The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Not long after, dinner was served. As soon as Ruofu sat down, Suxin came in from outside, curtsied, and reported: "The eldest princess just sent word that the Empress Dowager has asked her to stay for dinner at Cining Palace, and asked the Emperor and Empress not to wait for her."

Ruofu muttered, "This child, she's bothering her maternal grandmother again."

Then he asked, "Where's Brother Bai?"

Lianxin, standing to the side, replied with a smile, "The Second Prince was also in Cining Palace. He had only gone there to pay his respects, but since the First Princess and Princess Hengti had also arrived, the Empress Dowager decided to keep him there as well."

After hearing this, Ruofu simply waved his hand and said, "Fine, let's ignore them. They're always coming to Cining Palace begging for food, making it seem like I'm not feeding them."

Hongli laughed upon hearing this: "Doesn't this just prove that the two children are filial? Although the Empress Dowager's health has been fine these days, her spirits have always been low. Hualan and Changbai have been visiting her often lately, and I've noticed that her mood has obviously improved a lot."

"Of course," Rofer said without hesitation. "Don't you even know who gave birth to the child?"

Hongli paused in his hand, which was holding a plate of food.

Ruo Fu was completely unaware and was already happily drinking his soup.

Hongli didn't say anything in the end, but silently swallowed the words back along with the fish.

After dinner, Hongli saw that she had traveled by carriage all day and had slept for half the afternoon, so he wanted to take her out for a walk to help her digest.

No sooner had Ruofu rinsed his mouth than he waved his hand and said, "No, I have something to discuss with you. While you're here, let's quickly come up with a plan so we don't have to waste our breath arguing later."

As she spoke, she asked Zhaoying to fetch paper and pen, then sat down on the couch and spread out the paper: "Let's make this clear first, don't come back saying I'm biased. All the people who followed you in the Prince's residence were ranked according to seniority, offspring, and family background, one by one."

Hongli immediately knew that she was talking about the ranks of the imperial harem, so he sat down opposite her.

If Fu picks up his pen, he should first write: "Zhu Ying and Lü Yun both have children, and the place is too small to accommodate them all. Why not promote them both to the rank of Imperial Concubine?"

Hongli thought for a moment and said, "After all, Su is a Han Chinese and entered the palace later. She only has one son, Yongzhang. If she were to be ranked as a concubine alongside Zhu Ying as soon as she entered the palace, it would be too fast. Let's demote her by one rank and make her a concubine."

Ruo Fu thought about it and realized it made sense.

So they crossed out the character "妃" (fei, meaning concubine) that had just been written and came up with a different character, "嫔" (pin, meaning consort).

"Jin was the last one to be appointed. Although she was a tribute woman, she was still a testament to Yu's loyalty to the Qing Dynasty, so we shouldn't treat her too poorly. Let's give her the rank of Noble Lady. Wanyin has no children, but she has always been honest and sensible and never causes me any trouble. I don't want to wrong her either. She should at least be a Noble Lady so that people won't look down on her. Besides, she gets along best with Lüyun. After entering the palace, she can live together and look after each other."

Emperor Hongli had no objection to this.

Next up are Gao Xiyue and Ruyi.

And now we've finally arrived at the main event.

Ruo Fu raised her eyes: "Both of them are secondary consorts, and logically speaking, they should at least be at the rank of imperial concubine. But Gao Bin has accumulated one merit after another over the years, and Xi Yue is now pregnant... They can't be treated the same as someone who has no merit and no child, can they?"

Upon hearing this tone, Hongli roughly understood: "Has Ruyi made a mistake again?"

"When is she not making a mistake, or on her way to making one?" Ruofu said matter-of-factly. "To be made a concubine without bearing a child is already giving her enough face. Do you expect her to be made an Imperial Noble Consort?"

Hongli naturally thought so, but he also knew that he couldn't say it like that.

He could only ask, "So you're going to offer Xiyue the title of Imperial Concubine? What benefits has she given you in return?"

Ruofu's eyes widened immediately: "Am I that kind of person? What good thing could you possibly have to buy a concubine's position in one go?"

Hongli had just breathed a sigh of relief—

"What does it matter if I have the rank of Imperial Concubine? How can I withstand her sending me gifts every day?"

Ruof added another sentence.

Hongli nearly choked on his breath, his eyes wide as he stared intently at her.

Ruofu, however, showed no remorse whatsoever: "Those are secondary! The main thing is that Xiyue is truly sensible! Look at her all these years, apart from being a bit quick-tongued and short-tempered, has she ever caused me any major trouble? If I tell her to follow the rules, she follows them; if I tell her not to argue with people, she knows to hold back, even if she only holds back for three days and still gets into trouble, she still knows to come back and apologize to me!"

Hongli: ...

"Besides, are you really going to stop holding beauty pageants and bringing in new women? I'm the Empress, I have to set an example for the harem, don't I? They all need to know that those who obey me are rewarded and given positions, so I can manage the harem well and give you, the Emperor, peace of mind!"

Ruofu became increasingly righteous as he spoke: "Think about Gao Bin again. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to you and the Qing Dynasty. He only had one daughter, Xiyue, who was born with a cold constitution. It was such a rare and precious child. What a joyous occasion! As her husband and the emperor, shouldn't you encourage her?"

Hongli rubbed his temples: "Whatever you say, whatever you say."

Ruofu immediately lowered her head and wrote the words "Imperial Consort".

Hongli glanced at Ruyi's name again, and finally couldn't help but say, "But Ruyi..."

After all, she was his childhood sweetheart, and they shared a bond that no one else had...

"Does she have a capable father?"

Ruof asked without even looking up.

Hongli: ...

Do you have children?

"..."

"Did you make any contribution?"

Hongli remained silent.

Ruo Fu slammed his fist on the table: "If only she were as sensible as Wan Yin, and didn't just spend all her time making me angry!"

"I know, I know." Seeing that the woman's momentum was getting stronger and stronger, Hongli knew it was time to end the dispute, otherwise it would probably get out of control.

Besides, if you think about it carefully, Ruyi's initial conferment of the title of Consort was indeed not a disservice. So she could only wave her hand and say, "You are the Empress, the head of the six palaces. These matters of the harem are your responsibility. As long as the general rules are followed, I will listen to you."

Ruof scoffed and countered, "You really want to listen to me?"

Seeing this, Hongli suddenly felt a little regretful, but as the emperor, how could he take back what he had said on the spot? He could only nod and say, "I will listen to you."

Ruofu immediately perked up, put the paper filled with ranks aside, and asked Zhaoying to bring another stack of clean paper. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Then I'm going to make some big moves."

Hongli suddenly had a bad feeling.

Wang Qin, who was distracted and peeking at Lianxin, was also jolted back to his senses, his heart skipping a beat.

"What are you going to do?"

Ruo Fu slammed the paper on the table:

"To govern the six palaces!"