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

The development of the matter was exactly as Queen Mother Zheng Zhuyi had expected.

Concubine Hui once again caused a big disturbance in Ciyu Palace, and Concubine Yue was also involved. The news spread out of the harem that day and the whole court knew about it.

Letters accusing Concubine Hui of insubordination, misusing the late emperor's handwriting, and insulting the ancestors of the Li family came one after another, and before nightfall, they had accumulated into a thick stack.

There were also people who impeached Concubine Yue.

There were people who reported Concubine Zhao.

Even those who were beaten, such as Zheng Zhuyi and Zhishu, had people reporting on the incident. There were two or three letters saying that although they were tortured, they had participated in the dispute and violated the virtue of docility expected of concubines.

There are dozens of these memorials in total.

By the next day, there were even more memorials.

Not only the censors, but also some court officials participated in the discussion.

On the third day, it was still the same.

A new day arrived. During the morning court meeting, the emperor, who had kept the memorial for two days, was pestered by his ministers.

Nothing can be discussed anymore.

Everyone wanted the emperor to give his opinion on how to deal with this matter.

An old minister knelt on the ground and proposed to enthrone a new queen.

"The harem is in chaos because the Central Palace has no master. If Your Majesty does not consider appointing a queen, I'm afraid the harem will never have peace, and the issue of an imperial heir will be even more distant. The foundation of the Daliang nation will be shaken!"

The emperor's face darkened. "I am in the prime of my life, and the foundation of my country is shaken?"

"Your Majesty, Prince Rui already has many healthy children, but Your Majesty only has two sickly princesses. If this continues, I'm afraid Your Majesty will repeat the mistakes of the previous Emperor Hui."

"Come here, send him out of the palace!"

The emperor became furious on the spot.

The Hui Emperor of the previous dynasty had no children in his life. He adopted the son of a prince as his crown prince. After his death, his nephew succeeded him to the throne.

Although this old minister has a long history, how could the emperor tolerate such public cursing?

But even if he couldn't bear it, he couldn't do anything to the old minister directly, so he used the word "send". This was someone left behind by the previous emperor, and he hadn't made any major mistakes yet, so he couldn't do anything to him for the time being.

Being an emperor also has many constraints.

Today's court lasted for more than an hour in the chaos as ministers argued about the crimes of the concubines and proposed the establishment of a queen.

Finally, the emperor had to call on Lu Guinian who was silent in the corner.

"Lu Qing, what are your thoughts?"

Lu Guinian stepped forward with his head lowered, muffled and said, "I have no opinion. Let's just wait until this matter is finished before discussing the affairs of Jiangnan."

"Why doesn't Lu Qing look up?"

"...I will raise it again when I report on matters."

"lift it up!"

"……Yes."

Lu Guinian was forced to slowly raise his head.

People around him looked at him curiously.

But he had a bump on his forehead and a wound on his chin, and his originally ordinary appearance became funny.

"What happened to Lu Qing? What strange disease did he get?" the emperor asked with concern.

Lu Guinian lowered his head again and said, "I fell while walking."

Suddenly someone in the crowd said, "I heard that Lord Lu encountered the Hedong Lion and was defeated, so his face was disfigured."

The whole room burst into laughter.

Lu Guinian has been very well behaved these days. He has changed from being a complainer to being like a well-behaved child. Every day during court, he stands in the corner without saying a word, with his head lowered, and occasionally covering his face with his sleeves.

Everyone has been wondering about this for a long time, and those who are interested have started to investigate.

Therefore, many people knew that he was beaten by his wife and laughed at him secretly.

At this time, the matter was made public, and those who were unaware of the inside story also knew about it, and everyone laughed together.

Even the debate about the concubine's mistakes was suspended.

On the throne, the emperor breathed a sigh of relief.

The sacrifice of the tortoise year finally brought a brief period of peace.

"Forget it, Mr. Lu. Whether you get beaten or fall, don't let personal matters interfere with state affairs. Tell me what you want to report first."

"Wait a minute, Your Majesty! Concubine Hui and the others' disrespect for the Empress Dowager has yet to be determined..."

Someone tried to stop him, but was immediately glared at by Lu Guinian.

"What else do you want to be determined about? Even if there's a harem disturbance, it's just a few women messing around. How can it be as serious as the rebellion in Jiangnan? You all evade the important issues. When asked about serious state affairs, you all just agree to it, yet you're very concerned about the women around His Majesty! You're eating the emperor's food, aren't you ashamed?"

Lu Guinian was laughed at by everyone in the room, and he felt like he had thrown everything away.

He stood up straight, raised his face, no longer hiding the swelling on his head, and returned to his previous state of arguing with his ministers.

The man retorted twice, but he was rudely retorted again.

After two or three rounds, the man gave up.

A few more people tried to confront each other, but were all shut up by Lu Guinian's scolding.

The emperor smiled: "Lord Lu is very impressive. I can't make the ministers shut up, but you can."

Lu Guinian bowed, "Your Majesty is a benevolent ruler who never abuses his imperial power. This is a blessing for the country. However, some people are too greedy and do not know how to appreciate their blessings. Instead, they think Your Majesty is weak. I have been honored by your great grace and will naturally scold them harshly to wake them up and let them know whose Daliang this is and whose subjects they are!"

"You're talking nonsense. We are all loyal to our country. How can we ask for more?" someone objected.

He was scolded by Lu Guinian again.

Lu Guinian also has allies who will lend a hand whenever the opportunity arises.

The two sides argued back and forth for a while, and finally Lu Guinian won again.

Because of his disturbance, the charges against Concubine Hui, Concubine Zhao and others were temporarily shelved.

Lu Guinian began to report on the affairs of Jiangnan and spoke eloquently.

After the discussion on Jiangnan and several other important matters was over and the court was about to end, the emperor smiled and asked Lu Guinian, "My dear minister, what do you think should be done about the crimes of Concubine Hui and others?"

Lu Guinian said, "Concubines are not allowed to interfere in government affairs, and ministers are not allowed to discuss the affairs of the inner palace. But since this matter has caused endless turmoil among the lords, why don't you punish the concubines to appease the public? State affairs are the most important, and the rest are trivial matters. Your Majesty, please think twice."

The emperor readily accepted.

The court officials argued for so long but failed to get the emperor to convict the concubines, but Lu Guinian did it with just a few words.

Many people looked at him sideways for a while.

Lu Guinian didn't care about other people's opinions. After the court was dismissed, he swaggered out of the palace with a few friends.

So some people privately said that he was too outspoken and would sooner or later be suspected by the emperor and die without a burial place.

After the morning court session that day, the emperor issued an edict to punish Concubine Hui and several others.

—— Concubine Hui was reckless and her words and deeds were inappropriate, so she was punished to reflect on her mistakes indoors for a month and was not allowed to leave without permission.

—— Concubine Yue committed the crime of insubordination, but considering her serious injury, she was only punished by confinement for ten days to reflect on her mistakes.

——Zheng Guipin, Ying Ronghua and Yu Guiren have lost their docility and will be fined three months' salary.

—— Concubine Zhao was not thorough in her handling of the matter, which led to Concubine Hui acting impulsively. She was fined half a month’s salary.

—— Concubine Kang and Concubine Shun assisted in the management of the harem, but were unable to mediate the conflict, so they were each fined half a month’s salary.

——The palace maids of Concubine Yue and Concubine Hui were unable to advise their masters and were fined half a month’s salary.

For a time, all the high-ranking officials in the palace, except Concubine Qing, were more or less dealt with.

This kind of treatment prevented the court officials from committing crimes.

There were no new memorials submitted that day.

However, there were several more memorials proposing a quick establishment of a new power.

That evening, the emperor personally visited Ciyu Palace, announced the lifting of the ban, and respectfully welcomed the empress dowager out.

The Empress Dowager was sitting in the hall, with Zheng Zhuyi and others nearby, chatting. Suddenly, they heard the decree lifting the ban and learned that the Emperor was waiting outside the Ciyun Palace. They were all surprised and delighted.

Zheng Zhuyi smiled and said, "I told you that the ban will be lifted soon!"

Zhishu said, "It seems that Concubine Hui's letter from the late emperor will hardly be of any use in the future."

Yu Sujin smiled shyly and excitedly, pinching her handkerchief with joy.

Shixiang went to the palace gate and came back to tell the Queen Mother with a smile: "Your Majesty is indeed outside the gate, and Consort Zhao is also here. Queen Mother, do you want us to leave now? We haven't left the palace for a long time. How about going out for some fresh air?"

The Queen Mother raised an eyebrow: "Is Concubine Zhao here too?"

"Yes."

The Queen Mother smiled and said, "Let her come in, kowtow to me and admit her fault, then help me out to see the Emperor."