Qi Yue took her time getting perfectly dressed and made up before finally walking out from the inner room.
Noble Consort Yan only heard a flurry of footsteps. Two leading palace maids swept aside the beaded curtains, followed by two senior maids—Aunt Jing and Aunt Yun. Behind them, Xunxue held Qi Yue’s hand as she finally stepped out.
Qi Yue seated herself on the throne. Waiting for a palace maid to serve her tea, she took a slow sip of the clear brew before finally lifting her gaze. “Noble Consort Yan, it has been quite a long time since this Empress last saw you.”
Noble Consort Yan had originally thought Qi Yue was still that ignorant, naive little girl. In her mind, someone with such an eccentric, isolated personality—no matter how much they changed—would always carry a lifeless, decaying aura of gloom.
Yet, the Empress was nothing like that.
The Empress sat high and mighty upon her screen-backed throne. Within those clear, rippling eyes, there wasn’t a single trace of joy, but rather a faint sense of brooding melancholy. However, because her natural beauty was just so strikingly vivid, it completely dispelled any hint of lifeless gloom.
Looking at Empress Qi, Noble Consort Yan was suddenly reminded of towering, snow-capped mountains and the bright, immaculate moon—though completely devoid of any fiery warmth, they commanded people to look up in sheer awe.
Noble Consort Yan only ever bowed to the Emperor. Seeing the Empress, she simply couldn’t swallow her pride to curtsy. After all, she, Noble Consort Yan, was the true master of the six palaces; she was the one with real power.
Empress Qi was undeniably beautiful, but she was just too young.
Backed by an incredibly powerful father, and being both beautiful and clever herself, Noble Consort Yan naturally felt she could disregard Empress Qi entirely.
Mahogany chairs were placed on either side of the room. Just as Noble Consort Yan was about to sit down, Qi Yue looked at her with a half-smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “Did this Empress give you permission to sit?”
Noble Consort Yan instantly lost face. Her head maid, Lu Lu, quickly piped up, “Your Highness the Empress, our Noble Consort previously suffered an injury to her legs; it is not suitable for her to stand for too long.”
“Is that so?” Qi Yue’s clear, immaculate eyes were like a pool of still water as she quietly stared at Lu Lu. “If you dare to lie to this Empress, this Empress will not allow you to keep that head of yours.”
Noble Consort Yan gradually came to her senses. At this moment, she completely understood—the two maids she had sent to Zhengyang Palace earlier had been thoroughly and utterly deceiving her.
She had genuinely believed that the Empress’s looks were inferior to hers, and her manners and bearing even more so. Only upon seeing her face-to-face did she realize that the slightly eerie little girl from back then hadn’t grown crooked at all.
Digging her nails into her palms until she felt the sting of pain, she finally sank into a curtsy. “Your Highness, this Concubine was rude just now. In a moment of nervousness, I forgot to greet Your Highness.”
Only then did a faint trace of a smile float to Qi Yue’s lips. “Rise.”
Only then was Noble Consort Yan permitted to sit.
She let out a breath of relief, secretly raising her eyes to peek at Qi Yue.
Since waking up, Qi Yue hadn’t eaten a single thing. Right on cue, a maid served her a cup of almond tea, surrounded by a spread of piping hot pastries.
Noble Consort Yan had originally come to give Qi Yue a show of dominance, but she never expected that upon arriving, it would be Qi Yue handing her a show of dominance instead.
Completely intimidated by Qi Yue’s aura, after sitting down, Noble Consort Yan felt as if she were sitting on needles, desperately wanting to just leave. It took a long time of forcing herself to calm down before she finally regained her composure.
What was there to be afraid of? The Empress is nothing but an empty, intimidating flower vase—no power, no influence. Relying purely on a pretty face, His Majesty won’t like her forever!
Once she calmed her heart, Noble Consort Yan sneaked another look at Qi Yue, a wave of indescribable jealousy swelling in her chest.
Her tone sour, Noble Consort Yan remarked, “This Concubine still remembers when I saw Your Highness two or three years ago, you were still so remarkably green. In the blink of an eye, you have grown up so much.”
Qi Yue placed the lid back on her teacup and lifted her gaze to give Noble Consort Yan a single glance.
Having started the topic, Noble Consort Yan naturally intended to keep going. She let out a soft, dramatic sigh. “Time truly flies so fast. Before we know it, not only has Your Highness grown up, but many young women have also entered the palace. This Concubine often hears people say: ‘Those who serve others with their beauty will see love fade when their beauty wanes.’ Alas, there will always be new, young women coming in, while we simply grow older year by year.”
Those who serve with beauty will lose favor when beauty fades. But Noble Consort Yan wasn’t relying purely on her looks; she had her powerful family behind her.
But what about Qi Yue?
She probably only had that face left, right?
Qi Yue smiled faintly, carrying an innate sense of laziness and detachment. Noble Consort Yan could acutely feel that even though the Empress currently had nothing to rely on, she was still overwhelmingly, undeniably proud.
Some things were simply carved right into the bones.
“This Empress has also often heard a line from a play: ‘I saw him build his high tower, I saw him host his grand banquets, and I saw his tower collapse.’ Youth easily fades away, but wealth and glory do not last forever either,” Qi Yue smiled lightly. “‘The swallows that once flew before the halls of the great nobles now fly into the homes of commoners.’ In this world, everything will change.”
Take the Yan family, for instance. Right now, their gates were crowded with carriages and horses, their power like the midday sun. But who was to say that one day, disaster wouldn’t strike their door, and a roaring, blazing fire wouldn’t burn it all to a crisp? Relying on the Yan family was just as unreliable as relying on one’s own fleeting youth and beauty.
Noble Consort Yan’s face changed colors time and time again.
Qi Yue finished her almond tea and took a handkerchief to dab her lips. “Since the Noble Consort has already paid your respects to this Empress, and there is nothing else at hand, you may take your leave.”
Noble Consort Yan had come here specifically to assert her dominance. Now that she had utterly failed to do so and ended up losing the upper hand instead, she was more than a little unwilling to just accept defeat.
Her brain spun rapidly.
After a long moment, Noble Consort Yan suddenly said, “This Concubine will return right now. However, this Concubine has a doubt in her heart and hopes the Empress can answer it.”
“Speak.”
Noble Consort Yan rose from her seat and brazenly walked right up to Qi Yue. Qi Yue didn’t move; she wanted to see exactly what trick this woman was trying to play.
Breathing like orchids, Noble Consort Yan lowered her head and whispered into Qi Yue’s ear in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Does Eunuch Xue taste good? Did Your Highness the Empress enjoy yourself?”
Qi Yue’s expression instantly turned freezing cold.
Noble Consort Yan stepped back a few paces, letting out a mocking laugh.
She had finally mustered the courage to say something that would utterly disgust Qi Yue.
So what if Qi Yue was currently putting on an act of being so pure and proper? Didn’t she still rely on currying favor with a eunuch to climb the ranks?
No matter how good-looking Xue Ying was, no matter how outstanding his abilities were, he was still a castrated man. Eunuchs were psychologically twisted and highly eccentric; who was to say Qi Yue’s current personality hadn’t been groomed and trained by a eunuch? During the days she couldn’t climb into the dragon bed, who was to say Qi Yue hadn’t climbed into a eunuch’s bed instead?!
Noble Consort Yan laughed very cheerfully, dripping with deep sarcasm. So what if she had lost her grace and face at the very beginning? Right before leaving, as long as she could strike Qi Yue in her sore spot and leave her scratching her heart and lungs in agony, she was still the winner.
But the longer she laughed, the more she felt she couldn’t laugh anymore.
Qi Yue’s cold, abyssal eyes stared fixedly at her. There was no trace of anger in her gaze, nor did her expression change at all, yet Noble Consort Yan felt a bone-deep chill radiating straight from the bottom of her heart.
Noble Consort Yan’s sentence just now had completely shattered the hypocritical, polite facade between the two of them.
Qi Yue reached her fingers into the plate and pinched a plum blossom pastry. The soft, snow-white pastry was crushed into fine powder within her grip, rustling as it cascaded back onto the plate.
“This Empress did not know your mind was actually this filthy,” Qi Yue stated expressionlessly. “For every extra moment you stand here, this Empress feels the air grows that much dirtier. Step down.”
She extended her pale hand toward Xunxue, and Xunxue immediately took a clean handkerchief to wipe it spotless.
Deep within her heart, a single voice rose in Xunxue’s mind: Noble Consort Yan is finished.
Translator’s Anecdote: