Time Travel: The actress's acting skills exploded, and she was favored by the harem

That night, the Queen sent someone to inform all the concubines that the royal family banquet planned for the next day would be held as scheduled. At that time, all the royal family members listed in the genealogy of the Zhao Kingdom would enter the palace to attend the banquet.

Shen Zhiyao was studying the History of Zhao State attentively on the couch, and she happened to see a record in the history book that during the Yuan Jing period, a vicious concubine who was always quarreling and causing trouble was banished to the cold palace because she offended everyone at a family banquet in the harem. She suddenly had a bad premonition.

She put the book down and walked to the window. The summer night outside the window was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of cicadas. In the calm night, there seemed to be an undercurrent.

Shen Zhiyao understood that neither Queen Mother Zhao nor Concubine Zhao would let her off easily. This was not just a matter of personal likes and dislikes, but also involved the family's reputation.

The emperor did hint that he would support her, but Shen Zhiyao knew very well that the emperor, who was always talking about benevolence and morality, was unlikely to blindly protect her in front of the royal family.

I am afraid that if Queen Mother Zhao really arranges people to attack her, she can only rely on her own efforts to escape. Otherwise, she may be convicted on the spot and fall into an irretrievable situation.

Shen Zhiyao didn't know if something would really happen tomorrow, but she was already prepared for a desperate fight. When the time came, she could only rely on her acting skills and eloquence to argue her case.

If he performed well enough, Bo Muxi would certainly not just care about his face and ignore himself. After all, Shen Zhiyao was of great use to the emperor.

But given Bo Muxi's heartless and selfish character, she had to perform well enough to satisfy everyone, otherwise, Bo Muxi might abandon her at any time to gain the greatest benefit.

Because she had something on her mind, Shen Zhiyao got up much earlier than usual the next day. Regardless of whether anything happened or not, she had to be prepared in advance.

Today, Shen Zhiyao specially chose a honey-colored skirt with hundreds of golden butterflies embroidered on the hem, showing her elegance and grace.

She tied her long hair into a high bun and secured it with the jade hairpin given to her by the emperor. She wore a beautiful jade pendant given to her by the emperor around her neck, and the earrings were the finest pearl earrings she brought from her mother's home.

Shen Zhiyao specially used the finest eyebrow pencil bestowed by the emperor to outline a distant mountain eyebrow, which was elegant and majestic, yet also revealed sharpness and beauty, and then drew the delicate and tempting lips, showing her charm.

Shen Zhiyao spent a long time researching this makeup look, which is vivid, beautiful and generous, appearing both noble and playful.

After everything was packed, Shen Zhiyao took Qiuyue and Qiuling to the banquet.

The family banquet was specially held in Changdeok Palace where the emperor lived. When Shen Zhiyao arrived, all the concubines and clan members had already arrived one after another.

Not long after Shen Zhiyao sat down, Queen Mother Zhao, the Emperor, and the Empress arrived, and everyone stood up and saluted.

After they were seated, the atmosphere was lively and peaceful. Everyone enjoyed the singing and dancing while drinking and chatting. The Empress Dowager was extremely happy and the Emperor also drank to his heart's content.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the old concubine Zhang Wang suddenly asked, "Yesterday, I heard that Concubine Zhao was slapped by a beauty? Today Concubine Zhao looked sick, is she okay? Alas, how can such a rebellious and unrighteous thing happen in the harem? How shameful! The education of the daughter of the Shen family is really worrying!"

As soon as these words came out, all the royal relatives present who didn't know the whole story were shocked! Everyone knew the relationship between Concubine Zhao and the Zhao family, and secretly thought that Shen was so bold to do such a thing that would bring shame to the Zhao family.

Prince Zhang was the late emperor's biological brother. He passed away the year before last. The old Queen Mother Zhang and Queen Mother Zhao had a very good relationship as sisters-in-law. Queen Mother Zhao would regularly summon Prince Zhang to the harem to talk to her in private. Because of this relationship, the emperor also respected her very much.

What was supposed to come finally came. Shen Zhiyao sat upright in her seat. She had already made sufficient mental preparations. At this moment, she was not panicked at all, and even felt no waves at all.

Concubine Zhao had a special status, and if this matter was only known to the people in the harem, it would not be a problem. But now that it was exposed by the old Concubine Zhang Wang in front of the royal family, the nature of the matter has changed. The Zhao family can no longer save face, and the emperor's face suddenly became gloomy.

At this moment, Lady Zhao suddenly stood up and pretended to be well-behaved and said, "Thank you, old concubine, for your concern. I am feeling better now."

This sentence is better, as it indirectly acknowledges that she was offended by Shen Zhiyao yesterday, but things are getting better now.

Seeing her behave like this, everyone began to discuss in low voices. Shen Zhiyao could hear it clearly. Everyone was condemning her for not knowing the etiquette of the palace and for committing insubordination. They were all standing up for Concubine Zhao.

Amid the discussions, some people's words gradually became more and more heated on purpose. Shen Zhiyao could only sneer in her heart. These people were very purposeful. Most of them were members of the royal family, including the princes headed by Prince Rui. Seeing this good opportunity, they were naturally willing to temporarily join forces with the Zhao family to suppress the power of the "royalist" Shen family.

Shen Li commands a large number of troops, so naturally all forces regard him as a powerful thorn in their side, and they all want to get rid of him as soon as possible.

Everyone had their own plans, and at this moment they were all secretly thinking about how they could help out.

Sure enough, the Princess of Rui County, who was the emperor's elder and had the most power, was the first to speak out: "This is really outrageous. As a concubine of a lower rank, how can you slap a concubine of a higher rank at will? Even if she is one rank higher, she is still higher! This shows the family tradition of the Shen family."

The emperor naturally knew that the situation had come to this embarrassing point because of Queen Mother Zhao's instigation, but he couldn't get angry, so he could only pretend to be angry and said, "This happened suddenly, and I haven't had time to ask about this matter in detail. Lady Shen, please explain first!"

The emperor's reaction was naturally within Shen Zhiyao's expectations. As expected, she was pushed out by the emperor in public. Even at this point, she was not panicked at all. She stood up generously, knelt down and replied: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have been in the palace for more than a year. I naturally remember the palace rules by heart. I did have my reasons for what happened yesterday! Since I entered the palace, I have always followed the rules and never overstepped the boundaries. The Queen can prove this for me. I have always been carefully taught by the Queen. If I didn't have my reasons, how could I easily do such a rebellious and treasonous act!"

"Hmph, what's your hardship? It's nothing but sweet talk. No matter what the reason is, rebellion is a serious crime. Although I have never met this Lady Shen, it seems that she is good at making excuses!" The old Concubine Dowager Zhang Wang suddenly interrupted, her tone quite harsh.

"Lady Shen, please explain the reason for the matter clearly. If you really have your own difficulties, the Queen and I will naturally take care of it for you. But if you ignore the palace rules and commit crimes wantonly, I will never tolerate it!" Bo Muxi said righteously.

The emperor's face was as cold as frost at this moment, and he showed no sign of favoritism towards Shen Zhiyao.

This situation has now forced Shen Zhiyao, and even the Shen family, into a desperate situation! If Shen Zhiyao's explanation is not good enough, or if it fails to satisfy the royal family, the emperor will definitely punish Shen Zhiyao and the Shen family on the spot!