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

Because the emperor wanted to arrange a marriage, everyone in the hall stopped talking and waited for the next step.

So in the silence, the sound of Zhishu putting the cup down was a bit abrupt.

Everyone looked at her.

"Princess Ying, what's the matter? His Majesty has arranged a marriage for my nephew, aren't you happy?"

Queen Yan spoke before anyone else.

His face darkened towards Zhishu.

I secretly hope that Zhishu can understand me and use her usual ability to provoke and annoy people to refute the arranged marriage.

Queen Yan was very disgusted with the emperor's sudden arrangement of marriage.

Because unless the ministers themselves requested it, the royal family's arranged marriages were generally based on considerations of power and interest balance. It was good for the royal family, but had little benefit to the ministers themselves.

What's more, she is the queen and Xie Weizhou's elder. The emperor didn't even tell her a word before doing this. Where did he put her?

Empress Yan was holding back her anger and just hoped that Zhishu would scold the emperor with sarcasm.

However, she wasn't sure if Zhishu and she didn't interact much, so she wasn't sure if they had such a tacit understanding. Besides, Zhishu had always stayed out of other matters besides dating Feiwan, so it was hard to predict whether she would speak out about this matter.

Maybe Zhishu just put the cup there casually and her hand slipped by coincidence?

Yan Hou's thoughts raced in an instant.

When questioning Zhishu, she was already prepared to stop it herself if Zhishu refused to cooperate.

But Zhishu glanced at her indifferently and asked, "Is the Empress happy? Your Majesty arranged a marriage for me because he must have felt that the young lady from that family was both talented and beautiful, a rare sight in the world, and completely worthy of Marquis Xie, who led a lone charge into the enemy camp. But Your Majesty is busy with state affairs all day long, and when he returns to the harem he spends time with us sisters. May I ask, Empress and everyone present, how did Your Majesty know which young lady was the best among the nobles in the capital? Did one of the sisters tell Your Majesty, or did Your Majesty find her yourself?"

Queen Yan was stunned.

I was stumped by the question.

Although Zhishu did not accidentally talk about the arranged marriage as she expected, she did not expect this idea.

"Ying Fei, do you think..."

"Empress, I feel that since the Marquis Xie just competed with you and showed his extraordinary skills, and His Majesty was pleased to see him, this arranged marriage seems to be a spur-of-the-moment decision. So, His Majesty must have long considered the name of the young lady he wanted to marry. And who was he considering it for? It seems that there haven't been many old princes or heirs in the royal family who need arranged marriages recently. So, I suspect that His Majesty is dissatisfied with the fact that the ladies in our palace are not beautiful or elegant enough, and has been searching for new ones both inside and outside the palace."

Queen Yan: ...

Concubines:...

This Princess Ying is really bold!

That's really a bold idea.

How could she connect the arranged marriage with the emperor's love of beauty?

When it comes to bravery and speaking, even Concubine Hui cannot compete with Concubine Ying.

Who knew Zhishu would be even more daring.

She took the opportunity to talk to Queen Yan, made some sarcastic remarks, then stood up, bowed, and asked the emperor in the face.

"Your Majesty, do you think my guess is correct? Please don't be so quick to deny it. I've seen you repeatedly give He Shi a pass. You've been investigating whether she did those bad things for a long time without any results. I feel that you are certainly kind and merciful, but you are obviously dissatisfied with me and others. Our Daliang Palace holds a selection every three years. There is still a year before the next selection, and there will be a while before a large number of new people enter the palace. Your Majesty, why not move the selection up a year and start it after the New Year and the beginning of spring? The Empress has just been canonized, and she needs more concubines to serve her. There are very good reasons. Your Majesty, what do you think of my suggestion?"

Looking at the emperor's expression, which was originally smiling, his face became gloomy as Zhishu continued speaking.

"Princess Ying, it seems that I have been too lenient with you. You have always..."

He spoke harshly, but was interrupted by Fei Wan.

"Sister Ying, this is such a joke! You scared us all! Many sisters in the palace have been looking forward to seeing His Majesty for a long time, and you even suggested holding a beauty pageant next spring. What nonsense!"

Fei Wan stood up, grabbed Zhishu's sleeve across the table, and pulled her to sit down again.

Fei Wan then saluted the emperor above, "Sister Ying has been drinking while watching the martial arts competition. She is drunk. Your Majesty, please don't bother with her. In my opinion, she is already drunk. It would be better to punish her by making her drink three more cups and then send her back to Chuixue Palace to stop her from talking nonsense here. We are all used to her in the palace, but Lord Xie will laugh at her, thinking that the concubines under the Empress' rule are so unruly. But if I were to say, she is so naughty because she has always been spoiled by Your Majesty. If you want to spoil Concubine Ying, you might as well love me more, or love one of the other obedient sisters more. It is worse than indulging Sister Ying in her mischief."

Although Fei Wan sometimes spoke to the emperor in long speeches, her speaking speed was usually slow and her tone was gentle and charming.

This time, the long words were spoken in a hurry, with a smile on his face and in quick sentences.

There is some resemblance of Empress Yan when she was a virtuous concubine.

After hearing this, Zhishu tried to stand up again, but her body swayed slightly, and she staggered, acting like she was drunk.

She yelled, "How could I be drunk, Sister Zhao? You won't let me talk, but I'm going to say it anyway! I haven't been to Chenqian Palace for several days. His Majesty is ill, and I always want to visit him, but I'm always blocked. His Majesty must be disgusted with me, thinking only of He Shi and the new bride in the boudoir. Sister, you don't know how sad I am..."

As she spoke, her eyes turned red and she sobbed and cried.

He covered his face and leaned on Fei Wan's shoulder.

She cried with her shoulders shrugged.

Princess Ying, who always speaks coldly and has a cold face in front of others, suddenly reveals her vulnerable side, which really catches people off guard.

Fei Wan quickly hugged her and gently patted her shoulders to comfort her.

She gave the emperor an apologetic smile, and took the initiative to call the palace maids to come and send Concubine Ying away.

"I don't want to leave. I want to stay here to see His Majesty. I want to accompany His Majesty..."

Zhishu was pulled away by the palace maid. She staggered and refused to move. She tried to reach out to the emperor who was sitting on the throne, wanting to get close to him.

But he was so drunk that he was exhausted and was eventually sent out by the palace maid.

"Serve Concubine Ying well, and I will come to visit you later!"

Fei Wan gave instructions outside, then walked around his seat and knelt before the emperor to solemnly confess his crime.

"It is my fault that I failed to take good care of my sister Ying and let her drink too much. I will drink the three cups of wine she is punished with. I will also deduct one month's salary to make up for my misbehavior in front of the emperor."

The emperor raised his hand and said, "Alright, get up. You are too weak to kneel so easily. It is understandable that Concubine Ying drank too much, but it is indeed wrong to be disrespectful in front of the emperor. Fine her her monthly salary once, and you don't have to punish her. Even if you are sisters, you can't do everything for me."

"Yes, I accept your advice. I know I am wrong."

Fei Wan stood up.

When he looked up, he secretly observed the emperor's expression.