"Concubine Yi and Concubine Rou are my right-hand men and left-hand men. No matter who is killed, I will be heartbroken. Do you understand my painstaking efforts?"
Concubine Rou and Concubine Yi said in unison: "I understand."
"I understand. The Emperor is about to return from Jiuhua Peak, and I have a lot of trivial matters to attend to. Arranging for the newcomer to sleep with me..."
The Imperial Noble Consort volunteered, "I've been very free lately."
"The Imperial Concubine is in charge of the Shanggong Bureau, but she has nothing to do? The palace maids came to Qiwu Palace crying, saying that the autumn palace dresses have not been sent out yet. The Imperial Concubine must pay more attention to it."
The Imperial Concubine was deeply terrified and replied, "I will accept your advice."
Arranging a new person to sleep with the emperor is a lucrative job. Not only the Imperial Noble Consort is eyeing her, but Concubine Rou and Concubine Yi are also eyeing her covetously.
Concubine Jin was in Qiwu Palace, but her heart was in Qionghua Palace. Her mind was full of Go, and she was not thinking about paying respects at all.
The female cat in Zhenfei's palace gave birth to two kittens. She hurried back to feed the kittens with milk and didn't want to stay any longer.
The Queen kept weighing the pros and cons. Although the Imperial Noble Consort, Consort Rou, and Consort Yi were all under her command, she could not allow the three of them to become too powerful.
The emperor is about to return, and there are so many new people in the harem, so we need to make more plans.
Concubine Jin is a chess fanatic. She has wisdom but is unwilling to show it easily, and is difficult to tame.
Zhenfei was of noble birth and never formed cliques, so it would be a good idea to leave this matter to her.
"Sister Zhenfei, could you help me with the arrangements for the new bride to sleep with me?"
"The Queen is surrounded by talented people, and their experience in managing the harem is much greater than mine. You are unwilling to take on this task, so why do you bother to make things difficult for me?"
"I live in seclusion in a corner, raising cats and playing with dogs. I don't want to get involved in your dirty business. Goodbye."
Zhenfei got up and left, and Concubine Xian quickly got up and followed Zhenfei in.
Concubine Jin stood up and stretched. The four chess partners who played chess with her, Zhao, Qian, Sun and Li, also said goodbye and left.
Zhenfei's foreign family held a large number of troops and expanded the territory for the emperor. The Bohua Academy opened by Jinfei's family cultivated many loyal ministers for the court.
Therefore, Concubine Zhen and Concubine Jin were not afraid of the pressure from the Queen at all.
As for the four concubines, Xian Guipin, Zhao, Qian, Sun and Li, no matter how powerful and influential the empress was, they could not embrace her.
Only by holding on tightly to Concubine Zhen can Concubine Jin's thighs remain standing.
The queen kicked the ball to Zhenfei, who kicked it back and turned away.
Anger surged in the queen's eyes, and everyone lowered their heads, only Concubine Yi whispered comforting words.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. Sister Zhenfei has always been outspoken."
"She's not only outspoken, she doesn't even care about me."
Concubine Rou continued, "Sister Zhenfei is too aloof and arrogant to shoulder such a heavy responsibility."
The Queen didn't want to talk any more, so she casually said, "As for arranging the new bride's bedchamber, you three will take care of it. Everyone, go away."
The Queen left a handwritten letter. Xia Chan held the letter and stood facing the three people. The Imperial Noble Consort was not in a hurry to take the letter, but looked at the Second Concubine Yirou beside her.
"Which of you would like to take the handwritten letter left by the Empress?"
Both Concubine Yirou wanted to take it, but they could only suppress their excitement and wait for the Imperial Noble Concubine's next words.
"Empress Rou, I heard that there's a little maidservant beside you who loves to cry. If she cries so much, why don't you kick her out of the palace as soon as possible?"
"Although autumn has arrived, there are tens of thousands of maids in the palace. Shouldn't the people in the Shanggong Bureau focus on making autumn clothes for the concubines first instead of making clothes for the palace maids?"
"Your Majesty, you've troubled yourself over such a trivial matter. You really know how to manage your people."
Concubine Rou was respectful and did not dare to say a word in reply.
"The Empress's handwritten instructions must be handed over to reliable people. Concubine Yi is dignified and knows the big picture. I can rest assured that the handwritten instructions will be given to Concubine Yi."
Xia Chan bent down and held the imperial edict before Concubine Yi. After accepting it, Concubine Yi hurriedly thanked her, saying, "Your Majesty, you have such trust in me. I will do my best to handle this matter."
The Imperial Noble Consort glared at Consort Rou and turned away, "You incompetent rat, only fit to hide in the dark and secretly make accusations."
Not only did Concubine Rou not receive the imperial edict, she was also ridiculed by the Imperial Noble Concubine.
This task was assigned to the three of them by the Queen. Now the Imperial Noble Consort has obviously reached an alliance with Concubine Yi. If things are done well, the credit will go to the Imperial Noble Concubine and Concubine Yi. If things are not done well, the blame will fall on Concubine Rou alone.
Concubine Yi stretched out a hand painted with red nail polish and pinched an envelope between two fingers. The envelope contained the empress's handwritten order.
"Rou Fei, if you are willing to smile at me, I will give you the imperial edict."
Concubine Rou blushed. Smile? She was the principal concubine of the First Palace, not a prostitute. Why should she smile at her?
"Concubine Yi, don't be too proud. I'm not afraid of you."
Concubine Rou raised the back of her hand and wiped her face, then returned to Jingyang Palace with the palace maid.
Concubine Yi walked and laughed, heading in the opposite direction of Concubine Rou. The sadder the enemy was, the happier she was.
Gu Yinwei was standing by the railing. The pavilion was located at a very high altitude, and she had a clear view of the conversation between the three concubines. They were all women, and were in their prime years, but they were like water and fire, neither of them could forgive the other.
Xiaoyu, the palace maid beside Zhenfei, came to call Gu Yinwei to go to Changning Palace to hold the cat. Gu Yinwei followed Xiaoyu to see Zhenfei.
Chuchu gave Xiaoyu a handful of melon seeds and chatted with her.
"Aunt, is Concubine Zhen free now?"
"Just call me Xiaoyu. I'm about the same age as you. Our Concubine Zhen is very easy to get along with."
Gu Yinwei did not agree with this statement. After all, Zhenfei dared to go against the Queen. When the Queen assigned her a task, she stood up and left, with arrogance between her brows, as if she did not take anyone in the harem seriously.
"Xiaobai, come down quickly."
There was a person standing under a rockery not far away. The person was holding the skirt and directing the white cat on the rockery to jump down.
Gu Yinwei saw that she was wearing a plain white dress, her hair was tied up in a snake bun, and a wooden hairpin was inserted diagonally in her temples.
Her fingers were slender, and she wasn't wearing any earrings or a collar. Through the bushes, she didn't recognize that this person was Concubine Zhen, and thought she was just a maid in Changning Palace who was responsible for feeding the cats.
Xiaoyu went over to announce, "My Lady, Gu Gengyi is here."
"Let her take Little Lihua away. I'm busy. Little Bai won't come down."
Zhenfei seemed very anxious. The eunuchs found a bamboo ladder, but the ladder was still some distance away from the rockery. The white cat was afraid of people and hid and disappeared.
Concubine Zhen yelled, "Go away! You've frightened my cat. It's getting irritated just by the sight of you."
Zhenfei circled around the rockery but couldn't find the white cat.
Xiaoyu came out carrying a cage with a newly born tabby cat in it.
Chuchu seemed very happy. She opened the cage and held the tabby cat in her arms.
Cangzhu Palace was too remote, and Chuchu had to embroider all day long. Gu Yinwei was worried that she would hurt her eyes from the frequent embroidery, so she asked Gu Yingxia to hire a kitten from Concubine Zhen.
According to Gu Yingxia, the kitten was hired with three bags of salt, and a letter of engagement was placed in the cage.
Zhen Fei squatted on the ground and imitated the cat's meow, "Meow, meow."
The white cat refused to come out, and Gu Yinwei decided to go up and help for the sake of the little tabby cat.
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