The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 122 Volume

"There are rules in the harem. Even when bickering, there must be limits. You can't just blurt things out without thinking. Especially Consort De, it was indeed wrong of you to disrespect your superior."

Consort De frowned, her heart skipping a beat.

The Empress has not only changed, but she has also learned to play dirty tricks. It turns out she arrived so early that she even heard them say "disrespectful to elders and insubordinate to superiors." Just what time was she listening outside?

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will remember Your Majesty's teachings."

Consort Xian sneered inwardly, a sly smile curving her lips.

Consort De used to fawn over the Empress like a lackey all day long, but the Empress never seemed to side with her when anything happened.

They used to bring up her lost mandarin duck bib, but she wanted to see how Consort De would still act so arrogantly in the harem.

"And Consort Xian."

Consort Xian, who had just been secretly pleased, trembled when she heard the Empress suddenly call her name.

"You are a Noble Consort personally appointed by the Empress Dowager, how come you are arguing with the concubines? Even if the concubines are ignorant and said something they shouldn't have, you should have tried to dissuade them."

"Your Majesty's teachings are correct. I will remember Your Majesty's instructions."

Emperor Yuanwu had eaten well early in the morning and was in a good mood. He wanted to come to the main hall to see what the concubines and the empress usually talked about, but as soon as he entered, he saw the concubines kneeling on the ground and the empress scolding people.

"Who has upset the Empress so early in the morning?"

As Emperor Yuanwu finished speaking, he walked over and sat down next to the Empress.

In the past, it would have been assumed that the Empress was deliberately making things difficult for the concubines because of some dissatisfaction. But now, seeing the concubines kneeling all over the ground, he felt that the Empress was not deliberately causing trouble; someone must have stirred up some trouble.

Emperor Yuanwu was in a good mood and wanted to hear a little about it.

“Your Majesty, no matter how big the matter in the harem is, it’s just women bickering. Your Majesty shouldn’t pursue it further,” Shen Qingwan said.

"Since the Empress has said so, then I will not ask any further questions. But all of you listen to me carefully: the Empress shall be in charge of all matters in the harem, and all punishments shall be decided by the Empress alone. I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first. The Empress shall handle the matters in the harem as she sees fit."

"Yes." Shen Qingwan stood up and bowed.

"Your Majesty, I respectfully bid you farewell. Long live the Emperor!"

As Shen Qingwan watched Emperor Yuanwu's departing figure, the words he had just spoken echoed in her ears: "In the harem, all matters are decided by the Empress, and all punishments are decided by the Empress alone."

Does this mean that Emperor Yuanwu's attitude towards her has completely changed, and he even trusts her more?

Even if she doesn't compete or fight in this harem and just wants to be a couch potato, if she doesn't really have any real power, she probably won't be able to live a peaceful life for long.

Consort Xian had only recently been promoted to Imperial Noble Consort, yet she was already displaying an air of wanting to rule the harem. Although it was proper for an Imperial Noble Consort to refer to herself as "this palace," her aggressive use of "this palace" made even the Empress, let alone Consort De, feel very uncomfortable.

Although Consort De was a bit flamboyant, she always considered appearances, which was better than Consort Xian, who was always resorting to underhanded tricks behind people's backs.

It seems that the original owner had suffered a lot of mistreatment from her, and she even set her sights on the original owner's personal maid.

However, since the Emperor has always been wary of Consort Xian's maternal family, it's likely that the position of Imperial Noble Consort won't be far off.

Even though the Third Prince is currently being raised in Consort Shu's palace, he is still Consort Xian's biological son. Who knows, one day Emperor Yuanwu might want to repay a debt of gratitude and send the child back to Jingyang Palace.

It's really strange. She no longer sends contraceptive soup to the concubines who serve her in bed. Emperor Yuanwu often stays in the inner palace, so why are all the concubines' bellies showing no signs of pregnancy?

"As the weather gradually warms up, all of you sisters should do your best to serve the Emperor. The Emperor is busy with many affairs of state and cannot travel to every palace. You can also prepare some food and send it to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to let the Emperor know that you have him in your hearts."

Shen Qingwan earnestly advised him.

As the weather gets colder, the concubines in the palace all stay in their own palaces. The emperor can only remember a few of the concubines who are usually favored. He gets used to going to some palaces and will continue to do so. As a result, the concubines who are not favored will gradually be forgotten.

These concubines are really something, can't they just roll up their clothes?
They themselves didn't even know what was going on. Did they expect to be favored by the Emperor when he couldn't even remember their names?

After all the concubines left, Shen Qingwan remained seated there, not moving for a long time.

Zhen'er carefully walked up to her and comforted her, "Your Highness, please don't worry so much. Consort De is just straightforward. She and Consort Gui have had a feud since their residence. Consort Gui worked so hard to become Consort Gui, so she's a bit too flamboyant. It's not necessarily because she's targeting Your Highness."

Shen Qingwan slowly shook her head: "I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about where things went wrong. Why haven't any of the concubines in the harem gotten pregnant for so long? Could it be that someone has done something to cause this?"

"What?" Zhen'er almost exclaimed in surprise, thinking she had misheard: "Your Majesty, what are you saying? Isn't it a good thing that there are no children in the harem? Once the concubines in the harem become pregnant, they will definitely threaten Your Majesty's position in the harem."

"I am already the Empress. How could their children threaten my position?" Shen Qingwan knew what Zhen'er was thinking.

Her thinking was ultimately bound by the constraints of that era. A mother's status rose with the birth of a prince. If a concubine in the harem became pregnant and gave birth to a prince, she would be promoted to the rank of Noble Consort or Imperial Noble Consort.

But what she didn't know was that the children in the harem were precious precisely because there were so few of them. If each of the twelve palaces had three or five children, and all the concubines in the harem were promoted in rank, then there would be no one standing out, and no prince would be more precious than any princess.

By then, if a prince wanted to stand out and win Emperor Yuanwu's heart, he would have to study diligently and become exceptionally talented.

And there was that guess in her heart.

"I'm just worried that someone might have done something unsavory." Shen Qingwan paused, then asked, "What did the Imperial Hospital say about Consort Rou and Consort Lan's pregnancies?"

“Consort Rou’s pregnancy is stable, and the Empress Dowager has been keeping an eye on things. In addition, Lady Wen is now living in the palace, so it seems that no one will dare to make a move on Zhongcui Palace. However, Consort Lan…” Zhen’er paused and whispered in Shen Qingwan’s ear, “This servant heard from people in Jingyang Palace that Consort Lan has been having trouble eating and sleeping lately and seems to be in poor health.”

(End of this chapter)