Hustle Queen in the Harem: My Consort Won't Stop Grinding

As for Noble Lady Gu...

She’s a strange one, too. Best not to even talk about her.

"But I see now. The Empress is interested in Noble Lady Gu’s womb."

The Empress Dowager gave a knowing, dismissive laugh, certain she had seen through it all.

Meanwhile, the palace maid Fu Jin was pleading with Jiang Xian. "The Empress said to forget it if there isn’t enough time. But if I may be so bold, should Your Ladyship manage, I hope you will still give it your full attention." Back in Jianzhang Palace, Jiang Xian had pored over numerous records of past palace festivals. She possessed a near-photographic memory—the very talent she relied on for her "remote work." Jiang Xian nodded. "Don’t worry. The words ’not enough time’ don’t exist in my vocabulary."

’Telling a King Juan there’s ’not enough time’ is a personal insult!’

Fu Jin was immensely grateful. If they hadn’t been in Changle Palace, she would have performed a full formal bow on the spot. Changing the subject, she hinted, "In a few days, maybe even before the month is up, the Empress will be able to get you out of Changle Palace."

This was the tangible reward the Empress had arranged for her.

The Empress Dowager wanted to lock Noble Lady Gu away in Leifeng Tower, but the Empress had the Empress Dowager’s ear and could ask for her release.

Jiang Xian smiled faintly. "I am doing quite well in Changle Palace. If it becomes unbearable, I will of course ask Her Majesty for help." She was self-aware enough to play her part in the Empress’s faction. She didn’t refuse the proffered aid, but instead made her intentions clear—’I haven’t farmed enough points yet. I’ll clear this stage once I’m done.’

"Then I will follow Your Ladyship’s lead."

It was not appropriate for Fu Jin to stay long, so after a few words of parting advice, she left.

The gist of her advice was that if Noble Princess Consort Rong’s bullying became too severe, Jiang Xian could mention the Empress’s name at a critical moment.

Jiang Xian thought about the relationship between the Empress and Noble Princess Consort Rong.

’Dropping the Empress’s name,’ she thought, ’would more likely just make the Noble Princess Consort even angrier.’

However, the Noble Princess Consort Rong whom the Empress imagined would be relentlessly bullying Jiang Xian was, at that very moment, still copying texts.

※

Noble Princess Consort Rong copied texts late into the night.

Her resentment was compounding.

By the end, her anger had very little to do with the Emperor anymore.

She just didn’t get it. They were all stuck in Changle Palace just serving their time, so why did someone have to be so damn competitive?

’What’s the benefit?’

’The Empress Dowager won’t promote you for being efficient at picking beans, but it makes me look like I’m not devoted to the Buddha.’ She ordered, "Go find out if Noble Lady Gu has gone to bed. If she wakes up in the middle of the night... give her a little scare on her way to the latrine."

Noble Princess Consort Rong recalled that the palace maid attending Jiang Xian was very young.

’If I can scare them into screaming and disturbing the Empress Dowager’s rest, or if Jiang Xian gets so frightened she no longer wants to stay in Changle Palace, it’s a win either way.’

Only someone like the Noble Princess Consort could devise such a plan, and only she had the means to execute it.

The Imperial Household was her personal playground. Even in Changle Palace, there were menial Palace Attendants willing to do her bidding and frighten a new favorite who lacked deep connections in the palace.

Qiu Yun accepted the order and went to investigate, only to find the lights in Jiang Xian’s quarters were still on.

Jiang Xian only had Zhenqiu to attend her, so when she needed to relieve herself at night, Zhenqiu was the only one to accompany her to the latrine. Qiu Yun passed on the instructions, and a menial Palace Attendant in dire need of silver accepted the task. He was to lie in ambush in the darkness by the latrine. There was no need to cause any real harm—just acting like a ghost and giving her a good scare would earn a handsome reward.

At night, Changle Palace was so still that only the sound of the wind could be heard.

Jiang Xian worked by lamplight late into the night, and just as planned, the ambusher waited for the moment she got up to go to the latrine.

Just as she finished, she heard a faint, mournful wail coming from the nearby well.

"I am filled with such sorrow... such hate..."

Zhenqiu jumped, but she didn’t dare shout in Changle Palace. She quickly tugged on Jiang Xian’s arm and whispered, "Your Ladyship, don’t look around. I’ll protect you."

Even for the most level-headed palace maid from Yizhu Pavilion, an encounter like this in the dead of night was enough to stir up fear.

She glanced at her mistress, only to find her exceptionally calm.

’Trying to pull this kind of trick on a materialist,’ Jiang Xian thought, ’They’re underestimating me.’

Some might argue: how could someone who has transmigrated still be a materialist?

But the system claimed to be an AI, the ultimate product of materialist technology! So to Jiang Xian, it was all perfectly logical. She had been worrying about where to grind for Palace Fighting Points, and now an opportunity had presented itself on a silver platter. She gladly accepted it. "I’m going to take a look. If you’re scared, you can wait here."

"You mustn’t, Your Ladyship! It’s too dangerous to look into a well at night. You heard it too..."

Zhenqiu gritted her teeth and suppressed her fear. "If Your Ladyship is curious, then let me go see."

Seeing how terrified she was, Jiang Xian had no choice but to impart to her a special five-word mantra.

After hearing it, Zhenqiu was dumbfounded. "Will... will this work?"

"I don’t know if it will work, but that’s how she taught me."

Zhenqiu had no other choice. She began walking toward the well, chanting the "five-word mantra" her mistress had taught her. She was so nervous she didn’t notice that the moment she stepped forward, Jiang Xian was right behind her. Jiang Xian couldn’t rest easy letting her go to the well alone. If an attacker suddenly appeared and tried to push her in, she wanted to be there to intervene in time.

The source of this confidence was the fact that Jiang Xian genuinely knew martial arts.

Meanwhile, the Palace Attendant by the well, who was faking the crying to ambush Noble Lady Gu, was psyching himself up to leap out and scare them both. He was in disguise, his face smeared with black charcoal powder that could be easily wiped off with a little oil, leaving no way to trace the mastermind. He had no choice. He’d originally taken the job for the money, but Miss Qiu Yun, the Noble Princess Consort’s maid, had immediately mentioned his family’s surname. The implication was clear: a handsome reward if he succeeded, but if he failed and was caught, he had to keep his mouth shut, or his family would suffer the consequences.

He had to frighten Noble Lady Gu, but without causing any real harm.

’It would be safer just to kill her and silence any witnesses,’ the little eunuch thought.

The task was dangerous and childish, but alas, the Noble Princess Consort was paying too much.

’Noble Lady Gu can only blame herself for offending the most vengeful Lady in the entire harem!’

The black-faced eunuch peeked out and saw Noble Lady Gu’s palace maid walking toward him, muttering something under her breath.

’What is she chanting?’

"May the Empress protect me... May the Empress protect me..."

’Waaah! The Empress said we could use her name in times of trouble, but surely she didn’t mean for *this* kind of trouble!’

The black-faced eunuch heard her clearly and was equally bewildered.

’Why would you need the Empress’s protection just to go to the latrine in the middle of the night?’

’The Empress has that function, too?’

He didn’t dare wait any longer. If she got any closer, she would easily see that he was a man, not a ghost. He had to leap out and act deranged while there was still some distance between them.

’It’s a real ghost!’

Already on edge, Zhenqiu was so frightened her legs gave out. She subconsciously tried to scream, but the discipline drilled into her very bones kept the sound locked in her throat. Before she could react, a graceful figure shot past her. It was her own mistress, who had lifted the "ghost" with one hand and was now asking calmly:

"What are you crying about?"

"..."

Jiang Xian said, "I asked what you’re crying about. Did Changle Palace short you on your monthly wages?"

In any worker’s worldview, being denied your wages was the most inhumane tragedy imaginable.