CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 49: THE OVERBEARING LADY FALLS FOR THE LITTLE ATTENDANT LADY (PART 3)

After Concubine Jiang returned to the palace, she wore a sour face as if the entire harem owed her a million taels of silver. Concubine Wei, afraid she couldn’t play along, turned her attention to Concubine Li: "Lately, Ruyi has been clinging to her father and misses him dearly. The Emperor also dotes on Ruyi, and knowing that his daughter misses him, he brought back many little trinkets for her."

Concubine Li: "The Princess is adorable; it makes sense for the Emperor to care for her a bit more, especially since he’s been out on Qiu Lie for so long."

Qiu Lie didn’t take you.

Concubine Wei: "There’s no helping it; Ruyi is still young and can’t be without me. The Emperor promised to take her along when she’s a bit older."

I have a daughter.

Concubine Li gritted her back teeth: "The Emperor dined at your place, so why didn’t he stay overnight? Could it be that Concubine Wei’s service wasn’t thorough enough?"

Hit at her sore spot, Concubine Wei was slightly displeased but continued: "The Princess is used to sleeping with me, and the Emperor had matters to attend to, so he returned to the Qiankun Palace."

The two of them talked back and forth like a repeating machine, yet everyone else watched with great interest and nobody interrupted their conversation. Finally, Concubine Li, irritated by her constant bragging about her daughter, let out a cold laugh and patted Yun Jiao standing behind her: "Thanks to Attendant Lady Xi, the Emperor visits Xianfu Palace frequently and often praises me for taking good care of her. Even though Attendant Lady Xi is young, I treat her not just as a sister but almost like a daughter."

It’s just a daughter, huh?

Watch her claim one on the spot!

Unexpectedly pulled, Yun Jiao nearly stumbled but was steadied by Xue Ya from behind.

Yun Jiao was shocked.

The previous concubines tried to get close to her by playing the "sisterhood" card, but today, in front of everyone in Jianzhang Palace, Concubine Li played the "mother-daughter" card! She treats her as the main lady of the house; she really wants to be her mother!

Looking at the others, she found that they all remained calm, and no one thought there was anything wrong with Concubine Li’s words.

To put it bluntly, both Princess Ruyi and Attendant Lady Xi were just tools to make the Emperor visit their respective palaces more often, symbols of maintaining favor. So when Concubine Wei flaunted using her daughter to keep the Emperor for meals, Concubine Li bringing out Yun Jiao made sense; it’s like when someone plays three cards and you also play three cards. Play along!

Unfortunately, Yun Jiao’s mind didn’t turn as quickly as the others.

She thought for two seconds and realized that in the workplace, being indecisive was worst; the county magistrate wasn’t as good as the current lord, so she needed to staunchly support the main lady now!

Thus, she responded with emotional intelligence: "Yes, mother."

Concubine Li: "..."

Concubine Wei: "..."

The expressions of everyone in the harem were hard to maintain.

"Fool,"

Concubine Li gave her a look and whispered: "It means treating you as a daughter, not for you to actually call me mother."

Yun Jiao also returned her look, full of emotion, and said:

"The relationship between the concubine and Concubine Li is not like mother and daughter, it surpasses mother and daughter."

Yun Jiao believed that if her mother knew that saying such things could help her have a better life in the harem, her mother would surely forgive her.

Today’s greetings in Jianzhang Palace ended with the sworn mother-daughter bond of the two from Xianfu Palace.

Nobody else mentioned anything else, not even Concubine Wei, who usually loved to chatter endlessly.

...

After leaving Jianzhang Palace, Concubine Li thought for a while on the palanquin and suddenly sat up straight: "Why did you speak like that during the greetings just now?"

"What did I do? Lady, you just gave me a look, didn’t that mean you wanted me to come up with something tough to surpass Concubine Wei and shut her up?"

Yun Jiao looked up, puzzled.

"That’s right, but you spoke way too extravagantly."

"But in the end, wasn’t it what you wanted? Don’t be too strict about the process."

Seeing that Yun Jiao was speaking about reason with her, Concubine Li couldn’t help but feel a bit ruffled.

What made her even more frustrated was that she couldn’t refute Yun Jiao; her logic was coherent.

No doubt, Yun Jiao played along with her main lady today and managed such a move against Concubine Wei. In the days following, no one dared to provoke anyone from Xianfu Palace again during greetings, and Concubine Li enjoyed the most peaceful and quiet days since entering the palace.

In the midst of this tranquility, the birthday of Concubine Jiang arrived.

The harem didn’t prohibit concubines from celebrating birthdays; those with means could also host feasts to invite sisters to dine. Yun Jiao wasn’t interested in this, nor did she expect Concubine Jiang to invite her, but indeed she was on the list. Invited by a concubine, she, as an Attendant Lady, couldn’t refuse unless feigning illness.

"Is it possible to send someone on my behalf?"

Yun Jiao lamented.

Xue Ya: "That’s something the master shouldn’t even consider."