Chapter 96 - 79: The Noble Consort’s Pupils Quake
Two bowls were placed in front of each of the three women.
The Empress Dowager’s eyesight wasn’t very good, so she couldn’t see fine details clearly. After picking up a single grain of white rice, she would examine it closely. Once she confirmed it was plump and pure white, she would recite a blessing and place it into the empty bowl.
The bowl of raw rice the nanny had presented to the Empress Dowager was filled entirely with perfect grains.
Her re-inspection was more for the sake of ceremony.
Although the Empress Dowager had said they were praying for Yan Chi, the Emperor, and the Empress, and the nanny had said any blessing would suffice, there was clearly an expected script.
Jiang Xian listened for a moment. The Empress Dowager was reciting:
"May Buddha bless the Empress with the safe and early birth of a legitimate son."
Noble Princess Consort Rong, however, pretended not to hear. She recited, "May Buddha bless the Emperor with good health and Yan Chi with everlasting fortune."
Praying for Yan Chi, and for the Emperor. Nothing wrong with that.
From Noble Princess Consort Rong’s perspective, it was a great act of restraint that she wasn’t praying for the Empress’s soul to swiftly return to Buddha’s embrace. The Empress Dowager knew her fiery temper well. Seeing that the words of her prayer were at least acceptable on the surface, she couldn’t be bothered to quibble. She, too, wanted her son to be healthy.
Picking up the tiny grains of rice with chopsticks was very difficult. The pampered Noble Princess Consort Rong was quite clumsy at it, often finding a flaw only after she’d picked up a grain, forcing her to discard it. In the time it took the Empress Dowager to recite three blessings, she had only managed to sort one perfect grain.
Staring at the large, full bowl made the Noble Princess Consort feel restless and impatient.
Jiang Xian, however, wasn’t fazed.
’This is just a matter of practice,’ she thought. ’If I did this all day, I’d get the hang of it. I’ll just take my time.’
So, moving at the same pace as Noble Princess Consort Rong, she picked up a single grain of raw rice.
"May Buddha bless the Empress with the safe and early birth of a legitimate son," she repeated softly.
[Prayed for Yan Chi by sorting rice in front of the Empress Dowager. Palace Fighting Points +1]
Jiang Xian: !!!
Noble Princess Consort Rong, who was next to her, noticed she had frozen. "What’s wrong, Noble Lady Gu?" she asked softly. "Don’t tell me you’re exhausted after just one grain?"
"I just had a moment of insight, that’s all. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness."
Jiang Xian’s eyes suddenly lit up.
The last time they had shone this brightly was when she was grinding points off her etiquette nanny.
Back then, she had asked 600 questions a day, racking up 2,046 points in three days. It had been exhilarating.
She never expected her second opportunity to grind for points would present itself in Changle Palace.
The bowl of raw rice that so frustrated the Noble Princess Consort was, in Jiang Xian’s eyes, a bowl full of points.
’Ten thousand points to upgrade the system, here I come!’
Realizing this, Jiang Xian channeled the spirit of high-intensity studying. She re-evaluated her grip on the chopsticks, the arc of her wrist, and the rhythm of her sorting, determined to grind out the maximum number of points before her wrist gave out.
Noble Princess Consort Rong’s mind was not on the bowl of rice.
If she could choose what to pray for, she would have sincerely asked for three things:
For the Emperor to love only her.
For her to have both a son and a daughter within three years.
For all three thousand women of the harem to vanish from the face of the earth.
If she couldn’t say any of that, then she had nothing to say to Buddha at all.
Noble Princess Consort Rong’s gaze kept drifting toward Jiang Xian, looking for faults, her mind wandering as she wondered what on earth the Emperor saw in her.
"May Buddha bless the Emperor with good health."
’Hmph, so she knows to show concern for the Emperor.’
"May Buddha bless the Empress Dowager with a long and healthy life."
’Such a sycophantic hypocrite.’
"May Buddha bless the Empress with good health."
’So she and Chu Siyun really are close!’ Noble Princess Consort Rong’s mood plummeted. Her hand slipped, and the grain of rice she had just picked up fell back into the bowl. She seethed inwardly.
As Noble Princess Consort Rong continued to sort, she noticed something was off.
Noble Lady Gu’s movements... they were getting faster and faster.
Once Jiang Xian mastered the motion of sorting the rice, the only remaining challenge was inspecting each grain’s condition. This was a piece of cake for someone with her innate focus. In her past life, she had been born in a small village. A large banyan tree grew outside her window, and the village women loved to gather beneath it to gossip. Their dialect was boisterous and the topics were scandalous, yet she could somehow quiet her mind amidst the chaos to do her schoolwork, ultimately scoring just as well as the gifted students from the cities.
Later, during a summer vacation, a relative got her a job on an assembly line, where she did the exact same thing: sorting out defective products.
’All work pays off, as long as you apply yourself.’
’Work experience comes back to reward you in the most unexpected ways.’
[Prayed for Yan Chi by sorting rice in front of the Empress Dowager. Palace Fighting Points +1]
[Prayed for Yan Chi by sorting rice in front of the Empress Dowager. Palace Fighting Points +1]
[Prayed for Yan Chi by sorting rice in front of the Empress Dowager. Palace Fighting Points +1]...
The system notifications popped up one after another.
Jiang Xian imagined she was earning a dollar for every blessing she uttered, and her recitation became positively fervent.
Before long, even the Empress Dowager noticed something unusual.
The Empress Dowager heard Noble Lady Gu rattling off her blessings at an incredible speed. Her first thought was that Noble Lady Gu was being perfunctory, mumbling nonsense to show her displeasure, and she felt a surge of annoyance. But then, the Empress Dowager looked at the rice she had sorted. To her surprise, every single grain was perfect and plump. All the blackened, broken, and flawed grains had been set aside, forming a small mound.
’So she wasn’t just mumbling nonsense!’
The Empress Dowager paused and looked toward the Noble Princess Consort.
The amount of rice the Noble Princess Consort had sorted was pitifully small in comparison.
Comparisons were truly odious. Noble Princess Consort Rong felt the Empress Dowager’s gaze and her heart skipped a beat. She could no longer afford to glare at Jiang Xian and tried to focus on her own task, but her attention was inevitably drawn to the woman beside her.
It was just...
impossible not to notice her!
Her speed was just too fast. She would silently discard a flawed grain, then recite a blessing for a good one. The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, utterly flawless. It was as if an industrial revolution had taken place on her person in the span of ten short minutes. She had become an emotionless Buddha Rice-sorting machine, leaving ordinary people in the dust. Anyone would have to admit her professional skill; she could definitely land a daily-wage job on a factory line in Guangdong.
Why? How could she be so fast?!
Noble Princess Consort Rong was so flustered by the competition that she was about to explode. The consequence of her anxiety was that her own sorting became even slower and clumsier.
The Empress Dowager, stunned by her efficiency, had stopped her own work and was now just staring fixedly at her. Jiang Xian, however, was completely oblivious, immersed in the grand enterprise of grinding for points. The way the Empress Dowager looked at her was like watching someone use one of those "merit-grinding" wooden fish apps—it seemed highly efficient, yet something felt off, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.
Before she knew it, Jiang Xian had finished sorting the entire large bowl of rice.
The bowl that was once empty was now filled with the plump, perfect grains she had selected.
The rhythm of her chanted blessings ceased. Noble Princess Consort Rong, who had been watching with bated breath, finally resumed breathing normally...
Just then, in a soft and graceful voice, Jiang Xian asked:
"Empress Dowager, I have finished my bowl of rice. Might I trouble the nanny to bring me another? I wish to continue praying for Yan Chi."
Noble Princess Consort Rong’s pupils constricted in shock.
’She’s not done yet? She wants a refill?’
Jiang Xian hadn’t had her fill. As long as the system kept awarding her Palace Fighting Points, she could go on forever.
The nanny at her side was also stunned, casting a hesitant glance toward the Empress Dowager.
’Should we let her keep going?’ the nanny seemed to ask. ’It’s kind of terrifying.’
The Empress Dowager paused for a moment, then nodded. "Take the rice Noble Lady Gu has sorted away."
The implication was clear: she wanted to have the rice strictly inspected for flaws.