The cold emperor reigns supreme, the arrogant empress begs for a truce.

Chapter Sixty-Three: Mo Zhen's Good Intentions

As soon as Leng Ruoxi sat down, all the concubines in Mo Zhen's harem rushed into her Jingling Palace as if they were going to a fair.

Sitting in the seat of honor, Leng Yuling looked at the room full of concubines dressed in their finest attire and couldn't help but sigh, "Why are you all here?"

In the first few days after her return, she made the excuse that she was too tired on the way back and did not need them to come and pay their respects. However, today they went crazy and ran straight to her palace without saying a word.

When she noticed that everyone was staring at Leng Ruoxi, she seemed to guess something. They probably thought that she had brought her younger sister from the Northern Desert to find someone she could rely on in the helpless harem.

Leng Yuling was truly wronged. If she could, she would never want Leng Ruoxi to come back with her. The thought that Leng Ruoxi was Leng Pingchu and Jun Ao's eyes and ears made her uncomfortable.

"I only knew that the Empress was a beauty, but I never thought that the Empress's sister was just as beautiful as the Empress. Could it be that beauties often come from the Northern Desert?" The one who spoke was Consort Jing, who was sitting closest to Leng Yuling.

Consort Jing is the eldest daughter of the Minister, and the concubine with the strongest backing in the harem besides Ma Zhiyun. It is precisely because of this that she dared to speak first.

When she was bored, Rong Mama had already told her all the information about the concubines in the harem. Rong Mama had told her about them again and again, and she had already memorized the backgrounds of these concubines.

She looked up at Consort Jing, who, relying on her father being the Minister and knowing that Mo Zhen had not visited Jingling Palace in the past few days, dared to look Leng Yuling directly in the eye.

Seeing her smug look, Leng Yuling couldn't stand it. She suddenly remembered her colleague from her previous life, who always took advantage of being the hospital director's daughter to exploit her and look down on her for having no backing or background.

"Consort Jing, is it?" Leng Yuling smiled and took a small sip of her tea. "If you're really curious whether the Northern Desert is known for its beauties, I can have the Emperor send someone to take you there to experience it for yourself. What do you say?"

She had already been in a bad mood these past few days because of Mo Zhen's matter, and now that Consort Jing had delivered herself to her door for no reason, she naturally wouldn't hold back.

“If Consort Jing likes the Northern Desert, I can ask the Emperor to allow you to go there,” Leng Yuling said, emphasizing each word.

However, Consort Jing was not afraid of Leng Yuling, because she knew that Leng Yuling had no backing in Southern Chu. She picked at her nails and said disdainfully, "In the end, who knows whether the Emperor will listen to you or me?"

Consort Jing is quite a character to dare refer to herself as "this palace" in front of the Empress.

Just as Consort Jing was about to speak, she was interrupted by Leng Yuling. She rarely showed such a displeased expression, and said, word by word, "I didn't hold it against you before, but don't think that I'm a pushover that you can bully!"

A single sentence sent shivers down the spines of the concubines present. In the past, Leng Yuling had always been approachable and friendly, and this was the first time they had seen her speak so harshly and sternly.

"you……"

“Me?” Leng Yuling interrupted Consort Jing again, saying domineeringly, “You only need to remember that I am the Empress of Southern Chu.”

She could ignore or even overlook one or two provocations, but this Consort Jing went too far, reminding her of the oppression she suffered in her previous life, and she could no longer control her temper.

"I'll only consider this your first offense. If it happens again, I won't be so lenient!" With that, Leng Yuling stood up, glanced at them, and then went back into the house.

Seeing this, even Leng Ruoxi didn't dare to go in, and just sat outside with her head down.

Ziyan, on the other hand, hurriedly followed inside. Just as she was about to speak, Leng Yuling turned around, grinned, and asked with a curious look, "How was it? Did I exude an overwhelming aura just now?"

Ziyan stared at her blankly, clearly not understanding what it meant for her to go from anger to pleasure. She simply asked, "Your Majesty, weren't you very angry just now? Why are you so..."

“That Consort Jing thinks she can act tough in front of me just because her father is a high-ranking official. Of course I have to teach her a lesson. Otherwise, how could she be worthy of my status as Empress?” Seeing that Ziyan was still confused, she asked again, “What do you think?”

Only then did Ziyan realize that Leng Yuling's earlier display of temper, which had made everyone in the room afraid to even breathe, was fake; it was all just to provoke Consort Jing.

Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief and complained, "Your Majesty, you scared me! I really thought you were angry."

This was the first time she had ever seen Leng Yuling so angry. To be honest, she was genuinely frightened. She was wondering how to persuade her when she realized it was all just a performance.

After dinner, Leng Yuling was still basking in the joy of having silenced Consort Jing when she suddenly heard a eunuch's voice from the doorway: "His Majesty has arrived."

Leng Yuling immediately wiped the smile off her face, turned to look at Ziyan, and asked, "What is he doing here?"

The latter shook her head, and before she could speak, Mo Zhen had already approached. Zi Yan took a step back and curtsied, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

Mo Zhen waved away all the palace servants, and only when the two of them were left in the room did he speak: "I heard you were angry with Consort Jing just now?"

Haha, so Mo Zhen is here to stand up for his concubine, is that it?

Leng Yuling raised her head: "So what if it is? Does Your Majesty come here to ask me to apologize to her?"

"Leng Yuling!" Leng Yuling's tone was unpleasant, and Mo Zhen felt uncomfortable listening to it, so he lowered his tone and raised his voice considerably.

"Why are you shouting so loudly? I can hear you!" Leng Yuling retorted angrily.

After he finished speaking, the room suddenly fell silent. Leng Yuling stopped talking, as did Mo Zhen.

Although she was not one of Mo Zhen's favorite concubines, and he had never stayed overnight in Consort Jing's palace, she was still the legitimate daughter of the Minister, who was Mo Zhen's tutor when he was the Crown Prince.

Thanks to this relationship, even though Mo Zhen did not show any favoritism towards Consort Jing, she was still the woman with the highest status in the harem besides Ma Zhiyun.

"Consort Jing's father was my first teacher..."

Before Mo Zhen could finish speaking, Leng Yuling interrupted him: "So what? One is the daughter of a general from your Southern Chu, and the other is the daughter of a minister. Does that mean I deserve to be bullied?"

Enraged, Leng Yuling blurted out the word "I" (老子). Upon hearing this, Mo Zhen frowned, clearly displeased with the form of address.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw her raise her head again, meet his eyes, and the stubbornness in her eyes softened his heart.

"I just don't want you to make too many enemies."

Leng Yuling was destined to remain unaware of his painstaking efforts.