Despite He Jiao's various temptations, Guan Zhiyue resolutely finished her boiled vegetables. Burping, she looked at He Jiao, whose mouth was greasy from eating, and said with some disgust, "I say, Consort Xian, did you come here today just to tempt me?"

He Jiao smiled as she put down the small braised pigeon in her hand and then wiped her oily mouth.

She smiled and said to Guan Zhiyue in a coquettish tone, "No, I came here today to bring you food, but you would rather eat cabbage stalks than eat the food I brought today."

"I only managed to eat these things because I was adhering to the principle of not wasting food."

Guan Zhiyue looked at the leftover food on the table, then at He Jiao who was still hiccuping, and couldn't help but shudder. She pointed at the food on the table in disbelief and said, "My God, you're still doing this reluctantly."

He Jiao followed the direction Guan Zhiyue was pointing and looked over, then smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Hehe... I ate too much again today."

"I think you've been eating until you're stuffed at every meal! You really are a lazy bum. This palace is really suitable for you."

When He Jiao heard Guan Zhiyue say that the palace was suitable for her, she was filled with excitement, her eyes watery as if they could speak.

Looking at Guan Zhiyue with an innocent expression, he said, "At first, I thought my father didn't want to take care of me anymore, so he pushed me into this cold and ruthless imperial family."

I didn't expect to find so many fun and interesting things after coming in, so it wasn't a wasted trip.

"Hehe, now that my sister says this place is suitable for me, I can just wait patiently for the Emperor to come and summon me to his bedchamber. After that, I can have a few more children for the Emperor. I think I'll have a pretty good life."

Hearing He Jiao say this, Guan Zhiyue turned to look at He Jiao with some confusion and said, "Has Consort Xian never served the emperor before?"

He Jiao said somewhat awkwardly, "Oh dear, I already told you last time that I've never even seen what the Emperor looks like, let alone how I could possibly serve him in bed."

Guan Zhiyue remembered what her mother had told her some time ago: she had never met the Emperor.

"Then it seems our emperor is no good!"

As Guan Zhiyue was speaking, the Emperor in Chengqian Palace couldn't help but sneeze twice.

"Ah Qiu...Ah Qiu..."

Upon hearing the Emperor sneeze twice, Hua Quan quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please take care of your health!"

Li Qiji raised his hand and rubbed his nose, saying somewhat nonchalantly, "It's alright! It must be that the Empress Dowager is blaming me again."

From the Cold Palace, Guan Zhiyue continued, "Otherwise, why wouldn't they have asked you to serve them in bed?"

He Jiao's eyes widened upon hearing this. Her already large eyes became even larger, as if they were about to burst out of their sockets. Guan Zhiyue turned to look at her and was startled.

"What are you doing? You scared me to death."

"Sister, how could you speak of the Emperor like that? Aren't you afraid of losing your head? That's a capital offense!"

Guan Zhiyue said somewhat nonchalantly, "Am I right? A normal man with so many women in his harem who doesn't even lay a finger on them, what else could it be but a sickness?"

He Jiao quickly grabbed Guan Zhiyue's hand, looked her up and down, and said, "My dear sister, please keep your voice down! If you keep talking like that, I'm afraid we'll both be killed."

Guan Zhiyue pulled down her hand from her mouth and looked at He Jiao with a hint of gossip, asking, "You said the Emperor hasn't made a sound with any of his concubines?"

"Yes! Who says otherwise! We don't know what's wrong with the Emperor. Since we entered the palace, none of us have been summoned by the Emperor, and the Emperor has never gone to anyone's palace to sleep."

Guan Zhiyue immediately became interested, looking at He Jiao with a gossipy expression, and said, "I've seen that Consort He is usually very arrogant, haven't I?"

Upon hearing the name of the Imperial Concubine, He Jiao frowned and said, "Oh dear, sister, you don't know? Only the Emperor has ever eaten lunch with her in her courtyard."

That was the last time, but this was the only time the Emperor dined in the palace of his concubines, so naturally, the Imperial Concubine had to raise her status.

Guan Zhiyue couldn't understand why this emperor, who didn't like women, would marry so many women and place them in the harem.

Guan Zhiyue turned around and sat down to the side. After instructing someone to clear away all the leftover food from the table, the two began to gossip about the Emperor.

As expected, there's never a shortage of gossip. As soon as gossip is mentioned, everyone gets all excited, as if life would be particularly boring if there wasn't any gossip.

"These were all forced upon the Emperor by the ministers, since the Emperor's mind was not on the women in the harem at all."

So he truly accepted everything, even the dancers, singers, and beauties sent as tribute from foreign lands or other countries—our emperor accepted them all without question.

Guan Zhiyue's mouth gaped open wider than a goose egg. This was the first time she had ever heard of a man who had taken all the beauties in the world into his possession without hesitation, yet kept them all in his harem without any interest in her.

"It seems our Emperor's tastes are quite unusual!"

Hearing Guan Zhiyue's words, He Jiao looked at Guan Zhiyue with some confusion and asked curiously, "Sister, what is a fetish?"

Guan Zhiyue said with a smile: "A hobby is a special interest in certain things or objects, a hobby or special interest that has become a habit over time."

He Jiao nodded in understanding and said, "Does that mean our emperor has a penchant for collecting beautiful women and keeping them in the palace?"

Upon hearing He Jiao's explanation, Guan Zhiyue immediately sat up straight, feeling that she was a quick learner. She nodded with satisfaction and said, "Not bad, not bad, our little sister He Jiao is so smart, she understands right away!"

When He Jiao heard Guan Zhiyue praise her, she immediately raised her little head and said proudly, "Of course! My father said I'm the smartest."

"Hahahaha... It's good that you're smart, it's good that you're smart!" Guan Zhiyue laughed and continued to change the subject, gossiping once again.

"You know, the Emperor doesn't call for anyone to attend to him in bed, and he has no children. What do the concubines in the harem think?"

Hearing Guan Zhiyue ask this question, He Jiao immediately became interested and said, "Sister, you don't know that some of the concubines in our harem tell their fathers or brothers to force the emperor to come and serve them in bed."

"Isn't it strange? The Emperor accepted them all without question, and that very night he led a large contingent of Imperial Guards toward the inner palace."

He summoned all the concubines who had pleaded for him to serve him in bed to a palace and had them all tidied up.

I heard that the next morning, the concubines went crazy, demanding that the Emperor let them go home.

Guan Zhiyue was shocked to hear this and looked at He Jiao with great confusion, saying, "You mean the Emperor led the Imperial Guards and took all the concubines who had asked their fathers to plead for them to one palace?"

He Jiao reached for an apple on the table, wiped it with her sleeve, and took a bite. She said nonchalantly, "Yeah! She brought a squad of imperial guards and then moved them all to a palace."

"He went mad the next day? What? What did the Emperor order the Imperial Guards to do to these concubines?" Guan Zhiyue stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Just how ruthless and perverted was this man?

He Jiao seemed to sense that Guan Zhiyue was thinking something filthy, and quickly spoke up to stop her, saying, "Sister, what are you thinking about?"

"The Imperial Guards led by the Emperor are all stationed outside the palace, they've just kept all the windows tightly shut, preventing anyone inside from coming out."

Guan Zhiyue was shocked after hearing He Jiao's words. Vivid images were flashing through her mind.

He Jiao said breathlessly, "Only the Emperor and Eunuch Hua Quan went in. I don't know what happened inside, but the next day, all the women in the palace went crazy."

"A whole night?"

"Yes! The Emperor even came out by himself during that time. I wonder what he was doing."

Guan Zhiyue, still puzzled, asked, "Didn't any of the concubines' families ask the Emperor for an explanation?"

"Yes, their own daughter will definitely want an explanation. How did this perfectly normal person become so infatuated?"

They definitely needed the Emperor to give them an explanation, and the very next day, all the concubines' fathers and relatives knelt in Chengqian Palace demanding an explanation from the Emperor.

Guan Zhiyue finally caught the crux of the matter and quickly asked, "What did the Emperor say?"

"The Emperor simply ignored these people, and they remained kneeling for a long time. In the end, the Emperor got annoyed and demoted all the concubines to commoners, letting them take their own lives home."

"What did the Emperor do to them?"

After throwing the fruit pit into the wastebasket, He Jiao wiped her mouth and said, "No, some families take their children home and then hire those old women who specialize in looking after 'that' to look after them."

They said these girls were all still virgins, but they didn't know what the Emperor had done to them that night, making them so afraid and wanting to escape the palace.

Guan Zhiyue nodded with some regret. The biggest mystery surrounding this gossip still hadn't been solved!

"And then what happened to those concubines?"

He Jiao thought for a moment and said, "Ah, sister, didn't you know? This matter was known throughout the entire capital. You should have been in the capital at that time!"

Upon hearing He Jiao's sudden remark, Guan Zhiyue coughed violently and said somewhat awkwardly, "I suppose I was sick when all this happened!"

He Jiao nodded without thinking too much, and then continued, "Then naturally, some got married, some tried to kill themselves, and of course, some died after returning home."

Guan Zhiyue swallowed hard, looking at He Jiao with a somewhat frightened expression, and said, "This...this emperor is so terrifying, why are you still willing to marry him?"

"I'm lazy, and only this palace is suitable for me. As for the others, I guess it's because of their power! After all, if someone becomes a concubine in the palace, their family's status will definitely rise accordingly."

Guan Zhiyue finally understood. This must be the so-called era of power! As long as they can achieve the power they want, they are willing to venture into any dangerous place.

"I can't understand it, I really can't understand it!"

"What's so hard to understand? By the way, why did you marry our Emperor, sister?" He Jiao looked at Guan Zhiyue with some curiosity, her big eyes blinking, which made Guan Zhiyue tremble a little.

Guan Zhiyue raised her hand and touched the back of her head, chuckled dryly a few times, looking somewhat at a loss for words.

There was nothing she could do; she wasn't the original owner of this body. How could she know why the original owner wanted to marry this emperor? Was it just a crush from her youth, or something else entirely? Who could possibly figure it out?

"What's wrong? Doesn't my sister know why she has to marry the Emperor?"

"Hehe...this...hehe..."

He Jiao looked at Guan Zhiyue with a face full of expectation, as if she wouldn't let her go, relentlessly pursuing an answer.

Guan Zhiyue felt a little embarrassed by the question, so she stood up and said, "Little sister, you should go back early! I need to go exercise."

Seeing that she couldn't get any answers from him, He Jiao had no choice but to stand up from the stool.

She said with some regret, "Alas, it seems I won't know about my sister's gossip. I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to hear her talk about gossip again."

Guan Zhiyue awkwardly chuckled a few times in agreement.

She quickly ordered Bilian to send the girl away; she didn't want to see that girl again—it was practically the death of her!

"Phew! They're finally gone."

Guan Zhiyue watched as He Jiao walked out of the Cold Palace gate and finally breathed a sigh of relief. She patted her chest to calm herself down.

"Sigh, I also want to know why I was married into the palace."

As soon as Bilian entered, she heard Guan Zhiyue say this. She looked at Guan Zhiyue in disbelief and said, "Your Majesty, what nonsense are you talking about? This is your favorite emperor, the emperor you have been in love with for so many years!"

Upon hearing Bilian's words, Guan Zhiyue thought to herself, "I knew it! I knew it!"

Chengqian Palace.

"The Empress Dowager has arrived!" The eunuch outside announced in his shrill and piercing voice the arrival of this noblewoman.

Upon hearing the sound, Li Qiji, who was reviewing memorials inside, looked up at Hua Quan with some shock, as if to say, "Why is the Empress Dowager here?"

"Your subject greets Your Majesty!"

Li Qiji looked at the woman who walked in from the door. She was dressed in simple yet elegant clothes, and her hair was a little gray, but her eyes were full of energy and bright. She was supported by two old women on either side.

"If I hadn't come, wouldn't you have gone to visit my palace, child?"

"What? You won't come to see me, but I'm not allowed to come to see you either?" The Empress Dowager looked at her eldest son, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, and complained.

Li Qiji was dressed in a dragon robe, which stretched out to its fullest extent, making it seem as if a real dragon was coiled on his body.

His resolute yet handsome face made him appear as if he were an unparalleled beauty, with his thick, bushy eyebrows, high and firm nose, and rosy lips.

That perfect jawline propelled him to the pinnacle of male beauty, as if such a thing should only exist in heaven; whether he was beautiful or handsome was beyond definition.

"Isn't the Empress Dowager praying to Buddha in the palace? How could I dare to disturb her? That's why..."

"Alright, you always come up with excuses to fob me off. I've come here today to ask Your Majesty for a favor."

Li Qiji looked at Empress Dowager Xin with some curiosity and said, "Oh! What is it that you would dare to trouble Your Majesty to come to my palace in person?"

"You're not getting any younger, it's time for you to produce offspring for our Li family. Don't you even look at the concubines in your harem?"

Furthermore, the harem cannot be without a mistress for even a day. Before, there was no empress, but now there is one.

Li Qiji understood Empress Dowager Xin's meaning and said with a smile, "Alright, Your Majesty, I still have official business to attend to, so I won't chat with you any longer. Hua Quan, escort Your Majesty back to the palace."

Hua Quan quickly bowed and said, "Yes."

"Your Majesty, please!"

Seeing this, Empress Dowager Xin could only sigh, flick her sleeves, and leave angrily.

Li Qiji slumped onto the dragon throne, pinching his brow with his hand, looking somewhat dejected...