That Imperial Concubine is both wicked and cunning! Your Majesty, wake up!

The Empress Dowager's pent-up anger found an outlet at this moment.

With a full house of guests at the birthday banquet, if she were to lose her temper in public, she would only earn a reputation for being narrow-minded.

Suppressing her anger, she looked at Consort Qing, who was still smiling, and asked, "Consort Qing, why is the incense before the Buddha flickering on and off?"

Seeing the incense sticks emitting intermittent wisps of smoke, Consort Qing quickly rose to answer, but faced with the Empress Dowager's stern words, she could barely speak:

"Your Majesty... perhaps the wind in the palace is too strong, causing the candle flame to flicker. I will immediately order someone to replace the incense sticks with fresh, the strongest sandalwood incense, so that the incense will burn brightly forever!"

The Empress Dowager waved her hand coldly, "Today is my birthday, there's no need to spoil everyone's fun over such a trivial matter. Go and take care of it."

Consort Qing felt as if she had been granted a pardon and hurriedly expressed her gratitude, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your kindness! I will go and do it immediately!"

Song Shuangning and Tingyu exchanged glances discreetly.

Consort Qing hurriedly retreated outside the palace, barely managing to stand by holding onto the hand of a palace maid; her back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Gazing at the swaying palace lanterns under the eaves, she murmured to herself with lingering fear, "That was close...that was close..."

The maidservant beside her whispered reassurance: "Your Majesty, do not be afraid. The Empress Dowager is mindful of the birthday banquet and has not pursued the matter further."

Consort Qing glared at her fiercely, her voice low and menacing, "Concerned about the birthday banquet? Clearly, she's using this as an excuse. The Emperor forced her to be promoted to Yuan Zhaoyi earlier, and she had nowhere to vent her anger, so she took it out on me!"

"What bad luck."

She waved her hand to the palace servants behind her, her tone urgent: "What are you standing there for? Quickly replace these incense sticks!"

The palace servants hurriedly brought over new incense sticks, cleaned the ash, inserted them into the burner, and lit the fire, all in one smooth motion.

But the spark, barely lit, began to flicker.

One stick of incense after another was replaced, and a thick layer of ash accumulated in the incense burner, but the flame remained unstable.

Consort Qing's heart sank lower and lower, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead. She took a few steps closer, staring at the flame of the incense stick, her voice tight: "What's going on? It's never been like this before?"

The palace maid hurriedly wiped the sweat from her brow and stammered, "This servant...this servant doesn't know either, Your Highness, this...this is really very strange..."

With a dignified smile on her face, the Empress raised her hand to signal the actors to continue performing "The Palace of Eternal Life".

I wanted to gently let bygones be bygones regarding the earlier incident of the flickering candlelight.

But the Empress Dowager had long lost interest in watching the play. Her eyes were half-closed, her fingertips were twirling Buddhist prayer beads, and she was chanting scriptures one after another.

She was a devout Buddhist and strictly adhered to the rules of offering sacrifices and praying for blessings. The incense sticks burning in the bronze incense burner outside the hall flickered on and off, making one's heart clench with anxiety.

After an unknown amount of time, three incense sticks finally caught fire and burned steadily in the wisps of smoke, no longer flickering.

Consort Qing quietly loosened her clenched, white fingers, and the palace servants beside her also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The group of people finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Song Shuangning subtly curved her lips into a smile. She calmly picked up her cup, took a small sip, and was in a good mood.

She instructed Tinglu to blend incense according to ancient methods, using common palace-use spices such as agarwood and sandalwood as a base, and then adding mild, calming herbs such as cypress seeds and acacia bark. The finished product had an appearance and basic fragrance that were completely identical to the incense used by Consort Qing in her sacrifices, making it difficult to detect.

Just as everyone's hearts were finally at ease, thinking that this strange incident had finally subsided...

A palace maid's face turned as white as paper. She walked to Consort Qing's side, her voice trembling uncontrollably: "Your Highness! No, no! This jade ruyi... how could there be a crack on this jade ruyi!"

Consort Qing's heart skipped a beat. She bent down to look and saw a thin crack, as fine as a hair, running across the fair jade body. It was particularly glaring in the candlelight.

Before she could utter a sound, Li, the old nanny beside the Empress Dowager, strode forward, her sharp eyes sweeping over the crack, her face instantly darkening.

The old woman dared not delay and immediately went to the Empress Dowager's seat, bowed and whispered a few words.

The Empress Dowager was already unsettled by the strange phenomena of the candles and incense sticks. Upon hearing that the jade ruyi had cracked, she felt a surge of unease rise to her head. She clenched her prayer beads tightly, her face turning ashen.

"Forget it, let's just cancel the birthday banquet!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and stood up.

"Mother..." Upon seeing this, the Empress hurriedly stood up to try to persuade her to stay, but was forced back by the Empress Dowager's cold gaze.

Xiao Yan: "Mother, please calm down. It's just a minor break in the jade ornament. Why get angry and hurt yourself?"

But the Empress Dowager was in a fit of anger and completely ignored him.

Helpless, Xiao Yan turned to Li Fuquan beside him and said in a deep voice, "Send the Empress Dowager back to the palace to rest."

The Empress Dowager left in a huff, leaving the ministers and their wives in the hall looking at each other with expressions of unease.

Xiao Yan first raised his hand to suppress the whispers in the hall, and said loudly, "The Empress Dowager has been busy with Buddhist rituals lately and is occasionally feeling irritable. Please do not worry about it."

"The birthday gifts from each prefecture will be sent in double the amount, as a token of my appreciation."

Xiao Yan looked at Consort Qing's distraught appearance.

If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have agreed to her request to take on the sacrificial duties.

She has always been eager for quick success and instant benefits, always thinking about how to impress the Empress Dowager. However, she is not careful enough and has now made such a mistake, ruining the birthday banquet and angering the Empress Dowager.

They are truly more trouble than they're worth.

Then, his gaze swept over the flickering incense sticks and the cracked jade ruyi, his brows furrowing slightly. He said to the Empress, "Investigate this matter thoroughly and see if it was due to negligence on the part of the palace servants involved, or if there is something else going on."

Having said that, he turned and left the hall.

A meticulously prepared birthday banquet thus came to an abrupt end.

Consort Qing stood frozen in place, her gaze fixed on the crack in the jade ruyi. Her heart felt as if a boulder was pressing down on it, and she could hardly breathe.

She personally supervised the palace servants as they wiped and arranged the items, checking them four or five times over. How could they have cracked out of nowhere?

Consort Qing's mind went blank, leaving only the word "It's over".

She had originally planned to use this birthday banquet to make the sacrificial ceremony a grand affair, to please the Empress Dowager, and also to show her face in front of the Emperor, letting others see her abilities.

Who would have thought that, despite Consort Shao and Consort De's meticulous and thorough handling of everything, something went wrong with the sacrificial ceremony that Consort Shao was in charge of.

This isn't showing off; it's throwing your face to the ground and letting others trample on it.

Song Shuangning got up and went back, in a very good mood, her steps even lighter than when she came.

The palace had only three steps to test incense: check the appearance for mold; smell the dried incense for any off-odors; and burn a small sample for normal smoke color.

As long as there is no pungent or discolored smoke, it is considered合格 (qualified/compliant).

Therefore, the problem cannot be detected by incense sticks.

As for the jade ruyi with cracks.

The candles were burning brightly at the birthday banquet, the hall was crowded and the atmosphere was tense, and the charcoal brazier next to the offering table was burning brightly, causing the jade ruyi to expand due to the heat.

Unfortunately, the night breeze only got in a moment after I opened the window.

This utilizes the chemical principles of "homogeneous components with no characteristic markers" and "thermal expansion and contraction."

Consort Qing went to great lengths to seize the sacrificial duty and gain prominence.

From now on, who in the harem would dare to entrust her with any tasks? A concubine who has lost the trust of the emperor and empress, and is even despised by the empress dowager.

No matter how many schemes one devises, they are nothing but useless decorations, unable to stir up any trouble.