At Yong'an Palace, Consort Zhen also prepared a gift of thanks and had her personal maid deliver it to Fengyi Palace.

The young eunuch asked in bewilderment, "Your Majesty, why make such a fuss? How can you be so sure that Her Majesty the Empress will diligently teach the Sixth Prince?"

Consort Zhen smiled and sighed as she looked at the plan: "This wasn't written casually. It's clear that Her Majesty the Empress had a plan in mind all along. Even if she's paving the way for the First Prince, changing the current education system will indeed benefit the Sixth Prince, and..."

"And what?"

After Consort Zhen confirmed that everyone in the palace was one of her own, she stood up and looked at the palace sky outside the palace and said, "If the eldest prince can live up to the demeanor of the eldest son of the principal wife, it would not be bad if the eldest prince succeeded to the throne in the future. At that time, the sixth prince could be a carefree idle prince, and I could also leave the palace to live instead of being trapped in this lifeless and scheming harem for the rest of my life."

"But what about the adults..."

"As the Governor-General of the Two Lakes, isn't his power enough? My father is just too stubborn. The Empress Dowager was once a winner in palace intrigues, but how much more powerful is the Marquis of Chengen's mansion compared to my father's? Now, isn't she still sending Consort Shu back to the palace to consolidate her favor?"

Consort Zhen became increasingly disgusted as she spoke: "Sending one girl after another into the palace, sacrificing their freedom, what kind of ability is that? If you want power, can't you let the men in your family fight for it? And even if you become His Majesty's close minister, so what? How many close ministers have died in recent years? I don't understand, every dynasty is like this, so why are people still flocking to it?"

The longer she stayed in the palace, the more she missed her carefree life in the countryside of Hubei Province. That was truly carefree. If her father hadn't sent her to the palace, but instead married into any powerful family in Hubei Province, she could have continued that leisurely life with her father's status.

Although the family's power will weaken when Father gets old, isn't that the problem of the brothers? And so what if it weakens? Since ancient times, even powerful families have not been able to last long. Why insist on the highest position?

Now that she has given birth to a prince, even if he doesn't ascend the throne, being a prince in retirement can ensure that the family's power doesn't decline too much. There's no need to fight to the death for that position.

She made up her mind: if the Empress was magnanimous and had the world in her heart, then she would teach her son to assist the eldest prince.

At the entrance of Fengyi Palace, Consort Shu's personal maid and Consort Zhen's personal maid happened to meet. They both looked at each other in surprise, and then at the things the other was carrying on a plate.

Upon learning the purpose of their visit, Song Xia was momentarily surprised. She thought the road ahead would be difficult, but unexpectedly, Consort Shu and Consort Zhen would support her. Did this mean that in her previous life, they were also forced and pushed onto that path?

If that's the case, she'll have two assistants in the harem, which will make things much easier for her.

"I accept this gift. In the future, I will personally teach the six princes. Go back and tell your mother that they are welcome to come and watch me teach them."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Personally instructing them!" Consort Shu and Consort Zhen were genuinely curious. What would the Empress teach the six princes?

As for Consort Xian, after hearing that Consort Shu and Consort Zhen had both sent gifts, she hurriedly sent one as well, with a gift that was even more valuable than the two of them. However, Song Xia knew in her heart that Consort Xian was just trying to avoid gossip and was not as sincere as Consort Shu and Consort Zhen.

Consort Zhuang and Consort Zhen, on the other hand, made no comment whatsoever, clearly indicating to everyone that they did not like the Empress interfering in the education of the princes.

No matter, she also had someone tell the three of them to come and watch her teach.

"I'd like to see what kind of mess she can make of her teachings," Consort Zhuang said, holding her breath. "Didn't His Majesty send anyone to stop her?"

"I heard that the Empress reported to His Majesty, but His Majesty may have been busy cultivating with Daoist Qingfeng lately and has no time to attend to the Empress's affairs. Nowadays, even in the court, the Prime Minister, the Six Ministries, the Marquis of Chengen, and the Marquis of Zhongyong are handling government affairs together."

"This Taoist priest Qingfeng's appearance is truly timely. The power in the harem has been given to the Empress, and the power in the court has been given to the Prime Minister. No wonder my son said yesterday that the eldest prince has changed a lot. It turns out that he was just pretending all along!"

The more Consort Zhuang talked, the more she hated him. She had always been proud of her son's academic performance, which surpassed that of the eldest prince. Now it seemed that the eldest prince was not bad at all; he just hadn't shown it before. Now that someone was backing him up, he stopped pretending.

"Your Majesty, be careful what you say! I heard that Daoist Qingfeng has once again displayed his magical powers and cured His Majesty's chronic headache. Even the imperial physicians are amazed. He truly has amazing skills!"

Consort Zhuang's expression shifted unpredictably: "It's a pity she's not one of my people. Did Master Qingfeng accept the things I asked you to send?"

"No, not only were ours confiscated, but Consort Li's were also confiscated. As for the other palaces, it seems no one went to deliver them."

"Not seeking fame or fortune, could it be that you've come here truly for His Majesty's immortality?" Consort Zhuang grew increasingly agitated. If His Majesty had truly achieved immortality through cultivation, wouldn't the world have always belonged to him?

"I asked to see him, did he agree?" If His Majesty can truly achieve immortality, then she too will embark on the path of cultivation!

"Master Qingfeng's young attendant said that he must now devote himself to helping His Majesty cultivate and will not see anyone." The eunuch's voice grew softer and softer as he spoke. "Perhaps there were too many people who wanted to see Master Qingfeng, so His Majesty issued an edict that from now on, no one may disturb Master Qingfeng without His Majesty's permission."

Consort Zhuang's heart sank. This wouldn't work, that wouldn't work. Wouldn't she have to be at the mercy of the Empress from now on?

"If she dares to harm the prince, I will risk my rank as a concubine to expose her wicked heart."

Since no other options could be found, everyone could only watch helplessly as Song Xia took action. Two days after the education reform, she began her first lesson. Consort Zhuang, Consort Xian, Consort Shu, Consort Li, and Consort Zhen all appeared in the Imperial Study.

It was clear that Consort Shu and Consort Zhen had expectant looks in their eyes, while Consort Zhuang, Consort Xian, and Consort Li were extremely vigilant, as if waiting to find something to use against her.

"Xiaoling, have you prepared everything I asked for?"

"I'm ready, Xiaxia, don't worry."

Song Xia was very fortunate that the Xuan Dynasty already had the technology to make glass, which explained the source of the experimental tools she used to make for the six princes today.

If you want to spark children's interest in learning and let them see the magic of her teaching as soon as possible, then using fun experiments to arouse everyone's curiosity in the first lesson is the simplest and most direct way.

So for today's two classes, she prepared two interesting experiments that are well-known to students in modern society.

One experiment uses the principle of refraction and focusing by concave and convex mirrors to let them witness spontaneous combustion without a flame. The other experiment also involves spontaneous combustion without an open flame, but it uses chemical methods to produce oxygen. Most people who have completed junior high school should have done this experiment. After producing oxygen, simply place a glowing match at the mouth of the oxygen collection bottle, and the spark will immediately turn into a flame. If placed at the mouth of the carbon dioxide bottle, the flame will be extinguished instantly.