"Shu Changzai does have a quick wit. No wonder she's coaxed a little more favor from the Emperor,"
Noble Consort Rong's expression turned severe, her smile vanishing as she spoke in a harsh tone: "A concubine should, of her own accord, be considerate of the Emperor's health and not delay him from his courtly duties. If everyone starts looking for loopholes in the Palace Rules, will there ever be a day of peace in this harem? If everyone follows your example and clings to the Emperor, you wouldn't have enough lives to pay the price!"
Her sharp reprimand startled the drowsy Empress, who jolted, her brow furrowing as she looked up at Noble Consort Rong.
'Who has Noble Consort Rong taken a disliking to now?'
The Empress smelled the calming incense on Jiang Xian, which soothed her headache considerably, and she couldn't help but feel a bit more favorable toward her.
Noble Consort Rong was just trying to think of a crime to pin on her when she caught the Empress staring at her out of the corner of her eye. She didn't realize the Empress had been startled awake by her sharp rebuke and was still dazed. She assumed the Empress was displeased with her for throwing her weight around in Jianzhang Palace. However, she had been in the palace for a long time, held power over the harem, and showing her authority wasn't anything new, so she wasn't particularly afraid of the Empress.
"I punish you to copy the Women's Precepts ten times. Use it to cultivate your mind and character. If you repeat this offense, you will not be forgiven!"
But as the words reached her lips, she ended up reducing the punishment. Noble Consort Rong had originally wanted to have her name plaque removed and confine her to Yizhu Pavilion. Then she'd see where she could "coincidentally" run into the Emperor, and how she could use her seductive wiles on him.
'If I were to act more on my impulses,' Noble Consort Rong mused, 'it would be much better to just have Jiang Xian dragged out and beaten to death with clubs as a warning to others. That would be perfect.'
'Just thinking about that scene is so satisfying and delightful.'
Unfortunately, when the late Emperor chose a Princess Consort for his son, he was old and favored gentle, virtuous women. Both the current Empress, Chu Siyun, and she were noble daughters from aristocratic families, but the former was adored by all the elders in the Capital. It was said that Empress Dowager Jingde herself had personally chosen Chu Siyun to be the Third Prince's Consort, all because she was fond of her earlobes, which were plump and round, resembling those of a Buddha Child.
'All because of a pair of auspicious earlobes, I went from being the principal wife to a concubine.'
Noble Consort Rong could never let it go.
"I accept the punishment."
Jiang Xian lowered her head.
'Circumstances are stronger than people. When an unreasonable superior wants to flex her authority, I'll just give her the respect she craves. I'm playing the long game.'
She bowed her head low, hiding the burgeoning ambition in her magnificent eyes.
Noble Consort Rong snorted coldly and shot a provocative glance at the Empress. "Does the Empress find my handling of the matter appropriate? If you feel the punishment is too light, I will defer entirely to Your Majesty's judgment. I will have no objections."
The subtext was that Shu Changzai's punishment could be "super-sized," but it couldn't be skipped.
Queen Chu nodded. "Shu Changzai, once you have finished copying the Women's Precepts, deliver them to Jianzhang Palace for my review."
Jiang Xian thanked her again.
After telling her to rise, Queen Chu then announced she was tired and that they were all excused from the afternoon greetings.
The concubines left Jianzhang Palace in a great throng.
Because the Empress hadn't opposed her, Noble Consort Rong wore a smug, triumphant expression as she walked out of Jianzhang Palace. It wasn't until she had boarded her palanquin and was passing through the Imperial Garden that it suddenly clicked—the Empress's actions seemed to endorse her punishment of Shu Changzai, but with the copied Women's Precepts being delivered to Jianzhang Palace, wouldn't it be entirely up to the Empress whether to punish her severely or let her off lightly?
Her hand, adorned with armor, slapped her thigh. "Such a deep scheme, Empress!" she said angrily. "She made me the bad guy in front of all the concubines for nothing! Now, whether she wants to torment Shu Changzai or do her a favor and win her over, it'll be incredibly convenient for her."
Ma Wan Yi, walking beside the palanquin, looked completely lost, not having grasped the intricacies of the situation. "But I think the Empress is afraid of you, Sister-in-law!"
"She loves playing the good person, leaving me to be the villain,"
Noble Consort Rong pressed her lips together. "If I hadn't fallen into her trap, I wouldn't have lost my temper in Jianzhang Palace just now."
She was stunningly beautiful and a few years older than the body Jiang Xian had transmigrated into. In her twenties and having received the Emperor's favor, she was a woman in her prime. Flushed with anger, her cheeks were tinged with pink. If she weren't mentally plotting to have someone dragged away and beaten with thirty military rods, she would have truly been a beautiful sight.
Ma Wan Yi wasn't clever, but she understood the Noble Consort. She immediately went along with her words to placate her, "Sister-in-law is the kindest and most soft-hearted."
"If I weren't so soft-hearted, that seductive slut would be reporting to the underworld by now."
Noble Consort Rong scoffed.
※
「Elsewhere」 Consort Guo shared Noble Consort Rong's sentiment.
'Copying the *Women's Precepts* is letting that bitch off way too easy.' Consort Guo was determined to make trouble for Shu Changzai. Suppressing her anger, she left Jianzhang Palace and scanned her surroundings, but she couldn't spot that irritatingly beautiful face. 'I remember she was wearing a lake-green dress today...'
"My lady, look. Isn't that Shu Changzai?"
The palace maid had sharp eyes, but by the time Consort Guo followed her gaze, a flash of green had already disappeared at the edge of her vision.
She could vaguely make out that it was dragging a streak of pink along with it.
Consort Guo remembered. That Chen Daying, who had been cowering beside her, was wearing pink today.
"That Mrs. Jiang, she's utterly without manners!"
Consort Guo's eyes widened in disbelief.
Women were supposed to walk with a graceful, swaying gait, composed and elegant. At most, eunuchs and palace maids would scurry with small, quick steps when walking in the palace. There was no one like her, who not only hurried along herself but could also drag another concubine along in a run.
And wouldn't you know it, Jiang Xian's move really left her with pent-up anger and nowhere to vent it.
The person had run off. Was she supposed to chase after her?
Consort Guo actually wanted to give chase, but after taking two quick steps, the delicate woman, raised in the seclusion of the women's quarters, was already out of breath. All she could do was say, "She really got away."
...
"Jiang..." Remembering that her status was different now, a panting Chen Daying corrected herself, "Shu Changzai, you dragged me all the way here. What for?"
"If we were any slower, they would've skinned us, broken our bones, and eaten us alive."
Now that they were far from Jianzhang Palace, Jiang Xian figured their pursuers wouldn't be able to catch up for a while and would have given up. She slowed her pace along with Chen Daying and explained, "Rank can be a killer. They wouldn't have passed up an opportunity to crush us. Just getting a copying punishment is getting off lightly."
Even so, Jiang Xian wasn't sure if she had truly been let off the hook.
The Empress had taken over the task of inspecting the punishment. Whether she was looking for another opportunity to torment her or saving her from Noble Consort Rong's clutches would depend on what the Empress said when she handed in the copies. It would also be a good chance to study the temperament of this harem's CEO up close.
Jiang Xian had many thoughts but couldn't be bothered to share them with this simpleton, so she just said the storm had passed.
Chen Daying was still shaken. "You served the Emperor last night and were promoted today. I thought you were coming to the morning greeting to show off, but it turns out they were all lying in wait for you. And you... why did you have to cling to the Emperor and not let go?"
She couldn't bring herself to say anything more embarrassing.
Jiang Xian had considered it, but not completely.
'I have no foundation in the harem. Besides the Emperor, no one can promote me. Now that I finally have a rare chance to serve him, how could I not take full advantage and show my loyalty? I'm also just used to working overtime and don't want to rest. But this bunch in the harem is like a rival company in a business war, pulling out labor laws to criticize me for working overtime.'
When the words reached her lips, they became a simple sentence: "I love the Emperor. I couldn't bear to part with him."
'The promotion and raise can just stay in my heart.'
'What I say out loud is that I'm very passionate about the company, and I never want to clock out.'
Chen Daying looked at her, half-believing and half-doubting.
She had never served the Emperor; she didn't even know if he was round or flat.
Later, when these words reached the ears of the Emperor, who was handling state affairs in Qiankun Palace, he put down his brush and smiled calmly. "Liang Yuyin, have Shu Changzai come to Weiyang Palace to attend to me later."