Inside the inner hall, Noble Lady Xin heard the commotion and came out to greet them.

“Sister Ya, what brings you here?

Come, come, please sit!”

Noble Consort Ya, with alluring steps, walked straight to the very back and sat in the central seat of honor.

She glanced sidelong at Noble Lady Xin, her eyes flickering with unmistakable disdain.

“Sister Xin, are there still flowers to admire today?”

Upon Noble Consort Ya’s entrance, Noble Lady Xin had already noticed the change in her face.

But out of feminine jealousy, she chose to pretend she hadn’t seen it at all.

“Sister Ya, the flowers in my courtyard are blooming beautifully right now. If you’d like, shall I have some sent over to your hall?”

“Or, I could take you to admire the flowers again — if Sister sees any she likes, I’ll have them sent over as well.”

Noble Consort Ya was not pleased by Noble Lady Xin’s words; her expression darkened at once.

“Better not,” she said coldly.

“A few days ago, this palace only spent a short while in Sister Xin’s courtyard, and my face was nearly ruined.”

Noble Consort Ya touched her own face smugly. “Fortunately Little Feng treated me, or else my face…”

“Tsk, tsk…” Noble Consort Ya shook her head, stroking her own face again.

Only then did Noble Lady Xin seem to notice something, and she stood up.

“Sister Ya, you didn’t say anything — I truly hadn’t noticed how much your face had changed.”

Noble Lady Xin came to Noble Consort Ya’s side and knelt down.

“Sister Ya, what happened to your face?

How did it become so beautiful?

How did you manage it?”

She turned back, looking with astonishment at Feng Jiu’er, seated off to one side of the hall.

“Is it her?

Is she some divine physician?

Can she restore youth?”

Noble Lady Xin was a customer of the wellness parlor, yet had never actually met Feng Jiu’er.

Feng Jiu’er mostly worked behind the scenes, arranging matters — if not for Noble Consort Ya’s visit, she wouldn’t have shown herself at all.

“Does my sister mean to say I’m old?”

Noble Consort Ya swept a cold glance at Noble Lady Xin.

Noble Lady Xin immediately withdrew her gaze and waved her hands. “How could that be?”

“Sister Ya has always been the best-kept of all the sisters in the palace, and now you look even younger.”

She gently tugged at Noble Consort Ya’s sleeve, her expression pleading. “Sister, would you tell your little sister how you managed it?”

“Is there some secret? Could you share it with your little sister?”

Noble Consort Ya swept her with a cold look, her face darkening, and her hand lashed out.

“Ah…” Noble Lady Xin, caught off guard by the blow, fell to the ground.

“Who do you think you are?”

Noble Consort Ya glared down at Noble Lady Xin. “Calling you sister was already giving you too much face!

How dare you scheme against this palace!”

Noble Consort Ya stood, looking down at Noble Lady Xin as though she were nothing more than an ant.

“Speak! Was it you who tampered with the flower pollen?”

“This time, if it weren’t for Little Feng, this palace’s face would have been ruined by you! You vicious creature!”

Furious, Noble Consort Ya kicked her again.

Noble Lady Xin curled up and dodged to the side, arms wrapped around herself.

“Sister Ya, what are you saying?

I don’t understand at all.”

“I harmed you? How could I possibly harm you?

You’re my dear sister!”

“And you still deny it!”

Noble Consort Ya’s next kick landed square in Noble Lady Xin’s stomach.

“Ah…” Noble Lady Xin cried out in pain.

Two palace maids and a matron rushed over and dropped to their knees in the hall.

“Noble Consort Ya, you mustn’t kick her! You mustn’t!”

The old matron kept kowtowing toward the ground.

“His Majesty has been visiting Xinran Hall often these days — if… if the Noble Lady has conceived the imperial heir, this kick of yours could be striking down an imperial prince!”

“An imperial prince?”

Noble Consort Ya threw her head back and laughed. “His Majesty has favored this palace for all these years — if there were truly to be an heir, when would it ever be her turn?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Suddenly, a low, deep voice rang out.

“Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!”

An attendant hurried in, standing to the side, bowing low.

A refined, dignified woman entered, supported on either side by two matrons.

The woman wasn’t old — she looked to be in her thirties. Yet she walked slowly and deliberately, needing the support of two attendants, like someone much older.

Seeing the Empress, Noble Lady Xin immediately scrambled down from where she sat and knelt in the middle of the hall.

“Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress!”

Feng Jiu’er said nothing, stepped out, and knelt down as well.

Noble Consort Ya, reluctant, stepped down from her seat as well.

“Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress!”

She knelt not far from the newly-radiant Noble Consort.

“Noble Consort Ya, do you know what you just said?”

The Empress asked in a low, steady voice.

Noble Consort Ya looked up, meeting the Empress’s gaze.

“This unworthy consort spoke out of ignorance — please, Your Majesty, forgive me!”

“All these years you haven’t conceived His Majesty’s heir — that was His Majesty’s own choice!”

The Empress swept Noble Consort Ya with a cold glance.

“If what you say were true, then how did this palace come to have three imperial sons?”

“Your Majesty, spare me!”

Noble Consort Ya placed both hands on the ground and kowtowed.

“This unworthy consort did not mean it that way — please, Your Majesty, be merciful and do not hold it against this consort.”

“It was this consort’s careless mouth — this consort’s fault!”

Noble Consort Ya slapped herself.

If a strike lighter than swatting a mosquito could even be called a slap.

In truth, none of the three imperial princes in the palace were Feng Qiongcang’s sons — a fact known to no one but Feng Qiongcang himself and the Empress.

Back then, the Empress had feigned pregnancy, while Feng Qiongcang brought the children into the palace one by one.

Everyone believed all three princes had been born of the Empress.

Feng Jiang had only learned, later, by overhearing Feng Qiongcang’s own words, that he himself was not truly an imperial prince at all.

All these years, any woman favored by the Emperor had, afterward, been given medicine.

Everyone believed the Emperor simply respected the Empress too deeply to let another woman bear him a child.

Little did anyone know — the medicine the consorts drank was only ever meant to cover for Feng Qiongcang’s own secret.

Seeing the Empress still unsatisfied, Noble Consort Ya reluctantly struck her own cheek once more.

“Your Majesty, this unworthy consort truly did not mean it that way — it was Noble Lady Xin who wronged this consort first.”

Noble Consort Ya, aggrieved, began to sob.

“A few days ago, Noble Lady Xin invited this consort to come admire the flowers, but little did I know she had poisoned the pollen.”

“Because of that poison, this consort’s face was nearly ruined.”

“This consort simply couldn’t hold back her anger and kicked her a couple of times — and then she dared to threaten me with the imperial bloodline…”

“Your Majesty.”

Noble Consort Ya bowed, gently touching her forehead to the ground. “Please render justice for this consort!”

“Your Majesty, this humble one has done nothing wrong!”

Noble Lady Xin kowtowed hard against the floor.

She struck her head down three times, then lifted her face.

“Your Majesty, since entering this palace, this humble one has always conducted herself properly and never overstepped.”

“This humble one begs Your Majesty to see justice done in this matter! Please, Your Majesty, render justice for this humble one!”

The moment she finished speaking, Noble Lady Xin kowtowed three more times.

“What is all this about?”

The Empress looked between the two of them, shaking her head slightly.

“Prince Ye’s wedding is imminent, and instead of tending to your own duties, you two are causing trouble in the harem — what punishment do you both deserve?”

“This unworthy consort was in the wrong — please, Your Majesty, forgive this consort!”

Noble Lady Xin prostrated herself once more.

“Please, Your Majesty, forgive this humble one!”