Palace Intrigue?: I Make the Emperor Cry by Rewinding Time!-Chapter 150 - 127_2

The Servant Consort Zhen wasn’t someone who hadn’t met a man that moved her heart; it’s just that she simply didn’t like men.

The thought of having to consummate a marriage with a man after leaving the palace made the Servant Consort Zhen rather die within the palace walls.

So when the Emperor proposed a deal to her, she agreed without hesitation, even thinking of overachieving the task the Emperor assigned her. Even if she were to die in the palace, it didn’t matter, as long as the Emperor rewarded her family kindly for her service. As for the wealth she obtained, she planned to send half to her family and leave the other half to Ah Zhu.

Thus, the dramatic scene at Jianzhang Palace unfolded today.

"It seems you might have been pampered dumb, Little Mistress. How can you still smile?"

Ah Zhu reprimanded her with concern.

"It doesn’t hurt. The Emperor knows the Empress is making things difficult for me and will surely pity me."

The Servant Consort Zhen lifted her head, and the palace maid applying medicine couldn’t see the helplessness in her eyes. She assumed the Little Mistress was merely arrogant with success and sighed, agreeing, "Yes, yes, the Emperor is very good to you, Little Mistress."

Sure enough, by the time afternoon came, the rewards the Emperor bestowed upon the Servant Consort Zhen arrived at Yikun Palace.

The endless stream of rewards was carried in by strong eunuchs, making even Concubine Wei want to curse, "Yikun Palace is already cramped with eunuchs, palace maids, and nurses for Ruyi, and now there’s this Servant Consort Zhen with all these rewards. Will her place even accommodate everything? Don’t expect this palace to clear out space for her!"

Halfway through her outburst, a palace maid from Xianfu Palace arrived.

Xue Ya paid her respects, but Concubine Wei didn’t invite her to rise, only squinting at her, "Speak, what’s the matter? Are you just passing through or staying?"

Xue Ya didn’t understand the reason for her sarcasm and just forced a smile, "Apologies for disturbing Lady Concubine Wei, this servant is here to deliver an article on behalf of my mistress."

With her words, Concubine Wei remembered she had an imperial task entrusted to her.

Reading the article after painting seemed to be an early tutoring session for her child.

"Why didn’t Concubine Xi come herself but sent a palace maid? Doesn’t she understand the importance of respecting one’s teacher? Tell Concubine Xi to deliver it in person."

Concubine Wei instructed the palace maid to escort her out.

Since the Emperor had asked her to assist with this, she was, in a sense, half a tutor to Concubine Xi, making it reasonable to require her personal delivery of the article.

Having been politely shown out, Xue Ya had no choice but to return to Xianfu Palace to report back to her mistress.

"So I still have to go myself, huh..."

Yun Jiao curled into a ball.

Gong Mei advised, "This servant also thinks mistress should personally make a visit, to avoid giving others grounds for criticism."

"It’s not that I’m too lazy to walk, it’s that I’m feeling a bit guilty."

If it could be submitted online, she would have done it online; handing it over in person felt too awkward.

Yun Jiao sat in the sedan, and on the way to Yikun Palace, she took it out to look at it, hoping to make a few edits, but without carrying the Four Treasures of the Study with her, it was inconvenient, so she gave up.

...

After practicing calligraphy for a while, Yun Jiao arrived.

Yun Jiao respectfully presented her written article. Concubine Wei was quite satisfied with such an attitude and thought to herself that if Concubine Xi could always be so cautious and solicitous, it wouldn’t be impossible for her to play the role of a female teacher and teach her for a while...

"Let me see."

Concubine Wei took the article and began reading.

The further she read, the more bizarre a feeling pushed into her mind, akin to the pain of breaking fresh ground during her first night. Concubine Xi’s article cut into her thoughts with the same raw intensity.

Concubine Wei focused, furrowed her brows, and pondered...

"Concubine Xi," she said, "do you wish for the Emperor to admire your talents? I advise you to give up that idea as soon as possible; it’s a dead end."

"It’s not that!"

Yun Jiao looked pained.

If possible, she hoped the Emperor would just see her as a stand-in.

That way, when attending to him at night, she would only need to smile quietly, rather than being dragged into writing love letters.

"Hmm..."

Concubine Wei: "Just because there are words on paper doesn’t mean it’s an article. When you wrote this article, did you really think it through?"

Yun Jiao also didn’t want it to be this way. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

But Yan Chi’s formal articles had a very meticulous format, akin to literary Chinese, which couldn’t be mastered in a short time: "I just can’t write that kind of article. I already exhausted a lifetime’s worth of ink scoring full marks on the written test at Chuxiu Palace."

Concubine Wei still had doubts, Yun Jiao’s writing was beautiful, not like someone with no ink in her belly.

Concubine Wei invited her into the study, where Princess Ruyi was also present.

"Lady Xi, greetings."

Ruyi stood and saluted Yun Jiao, who slightly turned to avoid receiving it fully.

"Sit down and write an article now; I don’t believe you can write so poorly."

Yun Jiao sat down next to Ruyi, and Concubine Wei stood beside them, correcting her daughter’s writing posture and habits.

After a while, Yun Jiao handed over the written article.