Tuoba Hong closed his eyes for a long time before saying to the Empress, "What you said today, I think is very reasonable." He smiled and added, "Earlier you said it was just a woman's opinion, but I think you have some talent as a woman."

  The queen smiled with pursed lips: "It is the emperor who has promoted me."

  "You not only speak well, but also have a broad mind." Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei looked at her and still smiled faintly: "In the past, you disliked promoting high-ranking imperial consorts, yet now you're advising me to promote Yun's noble rank."

  The emperor's words were meant to be complimentary, but the empress felt a chill run down her spine and her heart racing. She had been married to the emperor for over ten years, and during that time, she had come to realize that she was no match for him. He could see through anything, especially in recent years when his power had become more consolidated, making him even more ruthless...

  The queen's palm was full of sweat, and after thinking for a long time, she managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Your Majesty, forgive me, I was indeed thinking... Since it is to reward the Chu family, there is no need to give Sheng Chong again after promoting their status. After Yun Guibao's Sheng Chong, the palace was in chaos, and it can be seen that she cannot bear such favor; besides, Your Majesty also likes Bai Shi, right?"

  The queen's heart sank. Forget it, no use arguing with him, in the end she would still lose.

  Tuoba Hong smiled, not getting angry. He had long guessed that the Empress was thinking of killing two birds with one stone, solving the problem of Chu Shi's dominance and promoting a new Bai Liangyi to replace Chu Shi's favored position.

  Bai Shi is not even comparable to He Xiang Fei, she is far inferior to Yun Gui Pin by tens of thousands of miles. Today, Tuoba Hong finds Bai Shi's coquettish and silly appearance lovely, only because he has no expectations from her, as long as she can delight the king, Tuoba Hong would give her 80 points; but if she were placed in such a critical position... her ability is not even worth 30 points.

  Empress, you always like to do such things, pulling in people like this... A Bai Shi with a shallow mind can't be controlled by you, how can my chess piece be held in your hand.

  He waved his hand at the empress and said: "This matter I have already made a decision, Empress, you can go back."

  The queen still had some unease on her face, afraid that her calculations would be seen through by him and anger him again. But if she didn't calculate, the result would only be worse. She bit her lip to suppress the bitterness in her heart, bowed her head and said to the emperor: "Your concubine takes her leave."

  Tuoba Hong gazed at her back, saying behind her head: "You can rest assured. Today you opened your mouth to ask me for Chu Shi's position, which has both pacified the harem and not slighted the Chu family. This matter is done very well, and it can also offset that ice block incident."

  The queen's body was delayed, and she turned around to deeply kneel down and say "Thank you, Your Majesty". The three simple words were said with exhaustion. However, Emperor Taizong had already stopped looking at her and was self-absorbed in tasting a bowl of porridge on the case table, his mind still thinking about the candidate for that chess piece. Hmm, this porridge is quite refreshing and delicious...

  ***

  In mid-June, the ice blocks in each palace were slowly replenished, and all the concubines in the harem let out a sigh of relief. Along with the replenishment of the empress's share came an imperial edict from the emperor—

  Four decrees were sent to the four palaces. The noble concubine Chu Shi, who was from a high-ranking family, had a good reputation in the imperial clan. She was diligent and frugal, and showed filial piety to her parents... When her father made contributions to flood control, he was promoted to be a repairer of ceremonial vessels.

  The imperial decree promoting Fei's rank has always been like this, full of flattering words to show the imperial family's appreciation for this woman. The other three decrees, being for lower-ranking consorts, were not as grand and only consisted of a single sentence each: Xiaoyuan Lin was promoted to Guiren and granted the title "Hui", Liangdi Chu was promoted to Shujie, and Liangdi Bai was promoted to Rongjie.

  The turmoil that had subsided in the palace due to the resolution of the ice supply issue was stirred up again with the simultaneous issuance of the four imperial decrees. As for the Chu sisters, it was only natural that they were promoted due to their father's merits. Moreover, relying on the two of them being highly favored, being promoted by only one rank was not a big deal, and no one would say anything; but those two, Bai and Lin, were suddenly elevated to the position of Imperial Concubine, changing from scattered ranks of consorts to becoming concubines recorded in the imperial family tree, which made others feel somewhat discontented.

  Especially Lin, who was not only promoted but also added a title, and was the highest-ranking Guiji from the fifth rank. She was just one of this year's selected showgirls, with shallow experience in the palace, and most people in her batch were either unknown beauties or nobles. Even those who stood out, like Bai and Chu, had good family backgrounds to support them, but she came from a poor background.

  In this seemingly peaceful and harmonious yet turbulent palace, the most ruthless battlefield belonging to women, the envy and jealousy of the people in the palace have always been the most common undercurrents. The reason why the emperor promoted Bai Xiuyi and Lin Yuen was simple, just "diligent service to the lord", that is to say, they served well, which made others even more jealous.

  Those who were curious and had a bit of competitiveness went around asking what methods Lin and Bai used to please the emperor, and they actually dug up some rumors.

  It is said that the White family was only because of their cleverness and flattery, coincidentally on that day the emperor's mood was good, and she was able to persuade him to promote her. However, the emperor did not particularly like her, and in the end gave a lower rank to Concubine Rong; Lin's promotion, however, was due to a "Ganluo Yanzao Porridge". This Ganluo Yanzao Porridge is extremely difficult to make, and even the water used for cooking must be collected from the dew on the lotus leaves at dawn. Lin got up early every day to collect dew and personally cooked it, finally presenting a bowl of porridge to the emperor. The flavor of this painstakingly made dish was excellent, and it also had the effect of clearing heat and relieving summer heat. After the emperor took one bite, he couldn't stop eating, and for several days in a row, his breakfast was delivered by Lin. Lin got up early every day to collect lotus dew for the emperor's favorite food, without feeling tired at all.

  As soon as the news came out, it's unknown whether the concubines were convinced or not, but a strange phenomenon appeared in the palace - the concubines who usually lived a life of luxury and pampering got up before dawn, holding small ceramic bottles with the help of palace maids to collect dew from the lotus pond. It's unclear who will win the emperor's favor again by eating, but for Lin Huan, this is a predictable good thing, as she no longer has to cook the troublesome porridge, because there are countless people who go to serve porridge to the emperor every day.

  This is a small matter, the women in the palace are originally bored, and giving them something to do can also reduce some gossip. After the Chu sisters were promoted, the emperor indeed did not summon the two of them for several days in a row. All the concubines understood that this was the empress's achievement in advising him, and their respect and reverence for the empress increased even more than before. They didn't care about those icy things at all. The empress only felt that this summer was peaceful and harmonious until now. Her days were going well, so she didn't bother to manage what ridiculous behavior those concubines would do.

  Why are they going to collect morning dew in such a hurry? Who knows when the emperor will drink whose porridge! Besides, Lin's family has been noble since childhood, and she even got a good title. Can it be that all it takes is just one bowl of porridge?! The empress looked at those women's foolish appearance and silently prayed in her heart - if all the women in the palace were this foolish, then her life would be bright and boundless.

  No matter how diligent and hardworking these women were, the one who was currently the most favored in the palace was still the first person to make congee, Hui Gui Ji Lin Shi.

  It's strange to say, the people in the palace thought that the Chu sisters were promoted because of their father's merits, although they didn't get much, Yunxiu Rong was only given a second-class position, but the momentum of her rapid rise seemed to be very promising. The rumors about her becoming a concubine also started circulating again. However, after watching for several days with wide eyes, the emperor no longer favored them, which made people start to suspect - could it be that these two sisters gained promotion but lost favor?

  This suspicion became certainty as time passed.

  Tonight is already Lin Wan's fourth consecutive night of serving in the bedchamber.

  Although she had been summoned, the Emperor, due to his busy schedule, did not take her to the bedroom for a night of pleasure. Lin Yu stood beside the desk in the Diligent Governance Hall, carefully grinding ink for the monarch.

  The Qinyue Hall in Mount Li and the Yushufang in the Jianzhang Palace were places where the Son of Heaven governed the country. It was a great honor for consorts to serve with brushes here, and besides Sheng Fei, only Lin Yuan had received this honor in the palace. After grinding for a while, Lin Yuan's hands were held by a pair of unscrupulous hands, and she had to stop, scolding the man in front of her: "National affairs are important, distracting the emperor is the fault of the concubines."

  Tuoba Hong smiled and withdrew his hand, indulgently saying: "Alright alright, Yuanyuan wants to restrain me, I'll listen to you."

  Lin Yuer smiled and didn't bother with him, continuing to quietly grind the ink.

  The second day was a double rest day, so there was no need to go to the morning court. However, the Empress had been in a good mood these past few days and coincidentally, the famous tea from Lingnan Tea Garden had arrived, so she ordered a tea party to be held at Xī Yuè Yáo Tái and invited all the consorts from each palace to attend.

  Lin Wan accompanied the emperor to work until late at night, and since she didn't have to go pay her respects the next day, she slept soundly. It wasn't until someone from the empress's palace came over with an invitation that Lin Wan was still lying in bed with her hair disheveled. Afterwards, she was called up by the palace maids, hastily washing and dressing, and when she appeared at the Xī Yuè Xiāng Tái, all the consorts were already seated, including the always-late Shàng Fēi who was sitting properly in her seat.

  Xiang Fei didn't like to attend the morning ceremony to pay respects to the Empress, but she wouldn't refuse the banquets and tea parties on ordinary days. In fact, Xiang Fei loved lively scenes, especially being flattered and surrounded by others, it's just that during the morning ceremony, she had to show respect to the Empress, which was something she naturally didn't like.

  The main hall of the Xī Yuè Yáo Tái was exquisitely decorated, supposedly for a tea party. As it coincided with the peak summer season when flowers were in full bloom, the room was filled to the brim with numerous potted plants and arrangements. The guests, led by the empress, sat around the hall, while several tea masters performed their art at the center. Nine large bronze tripods held Qingci porcelain vases of various sizes, each containing different types of lotus flowers, including Mohe lotus, bowl lotus, and Yangri lotus, arranged around the perimeter. A half-person-high Qianzhong Weizi peony flower arrangement stood alongside summer lotus in a particularly striking display. Additionally, there were four vases placed around the room, each containing a different type of hibiscus - Xī Fǔ Hibiscus, Tiè Gěng Hibiscus, Chuò Sī Hibiscus, and Mù Guā Hibiscus. Furthermore, there were nine vases of Ruì Lán peonies, eighty-one vases of Shuǐ Xiān Hé Huān lilies, and a hundred other types of flowers, filling the room with the fragrance of tea and lotus.