Chapter 71
Chapter 71
The emperor and empress had decided together to promote Lady Yu to Radiant Consort.
Now that they knew this Lady Yu was not the original Lady Yu, naturally they could not continue to neglect her as before.
But if they treated her according to her original status, even the empress abdicating in her favor would not be enough. The emperor himself would have to step aside.
That was clearly unrealistic.
Whatever their considerations, Zhu Yin’s “true identity” was destined to remain a secret known only to a tiny handful of people.
That made the treatment they gave her a delicate question.
In the end, the emperor and empress agreed that Radiant Consort was an appropriate identity.
The rank was high enough. Within the harem, aside from the empress, only the Pure Consort stood above her.
The Pure Consort had suffered lasting injuries giving birth to the eldest prince years ago. Chronically ill and confined to bed, she rarely left her palace, so Zhu Yin had almost no chance of encountering her.
The other imperial consorts ranked no higher than Zhu Yin.
A position among the Nine Consorts was sufficiently noble, but not so exalted that the outer court would suspect His Majesty of losing his senses over beauty. It would not bring Zhu Yin the unnecessary infamy of a bewitching consort.
One could say this was the most “reasonable” position the imperial couple could imagine that also spared Zhu Yin any indignity.
They had clearly given it careful thought.
Zhu Yin understood and accepted their kindness.
Outsiders knew nothing of these considerations. They knew only that a newly favored consort had risen in the harem, enjoying tremendous prestige–and that the situation was extremely strange!
Normally, an imperial favorite was loved by the emperor. That was perfectly ordinary. Favored consorts throughout history had all been the same.
But this favored consort was equally beloved by the empress. In fact, the empress seemed to like Radiant Consort Yu even more than His Majesty did.
That was outrageous!
What lawful wife would like her husband’s favored concubine?
Yet Radiant Consort Yu had managed it!
The imperial consorts were beside themselves with envy. More than that, they wanted to ask Her Ladyship the Radiant Consort for her secret!
How did one win His Majesty’s favor? They wanted to know!
How did one please Her Majesty the Empress? They wanted to know even more!
After all these years, aside from the empress, His Majesty had never shown any consort or concubine special favor. Trying to please him looked like a hopeless road to nowhere.
Her Majesty was different. She was generous and gentle, and also the direct superior of every consort.
Before, she had treated everyone equally well, so they had never noticed a difference. Now that she showed partiality, they finally understood the bliss of enjoying Her Majesty’s exclusive favor.
They wanted it!
Imperial consorts visited Chengyi Hall every day.
At first, Zhu Yin thought her “favor” had attracted their jealousy. Full of enthusiasm, she prepared to witness the harem’s distinctive infighting and see whether it truly resembled the rumors–smiles concealing daggers, honeyed words hiding poison, and murder without spilled blood.
After speaking with several women, a question mark slowly appeared over her head.
They did not mention His Majesty, make barbed remarks, offer sarcastic warnings, or dig traps for her.
Every last one of them asked about Her Majesty’s preferences and indirectly probed what sort of beauty she liked.
Your Majesty, do you feel as if your empress might steal your consorts’ hearts right out from under you?
With none of the entertainment she wanted, Zhu Yin quickly lost patience with the flock of beauties visiting every day and went directly to the empress.
The empress did not know whether to laugh or cry. At greetings the next day, she made a special point of warning them. “The Radiant Consort prefers peace and quiet. Do not disturb her.”
The empress’s warning appeared to have precisely the opposite effect.
No one dared openly defy Her Majesty’s order. In private, however, whenever Zhu Yin went to admire flowers in the imperial garden, boat on Penglai Pool, or see the ponies at Wanzhen Garden, she always happened to encounter one or two colleagues from the harem.
Sometimes she accidentally overheard thoughts like these:
“I deliberately dressed like Radiant Consort Yu today, but Her Majesty didn’t look at me twice.”
“His Majesty favored Radiant Consort Yu so much recently, yet these days he has taken a liking to a newcomer. A man’s affection truly cannot be trusted.”
“But Her Majesty still treats the Radiant Consort just as well as before!”
Ha!
Zhu Yin thought the empress simply had no such inclinations.
If she had possessed even the slightest interest in beautiful women, half the beauties in the harem would probably choose her over the emperor.
Still, hearing people mention the emperor’s new favorite reminded Zhu Yin that it was about time to attend to her real work.
The best opportunity was the one that arrived precisely when needed.
Zhu Yin had not yet decided how to broach the subject with the emperor when the female lead came to her of her own accord.
Before entering Chengyi Hall, Su Yiwan had observed carefully and thought the matter over at length.
Radiant Consort Yu’s speed of promotion in this life was truly bizarre. Su Yiwan had also wondered whether there was something unusual about her.
After all, Su Yiwan herself had lived another life and obtained an immortal treasure, the spirit-spring realm. Perhaps other people had encountered miracles too.
But from her observations over these days, Radiant Consort Yu still seemed to be the same Radiant Consort Yu.
She was guileless and possessed an intensely striking beauty. In truth, her temper was not particularly bad.
But if someone truly displeased her, she would give no one face.
As it happened, His Majesty had recently favored several newcomers and had not visited Chengyi Hall for some time.
Su Yiwan decided the time had come.
She arrived bearing a gift.
After exchanging pleasantries, she came directly to the point. “Your Ladyship possesses peerless natural beauty and shines as brightly as the moon. It is truly enviable.”
Zhu Yin crooked her index finger and tapped the table. “Get to the point.”
Su Yiwan was not surprised. “Your Ladyship, my looks are not worth mentioning before yours. But what do you think of my skin?”
She raised her face slightly. Nourished and transformed by the spirit spring, the female lead’s skin was fair and lustrous beneath the natural daylight, with an almost translucent, flawless quality.
Zhu Yin praised, “Heaven has favored you.”
Su Yiwan smiled faintly. “What if I told Your Ladyship that this flawless skin was not mine from birth, but the result of meticulous care?”
She took out the jade box prepared in advance, placed it on the table, and gently pushed it toward Zhu Yin.
“Your Ladyship, the beauty pill in this jade box comes from my family’s secret formula. I owe all my fine skin to it.”
She was not lying entirely. The pill inside the jade box had indeed been made with a drop of spirit-spring water from her realm.
An ordinary pill containing a few nourishing herbs became a supreme beauty medicine once the spirit-spring water was mixed in.
Zhu Yin had already formed a vague guess. “You are willing to give away something so precious. What do you want in exchange?”
Su Yiwan was neither servile nor arrogant and made no effort to conceal her ambition. “I wish to gain His Majesty’s favor. I ask Your Ladyship for your help.”
When Zhu Yin remained silent, Su Yiwan leaned slightly closer and pleaded earnestly, “With my beauty pill, Your Ladyship will look even more radiant than before. How could you fail to hold His Majesty’s heart firmly?”
“And if I gain his favor, I will remember Your Ladyship’s kindness in elevating me for the rest of my life.”
But Zhu Yin was not considering the offer at all.
She simply had not expected the mission to become this easy!
Only moments ago, she had been wondering what excuse to use when telling the emperor about the female lead’s special advantage. Now the female lead had handed her a perfect opening.
Under the female lead’s delighted gaze, Zhu Yin reached out and rested her hand on the jade box.
She smiled brightly. “Attendant Su, don’t worry. I will make certain to speak to the emperor about you carefully and at length.”