The emperor just doesn't treat everyone equally, and it's none of my business!

The little princess's full-month banquet was very grand, even more grand than the full-month banquets of the third and fourth princes at that time. Gu Shijin was reluctant at first, but Lu Junze said that so many things had happened in the palace recently, so they could take advantage of the little princess's full-month banquet to make it lively, so Gu Shijin agreed.

It was also on this day that Lu Junze's decree to promote Gu Shijin to the rank of Imperial Noble Consort was announced to the court and the harem.

"Congratulations to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine. May Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine be blessed with good health." Lu Junze's imperial edict came down before the full moon banquet even started, and all the palace people in Chenhua Palace were very excited.

They followed a good master, the Imperial Noble Consort. The Empress Dowager doesn't care about anything in the harem, and the Empress is gone. From now on, the Imperial Noble Consort will have the final say.

"Everyone, get up. Everyone in Chenhua Palace will be rewarded with half a year's salary." Gu Shijin said with a smile.

"Thank you, Imperial Concubine."

Imperial Concubine, Gu Shijin looked at her delicate face in the mirror, feeling a little dazed.

This year is her eighth year in the palace. The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and after the Chinese New Year it will be her ninth year in the palace.

During the first three years after entering the palace, she was unknown in the palace. She was an inconspicuous talent and lived in a corner of the palace.

In the fourth year of entering the palace, she won the favor of the emperor, and it was also from this year that she stepped into the vortex of the palace.

It took Gu Shijin five years to go from a talented lady to an imperial concubine. If you include the first three years after entering the palace, it took her a full eight years. How many eight years does a woman have?

Her best years of youth were spent in the intrigues of the palace.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has delivered the clothing designed for the Imperial Concubine." Xingyue came in and said.

"Got it." Gu Shijin sighed, "Please change it for me."

The Ministry of Internal Affairs had long known that the Emperor was going to promote Gu Shijin to Imperial Noble Consort, because they needed to prepare clothes and jewelry for the Imperial Noble Consort.

As soon as the emperor issued the decree, they rushed the things over.

"Your Majesty, this dress is so gorgeous." Xingzhu said.

Of course, the imperial concubine's auspicious dress was bright yellow, with a bright red jewel tassel around the waist, large peonies embroidered on the cuffs, a phoenix outlined in gold thread on the hem of the skirt, and a phoenix crown inlaid with various pearls and gems.

"Phoenix crown..." Gu Shijin paused. She wanted to say that the Phoenix crown didn't need to be worn, but she thought of Lu Junze's words and gave up.

"Your Majesty, this phoenix coronet is so exquisite." Xing Zhu had never seen the phoenix coronet of the Imperial Concubine, but Gu Shijin's phoenix coronet was really exquisite, not much worse than the phoenix coronet of the former empress. Gu Shijin would never believe that this was done without Lu Junze's special instructions.

Even if the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted to please Gu Shijin, there were some things they would not do too much.

"Yes, very exquisite." Gu Shijin reached out and touched the gems on the phoenix crown. Each one was smooth and round, crystal clear, and sparkling with dazzling light.

This is why everyone wants power. Which woman would not like such a beautiful thing?

Wearing this thing on the head will make people more confident. Thinking of this, Gu Shijin couldn't help but chuckle.

"How are the preparations going outside?" Gu Shijin asked. She didn't worry much about the full moon banquet, as it was all prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Don't worry, madam. Everything is ready."

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is now always thinking about pleasing Gu Shijin, so naturally everything is made the best, even the flowers to be used at the banquet are separate. You know, it is winter now, and it took a lot of effort for the flower room of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to make these flowers bloom smoothly.

"Your Majesty, the ladies and ladies from all the palaces have arrived." Gu Shijin and Lu Junze had discussed that they would not hold a separate ceremony for the promotion to Imperial Noble Consort, as it would be a waste of money. Today was the little princess's full moon, so she could just take advantage of the little princess's joy.

Lu Junze laughed when he heard it, but he agreed in the end. Anyway, he was going to make Gu Shijin the queen, so the ceremony would be grand and solemn.

Therefore, all the concubines in the harem came to pay homage to the Imperial Noble Consort Gu Shijin today.

"Let's go to the main hall."

"Your humble servant pays respect to Her Majesty the Imperial Noble Consort. May Your Majesty be blessed with good health and long life." As soon as Gu Shijin entered, everyone sitting in the main hall stood up and saluted.

Because it was the first time to meet the Imperial Noble Consort, everyone who came wore auspicious attire.

"Everyone, get up." Gu Shijin raised his hand and twisted his neck quietly. This phoenix crown is really heavy.

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Imperial Concubine."

It is generally acknowledged by everyone in the harem that Gu Shijin is good-looking. Although she is not the kind of beauty that can't be looked away from, she is the kind of exquisite and elegant beauty. With the imperial concubine's auspicious dress she is wearing, she looks very imposing.

Since the last rebellion by the virtuous king, Lu Junze has cleaned up the harem with drastic measures. Now everyone in the harem is law-abiding, so they are all very well-behaved when facing Gu Shijin.

Concubine Xian, Concubine Lan, Concubine Ming and Concubine Ning are the four people that Gu Shijin is more familiar with. They also have higher positions among them. The remaining five or six are all noble ladies, and they are not favored noble ladies at that. Two of them have probably never been favored since entering the palace.

These are the concubines above the sixth rank in Lu Junze’s harem, about ten of them.

Actually, there was supposed to be a talent show this year, but Lu Junze refused this year's talent show on the grounds of his southern tour. It seems that it will have to be arranged next year.

It is indeed a bit inappropriate to have only a few concubines in a harem.

Of course, there are some talented and beautiful women in the harem, but their positions are too low, and if nothing unexpected happens, they will remain like this for the rest of their lives.

After all, it would be hard to find another Gu Shijin in the harem.

Concubine Lan was a little dazed when she saw Gu Shijin sitting on the upper seat. She had watched Gu Shijin climb step by step from a talented person to her current position as Imperial Noble Concubine.

If someone had asked her five years ago whether she believed that Gu Shijin would become the Imperial Noble Consort in five years, she would have definitely thought that the person who asked her this question was a fool.

As for Concubine Xian... She looked at Gu Shijin without any feeling at all. To her, it didn't matter who was the Imperial Concubine. She just regarded the palace as a place to live and nothing else.

Except for Ning Jieyu and Gu Shijin, who were somewhat familiar to her, she was not very familiar with the others. After sitting here for a while, Gu Shijin called for them to disperse and asked them to go to the banquet while she went to see the little princess.

"Your Highness the Imperial Concubine is respectfully escorted away. Your humble servant/concubine will take her leave."

When Gu Shijin arrived at the little princess' room, he saw the two little guys, Lu Junze and Ajin and Ayuan.

"My concubine pays your respects to the Emperor."

Lu Junze pulled Gu Shijin to the little princess's bedside, looked at the little princess blowing bubbles from her mouth and said, "Look how cute our daughter is."

"Yeah." Gu Shijin's heart melted when he looked at his little daughter.

"Why did the emperor come here so early?" Gu Shijin asked.

"I came here right after the morning court session. I can't wait to see Jin'er."