As soon as Shen Shixi entered the hall, she quickly glanced upward.
After not seeing him for several years, Li Yuanke had grown even taller. Now the Son of Heaven, his imperial majesty was even more imposing, and his features were sharper than before!
At twenty-four, he was uniquely blessed in appearance, physique, and temperament.
Sitting tall and majestic, he was exceptionally valiant and strikingly beautiful—his grace and elegance surpassed even those of his many imperial consorts.
[Tsk, he’s gotten so handsome. That face, that waist, those legs—exquisite!]
Although she would have to share this “rotten cucumber” with many others in the future, what else could she do?
Fortunately, this face was extraordinarily beautiful. She would just have to endure it!
In her past life, she had seen many attractive men, but never one of this caliber. If she had to settle in this life, she didn’t want to wrong herself.
Shen Shixi performed her salutations along with four other palace candidates.
Emperor Yongxi’s gaze also fell upon Shen Shixi. When he had sent her away from the capital years ago, she was still a young girl. Now, with light makeup on her delicate face and a touch of vermilion on her lips, she was like a blooming crabapple tree.
The girl who had grown up on his back—there was no way he would hand her over to someone else.
Hearing someone curse him, Li Yuanke was furious, but he soon realized that he seemed to be the only one who could hear that voice.
This was unprecedented. How could one person hear another’s inner thoughts?
It was too bizarre!
“Your Majesty, what do you think of these five?”
The Emperor had shown no interest after selecting for so long, only keeping the pre-arranged candidates. The Empress was both pleased and worried.
The Empress handed the register to the Emperor. He didn’t look at it, his sharp gaze sweeping over the five women. Except for the woman in the middle wearing a lilac-colored chest-high ruqun, who stole a shy and timid glance at him, the other four kept their eyes on their noses and their hearts in check, maintaining their bowing posture.
They were all very well-behaved.
Even that little thing was being well-behaved.
[He still hasn’t let us rise. I’m exhausted!]
Shen Shixi maintained her bowing posture, half-squatting. It was indeed exhausting, but the Emperor clearly had no intention of telling them to rise.
Emperor Yongxi was about to, but then he heard her cursing him again, so he simply didn’t.
He pretended to read the register, while actually observing the other four women on the floor. He truly couldn’t see anything amiss. Seeing the little thing wobbling and unable to stand steadily, he finally said, “Rise!”
Shen Shixi breathed a sigh of relief and slowly stood up, her legs already numb.
[His voice has gotten better too! Fine, for the sake of this bastard’s all-around good looks, I won’t hold it against him!]
Shen Shixi suppressed a belly full of anger!
That bastard had been quite good to her when they were young, yet her elder sister had just died in a palace struggle, and he had issued an explicit decree for her to enter the palace for the selection.
Wasn’t that infuriating?
Being the Emperor really meant he could do whatever he wanted!
“Keep all five!” Emperor Yongxi didn’t know which one it was, but being able to hear their heart’s voice made him very wary. More importantly, the person was clearly dissatisfied with him.
Li Yuanke suspected it was the girl in the middle, who was clearly restless and trying to seduce him.
The Empress Dowager was overjoyed; it was rare for her son to be so interested in the selection. “Then keep them, and select a few more!”
Among them was the girl from the Shen family, who was already a pre-determined choice.
As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the imperial consorts in the hall turned sour.
Li Yuanke had been on the throne for nearly five years. He had spent the first two and a half years in mourning, and then he was busy consolidating imperial power and ruthlessly eliminating his brothers. Only now did he have time to replenish the harem and extend the imperial line.
In this selection, a total of 1,500 candidates participated. Twenty-five were kept: twelve for the palace and thirteen for the imperial clan.
Shen Shixi was naturally among those kept. However, since the official entry was three days away, she was sent home first.
The Shen family was a family of scholars where even the maidservants were literate, yet it had produced a degenerate like Shen Shixi. She barely knew a few characters and had been running wild since she was a child.
By all rights, she should have been riding a little donkey and admiring the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan right now.
But now she had to enter the palace. The whole family was shrouded in gloom, except for her, who seemed heartless. Becoming impatient with her mother’s crying, she stamped her foot. “Oh, can’t you just act like I haven’t come back yet?”
“Your sister died in that palace!” Jiang Shi cried.
“I definitely won’t die in the palace. No matter who dies, it won’t be me, alright?” She couldn’t stand her mother’s tears; it was like the flood that drowned Jinshan Temple.
“My child, you’ve always been so outspoken. How will you survive once you enter the palace?”
Shen Shixi wasn’t afraid. She was essentially a “paratrooper” entering the palace. As long as she didn’t desperately court death or wait to die like her elder sister, she generally wouldn’t die.
Her grandfather had been the Grand Tutor, and the Pei clan was the empress’s clan. The Grand Councilor and imperial uncle, Pei Wujiu, wanted to establish the legitimate son born of the Empress as the Crown Prince. But at that time, the only surviving legitimate son was the Prince of Jin.
To put it nicely, the Prince of Jin was kind-hearted; to put it bluntly, he was a glutinous rice bodhisattva. If he were made Crown Prince, it was hard to say what the dynasty’s surname would be in the future.
The late emperor had thirteen sons, many of whom were outstanding. Why take such a huge risk?
Shen Shixi had persuaded her grandfather to lead half the court officials against Grand Councilor Pei, strongly recommending the Eighth Imperial Prince, Li Yuanke, as Crown Prince.
She had no choice but to join the struggle for succession. After all, her grandfather had taken Li Yuanke as a student. Once the Prince of Jin ascended the throne, Li Yuanke would surely be purged, and the Shen family would face extermination.
Li Yuanke’s mother was a princess of the previous dynasty, giving him the blood of two imperial houses. His status was undoubtedly noble, but he was famously arrogant, overbearing, reckless, and cold-hearted.
However, these flaws were all virtues when it came to being an Emperor.
Grand Councilor Pei then attacked the Eighth Imperial Prince’s background, arguing that if he became Crown Prince, the world might eventually return to the Xiao clan.
Grand Tutor Shen countered that Grand Councilor Pei wanted to crown the Prince of Jin because he wanted to seize the throne himself, as the Prince of Jin was completely subservient to him.
The late emperor evaluated the situation: the risk of making the Prince of Jin Crown Prince was indeed greater, as Grand Councilor Pei would clearly outlive him. As for the Eighth Imperial Prince, though he had the blood of the previous dynasty, would such a selfish and cold-hearted person disregard his own empire for the sake of a defunct dynasty?
Li Yuanke became the Crown Prince.
To gain Grand Councilor Pei’s support, Grand Tutor Shen suggested that the Eighth Imperial Prince take a girl from the Pei family as a consort.
This idea had also come from Shen Shixi, a tactic known as the art of vertical and horizontal alliances during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
The late emperor betrothed the elder sister and the Pei girl to the Crown Prince. The elder sister became a Liangdi, and the Pei girl a Liangyuan. Originally, her sister’s rank was one level higher, but her sister was a hopeless romantic and a total failure at palace intrigue.
The position of Crown Princess remained vacant.
After Li Yuanke ascended the throne, he crowned the Pei girl as Empress to stabilize the Pei family. The elder sister became Consort Shu, and there was also a Consort Min, Lady Chen. A year ago, after the elder sister passed away, the Emperor demoted Lady Chen to a commoner and ordered her death.
There was no explicit decree, but it was a message to the world that the elder sister had died at the hands of Lady Chen.
“Mother, Elder Sister died under mysterious circumstances. It’s better that I enter the palace so I can seek revenge for her!” Shen Shixi said tentatively.
Jiang Shi shuddered. “My child, don’t you dare do anything foolish! Whatever happened to your sister has nothing to do with you. Don’t scare me!”
Although her eldest daughter was gone, it was her own wish to enter the palace back then. Her rank in the Eastern Palace had been high, and she was set on becoming Empress, but she lacked both the schemes and the luck.
For the sake of her daughter’s ambition, the old master had remained stuck in the position of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, not daring to move. Although she grieved for her eldest daughter, if it weren’t for that, her younger daughter wouldn’t have to enter the palace now.
“Mother, this time there’s also a girl from the Chen family entering the palace. We’ll cross paths sooner or later!”
Shen Shixi was full of fighting spirit. Since the Emperor insisted on her entering the palace, if she could live well there, so be it. But if he dared to make her unhappy, she would eventually set his harem on fire!
Jiang Shi was filled with worry. “Don’t go looking for trouble. Just live well in the palace. Don’t even worry about imperial favor. I will find a way to send money to you. Just take care of yourself and stay safe, and I will thank the heavens.”
“And…” Jiang Shi urged repeatedly, “once you’re in the palace, try to speak as little as possible. That big mouth of yours will cause trouble sooner or later!”
“I’m not stupid!” Shen Shixi said. “At home, I say whatever I want in front of you and Father, but I definitely won’t talk nonsense in the palace.”
Jiang Shi started crying again. If her daughter couldn’t even speak freely in the palace, how would she survive?
Shen Shixi had been reborn into this world and had spent sixteen years in the Shen family, pampered and never having suffered even a bit of grievance.
All that love was fought for, and she never suffered because she never let a grudge last through the night.
Early the next morning, officials from the Ministry of Rites arrived with an imperial decree. Shen Shixi was titled a Baolin of the seventh rank.
She took her maidservants, Bai Pin and Bai Kui, along with five hundred taels of silver—half the Shen family’s property—as her dowry and entered the palace.
Normally, the people and items palace candidates could bring were very limited, but since she was entering by decree, she was different from the ordinary candidates.
Of course, she had more than just those five hundred taels. Over the years, she had traveled around and owned some properties. She was quite wealthy and brought a total of fifty thousand taels in silver notes into the palace.
Among the twelve candidates in this batch who remained in the palace, two were titled Baolin, six were Yunü, and four were Cainü. The Chen girl was among the Cainü.
The Chen girl’s father was the Secretariat Director, but she was born of a concubine, and since her elder sister had been put to death, her initial rank was not high.
The one titled Baolin alongside Shen Shixi was the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Lu’s residence, Lin Guiyou, the daughter of the Great General of the Right Guard, Lin Junji. She also received an honorific title: Jin. This meant that although both were Baolin, Lady Lin’s rank was half a level higher than hers.
After entering the palace, Shen Shixi and her servants were taken to Zhaoyang Palace by the Imperial Household Department.
Zhaoyang Palace was located to the west, in the first row of palaces near the central axis, closest to Qianyuan Palace.
Since Shen Shixi’s rank was low, she could only live in a side hall.
Bai Pin stuffed a pouch into the hand of the eunuch leading the way. “It’s been hard on you today, Eunuch. We’ll have to rely on you in the future!”
The eunuch weighed it; it was quite heavy. He thought to himself that this Baolin was quite sensible, so he offered some guidance:
“Zhaoyang Palace is just west of Fengyi Palace. The time for the daily morning audience with the Empress is the Chen hour. It takes the time of one incense stick to get there from here, and the consorts in the palace usually arrive half a cup of tea time early.”
“Thank you for the tip, Eunuch. Otherwise, our Baolin would still be stumbling in the dark tomorrow!” Bai Pin said with a smile.
Shen Shixi had already learned these rules, but she thanked him with deep gratitude. The eunuch left with a smile.
Shen Shixi would never look down on eunuchs. To live well in this palace, every minor character was important.
For now, she was settled. Zhaoyang Palace was where her elder sister used to live. After her sister’s death, it had been renovated and looked quite new.
The furnishings inside were exquisite and elegant, but they didn’t suit Shen Shixi’s habits. Bai Pin and Bai Kui first organized the inner bedchamber. Shen Shixi then met the four people assigned to her in the hall: two palace attendants and two palace maids.
Eight more people were kneeling outside the hall, responsible for the heavy cleaning of Zhaoyang Palace. Normally they wouldn’t concern her, but currently, Zhaoyang Palace had no principal consort.