Five years after her death, she awoke on the dragon bed.

Chapter 359 The Incident Reached the Emperor
Consort De calmly defended herself, saying, "It was clearly Consort Ning who bullied me first without cause. I acted in self-defense as a reaction. In a moment of self-preservation, how could I have remembered Consort Ning's identity? At that time, I only wanted to protect my rights and my face. This was legitimate self-defense. How can it be considered insubordination?"

Upon hearing Consort De's words, Lou Suyi thought to herself that this woman was truly quick-witted, able to make the dead seem alive.

Not only was Lou Suyi shocked by Consort De's remarks, but everyone else was also dumbfounded, never expecting Consort De to spout such nonsense.

Now we'll have to see how Empress Lou Suyi judges things.

In an instant, everyone's eyes were focused on Lou Suyi's face.

Lou Suyi pretended to ponder for a while before saying, "What Consort De said makes sense. It was Consort Ning who attacked Consort De first, and Consort De retaliated in desperation, which was legitimate self-defense and did not overstep her bounds."

Originally, it wouldn't have mattered to her whether Consort De or Consort Ning killed each other, but she wanted to take this opportunity to test Consort Ning's true character. Consort Ning was usually unassuming and never argued, so it was difficult to find fault with her; this was a rare opportunity.

Upon hearing Lou Suyi's words, Consort De's eyes lit up: "Then shouldn't Her Majesty the Empress punish Consort Ning?"

Lou Suyi laughed when she heard this. Consort De was quite shameless.

However, this suited her perfectly, so she naturally went along with it.

"It was just a quarrel and a minor conflict. A small punishment will suffice. How about this, since Consort Ning attacked Consort De first, let Consort Ning apologize to Consort De, and that will be the end of it," Lou Suyi said calmly.

Her words caused an uproar in the audience.

Previously, it was clearly Consort De who knocked Consort Ning to the ground and slapped her face hard. Even if Consort Ning had her servant slap Consort De first, Consort De should not have retaliated by hitting Consort Ning in return.

Lou Suyi, however, sided with Consort De and made Consort Ning apologize to Consort De. Wasn't this aiding and abetting the evildoer?
Consort Ning clearly hadn't expected Lou Suyi to ask her to apologize to Consort De.

If it were her fault, she would admit it, but this time it was clearly not her fault.

It was clearly Consort De who was arrogant and domineering and provoked her first. As one of the four consorts, what's wrong with teaching Consort De a lesson?
Although she has a good personality, it doesn't mean she can let Lou Suyi bully her like this.

"If it is my fault, I will admit it. But this time it was Consort De who provoked me first. Do you think she can accept that I should apologize to her?!" Consort Ning said with an inviolable and dignified air.

Consort De scoffed upon hearing this: "Consort Ning's words are strange. You did something wrong, so you should apologize to me. As the head of the Nine Consorts, why can't I accept it? What, are you disobeying the Empress's discipline and trying to challenge the Empress's authority?!"

She wanted to see if Consort Ning was determined to fight Lou Suyi to the bitter end.

Lou Suyi is the Empress, so Consort Ning's good relationships are of no use in front of Lou Suyi.

If Consort Ning doesn't apologize to her, she'll be labeled as disrespectful to the Empress, which will be enough to give Consort Ning a hard time.

Consort Ning frowned slightly: "It's not that I'm challenging the Empress's authority, but that the Empress handled this matter unfairly. I did nothing wrong, so why should I apologize to you?! Even if this matter is brought before His Majesty, I will still demand an explanation."

Everyone else nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Lou Suyi was clearly unfair in her handling of the matter, and it was only reasonable for Consort Ning to teach Consort De a lesson. In fact, Consort Ning was even hit by Consort De. Yet Lou Suyi turned around and made Consort Ning apologize to Consort De. Wasn't this favoring Consort De?

If Consort Ning truly apologizes to Consort De this time, Lou Suying will act solely on her own whims in the future, which will not be beneficial to them either.

Lou Suying felt a little guilty when Consort Ning threatened to make a scene before the Emperor, but it didn't matter; she had plenty of reasons. "Since His Majesty has entrusted me with the power to manage the harem, I am responsible for handling all matters, big and small. Consort Ning has to come to His Majesty for such a trivial matter. Does he think His Majesty is too idle? Do you think someone as busy with national affairs as His Majesty would concern himself with such trivial matters in the harem? What, do I not even have the right to discipline a concubine like you?!" Lou Suying's face turned cold, and she adopted the airs of an Empress.

Consort Ning, however, was not intimidated by Lou Suyi: "I do not accept the Empress's judgment. I can only seek justice from His Majesty!"

She then stood up and said, "I would be grateful if Your Majesty could accompany me!"

The other concubines secretly cheered upon seeing this.

Lou Suyi, relying on the emperor's favor, actually protected the spoiled Consort De. When she encountered Consort Ning, who was upright and incorruptible, she ran into a brick wall.

Consort De was in trouble when she heard this.

If Murong finds out that I slapped Consort Ning, wouldn't he also discover my unseemly side?
Furthermore, Murong is not one to show mercy to women; once the reason is known, who knows how he will deal with her.

If she had known this would happen, she should have stopped while she was ahead.

She hoped that Lou Suyi would reject Consort Ning's proposal, but Lou Suyi had other ideas.

She considered that she was pregnant, and even if Murong felt that she had treated her unfairly, she would not have lost anything, after all, she was carrying a child.

Her original intention was to test Consort Ning, and the bigger the commotion, the better. So she said to Jili, "Go to Qianqing Palace and ask His Majesty to come down."

Consort Ning was somewhat surprised. She thought Lou Suying would show weakness under her pressure, but Lou Suying was not afraid to ask Murong to come and uphold justice.

Then let's wait for Murong to come and see how unfair Empress Lou Suying is.

Consort De felt a little uneasy seeing Consort Ning's calm demeanor. Murong wasn't one of those men who knew how to cherish women; why had Lou Suying actually invited him over?
The others were just there to watch the show; of course, what they really wanted to see was Lou Suying being humiliated by Murong.

Only Consort De was restless, feeling more and more that she shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it.

Murong was originally discussing matters with cabinet ministers in the Southern Study when he heard Lou Suyi invite him to Xianfu Palace. He said calmly, "I am discussing state affairs. I will go there after the meeting is over."

Jili then returned to Xianfu Palace to report back.

And so, everyone waited silently for Murong to arrive.

Murong arrived at Xianfu Palace half an hour later. He knew Lou Suyi wouldn't seek him out unless there was nothing wrong, but seeing so many concubines present, he sat down next to Lou Suyi and asked, "What happened?"

"It was originally just a dispute between concubines in the harem. Such a trivial matter shouldn't have involved His Majesty. But Consort Ning insisted, so I had no choice but to ask His Majesty to come over." Lou Suyi immediately brought Consort Ning into the discussion.

Consort Ning frowned slightly, about to explain, when she heard Murong say, "Since you are the Empress, you are in charge of all matters in the harem. There is no need to make me come here for such a trivial matter in the future."

Lou Suyi knew he would say that, and replied aggrievedly, "But Consort Ning insisted, and there was nothing I could do."

Seeing this, Consort Ning became anxious and quickly explained, "Your Majesty, please allow me to explain. It's not that I had to come to Your Majesty, but the Empress has been unfair in her dealings, and I had no choice but to ask Your Majesty to come and uphold justice."