When Wu Qing entered the room, the emperor was sitting at a rosewood desk.

With a focused gaze, he meticulously reviewed the pile of memorials, without any sign of laziness after his nap.

Wu Qing secretly smacked her lips, then stepped forward and saluted respectfully: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be blessed with good health."

"Get up."

The emperor said without even looking up, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Is Concubine Ji still practicing sword dance? If necessary, I can practice with you."

Sword dance?

Wu Qing had just stood up, but when he heard this, he staggered again.

[Fuck, I forgot about this. ]

She stood still with a gloomy face, and was attacked again by the memory of the dead.

The emperor also took in all her actions and couldn't help but smile.

Wu Qing said awkwardly: "Your Majesty, I have decided not to practice sword dance anymore."

The emperor did not comment, "Are you really not going to practice anymore? Fang Rong Anxian came to talk to me and said that you have extraordinary bones and can wield the legendary Sword of Breaking Evil. If you don't practice anymore, wouldn't that be burying your talent?"

He paused, then smiled and said, "The Queen and the Imperial Concubine cannot practice with you, but I can. What do you think?"

Wu Qing was horrified and quickly bowed to refuse: "Your Majesty is busy with many things and the affairs of state are heavy. How can I let Your Majesty worry about me for my own selfish reasons? I won't practice anymore, I really won't practice anymore."

[I sincerely regret it! I will never assassinate you again! Please don't come over here! ]

The emperor got a satisfactory answer and stopped making things difficult for Wu Qing. He nodded to show that he understood.

The emperor asked: "Why did you come here today?"

Wu Qing bowed her head and replied, "Your Majesty, this matter is very complicated. It has to start from the day I moved into Kunning Palace..."

She brought up the fact that Xiwen had used her name to sell information about beautiful girls in Jingyixuan.

As Wu Qing continued to narrate, the emperor's brows furrowed more and more.

The memorial in his hand had already been closed unconsciously by him and was lying quietly on the dragon desk.

The palace was too quiet, Wu Qing called out softly: "...Your Majesty?"

The emperor frowned and said helplessly, "It has only been a short while since Concubine Li framed you. How did something happen again?"

Because of the Empress Dowager's intervention, Concubine Li disappeared quietly in the palace.

As the ruler of a country, the emperor naturally knows every event in the palace.

Although the emperor did not fully agree with the empress dowager's approach, since what Li Guiren did did not directly affect the interests of the royal family, he acquiesced.

The journey of the goddess descending to earth to overcome the calamity was full of twists and turns, the emperor thought.

The Emperor had a complicated expression when he discovered that Wu Qing was always in trouble.

——I don’t know what kind of trouble Noble Lady Ji will cause next time?

Wu Qing inexplicably read a hint of disgust in the emperor's expression.

She touched the tip of her nose and said defensively, "Your Majesty, this cannot be blamed on me. I was also helpless. It was not me who took the initiative to provoke them..."

The emperor shook his head, picked up the pen and said, "I understand."

He was just expressing his feelings.

Before Concubine Ji came into his sight, the harem was peaceful and tranquil.

The Queen and the Imperial Concubine checked and balanced each other, and there had never been any major incident that caused him any worry.

But to Wu Qing, the emperor's light words were like a boulder thrown accidentally, stirring up waves in Wu Qing's heart.

[Do you understand? You understand whatever you understand.]

[In the eyes of the emperor, I am probably a troublemaker, right? ]

[Qi Changzai, Li Guiren, Xiwen, these three people who have nothing in common, but they all harbor ill will towards me. Flies don't bite eggs without cracks, so I can't escape the blame, right?] Wu Qing secretly rolled his eyes.

The emperor nodded.

you do not say?

It is normal for Ji Guiren to offend people as he is not afraid of exposing his own faults.

Before knowing Wu Qing's true identity, the emperor had wanted to kill Wu Qing many times.

Wu Qing continued in his heart: [In fact, there are many concubines in the harem who have a worse fate than me. It's just that they died before the emperor noticed, or the emperor saw it but chose to turn a blind eye. ]

[The Emperor always thought that by letting the Empress and Imperial Concubine fight each other constantly, he could maintain the delicate balance of the harem. However, such indulgence would only lead to more deaths.]

[In the original book, after the Queen died, the Emperor made Concubine De and Concubine Gui fight against each other.]

[He was happy, but the concubines were unlucky. Back then, there were more than 30 concubines in the harem, and with the selection of beautiful girls later, it was so prosperous.]

[What a pity, only seven people survived in the end. Tsk tsk tsk.]

Hearing these words, the emperor almost dropped the pen.

...Seven? Which seven?

Is the Queen still here? Where is the Imperial Concubine?

[Except for Sister Fei, none of the others who survived were favored by the Emperor. This can be considered as retribution for the evil power.]

The emperor suddenly felt a headache.

Perhaps he was just in a dream and was inadvertently affected by the great power of Lady Ji.

"Mrs. Ji, you just said...how were you going to deal with Xiwen?"

The emperor had no intention of continuing to deal with the mountain of memorials at this time. He walked to the soft couch beside him and motioned Wu Qing to sit opposite him.

Speaking of this, Wu Qing became interested, and his inner criticism of the emperor came to an end.

She said seriously: "Your Majesty, I think Xiwen should be given a chance to atone for his sins."

The emperor nodded slightly, motioning for her to continue.

Wu Qing cleared his throat.

"Your Majesty, if you directly sentence Xiwen to death, wouldn't all the evil she committed remain in the world?"

"If this continues, the bad karma accumulated in the palace will become heavier, and the resentment will be like a dark cloud pressing down on the city, which will not only endanger the peace of the court, but will also erode the emperor's virtue."

Wu Qing knew that she was making excuses, and the emperor also knew that she was making excuses.

But the emperor still cooperated and asked: "...So?"

"So... Your Majesty, why don't you give those who have made mistakes in the palace a chance to start over?"

Wu Qing tentatively said, "Can we build a 'Confession Hall' outside the palace to provide a place of atonement for those who have made mistakes accidentally, so that they can wash away the sins in their hearts."

"Xiwen is like this, are those concubines who made mistakes also like this?"

The emperor remained silent, and the corners of his mouth, which had originally been slightly curved, gradually turned downward.

This proposal is obviously impossible.

Concubines made mistakes but were not punished? Where is the dignity of the royal family?

Lady Ji is too naive.

Wu Qing advised: "Your Majesty, if the concubines make a serious mistake, even if you don't impose severe punishment on them, you will inevitably have to banish them to the cold palace. In that case, you might as well send them all out of the palace to atone for their sins, so that you can also accumulate some merits..."

The emperor said indifferently: "You mean, I have killed so many people over the years, and the accumulated sins are already very serious?"

Wu Qing felt a chill down his spine, and could only laugh dryly, "How could that be possible... How could that be possible... Your Majesty, you have worked hard to govern the country, bringing peace and prosperity to the people. You are the one chosen by heaven, and your merits are immeasurable, so how could you be so close to sin?"

"But you have the protection of merit, but the concubines in the harem do not have such protection. In the harem, resentment lingers, which is not only bad for the concubines, but also for the Queen Mother."

"Why don't we take Xiwen as an example, conduct a pilot project first, and then promote it... If the effect of the 'Confession Hall' is not good, we can stop this project."

If these words had not been said by Concubine Ji, the Emperor would have put her in jail long ago.

Who dares to dictate the power of life and death?

but……

...Among the harem, only seven people can survive to the end?

...Is it really because of too much resentment?

The emperor frowned slightly, thought about it, and did not directly reject Wu Qing's absurd proposal.