As Qingyan stepped into the hall, many court ladies had already arrived. Some of them smiled even more when they saw Qingyan. The court ladies rose to greet Qingyan and she nodded with pursed lips.

"Let's all kowtow." Qingyan behaved extremely dignifiedly in front of people she didn't know well.

"Thank you, Madam Xie!"

She took the seat of honor on the right. After the ladies-in-waiting were seated, they tried to find an excuse to say a few words to Qingyan.

Qingyan kept her head down, waiting for Consort Tong and Lady Yingenjueluo to arrive.

Apart from Lady Cao and Lady Li, she didn't recognize the other women in the court, but she saw greed in their eyes.

Although Madam Cao and others came from good families and their husbands' families were wealthy, and they never lacked beautiful women, Linglong Pavilion had very few. On the one hand, the beautiful women in Linglong Pavilion were too expensive, and the master of the house would take care of his favorites. They were about the same age as the master and had long since lost their beauty.

Linglong Pavilion was only established in the last few years. The concubines who were favored in the back courtyard all had a set of exquisite jewelry purchased from Linglong Pavilion. Even if they lost favor, they still had a set of exquisite headdresses as a memento. What did the legitimate wives have?

"Fourth Princess Consort, besides Hangzhou, could Linglong Pavilion be opened in Yangzhou?" A woman in her early twenties asked, pursing her lips.

Qingyan glanced at the other woman's skirt; she wasn't a lady with bound feet.

"Fourth Princess Consort, this is the principal wife of the Salt Commissioner," Madam Cao quickly explained to Qingyan, noticing her gaze.

Su Lan whispered in Qing Yan's ear about this person's identity: his family were Shanxi merchants.

"Yangzhou?!" Qingyan smiled. "Yangzhou should open this year."

Qingyan smiled and said that Linglong Pavilion would be opened in every wealthy place.

"Little darling, you're here so early. Have you had breakfast?" Yingenjueluo led Songkelierha in, and Qingyan stood up to greet the mother and daughter.

Songkriyirha sat beside Qingyan, her hair adorned with a small hairpin made of rubies, arranged in the shape of the character "福" (fortune), which Qingyan had prepared for her.

"Wok, is the hairpin pretty?" Songkri Yierha came to Qingyan and always brought some pretty headdresses, clothes or delicious food, without fail.

Consort Tong listened to their conversation in the inner chamber. When Qingyan encountered trouble, Consort Tong simply listened in silence, without any intention of helping.

"Good look, little girl, did you have a good breakfast?" Qingyan finally breathed a sigh of relief. The intense gazes of the officials' wives made her feel uncomfortable all over.

After exchanging pleasantries with the women for a while, Lady Yin Genjue Luo sat down next to Qing Yan.

"Li Jia will be coming over in a bit, remember not to talk back." Yin Genjue Luo Shi heard Yin's order and prepared to give her some instructions in advance.

Qingyan nodded. The officials' wives were well aware of the power struggle between the Crown Prince's concubine and the Fourth Prince's wife, and it was best for them to stay out of it as much as possible.

"Madam, I heard that the Crown Prince's concubine has also arrived. Why didn't she come to pay her respects to the Imperial Concubine?" The women present were from different factions and had a great deal of dissatisfaction with Li Jia's delayed arrival.

To the outside world, Lady Li Jia represented the face of Yuqing Palace. Many of her husbands were people the Crown Prince was trying to win over. One mistake by Lady Li Jia completely ruined the image of Yuqing Palace.

“Who said I wouldn’t come? I just arrived on time!” Li Jia was dressed in a vermilion palace gown, with a five-jeweled gold hairpin on her head and two pairs of pearl earrings on her ears. This was the difference between a primary consort and a secondary consort.

Yin Genjue Luo sat in her chair, not even sparing Li Jia a glance. Qing Yan stood up to greet her.

"Fourth sister-in-law, I am your second sister-in-law. The first seat on the left should be occupied by the eldest wife, and the second seat on the right should be occupied by me!" Li Jia said with a sarcastic smile, trying to push her aside.

Qingyan sat down in the chair and waved the round fan in his hand.

“If you were the second sister-in-law, you would be entitled to sit in the first seat on the right, or even the first seat on the left. When the primary wife and the secondary wife meet, even if you are a member of the Crown Prince’s family, you must follow the rules!” Qingyan showed no respect for Li Jia’s family. Recently, she and Li Jia’s family had been fighting quite a bit.

Li Jia smiled awkwardly and had no choice but to sit in the second chair on the left.

When Consort Tong heard Qingyan's angry words, she laughed. The girl had quite a temper.

Li Jiashi was a woman who didn't know any manners. She even exchanged words with Qingyan in front of the court ladies, showing no respect whatsoever.

A moment later, Consort Tong straightened her golden palace dress and stepped out wearing five-inch high flowerpot shoes.

Yin Genjue Luo Shi and Qing Yan led the ladies in bowing. Li Jia Shi stared at Qing Yan with unfriendly eyes. She should have been on the right, but Qing Yan's refusal deprived her of the opportunity to show off in front of the ladies of the court.

"Rise and kowtow, all of you. You've all been quite busy these past few days in Jiangnan." Consort Tong smiled warmly as she looked at the ladies-in-waiting, who were already trembling with fear.

"This servant wouldn't dare!" Madam Cao knew that Consort Tong had been quite angry about any servants in the Cao household who tried to climb into her bed. Cao Yin had been frowning all along. His relationship with Li Xu had become too deep. Outsiders thought that their relationship had ended and that they were avoiding each other.

Qingyan sat to the side and noticed that the women were much thinner than when they first met, and they probably rarely came to pay their respects every three days anymore.

"Just now, I heard you all talking so excitedly inside." Consort Tong glanced in Qingyan's direction, and the little maid pouted, knowing that Consort Tong was referring to her.

"Mother, a lady asked me when we will open Linglong Pavilion in Yangzhou!" Qingyan covered her mouth and smiled, her embarrassed expression deeply irritating Li Jia.

Ever since it was revealed that Linglong Pavilion and Yuelai Inn belonged to Qingyan, the Crown Prince has said many times that Qingyan has brought Yin a lot of benefits, and Li Jiashi is in a particularly bad mood.

"Your Majesty, the jewelry and ornaments at Linglong Pavilion are exceptionally exquisite. We all like to shop there. After all, jewelry and ornaments are transported from the capital, so it's only fair that they are more expensive!" Most of the officials in Jiangnan are from aristocratic families. Many of their families have been passed down for hundreds of years and have a very solid foundation. They don't care about these trivial amounts of silver.

The women all nodded in agreement; these were symbols of status, and their husbands' families would not be stingy with them.

"Yes, we don't have the same abilities as the Fourth Prince's wife. We should just obediently be the ladies behind the master!" Li Jia said coldly.

Consort Tong's expression instantly turned solemn. Li Jia had just arrived and was already preparing to cause trouble.

"Madam, you haven't been involved in the business either, have you?" Li Jia's words left her with no way to back down.

“That’s not right. Who among us has that ability?” Yin Genjue Luo didn’t even glance at Li Jia.

Consort Tong simply sat there, watching the three royal wives bicker.

Qingyan found it strange that Consort Tong, for the first time, disregarded the royal family's reputation and allowed them to bicker outside. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)