Seeing Yunxian's droopy face, Zhe Zhe's lips curled up slightly.
Yunxian understood that this was Zhe Zhe trying to intimidate her, so she quickly regained her composure and smiled, "Your Majesty the Empress is truly frugal; even the seating arrangement is just right."
Zhe Zhe said calmly, "With the war going on so fiercely, it's natural to save some money. I'm worried about the Emperor."
Yunxian pursed her lips. "The Empress's intentions are certainly good, but there's no need to be so stingy. An extra pair of chopsticks won't cost much money."
Instead of being angry, Zhe Zhe laughed, "It's not that I'm unwilling to add more chopsticks, it's just that I don't know where to place you at the table." She paused, then said, "If I were to place you at the very end alongside the concubines, it would be a real injustice to you, after all, you gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor and were once the emperor's primary consort. But to place you next to me would be very inappropriate, you should know that your current status is that of a deposed concubine."
When the words "deposed concubine" were mentioned, Zhe Zhe couldn't help but emphasize them.
Yunxian's chest heaved with anger, but her face remained calm. "The Empress is right, my position is indeed awkward, but it was the Emperor who invited me to the banquet. You can't expect me to just stand here and watch you all laugh and joke!"
“Of course not.” Zhe Zhe nodded. “Anyway, there are quite a lot of dishes on each table, so it’s no problem for two people to eat at one table. Just make do and see which sister is willing to sit with you.”
"You..." Yunxian's face turned pale and then red, but she had no choice but to swallow her pride and ask, "Which younger sister would be willing?"
The women in the harem are very shrewd. It's obvious to everyone that Zhe Zhe dislikes Yun Xian. Who would dare to offend the Empress for the sake of a deposed concubine who has no hope of turning her life around?
Silence fell instantly, and the surroundings became completely still. Yunxian was extremely embarrassed by the situation.
At this moment, Hailanzhu stood up and said, "Would you like to sit here with me? I'll squeeze in with Yu'er."
Upon hearing this, everyone began to discuss among themselves, completely unaware of Hailanzhu's intentions.
Zhe Zhe frowned and glanced at Hailanzhu. "Lan'er is truly magnanimous. No wonder she is the Emperor's favorite person."
Hailanzhu nodded awkwardly, unwilling to look Zhe Zhe in the eye, and then quickly walked to Dayuer's seat to sit with her.
"Since Consort Chen is willing to yield, please take a seat." Zhe Zhe said coldly to Yun Xian, then glanced at Hai Lan Zhu to the side, her eyes revealing a chill.
But Yunxian hesitated to act, clearly not believing that Hailanzhu would be so kind.
Zhe Zhe snorted coldly, "I didn't just say there wasn't a seat for you. I was the one who neglected you. Now that you have a seat, you're hesitating." She glanced back at Yun Xian, "This is Consort Chen's seat, just a step below her. If you're not satisfied, do you want to sit in my place?"
Upon hearing this, Yunxian's expression shifted between light and dark. She clenched her fists, feeling conflicted. Under Zhe Zhe's pressure, she could only say, "I dare not."
After she was seated, she looked at Hailanzhu, seemingly to express her gratitude, but in reality, she was scrutinizing her.
"What bad luck!" Namuzhong complained softly, then took two steps in another direction, as if afraid of getting involved with Yunxian.
Da Yu'er didn't understand why Hailanzhu was doing this, so she quickly whispered in her ear, "Sister, didn't we agree that the three of us, aunt and niece, were of one mind? Why are you going against your aunt again today?"
Hailanzhu pursed her lips and whispered in Dayuer's ear, "It was a last resort. You'll find out soon enough. I did it to protect myself; I had no other choice."
Her voice was very low, so that only Da Yu'er could hear it.
"Oh?" Da Yu'er asked in confusion, but did not pursue the matter further.
Yunxian's gaze kept shifting between Hailanzhu and Dayuer, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. She couldn't guess what Hailanzhu's purpose was in doing this.
The sounds of singing and dancing, along with the playing of various musical instruments, began to fill the hall, and the crowd gradually relaxed.
Suddenly, a deafening crash rang out, startling the dancers into stopping their movements. Everyone looked over and saw Yunxian fall heavily to the ground.
"What's going on?" Zhe Zhe stood up in surprise, and then saw that Hailanzhu was still calm, and understood what was going on.
She instructed, "Why did you fall down all of a sudden? Brother Zhen, go and help Yunxian up."
Brother Zhen obeyed the order, walked over, bent down and pulled the person up, but found that Yunxian was not moving at all for some reason.
"It hurts!" Yunxian cried out.
With the help of the palace maids, Yunxian finally stood up, but she still looked unsteady, as if she was about to fall to the ground at any moment.
"Blood..." Sang'er, who was closest to Yunxian, immediately noticed the situation and was so shocked that her mouth almost dropped open. "What happened? It's clearly..."
She almost blurted it out, but luckily no one was paying attention, and she escaped unscathed.
Seeing this, Hailanzhu snorted coldly, thinking contemptuously, "You have committed many evils, this is what you deserve."
Yunxian's original plan was to have Namuzhong sit on a tampered chair, and then have Sang'er fan the flames to escalate the conflict between Namuzhong and Hailanzhu. This way, if Namuzhong fell, everyone would suspect Hailanzhu.
With the addition of her so-called "witness," Hailanzhu will surely become the real culprit who killed Namuzhong's child.
Unfortunately, Hailanzhu already knew about this perfect plan. She secretly switched Namuzhong's chair when no one was paying attention. She thought that would be enough, but when she thought of Yunxian's sinister face, she felt that it was too easy on her. So she secretly placed a cup under the chair. If the chair broke, Yunxian's buttocks would hit the cup hard when she fell.
Cups and saucers are fragile items, and when Yunxian hits them like that, they will naturally break, and the shards will be embedded deep in the flesh.
Seeing Yunxian's pale face and pain, Hailanzhu felt a surge of smugness, but she pretended to be extremely distressed and said, "How could this chair break for no reason?"
Then she looked up at Zhe Zhe and said, "Aunt, Lan'er knows you are frugal, but it really doesn't have to be like this. You can't even bear to replace an old chair. If the Imperial Concubine or any other pregnant concubine were to use this chair, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Zhe Zhe frowned. "But the chair was just moved here from the Imperial Household Department today. It shouldn't be like this."
"Could it be that those lackeys cut corners?" Hailanzhu said, then quickly went over and pretended to carefully examine the flaws in the chair.
"No, no." She shook her head again, pretending to be very surprised.
"What's wrong with Lan'er?" Zhe Zhe asked, following Hai Lan Zhu's lead.
Suddenly, Hailanzhu knelt down, tears streaming down her face, and cried out, "Aunt, I beg you to do me a favor for Lan'er."
As soon as she finished speaking, Huang Taiji was standing outside the palace. Looking at Hailanzhu's pitiful appearance with tears in her eyes, he felt extremely distressed. Therefore, he quickly walked into the palace.
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