Beauties in Simulation Cross over into Reality

"Your Majesty is too kind. This is the duty of the Ministry of Rites. To receive Your Majesty’s approval makes all our efforts worthwhile."

Yan Zhen rose to his feet and bowed deeply.

"If Your Majesty has no further instructions, then I shall proceed with the preparations according to the ceremony we’ve discussed."

"There is no issue." Xiao Mo nodded. "Ah, that’s right. This happens to be the Year of the Snake. I have a Spirit Snake Jade Token here that I’d like to gift to your daughter."

Xiao Mo took a Jade Pendant from his waist and personally handed it to Yan Zhen.

Yan Zhen hurried forward, accepting it with a look of being overwhelmed by the honor. "On behalf of Ruxue, I thank Your Majesty."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Yan Zhen withdrew from the Imperial Study.

Once Yan Zhen was a good distance away, Xiao Mo watched his retreating back and asked Wei Xun, "What do you think of Minister Yan?"

"Ah?" Wei Xun froze for a moment. He hurried forward, lowered his head, and said, "The Minister of the Ministry of Rites is meticulous, exceptionally talented, and an expert in ceremonial law..."

"Hm?" As Wei Xun was still showering Yan Zhen with praise, Xiao Mo turned and gave him a look.

Wei Xun’s expression faltered. He immediately closed the doors to the Imperial Study, moved to Xiao Mo’s side, and whispered, "Although Minister Yan is a member of the Yan Clan, he did earn his position through the imperial examinations fair and square. He was even the Imperial Scholar; his talent is no pretense.

"Furthermore, I’ve heard that early on, Minister Yan held the ideal of ’ordering the family, governing the state, and pacifying the world.’ During his years as an official, though he frequently socializes and attends banquets, his expenses are mostly covered by his clan or by selling his own calligraphy."

"Oh, and there’s no suspicion of corruption regarding Minister Yan’s calligraphy fees. He is a nationally renowned master calligrapher; many have offered large sums for his work only to be denied."

"So, tell me," Xiao Mo asked with a smile, "would a man like that have ambitions for the position of Prime Minister, or the title of Yan Clan Patriarch?"

"This..." Cold sweat beaded on Wei Xun’s forehead.

How could he not understand His Majesty’s intentions?

’His Majesty intends to...’

"Why so nervous? I was merely thinking aloud." Xiao Mo smiled, as if he truly had just been making an offhand comment. "Come, let’s go see the palaces of our two future Imperial Consorts."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wei Xun dared not say more and hurried to keep pace with His Majesty.

Before long, Xiao Mo arrived at the palaces where Yan Ruxue and Qin Mujiu would soon be residing.

Only upon arriving did Xiao Mo realize that the future bedchambers of Yan Ruxue and Qin Mujiu were quite close to his own—no more than a quarter-hour walk.

The furnishings and all manner of daily necessities had been properly prepared; essentially, nothing was lacking.

The Palace Maids, too, had mostly been assigned.

In the inner court of the Zhou Royal Palace, there were no eunuchs.

Eunuchs were only permitted to be active in the outer court of the Imperial Palace.

The so-called outer court included the great hall for court audiences, the Imperial Study, and the Imperial Guard barracks—areas that ministers and envoys were permitted to access.

Thus, the inner court was attended to exclusively by Maids.

Even a personal eunuch like Wei Xun resided in the outer court. If he were to enter the inner court, he had to remain by Xiao Mo’s side and was forbidden from moving about independently.

The only reason Wei Xun had been summoned to Lingxin Hall by the Empress Dowager to inquire about Xiao Mo’s recent activities was that the inner court was devoid of consorts, and Empress Dowager Yan was eager for news.

But once Yan Ruxue and Qin Mujiu took up residence, Empress Dowager Yan would no longer even be able to summon Wei Xun.

’But the Empress Dowager probably isn’t worried,’ Xiao Mo thought.

’Although she can’t summon Wei Xun, she’ll have Yan Ruxue, who can be her eyes and ears. A far more trustworthy source, at that.’

"Your Majesty, is there anything about these two palaces that requires improvement?" Wei Xun asked.

"No, they’re perfectly fine. But why are these two palaces positioned symmetrically on either side of my Yangxin Hall?" Xiao Mo asked, frowning.

His Yangxin Hall was situated directly between their two palaces, as if to keep them apart, and the distance from each palace to his hall was identical.

Wei Xun gave a small, wry smile. "Isn’t it... to avoid offending either party..."

"..."

Xiao Mo was rendered speechless and sighed to himself.

’This layout practically screams "dividing the inner court in half."’

’I hope things will be a little more peaceful for me in the future.’

After inspecting the future palaces of Yan Ruxue and Qin Mujiu, it was nearly noon. Xiao Mo had his retinue proceed to Lingxin Palace to see his mother.

...

"Your son greets you, Mother."

Entering Lingxin Palace, Xiao Mo bowed formally to Empress Dowager Yan.

"Your Majesty, you’ve come." A delighted expression on her face, Empress Dowager Yan came forward and took Xiao Mo’s hand. "Ever since you began cultivating, your complexion has improved so much. You’ve grown even more handsome."

"Thank you for the compliment, Mother. I suppose spending my days cultivating and nurturing my spirit has yielded some small results," Xiao Mo said with a smile. "But you, Mother, seem to be growing younger by the day. If you went on an outing with a sixteen-year-old girl, I doubt anyone could tell you apart."

"Hehehe, since when did Your Majesty become so glib? I am over forty years old now, I’m getting old..." Empress Dowager Yan chuckled, dabbing at her face with a handkerchief. Though her words claimed she was old, her beaming expression made it clear she was thoroughly enjoying the compliment.

"Enough of that. I summoned Your Majesty today to discuss the matter of the Palace Maids. Once Ruxue and the others enter the palace, it will be time to select new girls of a suitable age. In our Zhou Kingdom, this task is always handled by the Empress. Since the position is currently vacant, I shall take charge of it on Your Majesty’s behalf. What do you say?"

"Of course, that is no problem. I leave the matter entirely in your hands, Mother. Thank you for taking on this burden."

’What choice did he have? Even if he had an objection, he would have to swallow it.’

Besides, protocol dictated that the Empress, accompanied by Palace Maids, was indeed responsible for inspecting and selecting new women for the palace.

Since he had not yet named an Empress, it was only natural for Empress Dowager Yan to select the women with her own attendants.

But Xiao Mo knew that to bolster Yan Ruxue’s position, the Empress Dowager would deliberately avoid selecting any exceptionally beautiful women, lest a "palace maid become pregnant before a consort" situation arise.

However, Xiao Mo couldn’t care less.

’Dealing with two consorts was already giving him a headache; he had no desire to go looking for trouble with Palace Maids.’

Seeing how readily Xiao Mo agreed, Empress Dowager Yan blinked in surprise.

’I thought that with the Eldest Princess of Qin entering the palace, he might have developed other ideas and would put up some resistance.’

But seeing that Xiao Mo was as obedient as ever, the Empress Dowager grew even more pleased, to the point where she began to wonder if she was being too harsh on the boy.

’After all, he lost his birth parents when he was young, was adopted into the palace, and has lived under constant constraint. It’s really quite pitiful...’

But she quickly suppressed this flicker of sympathy.

’The priority now is to get Ruxue on the throne of the Empress. This is no time for compassion.’

Empress Dowager Yan chatted with Xiao Mo for a while longer, and they took lunch together.

That afternoon, Empress Dowager Yan issued an edict throughout the Zhou Kingdom: to select women of unimpeachable backgrounds to enter the palace.

...

「The day after the edict was issued.」

Before a notice board in the Zhou Imperial City, a woman wearing a light gauze veil lingered, reading the announcement over and over.

Finally, the woman turned and returned to a courtyard house.

"Wangxin..." The woman pushed open the courtyard gate and took off her veil, her voice full of excitement.

"What is it, Sister Si Li?"

As Wangxin turned, Chaos, who was lounging on the table, snatched the pastry from its mistress’s hand and devoured it in one bite.

"Remember how we used the Array and determined that Xiao Mo’s reincarnation is most likely in the Imperial Palace?"

"We did, but the problem was you didn’t know how to get inside, right Sister Si Li?" Wangxin asked, confused.

The Array had pointed to the Zhou Royal Palace, and the Sovereign of Zhou also happened to be named Xiao Mo. Both Wangxin and Si Li thought it might just be the kind of coincidence the world allows for—that the Sovereign of Zhou could be Xiao Mo’s reincarnation.

However, the Zhou Royal Palace was protected by an Array of its own; if they tried to sneak in, they would be discovered.

Furthermore, Leiming Temple had a rule: its monks were forbidden from entering the imperial palace of any Mortal Dynasty. The palace was a nexus of Dragon Fortune and karmic ties, a place that could easily influence disciples of the Buddhist School. As a monk from Leiming Temple, Wangxin had to obey this rule. Thus, she couldn’t seek an audience with the Sovereign of Zhou and could only wait for him to one day leave the Imperial Palace.

"Now I know how," Si Li said with a smile. "I just saw that the Zhou Kingdom’s Empress is selecting Palace Maids."

"So, Sister Si Li, you intend to..."

"Exactly. I’m going to enter the palace as a Palace Maid and take a look for myself!"