In the spring of the first year of the Jiaqi era, the winds carried news of the blossoms, and the willows stood fresh in the clear weather.
The spring was mild and the scenery bright, but Jiang Yingli was in no mood to appreciate it.
At this moment, she was sitting in a carriage befitting an imperial consort, moving into the Imperial Palace.
In her melancholy heart, eight large characters kept scrolling back and forth—
Strayed into the Imperial Family. Heaven wants me dead!
The fact that she had leaped from being a minor concubine in the Prince Su Estate to becoming Jia Jieyu was an accident. And this accident stemmed from an even greater accident—
That was, her obscure, unambitious husband, Prince Su, Xiao Chenglan, had ascended the throne.
Prince Su was also known as the Ninth Prince. One could tell by his rank at the very end of the line that the throne should not have fallen to him even by a stroke of luck.
He was of humble birth; his biological mother had passed away early, and without a powerful maternal family to support him, ascending the throne should have been harder than reaching the heavens.
As it turned out, he actually made it.
And she, Jiang Yingli, was originally just the daughter of an ordinary merchant family that dealt in flowers. She often followed her father to the Ninth Prince’s estate to plant peonies.
Perhaps because Xiao Chenglan saw that she was honest and dutiful, and possessed some modest beauty, he eventually declared he would take her as a concubine while she was still planting.
On the day she received Xiao Chenglan’s invitation, Jiang Yingli went back and did the math herself, analyzing the pros and cons of entering the estate as a concubine.
The Ninth Prince had little opportunity to show his face before the Emperor and was not particularly favored. When she planted flowers in his estate, she often saw the lacquer peeling off the pillars. But it was precisely because of this down-and-out scenery that Jiang Yingli agreed to enter the Prince Su Estate as a concubine.
—Being unimportant meant Prince Su had no power to vie for the throne and would not be swept into the turbulent currents of the court. Meanwhile, his status was still that of a genuine prince, so he maintained a certain level of outward dignity.
Her father and mother also told her: “Although you are entering the estate as a concubine and won’t have the glory of a primary wife, we can benefit from the estate’s prestige. Our family will have someone to rely on. By leaning on Prince Su’s influence, it will be easier to secure a job for your younger brother when he grows up.”
Thus, on the day of her hair-pinning ceremony, Jiang Yingli entered the Prince Su Estate in a small sedan chair.
Xiao Chenglan was a dispassionate man; he was not a libertine, but he possessed little romantic charm either.
During her first year in the estate, he merely stayed under the covers with her and chatted.
In the second year, Xiao Chenglan stopped acting like a saint of pure heart and few desires.
By the third year, Xiao Chenglan had neither married a primary princess nor taken other concubines. The lives of the two passed as calm as still water.
But Jiang Yingli was very content. Such a life was stable and free, far happier than before. She wanted to live this way for a lifetime.
However, fate plays tricks on people. This year was her fourth year in the Prince Su Estate.
Xiao Chenglan had ascended the throne.
She had become an imperial consort.
Yesterday, the coronation ceremony for Xiao Chenglan as the new Emperor was fully completed. Today, she had to move from the Prince Su Estate to Zhaohua Palace within the Imperial Palace.
In the midst of his busy schedule, Xiao Chenglan even sent someone with a letter for Jiang Yingli, saying he intended to title her as Jia Zhaoyi.
Jiang Yingli was so frightened that she immediately wrote back, pleading for Xiao Chenglan to only title her as a Jieyu.
A Zhaoyi was the head of the Nine Concubines, a rank far too high. Once the new beauties entered the palace, she—who had a high rank but neither a powerful family for support nor the Emperor’s exclusive favor—would be a walking target. Everyone would want to pick a fight with her; how could she possibly hold her own?
It was better to be an obscure “nobody.”
Thinking of the secret rumors of the previous Emperor’s harem struggles where people fought to the death, Jiang Yingli felt panicked.
Xiao Chenglan had occasionally indulged her in the past, but that was only because she was the only concubine in his estate.
Things would be different from now on. With three thousand beauties in the imperial harem, she wouldn’t even make the cut.
Of course, she wasn’t so foolish as to think she could survive in the harem based on a few points of indulgence. An Emperor’s heart is fickle; letting one’s eyes be clouded by temporary favor would eventually lead one into a cage of eternal damnation.
As long as she acted with propriety and relied on her status as a consort from his pre-ascension days, she only hoped to secure a place to live.
No amount of honor or favor was as important as her life.
This morning, before the imperial decree announcing her rank and summoning her to the palace arrived at the Prince Su Estate, Jiang Yingli had been uneasy.
Because she didn’t know if her reply had reached the Emperor’s desk, and even if it had, she didn’t know if Xiao Chenglan would find the time to read it.
Moreover, her request to lower her own rank could be seen as ungrateful; she didn’t know if Xiao Chenglan would agree or if he would be angry.
Fortunately, when the decree arrived, she was indeed titled a Jieyu.
“My Lady, Zhaohua Palace is just ahead. Please step down.”
A wide-set eunuch with a high-pitched voice was leading her out of the carriage. Jiang Yingli pulled her thoughts back, took a deep breath, and lifted the curtain.
At that moment, she saw two maidservants immediately set down a footstool and reach out their hands to support her.
The eunuch from before wore a respectful smile: “My Lady, this servant is Fu Wanquan. You may simply call me Eunuch Fu. You must be exhausted from the journey; please bathe, change, and rest for a while. This servant will then take you to kowtow and thank the Emperor for his grace.”
Someone who could lead her to the Emperor was likely no simple character. Jiang Yingli took note of his face, nodded, and gave a look to her personal maid from the Prince Su Estate, Qiu Xia.
In the past, the Prince Su Estate was impoverished and had few social obligations, but she still understood these basic rules.
Qiu Xia immediately pulled a heavy pouch from her sleeve and tucked it into Fu Wanquan’s hand.
“Eunuch Fu, thank you for leading the way.”
Fu Wanquan initially thought to decline, but remembering the Emperor’s instructions, he accepted it with a smile.
Seeing him accept it, Jiang Yingli finally looked up at Zhaohua Palace. She was momentarily stunned by what she saw.
Heavens, this was more grand than even the main gate of the Prince Su Estate!
The green glazed tiles and crimson palace walls rose and fell in an orderly yet staggered fashion. Begonias were planted all around the outside, creating a beautiful, vibrant pink scene.
A circle of palace maids stood at the vermilion gate of Zhaohua Palace. The two at the front were older—a matron and a head maid. In the middle stood four or five young maids, and at the very back were four young eunuchs.
As Jiang Yingli approached, the entire group bowed respectfully.
“This servant greets My Lady.”
“Rise, everyone.” Facing so many servants for the first time, Jiang Yingli spoke somewhat unpracticed.
The palace servants introduced their names one by one.
Eunuch Fu smiled and said, “My Lady, this servant will wait out here. You may come out whenever you have rested enough.”
Jiang Yingli had just entered the palace and her nerves were still taut. She felt that every person in the palace must speak with hidden meanings, especially those serving the Emperor.
Thus, she couldn’t help but begin to speculate. For Eunuch Fu to say this… was he perhaps rushing her?
Jiang Yingli hurriedly said, “I’ve troubled you, Eunuch. I will wash and dress myself, then follow you to have an audience with His Majesty.”
Fu Wanquan was about to say there was no rush, as the Emperor had instructed to let her rest fully before going. He just didn’t expect that before he could speak, Jia Jieyu had already entered the hall like a gust of wind.
It was just as well; over the course of the morning, the Emperor had already asked him three times if she had arrived. He must be missing her terribly.
Upon entering the palace, Jiang Yingli didn’t even have time to look around before she hurriedly asked to bathe. Her personal maid Qiu Xia, brought from the Prince Su Estate, and the newcomers in the palace began to arrange things for her.
The bath in Zhaohua Palace was very large. The entire pool was lined with white jade, and to prevent slipping, the jade surface was exquisitely carved with many patterns.
As Jiang Yingli soaked in the pool, her taut nerves finally loosened a bit.
The palace maids used bath beans and scented pearls to massage and cleanse her body.
The young woman in the pool had an oval face that looked as if it were carved from fine jade. Her elegant eyebrows were well-defined, her apricot eyes had distinct pupils that were clear and bright, her nose was petite, and her lips were red against white teeth.
At this moment, her hair was let down from its bun, allowing the black silk to wind down from her slender neck into the water. Without any adornment, she was still breathtakingly beautiful.
The palace maids assigned to Zhaohua Palace had not previously known Jiang Yingli’s appearance. But having served for four years only to receive the title of Jieyu, they had speculated that this first lady of the harem was no beauty; otherwise, she would have at least joined the ranks of the Nine Concubines.
But seeing her now, they were truly stunned.
Not only was she beautiful, but it was a refined beauty. Especially those eyes—watery and evocative of pity, they were incredibly moving.
After the bath, the maids dressed Jiang Yingli in a lotus-colored, cross-collared dress with a cinched waist.
As Jiang Yingli walked, the hem of her skirt flowed with an ethereal grace, looking truly wonderful.
The attire of an imperial consort was vastly different from what she wore at the Prince Su Estate; even Qiu Xia, who had served Jiang Yingli for four years, was dazed.
Jiang Yingli also found it novel and twirled in front of the bronze mirror.
On the way to Changqing Palace for the audience, Jiang Yingli remained apprehensive, repeatedly rehearsing the words of thanks in her mind for fear of saying something wrong.
“My Lady, we have arrived. Please allow this servant to announce you.”
Inside Changqing Palace, Xiao Chenglan sat on a black-lacquered chair carved with golden dragon patterns, his head buried in government affairs.
Seeing Fu Wanquan arrive, he lifted his steady gaze, and the cold sternness in his eyes softened slightly.
“Has she come?”
Fu Wanquan quickly stepped forward, pulled the pouch from his sleeve, and presented it respectfully to Xiao Chenglan.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, she has arrived.”
Xiao Chenglan snatched the exquisitely embroidered pouch away.
He poured the silver inside back to Fu Wanquan, tucked the pouch into his own robes, and then said calmly:
“Summon her.”
Having shared the spoils, Fu Wanquan’s face lit up with joy, and he called out in a thin, pinched voice:
“By Imperial Order: Let Jia Jieyu enter the hall—”