After the emperor read her mind, the salted fish concubine effortlessly won the title of empress.

Chapter 229 Touched the Sore Spot

Shen Shixi naturally wouldn't refuse just because she was afraid of getting tired.

Li Yuanke wanted to give her a grand ceremony, but he also intended to use it to provoke the Pei family. The situation was currently balanced, and only if one side broke the balance could the overall situation be resolved.

After entering the palace, Lady Gao became unusually friendly towards the Empress, calling her "my child" and "my darling" with great affection, which pleased the Empress.

"Mother, the Shen family is really going too far."

The Empress recounted what had happened at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, saying, "Even though I never formally married the Emperor, I did have an investiture ceremony, making me the rightful Empress of the Great Zhou. How dare she be so disrespectful to me!"

Madam Gao said, "She has an honorary title, but you don't. She is an Imperial Noble Consort, with the authority to manage the affairs of the six palaces. She is practically your equal. The Emperor's favoritism towards his concubine over his wife is truly unruly."

"You are my only daughter now. I ask for nothing more than for you to live a peaceful life. Your elder sister and six brothers all died at her hands. Even though my hatred is boundless, I would never dare to let you avenge them. You must never even entertain such a thought. If you fail, I will have no daughter left."

The Empress was deeply moved. "Mother, I will not forgive her!"

Madam Gao cried, "Empress, my child, please don't think like that. It's my misfortune that I only gave birth to four of you, and two of you died at her hands. And your cousin and your cousin too, I truly wish I could devour her flesh and drink her blood, but how could I bear to let you take such a risk?"

The Empress and Lady Gao hugged and cried for a while. She had secretly made up her mind that she must kill Shen Shixi. She wanted to avenge her brothers and sisters and also be a loving couple with the Emperor.

Lady Shen was undoubtedly an obstacle between her and the Emperor. As long as Lady Shen lived, the Emperor would not have any affection for his principal wife.

When Gao saw the determined look in her daughter's eyes, she was satisfied.

Shen must die, no matter what the cost.

"Your sister is gone, your cousin from the Gao family is gone, and your brother-in-law now only dotes on a Xie woman. Xie woman's father, the Marquis of Jiaqing, has become a traitor, and her elder brother, Xie Qingguang, has fled to Nanzhao upon hearing the news."

The court is currently dealing with the Jiaqing Marquis's residence, which will likely implicate a large number of others. If the Xie family falls, the position of Princess Consort of Jin should rightfully belong to your sister; even if it becomes vacant, it shouldn't fall into someone else's hands.

The Empress, ever the astute one, asked, "Whom does Mother favor?"

"Now we are outnumbered and outmatched. The military generals are all loyal to the Emperor and support the Shen family, which is not good for my son. Not to mention the civil officials who used to follow Grand Tutor Shen, they have always disliked my Pei family."

The late emperor has only been gone a few years, and these treacherous scoundrels have already begun to look down on us. Now, the only ones we can truly ally with are the aristocratic families. The Wang family of Taiyuan has twins, whom we originally intended to send to the palace. In my opinion, it would be better to betroth the elder daughter to the Prince of Jin, and send the younger daughter to the palace; she could be your ally.”

At the end of the month, Shen Shixi finished drafting the regulations for the Institute of Natural History. He consulted with Liu Jingzhong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and Qiu Xingyan, the Director of the Imperial Household Department. They all thought it was good and finalized it.

Some people interested in the study of things have already come to the capital. After the emperor and the three departments and six ministries reviewed the regulations, they passed them in one go and set the recruitment examination to begin on the first day of the ninth month, with Shen Shixi as the chief examiner.

Although some ministers objected, there was no doubt that apart from Imperial Noble Consort Chenyuan, no one else was capable of shouldering this heavy responsibility. The military generals and half of the court supported it, and those who objected were only a minority.

Shen Shixi eventually stood in the imperial court as a concubine.

The three judicial departments began to investigate the case of the Jiaqing Marquis's family's collusion with bandits and treason. The emperor also issued a reward for the Xu family: the heir Xu Wanyi was appointed as the Marquis of Changning, without being demoted, and Xu Sheng was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Pillar of State. He was to be buried with official rites, and the Ministry of Rites was ordered to handle the matter.

Internally, Xu Murong was promoted to the rank of Zhaorong, with the title of Ning.

The Empress arranged for her to stay at Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is east of Boja Palace.

On the night of the palace relocation, the emperor chose Consort Ning. Jiang Youlai announced, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Your Majesty has chosen you tonight. Please make preparations to welcome His Majesty."

Nine months later, the emperor finally began to choose concubines again. Whether they had children or not, all the women in the harem eagerly awaited the opportunity, hoping that they too would have this luck.

Fuju was also very happy, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

"Hmm!" Ning Zhaorong was also happy, but she couldn't help but feel sad.

She knew all too well that this opportunity for promotion and to serve the emperor was something her father had earned with his life.

This was one of her few opportunities. Now everyone in the palace knew that the Emperor would only choose other concubines when Consort Chenyuan was in a bad mood. And when she went on a border inspection, even though she brought three other concubines with her, the Emperor never had any of them serve him in bed.

The favor shown to Imperial Noble Consort Chenyuan has reached an outrageous level.

After returning to the palace, she did not choose any of the concubines' names.

Ning Zhaorong cherished her chance to be reborn and preferred to live out her days alone in the palace rather than risk standing out from the crowd.

Fuju then suggested, "Your Majesty, why don't we invite Physician Zhang to examine you and prescribe some medicine to help you conceive? If you can conceive a royal heir in one go, there will be hope for the future."

Ning Zhaorong glanced at her, "Very well!"

After Fuju left, Consort Ning summoned Shoutao and said, "Tomorrow you need to leave the palace. I have something to tell my mother. You need to run errands for me. Just let us know about this. I'll say that your parents are ill and you need to go back to visit them, understand?"

Longevity Peach and Fortune Orange were both people she brought from the Marquis's residence. Longevity Peach had been ostracized by Fortune Orange and had no room to maneuver. She said, "Yes, this servant remembers."

That means not letting Fuju know.

When the Emperor chose another concubine, everyone in Zhaoyang Palace became very nervous, fearing that the Imperial Noble Consort would be angry, upset, or take her anger out on someone.

Shen Shixi, however, was focused on arranging things at the Institute of Physics. She didn't care about this matter at all. As long as it didn't affect her treatment, she didn't care what the emperor did.

When she wants to eat dragon meat, as long as she can get a bite, who cares if the emperor is happy or not?

Consort De also felt that the opportunity had come.

However, the emperor only visited Gyeongbokgung Palace once and did not enter the inner palace again.

Consort De was worried that once Shen Shixi's red flag was lifted, there would be even less of a chance, so she sent someone to invite the Emperor to visit the Fourth Prince and the Eldest Princess.

Perhaps the death of the eldest prince did affect the emperor, because he came at the invitation of Consort De at dinner time.

He had never even seen the fourth prince after the prince was born.

After serving him his dinner, Consort De arranged for the Emperor to take a bath.

Unfortunately, Consort De's postpartum period coincided with Shen Shixi's.

The emperor didn't care who wore red ribbons or not; he wasn't interested in favoring anyone today, he was simply there to see the children.

As a result, after taking a bath, he saw his other concubine, Wang Baolin.

"What are you doing here?" the emperor asked.

Wang Baolin was extremely nervous and also showed a bit of shyness. "The Consort De is not feeling well and has asked me to serve Your Majesty."

Li Yuanke sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Wang Baolin without saying a word.

The atmosphere inside the hall was tense; Wang Baolin was trembling and on the verge of tears.

Seeing that things were not going well, Consort De came in and said, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I acted on my own initiative. I thought Your Majesty didn't have many children, and I was feeling unwell today, so I asked Consort Wang to serve Your Majesty."

The opportunity to serve the emperor in bed is so rare; if she hadn't been implicated, she wouldn't have been willing to give it up to Wang Yuehuai.

But we've already invited the Emperor; it would be such a waste to make such a wasted trip!

Li Yuanke smiled coldly. Consort De's repeated arrangements for people to serve him in bed had undoubtedly touched a raw nerve.

"Haven't I given her a chance? Of the new concubines who entered last year, how come everyone else is pregnant but she isn't? Since she doesn't have the fortune to bear the emperor's child, do I have to give her chances again and again?"

The emperor stood up and called out, "Li Fude, prepare the carriage and return to the palace!"