Reborn into the palace, she seduces the emperor's heart, driving the chief minister to madness!

Chapter 32 He's Here

The voice was urgent and agitated, clearly indicating hostility.

Chu Qingyin was slightly surprised, and the palace servants of Diecui Pavilion were also startled, exchanging bewildered glances.

Xianglan reacted immediately and shielded Chu Qingyin. Qiuzhu, realizing she was a step too late, had no choice but to hurry out and look around.

"Consort Lu, what's wrong with you...?"

When Qiu Zhu saw the elegantly dressed woman approaching aggressively from outside, she stopped her with a look of astonishment: "You can't just barge in!"

Lu Mingzhu was furious at the moment and didn't care about anything else. She pushed Qiu Zhu aside and said, "What kind of lowly servant dares to stop me? Get out of my way!"

Caught off guard, Qiu Zhu stumbled and bumped into the doorway.

When Chu Qingyin saw Lu Mingzhu's furious expression, a hint of doubt flashed in her eyes. What was wrong with her in the middle of the day?

Could it be because of that bracelet? No, if it were because of jealousy over the bracelet, I would have come over this morning, how could I have waited until now?

"Consort Lu, who has offended you? Why are you so angry?"

Chu Qingyin gently pushed Xianglan away. In her past life, Jinzhu and Yinping stood in front of her, but in this life, she would never let Xianglan repeat their mistakes.

Lu Mingzhu stared coldly at Chu Qingyin and said, word by word, "You're the one who did this, aren't you? What exactly did you say to His Majesty? Why won't His Majesty see me?"

Chu Qingyin: "...?"

The emperor wouldn't see her, so she went to ask him why she went to Diecui Pavilion to ask herself what she was doing.

Suppressing the urge to say, "If you have a brain disease, go get it treated," Chu Qingyin put on an innocent expression: "Consort Lu, what do you mean? I'm just a lowly concubine, how could I possibly interfere in His Majesty's affairs..."

Stop pretending!

Lu Mingzhu interrupted her, her voice filled with suppressed anger: "I just went to Zichen Palace to deliver tonic soup to His Majesty, but when I got to the door, the head eunuch stopped me and wouldn't even let me in. He also told me to be careful with my words and actions in the harem and to get along peacefully with the concubines."

“Ever since I entered the palace, I’ve only ever been at odds with you! Wasn’t Eunuch Chen referring to what happened in front of the Phoenix Palace that day? You must have seen His Majesty yesterday and complained to him, otherwise why would His Majesty not even let me in the door, and wouldn’t even take away the soup!”

People can actually laugh when they're speechless.

Chu Qingyin wasn't angry at all at the moment; on the contrary, she suddenly wanted to see Lu Zhiheng.

If Lu Zhiheng were in front of her now, she would definitely laugh without hesitation: "Does your Lu family's cunning only reside in you, without leaving a single bit for your cousin?"

Otherwise, how could anyone be so stupid?

Based on Chu Qingyin's understanding of Chen Zhongliang, that shrewd and cunning eunuch would certainly not have said the exact words Lu Mingzhu had. It's just that Lu Mingzhu's mind was too simple, and she didn't understand the subtle meaning behind the words.

What a waste of Chen Zhongliang's good intentions.

"Consort Qiao, I advise you to control your temper. His Majesty's refusal to see you is His Majesty's decision, what does it have to do with me?"

Chu Qingyin glanced at her expressionlessly: "If I had the ability to influence His Majesty's mind, how come I have been in the palace for so many days without ever receiving his favor?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Mingzhu became even more annoyed: "What are you pretending for in front of me for!"

Everyone in the harem knows that Qiao Qingyin is the only new concubine who was summoned to serve meals and received a reward. Yet now she dares to shamelessly say in front of her that she has never been favored by the emperor.

What is this if not showing off!

"You pretentious little bitch, you've only gained power because of your pretty face. I'll tear off your fox skin today."

Lu Mingzhu sneered and suddenly pounced on Chu Qingyin.

Chu Qingyin's eyes suddenly darkened. This was no lady of a noble family; she was worse than a shrew from the marketplace.

Dealing with this kind of person, if you actually get into a fight with her, you're just lowering yourself to the level of a human being.

Her dark eyes darted around for a moment, and then Chu Qingyin noticed something. "Ouch!"

She let out a weak gasp, raised her hand to cover her chest, her face showing a pained expression, and then slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Girl!" Xianglan exclaimed.

The palace maids of Diecui Pavilion rushed forward in a panic, shouting, "Master! Someone come quickly!"

Lu Mingzhu was stunned; she hadn't expected things to develop this way so suddenly.

"You...you get up! Stop pretending!"

Lu Mingzhu looked at Chu Qingyin lying on the ground and felt a surge of panic. She instinctively wanted to go up and pull her away.

But Xianglan and Qiuzhu stopped her, the two maids looking at Lu Mingzhu angrily: "Consort Lu, it's one thing for you to make a scene today, but now our mistress has been frightened into fainting, and you still won't let it go!"

Lu Mingzhu's face was extremely ugly. She gritted her teeth and said, "What do you mean she was scared unconscious by me? It's her own fault for being a coward. What does it have to do with me!"

Xianglan bit her lip and remained silent. Qiuzhu hurriedly ordered a eunuch to fetch the imperial physician and sent another person to inform the Empress.

Upon hearing that the matter was going to be brought to the Empress's attention, Lu Mingzhu's eyelids twitched twice.

She knew she was in big trouble.

Before the little eunuch could run out, Lu Mingzhu, her face dark, hurriedly led her maid and left Diecui Pavilion.

It's best to strike first; she needs to get to Fengyi Palace first.

The palace servants in Diecui Pavilion hurriedly helped the unconscious Chu Qingyin back to her inner room.

After the others had left, leaving only Xianglan, Chu Qingyin slowly opened her eyes.

"Master, what's wrong...!" Xianglan, who had just been looking worried, was stunned.

Chu Qingyin glanced outside the door, then smiled at her lightly: "I'm fine, I just don't want to waste any more words with that idiot."

Seeing that her mistress was faking it, Xianglan breathed a sigh of relief: "You really frightened me just now, thankfully you are alright."

Chu Qingyin gave a noncommittal smile and then beckoned to her, "I need you to do something for me."

Xianglan was slightly taken aback. "What?"

Chu Qingyin took a small cloth bag from under her pillow and handed it to Xianglan: "There are some golden melon seeds in here. Take them. Try to spread the word about what just happened as soon as possible, but remember, don't let anyone know that we are the ones spreading it."

Xianglan took the cloth bag and looked at Chu Qingyin with some surprise: "Master, this..."

Chu Qingyin interrupted her: "No need to ask any more questions, just do as I say. Remember, you must make sure the message reaches Zichen Palace."

Although Xianglan did not understand the intention, she still respectfully replied, "Yes, this servant will do it right away."

After Xianglan left, Chu Qingyin lay lazily on the bed, casually stroking the exquisite embroidery on the quilt, a cold smile playing on her lips.

If she doesn't make good use of this opportunity that's presented to her, wouldn't it be a waste of her feigned unconsciousness earlier?

**

As Chu Qingyin had predicted, news of Consort Lu's outburst at Diecui Pavilion quickly spread throughout the palace.

"Have you heard? Consort Lu caused quite a scene at Diecui Pavilion today!"

"Really? Why?"

"Who knows? I heard she smashed up Diecui Pavilion and even made Consort Qiao faint!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, this is going to be good!"

The palace maids whispered amongst themselves, and the eunuchs also discussed it in secret.

In the Phoenix Palace, the Empress looked at the weeping Lu Mingzhu before her and felt a headache coming on.

How could Lu Zhiheng, whose talent is renowned far and wide, have such a foolish younger sister?

But thinking of her family's intention to form a marriage alliance with the Lu family and marry her younger sister to Lu Zhiheng, the Empress suppressed her impatience and gently comforted her, "Alright, alright, it's no big deal. I think it's just a misunderstanding."

As she spoke, she turned to the head palace maid beside her and asked, "Has the imperial physician been to Diecui Pavilion? What did he say?"

Yunxiang replied with her hands at her sides, "The imperial physician said that Consort Qiao fainted due to a momentary fright, and she will recover after a few days of rest."

Unexpectedly, she turned out to be a timid and sickly beauty.

The Empress narrowed her eyes and looked at Lu Mingzhu again: "Alright, you should also control your temper. In a couple of days, when Consort Qiao is feeling better, you can take a gift to apologize to her, and this matter will be over."

Seeing that the Empress's words were all in defense of her, Lu Mingzhu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and bowed gratefully to the Empress: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will listen to you."

Meanwhile, in Shuhua Palace, upon learning that Consort Lu had been humiliated at Zichen Palace but had instead angered Consort Qiao to the point of fainting, Consort Shu was overjoyed.

"What a dog-eat-dog show!"

Consort Shu clapped her hands, a hint of smugness flashing in her eyes: "I was just wondering what to do to curb Consort Qiao's arrogance, but unexpectedly Consort Lu appeared... Good, good, she is indeed young, and her reckless and impulsive nature is truly a good knife."

Zijuan still had the slap mark from last night on her face. After hesitating for a moment, she asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, what do you think His Majesty will do to Consort Lu?"

"That's hard to say. But no matter how it's handled, it's a very gratifying thing for us."

Consort Shu stood up and paced to the window: "Go and inquire about Chu Qingyin's situation, see if she really fainted from anger. If she really did..."

A ruthless glint flashed in her beautiful eyes: "That would be perfect."

While undercurrents were swirling throughout the inner palace, the Empress Dowager's bedroom remained peaceful.

The Empress Dowager was sipping tea when she heard the palace maid's report and simply hummed in response.

"Empress Dowager, what do you think about this matter... Should we remind the Empress a little?" asked the nanny beside her.

The Empress Dowager put down her teacup, her gaze deep: "What should I remind her of? Has she been Empress for more than three years and still can't handle such a small matter? Do I have to teach her?"

The Empress Dowager was not satisfied with this niece, because she could see that the Empress had feelings for the Emperor.

Once she develops feelings, family is no longer her top priority.

If it weren't for the fact that her niece was too young to be suitable back then, the Wang family wouldn't have married the current Empress to Pei Yuanling as his principal wife.

As her thoughts drifted back, the Empress Dowager stroked the warm cup and murmured, "What I'm more concerned about is how the Emperor will handle this matter."

The old woman was puzzled: "The Empress Dowager means..."

The Empress Dowager raised her weathered old eyes and smiled slightly: "Do you think the Emperor will go to visit that Consort Qiao?"

The old woman was slightly taken aback. The Empress Dowager subtly smiled, her gaze fixed on the direction of the Zichen Palace outside the window. Her voice was old and steady: "The key to this matter is not what Consort Lu is like, but the Emperor's attitude."

The women in the imperial harem fight and vie for power, all for that one man.

Chu Qingyin also stood by the window, looking in the direction of Zichen Palace.

She was waiting, waiting to see if the emperor would come after hearing the news.

But from day to evening, until the sun set and darkness fell, the area outside Diecui Pavilion remained quiet and still, without the slightest movement.

Is it that the message didn't reach Zichen Palace?

Or did he know but not care?

"Your Majesty, would you like some dinner?" Xianglan asked softly, interrupting Chu Qingyin's thoughts.

Chu Qingyin shook her head: "No need, I'm not hungry."

Xianglan hesitated, then finally withdrew.

Chu Qingyin continued to stand by the window, her gaze still fixed on the direction of Zichen Palace, as if as long as she was sincere enough, that person would appear in her sight.

Before we knew it, night fell, and the gauze lanterns with floral appliqués on the corridors lit up one by one.

Chu Qingyin's heart sank to the bottom. It seemed that the man would not be coming today.

Just as she was about to turn around, she suddenly saw a faint light appear outside the courtyard.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she held her breath, listening intently to the approaching footsteps.

Finally, the long-awaited tall figure arrived under the moonlight and appeared outside the gate of Diecui Pavilion.