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

Chapter 272 Panic
Seeing Shen Qingwan walk in from outside, the two of them bowed in unison, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty be blessed."

"Get up," Shen Qingwan replied calmly, and walked towards the main hall.

Consort De and Consort Xian exchanged a glance, neither willing to yield to the other, and walked towards the main hall of Kunning Palace. When they reached the entrance of the main hall, they both lifted their feet at the same time.

After a moment's hesitation from Consort De, Consort Xian stepped inside.

Seeing her arrogant demeanor, Pei'er couldn't help but speak up, "Your Majesty, you are now a Consort, while she is a Concubine. Why do you tolerate her?"

Consort De suddenly realized!

Yes.

The Emperor has already restored her to the rank of Consort De, so why should she still defer to Consort Xian?

Even if the Emperor favored her last night, so what? When she wakes up now, her rank will still be the same as before, unchanged. What does she have to fear?
Consort De's chest heaved twice. Just as she was about to go in, Consort Rou walked up behind her.

"This concubine greets Your Highness Consort De. May Your Highness be blessed."

Consort De was slightly taken aback. The unpleasant feeling she had just experienced from Consort Xian seemed to be soothed in an instant. She glanced at Consort Ying with some surprise and slowly said, "Sister, why are you being so polite today?"

Consort Rou lowered her eyes and smiled, "This is all I should do. I haven't had a chance to personally congratulate Your Highness these past few days while I was in the palace. I hope Your Highness will not take offense."

"That's why I say the Emperor likes you; you're the one with the sweetest tongue, little sister." Consort De seemed to be in a very good mood, her lips almost unable to contain their smiles.

"Your Majesty flatters me. If we're talking about favor, how can I compare to Consort De? Your Majesty started serving His Majesty back in the Prince's residence. His Majesty has always valued Your Majesty, which shows how important Your Majesty is to him. No one can compare to you," Consort Rou said with a smile.

These words struck a chord with Consort De. Even though she had almost lost the Emperor's favor, she was still an old servant who had been by Emperor Yuanwu's side since he was a prince. Few concubines in the harem had such honor.

Consort De originally thought it would just be a greeting, but she didn't expect that Consort Rou's words could touch her heart and sound so pleasant. So she was determined to say a few more words to her.

"No one in this palace is as fortunate as you, sister. You were promoted three ranks after entering the palace through the imperial concubine selection, and now you have given birth to the fourth prince for the emperor. Even if you are to become a concubine, you will be the most honorable one. However, you probably won't be able to hold onto your position for long." Consort De smiled meaningfully.

Consort Rou walked to the entrance of the main hall and helped Consort De lift the curtain. "Then I thank Consort De for her kind words."

As Consort De stepped inside, she nodded to Consort Rou, her vanity greatly satisfied.

After Consort De entered, her personal maid Jun'er couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, Consort De has long been out of favor. Even the Emperor doesn't take her seriously. Why should Your Majesty be so humble and ingratiating? Although Your Majesty is still a concubine, you are the birth mother of the Fourth Prince. Her rank is not more noble than yours. Why should you lower yourself?"

Did you condescend to your status?

Consort Rou did not think so.

Jun'er was absolutely right just now; Consort De had already fallen out of favor long ago. For a concubine who had lost favor to have the ability to have the Emperor elevate her from a lowly concubine to a high-ranking one overnight—you'd be hard-pressed to find even one or two people in the entire harem who could do that.

That alone is something she can learn from.

Just as Consort Rou entered, Noble Lady Shen and Consort Ji walked in from outside the palace, hand in hand.

Now, Changchun Palace is occupied by the two of them and Consort Zhen. In addition to taking care of the eldest princess, Consort Zhen is also in charge of the trivial matters in the harem, and is so busy that she is rarely in the palace.

These days, with the court busy, Emperor Yuanwu rarely went to the inner palace. Bored, he stayed in the palace all day, so Consort Shen and Consort Ji would get together, partly to pass the long nights and partly to keep each other company.

Although Consort Ji entered the palace through the same selection process as Consort Rou and Consort Ying, she was never favored by Emperor Yuanwu. Apart from the initial period when she could still see Emperor Yuanwu, she is now relegated to the sidelines in Changchun Palace.

"Why did Your Majesty come in from outside so early in the morning? Did you not stay in Kunning Palace last night?" Consort Ji asked curiously.

"What nonsense are you spouting, little sister? How could Her Majesty the Empress not live in her own palace? I heard that she went to the Prince's quarters early this morning to have breakfast with the First Prince," Consort Shen said sullenly.

"What?" Consort Ji, her face veiled with silk, almost exclaimed in surprise, "The Empress dares to visit the First Prince so openly? Isn't she afraid that the Emperor will blame her if he finds out?"

"Blame? Compared to being blamed, there are many things that terrify the Empress. Now that so many concubines in the harem are pregnant, each of them has a position and a share. If they all give birth to princes, how can the Empress not panic?" Consort Shen said, rolling her eyes.

“Even if you’re panicked, you can’t anger the Emperor,” said Consort Ji, puzzled.

"Offended?" Consort Shen shook her head with a chuckle. "Look how busy the Emperor has been lately. He has no time to care about the affairs of the harem. I've heard that the Empress has gone to the princes' quarters to dine with the First Prince more than once. General Pang died for the country, and to comfort the Pang family, the Emperor not only gave him a grand funeral but also bestowed upon him the title of Duke of Zhenguo and a considerable amount of gold and silver. That's not just a pension; it was all personally bestowed by the Emperor. Consort Xian, the eldest daughter of the General's family, will probably not be left behind. A promotion is only a matter of time." Consort Shen clicked her tongue in amazement.

"His Majesty recently restored Consort De's rank. If he restores Consort Xian's rank as well, things will soon return to normal. I thought that things would be different after the Empress took control of the harem, but it seems that good times won't last long," sighed Consort Ji.

"Good times don't last long? Think about it, in this harem, who is our Empress's mortal enemy? That would naturally be Consort Xian. If Consort Xian were to regain favor and power, what would be the first thing she do?" A sly smile appeared on Consort Shen's lips.

"What are you doing?" Ji Chang asked, his face full of curiosity.

"Why did you release so many palace maids from the palace a few days ago?" Consort Shen asked.

Unfortunately, Consort Ji was not very bright. Even though Consort Shen had made herself perfectly clear, she still looked confused and asked, "Why?"

Consort Shen: ...

She usually thought she was stupid enough, but she never expected that there was someone even less bright than her.

Consort Shen was speechless, but she still patiently said, "To put it nicely, it's naturally for the Emperor's sake, to reduce the expenses of the harem."