Chapter 130: Her hidden agenda

The next day, Jiangxi palace, the Imperial Palace.

Jianxi Palace and Xincheng like the Emperor and Empress were two halves as a pair. They were designed to embody the true aspects of the divine union between the Emperor and Empress. They were not just similar in design but were a walking distance away from each other.

Jianxi palace like Xincheng Palace was the Empress's official palace. Separated from Xincheng by a garden and pond, Jiangxi palace has housed many generations of Empresses starting from the founding dynasty. It was a self-sufficient palace with every modern amenities, due to the frequent reconstruction carried out before every new Empress moves in. 

In the same courtyard, just behind the Palace was a smaller palace. Where the Empress children were housed at a younger age until they moved into their palace and a private residence.

Jiangxi Palace was a smaller version of Xincheng Palace but unlike the Emperor's palace that never allowed visitors and lacked an audience hall. Jianxi Palace's audience hall was in full use, it was where the Imperial Consort's paid respect to the Empress.

The Empress's audience hall unlike the Emperor's audience hall which had formal arrangements was more informal. It was smaller in size and was designed like a Main room/ Living room. At the center of the room, on an elevated stage was the Empress's Phoenix throne. 

A long slim red carpet ran from the Phoenix throne to the wide doors on the bare marble floor, a few steps away from the red carpet was low backed wooden cushioned seats facing each other. On both walls of the hall were two calligraphy paintings and four landscape paintings.

The audience hall was the side room of Jiangxi palace. It also served as the needing room for the Empress to attend to officials and Envoys. As well as other visitors, such as the members of the royal family and members of the noble class.

when attending to guests of the opposite sex without blood relations (mostly Envoys), a screen was placed in front of the Phoenix throne to keep her out of close contact. 

Imperial Consorts paid respect to the Empress as often as four days a week. However, the next day after a consort was favoured by the Emperor, the consort was expected to pay respects to the Empress and other high ranking Consorts. The consort could be exempted by the Emperor the next day but most people chose to obey these protocols. 

Imperial Consorts Shi after years of favour got conceded and failed to observe this protocol. The next day after getting favoured, she usually made excuses and never arrived with the other imperial concubines to pay respects to the Empress. She usually made excuses and even when she came, she was always late.

Her blatant disrespect to Empress was obvious to all but because she was under the Emperor's protection. She was never punished, this made her stick out like a sore thumb. It was easier to make enemies in the imperial haram than friends. Her actions won her a lot of enemies, no one likes someone who didn't know their place.

Imperial Consort Shi was too arrogant and annoyed a lot of people, not just in the haram but also among the servants. However, no one acted on that but waited patiently for her to lose the Emperor's favour. As soon as she did, everyone sharpened their claws and prepared to dive on her. 

By the next day, the news of Shi Xianyi losing his majesty's favour and getting grounded had spread all over the palace. The news was well appreciated by the imperial concubines because she had not only lost the Emperor's favor but also her political banking. Treason was a serious offence for any family since it resulted in the execution of mine generations of the family.

The Shi Family were done for, she had fallen to the bottom of the social ladder. Imperial Consorts Shi and the Shi family as a whole were fond of kicking people when they were down so everyone came out to get their revenge. 

Empress Lu met a packed room of imperial concubines as she walked into her side room. Her lips tipped up when she saw their expectant expression. These women were like kids who were visiting a candy store. They all stood and walked to the red carpet at the center of the room as she walked up the Phoenix throne. They waited for her to be seated before performing a full curtsey.

Empress Lu smiled and waved her hands, "please get seated, Sisters"

They bowed and returned to their seats. This was the first time they were paying respects in months. They couldn't do that while the Empress's was grounded, although the Emperor had released the Empress from her house arrest a week earlier. She had cancelled all visits until today, they were speculations that the Empress's had cancelled their visit to investigate the false accusations made on her paternal family.

All the accusations were put to rest so it was no surprise that she was lifting the ban on visiting Jiangxi palace. They were so curious about how the Empress planned to handle Consort Shi, she hadn't made any move. They suspected that she made a move in secret but since there wasn't a change in imperial consort Shi treatment, It couldn't be true.

They came over to test the waters but were short of words now that they were in her presence. No one wanted to take the risk, in case the Empress didn't want to talk about this. It was Imperial Concubine Sheng that broke the silence, "This younger misses her highness. Your highness got prettier, I can't compare to her". She turned to the consort's beside her and said "her highness skin is visibly glowing, I am jealous. Look at how dry my skin is!"

The consort beside her nodded and said a few words of compliments. Soon a lot of empty compliments were passed around by the women. Empress Lu dismissed their compliments smiling, she knew not to take any of their words seriously. These women had a clear agenda, she would be stupid not to notice the direction these women were headed.