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

Chapter 283 Pretending
Before she could even see Emperor Yuanwu's expression clearly, a young eunuch from Consort Wen's side rushed in from outside.

Once she saw who it was, she gave Xia Fuchuan a meaningful look with a dark expression.

The two eunuchs who had been guarding the palace gate to prevent him from entering also rushed in. Before Xia Fuchuan could even shut the eunuch up, he cried out, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please go and see my noble lady! My noble lady is suffering from unbearable abdominal pain, and I'm afraid she's not going to make it."

Following the direction of the sound, Emperor Yuanwu turned his head and looked in the direction where the little eunuch was kneeling. "What's going on?"

After the Emperor said this, no one dared to step forward to stop him anymore. Xia Fuchuan slowly straightened up, and the two eunuchs who were holding him let go.

Before the young eunuch could speak, Consort Xian moved closer to Emperor Yuanwu and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, it's all my fault for not disciplining the servants properly. They offended you. I'll have someone take them away and teach them some manners."

After Consort Xian finished speaking, she gave Xia Fuchuan a wink. Just as Xia Fuchuan was hesitating whether to step forward, Emperor Yuanwu raised his hand to interrupt her and stood up.

He stared at the kneeling eunuch and examined him closely. "He looks a bit unfamiliar. He doesn't seem to be from your palace."

Consort Xian pursed her lips, stood behind Emperor Yuanwu, and glared fiercely at the two eunuchs guarding the door.

They knew they had failed to stop the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine from their meal and would certainly be punished, so they dared not raise their heads.

Emperor Yuanwu took a step toward where the little eunuch was kneeling, and asked, "You just mentioned your benefactor. Who is your benefactor?"

When the young eunuch rushed in, he had mustered all his courage, but he had never seen such a scene before. When Emperor Yuanwu asked him such a question, he was so frightened that his whole body trembled, and large beads of sweat dripped down his cheeks. "Replying to Your Majesty, our noble lady is Consort Wen, who lives in the side hall of Jingyang Palace."

Consort Wen?
Emperor Yuanwu's eyes were deep and he thought for a long time before he remembered that it was the princess sent from Mobei. He had been so busy with the affairs of the previous dynasty that he had forgotten about her and had never... favored her since.

A strange look flashed across Emperor Yuanwu's face. As if deliberately concealing something, he cleared his throat and asked, "What's going on with your family's esteemed member?"

"Your Majesty, my lady suffered from severe abdominal pain after dinner and is on the verge of death. Could Your Majesty please come and take a look?" The eunuch's voice trembled.

Consort Xian couldn't help but roll her eyes. "If you're not feeling well, go and summon the imperial physician. What's the use of summoning the Emperor? He doesn't know how to treat illnesses!"

As her voice faded, the entire main hall of Jingyang Palace fell into a deathly silence. Not long ago, Consort Xian had also used the excuse of fainting from excessive grief to invite Emperor Yuanwu to the palace. She hadn't even called for a royal physician, and her illness had disappeared as soon as the emperor arrived.

For her to say something like that at this moment is a direct slap in the face.

Consort Xian suddenly realized something, moved her lips as if about to say something, but Emperor Yuanwu had already started walking towards the side hall of Jingyang Palace.

Consort Xian stomped her feet in anger, but had no choice but to hurry after him. She was afraid that if she didn't follow, Emperor Yuanwu would go to Consort Wen's room and wouldn't return that night. What a Consort Wen! In the afternoon, she even brought a disgusting thing to her palace to curry favor, and tonight she's using such an old-fashioned trick to try and win the Emperor's favor.

But she didn't even open her dog eyes wide and see whose favor she was fighting for?
Emperor Yuanwu didn't have much of an impression of this Consort Wen, and for a moment he couldn't even remember what she looked like. It wasn't that he cared too much about this so-called princess of the Northern Desert, but General Pang had just died and the morale of the army was inevitably somewhat turbulent. If something happened to the princess sent from the Northern Desert in the harem at this time, and Moganxie used this as an excuse to start a war, the court might really be overwhelmed.

At this point, it's better to remain still than to take any action. Since it's something that can be resolved with a little favor, Emperor Yuanwu naturally wouldn't mobilize a single soldier. He understood the implications of this decision.

Not only did he calculate it clearly, but emperors throughout history calculated it clearly as well; otherwise, how could so many princesses have been forced to marry into political alliances?

When Emperor Yuanwu entered Consort Wen's palace, Consort Wen was curled up on the bed with a pale face, her forehead covered with a layer of sweat, and her nightgown was also soaked with sweat.

It seems like he really wasn't faking it!

"Where is the imperial physician? The illness is so serious, why not go and summon the imperial physician? Is this how you servants serve your masters?"

Emperor Yuanwu shouted, which frightened all the servants in the room into kneeling on the ground, "These servants deserve to die, please forgive us, Your Majesty!"

Consort Xian followed behind Emperor Yuanwu. She came reluctantly and her pace was not as fast as his. As soon as she stepped into Consort Wen's palace, she heard Emperor Yuanwu's angry voice. She was startled and paused for a moment, then was overwhelmed by an overwhelming jealousy.

Seeing her husband get angry over another woman filled her with mixed emotions, leaving her feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Moreover, deep down she always believed that Consort Wen's current state of pain was an act!

Seeing that Emperor Yuanwu was truly enraged, the servants knelt on the ground, trembling, none daring to speak. Green Pine, who was kneeling closest to Emperor Yuanwu, slowly raised his head and straightened his back. "Your Majesty, we went to summon the imperial physician an hour ago. However, although the Imperial Hospital agreed, the physician has not yet arrived. We went to summon him again before going to Your Majesty, but the imperial physician has still not come."

Emperor Yuanwu listened to his neither humble nor arrogant voice, glanced down at him, and noticed that no servant in the harem would dare to speak to him in such a reproachful tone. The moment his gaze fell on her, although Green Pine was dressed as a palace maid, Emperor Yuanwu recognized her at a glance from her appearance. She was the maid that Consort Wen had brought from the northern desert as part of her dowry.

Although the servants in the harem were divided into ranks, there was still an unwritten rule that, among servants of the same rank, the dowry maids had a slightly higher status than the other servants.

"Is this true?" Emperor Yuanwu snorted coldly.

Although he did not name names, Consort Xian was the head of Jingyang Palace, and she would inevitably bear responsibility for such an incident.

If the Imperial Medical Academy discriminates based on rank, and even a noble person can't get a physician, how could a concubine possibly not be able to get one?

Consort Xian's face turned pale. She quickly walked to Emperor Yuanwu and knelt on both knees. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I really didn't know about this. When Sister Wen came to my palace to bring me food this afternoon, she was perfectly fine. I really don't know what happened to Sister Wen."