When Yuan Yuhan's men arrived, they saw Feng Qiao on the verge of death and the black - clothed man about to kill her to cover up the evidence. Without hesitation, they charged forward with their men.
Seeing that the plan had been exposed, the black - clothed man wasn't angry. Anyway, this woman was doomed to die soon, and his mission was as good as accomplished. Thinking this way, he quickly flew away.
The secret guards chased for a long time but couldn't catch up with him, so they gave up and took the dying Feng Qiao back to the Regent's Mansion.
"Your Highness, we were late. By the time we got there, she was already in this state," the leader of the secret guards knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty.
Yuan Yuhan looked at Feng Qiao with a complex expression. He never expected that the mastermind behind this would be so heartless, abandoning his own pawn so easily.
Suddenly, Feng Qiao on the ground opened her eyes. After seeing Yuan Yuhan's face, she let out a sigh of relief. However, she knew that she didn't have much time left. Thinking that the person behind her was so ungrateful, she decided not to cover for him anymore.
"Your... Highness... That person... is from the... palace. Please, Your... " Avenge me, Your Highness!
Before she could finish her words, Feng Qiao took her last breath. But what she had just said was quite valuable. Now they knew which direction to investigate.
"Find a good place to bury her properly," Yuan Yuhan said. At least she had done something meaningful.
The next day, the Queen had to receive the bows and tea - offerings from all the women in the palace, so she got up early to dress and do her makeup. Looking at her noble and grand appearance in the mirror, the Queen felt nothing.
She knew that the palace was a place that devoured people without spitting out the bones. The greatest taboo here was to have emotions, for once one had emotions, they would have a weakness and be easily controlled by others.
"Your Majesty, most of the concubines in the palace have arrived," the old nanny standing beside the Queen said.
"I see," the Queen said as she slowly stood up with the support of the maid beside her, preparing to pay her respects and offer tea to the Grand Empress Dowager.
"Your servant pays respects to the Grand Empress Dowager. May the Grand Empress Dowager enjoy eternal good fortune," the Queen's every word and action was so proper that the Grand Empress Dowager couldn't find any fault with her. She could only force a smile and tell her to rise.
"Now that you are the Queen, you must have a broad mind from now on, be a paragon for the world, and give birth to an heir for the royal family as soon as possible," the Grand Empress Dowager instructed expressionlessly.
"Yes, your servant will always remember the Grand Empress Dowager's teachings," the Queen replied.
The submissive look of the Queen made the Grand Empress Dowager feel better. At least this woman was easy to control. She could gradually win her over to her side.
After the Queen paid her respects to the Grand Empress Dowager, it was the concubines' turn. One by one, they stepped forward to offer tea, and even Mu Xingrou and Concubine Hua were no exceptions. However, although they were offering tea, they couldn't help but provoke the Queen.
Take Concubine Chen, who was pregnant, for example.
Concubine Chen looked at the Queen provocatively and boasted, "Your Majesty, you have to work harder. The Emperor already has two children, and the one in my belly will be the third. Although the Crown Prince has been born, you can't give up."
No normal wife would tolerate such things, but the Queen was different. She didn't take Concubine Chen's words to heart at all.
"Sister is joking. No matter whose child is born first, they are all the Emperor's children. As long as all my sisters work hard to give birth to heirs for the royal family, they are all great heroes. There's no such thing as first or last," the Queen said with a smile. She didn't take the bait at all and wasn't angry because of Concubine Chen's words. Instead, her words showed her magnanimity and won her a lot of favor in front of the Grand Empress Dowager.
"Um, what the Queen said is right," the Grand Empress Dowager said appreciatively. This Concubine Chen, although from a big family, was so petty.
"Princess Tianlin is here—"
Hearing this, the concubines who were listening to the Grand Empress Dowager's lecture all showed different expressions. However, the Queen was quite different. She didn't show any reaction to Mu Fengqie's arrival at all. She just sat on the chair calmly and looked towards the door.
"Fengqie pays respects to the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen," as for the others, she didn't need to bow to them.
"Rise. It's rare that you're so thoughtful to come and visit me," the Grand Empress Dowager naturally thought that Mu Fengqie had come to visit her. Mu Fengqie just smiled and said nothing.
"I've long heard that Princess Tianlin is an unparalleled ingenious person. Now that I've seen you in person, it's really true," the Queen looked at Mu Fengqie seriously and said.
Mu Fengqie looked into the Queen's eyes and found no impurities in them. She temporarily let down her guard. "Thank you for the Queen's praise."
"Your Majesty mustn't just judge people by their appearance. A person's face can be very deceptive," Concubine Chen said, looking at Mu Fengqie meaningfully.
"Really? Then what does sister mean?" the Queen kicked the ball back to Concubine Chen. She wasn't that stupid and wouldn't be easily used by others.
"Your servant doesn't mean anything else. I just want the Queen to be more vigilant," seeing that the Queen didn't take the bait, Concubine Chen gave up. It didn't matter. Winning over the Queen was a long - term process.
"I quite like the princess. If she weren't already married, I really would like to invite the princess to enter the palace and accompany me," the Queen's words really hit the Grand Empress Dowager's heart. She also intended to let Mu Fengqie enter the palace.
It was a pity that Mu Fengqie had no such intention. Otherwise, with the forces behind her, she could barely be named a noble concubine in the palace.
"Your Majesty is joking. Fengqie is a simple person. I'm already very happy to catch the Queen's eye. How dare I have other thoughts?" She didn't want to fight with a bunch of women for the Emperor's favor all day long.
"What I said the other day still counts. Whenever you change your mind, Fengqie, just come and find me," the Grand Empress Dowager said with a smile, still not giving up her plan to get Mu Fengqie into the harem.
"Fengqie thanks the Grand Empress Dowager for her kindness, but I think it's better to forget about the matter of teaching the ladies in the palace that the Grand Empress Dowager mentioned the other day. After all, there's already the Queen in the palace. It would be inappropriate for me to interfere," Mu Fengqie's words blocked the Grand Empress Dowager from saying anything further.
"Um, what Fengqie said makes sense. Queen, you have to manage the harem well and try not to bother the Emperor with everything."