Three days later.
Guan Zhiyue continued as usual, focusing solely on exercise. After three or four days of intense exercise, Guan Zhiyue clearly felt her body losing weight.
Although she didn't have a scale to weigh herself, she could still tell from her face and neck that her efforts over the past few days had not been in vain.
That day, as usual, Guan Zhiyue was doing her weird-looking weight loss exercises in the courtyard, but someone wanted to cause trouble, to embarrass her, and to meet this empress who had just entered the palace and was banished to the cold palace.
"Yo...."
"Chunjuan, look who's that? What are they doing? Tsk tsk tsk, it's really an eyesore!"
"I had long heard that Your Majesty the Empress was banished to the Cold Palace as soon as you entered the palace. I have been busy with all the affairs of the harem recently."
We hadn't even had a chance to pay our respects to our Empress yet, but we've finally found the time today.
The person who came was none other than the emperor's concubine, Consort Shen, one of the four consorts.
Shen Na, aged eighteen, is a rather meticulous person, especially when it comes to managing the harem.
Her father was Shen Congzhi, an old man in his forties, who was a high-ranking official in the court (in charge of documents and conveying imperial edicts).
Guan Zhiyue stopped what she was doing when she saw the person who had arrived. She turned around and walked to the rattan chair in the corridor, and said with a smile, "Heh, who do we have here? It's Consort Shen!"
Guan Zhiyue picked up a towel placed to the side and wiped the sweat from her face and neck. Then, seeing a large group of people standing in the courtyard, she calmly plopped down on a rattan chair.
"Isn't Consort Shen here to pay her respects to me? Come on in..."
When Consort Shen heard Guan Zhiyue say that, she was immediately embarrassed and stood there angrily.
Guan Zhiyue looked up at Shen Na, who was standing still, and said coldly, "Aren't you going to start? Weren't you here to pay your respects to me?"
"And you bunch of servants, why don't you bow to me?"
"Hmph, just like master, like servant. They're all a bunch of worthless trash."
"Consort Shen, didn't you say you were here to pay your respects to me? Why haven't you done so yet?"
A palace maid standing next to Consort Shen, seeing Guan Zhiyue's attitude, stepped forward and pointed at Guan Zhiyue's nose, saying, "Your Majesty, what do you mean? My lady is at least temporarily in charge of the harem, and you... Hmph!"
Guan Zhiyue jumped up from the rattan chair, looked down at the large group of people standing in the courtyard, and said, "How dare you! Who do you think you are? How dare you jump around in front of me?"
"I am speaking on behalf of Consort Shen. How dare you interrupt?"
Shen Na trembled slightly. She had always said that the youngest daughter of the Guan family was a meek and submissive girl who could be beaten and scolded at will.
He's the kind of person who's never said a word, but meeting him today, he seems quite different from the legends.
Guan Zhiyue looked at Shen Na and the others who were still standing there, and raised her voice even higher.
"Aren't you going to come over and pay your respects to me?"
Shen Na, who had been so arrogant just moments before, now seemed somewhat timid as she moved closer to Guan Zhiyue.
With his hands folded at his sides and his legs slightly bent, he bowed to Guan Zhiyue and said, "Your Majesty the Empress, may you enjoy boundless blessings and peace!"
Guan Zhiyue, however, started to drift off into her own thoughts. What the hell was she supposed to say next?
"Rise? Get up? Huh? Which the hell should I say?"
Oh dear, it's all my fault for not liking to watch palace dramas. Now I don't even know what to say when I try to get someone up. Where the hell has this shameless person gone? Come and get me out of this mess!
Guan Zhiyue stood awkwardly at the entrance of the corridor, looking at Shen Na who was kneeling in the courtyard and squatting in front of her.
Shen Na's head maid knelt down below, bowed her head and said loudly, "Your Majesty, our Noble Consort is, after all, a consort personally appointed by the Emperor."
"And you're in charge of everything in the harem? What if the Emperor finds out...!"
When Guan Zhiyue heard the head maid say that, she couldn't help but snort: "Heh, I am also the Empress personally appointed by the Emperor!"
Are you saying that the emperor is a foolish ruler?
"You've made me, an innocent young girl, the Empress, and now you dare to bully your Imperial Concubine?"
"This old servant dares not!"
"You don't dare, but I bet you guys do!"
"I have been banished to the Cold Palace by the Emperor, but my imperial edict appointing me Empress is still with me!"
"His Majesty's decree is for me to reside in the Cold Palace, not for me to be deposed and confined to the Cold Palace."
You all had better get this straight: this Empress is still me!
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. It was my fault for not disciplining these servants properly, which allowed them to offend you," Consort Shen quickly pleaded with Guan Zhiyue.
Yes, how could she forget that the Emperor had imprisoned this woman in the Cold Palace, but the imperial edict appointing her was still in her hands.
She was only temporarily in charge of the affairs of the inner palace, and would only favor the Empress when the Emperor was in a good mood.
Then the Phoenix Seal in my hand will be handed back to this woman.
Looking at the pitiful Shen Na in front of her, Guan Zhiyue didn't give her any face at all and complained, "Heh, you're such a weathervane, always switching sides!"
"Get out of here, all of you. Don't come to my Cold Palace to show off your power anymore. If you want to cause trouble, go somewhere else. Don't let just any Tom, Dick, or Harry come to my Cold Palace to cause trouble."
"From now on, you'd better avoid the Cold Palace. I'll let you off today, but if there's a next time, don't blame me for turning my back on you."
"Yes. I take my leave!" Shen Na led her lackeys away, trembling, amidst Guan Zhiyue's angry roar.
Guan Zhiyue also let out a heavy sigh, inwardly roaring, "What the hell is this? Why is there so much trouble? I just want to lose weight in peace and quiet."
"Your Majesty, what's wrong?" Bilian appeared out of nowhere, looking at the somewhat dejected Guan Zhiyue.
Guan Zhiyue lay on the rattan chair, looking at Bilian who had appeared out of nowhere, and asked with some grievance, "You brat, where did you run off to? You really scared me to death just now."
Bilian looked at the Empress who had been full of energy just moments before, and wondered why she had suddenly burst into tears upon seeing her.
"What's wrong? I just went to see the young general at the palace gate. This is the money and food he brought us." Bilian quickly took out the bundle she had brought back.
"Waaaaaah... Waaaaaah..."
"Bilian, you really scared me to death! A huge group of people suddenly appeared, and I was so frightened I couldn't help but swear! They're bullying me like that..."
Guan Zhiyue tearfully recounted what had just happened to Bilian.
Bilian couldn't help but twitch her lips after hearing this. Her mistress wasn't frightened by them at all; it was probably Consort Shen and the others who were frightened.
The Imperial Study.
"Your Majesty, something has happened!"
Hua Quan scurried into the imperial study and shouted loudly at Li Qiji, who was reviewing memorials.
Li Qiji looked up at the flustered Hua Quan and impatiently shouted, "What's wrong? Is something urgent?"
Hua Quan stood in front of Li Qiji and said vividly, "Oh dear, this is even bigger than a fire burning our eyebrows!"
"News just came from the Cold Palace that the useless Empress was dancing a strange dance in the courtyard today, and Consort Shen led a large group of people to the inner palace, and then..."
Li Qiji immediately stood up and said, "So Consort Shen beat up that good-for-nothing?"
"Oh no, no, it's the useless queen, isn't it...?"
"That good-for-nothing beat up Consort Shen?"
"Oh, no, it's not quite like that. Oh, no, no, it's like this."
Then Hua Quan chattered away, vividly recreating the scene by playing both the empress and the imperial concubine.
"Then Consort Shen, along with her servants, was walking towards the Imperial Study."
As soon as Hua Quan finished speaking, the voice of the eunuch at the door rang out.
"Your Majesty, Consort Shen requests an audience!"
Hua Quan quickly stood beside Li Qiji, and the man picked up the memorial on the desk and continued reading.
"Enter."
Upon hearing the Emperor's words, Consort Shen immediately began to sob and cry, shouting loudly even before entering the room.
"Your Majesty, you must do me justice! I don't want to live anymore!"
Consort Shen entered the hall and knelt down in front of the Emperor's desk with a thud.
She first greeted the Emperor, then began to weep, her face streaked with tears.
Tell me, which man wouldn't feel tenderness and want to pick up and hold such a delicate flower in his arms to cherish it? And coincidentally, there really was such a man.
"It's so noisy, get to the point."
Consort Shen stopped crying and began to complain.
"Your Majesty, could you please take care of that concubine in the harem? Today, I'm going to pay my respects to her."
I never expected that Your Majesty would punish me for complaining about Your Majesty.
"Your Majesty, aren't you saying she's showing disrespect for your authority?"
"Your Majesty, I am still the Imperial Concubine you personally bestowed upon me. Even if I have made a mistake, it should be Your Majesty who should teach me!"
"Who gives any of you, some concubine from the cold palace, the right to lecture me? This is a blatant slap in the face to Your Majesty!"
Li Qiji looked up from the memorial and glanced at the woman kneeling on the ground, her clothes and hair in disarray.
Somewhat disgusted, she said, "As the mistress of the harem, isn't it only natural for her to discipline the concubines in your harem?"
When Consort Shen heard these words, she felt utterly disheartened.
"But she was still locked up in the harem by Your Majesty..." Consort Shen muttered softly.
"What did you say?"
"No...no, Your Majesty didn't say anything."
"Alright, my beloved concubine, if there's nothing else, you may leave now!"
"I recall that my beloved concubine seemed to like that pearl necklace that was presented as tribute from a foreign land. Hua Quan, go and fetch it to bestow upon Consort Shen!"
"Consort Shen must be exhausted from managing the harem. From now on, she shouldn't go to the Cold Palace to pay her respects unless necessary."
Shen Na....
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will take my leave now!"
"Yes, you may step aside!"
Consort Shen was completely dumbfounded when she came out of the Imperial Study. What the hell is wrong with the Emperor?
They just banished her to the cold palace, and now they won't release her. They're even telling me not to bother that woman.
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