The Empress Dowager had just come out of her chamber. The ones supporting her were not palace maids, but Rong Fei and Xiang Fei.

  Lin Wan knelt down and paid her respects, while carefully raising her eyes to glance up at the two consorts, Rong Fei and Xiang Fei, who were exemplifying filial piety.

  Rou Fei and Xiang Fei both had children, the Empress Dowager loved her grandchildren dearly and often summoned them, so the two of them were even closer to the Empress Dowager than the Empress was.

  But it was just a superficial closeness, the Empress Dowager only valued the bloodline of the Tuoba family.

  Roufei still had a gentle and obedient appearance, supporting the Empress Dowager in a way that made people think she was an excellent daughter-in-law. As for Xiangfei, Lin Yuen finally saw her today and felt that her reputation was not exaggerated, she was an extremely beautiful woman. Lin Yuen observed from afar, although it was a bit blurry, but could still make out the woman's pair of bright phoenix eyes drawn by her eyebrows, her delicate and slightly red cheeks revealing a charming and alluring beauty, her slender figure perfectly proportioned, her skin appearing even whiter under the blue and gold embroidered cloud smoke skirt.

  Such a face, indeed can be called absolute beauty, Lin Wan was already very satisfied with her own skin, but if she put herself and Xiang Fei together, the gorgeous feeling was still a bit worse. However, Lin Wan would not worry about this, the harem was most lacking in beauty, how many hearts could the most beautiful face capture?

  Similarly, Lin Wan also understood that Xiang Fei's ability to reach her current position was not just about being favored for her beauty. Being able to suppress the prestige of three thousand beauties and be the most favored in the harem wasn't just a matter of being beautiful, was it?

  Xiang Fei and Rou Fei carefully supported Empress Dowager as she sat down, then together they proceeded to the front of the Empress and paid their respects.

  Roufei bowed her head and said a word of greeting, then stood silently beside her. Xiangfei smiled and said to the Empress: "These days, I have been busy with Zhaochun and haven't had time to pay my respects to Your Majesty for a long time, please forgive me."

  Lin Wan couldn't help but want to laugh. Zhao Chun Emperor's concubine had caught a cold, no big deal, hadn't she recovered in half a month? Xiang Fei usually didn't bother with the Empress Dowager, yet she especially emphasized in this Chang Le Palace that it had been "a long time" since she last paid her respects to the Empress Dowager. What she was saying, translated, meant: "Empress Dowager, what can you do to me?"

  This Consort Shang is really bold. Well, her arrogant temperament is indeed famous. In the entire palace, Consort Shang is only respectful to the Empress Dowager, but towards all other women, she is sharp and revealing. It's even heard that Consort Shang is somewhat presumptuous in front of the Emperor.

  This woman is an outcast in the harem.

  The empress looked at Xiang Fei's stunning face and didn't get angry, but instead smiled lightly and said: "As long as Zhaochun recovers, I will be at ease. How could I blame you? Today, the Empress Dowager is here too, she would also think that you have taken good care of the imperial bloodline with all your heart."

  Lin Wan heard this and wanted to laugh even more. The Empress smiled peacefully, but her words were not lenient at all. No matter how much Shang Fei was favored or arrogant, did she have the guts to call the Empress Dowager "Mother"? Even if the Empress was no longer favored, she was still the only legitimate imperial daughter-in-law.

  Xiang Fei's counterattack against the Empress Dowager was nothing out of the ordinary to Xi, and the smile on his face didn't diminish in the slightest. It seemed as if he hadn't caught the meaning behind her words at all, and he simply stood beside Rong Fei.

  The empress dowager pretended not to see the exchange between the two consorts, and calmly said a word of permission to sit, whereupon palace attendants brought over small stools and served tea.

  The Empress and the Consort Shang and others sat down according to etiquette, while Lin Yu, a low-ranking concubine, naturally had no seat and could only stand in the back row, listening to the conversation between the Dowager Empress and the Empress.