Even Shang Shaoyan, who wanted to see the Li sisters in distress, was somewhat shocked by the scene.
What kind of shamelessness does it take to spout such nonsense?
Meanwhile, Qiao Xiuyu heard Li Shuangsi and the other person praising him and couldn't help but wonder if only the people of Nan Chen could understand his zither music.
Should he stay here a little longer?
Shang Shaoyan glanced at Qiao Xiuyu and, seeing that the latter was not happy because of the Li sisters' words, he felt inexplicably relieved: "Lu Langjun and I have important matters to attend to this afternoon, so we will leave first."
Li Shuangsi and Li Shuangyan were seething with anger, wishing Shang Shaoyan would leave as soon as possible, completely forgetting how they had initially planned to teach Shang Shaoyan a lesson.
Shang Shaoyan left with Qiao Xiuyu with a smile. Li Shuangyan came to her senses and trembled with anger: "I will go to the palace first thing tomorrow morning to tell my aunt that Shang Shaoyan is simply going too far!"
Li Shuangsi remained silent.
Even if she told her aunt, she would at most scold Shang Shaoyan. Out of respect for the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, she would not dare to go too far. If she were to be more ruthless, her aunt, the Empress, could only suppress Shang Shaoyan and prevent him from getting married. But it seems that Shang Shaoyan doesn't care about that.
Li Shuangsi felt increasingly aggrieved and couldn't help but look at her younger sister, who was still clamoring for her aunt, the Empress, to punish Shang Shaoyan. She secretly had a headache.
She thought for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, "If we're going to go to the palace, let's go now. It's only early afternoon, so my aunt should be fine."
...
Inside Kunning Palace, Empress Li had a somber face. The floor was littered with shards of vases and teacups. The palace maids knelt on the ground, trembling with fear, silent as cicadas in winter.
"Say that again?" Empress Li gritted her teeth, glaring at the only female official standing in the hall. "Do you know what the crime of falsely conveying an imperial edict is?"
The female official bowed respectfully and repeated her words: "His Majesty said that Consort Shu's miscarriage is enough to show that Her Majesty the Empress is not suitable to manage the six palaces. He requests that from today onwards, you entrust all matters of the harem to Consort Zhao."
She paused, then smiled slightly: "As Your Majesty the Empress knows, I am a servant of the Empress Dowager. How could I dare to falsely convey an imperial edict?"
Empress Li closed her eyes, barely suppressing her anger: "I understand. I will hand over the Phoenix Seal to Consort Zhao later."
The lady-in-waiting bowed again. Even though Empress Li wanted to vent her anger and make things difficult for her, she couldn't find anything wrong with her. She could only suppress her anger and have the lady-in-waiting sent away.
After a long while, palace maids and eunuchs began to clean up the mess in the hall. The head palace maid, Zhu Sha, silently stepped forward and massaged Empress Li's temples.
After seeing that most of the palace maids and eunuchs had left, Empress Li cursed with a gloomy face, "That vile woman Li Langhuan! I wonder what tricks she used!"
Zhu Sha said softly, "Eunuch Qin by His Majesty's side is Consort Zhao's man. I think that's why Consort Zhao has been able to repeatedly trip him up."
Empress Li frowned, her gaze sharp as she looked at Zhu Sha: "How did you know?"
Zhu Sha continued her work, speaking slowly and deliberately: "Not many people know about this. I only found out recently myself. Eunuch Qin is His Majesty's personal attendant, and he wields considerable power. I happened to pass by Zhaoyang Palace today and saw him. After making several inquiries, I finally learned of this."
Empress Li's expression relaxed slightly, then her face lit up with joy: "If His Majesty knew that Li Langhuan's influence had spread to the court, wouldn't he...?"
Zhu Sha smiled slightly and calmly explained, "Why should Your Highness do such a thankless task? His Majesty is currently favoring Eunuch Qin. If Your Highness were to say a few words in this manner, His Majesty might even become angry with you. In my opinion, it would be better to pretend that you don't know anything. The truth will eventually come out, and once His Majesty finds out, Consort Zhao and Eunuch Qin will only suffer a worse fate."
Empress Li thought about it and agreed.
But she still felt uneasy: "Is this really the end of it?"
Zhu Sha gently advised, "Your Majesty need not worry. Doesn't Consort Zhao want power in the six palaces? Then let's give it to her. Whether she can handle it or not is up to her."
Empress Li understood the meaning behind the cinnabar; it was a message for her to secretly sabotage the situation.
She immediately thought it was a good thing to do, praised Zhu Sha, and gave him a lot of gifts, but she didn't see the mockery in Zhu Sha's eyes.
Empress Li was not clever; in fact, one could say she was rather foolish. This foolishness was a tradition passed down through the Cheng'en Duke's family. She never considered that her actions were beneath her dignity as an empress, or, to put it more seriously, that she was "unvirtuous." Furthermore, with Qin Ye stirring up trouble for the incompetent Emperor Chen, once this label was attached to her, her fate as empress deposed was not far off.
The best approach would actually be to subtly let others know about the relationship between Li Langhuan and Qin Ye, and then have someone else report it to Emperor Chen.
In this way, even if Emperor Chen was angry, he would always harbor suspicions in his heart.
Empress Li didn't think there was anything wrong with the cinnabar theory. After thinking of dozens of ways to do something underhanded, she felt refreshed and even agreed to let her good-for-nothing daughters from her maternal family come to visit. Normally, she wouldn't have had the time for that; she was too busy fighting with Consort Zhao.
Li Shuangsi followed Li Shuangyan into Kunning Palace, where Empress Li already had a smile on her face.
The two exchanged greetings, and Li Shuangyan approached with a smile: "Auntie has become even more beautiful since I last saw you."
Empress Li smiled and tapped Li Shuangyan's forehead: "Your words are getting sweeter and sweeter."
After exchanging pleasantries, Empress Li asked, "Do you think I don't know you all? If there was nothing wrong, you wouldn't have come to see me in such a hurry. Tell me, who has bullied you this time?"
Li Shuangyan's eyes immediately reddened: "Aunt, you must stand up for us!"
Then, she embellished the story of Shang Shaoyan and ended by crying, "...I don't think it's a big deal that I was wronged, but Shang Erniang's actions clearly show that she looks down on our Chengen Duke's Mansion!"
The more Empress Li listened, the darker her face became, and the anger that Li Langhuan had just stirred up reignited.
If she can't handle Li Langhuan, can't she handle Shang Erniang?
Thinking this, she sneered, "What a fine Princess of Heyang, what a fine Duke of Zhenguo's mansion!"
Seeing that Empress Li was angry, the Li Shuangsi sisters quickly tried to comfort her, but their words were full of veiled criticism of Shang Shaoyan.
"Very well, very well indeed!" Empress Li's face twisted with rage as she vented all her dissatisfaction with Li Langhuan on Shang Shaoyan. "Summon Princess Heyang to the palace tomorrow. I want to see just how arrogant she is!"
The Li sisters exchanged a glance, both seeing joy in each other's eyes.
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