary palace, so we don't need to go to Cining Palace to pay our respects. The sun is shining brightly today, would you like to take a stroll in the Imperial Garden?"

The speaker was Consort Shu, the Empress Dowager's niece. She entered the palace with a reputation for virtue and gentleness. No matter how fierce the infighting was, on the surface, Consort Shu was always the most gentle and kind one. It was said that she often stood up for the lower-ranking concubines in the harem, protecting those who were not favored from being bullied by the palace servants.

Regardless of her motives, her actions at least saved some people, so Song Xia was willing to give her some face.

"Then I will listen to Consort Shu. If any concubines are feeling unwell, they should return to their palaces first and do not need to accompany me."

Although they were given power, none of them actually wanted to leave, including Consort Li, who had just suffered a humiliating defeat. According to the rules and etiquette, they stood behind Consort Zhuang, Consort Shu, and Consort Xian, alongside Consort Zhen.

This dynasty was wealthy and, before being divided up by the Yan and Gui kingdoms due to internal strife, it was the most powerful of the three kingdoms. Therefore, the imperial palace was built to be extremely luxurious. It is said that it took tens of thousands of workers several months to dig the lake in the imperial garden, which shows how large the lake was.

Of course, many souls perished in this lake. On the day the city fell in the previous life, the blood of the murdered palace servants almost stained the lake red. This magnificent imperial garden was also destroyed by a great fire.

After all, both Yan and Gui had their own capitals, so there was no need to keep this place. Burning it down was also to show the remaining forces of Xuan that the emperor of Xuan was gone and there was no need for them to struggle any further.

The Imperial Garden was a beautiful sight at every turn, and it had cost so much manpower and resources to build. It was destroyed by a fire. Song Xia became more and more furious. These spendthrift sons were all troublesome. How heartbroken would future generations be when they saw this?

"What does Your Highness think of the scenery in the Imperial Garden?" Seeing that she was just walking and looking around without saying a word, Consort Zhuang couldn't help but ask.

Song Xia nodded in agreement: "That's right. It's clear that the craftsmen who built it back then were all highly skilled. Of course, the Ministry of Works has done a very good job maintaining it now."

Consort Zhuang curled her lips slightly. "You little brat, you've finally learned something, haven't you? So what if you're the new Empress? You're not as familiar with the palace as we are. The so-called Empress's authority is nothing but a formality. Aren't the various palaces in charge of their own affairs? There are officials in charge of important palace matters; you can't interfere."

"What is that place? It seems out of place here." Song Xia asked curiously, pointing to a training ground.

Consort Xian smiled and said, "Consort Zhuang comes from the border and has practiced martial arts since childhood. Therefore, when Consort Zhuang first entered the palace, His Majesty specially set up a martial arts training ground for her."

Song Xia nodded, but said, "It's a pity. Although His Majesty meant well, the palace servants' choice of this location is somewhat abrupt."

"Your Majesty is unaware that this was Consort Zhuang's own request."

Song Xia shook her head: "No wonder I thought Consort Zhuang's makeup was a bit out of place today. It turns out she has a poor sense of aesthetics."

These words immediately caused Consort Zhuang to feel embarrassed and angry, while the other concubines covered their mouths and chuckled.

Consort Zhuang's eyes were filled with murderous glare. Was this young girl truly shrewd or just feigning naivety? To say such things to her the very day after being made empress, humiliating her so much? What was wrong with her makeup and sense of style?