The queen has four sons and six daughters, and she can call the wind and rain

"Little Grape, go call Snow White."

"Yes."

Little Grape went out quickly, and after a while, came back with Snow White.

Bai Xue bowed slightly and said with a smile.

"What is the matter that your Majesty wants me to come here for?"

"I am going to ask you a question now. You must answer me honestly, because this question is related to the death of Imperial Consort Xiaomin."

"What did you say?"

Bai Xue's expression instantly became excited.

"My queen, have you found the murderer who killed Imperial Concubine Xiaomin?"

Yun Zhining shook her head slowly.

"not at all."

"I just found a clue and asked you to come here to see if I can unravel the clue and find the truth?"

"Okay, Madam, please ask me. I will tell you everything I know."

"very good."

Yun Zhining nodded with satisfaction.

"When I went to Xuanhua Palace to pay respect to Consort Xiaomin today, I found a piece of paper under the incense table with four words written on it."

"White frosting cake."

"I suspect that the death of Imperial Noble Consort Xiaomin is related to this cake, so I want to ask you, which maid in Xuanhua Palace is responsible for making this cake?"

"It seems to be a palace maid named Chunhua."

"Qingzhu, go check immediately, where is this palace maid Chunhua on duty now?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Qingzhu stayed up all night and personally looked through all the lists before he found Chunhua's name.

"In reply to your Majesty, Chunhua is now on duty at Yongquan Palace, and her daily job is to make cakes for the Concubine Xian."

A virtuous concubine?

Isn’t that the previous Concubine Wan?

After Zhang Wanru was banished to the cold palace, the power of the harem was controlled by Zhou and Concubine Xian. It is not impossible for Concubine Xian to take advantage of her position to attack Concubine Xiaomin, who was then Concubine Qi.

But the problem is that Imperial Noble Consort Xiaomin has always been weak, has no emperor's favor, does not hold palace power, and has never had any disputes with Consort Xian. Moreover, both of them were left childless by Zhang Wanru. How could Consort Xian possibly harm Imperial Noble Consort Xiaomin?

There must be some conspiracy here.

"Qingzhu, go check immediately to find out how Chunhua entered Xianfei's Yongquan Palace. Did she take the initiative to go there, or was she deliberately assigned there?"

"By the way, before you go out, ask Luo Su to make a dish of white sugar frosting cake, and then prepare all the raw materials for the white sugar frosting cake. I want to check them one by one."

"I have a feeling that the problem must be in the raw materials."

Qingzhu immediately took the order and went out to do his job.

As soon as she left, Xiaokui came in.

"My lady, it is time for the concubines to pay their respects. I will help you get up."

"it is good."

Xiao Kui lifted the curtain, carefully helped Yun Zhining up, and sat her in front of the dressing table.

"What kind of makeup do you want to wear today, madam?"

"Now that I'm pregnant, I won't wear makeup. Take that box of white peach oolong scented ointment and apply some on my face to brighten my skin tone. Then choose a plain dress and that'll be all."

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right now."

Xiao Kui picked out a magnolia-colored top and a skirt of the same color, simply combed her hair into a bun, applied some perfume to slightly brighten her skin tone, and then helped Yun Zhining out.

In the front hall, all the concubines above the fifth rank were present. When they saw her come out, they immediately knelt down.

"Your Highness and I pay our respects to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine. May Her Majesty be blessed with good health and good health."

"No courtesy, please get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Imperial Concubine."

The concubines took their seats. Concubine Hui glanced at her and chuckled.

"The Imperial Concubine doesn't look very well today. Could it be that she was so excited that she didn't sleep all night?"

"Concubine Hui is worrying too much. A pregnant woman will only not get enough sleep. How could she not be able to sleep?"

Yun Zhining glanced at Concubine He, shook her head and sighed.

"Nuan'er and the Sixth Prince are both very well-behaved, so you don't have to worry about them at all. Unlike me, I have to deal with Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi, two little enemies who are always making troubles. Fortunately, the Empress Dowager Xiaoci protects them. Even the Emperor can't do anything about them."

"I was originally discussing serious matters with the Emperor last night, but who knew that the conversation would end with those two people. When I thought of them, I was very angry. I had a miscarriage in the middle of the night. If Little Grape hadn't come to comfort me, Doctor Gao would have been in trouble again."

A dark light flashed in Concubine An's eyes, and then quickly disappeared.

Seeing that she was angry with the Sixth and Seventh Princesses, Concubine He quickly spoke to comfort her.

"The Sixth Princess and the Seventh Princess are still young, so it's normal for them to be a little naughty. Moreover, Nuan'er has always told me that although the Sixth Princess is often naughty and makes the tutor in the upper study room so angry, she is very righteous."

"Once, there was a test in the study room. Nuan'er's pen suddenly broke and she couldn't find anyone to borrow it from. She was about to fail. When the Sixth Princess found out, she quickly lent her pen to Nuan'er, and she was able to complete the test."

"The Sixth Princess was punished by the Grand Tutor for this, but even so, she did not regret lending the pen to Nuan'er."

"So I think that although the Sixth Princess is naughty, she is a good child who knows how to respect her elders, care for and help her brothers and sisters, and take care of her younger brothers and sisters. Your Majesty, please don't be too harsh on her."

"As for the Seventh Princess, she is even smarter than Little Grape."

"I am so envious of the Imperial Concubine for having two such wonderful daughters. Imperial Concubine, please don't be ungrateful for what you have."

Yun Zhining raised her eyebrows and chuckled.

"I never thought that you, He Fei, actually like Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi so much."

"I don't like it, I like it very much."

"Then I will give Xiaoliu to you as your daughter, and you can give the well-behaved and lovely Nuan'er to me as my daughter."

He Fei covered her mouth and smiled.

"Forget it. No matter how naughty and mischievous the Sixth Princess is, she is the child of the Imperial Noble Consort who has worked so hard to give birth to her after ten months of pregnancy. How could the Imperial Noble Consort be willing to exchange her with me?"

"I am willing to do so. I really am."

After a while of jokes, Yun Zhining finally got to the point.

"I have just shown signs of pregnancy, and it has been less than three months. In addition, I am almost thirty years old, and I have given birth to six children before. My body is a little weak, so the emperor asked me to rest for a while and take good care of my body during this time."

"Although I am resting, the harem still has to operate as usual, so I have to choose two people to temporarily take charge of the palace. Do you have any good candidates?"

"The virtuous concubine had previously worked with the late Queen Zhou in the palace. She was very organized and never made any mistakes. So I think the virtuous concubine should be able to take on this important task."

"What Concubine Hui said makes sense. I also think Concubine Xian is very suitable for this task."

As soon as Yun Zhining finished speaking, Concubine Lin and Concubine Hui recommended Concubine Xian. Everyone had no objection to Concubine Xian because her abilities were obvious to all.

"What do you think, Concubine Xian?"

When Concubine Xian was called, she quickly stood up and bowed.

"Thank you for your support, sisters. If the Imperial Concubine believes in me, I will definitely take charge of the harem and will never let you worry."

"Okay, I understand. Please sit down first."

"Yes."

Yun Zhining's gaze passed over Concubine Xian and fell on Concubine An, but her words were directed to someone else.

"Besides Consort Xian, do you have any other candidates?"

"I recommend Concubine Hao."

"I recommend Concubine Zhou."

"I recommend Concubine Feng."

"Princess An, what do you think?"

Concubine An was suddenly called out and was shocked, her expression looking a little unnatural.

"I have never been involved in these matters, so I don't know who is suitable and who is not. It is better for the Imperial Concubine to make the decision herself."

"There is no need to be modest, Concubine An. I think you are quite suitable to lead the palace together with Concubine Xian."

A gleam of light flashed across Concubine An's eyes, but she kept refusing.

"No, no, I have never done anything like this before. If something goes wrong, I can't take the responsibility."

"After Concubine He gave birth to the Sixth Prince, she was very weak. Didn't you help manage the Bishui Palace for a while? Later, the Sixth Prince was framed and the Emperor spread the false news that he was drowned. Concubine He was bedridden, and during that time, you were in charge of the Bishui Palace."

"After all, the imperial palace is just made up of palaces. If you can manage the Bishui Palace well, I believe you can also manage the harem well."

"Wasn't it the first time for Concubine Xian to take charge of the harem? She handled it well. Are you worse than her?"

"Besides, don't we still have Concubine Hao, Concubine Zhou, and Concubine Feng to help you? If you encounter any problems, just go to them. If they can't solve them, you can come to me. What are you afraid of?"

Seeing that Yun Zhining insisted on giving her the other half of the palace power, Concubine An had no choice but to accept it.

"Since the Imperial Concubine trusts me so much, I would be disrespectful to refuse."

"That's right, just go for it, I will support you silently behind the scenes."

"Thank you, Imperial Noble Consort. I will do my best to help you share your worries."

"Okay, okay, this way, I can share my worries."

Now that she had found someone to take care of the harem affairs, Yun Zhining felt much happier.

It is said that a new official starts with three things to do when he takes office, and the first thing Concubine Xian did was to burn Yun Zhining.

"I would like to ask, has the emperor said when the enthronement ceremony will be prepared for the Imperial Concubine? I can arrange for someone to make clothes for the Imperial Concubine in advance."

Yun Zhining waved her hand.

"You don't need to worry about this. The emperor has discussed it with the two queen dowagers. Since I am weak, I will not prepare for the enthronement ceremony."

"Even if there was no canonization ceremony, I would have already been the Imperial Consort. You would still treat me as an Imperial Consort and would never point fingers at me behind my back, right?"

"of course."

Yun Zhining promoted Concubine Xian, so Concubine Xian naturally had to show her loyalty to her.

"Don't worry, Imperial Noble Consort. If anyone dares to disrespect you, I will be the first one to not forgive her."

"Okay, okay, I'll have to trouble you, Sister Xianfei, to take care of me from now on."

"You are too polite, Your Majesty."

Yun Zhining smiled at her, and just as she picked up the teacup and took a sip, she remembered something.

"Although the ceremony of enthroning me as the Imperial Noble Consort has been cancelled, the court has been discussing the issue of enthroning the Empress recently, and the Emperor has also put this matter on the agenda. Before leaving this morning, he specifically told me that once someone is found to temporarily take over the harem, I must have them notify the Clothing Department as soon as possible to have the Empress's auspicious clothing made, so as to avoid any mistakes in the ceremony of enthroning the Empress."

The virtuous concubine was shocked.

"Is the Emperor really planning to establish a queen?"

"Daye cannot be without a ruler for a day, and the harem cannot be without a queen for a day. Seven years ago, the emperor had already appointed the eldest prince's biological mother, Zhou, as the queen. Unfortunately, Zhou was unlucky. Before the ceremony was over, she fell down the stairs and died."

"Although the Emperor did not cancel her title as Empress, she has passed away after all. The harem still needs to elect a new Empress. We can't let me, the Imperial Noble Consort, temporarily hold the Phoenix Seal. It would be inappropriate after all."

The virtuous concubine nodded.

"Indeed."

"Then I wonder if the Emperor has said who he wants to make his queen?"

Yun Zhining shook her head.

"For such a big matter, the Emperor must have discussed it carefully with the court officials and then with the two Empress Dowagers. How could he just tell me casually?"

"If we don't know who will be the queen, how can we dress for her?"

"Um,……"

Yun Zhining bit her lip and pondered for a long time before she slowly spoke.

"The Emperor said that for the time being, we should follow..."

"The empress's wedding dress will be made according to Concubine An's measurements."

Princess An!

The concubines suddenly realized.

No wonder Yun Zhining forced Concubine An to take charge of the palace despite her refusal. It turned out that the emperor had already planned to make Concubine An the queen.

This means that they will have to curry favor with Concubine An, no, Queen An.

The situation in the harem is really like that of a changing world.

More than ten years ago, when Yun Zhining and Concubine An first entered the palace, one was favored and the other was unknown. More than ten years later, Concubine An became the queen, and her son, the third prince, was about to be appointed as the crown prince, but Yun Zhining and her son had to submit to her.

No wonder the emperor was in a hurry to appoint Yun Zhining as the Imperial Noble Consort. It turned out that it was a compensation for Yun Zhining!

For a moment, everyone was trying to please Concubine An, and no one cared about Yun Zhining.

Concubine Lin glanced at Concubine An who was being held by a group of people, and her eyes fell on Yun Zhining with some pity.

"In fact, the emperor has his heart set on you, but you have no support behind you, and those court officials will definitely not agree with the emperor making you his queen."

"However, you don't have to worry. You have already given birth to six children for the emperor, and you are pregnant with another one. The emperor has also made you the Imperial Noble Consort, so even if Concubine An becomes the queen in the future, she will not do anything to you, and the emperor will not allow you to be harmed in any way."

Yun Zhining nodded and smiled, but she didn't think so in her heart.

If it were Concubine An, and Concubine An was her, and she became the Queen, but the Emperor only thought about Concubine An, she would definitely feel a sense of crisis. Even if it would risk the whole world's condemnation, she would get rid of Concubine An and her son to preserve her and her son's status.

Just like Zhang Wanru back then.

Don’t say that she has a good relationship with Concubine An.

That was only before.

Seven years have passed. Jun'er and the third prince have grown up, and the competition has become more and more intense. The fourth princess and the sixth princess have also had some conflicts, so she and Concubine An have gradually drifted apart.

What's more, from the very beginning, Concubine An approached her and let Little Grape play with the Third Prince just because she wanted to have more contact with the Emperor and get more favor from him.

In the harem, even sisters from the same mother will fight to the death, not to mention half-sisters.

However, this matter is not as simple as it seems. Let Concubine An be happy for a few more days. She can also take the opportunity to see the true faces of some people. Maybe she can even find out the murderer who killed Queen Zhou, Qi Yao and Madam Yin.