Chapter 85: Power That Cannot Be Grasped

Tangtang finally went crazy into the way I like—hit, hit me hard.

Xu Luoyan is at least a noble consort; Wan Tang just got power and dares to strike a consort. If this spreads, the Emperor won't mind, and the Empress Dowager could also jump up.

Afraid of being unseen, Xiao Mingshu is only guilty of negligence, and the framing of Wan Tang or Xu Luoyan took the blame. The Empress Dowager saw through it, but the Emperor did not.

Right, the Empress Dowager probably thinks the Xiao family will protect Xiao Mingshu no matter what; even if they see through it, they'll go along and place the blame on Xu Luoyan.

Hahaha, I don't know what you're arguing about? The authority to co‑manage the harem just fell into Wan Tang's hands, and Xu Chengyuan has entered the palace. What do you think the Emperor wants most at this moment?

Wan Tang sat upright in a rosewood round chair, her plain hands holding a cup of pre‑rain Longjing tea; the tea steam curled, suffusing her calm, water‑like brows and eyes.

In the courtyard, Xu Luoyan was pressed onto the punishment bench, the board dropping heavily, producing a dull "clack clack" sound.

"Bastard! You won't die a good death!" Xu Luoyan's hair bun was in disarray, a golden hairpin fell to the ground, yet she still held her head high, eyes poisonous as she stared at Wan Tang, "My Xu family has full honors, my father is the Grand General who stabilizes the nation, and also a first‑rank duke!"

"My younger brother is even the Emperor‑appointed valiant General, and my mother is an edicted lady."

"You dare lay a hand on me?"

The eunuch executing the punishment trembled, the board becoming lighter each time.

"Haven't eaten?" Wan Tang sipped a bit of tea lightly, her voice neither light nor heavy.

The eunuch flinched, and the board instantly grew three points heavier.

"Master!" Li Ping'er fell to her knees with a thud, voice trembling, "She is at least a noble consort; she must not be struck."

Xiao Shunzi also kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Highness, think twice! You just received the token; doing this will likely be criticized."

Wan Tang lowered her gaze, a tea leaf in the cup slowly sinking to the bottom.

What does the Emperor want?

He wants to vent some malice, yet not provoke a dispute.

Then let her be the villain.

"Continue hitting." She set down the tea cup, porcelain clinking with a crisp sound, "Hit until Sister Xu remembers the Palace Rules."

Xu Luoyan's curses gradually turned into wails, the Guanren watching from outside the courtyard fell silent as cold cicadas.

Wan Tang looked toward the towering palace wall in the distance, a slight curl at the corner of her mouth.

Bang!

The final board fell, Xu Luoyan collapsed onto the punishment bench, her hair bun in disarray, her whole body a wreck.

Yet she still stuck her neck up, fury blazing in her eyes: "Bastard! You think having power lets you step on my head?!"

She gritted her teeth, voice hoarse, "Co‑manage the Six Palaces? Ha, it's just the Emperor feeling sorry for you!"

"When I see you, you bastard… no, the Prince has hit the ground, I wonder how long you can still be arrogant!"

Cai Wei was already pale with fear; when the board finished striking, she scrambled and crawled out.

Xiao Shunzi instinctively tried to chase, but Wan Tang raised her hand to stop: "Let her go."

Xiao Shunzi stamped her foot anxiously, lowering her voice: "Master! She must be going to report to someone; if this matter blows up, it will be hard to resolve."

Wan Tang sneered coldly: "I, this palace, know exactly what I'm doing."

She walked slowly toward Xu Luoyan, looking down at her from above.

Xu Luoyan spat, snarling: "What charity are you pretending? Kill or destroy, it's up to you!"

"One day, I will crush you and your wild‑born younger brother, turn them to ash! Let your family of three reunite in the underworld!"

Wan Tang sighed, waved her hand to signal everyone to withdraw.

When only the two of them remained in the courtyard, she placed one hand on her waist, leaned down and said softly: "Sister, are you foolish?"

Xu Luoyan was startled: "What do you mean?"

"If I truly wanted to kill you, these twenty boards could take your life."

Wan Tang's fingertips lightly brushed her disheveled hair, "But I only let the Guanren make a show, not leaving even a few flesh wounds on you."

She shook her head, "I'm actually saving you."

Xu Luoyan erupted in anger: "Nonsense! Do you really think this palace has no brain? Can't you see this simple matter?"

"What good is medicine alone?" Wan Tang suddenly interrupted, voice as light as a feather, "If the Emperor doesn't go to you, can you still rely on it?"

The curses abruptly stopped.

Xu Luoyan widened her eyes; a hint of wavering flashed in her fierce gaze, then doubt returned: "You… what do you mean?"

Wan Tang straightened, brushed her sleeve: "Sister, think it over carefully."

She turned and left, a slight curl at her mouth, "Either continue a life‑or‑death struggle with me, or obey my arrangement and connect with the Emperor."

"Don't forget, I am the Emperor‑appointed one; the first day I managed the harem, I struck you."

"Tell me, if the Emperor learns of this, what will he do?"

Before she finished speaking, Xu Luoyan's eyes already lit with a glimmer of hope, mixed with lingering hatred, twisted and scorching.

Wan Tang covered the corner of her mouth with a fan and smiled lightly.

She looked out at the courtyard with lingering melancholy: "Alas, the courtyard is still too close to Yangxin Hall; if the Emperor arrives now, could you be speaking in the courtyard?"

"This cold place, no matter how warm, when a wind blows in front of the public, remains cold."

A few words already caused several shifts in Xu Luoyan's brows and eyes.

She is impulsive, foolish, but not truly unable to understand human speech.

Her eyes flicked, and she immediately shouted: "Return to the palace, escort this palace back quickly…"

【Cai Wei has already arrived at the gate of Yangxin Hall; it seems this matter has blown up.】

【I feel this matter isn't that big yet; the truly big issue is still on the Empress's side.】

【Indeed, Xiao Mingshu finally regained full strength in her hand, how can she tolerate Wan Tang's meddling? Now she has sent the matriarch to trouble Wan Tang.】

【Xu Luoyan is just a brainless one; think about how to make the harem obey the arrangement! Truly impatient.】

Is Xiao Mingshu just so unable to bear loneliness?

Wan Tang finds it funny.

Since today this full force is in my own hands, there is no talk of relinquishing it.

Whatever technique you unleash, she will accompany you to the end.

The incident of Concubine Xu being beaten spread throughout the entire Imperial harem in the blink of an eye.

Everyone is saying that even the Concubine dared to act, and Wan Tang is simply too arrogant.

Such a person, even without a background it's one thing, but being so flamboyant, being called the co‑manager of the harem, I'm afraid within three days she'll be sent to the Cold Palace.

Rumors arise.

Even if Wan Tang hears it, she treats it as if she hadn't heard.

She was the one who struck the person; she struck, so what of it?

Li Ping'er returned holding an empty tray, her eyes bloodshot, and her cuffs still stained with tea.

"Master, the officials of the Shang Palace Bureau say this month's brocade will be delayed in distribution."

Her voice trembled, "The Six Ministries' Twenty‑Four Bureaus are all auditing the accounts; the earliest we can expect is half a month later."

Xiao Shunzi slammed the table: "Nonsense! Yesterday I even saw a maid from Kunning Palace receive ten bolts of cloud brocade!"

Wan Tang lightly tapped the desk with her fingertips, her expression unchanged, only a faint smile, and she continued handling the matters at hand.

Shangyi Palace.

"Swap the maids?" the head of the Shangyi Female Officials didn't even lift her head, continuing to write, "The number of staff in each palace is fixed. If Consort Wan is dissatisfied with the few attendants in her courtyard, perhaps she should petition the Empress for favor?"

Li Ping'er gritted her teeth: "But our Master now co‑manages the Six Palaces; according to protocol, two more chief officials should be added."

"Co‑manage the Six Palaces?" the female official sneered, "That also depends on whether the subordinates accept this 'management'."

She deliberately closed the roster, "The Six Palaces have been stable for years; to suddenly change the rules? It's hard to comply."

Speaking, she turned her head toward them, her words full of contempt: "Moreover, stepping onto the stage and beating Concubine Xu, you seem eager to flaunt yourself before us lowly servants; perhaps you should first consider how to preserve your own life!"

Li Ping'er flared with anger at these words, but fortunately Xiao Shunzi was nearby and quickly stopped her.

Imperial Medical Institute.

"Prenatal medicine?" the old doctor stroked his beard and shook his head, "Recently medicinal herbs are scarce; the donkey‑hide gelatin in the formula must be replaced with ordinary angelica."

Xiao Shunzi hurriedly said, "But Xie Taiyi said that not a single ingredient of this medicine may be changed!"

"Xie Taiyi?" the old doctor sneered, "He is on leave at home now; matters of the Imperial Medical Institute are not for him to decide."

The candle flame flickered, reflecting Wan Tang's weary brows and eyes.

Li Ping'er knelt beside her, massaging her temples, choking out, "Master, if this continues, your body won't hold up…"

Xiao Shunzi, with red‑ringed eyes, said, "The Six Ministries' Twenty‑Four Bureaus are clearly colluding! On the surface they are courteous, but they shirk every matter, just to make you, Master, think it's too difficult and retreat."

"They are doing it deliberately,"

"Let me, who co‑manages the Six Palaces, be a mere token," Wan Tang smiled lightly, her fingertips brushing over the mountain of rejected documents on the desk.

Every decree was blocked by "ancient precedent"; every request was brushed off with "too busy to attend".

It wasn't targeting her personally, but to reduce the authority in her hands to a complete joke.

Outside, snow fell silently; Wan Tang leaned on the soft couch, her fingertips gently stirring the silver‑bone charcoal in the brazier, sparks crackling, casting a deep hue on her brows and eyes.

She suddenly let out a light laugh, "The snow looks heavy, but think carefully—it's actually getting warmer day by day."

Li Ping'er and Xiao Shunzi exchanged a glance, both a little bewildered.

"Master, the snow hasn't stopped, so why does it feel warm?" Li Ping'er asked cautiously.

Wan Tang did not answer, merely placing her tea cup down gently: "If they think my role as co‑manager of the Six Palaces is merely decorative, then let them keep thinking so."

She lifted her gaze, a cold glint flashing in her eyes, "Tomorrow you will each go to the Various Offices; no longer request them to handle matters."

Xiao Shunzi became urgent: "But the medicines, winter clothes, and charcoal for each palace's masters are still unresolved."

"Tell the people of the Various Offices," Wan Tang cut him off, her voice gentle yet each word like a knife, "Your loyalty is not to me but to the masters of each palace; the day they are displeased, I cannot protect anyone's life."

"Ah, anyone who becomes a manager of the Various Offices must be a shrewd person; these words are probably of little use to them," Xiao Shunzi sighed.

Wan Tang smiled without replying, simply moving closer to the stove, her whole body warmed.

【Even having the leisure to warm herself by the fire, the Empress Dowager already knows about the incident blaming the Concubine and is raging in the palace, scolding the Emperor for his folly, making you co‑manage the harem.】

【The Emperor, already displeased on the court, now being rebuked by the Empress Dowager, feels extremely irritated.】

【According to their account, they must first go to Jingren Palace to inspect, then decide Wan Tang's punishment.】

【How foolish, after finally obtaining a sliver of real authority, they can't restrain themselves and so quickly lose it to Huo Huo.】

Wan Tang listened to the barrage of comments.

She found it amusing in her heart.

She turned to Xiao Shunzi and asked, "Tonight during the Concubine's dinner, add a serving of angelica‑deer antler soup."

Xiao Shunzi nodded.

Wan Tang smiled, "By the way, the Concubine's body is still frail; now that she's being accused, we should have a doctor examine her."

She watched Xiao Shunzi leave.

Wan Tang added, turning to his retreating figure, "Since Doctor Hou was personally recommended by the Concubine, let him go and examine."