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The Emperor pinched her face as if no one else was around and said, "Hmm, after returning and having lunch, I waited for a while. Seeing that you hadn’t come back, I came out to look for you."

Lian Hua exclaimed "Oh?" and said, "Your servant and Nanny mentioned it, I went to visit Sister Zhaoyi. When Your Majesty returned, why didn’t you send someone to inform your servant? That way, I... your servant would have gone back..."

As she spoke, Lian Hua’s eyes glanced around the hall, an idea forming in her mind, and in a shrill, coquettish voice, she said, "Oh my, Your Majesty really should not have come here in person.

It truly makes one... makes your servant feel overly favored and uneasy, with a sense of guilt that is hard to bear. "

After finishing, she stuck her tongue out in the direction of the Noble Consort, able to speak such grand and dignified words herself.

The Emperor, full of smiles, pinched her hand as he watched her pretend.

It seemed that when he was not here, the persons in this hall must have truly angered her, otherwise she would not act this way.

Following her gaze, he looked deeply at the Noble Consort. Xue Wanjun always pretended to be very good in front of him.

He had always regarded Xue Wanjun as gentle and generous, comporting herself properly, though possessing some schemes and ambitions.

It was normal for people in the harem to be like this, and he once thought it would be good to have such a person manage the harem, as it didn’t interfere with his grand scheme.

Thus, he chose to turn a blind eye to some of her actions.

Today, in his absence, she finally showed her claws, forming cliques and openly ostracizing others within the harem, targeting his Little Concubine. Well then, her ambition had indeed been fattened by him!

The Noble Consort kept her head down, maintaining the posture of paying respects, infuriated by Lian Hua’s mockery, her chest rising and falling irregularly. Canglan Court’s lady, spoiled by favor, dared to use her words to humiliate her.

What made her more upset was that the Emperor had personally come to look for the inhabitant of Canglan Court, merely after half a day of absence, and he actually came out to search. What about them?

They were also consorts of His Majesty, unseen by him for many days, yet he had never been seen in the harem, visiting them.

While maintaining the respectful gesture, the Noble Consort’s hands unconsciously clenched into fists, her nails digging blood marks into her palms without feeling the pain.

The others were jealous and resentful, yet dared not to speak out.

The Emperor gently chided her "naughty" and was about to affectionately ruffle Lian Hua’s hair when he reached towards her head.

She dodged his touch, her hands covering her head as she exclaimed, "Ah, Your Majesty, please don’t mimic Sister Zhaoyi and mess up my, mess up your servant’s hairdo. This was done by Auntie Ming Jing, it’s your servant’s most beautiful hairstyle."

The corners of the Emperor’s eyes twitched. Xu Rongying actually even ruffled her hair?

That was preposterous; that was an action only he was allowed to do!

The Emperor felt uneasy, past negative thoughts all rushing back, and he gave Lian Hua a stinging look.

Feeling this, Lian Hua withdrew her hands, instinctively shrinking her neck, wondering anxiously if His Majesty would erupt in front of so many people...

In her mind, she grumbled. It was just about not messing up her hair; she rarely looked this good. Couldn’t he wait until the hairstyle was taken down before ruffling it? So impatient.

The Emperor gave her a cool glance, knowing she must be criticising him in her heart again. Very well, he would deal with her when they got back. For now, it was time to handle these people.

With a look, the Emperor signaled Lian Hua to stand behind him. Once she was shielded by him, he surveyed the room and, with a change in tone, spoke coldly, "Who was it that insisted on making Beauty Lian drink tea?"

He even employed reverse psychology.

The tea brewed by the harem consorts was different from what he drank. His Little Concubine knew them too well. These consorts were indeed most afraid of losing their beauty.

Just recently, Cao De mentioned that they had gotten their hands on some kind of powder, claiming to have miraculous beautifying and rejuvenating effects. Hence, they began adding it to their tea and even their soups, which he truly found incomprehensible.

Cao De had someone specially inspect the matter, but they could not discern anything substantial. Nonetheless, they still advised him, saying, "Where in the world is there such a miraculous item? It’s better to keep people in line and not to consume these messy concoctions."

In Canglan Court, stability was of utmost importance, and he too did not feel reassured allowing his people to use such items of uncertain origin.

That was why he was particularly angered when he heard someone forcing Nannan to drink the tea earlier.

No one dared to even breathe loudly.

The incident had started because of Beauty Zhao. Although she had not forced anyone, merely asking casually, the matter originated from her, and she could not detach herself from it.

She understood this very well and stepped out from the line fearfully to kneel and confess her guilt, "Reporting to His Majesty, this concubine saw Beauty Lian in the palace for a long time and feared she might be thirsty.

Therefore, I merely asked if she wanted to drink tea. .." She had not forced anyone...

Talented Lady Jia, who had been the loudest, now had trembling legs and suddenly lost her balance, falling to the ground.

She frantically scrambled to her feet and knelt properly, babbling, "Your Majesty, this concubine, this concubine was just concerned that Beauty Lian might be thirsty. There was no coercion, none at all. Please, Your Majesty, see the truth."

As she spoke, she began to kowtow.

She had only relied on the power of the Noble Consort, unable to bear seeing someone who should be beneath her suddenly surpassing her, jealousy in her heart.

Furthermore, how much His Majesty doted on Beauty Lian was something she had never witnessed firsthand. She had always believed the rumors to be exaggerated. Now, she realized that His Majesty indeed favored Beauty Lian greatly. She regretted her actions and dared not do anything rash again...

The Noble Consort and the others maintained their bowing position, some trembling with terror, especially those who had whispered mockeries about Lian Hua.

They felt extremely fortunate that their voices had not been as loud as Talented Lady Jia’s during the tea discussion, avoiding conspicuous sarcasm.

The Emperor snorted coldly and looked in the direction of Talented Lady Jia, asking, "Are you Talented Lady Jia?"

He had some impression of this woman, seeming to be quite vain. Yet, he was unaware she also loved to gossip.

Talented Lady Jia had a foreboding feeling, her voice trembling as she replied, "Yes, it is this concubine."

"A gossiping woman!" the Emperor exclaimed sharply.

In an instant, Talented Lady Jia’s face turned pale as paper, her life was ruined with just one sentence from His Majesty.

The Emperor’s eyes filled with a chill, thinking that it was this woman who had been running to all the courts, spreading rumors that his Little Concubine was pregnant.

According to her servant’s words, the woman had a dream in which she heard a divine voice saying that the master of Canglan Court was with child.

After waking up, she began to spread the rumor, and the more she spread it, the more credible it seemed. Considering how many today had ostracized his Little Concubine, this woman had played a significant role.

Surely, she had been enticed and used by someone; it was all too convenient, and he could not help but suspect more.

However, the woman was also absurd, spreading rumors and creating trouble based purely on a dream. The person who designed this plan must have understood her nature very well.

The Emperor finally looked at Talented Lady Jia with disgust and turned around to say, "With such a wagging tongue, this tongue..."

Before he could finish, he turned and saw his Little Concubine looking at him with curious eyes, her ears perked up to hear what he would say.

The Emperor suddenly hesitated, remembering that his people were present. He swallowed back the second half of his sentence that was on the tip of his tongue, deciding not to go through with such a bloody matter, for fear of frightening her.

He paused and then said anew, "From now on, take care of your own tongue. Effective today, Talented Lady Jia is demoted to Daying, confined for three months, and her salary forfeited for one year."