"Bring us tea and some snack," the empress ordered then the head attendant exited the room to do as she has said.

"Your majesty, why don't you share your beauty secrets with me, your face is looking so smooth and even more beautiful than the last time I visited you, I am really ashamed to show my face next to yours," the imperial noble consort coquettishly praised with her body making different gestures to praise the empress.

​​

Typical of women in a harem!

"Imperial noble consort, you have overpraised me, it is just that I have less work to do since I have all of you in the harem to assist me with my job, that must be the reason why my face is as you have said, in that case, I should be blamed for stressing you all," the empress replied with a controlled smile on her face and her hands folded on her navel to make her look elegant and sophisticated.

"That is not right your majesty, If you indeed left all the work for us, I won't be able to visit you today, we are all enjoying your majesty's grace," the imperial noble consort responded, she also had this sweet and controlled smile on her lips. the empress has never really bothered about her since she doesn't enjoy the emperor's favour, in fact, she has always been kind to all the women in the harem since they all share the same fate as her except for the imperial consort who has always been looked down upon because of her mediocre family status and mistreated in the palace for being the only woman the emperor ever shares his worries with or spends the night.

"In that case then I have nothing else to say," the empress replied, then she turned towards the entrance when she heard the door opening, the head attendant walked in with a tray containing a kettle of chrysanthemum tea and sweet honey cake, she bowed her head and placed it on the table separating both women.

"You may leave," the empress ordered, then the head attendant bowed her head again and exited the room.

The imperial noble consort picked up the kettle from the tray then she filled the cups and handed one of them to the empress who nodded at her with a gentle curve on her lips.

"I suppose you majesty is also aware of Huo Jingyu brief stay in the palace," the imperial noble consort remarked as she gently lifted the small jade cup to her lips and sipped the tea gently while the empress followed suit with her gaze lowered.

"My attendant just informed me of it on my way back to the palace," the empress concisely replied, not wanting to say more than she is required to, to avoid useless gossips like most women in the harem do.

"In that case, then you must have heard what transpired in the court this morning," the imperial noble consort added with her eyes staring intently at the empress as though she is searching for something on her face.

"That I am not aware of, do you perhaps know what happened in court this morning?" the empress asked, she didn't want to continue the conversation with the imperial noble consort but she had to give in to her curiosity seeing how enraged the emperor was.

"Of course I am aware of it, a captain was murdered in Yu-Shan and it so happens that the golden eagle of the flame sect and the guardians of the flame sect were present in Yu-Shan at the time of his death, the emperor called her and her daughter in to be interrogated but....." she hesitated with a scoff as she raised the cup of tea again to her lips and sipped it gently, then she lowered the cup to meet the curious gaze of the empress, she smiled and placed the cup on the table.

"That woman dared to negotiate with the court or should I say the emperor, she gave the court a day to present evidence that can prove that her sect is indeed involved, she demanded that the emperor should compensate the flame sect if the court can't find any evidence," she continued and smirked at the ending of her narration, she raised her gaze to see the reaction of the empress and it is just as she thought it would be, what sort of woman wouldn't be infuriated by Huo Jingyu's gut.

"Huo Jingyu, that woman still hasn't changed!" the empress bellowed with her infuriation resounding in her voice ad her hands were now placed on the edge of the table and balled.

"Your majesty doesn't need to be infuriated by her, anyone who knows Huo Jingyu from the past wouldn't be angry just hearing of this issue, what your majesty doesn't know is that she made a fool of the court and the emperor, I suppose the emperor left the court feeling enraged," the imperial noble consort said and drank from the jade cup again.

"How so?" the empress asked with her eyes showing her curiosity and the urge to know what made the emperor enraged.

"Everyone in the court accepted her one day challenge, I suppose it is because they didn't want to show that the court is incompetent but no one thought of how it is possible for any evidence or findings the ministry of justice makes to reach the court in a day considering how far Yu-Shan is to the capital," the imperial noble consort answered.

"Very good Huo Jingyu! You are still the same as you were before, cunning and sly," the empress remarked in a drawled voice.

"I remember back then, the emperor intended to marry her as one of his concubines after her mask was shattered by the regional commander, If she hadn't lost her virginity to the sect leader of the flame sect, I wonder what the situation of the harem would be like if the emperor had indeed succeeded in having her as one of his concubines,"

"It terrifies me to even think of it, his majesty will probably never have a moment of peace and neither will the harem," the empress responded with a smile that shows that she doesn't even want to think of it or imagine it in her head, she lifted the cup of tea to her lips and sipped it gently before placing it back on the table.

----------

In the imperial study palace.

The imperial tutors finished tutoring the six princes then they bowed their heads and left the imperial study palace, the princes all have different personalities so while some were almost bored to death by the three hours study, the others paid full attention to the teachings of the tutors who are teaching them the values and skills they need in order to contribute towards the governing of the nation in the future irrespective of who will become the future king.

In addition to Li Ruansong who is living in the blossom valley, there are seven main princes, meaning there are more than seven princes but the rest are given birth to by common concubines or drunken one night stands the emperor had with some of the female palace attendants so they don't deserve to use the imperial study or call themselves princes in the palace.

The emperor wouldn't have had offsprings if not for the custom of drugging the emperor during the second auspicious day for the emperor to sleep with the women in the harem if the emperor doesn't do as he is supposed to on the first night, this is the only reason why the empress has children and most of the women in the harem who are from notable families.

Two of the princes, Li Changying and Li Chengguan are the sons of the empress, Li Changying is the firstborn of all the offspring in the harem and he's aged twenty-two years old, when the empress first entered the palace, she didn't have any use for drugging the emperor since they both had an agreement to destroy her father and she will earn his attention but Li Chengguan was born only because she made use of the custom and he is aged twenty years old.

Three of the princes, Li Daiyu, Li Qingzhao and Li ShanQiu are the sons of the imperial noble consort, Li Daiyu and Li ShanQiu are twins and they are her firstborn, she never had the privilege that the empress had so she could only make use of the custom and the both of them are aged nineteen, her third son Li Qingzhao is seventeen and he can be regarded as the second to the last born of the harem since Li Changlin is sixteen years old and he is the son of the imperial consort.

Li Ruansong is the son of the woman from nowhere, Bing Luli, his mother is not from any prestigious family, in fact, no one knows where her origin is from but he is regarded as one of the high ranking princes in the royal family because he is the favourite son of the emperor and he is well doted on until he decided to leave the palace to the blossom valley.

The princes immediately stood up from the study area and entered into the chamber meant for games and playing, Li Changlin and Li ShanQiu are competing against each other in throwing darts while the other princes are playing the game of chess with serious expressions on their faces, Li Changying and Li Daiyu are competing against each other while Li ChengGuan and Li Qingzhao are competing against each other.

"Li Qingzhao, I think you had better give up now, you don't think you can win against me in a game of chess, do you?" Li Chengguan advised in a mocking tone while the others started laughing at Li Qiangzhao who has been trying to win Li Chengguan the second prince for years even though he is the second to the last born among the seven princes.

"Qingzhao, you have been trying to win against second brother for years now, why don't you just give up," Li ShanQiu added with a tone of mockery but Li Qingzhao didn't seem affected by what they were saying or their laughter, he was determined to beat his second brother no matter what it takes or how long it takes, he has even invited the tutor in charge of teaching the princes how to play chess which will affect their thinking ability to teach him privately but even though he has been trying to beat Li Chengguan for three years at the game of chess, he has never succeeded.

Li Chengguan has spent many years in the military since he was young, he only returned with the regional commander whom he accepted as his mentor to get close to his father and to learn military skills from him so he is a can be regarded as the best among the princes when it comes to the game of chess since he has to devise military strategies under his mentor.

"I won't be bothered by you all," Li Qingzhao responded to their mockery while he fixed his eyes on the board game and taking note of his pieces positions on a paper in case he ends up losing the game again then he will return to study the game and understand what his mistakes are but even though he has always used this method to devise his next step, Li Chengguan always changes his strategy so it ends up becoming useless.

Among all the princes, he is the one who is most keen at learning but like the others. he also lacks the love of his father.

"I am rooting for you!" Li Changlin said, even though his eyes are concentrated on the red spot on the dartboard, then he throws the dart right at the red spot. Lin Qingzhao raises his head to look at his sixth brother who is the only one that ever cheers him.

"tch!" Li ShanQiu scoffed at his encouragement while Li Changying and Li Daiyu concentrated all their attention on their own game of chess.

"Did anyone attend the court meeting before the study today?" Li Daiyu asked, then they all stopped their games and turned to face him since the tone he spoke in sounded like there was something special about the court meeting.

"Didn't father forbid any of us from attending the court meetings unless he permits us to?" Li Chengguan asked to make sure that he hasn't been losing out on anything.

"Why did you suddenly ask?" Li ShanQiu questioned

"It seems like you all are not aware of the presence of the flame sect madam in the palace yesterday," Li Daiyu answered, placing his chess piece on the board and gesturing at Li Changying to play next.

"Flame sect....isn't that the sect that was battled against by all the sects for committing evils in the Jianghu world,"

"Haven't they been in seclusion for eleven years now, why will their sect madam be in the palace," Li Qingzhao questioned, wondering why she will suddenly be in the palace after being in seclusion for eleven years.