Outside the Diligent Governance Hall.

  A disheveled Wu Guifei hastily walked away and was eventually stopped by two guards at the gate.

  Empress Wu glared at them: "Make way, I want to see the Emperor."

  "The eunuch remained still, but respectfully said: 'Your Majesty, the Qīnzhèng Hall is a military and political hub, no one can enter without an invitation.'"

  Empress Wu glared at them and said: "Get out of the way for me."

  The eunuch said: "Please don't make it difficult for me, Your Majesty."

  The Empress Wu said: "This palace insists on going in, what can you do?"

  The two guards exchanged a glance, just about to say something, when the palace gate suddenly swung open and Eunuch Wang walked out from inside, saying as he walked: "What's all the commotion? You've disturbed the Emperor, come and see him with your heads in hand."

  Then she saw Wu Guifei standing at the door with red eyes.

  Old Man Wan exclaimed, "It's Princess Consort."

  As he stepped across the threshold, he bowed to Wu Guifei and said, "I have seen Your Highness."

  The Empress Wu looked at her and nodded slightly, saying: "Eunuch Wang, I want to see the Emperor. Go and inform him."

  "Please forgive me, Your Majesty," said Wang Gonggong, "the Emperor has decreed that no one is allowed to disturb the imperial carriage."

  "Go if I let you go," Empress Wu said sternly. "What's with all the nonsense? Are you also trying to bully me?"

  Wan Gonggong said: "It's not that I'm being disrespectful to Your Majesty, it's just that the Emperor's orders are not to be disobeyed. Please return, Your Majesty."

  Empress Wu's face turned red with rage, she shouted "You" and raised her hand to slap. Just then, a deep voice came from inside the Diligent Governance Hall, asking: "What is going on outside that is causing such a commotion?"

  Eunuch Wan hastily replied: "Your Majesty, it is Concubine Gui requesting an audience."

  "The Emperor said: 'Let her in.'"

  The Empress Wu coldly snorted at Eunuch Wan and walked in, followed by Eunuch Wan who lowered his eyebrows and remained silent for a moment before walking in as well.

  Before entering the inner temple, Wu Guifei asked with a pitiful expression and red eyes: "Your Majesty, I was bullied to death by that new Empress of yours, are you going to do something about it?"

  The emperor was reviewing the memorials, and upon hearing this, he raised his eyes to glance at her, then lowered his head again to continue applying cinnabar seals. His voice was faint as he said, "You are becoming more and more unorthodox, treating even the Imperial Court of Diligent Administration as a place you can casually enter."

  Wu Guifei stepped forward two steps, half discontented and half resigned, calling out: "Cousin!"

  The emperor frowned and said: "What about your superior and inferior?"

  The Empress Wu then knelt down and paid her respects, saying: "Your concubine has seen the Emperor."

  The emperor nodded and then asked: "What matter could make you rush into the Diligent Governance Hall in such a state?"

  The Empress Wu's eyes reddened as she spoke: "Your Majesty, do you know what the Empress did? Early this morning, she had people loudly and boisterously rush into my Chao Yang Palace, holding up the imperial seal and flaunting her power. She even took away all the palace maids from my palace! Is the imperial seal something for her to use to bully the other consorts just because she is the Empress? Does being the Empress mean that she can look down on the other consorts?"

  The emperor interrupted her: "I heard that you did not attend the inner and outer ladies' court meeting yesterday, nor did you attend the small banquet in Changkun Palace in the evening. Not only did you not attend, but also brought He Baolin to set up a stage in Zhaoyang Palace and started a fight with Changkun Palace?"

  The imperial concubine Wu was gagged by the emperor, and all her words were blocked in her mouth.

  The emperor held the vermilion pen, dipped it in ink on the inkstone, and continued to lower his head to fold the memorial while saying in a clear and calm tone: "Before you accuse the empress of being unkind, have you been respectful to her yourself?"

  "The Empress is the mistress of the harem, responsible for assisting in the education and guidance of the imperial princes. I appointed her as Empress because I trusted her. You, as a noble consort, should have taken the lead in showing respect to the Empress and assisted her in managing the harem, but instead you challenged the authority of the Empress. When did I ever tell you that consorts could be on an equal footing with the Empress?"

  The Empress Wu looked at the Emperor with a disappointed expression, her eyes welling up with tears as she said sorrowfully: "No matter how much you say, Your Majesty has simply found someone new and forgotten about the old. As I have grown old and my beauty has faded, it is only natural that I am not as youthful and lovely as the Empress, and so I have lost your favor."

  The vermilion brush was slapped back onto the jade holder with a "pa" sound, and the Emperor raised his head, calm yet authoritative, saying: "How dare you!"

  Empress Wu felt heartbroken.

  The emperor, however, showed no mercy and said in a stern voice: "In the past few years, there has been no empress in the palace. The harem has been managed by you, this noble consort, but it has resulted in your current behavior of disrespecting those above you. I think the empress handled you correctly, and you should learn the rules of the harem again."

  Then he called out loud: "Wan Chun."

  The old man hastily came out and bowed: "Your humble servant is here."

  "Send the imperial concubine out, find the palace rules and let the imperial concubine copy them carefully."

  Empress Wu felt both ashamed and annoyed, with a sense of discontent she called out: "Your Majesty!"

  The emperor picked up his pen again, lowered his head and no longer looked at her.

  Wan Gonggong walked up to Wu Guifei and made a bowing gesture, saying: "Your Ladyship, please go ahead."

  In Changkun Palace.

  Mu Qing's face had already been treated with medicine, and she had even washed and dressed in clean clothes before going to the inner palace of Changkun Palace.

  She walked up to Lin Yan and called out softly: "Your Ladyship."

  Lin Xiao put down her tea bowl and smiled at her: "Auntie, please sit down."

  Mu Qing nodded and then sat down halfway on the stool under Lin Xiao's hand.

  Lin Xiao asked her: "The wound on your face doesn't matter, does it?"

  Mu Qing said: "Don't worry, it's just a superficial wound."

  Lin Dai nodded, paused for a moment, thought for a while, and then asked: "How many of the people your aunt left behind are in your hands?"

  Mu Qing asked with some doubt: "Your Majesty, you..."

  Lin Yan said: "This palace entered the palace, it was a blink of an eye, this palace needs people, some who can make this palace stand firm quickly."

  Mu Qing said: "I understand, I will write down these people tonight and present them to the princess."

  Lin Yan said, "This can wait for now, but I have another task that requires your attention. The palace maids who served in the Shao Yang Palace have all been transferred to the Yu Ting courtyard, so the Shao Yang Palace needs new attendants. I want you to find one or two reliable and loyal palace maids to infiltrate the group of attendants assigned to the Noble Consort, to serve as my eyes and ears within the Shao Yang Palace."

  Mu Qing's heart skipped a beat, she had originally thought that the Empress would deal with Zhao Yang Palace in such a grand manner, aside from killing one to warn a hundred, it was also to cut off Wu Guifei's left and right arms. But she didn't think that the Empress had another layer of intention - to send new arms belonging to Chang Kun Palace to Zhao Yang Palace.

  This is not just killing two birds with one stone, but rather three birds with one stone.

  Mu Qing's heart was filled with even more reverence for Lin Xiang, and she stood up to kneel on the ground, saying: "Your Ladyship can rest assured, I will definitely do everything perfectly without any mistakes."

  She would make the person sent out unable to find even Zhaoyang Palace, let alone the subtle work of Changkun Palace.

  Lin Dai nodded, she had always been at ease with Mu Qing's ability to handle things.