Lying down again, it was almost dawn. Li Yuanke had just rested for a short while when he was called to get up.
He didn’t want to rise, especially after seeing Shen Shixi burrow deeper into the bed, burying her head under the covers and sleeping like a pig. This only fueled his irritation.
But today was a major court assembly.
Summoning his primordial force, Li Yuanke sat up and shoved her. “Get up! Attend to me while I dress!”
Shen Shixi didn’t move a muscle, pretending to be dead.
Ignored, Li Yuanke flew into a rage. “Shen Shixi, how dare you! Do you even know your place?”
Shen Shixi paid him no mind. Like a worm, she wriggled further into the bed, putting more distance between them, completely burying herself under the covers.
Li Yuanke grabbed the quilt, intending to yank it away, but Shen Shixi clung to it tightly. “Li Yuanke, just because you can’t sleep doesn’t mean I can’t either! Are there no attendants left in the palace? Have they all died? I need help dressing myself—how am I supposed to help you? Don’t bother dressing; just go to court bare-assed!”
She didn’t just grumble inwardly—she shouted exactly what was on her mind!
Li Yuanke was stunned. Without even glancing at him, Shen Shixi flopped back onto the bed, wrapped herself in the quilt, and went back to sleep.
“Don’t forget to pay your respects to the Empress!” Li Yuanke snapped irritably.
Shen Shixi was thoroughly annoyed. “Oh, you have an Empress, so you’re so impressive, so magnificent!”
She had already worked overtime late into the night, and now she wasn’t even allowed to sleep in the morning. Did he want her to drop dead from exhaustion?
Anyway, living with a bizarre creature like an emperor meant dying sooner or later was inevitable!
Whatever!
Li Yuanke stood by the bed, staring at her, with only most of her fluffy head visible.
That year, when peach blossoms were in full bloom, someone sat on a tree, swinging their short little legs. “Li Yuanke, being emperor is really tough. Are you prepared for it?”
Somewhat helpless, Li Yuanke raised his hand and slapped her on the roundest part.
Inside the hall, everyone was on edge, the atmosphere so tense it was suffocating.
The Emperor’s face remained dark throughout. Bai Pin’s hands trembled as she combed his hair and placed the crown, while Lan Ying wished she could vanish on the spot. Even the slightest sound made her jump as if she might collapse right there.
The mistress was generous with rewards, but this money truly wasn’t easy to earn. She feared the Emperor might order them all executed in a fit of rage.
Fortunately, the Emperor left without issuing such an order. Finally gone, everyone in the hall—except Shen Shixi—knelt under the eaves to bid him farewell.
Chao En wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. So this was what the mistress was really like—he had heard her roaring inside the bedchamber from outside.
The key point was, the target of her roaring was the Emperor!
The feeling of hanging by a thread all morning was truly unpleasant.
Before yesterday, they had hoped the mistress would gain favor through serving the Emperor. After today, they wished she would be banished to the cold palace.
At least that would ensure they kept their lives.
As soon as Li Yuanke boarded the imperial dragon chariot, he closed his eyes.
Exhausted!
The chariot swayed back and forth.
Li Fude, worried he might topple over, kept his arms outstretched to shield him the entire way, even aggravating his shoulder periarthritis.
Last night, he had stood guard outside and heard quite a commotion inside, which lasted most of the night. This morning’s farce he witnessed firsthand. The Emperor had never shown such intense morning irritability before, a clear indication of how poorly he had slept.
Mistress Shen was truly a talent.
Whoever served the Emperor usually trembled like quails, strictly adhering to the rules. Yet she, on the contrary, had given the Emperor quite a hard time.
Only after drinking a strong cup of tea did Li Yuanke’s mind clear a little. Sitting on the imperial throne, he still felt somewhat listless.
The ministers below felt that the Emperor seemed particularly irritable today, with an air that suggested anyone who displeased him might be dragged out for execution.
Li Yuanke listened for a while, glanced at the water clock, and then looked at Li Fude. Li Fude leaned in as the Emperor said, "Send someone to the Empress to ask for leave on her behalf, saying she is unwell and exempt from morning greetings today."
He didn’t specify who "she" was, but there was no second "she" in the entire palace.
Li Fude was momentarily stunned but decided to deliver the message personally.
The Empress was in the midst of her morning toilette when Li Fude arrived to convey the decree. She was so taken aback that it took her a long moment to regain her composure.
Even when Consort Rong was at the peak of her favor, the Emperor had never done anything like this.
After Li Fude left, the Empress smiled and remarked, "This Shen woman… I originally thought the Emperor was merely showing favor to the Shen family, but it turns out she’s someone he holds dear to his heart!"
Qu Mama replied, "Does Your Majesty truly believe our Emperor has a heart? Where would such a 'dear one' come from?"
"You’re right. He is, after all, a heartless man." The Empress sighed in relief and handed a hairpin to the palace maid styling her hair. "I must have overthought it."
"A newly entered lower-third-rank consort, even if she rises to the upper third rank someday, will never surpass Your Majesty. Please set your mind at ease!" Qu Mama reassured her.
Indeed, beneath the legitimate Empress, all others were merely concubines.
The Empress looked at her slightly weary reflection in the mirror and felt her anxiety ease.
At the midpoint of the Mao hour, six o’clock, Shen Shixi still rose as usual. She had maintained excellent physical fitness over the years, exercising diligently without fail for a decade. Though the previous night had been wild, her body wasn’t overly sore.
After completing her Pilates routine and a half-hour run, it was nearly time for the morning greetings.
Shen Shixi changed into fresh attire, applied simple makeup, and headed to Fengyi Palace with Chao En and Bai Pin.
She arrived almost exactly on time. The Chen hour morning greetings were rather inconvenient for her.
She woke at six every morning, and her exercise routine took forty-five minutes. Today, she had even skipped bathing and kept her makeup simple, hurrying over and nearly arriving late.
Inside the hall, only one empty chair remained, positioned near the end—clearly meant for her.
The Empress had not yet arrived. Shen Shixi offered a perfunctory curtsy to the consorts of higher rank than herself. "Greetings to Your Ladyships!"
Before she could take her seat, someone remarked, "What kind of manners did this batch of palace candidates learn? Arriving late and performing such an improper curtsy—I almost thought a street performer had wandered in!"
Shen Shixi didn’t recognize the speaker, but judging by her seating position, she was among the middle-third-rank consorts.
Currently, the rear palace consisted of one Empress, four Consorts, only one occupant of the nine Pin ranks, and three middle-third-rank consorts: one Jieyu, one Meiren, and one Cairen.
These were the veterans from the Eastern Palace.
The lower-third-rank consorts numbered seven, all newly entered through the recent selection.
"What are you staring at? Did I say something wrong? How could the Shen family produce someone so ill-mannered? Just because the Emperor summoned you to attend him at night, you had to keep him awake all night and then doze off in the imperial dragon chariot in the morning?"
At these words, all eyes turned toward Shen Shixi, filled with disdain and hostility.
It seemed everyone already knew about the Emperor’s lack of energy.
"Sister Jieyu, are you so envious and resentful?" Shen Shixi smiled. "No wonder, I’ve heard the Emperor hasn’t entered your palace gates in half a year. The loneliness of the deep palace must be hard for a neglected woman to bear. No wonder Sister is so full of grievances—you’ve suffered!"
A neglected woman?
She actually called her a neglected woman!