The emperor's going to Xihe Palace was something that the women in the harem expected and something that made them hate him to death. However, no one dared to find fault with Zhao Chongyi in such a public place. Although they hated her in their hearts, their romance continued as usual.

After being overwhelmed by the red waves, Zhuang Yuyan leaned on the emperor's chest. The emperor's movements tonight were very gentle, and it seemed that he was taking care of her body. This made Zhuang Yuyan feel that this emperor was not a beast.

Perhaps because she rested too much during the day, Zhuang Yuyan was not very sleepy yet. She just leaned on the emperor's chest as if she was attached to him, closed her eyes and listened to the movements in the night.

"My beloved concubine can't sleep?" The emperor's voice was suddenly heard in the quiet night. Zhuang Yuyan did not expect that the emperor was still awake. After a moment of silence, she said, "Your Majesty is still awake. Am I disturbing you?" As she said this, she was about to move her head away from the emperor's chest.

Reaching out his hand to hold the person in his arms, he stroked the delicate and smooth black hair, and said in a hoarse voice: "How can I fall asleep with a beauty in my arms?" As he spoke, he stole a kiss on the face of the person in his arms. Although this face was not the most beautiful, it was without the slightest scent of makeup, which always made him unable to resist kissing her a few more times.

Zhuang Yuyan smiled in the dark. This emperor was really good at talking sweet nothings in bed. She put her hand on her chest and said with a smile, "Your Majesty always praises me like this. I'm really afraid that one day I'll forget what I am like." After she finished speaking, she seemed to realize that this was a bit inappropriate. She paused and changed the subject, "Today, a gardener in the palace said that the water lilies that the emperor gave me are about to expire."

Flowers will wither one day, so how can beauty not have her old age one day?

Feng Jin patted Zhuang Yuyan's back gently and said, "It's just water lilies. Whatever flowers you like, I'll have someone send them to you. Flowers will eventually wither. I'm not the kind of person who would feel sorry for flowers."

"It turns out that in the eyes of the emperor, I am just a vulgar person who only knows how to eat and drink and has no interest in romance," Zhuang Luoyan said with dissatisfaction, but she sighed the next moment, and she knew exactly what kind of person she was.

Feng Zhen laughed out loud, and then said, "I have said it before, there is no shortage of concubines in the harem who are good at music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and romance. My beloved concubine, there is no need to compare yourself with others. You are naturally different from others."

A man’s words after being raped cannot be trusted. Zhuang Yuyan knows this well, but she also knows how she should react when she hears these words if she loves this man.

Sometimes words cannot fully express a person's feelings, but body language can.

Feng Jin noticed that the person in his arms was trembling slightly, and he couldn't even speak. He began to wonder how many concubines he had said such compliments to, and how those women reacted.

"To me, the Emperor is also the most special."

The voice was a little hoarse and trembling, but it was not because of the discomfort in the throat. Feng Jian knew that it was because the person in his arms was too excited.

"Go to sleep." He patted her back gently. A different sentence brought the most special response, and he got an advantage.

Even though he thought so, the hand that patted his back was much gentler.

In the early morning, before the sun rose, Feng Jin had already stood up. Her white fingers, as sharp as peeling green onions, straightened his clothes and fastened the jade pendant and sachet for him. This seemed to be the first time she had smiled while tidying up his clothes. Her eyes were tired, but indescribably clear, as if she had found hope for the future and suddenly became excited.

"Your Majesty, please get up!"

The woman in the silk dress staggered to bow, but he stopped her with his hand and said with a low laugh, "My beloved, you were exhausted last night. You should go and rest for a while." After saying that, he saw the woman's bright smile and turned to walk out.

Emperors do not like to look back, because in their eyes, it is always others who are watching them leave, and they never need to care about what kind of looks the people behind them have, because they know without looking that there is awe, fear and uneasiness in those people's eyes.

When Feng Jian walked to the door, he turned around without warning. When he turned around, he saw the emotion in the woman's eyes that she couldn't hide in time. He seemed to have seen this look in this woman before, but she covered it up too quickly at that time, and he didn't care what kind of emotion was in her eyes.

Zhao Chongyi seemed to have not expected the emperor to turn around, and was slightly panicked, then bowed his head and asked, "Did the emperor forget anything?"

"No," Feng Jian said calmly, "Have a good rest. I'm leaving."

The emperor left the Xihe Palace and headed for the Jinluan Palace. As it was still dark, the stars could still be seen in the sky. Gao Dezhong followed the emperor quietly with his head down. After leaving the inner palace, he suddenly heard the emperor speak.

"Gao Dezhong, have someone bring the water lily colored glass eight-treasure cup from my private storehouse to Xihe Palace later."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Gao Dezhong was shocked. There were only a few colored glaze cups, and the water lily colored glaze cup was particularly exquisite. The emperor actually wanted to give it to the owner of Xihe Palace? If he remembered correctly, the only people in this palace who were rewarded with colored glaze cups were the empress and Consort Shu. Even Consort Yan, who had been extremely favored in the past two years, did not get one.

Thinking back to the days when Zhao Chongyi was down and out, Gao Dezhong couldn't help but sigh that the harem had been in ups and downs, and there really was no end until the very end.

In the Empress Dowager's palace, all the concubines who were allowed to appear on the stage were present. Zhuang Yuyan sat below Xu Zhaorong, and together with the other concubines, they listened to the Empress Dowager talking about the appearance and virtues of women.

After the Queen Mother said some superficial words, she turned her gaze to Zhuang Yuyan, who was sitting upright and respectfully. "I heard that some ignorant people caused Zhao Chongyi to fall into the water the other day. Is he safe now?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am now safe and sound," Zhuang Yuyan stood up and bowed. "It is my fault that I caused Your Majesty to worry."

"You have suffered so much for no reason. Where is your fault?" The Queen Mother smiled lovingly and asked her to sit down. She sighed again, "Fortunately, the Emperor is a sensible person and did not let you suffer such injustice in vain. There are always some careless people in the harem. It's time to teach them a lesson. What do you think, Queen?"

"My daughter-in-law must remember your mother's teachings," the queen said with a dignified smile as she stood up and bowed to the empress dowager.

Everyone present knew that the Queen Mother didn't care about Zhao Chongyi at all, she just wanted to embarrass the Queen, otherwise why would she say such rude words. But it didn't matter to them, they just regarded it as a joke.

However, everyone couldn't help laughing in their hearts when they saw the embarrassment on Zhao Chongyi's face. These things had nothing to do with Zhao Chongyi. As a victim, she actually looked embarrassed when she heard these words. She was quite stupid. Could it be that she relied on this stupid look to attract the emperor's attention?

No matter what the concubines thought, Zhuang Yuyan was determined not to join the game between the Queen Mother and the Empress. No matter who she offended, there would be no good ending. Moreover, in this situation, no one could really please both sides. She thought she didn't have such ability, so she didn't want to lose face like this.

This time, the Queen Mother had the upper hand. Zhuang Yuyan followed a group of concubines out of the Queen Mother's Palace, watched the phoenix carriage leave, and waited for other high-ranking concubines to get on the sedan chair before getting on her own sedan chair.

Whether it was intentional or coincidental, Zhuang Yuyan and Concubine Jiang Xian's sedan chairs moved forward one after the other. Zhuang Yuyan thought about it and invited Concubine Jiang Xian to move forward side by side with her.

"Sister Zhao Chongyi seems to be in much better spirits," Jiang Xianpin held an umbrella and smiled gently in the shadows, "I feel relieved when I see this."

"Thank you for your concern, sister," Zhuang Yuyan smiled, "It's just that I fell into the water, it's not a big deal."

"Sister is a very open-minded person," Jiang Xianpin was still smiling, and suddenly said, "The emperor specially allowed Concubine Shu Guifei to return home to visit her family the day before yesterday. It was really a great grace from heaven."

Zhuang Yuyan was slightly surprised. She had not expected that Concubine Jiang Xian would say these words to her. For women in the harem, even seeing their mother's family once, let alone visiting their parents, was a great blessing. Not to mention concubines of her rank, even the Empress and Concubine Shu Gui, I'm afraid it would be difficult for them to see their families once a year.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Yuyan couldn't help but sigh again at the pitfalls of the harem TV series in her previous life, where the fathers, brothers, mothers, and sisters of the concubines would meet with them from time to time and discuss palace fighting techniques. Only after coming here did she understand what it meant that the harem was not allowed to meddle in politics and that the empress was a place to bury women.

With a change of mind, Zhuang Yuyan smiled and said, "Shu Guifei has some thoughts about entering the palace. The emperor has specially granted her a visit, which is naturally a great favor from the emperor."

"Yes, the emperor's grace is great." Concubine Jiang Xian recalled that she had been in the palace for many years but had only met her family once, and that was because the weather was good that year, so the emperor granted special favor to the concubines to meet their mother's family. It was not a grace exclusive to her.

Zhuang Yuyan never understood Jiang Xianpin's attitude towards her. She never framed her when she was her enemy, and occasionally reminded her casually. She never tried to win her over when she was her friend. It seemed that she was just hanging around in the harem and watching the drama with indifference. But she was also one of the people who let her know how coldly a concubine who was not favored would be treated.

As a concubine, she was a not-so-small lady in the harem, but she could not hire a useful imperial physician, and her living quarters were always short of supplies. For Zhuang Yuyan, who loved to enjoy life, such a life was not a pleasant one.

However, this Concubine Jiang Xian never seemed to say endless nonsense to me for no reason, so what did she mean by mentioning that the Emperor had specially granted Concubine Shu a visit?

Was it to remind himself how favored Concubine Shugui was and to make himself careful, or was there some other hidden intention?