If there was any difference between today and the past, it was that Ye Ronghua, who had been claiming to be ill for quite some time, came to pay his respects to the Empress. The Empress's expression remained the same, and it seemed that there was nothing special about the Empress Dowager's appearance after the Buddhist ceremony.

Zhuang Yuyan looked at Ye Ronghua with interest. Ye Shurong, who had given birth, had not appeared yet, but Ye Ronghua, who was demoted as a younger sister, had appeared. In the eyes of the empress dowager, who was more pleasing to her was the two sisters?

"Ye Shurong is here!"

With this announcement, everyone in the room turned their attention to the door, but Zhuang Yuyan focused her attention on Ye Ronghua. Because she found that after the eunuch's announcement, Ye Ronghua's expression was a little strange, not happy, but rather ironic.

In terms of appearance, Ye Ronghua is indeed better than Ye Shurong, and looks more lively than Ye Shurong. If I were a man, I would also love Ye Ronghua a little more. Although Ye Ronghua sometimes behaves arrogantly in the harem, he also knows a limit. Why does he look so strange today?

Could it be that she is jealous of Ye Shurong's current status as higher than hers, but is also a little stubborn?

Ye Shurong had not been in public for quite some time because of her miscarriage. Although she has recovered a lot now, she still looks more haggard than before.

"Your concubine greets the Queen," Ye Shurong politely paid her respects to the Queen before stepping aside. When her eyes swept over Ye Ronghua, she quickly retracted them.

The Queen smiled and said, "It's been a while since we last met. Are you doing well?" Then she called He Yu and said, "Please find a seat for Ye Shurong. Next to Ye Ronghua. I think you two sisters haven't had a good time together for some time."

Zhuang Luyan looked at the empress with a gentle face. She was worthy of being the empress. She even knew whether the Ye sisters were getting along well with each other. No wonder there were so many favored women in the harem, but none of them dared to act arrogantly in front of her. This showed how good her methods were.

"Thank you, Her Majesty, for your concern. I'm fine now," Ye Shurong's face was a little stiff, and it was unclear whether she was thinking about the child she had no chance to have, or something else.

Ye Ronghua glanced indifferently at Ye Shurong who was sitting next to him, tilted his body slightly, and smiled softly, "Sister has been here for so many days, I think she should be fine now."

Ye Shurong smiled faintly upon hearing this, with some helpless tolerance: "Sister, are you blaming me for not visiting you these days?"

When Ye Ronghua heard this, she looked up at Ye Shurong, as if she wanted to see through all the emotions hidden under her smile. Suddenly, she smiled and said, "We are sisters with deep affection. How could I feel resentment when my elder sister is unwell? I have grown up over the years. How could I always be as ignorant as that child?"

Concubine Shugui held the teacup and looked at the affection between the two sisters of the Ye family. She turned her eyes to look at the others. Most of the other concubines drank tea as if nothing had happened, but their eyes were on the Ye sisters. However, the young Zhao Chongyi sat and drank tea in a very proper manner. It was unknown whether she was really not interested in the Ye sisters or was just pretending.

Last year, the Ye family caused some trouble. The Empress Dowager used the excuse of praying to Buddha to not interfere in the affairs of the harem for nearly a year, and the Emperor only gave a small punishment to the Ye family for that little thing. At the beginning of this month, the Ye family did two things that were worthy of being made public, and the Empress Dowager prayed to Buddha and ended the matter. I really don't know if it was a coincidence or something else.

No one knows what the always virtuous Empress is thinking. She holds up the teacup to hide the smile on her lips. Concubine Shugui blows away the tea leaves on the water. It is just a good show. She just doesn't believe that the Emperor will tolerate the Ye family dominating the harem.

"Now that everyone is here, please come with me to pay respects to the Queen Mother," the Queen held He Yu's hand and stood up steadily. She scanned the crowd and walked in front first.

Zhuang Yuyan followed the others and sat on a sedan chair to the Queen Mother's Kang'an Palace. The Queen's sedan chair was carried by twelve powerful eunuchs, and looked very dignified. The sedan chairs of the concubines and above were carried by eight powerful eunuchs, while those above the third rank had only four, and those above the fifth rank had only two powerful eunuchs. The rest walked behind, showing how clear the class distinctions were.

Kang'an Palace is located in the southeast, quite a distance away from the Emperor's Qianzheng Palace. Looking at the interaction between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager last night, Zhuang Yuyan really couldn't see how much mother-son love there was between the two. However, judging by Emperor Chengxuan's behavior, he was afraid that he would not tolerate the Empress Dowager interfering in the government and the harem.

"fall!"

Following the eunuch's long report, the sedan chairs landed steadily. Zhuang Yuyan handed her hand to Tingzhu, stood up and looked around Kang'an Palace. The residence of successive empress dowagers was indeed a bit more solemn than the palaces of other concubines.

After entering Kang'an Palace, Zhuang Yuyan followed the other concubines to pay her respects before she even saw the empress dowager clearly. Because the empress dowager did not require a long period of greeting, the concubines performed the ceremony of kneeling and bowing this time.

"Hurry up, I don't care about these empty formalities," the Queen Mother smiled and asked all the concubines to stand up, and gave seats to the concubines with some status. The expression on her face would make anyone who saw it praise her kindness. However, for Zhuang Yuyan, a woman who looked only in her early forties putting on a kind expression was really a little uncomfortable and seemed fake.

Although her position was not low, she was not qualified to sit in the front, so although she had the honor of being given a seat, she still sat at the bottom.

The Queen Mother looked at the room full of charming beauties, patted the Queen's hand and said, "I haven't taken care of the affairs of the harem for a while, and now there are a few more beauties."

The queen looked at Zhuang Yuyan and the other two concubines of lower rank who entered the palace this year, and replied politely, "Your Majesty is diligent in his work, and your daughter-in-law thought it would be good to add a few new talents to the palace, so she arranged for a few new people to enter the palace."

"Well, you are a virtuous person. I heard that your cousin also entered the palace this year. I have never seen her. Let me take a look."

The previous sentence praised the queen's virtue, and the next time it mentioned that the queen arranged her cousin to enter the palace. Was the queen mother praising the queen or embarrassing her? Zhuang Yuyan saw a pretty woman in a pink corset skirt coming out. She looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old. If she was alone, she was still quite pretty, but among the beauties in the harem, she looked ordinary. No wonder she had been a Huiji since she entered the palace.

Sun Huiji paid her respects to the Queen Mother, who indifferently rewarded her with a bracelet and said nothing more. Instead, she mentioned the Ye sisters.

"The emperor has few children to begin with, and now Ye Shurong has given birth to a child. This really makes me sad," the queen mother looked at the queen, "Queen, you have been married to the emperor for many years, so you still have to comfort the emperor's family."

The queen still said yes respectfully. Zhuang Yuyan looked at this scene and felt that being a queen was not easy. Not only did she have to help the man manage the concubines, but she also had to manage the men's concubines' childbirth. If the concubines had few children, she would be reminded intentionally or unintentionally by her mother-in-law. The number of children was also the problem of Emperor Chengxuan himself. What was the point of the queen's consolation?

"My daughter-in-law is incompetent." The queen did not respond and just apologized.

The Queen Mother nodded in understanding. "You are busy all day dealing with palace affairs. I know you are a virtuous person, but there is no end to the affairs of the harem. It is right for you to pay more attention to the emperor."

The Queen quickly said yes, but she still didn't mention the palace affairs, as if she didn't hear the hidden meaning in the Queen Mother's words.

Zhuang Yuyan watched this scene and couldn't help but sigh, she is worthy of being the Empress Dowager, which of her words are not beautiful, and which of them are not sharp?

"The Emperor has arrived!"

Well, now that the emperor is here, the show will probably be even more lively. Zhuang Yuyan stood up and saw Emperor Chengxuan coming in from outside. She knelt down and bowed.

"It's so lively here today, mother," Feng Jin greeted the queen mother and sat down on her right. He glanced at the beauties in the room, glanced at the Ye sisters who were sitting in the front seats, and turned to the queen mother and said, "The weather is hot, mother, please take good care of yourself."

"I am not so inexperienced as to say that," the Queen Mother said with a smile, "I am naturally relieved that the Emperor cares about me."

"As long as mother is healthy, I will be at peace," Feng Jin picked up the teacup on the golden nanmu carved table and took a sip. "If mother is lonely, you can ask Ye Shurong and Ye Ronghua to accompany you more."

The Queen Mother nodded and smiled, but asked with a hint of doubt: "What did Wanmei do wrong to be demoted to Ronghua?"

The emperor put down the teacup calmly and said, "Your Majesty, you are praying to Buddha, so you naturally don't know what happened in the harem. Your son still has some memorials that have not been reviewed. Your Majesty, please ask Ye Shurong and you will know the reason." After saying this, he stood up, bowed and left.

Zhuang Yuyan looked at the slightly stiff smile on the empress dowager's face and lowered her head imperceptibly. Whether the emperor was paying respects to the empress dowager or issuing a warning, it was really...hard to tell.

After the emperor came and said a few words, the empress dowager no longer had the heart to show off her intimacy with the empress, and soon she asked everyone to leave, not even keeping the Ye sisters.

The emperor openly said that when the empress dowager was bored, he asked the Ye sisters to keep her company. In fact, he was telling the empress dowager that he knew you were all members of the Ye family and he should be considerate of you in everything you do. Although this method was a bit ruthless, it was effective.

If the emperor is useless, the empress dowager will be worried, but if the emperor is strong and the empress dowager is still worried, then it will be another drama.

Zhuang Luoyan sat on the sedan chair. In front of her was Xu Zhaorong, whom she had never met before. Xu Zhaorong looked as fragile as a willow, as if she could be blown away by a gust of wind. She really looked like a talented woman who was good at poetry.

Looking up at the dazzling sun, I realized that this harem was truly filled with experts. It would be difficult to survive there without some skills.

After I finished expressing my feelings, I saw Xu Zhaorong delicately wiping the sweat off her cheek. Her every move made me feel indescribably pitiful.