After court was dismissed, the Emperor did not go straight to the inner palace to play with the concubines. Instead, he went straight to the imperial study to discuss the drought in the South with the ministers. It was as if he was a completely different person.
However, even if the Emperor was interested in court, he still needed to go to the inner palace every day.
In the past, although the Emperor was lustful, he had always been fair. Ever since Jiujiu came, aside from the two days he needed to go to the Empress's place, the Emperor would spend the rest of his time with Jiujiu.
Even when Jiujiu's period came, it was the same.
Moreover, after Jiujiu served him for the first time, the Emperor went to the Empress to ask for grace for Jiujiu. He said that Jiujiu's body was delicate and did not need to go to the Empress's place every day to pay respects.
It was a rule for the imperial concubines to pay respects to the Empress. Even Imperial Concubine Li, who was in her prime, had to go pay respects to the Empress every day. However, when Jiujiu came, the Emperor broke the rule. The Empress immediately hated Jiujiu.
However, the Empress had been married to the Emperor for over 30 years. She could not understand the Emperor's personality of liking the new and hating the old. Thus, she could only endure and wait for the Emperor to dislike Jiujiu. Then she would take care of Jiujiu, this woman who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth.
When the Emperor first favored Jiujiu, it was fine. After all, Jiujiu's appearance was good, so it was inevitable that he would favor her. But it was like this for one month, two months, and three months. Who could endure it?
There was only one Emperor, but there were three thousand concubines in the inner palace. Every day, they would be replaced once every ten years. The Empress and the Emperor were a young couple. Even if there was no favor, no one could shake her position. However, the imperial concubines were different. They originally relied on the Emperor's favor to survive. Now that the Emperor was monopolized by Jiujiu, who could endure it?
It was just like sharing a piece of red braised pork with everyone. It was only that big, and it was enough for everyone to choke on a mouthful. Now, it was eaten by Jiujiu alone.
Jiujiu ate happily, but the others had to starve. Who would be willing to do that?
The concubines wanted to find the Emperor, but right now, other than going to Jiujiu's place, the Emperor was in the imperial study. The hougong could not interfere in politics. Also, the Emperor's thoughts were mysterious and unpredictable. The concubines in the hougong did not dare to take the risk of going to the imperial study to find the Emperor, so they joined forces and went to the Empress's place.
The Empress was also not feeling very well, because the Emperor asked Eunuch Li to pass a message, saying that he felt that Jiujiu's status as an imperial concubine was a bit too low, and wanted to promote Jiujiu's status.
When Jiujiu first entered the palace, she was only a concubine, but on the second day, she was promoted to imperial concubine. Now, she could only be promoted to imperial concubine.
And according to the Emperor's intention, he wanted to directly promote Jiujiu to Imperial Noble Concubine.
Imperial Noble Consort, that was the person with the highest position in the imperial harem other than her. She had only entered the palace for less than half a year and had already climbed to the position of Imperial Noble Consort. If she allowed Jiujiu to continue living, would she also have to sit on the position of Empress?
Thinking of this, the Empress broke a few of her fingernails.
Before the Empress could relax, she heard her personal maid, Heye, say that the concubines had come for an audience.
What did they want to see her for? Didn't they want to talk about the Imperial Noble Concubine?
The Empress was very impatient, but she was in her position, so she could only endure the impatience in her heart and let the palace servants dress her.
By the time the Empress came out, an hour had already passed. When the concubines saw the Empress appear, they immediately saluted.
The Empress looked at the concubines kneeling before her and felt that her head, which was already hurting a little, began to hurt once more. The Empress reached out and rubbed her aching head, saying with a heavy expression: "Why did you come to my Kun Ning Palace instead of staying in your own palace?"
The Empress' expression was gloomy, and her tone was cold. If it was any normal day, the concubines might have trembled like quails and quickly left. But now, they had been angered by the fact that Jiujiu had stolen the Emperor's favor for the past three months. The concubines did not care whether or not the Empress would become angry. They just kneeled on the ground and begged.
Imperial Concubine Li was the first to speak: "Replying Your Highness, the sixth prince has already not seen His Majesty for three months. He cries and makes a fuss every day. This concubine is even more worried when seeing this. You are His Majesty's first wife and the sixth prince's first wife. His Majesty listens to you the most. I beg you to advise His Majesty to come to Biyu Palace to see the sixth prince."
Just as Imperial Concubine Li said this, the other concubines immediately began to chirp like little birds. This caused the Empress' head, which was already hurting, to hurt even more.
The Empress still had a decent expression on her face, but her eyes were as cold as the night. By the end, she lowered her head to hide the killing intent in her eyes. If possible, she truly wanted to kill Jiujiu, who had stolen His Majesty's favor.
It was just that His Majesty had a flaw. It was that if he loved someone, he would let them live. If he hated someone, he would let them die.
If he no longer liked them, they could do as they pleased, but if he still doted on them and they dared to take action, they would need to endure his fury.
The Empress and His Majesty had been together for over 30 years, and her appearance had already withered. His Majesty had also stopped doting on her long ago. Even if he came to her place, he would at most talk under a blanket. Although she hated Jiujiu, there was no need for her to take action.
Looking at the chattering concubines below, the Empress looked up and said in a heavy voice: "Chattering, chattering, chattering. What a scandal."
Just as the Empress' words came out, the originally noisy palace hall became so silent that a pin drop could be heard.
The Empress looked at the concubines kneeling below and put on a gentle expression, saying: "Alright, this One will find some time to speak with His Majesty about it. This One is tired, so you can all withdraw."
After the Empress finished speaking, she pretended to be tired and rubbed her temples.
The concubines had come to cause a ruckus for the sake of the Empress saying this. Seeing the Empress agree, they immediately withdrew.
When the concubines had all left, the Empress turned her head to look at Heye, who was standing at her side, and said: "Have you found out where that slut is right now?"
"Replying to Your Highness the Empress, she is currently in the imperial garden, admiring the flowers and feeding the fish."
"Find a chance to tell the concubines about what happened in the imperial garden."
When she spoke about telling the concubines, the Empress' lips curled up slightly, and a murderous look appeared in her eyes.
Heye, who was at the Empress' side, complied then went outside.
At this time, Jiujiu was feeding the fish in the imperial garden.
Jiujiu, who was so beautiful that she was naturally favored by the Empress. Of course, her favor was not as great as Jiujiu's. Therefore, although some concubines came to find Hua Xiangrong, because they knew the Emperor's temper, and also because the Emperor went to the imperial harem to favor other concubines, it was not as serious as it was now.
But now, the Emperor was monopolized by Jiujiu. How could the people in the imperial harem sit still? After hearing the news that Jiujiu was in the imperial garden, the concubines all swarmed to the imperial garden regardless of whether the news was true or not.
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