Chapter 116 - 97: System Upgrade
After having his way in Changle Palace, the Emperor beat a hasty retreat.
Although he missed the two of them, his Mother Empress would have been even more displeased if he had summoned either of them for the night right after leaving Changle Palace. Thus, he complied with her wishes and paid a visit to Hui Pin’s palace. He didn’t stay the night, however; the Emperor sat for a bit before returning to Qiankun Palace to resume his work.
As long as he was diligently handling state affairs, his Mother Empress could find no fault.
The next day, when paying her respects at Jianzhang Palace, Noble Princess Consort Rong couldn’t hide her impatience.
Hui Pin subtly tried to steer the conversation toward her, but she refused to take the bait.
"Lu Ronghua’s beaded bracelet is simply radiant. It reminds me, though, of the Five-Colored Gemstone Golden Step Shaking I once saw with the Lady. With every step she took, it would flash and dazzle the eyes."
The Noble Princess Consort Rong of any other day would have retorted: ’Heh. Just a little trinket General Yun Hui gave me. It’s hardly worth mentioning. I’m surprised you’re so taken with it. Did you not see many fine things when you were at home?’
Today’s Noble Princess Consort Rong: "Heh."
The mood in the room instantly grew cold.
After all, Noble Princess Consort Rong’s rank was high. Unsure if her "heh" was a prelude to something more, everyone waited obediently for a moment. Only when it was clear she had nothing else to say did they dare to continue chatting.
Lu Ronghua covered her lips with her hand and smiled. "The Emperor rested at Hui Pin’s place just yesterday, and today you’re already so chatty. You’ve become so much more cheerful, even taking notice of a common bracelet."
Everyone in the harem said that Lu Ronghua was a low-rent version of the Noble Princess Consort, and her jab struck two sore spots at once.
She had never seen fine things, and she had rarely received the Emperor’s favor, which made her seem unsophisticated.
As soon as the words left her mouth, a delicate blush of shame and anger spread across Hui Pin’s face.
Lu Ronghua, however, didn’t look at her. Instead, her gaze fell upon Noble Princess Consort Rong.
She knew Hui Pin had failed to make the Emperor stay last night, and she was confident the Noble Princess Consort had received the same intelligence.
’I’ve teed it up so perfectly. Can the Noble Princess Consort really resist taking a couple of jabs at Hui Pin?’
But the Noble Princess Consort could, and did.
Throughout the entire morning greeting, Noble Princess Consort Rong ignored everyone.
The moment the greetings concluded, she shot a look to her side, and Qiu Yun promptly grabbed Noble Lady Gu and hauled her away.
A sudden realization dawned on the other concubines—
Sure enough, it wasn’t that the Noble Princess Consort’s temper had improved. It was that someone had firmly drawn her aggro, attracting all of her firepower. This had changed her from launching indiscriminate AOE attacks to making precision strikes against Noble Lady Gu.
Hui Pin, who had spent the entire morning trying to provoke a reaction, was completely ignored.
Ma Wan Yi and Chen Daying looked at each other, like lost puppies abandoned by their owner.
***
"Hey, you. I can walk on my own."
"I have a name. I’m called Qiu Yun."
Jiang Xian asked, "Qiu Yun, I can walk by myself. Can you let go of my arm?"
Qiu Yun said indignantly, "You’re always scheming against my mistress. Don’t say my name so familiarly."
’The Noble Princess Consort’s palace maid is just as unreasonable as she is.’
’Like mistress, like maid.’
Jiang Xian let herself be manhandled, tilting her head up to ask Noble Princess Consort Rong, "In a bad mood?"
"The Emperor went to Changle Palace yesterday, so he must know I’m about to be taken to Jingxin Temple. But instead of spending his remaining time with me, he ran off to sit in that bitch Hui Pin’s palace." The rims of Noble Princess Consort Rong’s eyes and the tip of her nose were red. Tears welled up but stubbornly refused to fall. "Even with you as a bonus, I couldn’t make the Emperor stay. He didn’t go to your Yizhu Pavilion yesterday either. Aren’t you sad? You heartless creature."
With the Emperor not around, Jiang Xian dropped the act.
Jiang Xian turned her head to the side and smiled at her. "Him not coming is the good news."
"How is that good news? You should be more anxious than I am! If I lose favor, I still have my family to rely on. If *you* lose favor, you might as well pack your things and come to Zhaoyang Palace to be a palace maid. You’d have a better life than being a minor mistress in Yizhu Pavilion."
’It’s a good thing the internet didn’t exist in ancient times; with her attitude, if Noble Princess Consort Rong had a social media account, she’d be called out eight times a day.’
Jiang Xian shook her head. "The Emperor went to Changle Palace specifically about the Jingxin Temple affair. He was either asking to shorten our time there or for the Empress Dowager to show mercy. If he had failed, and the Empress Dowager stubbornly refused to yield, he would have been defeated. Thinking he wouldn’t see us for a long time, he would have definitely summoned us to his side to ease his longing. I was waiting yesterday. If he had shown up at Yizhu Pavilion or Zhaoyang Palace, it would have meant our gamble had failed."
Jiang Xian spoke with the cool confidence of a master strategist.
Listening to her words, the Noble Princess Consort’s eyes brightened bit by bit. She also gave her tacit permission to drop the formal "this servant" address.
"Hui Pin is the candidate the Empress Dowager is pushing to secure favor for her own family. It’s already remarkable if the Emperor visits her once a month on a normal day. For him to leave Changle Palace and specifically spend an hour with her was a gesture to give the Empress Dowager face. He had his way with us in Changle Palace; this was his way of making it up to his Mother Empress."
By the end of the explanation, Noble Princess Consort Rong was beaming, her smile like a blossoming flower. She was utterly delighted.
Qiu Yun stared, her eyes wide with astonishment.
’If Ma Wan Yi had been here, she would have just joined the Lady in cursing Hui Pin for being shameless. She would have egged her on, getting the Noble Princess Consort even more worked up. One wrong word and her mistress would have charged over to Hui Pin’s and, heedless of the consequences, used her authority to slap her across the face.’
Qiu Yun said sourly, "You certainly have a way with words, my lady. I’m starting to think nothing sounds like bad news when it comes from you."
"Is it better to talk about bad things all day long? You enjoy hearing that? Is that some kind of hobby of yours?" Jiang Xian asked, puzzled.
Qiu Yun snapped her mouth shut and didn’t argue with her again.
***
The harem was quiet for several days.
Jiang Xian understood the principle of not putting all her eggs in one basket. Besides the new dance provided by her system, she also purchased [Peeping Emperor’s Footprint] twice to arrange "chance encounters" with the Emperor. She wanted to farm as many Palace Fighting Points as possible before she had to leave.
To her great regret, Noble Princess Consort Rong had recently stopped being a source of points for her to farm.
No matter how provocatively she spoke, Noble Princess Consort Rong would simply turn her head and ignore her. Jiang Xian had no idea what she was thinking.
Finally, just as the Empress Dowager announced that the two of them would be taken to Jingxin Temple for seven days of Qingxiu, Jiang Xian successfully farmed a full ten thousand points and upgraded her Palace Fighting System!