Chapter 6

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Something's off — the Shen family is just a Fifth Rank Assistant Official's household; how could they have such deep resources?

Shen Yao scratched her head, then recalled that her cheap grandmother Ji Shi was originally a Young Lady of the Guogong Fu; even though she was a concubine-born daughter, she enjoyed the Guogong Fu's transcendent treatment from childhood, including later when the Guogong Fu declined, all the assets that couldn't be taken away were handed over to Ji Shi.

The Shen family also had various estates and shops producing income, including Shen Yao's birth mother, and the several stepmothers her father later married back, all of whom left substantial dowries.

This isn't to say Ji Shi embezzled; it's just that before Shen Yao and the others grew up, Ji Shi was responsible for managing and coordinating everything — if her mind wasn't dull, money begetting money over several decades should have accumulated a tidy sum.

After tallying these accounts, Shen Yao understood her cheap grandmother's generosity.

It was essentially borrowing flowers to offer to the Buddha, but the gratitude Shen Yao owed, she still had to acknowledge.

Her cheap grandmother was generous to her; later when she developed well in the palace, she wouldn't be stingy about supporting the Shen family either — mutual benefit, you're good, I'm good, everyone's good.

Humming a little tune, she closed and locked the wooden box again, then Shen Yao shut her eyes and simply collected the wooden box into thin air.

As the Host bound to the system, Shen Yao was also among those with the standard space configuration.

But this space differed from those described in novels — Shen Yao's space was the system reward she received each time she completed a task palace.

At the end of each world, she normally received a small space of about one cubic meter.

Spaces could stack; if she did well, she could even get two or more.

Counting this mission, Shen Yao had entered six worlds in total.

Her current space measured 3×3×1, because she had obtained nine small spaces in total; laid flat, that was the size.

Inside the space were the various treasures she had obtained from the completed task worlds.

Gold, silver, pearls, and jewels were the most numerous, because the first five worlds were mostly modern society.

Besides those, she also stored some food in the space, to prevent herself from starving if she went to a world with nothing to eat or drink.

Of course, she also kept some self-defense tools, electronic products, and the like — the main principle was variety and clutter, to guarantee she wouldn't panic no matter which interface she went to.

Now the nine small spaces were already filled with six; the remaining three included the purple sandalwood box she had just put in.

As for the various pills the system rewarded her each time, those existed independently in the system space, not overlapping with her small spaces, saving her considerable trouble.

Because she had opened the space, Shen Nian simply kept her eyes open and rummaged through it with her consciousness.

In the previous worlds she had also stored some gold and silver ingots; besides that, she had crafted some gold and silver jewelry resembling melon seeds and peanuts — now they could be taken out and used to reward palace attendants after entering the palace.

She remembered seeing in a TV drama she once watched that imperial consorts did exactly that.

Shen Nian busied herself until she had found and set out everything she wanted; then she exhaled in relief and began to have the mood to continue conditioning her body.

Body transformation is never achieved overnight.

Shen Yao hoped this body of hers would be healthy, free of illness and disaster, enter the palace and bear healthy princes — so the pills she needed to take could not be taken lightly.

She ate one yesterday, and continued with one today.

Taking one wasn't the end of it; Shen Yao also had Chunhua bring Qiu Yue to prepare hot water in advance — she wanted to bathe.

Although this request was quite unreasonable, the two maids thought that tomorrow the Young Lady would enter the palace; fine, whatever the Young Lady demanded, they would do.

Thus, while soaking alone, Shen Yao dropped more pills into the water that could strengthen the body — internal and external use in one go, also improving her skin so her whole person looked radiant and luminous; Shen Yao would not be stingy in this regard.

Scrub-scrub-scrub — after a flurry of activity, Shen Yao washed clean and came out of the bathroom.

Chunhua and Qiu Yue both stared in shock — such a huge change in the Young Lady?

Whether it was the aura surrounding her or her expression and state, she simply stood out from the crowd.

The two respectfully escorted Shen Yao back to her room to rest; for the first time Chunhua felt that choosing to return to the estate to marry rather than accompany the Young Lady into the palace was not a good thing.

But things had come to this; she was powerless to change it — she could only grasp what she still held in her hands as best she could.

On the night before entering the palace, Shen Yao slept exceptionally well.

Perhaps because her mind was relatively unburdened, by the second day when Shen Yao rose and was fully dressed and ready, the Shen Yao who stepped out the door received astonished gazes from everyone, including her cheap grandmother Ji Shi.

So Yao Niang / Eldest Sister / Young Lady actually possessed such capital.

The happiest was none other than her father Shen, who had little ambition and had remained a Fifth Rank Assistant Official for twenty years.

He looked forward to Shen Yao bringing benefits to the Shen family, especially his post — unmoved for twenty years with no prospect of advancement, he feared he would serve until retirement.

Shen Yao lowered her eyes and bowed her head; her magnificent attire shone brilliantly in the sunlight.

After bidding farewell to the family elders one by one, Shen Yao boarded the sedan chair bound for the Imperial Palace.

As the sedan chair set off, Shen Yao put away her rare parting emotions.

The main act was about to begin; she had to pull herself together.

……

Fengyi Palace

A woman in palace attire sat before the couch, with several maids standing bowed beside her.

On the tabletop, various opened account books lay flat; the palace-attired woman held a hairbrush, brows tightly knitted, continuously marking and calculating in the accounts.

Snap—

The hairbrush in her hand was set down; the palace-attired woman massaged her sore wrist, then closed the account books and handed them to a maid at her side.

"Today is the day those newly promoted concubines enter the palace, isn't it."

The palace-attired woman gazed expressionlessly outside the hall, a trace of hard-to-detect sorrow flashing in her eyes.

Another year of the Selection of Beauties — truly tiresome.

The palace-attired woman, who was also the current Empress Wei Jingyi, sighed inwardly.

"Your Majesty, those who enter are merely girls from small families.

The Empress Dowager has borne the Second Prince under her knees; why should she care about people like them?

A middle-aged woman dressed in palace maid's clothing, though her garments were darker in color than those of the other palace maids, walked to the Empress's side and opened her mouth to belittle others, soothing her own mistress.

Hearing this, Wei Jingyi shook her head, "Nainai, it is not like that."

"If possible, this palace would prefer that the selected girls entering the palace this time all came from distinguished families."

"At least distinguished enough to prove that the court officials still have confidence in the Emperor."

"But most of the girls selected this time come from small families; among the few daughters of grandee families, they are all concubine-born daughters."

"Hmph, who are they looking down on?"

"Even though Wei Jingyi does not like the Emperor's concubine entry once every three years, this year's imperial selection is still enough to slap their faces as a couple."

Hearing her mistress's words, the middle-aged woman's expression stiffened slightly, and she pursed her lips, "Your Ladyship, no matter what, these selected girls entering the palace do not affect you much." As for other insider information, Nainai did not want to pay too much attention.

Wei Jingyi rose with the support of Nainai's arm, agreeing in her heart with the words "does not affect you much."

Indeed, among the three heirs in the imperial harem, besides the Second Prince being her own biological son, the birth mothers of the other two princes were one Third Rank Guipin and one Fourth Rank Pinyu; all of them were not favored by the Emperor themselves, and only obtained their ranks by relying on the heirs they bore.

Other high-ranking consorts in the imperial harem were favored but had no heirs to rely on.

That was why Nainai said that those girls from small families entering the palace would benefit her; after all, the highest rank they could reach was merely a consort rank, so what could they use to contend with her, the Mother of the Nation?

However, Wei Jingyi's gaze dimmed slightly; she understood that her greatest hidden danger did not lie in the seemingly dangerous imperial harem, but in the Front Court where storms might rise again.

The sons of the two deceased princes have come of age and will marry principal wives this year.

Not only are the principal wives from distinguished backgrounds, being either from the Guogong Fu or the Taishi Fu, but even the Retired Emperor, far away in Yichang Garden, stands behind the sons of the two princes.

You must know that for this imperial selection, eight entered the palace, among whom the highest rank was merely a concubine-born daughter of a Third Rank Official; the rest were all scattered among the ranks of Imperial Concubine, Constant Attendant, and Answering Lady, with family backgrounds all below Fourth Rank—I do not know whom they are trying to humiliate.

Sigh

This is the result of the Emperor not valuing her; even though she is already the Empress and has successfully borne a legitimate son, she cannot guarantee that she will always sit stably on the Phoenix Throne.

A moment of carelessness, and the ending will be the death of both mother and child.

"Nainai, this palace sometimes wonders, why was it this palace who married the Emperor back then."

Looking at the scenery outside the window, Wei Jingyi spoke softly, of the kind that cannot be heard unless one listens carefully.

Wei Jingyi's thoughts drifted far away, even recalling that back then there were many sisters in her ancestral home, yet only she was not favored and had to marry the Emperor when he was still the Sixth Prince.

As it turned out, it was a case of blessings and misfortunes being interdependent; ultimately the Sixth Prince seized the opportunity to ascend the throne, and she herself sat on the Empress's throne, thinking her luck had turned, but who would have thought it was a great calamity approaching.

The Emperor, the Retired Emperor... the royal family is indeed dangerous; she brings her child, but how long can she persist?

Closing her eyes and opening them again, Wei Jingyi took a deep breath.

"At home, have they really decided to send Brother's daughter to be a side consort to the Heng Prince's son?"

The Heng Prince was the Second Prince of the Former Emperor who died young; the Xun Prince was the Fourth Prince of the Former Emperor who died young.

These two people were, as mentioned before, the Former Emperor's most beloved sons—one died of illness, one died in battle—and among their biological children, the two eldest will marry principal wives this year.

Nainai nodded, her expression worried, "Sir says he cannot stand by and watch the family decline."

"The Retired Emperor favors the Heng Prince's son more; that child resembles the deceased Heng Prince and is far more outstanding than the Xun Prince's concubine-born eldest son."

"Even among the Retired Emperor's two most beloved sons, distinctions of importance must be made."

"And with the balance of legitimate versus concubine-born, the Heng Prince's son is legitimate-born and similar in appearance, naturally standing out more."

Wei Jingyi was so angry she laughed coldly, "This palace is the Empress; my father has clearly become National Uncle, so why is he still not satisfied?"

"He actually wants to form ties with the Heng Prince's son, and for this he does not hesitate to send her own brother's legitimate daughter to be a side consort."

"No matter how pleasant-sounding 'side consort' is, she is still just a concubine. Although our Wei State Duke's Residence has long lost real power, she is still alive and has a legitimate son under her knees. For the Wei State Duke's Residence to do this is to openly confront the Emperor. No wonder the Emperor has given her no face recently, favoring Noble Zhou Guifei immensely both in public and in private."

"Although Noble Zhou Guifei is merely a concubine-born daughter of the Right Prime Minister, the Right Prime Minister has never had a legitimate daughter and has always stood behind the Emperor; how could the Emperor not like her?"