The queen is sober in the world, and she is winning every step of the palace fight.

"Hello, Queen. I haven't seen you for a while. Are you feeling better?"

Fengyi Palace, Concubine Xian comes to visit.

He bowed hastily to the queen and sat down on the first chair under the phoenix chair.

Linglong had been supporting her, but she pushed Linglong's hand away. "Don't be so careful. The stools and chairs in the Empress's palace can't all be flimsy. If you drop Sister Zhao, and then you drop me again, what will happen?"

The queen sat upright on the phoenix chair with a smile on her face. She did not react to the sarcasm of the virtuous concubine, as if she did not understand.

He ordered people to serve tea and delicate snacks and entertained the guests as usual.

He didn't even ask what the virtuous concubine was doing there.

The virtuous concubine chatted with everyone for a while, making sarcastic remarks, but she found that the queen was unmoved and showed no shame or annoyance at all. She felt strange but also found it meaningless.

I was too lazy to talk any more and just stated my purpose directly.

"I have been assisting the harem for some time now, and I am getting better at it. It's almost the end of the month, and it's time for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the various palaces and courtyards to review their accounts. Therefore, I have come to discuss with Your Majesty—

Since Your Majesty is ill, physically and mentally exhausted, how about not bothering Her Majesty with the accounts this time? Have all the accounts checked and sent to me for a summary.

There are also new accounts for the beginning of next month, the distribution of things to various places, and the monthly salaries of the concubines and palace servants. Your Majesty probably doesn't have the energy to handle it, so I will take care of them all, right?"

The management of palace affairs, the handling of daily trivialities and temporary emergencies, are now all in the charge of Concubine Xian. If even the monthly accounting and payment are handed over to her, then she will become the de facto mistress of the harem.

You must know that for a family, a government, or a country, the most important thing is the distribution of money.

This is equivalent to her asking the queen for the final authority.

If the queen gave her even this, then she would really be a mere figurehead.

"Empress Xianfei, our queen's health is getting better and better. I won't bother you with these matters. Let's just..."

"White mandarin duck."

Before the maid Bai Yuan could finish her words, she was interrupted by the queen in a deep voice.

Bai Yuan quickly stopped talking, her face flushing, knowing she'd made another mistake. She was always less capable than Bai Lu in her master's tact, always willing to step back, head bowed, and remain silent.

The virtuous concubine did not let her go. She smiled and said, "It's called Bai Yuan, right? Like the white egret that died not long ago, it's a water bird. But egrets are naturally white, while mandarin ducks are colorful. Where did the white mandarin duck come from? This name doesn't make sense."

Bai Lu, tortured in the torture chamber for the incident involving the actress Jiang Liuhong at a birthday banquet, was severely injured and sent to a nursing home, where she died two days ago. The head maid in charge of Fengyi Palace was in such a miserable state, because the case was personally handled by Eunuch Cao Bin, and no one in the palace dared to say a word about it.

Most people didn't know why she was tortured and why she died. A few who knew thought it was because her reputation was tarnished. Even fewer people had some suspicions that it was related to the Queen's secret attempt to harm the virtuous concubine. But Cao Bin didn't say what happened in detail, and the people in the torture room didn't mention it, so no one dared to inquire about it.

This kind of thing is always taboo.

Bai Lu and several palace maids were tortured to death, their deaths were unclear and silent.

The virtuous concubine deliberately mentioned Bai Lu at this time, obviously trying to hurt the queen's feelings.

The Queen, however, maintained a gentle smile, as if the matter had nothing to do with her. Her dignified face was filled with a layer of aloofness, as if covered by a false, transparent shell, which completely confused Concubine Xian.

Why didn’t she react to the power grab, and she didn’t react to the birthday banquet incident. Did this queen become stupid from “recuperating”?

"Bai Yuan, not the white mandarin duck, symbolizes a lifelong companionship. The nobility of the egret and the steadfastness of the mandarin duck can both be compared to the virtues of women. I often hear people praise the virtuous concubine for her noble family background and her tradition of poetry and etiquette. How come you don't even understand this?"

Suddenly, a sweet and innocent laugh was heard, and a petite girl with a round face came out from the inner room holding a vase of flowers.

She bowed and greeted Concubine Xian according to etiquette, then stood beside the Queen with a smile on her face.

"Sister, look at how I'm doing this time. Is it a big improvement?"

She wore a long goose-yellow chiffon dress, cinched at the waist with a matching brocade sash, revealing her graceful and slender figure. Tiny, adorned daffodils embroidered in gold thread, their delicate blossoms accentuating her graceful and charming demeanor.

The virtuous concubine had been mocking the queen for a long time without receiving any counterattack, and she felt it was boring. Suddenly, she was interrupted by a little girl, and she immediately became angry.

Squinting her almond-shaped eyes and carefully looking at the girl for a moment, the virtuous concubine smiled faintly.

"This must be the young lady from the Majesty's family, right? I heard that Madam Zheng came to the palace to visit the other day. Worried about the Majesty's health, she left a girl behind to nurse her. I was curious about what kind of girl she was, and how she could actually help the Majesty recover. Seeing her today, I see she's quite a clever girl. Perhaps she can actually help alleviate the Majesty's 'illness'! Your Majesty will surely be pleased then."

The virtuous concubine came today, one to ask for the power to manage the accounts, and the other to see how the sister that the queen left in the palace is doing.

What else could the concubines think of when they kept their daughters in the palace? They always assumed that they would be out of favor for the rest of their lives, so they looked for someone close to them to compete for their favor and consolidate it.

When the Queen was "recuperating", she sent a younger sister to the palace to take care of her. Her motives were obvious. The virtuous concubine had always looked down on the Queen's appearance, thinking it was far inferior to her own, and therefore did not take her younger sister seriously.

Who knew that when I saw her at this moment, my heart would start to churn.

This girl is actually much prettier than the queen!

She was delicate, pretty, and lively, giving off the same vibe as Yu Tingjin when she first entered the palace. Besides, she was prettier than Yu Tingjin. Judging from her conversation and the look in her eyes, she was also smarter than Yu Tingjin.

It's the kind the emperor likes.

"How old is Miss Zheng? What's your name?" asked the virtuous concubine with narrowed eyes.

"Your Highness, I am fifteen years old, the fourth child in my family, and my maiden name is Zhuyi."

Zheng Zhuyi smiled innocently and brightly, not at all frightened by the intimidating look of Concubine Xian, and spoke clearly, neither humble nor arrogant.

Xian Fei raised her eyebrows and said, "It's a nice name. You are of the right age and have the right temperament. I like you very much."

So she took off a cherry pink jade bracelet on her hand and gave it to Zheng Zhuyi as a gift.

Zheng Zhuyi declined for a while, then accepted it generously.

The virtuous concubine chatted with her for a while, and they were attacking and defending each other. Zheng Zhuyi was eloquent, and if the virtuous concubine had not been in a high position and did not allow her to be too presumptuous, she would have been suppressed by her.

"Then the Empress should focus on recuperating. I will not disturb you any further. I will report back to His Majesty tomorrow regarding the accounting matters. We will then proceed with this. If Your Majesty has any further ideas, please discuss them with His Majesty."

The virtuous concubine had said what she wanted to say and had met the person. She was impatient to stay any longer and got up and left.

He directly seized power without giving the queen any room for negotiation.

The queen was not angry, but smiled and ordered someone to send the virtuous concubine out.

After Concubine Xian left, Zheng Zhuyi put away the smile on her face and said indignantly: "Sister, I didn't expect her to be so rude. During my time in the palace, I will definitely not let her bully you!"

The queen looked at her fourth sister deeply.

She did not allow her family to send her younger sister to the palace, but her mother brought her fourth sister here personally.

Yeah.

Because of the fire that burned Huizhen, His Majesty was tired of her and asked her to recuperate for a long time.

If this girl comes in, maybe she can stir up some trouble and break the current deadlock.

"You are a little girl, don't mess with Concubine Xian. After all, she is one of the four concubines and has a noble status." The queen habitually swallowed all her grievances and anger, and only showed a calm and dignified smile. After a series of blows, her smile became more gentle.

"Now that you've entered the palace, don't be confined to me all day. When the weather is nice, go to the Imperial Garden and take a walk."

The emperor often passed by there when he went to the inner palace.