The maidservant is too charming. I want to help her become the queen.

Lu Qingqing looked calm.

She had already known about Concubine Shu's tripling of investment.

Looking at the reactions of the people at the banquet, I believe they are thinking the same thing as I am.

But she was a little confused. She didn't know what Concubine Shu was trying to do by comparing herself to the Queen in such a high-profile manner.

Logically speaking, Shufei was an elder in the palace. When Li Xuansheng was still the Fourth Prince, Shufei was already his concubine.

The status of concubines in the palace is clearly divided into high and low levels. Even if she is stupid, she cannot be unaware of what it means to contribute three times as much as the queen.

In this way, Concubine Shu's intention to usurp the throne became clear.

I just don’t know what Li Xuansheng is thinking.

He must have seen the list of investors.

At this moment, he was sitting in a high position with his eyes closed, resting, looking like he didn't care about anyone's reaction at all.

The queen beside him looked more and more unhappy, and she could hardly even force a false smile.

Lu Qingqing noticed the subtle changes in the Queen's expression.

The Queen was embarrassed in public in the hall. It seemed that Concubine Xian did not inform the Queen in advance about Concubine Shu's tripling of the investment.

Concubine Xian also had some thoughts on this matter.

Eunuch He Qing continued to read out the list of investors despite the pressure of everyone's whispers.

As soon as he finished speaking, before Li Xuansheng could say anything, a minister spoke up for the queen.

"Your Majesty, I just heard that the Concubine Shu, like the Empress, is donating three times the money to support today's event."

"Although Her Majesty Shufei is willing to contribute money out of kindness, I think that contributing a proportion equal to that of the Empress is indeed against etiquette."

The first person to stand up and speak for the queen was the Minister of Rites Guo Li.

The Minister of Rites was a student of Prime Minister Wang Zhong. When the Prime Minister was the chief examiner of the imperial examination, he was the top scorer that year. With the relationship between master and apprentice with the Wang family, he naturally wanted to help Queen Wang Jinrou.

"Master Guo, this is wrong!"

Lu Qingqing looked in the direction of the voice and saw another minister standing up to reply. This man was none other than the Minister of Revenue Fang Zhonghe.

Lord Fang bowed and refuted slowly.

"The Concubine Shu is His Majesty's concubine. The affairs of the harem are His Majesty's family affairs. The Concubine Shu has contributed three times the money. The Emperor and the Empress have not spoken yet. How can you say that it is not in accordance with etiquette?"

"Master Fang, you! You!"

The Minister of Personnel was so angry at Fang Zhonghe that his face turned red, his gray beard trembled, and he pointed his finger at the other party, unable to speak.

Lu Qingqing tilted her head and watched with great interest.

She had seen ministers engaging in verbal battles on TV dramas before, but she never expected that one day she would have the honor of seeing it live. It felt a bit magical.

Rather than watching the ministers quarreling, she was more concerned about the outcome of this game.

The two ministers' bias was so obvious, one was on the side of the queen and the other on the side of the concubine, and they could not reach a consensus.

In the end, Li Xuansheng had to be the referee.

Li Xuansheng cleared his throat, his voice calm but still dignified.

"My dear minister, there is no need to argue. I think what Lord Fang said makes sense."

"Today is my birthday, and I want all of you to celebrate with me. Concubine Shu is a concubine, but she is also my family member after all. The matter of funding is my family affair. Sir Guo, you are too serious!"

Li Xuansheng's voice floated down from the high dragon throne. The voice was not loud, but it gave the Minister of Rites Guo Li a heavy blow.

With the Emperor guaranteeing Concubine Shu, he couldn't say a word even if what Concubine Shu did was against etiquette.

The Concubine Shu, who sat at the head of the imperial concubines, had a very proud look on her face. She had dressed up to attend the event today, and her actions, which were comparable to those of the empress, had just been recognized by the emperor.

The eyes of everyone at the banquet were all focused on Concubine Shu. They couldn't wait to know what kind of concubine she was that could make the emperor disregard the rules of hierarchy and receive such favor from him!

Concubine Shu raised her carefully dressed little face high and stared at the Queen sitting on the Phoenix Throne with a look of mockery.

It was as if announcing to the Queen that the Emperor's previous house arrest was just a show, and now, she is still the most favored person in the harem!

At this time, the queen's face became increasingly gloomy. Her pair of jade hands, hidden under her palace dress, clenched into fists, and beads of sweat oozed from her palms.

She turned to look at Li Xuansheng in disbelief.

Is this still the handsome boy who was her childhood sweetheart?

Although she knew that her appearance could not compare to that of Concubine Shu, no matter how favored Concubine Shu was before, Li Xuansheng had never embarrassed her in person.

What's more, she is pregnant now, and today is the Emperor's birthday celebration when all the relatives and nobles are gathered together. He actually condoned the Concubine's usurpation of power over him in public!

With such partiality, where will her reputation as the queen be in the future? !

The queen tried her best to suppress her disappointment. All her beautiful fantasies and expectations about Li Xuansheng were being swallowed up bit by bit.

She was proud, but she had to maintain her demeanor in front of everyone. She could only hide her negative emotions in her eyes, and her thin lips were slightly whitened by her teeth.

Seeing the awkward situation, Concubine Xian hurried out to smooth things over.

Although she did not inform the Queen in advance about Concubine Shu tripling her investment, and she was not unrelated to the matter, she did not expect that the Emperor would be so biased towards Concubine Shu in front of everyone else.

She didn't want the atmosphere to remain cold, after all, she was the one who organized this birthday festival.

The virtuous concubine was dignified and graceful. She stood up and saluted, and her gentle voice made people feel like a spring breeze.

"Your Majesty, no matter how much money the concubines have contributed to the Wanshou Festival, it is a token of their love for Your Majesty."

"In addition, the ministers and the sisters in the harem have prepared birthday gifts for the emperor. Would the emperor like to see them one by one?"

Li Xuansheng nodded.

The palace maids who had been waiting on the side came in one after another with birthday gifts in their hands, and instantly filled the entire hall.

The birthday gifts presented by everyone were all covered with red silk. The palace servants introduced them one by one, and each time they introduced an item, they would peel off the red silk.

A dazzling array of birthday gifts flashed before Lu Qingqing's eyes one after another.

The birthday gifts presented by the ministers were mostly treasures and curios, such as jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, screens, jade, etc. Each piece was a fine product, precious, rare, unique and extraordinary.

The gifts presented by the concubines were mostly items expressing their daughters' love, such as necklaces, fan pendants, embroidery, etc. Although they were not expensive, the love and affection were rare.

Like other concubines, Lu Qingqing presented an embroidered nightgown as a birthday gift.

Of course, she didn't have the skill to embroider, so Xiaotao made the pajamas for her.

Ever since she secretly exchanged with Xiaotao during that night shift, Lu Qingqing has had another trustworthy person by her side.

Compared to Erxi, Xiaotao is better at girls' affairs. She is very proficient in women's work, incense making, and even medical knowledge.

She took over the task of embroidering the pajamas, which made Lu Qingqing's life much easier.

Everyone's birthday gifts had been introduced, but the huge creature was still nowhere to be seen.

The pure gold statue of the two immortals He and He that Lu Qingqing had seen in Mingjing Hall had not yet appeared.

Just as she was wondering, Concubine Xian stood up again.

"Your Majesty, everyone's birthday gifts have been presented. But Concubine Shu's gift is quite mysterious. She said she wanted to give everyone a surprise."

Xianfei had seen how generously Shufei presented Buddha statues on the two previous birthday celebrations. This year, Shufei was mysterious and insisted on presenting gifts to the emperor alone. Xianfei had no choice but to let her go.