"Your Majesty, don’t be afraid. We are here with you. In the future, if we go out at night, we’ll bring more people," Linshui reassured.

  "Your Majesty, don’t worry. Dukang and I are both here," Jinbo quickly added.

  Wumian gnced at the two pace attendants and nodded. "It really is better with both of you around."

  Back at Fengyi Pace, Linshui and the others were still thinking of ways to comfort Wumian, but by then, she was already yawning from exhaustion.

  She hurriedly washed up with hot water, colpsed onto the bed, and fell straight to sleep—completely unbothered by the fact that the emperor had left her behind halfway through the night. There wasn’t a trace of embarrassment or disappointment—if anything, the others had just overthought the situation.

  The next morning, when they tried to wake her, Wumian instinctively wanted to send word that she wasn’t feeling well and skip the morning greetings.

  "Your Majesty, you can’t. Today is the first of the month," Zhaohua said helplessly. "You absolutely have to get up today. Once the morning greetings are over, you can go back to sleep."

  "Fine…" Wumian stretched zily. "Then let’s get this over with."

  When the concubines arrived, many of them couldn’t hide the amusement in their eyes.

  All the high-ranking consorts had been present the night before—they had seen His Majesty leaving with the empress.

  And yet, in the end, His Majesty stormed off, leaving the empress behind.

  She had no favor, yet she was still pushing newcomers forward—what a foolish and pathetic woman.

  Even Guifei and the others, after witnessing this, began to feel like the easily maniputed empress of the past was back.

  During the morning greetings, some of the new concubines took the chance to mock Sun Yunu, yet the empress didn’t react at all.

  Instead, she simply waited until enough time had passed before dismissing everyone.

  Later that morning, Yanming entered with news.

  "Your Majesty, the Young Madam of Duke An’s household has entered the pace. But rather than coming here, she went straight to Chaoyang Pace to meet Guifei."

  Wumian gnced at Yanming. "Young Madam Qi… she’s reted to Guifei, isn’t she?"

  "Yes, she’s Guifei’s first cousin," Yanming said with a huff. "Regardless of her ties to Guifei, it’s still inappropriate for her to ignore Your Majesty. This is outright disrespect."

  Wumian smiled faintly. "Alright. Let’s observe."

  Yanming wasn’t sure what Wumian meant, but she nodded regardless.

  —

  Meanwhile, in Chaoyang Pace, Guifei frowned when she heard that Madam Qi hadn’t gone to greet the empress first.

  "This is… quite inappropriate," she murmured.

  But since Madam Qi was already here, she had no choice but to receive her.

  During their conversation, Guifei casually brought up the empress.

  "Cousin, you should pay your respects to Her Majesty as well," she reminded.

  Madam Qi paused for a moment before quickly nodding. "Of course. That was my mistake—I’ll go at once."

  Guifei didn’t think much of it and sent her cousin off toward Fengyi Pace.

  —

  Back at Fengyi Pace, Zhaohua entered the main hall.

  "Your Majesty, Madam Qi has arrived."

  Wumian didn’t even lift her head. "Not seeing her."

  "Should I say that you’re busy?" Zhaohua asked.

  Wumian chuckled. "No. Just say I’m not seeing her."

  Zhaohua was startled. "Just that?"

  "Yes. Chuixu, you go and deliver the message."

  "Understood!" Chuixu promptly left.

  Outside Fengyi Pace, Madam Qi stood waiting.

  Seeing a senior pace maid approach, she stepped forward with a courteous bow.

  "Apologies for disturbing Her Majesty."

  Chuixu smiled politely but delivered the message without a hint of warmth.

  "Madam Qi, Her Majesty says: Not seeing you. You may return."

  Madam Qi’s face stiffened. Embarrassed, she forced a smile. "Perhaps Her Majesty is busy? I can wait."

  "No need. Escort Madam Qi out," Chuixu said with a slight smile. "Her Majesty’s words only need to be said once. After all, we are just pace attendants—we wouldn’t dare take the empress’s words lightly, wouldn’t you agree, Young Madam?"

  Madam Qi immediately understood—the empress was displeased that she had not paid her respects first.

  Internally, she cursed the empress for being petty, but outwardly, she didn’t dare say a word. Embarrassed, she had no choice but to leave in awkward silence.

  That should have been the end of the matter, but during the next morning’s greetings, Li Fei made sure it wasn’t.

  "Guifei has been managing the harem for over half a year now. In just a few more months, it will have been a full year. But tell me, is it normal for things to be getting more chaotic rather than smoother? Yesterday, I heard that Duke An’s Young Madam entered the pace, yet she didn’t pay respects to the empress. What kind of etiquette is that? Are we to assume that in the future, we’ll all be expected to skip Fengyi Pace and report directly to Chaoyang Pace instead?"

  Guifei frowned, instinctively gncing at the empress.

  Wumian also looked over, her expression almost saying, I’d like to know the answer to that myself.

  Guifei had no choice but to expin.

  "Your Majesty, this is a misunderstanding. There was no such breach of protocol. Perhaps someone among your attendants misinterpreted the situation. When Madam Qi sought an audience with Your Majesty, you may have been… occupied?"

  That was as good as offering incense at a grave—completely useless.

  Wumian smiled coolly. "Oh? My attendants are rather useless, aren’t they? They can’t even rey a simple message properly."

  "No guest visits a household without first paying respects to the matriarch. To ignore Her Majesty and go directly to a concubine’s quarters—that is simply improper," Li Zhaoyi said calmly.

  "Indeed, Guifei, in this matter, you acted carelessly," Xian Fei added with a subtle jab.

  "Your Majesty, please quell your anger. This was an oversight on my part, but I assure you, I had no intention of slighting you," Guifei lowered her gaze.

  Wumian sighed lightly, looking at her. "I am an ordinary empress. Whether or not I am shown proper respect… well, I can’t really bme you, can I?"

  "Your Majesty, please do not be upset. I would never intentionally slight you. It was only after meeting with Madam Qi in Chaoyang Pace that I realized she had not visited Fengyi Pace first. That was never my intention." Guifei felt wrongfully accused—as if the empress were making a big fuss over nothing.

  "And a simple ‘I didn’t know’ makes everything excusable? If I hadn’t brought it up today, would you have ever mentioned it? If no one said a word, this would have just been swept under the rug, wouldn’t it? You all speak of respect, but where exactly is the respect in your actions?" Li Fei scoffed.

  "Why must you be so aggressive, Li Fei?" Rong Fei cut in with a sneer. "Guifei wasn’t aware of this. And besides, how do you know that Guifei wouldn’t have brought it up herself?"

  "I don’t know. What I do know is that she didn’t bring it up first," Li Fei replied with a pointed gnce at Rong Fei.

  Jiang Zhaorong had wanted to speak up against Li Fei, but after thinking it over, she held back.

  "Enough. Who mentioned it first doesn’t matter. What I see now is what matters," Wumian said firmly.

  "Guifei, you oversee the harem. It’s not just about what you do—you also need to ensure that no one can find faults in your actions. Otherwise, how can the rest of the consorts respect you? As long as I am the empress, you owe me my due respect—even if you curse me in your heart, you must show deference outwardly. Not because I am powerful, but because that is the rule. If you cannot uphold the rules, then do not expect others to respect you, either."

  "Your Majesty…"

  "Enough. That’s all for today. Everyone may return."

  Wumian rose to her feet and dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

  Li Fei huffed and shot Guifei a gnce before bowing and leaving.

  Guifei, of course, wouldn’t be shaken by something as petty as this. As she left Fengyi Pace, she threw Li Fei a cold look before striding away.

  Their long-standing feud ran deep, and this was just a minor skirmish.

  Guifei, Xian Fei, and Rong Fei had all used the empress to suppress Li Zhaoyi and Li Fei in the past. Likewise, Li Zhaoyi and Li Fei had also used the empress to counterattack.

  But in the past, it was always the empress who ended up taking the bme and suffering.

  For the first time, however, it was Guifei who had to take the fall.