Want to win the palace fight? Better to be crazy than to be idiotic!

In the early morning, the imperial city was shrouded in mist and dew condensed on the red walls.

Qin Feng'an yawned as he washed and dressed with the help of Eunuch Zhang. He was about to go to the Gongzheng Hall to preside over his first morning court session after his time travel.

Qin Feng'an had some important things to do, and Su Feiran didn't need to stay in Yongning Palace. After asking Qin Feng'an for permission, she returned to Zichen Palace. She had to go back to dress up and then greet Concubine Jia with the other sisters in the palace.

The harem also had its own morning court. Originally, the concubines did not have to get up early and could just sleep until they woke up naturally, but since Wu Jiayan ascended to the position of imperial concubine, she asked the emperor for permission to add an extra layer of etiquette to the harem, that is, everyone in the harem had to pay their respects to the highest-ranking concubine every day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

The highest ranking concubine in the harem now is Concubine Jia, so all other concubines have to rush to Chitang Garden before Chenshi to let Concubine Jia count the number of people, just like a teacher calling the roll. The evening greetings are at Youshi, and after listening to Concubine Jia's lecture, the concubines can return to their own palaces to enjoy dinner.

No one knows why Concubine Jia made this inexplicable rule. Apart from showing off power, it is completely useless and even harmful to others and herself.

Yongning Palace was not close to Zichen Palace, so fortunately Su Feiran left early. When she returned to Zichen Palace, Lin Xiuqing had not put on her makeup yet, and was standing in the courtyard with Yu Liu admiring the flowers.

Even without makeup, Lin Xiuqing was still beautiful, but she looked a little more tired than Su Feiran usually saw her. Especially the two big dark circles under her eyes. If she said she didn't stay up all night yesterday, Su Feiran would not believe it.

Could it be that someone from her palace was called to sleep with her last night, and Concubine Xian was jealous, so she didn't sleep all night...

As soon as Su Feiran thought of this possibility, he quickly eliminated it.

She entered the palace with Lin Xiuqing's appreciation, and after being officially assigned to Zichen Palace, Lin Xiuqing did not treat her harshly, and even asked Yu Liu to teach her etiquette. It was not reasonable for her to use such a petty idea to speculate about Lin Xiuqing.

After thinking about it, Su Feiran attributed it to the conspiracy theory she heard from the emperor yesterday, which made her suspicious of Lin Xiuqing.

"Good morning, Empress Xian." Su Feiran bowed and greeted her, and then said with concern, "It's cold and damp this morning. Your Majesty is wearing so thin. Be careful not to catch a cold."

Lin Xiuqing nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Yuchen is mixing the floral water, Yinghui went to get the newly made silver comb and glass flowers. I don't want to wait in the palace, so I asked Yuliu to accompany me to appreciate the flowers. But you just came back from Yongning Palace, you must be tired. If you want to rest in the bedroom, please let me know, and I will go to deal with Concubine Jia."

Su Feiran was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes. When she thought about how she had just doubted such a good person, she almost slapped herself twice on the spot.

"Thank you, Empress Xian, for your kindness. When I first saw you, I thought you were so beautiful that you could not be from this world. I never thought that you were kind and your virtues far outweighed your appearance."

Seeing Su Feiran's generous praise, Lin Xiuqing did not hesitate to be coy. He smiled at Yu Liu and said:

"The ancient country is already the most prosperous in the world today, and within the palace walls, it is even more prosperous."

"When I was just a daughter of an official family, I studied hard every day. If I lost my concentration, I would be scolded by my teacher. At that time, I looked at the palace walls and thought that the nobles inside must be living a luxurious life with fine clothes and delicious food. Moreover, with the emperor's care, they didn't have to struggle for anything. As long as they didn't make big mistakes, they could live a happy life."

"Every time I think of that kind of scene, I can't help myself. I want to be chosen by the emperor to join the harem as soon as possible. Even if the emperor only appoints me as a concubine, it doesn't matter. It's more comfortable to chat with my sisters in the back garden and enjoy the service of the servants than to read some useless books at home."

Su Feiran's eyes dimmed slightly, she understood what Lin Xiuqing wanted to tell her.

"After entering the palace, I realized... that people suffer not because they act blindly, but because they know it is inevitable and still want to resist."

Lin Xiuqing smiled faintly, the curve of her lips was no different from before, but Su Feiran felt that this smile was extremely bitter. He didn't know how many times he had crushed the girl's innocence before burying her in such a forced smile.

"Since I know all the grievances in the palace, how could I impose them on you?" Lin Xiuqing sighed softly and said with a lonely look, "If you can still remember that there is still a little warmth in the palace when you are depressed, I will not be too sentimental."

Just as Su Feiran was about to go forward to comfort her, Lin Xiuqing's maid Yu Chen came out of the storeroom carrying a silver basin.

"I have just prepared the floral water. Your Majesty, please come into the room and apply it so that your makeup will be more even." Yu Chen came in front of Lin Xiuqing, bent down and said.

Su Feiran originally thought that floral water was not the Liushen she had imagined, and that it was probably some pseudo-scientific skin care product made by mixing flower juice with dew. Unexpectedly, when she took a quick glance, she actually saw a basin full of green liquid in the silver basin, as if it had just been pumped out of the diving pool at the Rio Olympics.

Su Feiran didn't believe it and went over to smell it. The smell of the liquid in the silver basin was so strong that she almost fainted and returned to modern times.

I blanch... Does Empress Xian really want to use this stuff on her face? It's clean and hygienic!

Yu Liu saw Su Feiran's fear and explained with a smile: "This color looks scary, but it is just dyed by the chopped herbs. Yu Chen has been with the queen since she was a child. The queen is naturally beautiful, but her skin is white no matter how much she is exposed to the sun. It is also thanks to Yu Chen's development of this floral water."

This set of rhetoric may be used to fool the ancients, but Su Feiran did not dare to believe it.

This thing is so green, it doesn't look like a natural color at all. Maybe Empress Xian's face has been pickled and caused a chemical reaction, so she can't get tanned no matter what.

"Let's not talk about it for now. If we are late in getting dressed and go to Chitang Garden later, we might be punished."

A figure was walking in the distance, and everyone looked closely and saw that it was Ying Hui, the maid of Zichen Palace. Seeing this, Lin Xiuqing did not delay, smiled apologetically to Su Feiran, and went back to the palace to wash up.

Yu Liu did not follow Lin Xiuqing back. She was still standing under the lotus and magnolia, indicating that she had something to tell Su Feiran.

Su Feiran didn't know why, so he had to walk over slowly. Yu Liu didn't speak until they were close enough, so close that only Su Feiran could hear what Yu Liu said.

"I congratulate Liu Ronghua on becoming His Majesty's new favorite. Her Majesty Xian is truly happy for you."

Yu Liu congratulated quietly, as if he had seen through Su Feiran's earlier worries.

"Liu Ronghua, rest assured. The queen didn't rest well last night. It has nothing to do with who slept with her. You just heard that the queen... entered the palace in August. Now it's August again. It's inevitable that she will feel sad and depressed."

Su Feiran felt warm in her heart. Although she had just been favored by the emperor, she was just a beautiful girl after all. It was inevitable that she was flattered that the high-ranking Concubine Xian cared so much about her feelings.

"Her Majesty is afraid that you will worry too much and that the sisters will feel unbalanced, so she specially prepared some gifts and placed them in the east pavilion." Yu Liu continued, "Her Majesty is also afraid that the autumn wind will be bleak in the future, and the sisters will have no good clothes to wear when they just entered the palace, so she asked you to give them to the people in Zichen Palace - do you understand what Her Majesty means?"

Su Feiran was completely convinced by Empress Xian. Empress Xian could have given gifts to the newlyweds in her own name to win their hearts, but she let Su Feiran do it. Not only did she achieve her goal, but she also made the other sisters remember Su Feiran's kindness. Even if Qin Fengan favored Su Feiran, the others would not hate her too much and do something extreme.

High, too high! Empress Xian is righteous!

"But... the gift is expensive, I feel really uneasy." Even with Empress Xian's instruction, Su Feiran was still a stubborn person and declined timidly.

Yu Liu was not impatient. She also understood Su Feiran's feelings and gently persuaded her, "If Empress Xian comes in person, the result will be the same, but the sisters in Zichen Palace will inevitably feel pressured. If the gifts prepared with good intentions are regarded as charity from the main empress, wouldn't it be a betrayal of the empress's kindness? You have to mediate a little to make it perfect."

"In that case, I won't refuse."

Su Feiran thanked Aunt Yu Liu solemnly. Yu Liu gave her an encouraging smile and turned to enter the Purple Palace.

Once the gates of Zichen Palace were closed, Su Feiran was the only one left in the courtyard, happily recalling the conversation he had just had with Lin Xiuqing and Yu Liu.

Hearing a slight "swish" sound, Su Feiran thought that Yu Liu had dropped some personal belongings outside the door, but he found that it was just a small leaf that fell to the ground.

The leaf was very small, and there were some thorns on the edge. Su Feiran saw it stuck on Yu Liu's clothes just now, but before she could tell Yu Liu, she hurried to serve Concubine Xian.

Su Feiran picked up the leaf, but found that it was not the lotus magnolia leaf planted in the Zichen Palace.

Although she was not a botanist, she could still compare sizes. The leaves of the lotus magnolia were very large, just like its flowers, each leaf could cover the palm of your hand. However, the leaf in Su Feiran's hand was very small, and it could not be found anywhere in the entire Zichen Palace.

Although Su Feiran would not doubt that Yu Liu was really as Qin Fengan guessed yesterday - a spy planted in Zichen Palace by Concubine Jia, she still stuffed the leaves into her purse for some unknown reason.

Since Concubine Xian trusts Yu Liu so much, let her make some unnecessary guesses for Concubine Xian.