With Consort Xian as her 'backer', suddenly Lin Feilu's quality of life in the Imperial Harem had risen to a higher standard. At the very least, she was not lacking in regards to food and clothing.
Xiao Lan acquired a lot of new clothing materials this year and made two sets of winter garments for her two children. As she had always been adept with needlework, she even thought to sew a dress for Consort Xian. The patterns of the dress were so elegant and beautiful, one would look younger just by wearing it, and the one who would wear it was Consort Xian.
This pleased Consort Xian tremendously, so she rewarded even more gifts to Mingyue Palace. The formerly deserted and desolate side residence had now gained a lot of popularity and gradually became livelier.
In actuality, Xiao Lan did not have any intention of currying Consort Xian's favor, nor had she ever thought of regaining the Emperor's favor through her. She was already content and satisfied, as long as her children's lives were safe and secure.
However, outsiders could only interpret the interactions between the two palaces as otherwise.
Everyone felt that Honorable Lady Xiao Lan had taken refuge under Consort Xian's faction. Now that she was on the good side of Consort Xian, their goals and interests were naturally tied together. Those who were friendly with Consort Xian would treat her affectionately like a sister, while those who were hostile to Consort Xian would try to find faults with her.
Although Honorable Lady Xiao Lan had fallen out of favor for many years, she still ranked amongst the top beauties in the whole palace. Consort Xian herself was very old, so she might be thinking of pushing Honorable Lady Lan to His Imperial Majesty. After all, she gave birth to two children for the emperor, and the fifth princess was so clever and well-behaved. It was not impossible for her to regain His Imperial Majesty's favor.
Seeing the birth of a formidable rival — could the other concubines sit still and do nothing?
Once one had an affiliation with another in this Imperial Palace, it was impossible not to get involved in other people's conflicts and conspiracies. Xiao Lan's wish to live a quiet life as an anonymous concubine was no longer possible.
Lin Feilu had anticipated this situation in advance, but Xiao Lan had an inert personality, as she would not move unless she was forced to. Lin Feilu already had future plans for a boss fight with the emperor, now was the time to pull Xiao Lan out of her comfort zone and let her get used to friction.
However, Xiao Lan had always been vigilant of her self-conduct, so she had never made any mistakes that could be exploited by others. Even if there were those who wanted to find faults with her, they could not find any opportunity to do so. Thus, they turned their attention to her two children.
There were very few chances to even interact with Lin Zhanyuan, as he did not go out very much due to Xiao Lan's concern. However, Lin Feilu loved being outside. Anyone could encounter her outside of her palace if they put their mind to it. Moreover, Honorable Lady Xiao Lan was only able to climb to Consort Xian's side because of the fifth princess. Since they could not directly do anything to the adult, could they not at least indirectly do something to the child?