CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 72: THE EMPRESS DOWAGER’S CURIOSITY

The attendant lady trying to butter up Yun Jiao, Xie Zhixing thought back for a moment...

He tried hard but only remembered the general contour of the face.

"They go to great lengths to please you, and yet you haven’t agreed to speak well of them before me?"

Even Xie Zhixing didn’t realize he had a hidden expectation in his words.

Yun Jiao shook her head: "I am just a consort, how am I worthy to uplift others."

"Then who do you think is qualified to recommend others to me?"

Xie Zhixing recalled when the concubines of this selection were still learning the rules at Chuxiu Palace, Lady asked him to go to Yanxi Palace, but as it turned out, she wanted to push her half-sister onto him. He didn’t mind the favored concubine pushing him to others. Just in that instant, Xie Zhixing thought about how the Ji Family not only wanted a favored concubine but also wanted a prince or princess associated with the Ji Family, even going so far as to send someone into the palace for surrogate bearing as a legitimate daughter...

How does that feel?

It’s like you’re playing a乙遊 or a gal game, feeling moved by the beautiful illustrations and touching scripts, when suddenly, a screen offering you a special SR card for six yuan pops up, reminding you that behind it all is a team of planners, scriptwriters, programmers, and illustrators who brainstorm late into the night to tempt you to spend money.

At that moment, Xie Zhixing thought of the affairs of the court.

Regardless of gender, thinking about work tends to deflate one’s spirits.

So, after finishing his meal at Yanxi Palace, he left without honoring Lady’s intentions of favoring Consort Ji.

Thus, Xie Zhixing wanted to hear Yun Jiao’s answer.

"Does the Emperor want the truth?"

"Of course."

"Then promise not to be angry with me."

Xie Zhixing nodded.

"I think only the Empress Dowager is qualified to recommend concubines to the Emperor."

Yun Jiao smiled with her eyes curved, a smile so infectious that even monumental matters seemed trivial to her. Xie Zhixing flipped the tiger-eared cap on her head back, covering her with his large hand, wanting to pry open her head to see what’s inside: "It’s rare for you to speak wisely."

"I really think this way, who to indulge with is the Emperor’s own business, how could I be the one to recommend someone? Wouldn’t that make me..." Yun Jiao wanted to say the madame of a brothel, a phrase that would insult three parties, but she stopped: "the matchmaker of the harem? I don’t have that skill."

"But what if I want to indulge with you?"

He must be foolish to let her lead him by the nose, even asking such a question.

Xie Zhixing found it both absurd yet couldn’t help but ask.

The Emperor’s indulgence was only expressed freely in these private conversations.

"Um,"

After a slight pause, Yun Jiao generously loosened her collar a little: "Then shall it be now?"

"..."

Xie Zhixing expressionlessly pulled her clothes back in place.

The second part happened when Yun Jiao went out for a stroll and encountered Concubine Jiang, with nobody else around, faced with narrow streets, Concubine Jiang, who was adorned with jewels, rested her hands on her waist, pointing at Yun Jiao, and her mouth spat out a string of jargon that the Emperor couldn’t understand, mixed with fish, shrimp, and crab patterns.

He thought it was a secret code, but Yun Jiao explained it as an artistic way of swearing.

"Concubine Jiang scolds very rudely?"

"Not really, Concubine Jiang cited scriptures and scolded so eloquently that I couldn’t understand it, much like the Emperor reading a secret code."

The picture that followed was what intrigued Xie Zhixing the most.

The Q version of Consort Xi, who was being cursed, shrank inch by inch, leapt up with a big hammer, and flattened Concubine Jiang like a pancake, rolling her up and tossing her into the lake.

Xie Zhixing hadn’t heard of any mishap happening in the palace.

"Look, Emperor,"

Yun Jiao pointed to the final frame, where Consort Xi was lying on her bed, sleeping soundly: "These are all imagined in my dreams, in reality, she scolded me down like a grandchild."

The Emperor smiled gently.

Through the comic book she drew, he seemed to glimpse the world from Yun Jiao’s perspective, with simple sketches that contained such rich mental activities. The life he was tired of living, the place he was tired of staying, the people he was used to seeing, all became interesting under her pen.

He had seen everything before, only a bit puzzled: "Why am I not included?"

"Actually, I’ve secretly drawn you."

"Then why can’t I see it inside?"

Yun Jiao signaled him to lower his head, she wanted to tell him in whispers.

Xie Zhixing obediently leaned over, smiling inside, Weiyang Palace was managed like an iron bucket under him, this small private talk couldn’t be transmitted outside: "I’ve shown it to Concubine Wei, she said I’d drawn the Emperor such a way, just waiting for an assassination."

This time he couldn’t hold back, laughing out loud: "Concubine Wei is quite interesting!"

Looking at Yun Jiao’s little expression, she seemed so aggrieved, Xie Zhixing coaxed her: "Don’t listen to her, I love your drawings, next time, I want to see myself drawn by you."

This is even more difficult to draw than the concubines.

Yun Jiao shook her short legs, thinking to herself what was worth drawing between the concubines and the Emperor, even if drawn it wouldn’t pass the review. Of course, this she didn’t say to the Emperor, she just thought it in her heart.

"Your drawings are interesting, but they’re not suitable for showing others, if Concubine Jiang finds out you made her look like this, she’d cry in anger."

Yun Jiao called injustice: "I didn’t depict her uglily, aren’t my drawings cute?"

Under her pen, Concubine Jiang’s overbearing demeanor was shown with her hands on her waist, and an occasionally sky-piercing nose displayed, not like a great villain but rather like a mischievous child who likes tearing others’ kites.

With a faint smile, Xie Zhixing asked:

"Also, I didn’t know you had so many snacks at Concubine Wei’s place."

Yun Jiao: "..."

She fell silent this time, lowering her head guiltily.

The Emperor didn’t let her go, even pinching the flesh at her waist: "See, the flesh you gained is here."

"Mmm mmm, right, right."

Jiaojiao wasn’t keen on dealing with the dog Emperor.

It’s just that the snacks blew up her belly, she’d just go to the restroom and give birth to them all soon.

...

The palace attendants of Qiankun Palace endured a day of the Emperor’s low pressure, originally thought that when night fell, it should be Weiyang Palace’s turn for misfortune, unexpectedly the news spread that the Emperor was in a great mood, with waves of laughter echoing out, yet the exact content was unknown.

Upon inquiry, it was the turn of Consort Xi’s nameplate!

It was rightful for her to be favored, she indeed knew how to please the Emperor.

Concubine Wei upon hearing this news thought someone was in trouble, at least whoever on that comic had scolded Consort Xi would be reported by her behind the scenes, what a perfect move, she offered the Emperor paintings, ones filled with longing and expressed with subtle beauty, who would have thought there’s Consort Xi’s kind of artistic expression, not simple.

She waited for two days, yet no further developments.

Concubine Wei suddenly uncertain, maybe Consort Xi isn’t so capable?

The people involved didn’t feel aggrieved, Xie Zhixing didn’t take it to heart either.

The small bickering among the concubines, managing them one by one, felt never-ending like hitting moles.

Both were broad-minded, yet within the concubines, there were many who thought deeply, seeing Consort Xi whom she just taunted, got favored again... they ate poorly and slept poorly, especially Concubine Jiang, who clutched her handkerchief, fearful for most of the day, went crying to the Empress Dowager at Changle Palace.

The Empress Dowager helplessly: "What do you want me to do? Punish a consort? Even if you mentioned Concubine Feng, I could reprimand her."

Finding fault with a consort, the Empress Dowager thought it beneath her dignity.

However, recalling previously the Empress too misstepped, the Empress Dowager did feel a couple of points curious about Consort Xi.