Jiaming and Ulanara were so wronged! They really hadn't mentioned this to the Fourth Prince.
Regardless of the circumstances, Jiaming and the Empress were inexplicably blamed for this.
After the Fourth Prince ascended the throne, because his succession was legitimate, the princes and other princes did not cause him any trouble. The Fourth Prince also reciprocated by giving these brothers important positions, so there were no major disturbances in the court.
Even though something happened, and the Fourth Prince's political views differed from those of his ministers and brothers, under Hongxuan's guidance and mediation, no major conflicts occurred, and the incidents were all resolved.
Thus, everyone in the previous dynasty knew of Hongxuan's brilliance.
Although the Fourth Prince did not appoint him as the Crown Prince, almost all the officials believed that the position of Crown Prince belonged to him.
In the imperial court, Hongxuan's performance aroused envy, jealousy, and hatred among the women in the harem who had children. However, since they could not get close to Hongxuan, they transferred their envy, jealousy, and hatred to Jiaming instead.
Aside from Li, who had a son, feeling envious and jealous of the female lead, the other women also felt envious and jealous of Jiaming because of the Fourth Prince's exclusive favor towards her.
Unfortunately, everything in the palace was unfamiliar to everyone, so it was difficult to carry out such a covert operation. The overt methods were quickly thwarted by Jiaming, who even used her higher status than the other women to launch a fierce counterattack against those who had tried to harm her.
"Guarjia clan, how come this woman is so lucky?!" Li's face contorted with rage as she tore at the handkerchief with both hands.
The palace maids serving nearby all lowered their heads and knelt on the ground, wishing they could disappear into the ground, for fear of becoming Li Shi's punching bag.
However, there were two women who weren't too afraid of Li. They were people who had always served in the palace and weren't brought into the palace by Li from the Prince Yong's residence, or rather, the Crown Prince's residence.
Because they were unfamiliar with Li's temperament, they did not understand her habit of taking out her anger on those around her whenever she was extremely angry or resentful.
In their eagerness to climb the social ladder and become Li's confidantes, the two palace maids acted nothing like the old servants around Li. One of them diligently served Li tea and water, hoping that drinking tea would calm Li down a bit.
The other took a different approach.
"Your Highness, if you intend to deal with the Imperial Concubine, I have an idea."
Upon hearing this, Lady Li said indifferently, "What thoughts could you possibly have? All the women in the harem are targeting the Consort, yet they still haven't gotten the better of her and have instead been reprimanded and punished by her."
"That's because she's a Noble Consort. She has a high rank and can use her power to suppress others, but there are others in the palace with higher ranks than her."
Madam Li frowned. "Are you talking about the Empress?" Immediately, Madam Li refuted her own guess. "Impossible. The Empress is currently focused on taking care of her grandson. Moreover, the First Prince and the Fourth Prince had a very good relationship when the First Prince was alive. For the sake of the First Prince, the Empress would not do anything to the Fourth Prince's mother, the Consort, unless the Consort offends the Empress."
But that's impossible. Guarjia is very rational and has never crossed the Empress's bottom line. Even if she were framed, it wouldn't work. First, this is the palace, and she's not familiar with the situation here. She hasn't fully consolidated her position in the palace yet. Even if she were framed, it would be exposed very quickly.
Secondly, neither Lady Guarjia nor Empress Ulanara are easy to deal with. If they try to frame the Consort in order to deal with the Empress, they might end up suffering the consequences themselves.
After hearing Li's words, the palace maid smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, that's not what I meant. You've forgotten, there's another one in the palace besides the Empress!" As she said this, the palace maid pointed in the direction of Cining Palace.
Lady Li was taken aback. "The Empress Dowager?!"
The palace maid smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's the Empress Dowager. The Emperor is observing mourning for the late Emperor, so although he didn't keep Consort Gui in his palace, he always invites her to keep him company and visits her often. As a result, he neglects the rest of the harem. He only visits the Empress on the first and fifteenth of each month. With such exclusive favoritism towards Consort Gui, do you think the Empress Dowager can stand it? You know, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has always been a major problem."
Li immediately recalled the classic mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts in her memory. Then, comparing this with how the Fourth Prince treats Guarjia so well now, she thought that the Empress Dowager, as the mother-in-law, must be unhappy about her son's exclusive favor to the Consort.
"That's a good idea! Here's a pair of pearl earrings for you," Li said cheerfully. At the same time, she decided that once this person was settled in a few days, she would promote him to be a trusted confidant.
However, she glanced at the sky outside, her smile fading slightly, and then muttered under her breath, "Hmph, let Guarjia enjoy tonight. Tomorrow, hehe!"
The next day was not a day for the imperial concubines to pay their respects at Cining Palace, but Lady Li still went there.
When Consort De, or rather the Empress Dowager, heard that Lady Li had come to pay her respects, she was puzzled. "Why is she here at this time?" Without waiting for a reply, she ordered, "Let her in." Perfect, let's see what she's up to.
After Li entered, she first greeted the Empress Dowager and then began to talk with her, but they only talked about trivial things.
Just as the Empress Dowager was getting impatient, Lady Li finally got to the point.
After hearing what Lady Li said, the Empress Dowager was indeed quite uncomfortable, and her favor towards the Consort who had been so fond of the Fourth Prince was indeed declining.
But the Empress Dowager is not stupid. On the contrary, she is extremely clever to have risen from a palace maid to the Empress Dowager.
Suddenly, she realized that Li was using her to deal with the Imperial Concubine.
The Empress Dowager's lips curled into a cold smile. Compared to the Consort, the Li woman who was now using her was also quite detestable.
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