The Empress of Zhen Huan Reborn

When Concubine Chun hurriedly arrived at Jingren Palace with her personal maid Pei'er, she found that other concubines had already arrived. She was shocked, knowing that her lateness might make the queen unhappy, but since things had come to this point, she could only kneel down and apologize: "I am late, please forgive me, Queen!"

The Queen stared at the faint red marks on Chunpin's neck with a sharp gaze, and the corners of her mouth slightly raised to reveal a barely perceptible smile. Then, she quickly shifted her gaze to Nian Shilan beside her, and said with a smile: "It's okay, I know that you are new to the grace, and your body is inevitably a little overwhelmed. But the rules set by the ancestors cannot be violated. Now that you are here, please pay your respects and take a seat."

After hearing this, Concubine Chun felt relieved. She stood up and followed Jiang Fuhai to complete the tedious "three kneelings and nine kowtows" ceremony, and then sat down with the help of Pei'er.

Throughout the whole process, the queen had a smug look on her face, and she would glance at Nian Shilan provocatively from time to time. However, Nian Shilan acted as if she didn't care.

At this moment, Li Changzai, who had been silent all the time, suddenly snorted coldly, swept her eyes over the new concubines who had not yet served the emperor, and said in a sarcastic tone: "Did you all see it? Concubine Chun is now favored by the emperor. I believe that in the near future, all of you sisters will have the opportunity to serve the emperor. In the future, you must not procrastinate like today, so as not to miss the time!" After saying that, she did not forget to glare at the newcomers as a demonstration.

The newlyweds all nodded in agreement, fearing that they would say something wrong and offend others, but their eyes would drift towards Chunpin from time to time, full of envy and jealousy, as well as a bit of curiosity and scrutiny. However, Chunpin turned a blind eye to these glances, as if she had long been accustomed to being stared at.

At this time, Nian Shilan suddenly cast her gaze towards Li Changzai who was standing aside, with a scornful smile on her lips, and said sarcastically: "Oh! Li Changzai is so arrogant! The Queen is still sitting above her and hasn't said anything, but you can't wait to take over and even dare to teach other concubines a lesson? Do you think you are more noble than the Queen?" Her words were full of sarcasm, which made people present look at her sideways.

When Li Changzai heard what Nian Shilan said, she was shocked and her face turned pale instantly, but she still said quickly: "How dare I compare myself with the Empress? The Empress is the mother of the country and is respected by all the people. I am just a small concubine with a low status. It is really not worth mentioning. The reason why I said this is because I can't stand some people who rely on the emperor's favor and act recklessly, and even disrespect the Empress."

However, what no one expected was that at this moment, the emperor came to Jingren Palace without any warning. As soon as he entered the room, he heard what Li Changzai said. His face suddenly darkened and he asked in a very dignified manner: "Oh? Who dares to be so bold and disrespect the queen?"

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the whole palace fell into a dead silence. The concubines looked at each other, each with their own ulterior motives. Some were secretly delighted, thinking that this would be a good show to watch; some were upset, fearing that they would be implicated; and some seemed a little guilty, their eyes flickered, and they did not dare to look the emperor in the eye.

When the empress saw the emperor coming suddenly, she was stunned at first, then she showed joy. She hurriedly led the concubines to pay respect to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live the emperor." For a moment, the palace was filled with clear and pleasant greetings, one after another, making it very lively.

The emperor glanced at the concubines, then walked towards the queen, helped her up personally, and said, "Li Changzai, I am asking you a question!"

When Li Changzai was called by the emperor again, she couldn't help but stutter nervously. She didn't dare to answer easily. Because everyone in the palace knew that the emperor was very fond of Chunpin and had a strong interest in her. If she reported Chunpin's crimes to the emperor at this time, wouldn't she be asking for trouble and actively touching the emperor's bad luck?

However, Nian Shilan didn't care about Li Changzai's feelings at all. Just when she was about to speak, she heard Zhen Huan say in a gentle and tactful voice: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Please forgive me for speaking frankly. I guess Li Changzai just wanted to play a joke on Chunpin. Chunpin sister has always been respectful to the Queen. How could she be disrespectful? The Queen is the mother of a country and a role model for everyone in the harem. All of us sisters follow the Queen's lead and dare not be negligent or disrespectful."

Zhen Huan's words suddenly made the emperor realize that Li Changzai wanted to stir up a dispute between Concubine Chun and the Queen.

The emperor pondered secretly in his heart, and a glimmer of understanding flashed in his eyes, but he did not say much. He just stared at Li Changzai quietly, as if he wanted to see her true intentions through her seemingly innocent face.

The silence at this moment was as depressing as the calm before the storm, and the entire palace was filled with a tense and subtle atmosphere.

Everyone held their breath and dared not make a sound for fear of breaking the eerie silence.

Li Changzai felt the pressure from the emperor's sharp gaze, and beads of sweat oozed from her forehead. She lowered her head, clenched her fists, and regretted it deeply. If she had known this would happen, she should not have easily listened to others' words. Now she was in a difficult situation...

The Queen smiled and tried to smooth things over, "Yes, Li Changzai was just joking with Concubine Chun, but she didn't expect it to cause the Emperor's misunderstanding."

The emperor glanced at the queen with a deep look in his eyes, and then turned his gaze to Li Changzai and said calmly: "If this is true, then I have wronged you."

Li Changzai was so frightened that he was shaking all over, and quickly waved his hands to indicate that he would never dare to do that.

At this moment, the Queen interrupted again, "I wonder why the Emperor came to my palace today? Is there something I need to do?"

The emperor smiled slightly, with a hint of doting in his eyes. He looked straight at Concubine Chun and said softly, "I have no important matters to attend to today. I got some rare treasures this morning, so I thought that after Concubine Chun paid her respects, we could go and see them together, so that she could choose a few that she liked to keep and enjoy."

When the concubines present heard this, except for Zhen Huan, Nian Shilan and a few others, all stared at Concubine Chun with jealous eyes, but they were afraid that the emperor would notice their true thoughts and anger them, and punish them. For a moment, the atmosphere in the whole palace was weird, and everyone had their own thoughts.

After hearing this, the Queen said calmly and generously, "I have nothing to do here today. All the sisters should go back to the palace. Concubine Chun, why don't you follow the Emperor to choose a few things?"

The emperor did not delay seeing this, he stood up first, took Chunpin's hand and walked out, when he reached the palace gate, he left a sentence, "I will also send Su Peisheng to send some treasures to the queen later."