No matter how you calculate it, the people from Kunning Palace will definitely be punished along with them.

However, although everyone understood this, none of them disobeyed Chu Susu's orders and followed her out: the female lead is indeed the female lead, she is really powerful!

Although Chu Nian had her eyes closed, her spiritual power had already probed the details, and she sighed inwardly that she hadn't chosen the wrong person to rely on.

Chu Susu carried Chu Nian out of the outer hall and into the courtyard. There, she saw that everyone from Xukun Palace was waiting obediently outside. No one dared to make a sound, not even the confidants that Lian Nian had brought into the palace from the Lian residence.

She scolded them with a mixture of helplessness and annoyance: "What's wrong with you lackeys? Your master is making such a scene inside, and not one of you has come in to help or stop him. You really trust your master enough!"

If these servants were more efficient, would she need to be so busy? She's always worried about them bumping into things!

Even Lian Xi, as the head of Yikun Palace, kept her head down and didn't say a word. The others were even less likely to respond: who would dare say that their master had already instructed them on the way here that no matter what happened in the palace, they were only allowed to wait outside?

The Empress has arranged to travel to Xukun Palace and intends to stay there for a while.

The emperor and the regent stood there in the Kunning Palace for a long time, both at a loss.

The two of them, the Regent and the Emperor, were both deeply in love with Chu Susu. However, they were both scolded by Chu Susu and were feeling rather embarrassed.

Liu Quan had already retreated to a corner and knelt down while no one was paying attention, maintaining a prostrate and worshipping posture. One of his heads was still tightly covered by his hands. He felt his hands loosen slightly, realizing that this head was not enough for the two powerful figures present to chop off.

He had tried to sneak away several times, but the emperor hadn't issued an edict, nor had the regent, so he dared not leave! If those two remembered him later and settled scores, he would lose his head.

Emperor Ying Yuan and Li Xiao stared at each other for a while, the atmosphere on the scene was unusually cold and hostile.

Even kneeling in the corner, Liu Quan could feel the growing chill emanating from the two men.

Just when he thought the two were about to fight a fierce battle, with blood splattering everywhere, he suddenly saw Li Xiao take a step back, bow respectfully, and say loudly, "Your subject Li Xiao has finished reporting all matters."

Emperor Ying Yuan said, "In that case, Minister Li, please return to your residence!"

Li Xiao: "Your subject takes his leave!" After saying that, he withdrew.

Liu Quan watched him leave, and when he turned around, he saw the emperor staring coldly at him. Terrified, he quickly bowed his head and kowtowed on the ground, not daring to utter a sound, only trembling.

The emperor snorted coldly and turned away.

After a long while, Liu Quan finally mustered up his courage and raised his head again. Only after confirming that Kunning Palace was as quiet as a chicken and that no one was there did he breathe a long sigh of relief and get up to return to his imperial kitchen.

Xu Kun Palace.

After settling Chu Nian, who was already fast asleep from being drunk, Lian Xi was puzzled: Why does the Empress, who is supposed to live in Kunning Palace, insist on moving to our Xukun Palace?

She might have thought about it, but she didn't have the guts to go against the Empress, so she could only arrange the best accommodations for Chu Susu under Suhe's cold stare.

Because Chu Nian had already fallen asleep in the main hall, Chu Susu was arranged to stay in a side hall. Although it was the best-located, most spacious, and most luxuriously decorated side hall, it was still a side hall, so Suhe was very dissatisfied.

The Empress is the head of the harem. No matter how high the title of the Noble Consort is, it cannot be higher than that of the Empress. How can the Noble Consort Lian live in the main hall while the Empress lives in a side hall? If it weren't for the Empress's magnanimity in not holding a grudge against Xukun Palace, this alone would have been enough to take the heads of everyone in Xukun Palace.

"Your Highness, it's getting late. Please make do for the night. Tomorrow morning, after I inform the Imperial Concubine, I will arrange another place for Your Highness to stay." Lian Xi was glared at fiercely by Su He and felt uneasy, so she quickly apologized to Chu Su Su.

Chu Susu then said, "Your Consort drank too much today, so you must take good care of her."

Lian Xi quickly replied, "Yes."

Chu Susu originally intended to return to the side hall to rest, but then she suddenly remembered the people from Xukun Palace. When she was in Kunning Palace, Chu Nian was so drunk that she didn't even offer to come and serve her, so she was very worried about them. Therefore, she stopped as soon as she turned around and walked to the door.

After thinking for a moment, she said, "Alright, I'll just stay in your lady's bedchamber for the night. Those of you on night duty can stay outside and serve me!"

"Your Majesty, this... isn't quite right!" Lian Xi said with difficulty.

Chu Susu said, "What's wrong with that? Are you afraid that I'll eat your Consort Lian?"

Suhe said, "Your Majesty the Empress is absolutely right." Then she turned to Lianxi with a stern expression and rebuked her, "The Empress is the head of the harem. How can it be that a Consort lives in the main hall while the Empress has to sleep in a side hall?"

Chu Susu hadn't considered this issue at all; she was worried that these servants wouldn't serve Consort Lian with their hearts.

Thinking that this Consort Lian was single-mindedly in love with the Emperor, and that she hadn't even realized that her own confidants in the palace had been bribed by her rival for a long time, one can only sigh at how big her heart was.

She was unaware that the palace was rife with intrigue, and that her genuine affection for the emperor was the last thing she needed. Ironically, she was incapable of scheming, possessing only sincerity. Her behavior was often willful and capricious, her words often rude, causing her to offend countless concubines in the palace.

Consort Dong and Consort Xiao were just two of the many concubines who were hostile to Lian Nian; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were just the tip of the iceberg.

Under Lian Xi's helpless gaze, Su He lay on Chu Nian's huge bed, with another quilt placed beside Chu Nian.

Chu Susu told Lian Xi and Su He to stand guard outside the palace and that she would call them if anything happened. Then she lay down on the bed fully clothed.

But she couldn't fall asleep no matter what she did; all she could think about were the words Chu Nian had said to her in Kunning Palace that afternoon.

One moment it's: "They men are already the rulers of this world, why aren't they satisfied, why do they still fight and struggle all day long?"

Then she said, "They all look down on us women, thinking we women can only survive in the backyard. Little do they know that if we women really wanted to compete with them, I'm afraid none of them could beat us!"

Or it might be something like, "Sister, are all men so boring? Otherwise, why are the Emperor and the Regent still fighting endlessly when it's a peaceful and prosperous time?"

...

Only now has she realized that the woman she had always thought was foolish was actually not foolish at all. Her thoughts and insights were no less than those of men, and even surpassed those of many court officials.

Unfortunately, as a woman, she was bound by the rules of this world and could only be confined to the deep palace for her entire life.

Thinking of this, she unconsciously recalled what Chu Nian had said that afternoon: "Sister, if one day we are able to leave the palace, shall we travel the world together?"