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

"I am not very brave. I just rely on your majesty's kindness and know that you can't bear to blame me, so I take advantage of your favor and become arrogant."

Fei Wan stood up gently.

There are smiles and a faint fragrance on the face.

The emperor deliberately put on a stern face and snorted coldly: "Then I will punish you for being so arrogant because of your favor!"

Concubine Kang quickly interceded, "Your Majesty, Sister Zhao was just joking with you. She is the most polite and sensible one. She would never take advantage of her favor and do anything reckless."

Everyone looked at her for a moment.

Fei Wan suppressed a smile and said, "Thank you, Concubine Kang, for speaking on my behalf."

The emperor looked at Concubine Kang helplessly.

Concubine Kang wondered why everyone looked at her like that. Did she say something wrong?

The maidservant beside her whispered to her, "Your Majesty is joking with Empress Zhao."

what?

Concubine Kang suddenly understood.

Very embarrassed: "Hey... Your Majesty, are you kidding? No wonder everyone looks at me like I'm a fool. It turns out I am a fool."

The emperor couldn't do anything to her.

She has always been sometimes smart and sometimes very stupid. As for when she is smart and when she is stupid, the emperor has not been able to figure out the pattern over the years.

So Fei Wan suggested that Concubine Shun join as assistant manager, and he quickly agreed. In addition to doting on Fei Wan, he also took Concubine Kang's situation into consideration.

"Have you watched too many plays and become stupid?"

The emperor made a sarcastic remark and took a seat.

"Perhaps. However, the play is really good. I would rather become stupid than not watch it." Although Concubine Kang was embarrassed, she was also generous. She didn't care much about whether she was stupid or not. She turned around and ordered the palace servants to continue singing, "Your Majesty wants to listen, don't stop."

Then the singing started again.

The concubines took their seats as ordered, and the room became lively again.

Chen Cairen, Liu Xianshi and others rarely saw the emperor. Seeing that Fei Wan and other high-ranking concubines didn't care, they tried their best to show off.

They chatted, toasted, added dishes and served with cups in hand.

The emperor had been busy all morning and was angry when he heard about Concubine Jian's frame-up. Now he was surrounded by beautiful women who were trying to please him and hearing their sweet words, and he finally felt a little comfortable.

After a few drinks, I said to Fei Wan in a good mood:

"If you refuse to accept the promotion and disobey my order, you must have a good reason, otherwise I will punish you."

Fei Wan stood up and answered respectfully, "I have already said that I have not made any great achievements, and it is against the rules to be promoted repeatedly. It would be even worse if it caused criticism from the previous dynasty."

The emperor said, "This reason is not valid."

"Then..." Fei Wan thought for a moment and said, "My consort's canonization ceremony hasn't even been held yet, how can I be promoted again?"

"This reason is not acceptable. We can change the ceremony of enthroning the noble concubine to that of enthroning the imperial concubine, and save ourselves the trouble twice." The emperor denied it again.

Fei Wan was speechless for a moment.

He looked around helplessly, looking for help to Concubine Qing and others.

The emperor smiled calmly, holding his wine glass. "If you can't come up with a reason, you can only obey the order."

"Your Majesty, you can't do that!" Fei Wan's face turned red with anxiety.

Chen Cairen, Yu Sujin and others saw this and thought she really wanted to refuse the promotion.

Consort Liu even sighed in amusement, "Empress Zhao is truly virtuous. If it were a concubine, she would have gladly accepted the promotion and would never have been willing to refuse."

"That's why I promoted her. But some people only see her rapid rise and say I've broken our ancestral rules. Isn't that ridiculous?" The emperor, after a few drinks, began to talk more than usual. "If most of the harem could be as virtuous as Zhaoqing, I wouldn't have to worry about anything in the previous dynasty. I want to promote her, to show everyone in the lower harem that if you want to be promoted, you absolutely can't do anything bad. You have to be truly virtuous!"

Seeing that the emperor had interrupted Concubine Liu, Chen Cairen, unwilling to be outdone, spoke quickly.

"Your Majesty is right. I also admire Empress Zhao's virtue. I personally believe that although Empress Zhao has only been favored this year, her virtue is no less than that of Empress Qing, Empress Shun, and Empress Kang. She is a role model for me and others!"

This was even praised by other high-ranking officials present.

The emperor looked at her with a smile: "You are quite right."

Concubine Liu secretly glanced at Concubine Chen, not wanting to be outdone by her.

She chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, I have privately speculated and probably know why Concubine Zhao Gui refused to accept the imperial decree to confer the title. I'm afraid you haven't thought of the real reason."

Sure enough, the emperor's interest was piqued: "Oh? Then tell me about it."

Consort Liu smiled slyly, "Your Majesty, think about it, Concubine Zhao's title is 'Zhao'."

"What about 'Zhao'?"

"Your Majesty, you have promoted the Noble Concubine to the rank of Zhaoyi. From now on, we must call her 'Zhao Zhaoyi'. Isn't that a bit awkward? I think the Noble Concubine must have found this unpleasant to hear, so she resolutely disobeyed the order!"

The whole room burst into laughter.

The emperor also laughed and asked, "Which palace are you from?"

Concubine Liu was secretly delighted: "I will live in the Lotus Fragrance Courtyard and serve the Liu family."

Concubine Shun smiled and added, "Just now, the concubines and others discussed that she had made meritorious contributions in reporting Concubine Jian and Liu Gengyi, and we were just about to ask for an imperial decree to promote her to a higher rank."

The emperor said, "Then you shall be promoted to a higher rank, and become a concubine."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace, and thank you, the Queens, for your grace!"

Liu, who was promoted to the position of Changzai, was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to express her gratitude.

Privately, I felt that it was a blessing in disguise. I didn't expect that after all the twists and turns, I would actually show up in front of the emperor and be promoted. There are so many benefits to joining Concubine Zhao!

On the other hand, Liu Gengyi, who was convicted together with himself, refused to repent and insisted on opposing Concubine Zhao. He has been in Yanyun Palace for six months and I am afraid he will be completely useless in the future!

But I also have to thank Liu Gengyi. Without her, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to seek refuge.

When Liu Chang stood up, he once again looked at Fei Wan with gratitude.

Over there, the emperor smiled again and looked at Fei Wan: "Liu has accepted the order, do you still want to resist it?"

Fei Wanfu said: "I dare not accept your order."

But he secretly prepared to refuse the emperor again, and then reluctantly accepted it.

Unexpectedly, the emperor laughed and said, "What Concubine Liu said makes sense. 'Zhao Zhaoyi' is indeed not a nice name. Then promote her to Zhao Fei."

"His Majesty?!"

Fei Wan's surprise this time was three parts feigned, and seven parts were genuine.

This is no longer something that can be explained by the four words "do whatever you want".

The higher the emperor pushed her, the closer the day was for him to depose the empress and promote the virtuous concubine!

"Your Majesty, I dare not accept this. I am of little talent and virtue..."

Fei Wan refused.

Seeing that everyone in the room was surprised and couldn't hide their bitterness, even Concubine Shun's smile was a little bitter, so she had to refuse.

The emperor's face darkened: "Zhao Qing, are you still going to disobey my order?"

Concubine Qing, who had been leaning against the back of her chair, exhausted, spoke at this moment.

"Sister Zhao, a concubine's virtue is to be gentle and obedient. If you repeatedly disobey His Majesty's orders, you will truly lose your talent and virtue and betray His Majesty's love for you. Since you are devoted to serving His Majesty, how can you bear to cause His Majesty grief?"

Fei Wan hesitated, a look of guilt on her face: "This..."

Concubine Shun regained her smile and advised, "Sister Zhao, accept it. From now on, we will both be concubines. We should support each other and get along harmoniously."

Concubine Kang also quickly agreed: "Yes, yes, you always refuse. Don't you want to be on the same level as us? Do you despise us?"

"I greet Her Majesty Zhao Fei and congratulate Her Majesty on your promotion!"

Seeing the opportunity, Chen Cairen immediately knelt down to pay her respects.

Liu Changzai refused to fall behind and immediately knelt down: "I want to ask for a reward from the Empress Zhao!"

The other concubines also knelt down and kowtowed.

When the time was right, Fei Wan naturally accepted it.

She lifted her skirt and knelt before the emperor, kowtowed formally.

"Your Majesty, your concubine, Yu, accepts your grace. In the future, I will uphold the virtues of a woman, be friendly to my sisters, and live up to your Majesty's grace!"

"I'll have the Ministry of Rites re-prepare the enthronement ceremony later. Forget about being a noble concubine, just make her a consort." The emperor smiled and extended his hand, falsely helping Fei Wan up. "Since you've thanked me for the favor, won't you offer me a glass of wine?"

"I obey your command."

Fei Wan smiled gently, asked the other concubines of lower rank to stand up, and told them to go back to Chunxi Palace to receive their rewards.

She held the pot in her white hands and filled the emperor's cup.

"Your Majesty, please."

The emperor raised his wine glass and smiled at everyone present, "Let's drink to Zhaoqing!"

"Yes."

Everyone raised their glasses to congratulate Fei Wan on her promotion.

Even Concubine Qing, who doesn't drink, smiled and took a sip.

Fei Wan was about to say a few words of thanks, but before she could finish her sentence, a commotion broke out outside the Lincui Palace.

A sharp female scream came through the window.

"Your Majesty—I beg to see Your Majesty—I beg Your Majesty to save the Empress!"

Despite the dissuasion from Cao Bin and others, it could not be stopped.

The emperor lowered his brows and asked, "What's going on?"

The owner of this place, Concubine Kang, hurried out to inquire.

Xu Yu came back with a look of surprise, and replied in confusion and embarrassment:

"…The virtuous concubine led her men into Fengyi Palace, tied up the empress, and was heading towards Chenqian Palace. Concubine Zheng tried to break in, but was stopped by Cao Bin."