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The emperor finally paid the harem a visit. Because he chose Consort Rou first, the imperial concubines were both excited for their turn and full of envy toward her.  

The next day, when Zhuang Luoyan arrived at Jingyang Palace to pay respects to the empress, she witnessed Consort Rou and the other women firing pretty words at each other. Pretty yet full of knives beneath.  However, the empress did not act any different from usual. What a pity that n.o.ble Consort Shu, who was favored to the same amount as Consort Rou, was still sick. Otherwise, it would be an even greater show.

After paying respects, Zhuang Luoyan was honestly too lazy to join this group of women in speaking pretty words full of needles. She brought Tingzhe and Yunxi back to Taoyu Pavilion. Midway through, she saw a few eunuchs run by, their expressions solemn but free of panic.  

"Master…" Tingzhe watched the eunuchs go, her gaze full of uncertainty. "Should we ask them what happened?"

"No need. Let's return." Zhuang Luoyan's expression remained neutral. "The empress will manage the affairs of the imperial harem. You and I should not be too curious." 

Curiosity not only killed the cat, but the person as well. She would rather not know what had happened than bring trouble to herself. 

Tingzhe nodded and sounded her acknowledgement. She knew herself that in the imperial harem, there existed filthy things, things that could cause one danger if known. As such, knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing. If something terrible had happened, the entire imperial harem would learn about it the next day anyway. 

Come noon, the news indeed spread. In the well next to the Cold Palace, the corpses of two palace maids were discovered. The empress was extremely furious. She wanted to purge the imperial harem of bad actors.  　　

Once Zhuang Luoyan was privy of the entire news, she found it hilarious. The imperial harem had always been like so. Were the people who died only these two palace maids? The empress just wanted to use this as an excuse to warn the entire harem. 

During the evening, the eunuchs of the Central Province arrived at Taoyu Pavilion. Their reason: to search the residence. Zhuang Luoyan did not hinder them, and let them do as they pleased. However, the eunuchs were very courteous and only skimmed the area. Then they respectfully retreated. They even made sure to place everything they searched back in their original position. 

Zhuang Luoyan was aware that if she weren't currently favored, the search might have been stricter. In fact, the empress thoroughly investigated the other residences. This method was somewhat risky. Let's not talk about how the imperial harem hid shameful secrets. Even the relations.h.i.+ps in the harem were complicated. If it led to extreme fear in the inner court, it would be even more troublesome. 

The empress was the type of woman that disdained competing with the other concubines for favor. Still, if she were ruthless, perhaps even the most favored of the imperial concubines would have to be very careful in her presence. For example, n.o.ble Consort Shu, Consort Rou, n.o.ble Imperial Concubine Yan. One could see how impressive the empress' capabilities were.

Of course, this could not be made separate from the emperor's respect for her. All good emperors loved pampering the lower-ranked imperial concubines but would not belittle the princ.i.p.al wife. One would fear that in the imperial palace, it was the emperor who schemed the most.

Perhaps the emperor had approved the empress' actions today. The most likely motive was to warn the entire harem. To not forget their duty.

Eyes closed, Zhuang Luoyan lifted the tea cup for a sip. "Tingzhe, grind some ink."

She laid down and spread a roll of high-quality rice paper upon the table. On top, she drew a large 'buddha' character. Zhuang Luoyan picked up her calligraphy brush, and then drew a minuscule 'buddha' character underneath the first one, before tossing the brush aside. Sometimes, the result of her practice for this character proved decent. 

Although she was a shameless woman, she was still a woman. For this reason, she held on to her grudges. If someone slapped her in the face, then she would kick them in revenge.

Tingzhe and Yunxi brought away the writing utensils. Admiring the 'buddha' character that had a commanding presence, they could feel a hint of killing intent radiating from it.

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Zhuang Luoyan lifted the tea cup. Poured the tea drip by drip onto the roll of rice paper. The 'buddha' character became smudged. Then she carelessly picked up the paper, suspending it in the air away from the desk. "Burn it."

In the charcoal bin, the damp roll of rice paper took a while to burn. Yunxi lifted her head and looked through the curling smoke. And she saw her master's frigid expression. Her heart trembled. She dropped her head only to find the rice paper already reduced to ashes.　　

Originally, Feng Jin was going to visit n.o.ble Imperial Concubine Yan for the night. Too bad he found the incense in her residence unpleasant. Once he left Linyue Pavilion, he returned to Gangzheng Palace. As the palace maids a.s.sisted him in removing his outer robes, they accidentally caused a small sachet from his body to fall to the ground.　　

Staring at the kneeling and shaking palace maids before him, Feng Jin then furrowed his brow and looked at the sachet. n.o.ble Consort Shu had given him this. The embroidered auspicious clouds seemed to come alive, making others feel as if they were in the realm of fairies. He had tied it to his body. Now as this sachet lay on the ground, he thought of another woman.     

"Your Majesty, please have mercy. This slave knows its wrongs. May Your Majesty have mercy." Seeing that the emperor did not have much of a reaction, the palace maid was frightened to the point of continuously kowtowing. In hopes that he would allow her to keep her insignificant life. 

Feng Jin arched a brow. "Take this sachet and retreat. Gao Dezhong, let us go to Taoyu Pavilion."

Upon arriving at Taoyu Pavilion, he noticed that the lanterns hanging at the entrance were visible but lacking a type of brightness. The flames seemed dim, missing the beautiful figure of a woman in wait.

He did not allow the eunuchs to announce his arrival.

Taoyu Pavilion had been renovated well. Yet it still could not be considered s.p.a.cious. It didn't take long before Feng Jin arrived at the entrance to Zhuang Luoyan's main chamber. He dismissed every eunuch and palace maid, only keeping Gao Dezhong behind him. Feng Jin stepped foot within.　　

Gao Dezhong could make out some murmurs coming from the inside. Not wanting to crash into his master, he lowered his head even more. Quietly followed behind the emperor.

"Master, your knees are severely bruised. This slave will have someone summon an imperial physician," Yunxi said as she rolled up the legs of Zhuang Luoyan's inner-garment pants. After that, she could see clearly the large green patches on what was otherwise milky skin. The sight was enough to inspire fear in one's heart.  　　

"There's no need for that." Zhuang Luoyan originally was not a delicate woman. Looking at the two large bruises on her knees, she said indifferently, "It just looks scary but doesn't really hurt. You don't have to be so worried. If you let the imperial physicians know and cause everyone to learn of this, it would only bring trouble." 

Yunxi furrowed her brow. She knew that what her master had said made sense. It was all because Consort Yuan wanted to make things difficult for her. "But master, if His Majesty flips your name tag in the coming days, how would you deal with it?"

Zhuang Luoyan tilted her head. Saw that outside the window, the candlelight flickered. Expression slightly changing, she said, "The green stone tiles outside Taoyu Pavilion have grown some moss. Have you seen it?"

"Yes…" Yunxi felt unhappy that her master was taking the blame for her injury. She wrung dry the warm towel in her hands. After placing it over Zhuang Luoyan's knees, she heard her master sucking in her breath from pain.

"Master…"

"It's fine." Zhuang Luoyan's voice carried a trace of forced happiness. "In the past, your master received a lot of punishment. How could I still be delicate? After a bit of warmth on my knees they'll be fine. After a while, you can leave and go to bed."

"If your honored self is like this, how could this slave catch a wink of sleep?" At this point, Yunxi also realized that the light was flickering outside. Earlier, her master had ordered them to place candles in that position. As such, if the emperor decided to pay them a surprise visit, the servants outside would signal them with the flickering light. Their master had prepared since the very beginning. 

"Back when His Majesty did not visit Taoyu Pavilion, everyone used to bully master. Even Jieyu Ma, whose rank was not much higher than yours at that time, punished master to kneel for many hours. Now that master has received some favor after much hards.h.i.+p, master still has to kneel on the green stone tiles for a long time. This slave feels depressed about this matter." Yunxi carefully placed another towel on Zhuang Luoyan's knees. "If it's a bit painful, may master endure. Once the bruises clear it won't take long before your knees heal completely."　　

As Gao Dezhong, who was standing outside, heard those words, although he did not sneak a peek at the emperor's expression, he knew the emperor's mood was not at its best. The moment the emperor was about to enter the room, Gao Dezhong loudly announced, "His Majesty has arrived."

Once Feng Jin brought Gao Dezhong inside the main chamber, he saw Zhuang Luoyan kneeling on the ground, a loose robe draping over her form. Her hair was let down loosely on her shoulders, and she was free of any jewelry or makeup. A single phrase came to Feng Jin's mind: one look could inspire pity. 　　

My gosh, our girl ZL really is smart and adept at manipulating the situation to her benefit. Now she'll have the emperor backing her up, hence the t.i.tle of the chapter.

Next regular release: Sat.u.r.day September 21, 2019 at 12 pm EST.

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