She gritted her teeth and gave the empress a bow: "Your Majesty, we servants have the audacity to be greedy with our master's things at this critical moment. Besides, even if someone is greedy, it's impossible to eat that much..."

  Alas, the more she tried to explain, the more guilty she looked. It was as if she had really stolen something! Aunt Ruan said that it wasn't clever of her to try to dig out her heart and show it to the empress dowager. Last year, she had indeed taken a few pieces of ice, which were not expensive but had no risk involved. She would secretly take a small amount out and sell it to the large mansions in the capital, where it was unlikely to be discovered. Even if it was discovered, they would just say that it had melted into water... But this time, she really hadn't lifted a finger!

  The queen stood up and waved her hand, saying lightly: "You go down first. This matter the palace will investigate thoroughly, and won't wrong you."

  "Your Majesty..." Madam Ruan wanted to argue a few more sentences, but looking at the unfathomable expression on the Empress's face, she didn't dare and could only kowtow and retreat.

  The empress looked at Ruan Gong, who was just walking out, and beckoned to Wan Qiu: "Pass the decree. Ruan Gong is guilty of theft and will be stripped of his position and executed. The palace servants under her command who helped transport the ice blocks are also to be executed."

  Wan Qiu was shocked: "This matter has not been investigated clearly yet..."

  "No need to investigate further." The queen shook her head: "The most urgent task is to quickly procure more ice blocks, rather than figuring out how the ice blocks were lost."

  Wan Qiu's heart was pounding. The queen had four senior palace maids by her side, but she was the youngest among them and hadn't served the queen for as long as the others. She wasn't used to the queen's way of doing things yet.

  This time, the people involved in the ice delivery case included Ruan Gongzheng, as well as big and small female officials and miscellaneous servants. Counting the cart drivers who were rushing to deliver the goods, there were over a hundred lives at stake, just like that...

  "So, if I get a reputation for being good at killing, how can that be good?" asked Autumn carefully.

  Because Wan Qiu was a distant relative of the Xiao family, the Empress did not blame her for speaking out of turn, but instead explained kindly: "The palace needs to give everyone an explanation. If the punishment is too light, how can those concubines and nobles who suffered from the extreme heat let it go? You must remember that I am different from Shen Yunrong."

  Shen Roufei. Ouqiu repeated the name in her heart, then looked up at the Empress and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your teachings. I understand."

  The queen smiled at her: "Let me teach you another sentence. If Shen really sat in my position, she would be the same as me."

  Yu Wan did not dare listen to such words and hastily advised Empress He: "Your Majesty's good fortune and longevity are boundless, how could she possibly covet the position of empress?"

  "Never mind, let's not mention her. Hurry up and pass on the edict."

  He bowed and backed away. When he reached the door, he turned back and said to the empress: "Ruan Gong is indeed your person. Without her, we will...".

  The reminder from Yu Qiu is quite right. The queen sank into thought for a moment, then said: "She was indeed brought up by this palace. But she's not capable, so be it if we let her go. You go tell Mu Chun to look around again in the sixth bureau."

  Now she remembered that Ruan Shi was annoyed in her heart. The waste in this palace is getting more and more! It's better for people like Ruan Shi to die than to live.

  The Empress was not angry that Ruan Shi had messed up the task, but rather at what Ruan Shi had said in front of her today. As for the ice block incident, the Empress had a clear understanding - how could so many carts of ice possibly disappear into thin air? It was obviously an inside job. As for who the person hiding behind the scenes was, the Empress could also guess with some accuracy.

  But that foolish Ruan Shi, still insisted on entangling the truth, and hoped to shift the blame onto the imperial merchants. The two ice suppliers were from the Xiao family, and the Ruan Palace was also their own people. If they pushed back and forth like this, wouldn't it lead to internal strife for others to laugh at? Just thinking about it with a clear mind would reveal that someone had plotted against both the imperial merchants and the Shang Palace.

  In the palace, truth has never been important. The queen sighed and said that the matter of the ice block must be resolved quickly.

  Outside Yunxia Feng's palace, the imperial consorts of various ranks were still making a ruckus.

  They were all born of noble birth, imperial consorts and concubines, who could not bear the summer without ice. Ice is not like clothes or jewelry, if jewelry is missing a little bit, it can still be made up for, but what to do if there is no ice? Are they supposed to suffer from heat? The temporary palace here is still okay, in the capital city it's even hotter than Xishan, and there's not enough ice either, who knows what kind of situation will arise.

  The female officials in charge of each palace squeezed into the Shang Gong Bureau to demand their share, and the Shang Gong Bureau knew it was unreasonable and did not dare to offend the masters, so they could only apologize repeatedly. Some people were like Lin Yu, who didn't want to make a scene; but some, such as the palace maids under Concubine Mao, wouldn't budge and insisted that the Shang Gong Bureau produce something. It wasn't until noon that everyone suddenly saw Ruan Gongzheng being taken away with several palace staff, bound and escorted, that they realized things were not simple, and so they stopped making a fuss.

  The empress dealt with Ruan Gongzheng, and then issued a decree to comfort the various palaces, saying that the shares they should have would be made up sooner or later. The palace slowly calmed down, and everyone understood that it was a matter of insufficient total amount, and everyone had to suffer together, which was an unavoidable thing. The empress said she would make it up, so she must make it up, and using the existing ice blocks to hold on for ten days or half a month was no problem.

  The harem is in a mess, but the emperor's Jiuzhou Qingyan is very quiet. The empress is a calm person, even if there are not enough ice cubes, she doesn't panic, and first orders people to supply the emperor, the pregnant Shengfei, and the Empress Dowager in the capital with their shares. As for the rest of the people, including herself, they can suffer together.

  Tuoba Hong has been busy with government affairs these days, so he hasn't paid attention to the harem. The empress dowager is afraid of delaying state affairs and doesn't dare to bother the emperor with this matter. After all, even if the concubines are ill, they are not as important as state affairs.

  She can only try her best to calm down the chaos in the harem.

  The commotion on the first day has subsided, and the masters and servants of each palace have stopped quarreling and returned to their palaces to figure out how to use the limited ice blocks. Lin Yu is living a life of luxury, having moved two large intricately carved ice sculptures with the character "fu" (good fortune) into her room, feeling refreshingly cool even on a summer evening.

  Only a few young palace maids, including Chun Tao, disagreed with this approach. They secretly chiseled off a piece of ice and stored it in the well water, suspended from a rope, and then fanned Lin Yuan desperately.

  When it was time for dinner, Chuxue came in and said to Lin Wan: "Young master, the emperor has summoned Yun Guifei to serve him tonight."

  Lin Wan raised an eyebrow: "These past few days the Yangtze River has burst its banks, the Emperor is worried sick, how can he have the heart to summon you to his chambers?"

  "You don't know, sir, that the places affected by the Yangtze River disaster are precisely Hunan and Hubei provinces, which are under the jurisdiction of Governor Chu. Now the Emperor is relying on Governor Chu to handle this, and this year's flood is more severe than in previous years, so apart from him, there really isn't a second person who has the ability to provide relief."

  Lin Yan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled lightly: "I'm afraid I overlooked this one. I heard that Lord Chu is a capable minister, isn't he?"

  "Yes. Minister Chu has served as Deputy Minister and Minister of Works, and is particularly skilled in water conservancy matters."

  "The Chu sisters are now in their heyday, and their father is about to achieve great things, but who knows what will happen to them in the future?" Lin Yan picked up a spoonful of cherry ice from the small table and put it in her mouth: "A good family background is indeed a great help. I've been thinking hard for months, but I'm not as favored as Yun Guibao and Tian Liangdi, and my position can't be improved."

  Chu Xue knew that being born into a wealthy family was her greatest weakness, but she couldn't do anything about it and could only stand there silently.

  Lin Yan's heart was not without worry and anxiety, but what could she do? The things in this world were not something you could get just by racking your brains to scheme for them. And how many people were born into a life where they didn't have to make an effort, yet still lived high above others?

  She herself was just a small selection servant when she first came, working hard to coax the emperor and walking on thin ice with the concubines. She managed to climb up to the position of Xiaohuan, which wasn't easy. But those from big clans like Bai Shi and Chu Shi were already Xiaohuan or Xiao Yi as soon as they entered the palace, not to mention having family support, and could easily rise through the ranks in the future.

  Lin Yan thought to herself and smiled again - how did she start to blame herself? This is not your usual self, Lin Yan.

  What's the use of having a good family background? The empress herself wasn't liked by the emperor precisely because her family background was too good.

  Lin Yanyu hung her head in thought for a long time. She felt that her hands were itching again, and she really wanted to do something. Finally, she put down the ice bowl, beckoned to Chu Xue, and said: "Come closer and listen..."

  That night, many concubines did not sleep well. After all, there were few people like Lin Wan who had a full meal and then knocked on the bamboo tube. Everyone used ice carefully, only putting a bucket of ice water on their bedside table at night, how could they not be hot?

  But on the second day, several people got up early with sleepiness. They went to the Queen's Xiumei Jade Stage and knelt solemnly in the main hall one by one.

  "Yu Guifei and Tianliang concubine's palaces have not been reduced, why are they different from others? Xiang Fei has a pregnancy, so it's reasonable to have more shares, but why Yu Guifei and Tianliang concubine are treated differently?"

  Xu Ronghua and others who were kneeling behind her echoed in unison, knocking their heads on the ground one after another, asking Her Majesty the Empress to give them a fair judgment.

  Auntie Qi slapped her forehead and almost fainted. Early in the morning, how did this start again!

  At this time, apart from a few people kneeling on the ground, some concubines were sitting - today is a single day, and they came to pay respects to the empress dowager according to rules, except for Xiang Fei who was exempt due to pregnancy. Of course, not everyone liked kneeling here to add trouble to the empress dowager.

  Lin Wan also didn't kneel. She shook her fan in her hand and heard a Liu imperial concubine beside her say softly, "The empress is really calm, she's still having breakfast in the back."

  Zhao Shuyuan, who was close to her, took over: "If it weren't for the empress's calmness, she really couldn't keep this group of troublemakers under control."

  Liu Jieyou's mouth was a bit big, and she talked a lot: "It's not that Concubine Mei is disobedient. Did the Chu family sisters really take more ice blocks? It's also their fault for being arrogant, why do we all have to suffer, just because they're different?"

  "If you really took more, you should just enjoy it secretly. How could the news leak out and let others catch on?" Zhao Shuyuan shook her head: "I don't know if it's because Yun Guibao's servant is too stupid and talkative or if someone with ulterior motives spread rumors."

  "Zhao sister!" Liu Jieyou exclaimed in shock.