Fortunately, after a short while, Ling Lan, Consort Rou’s senior maid, emerged from the main hall and invited them inside.
The women stopped talking, adjusted their attire, and entered according to the seniority of their ranks.
Even Attendant Chen shed her arrogance and became respectful.
Qing Luo entered with lowered eyes, and although she felt some resistance internally, she knelt and performed the proper salutation.
The women said in unison, “Greetings to Her Ladyship Consort Rou. May Your Ladyship enjoy ten thousand blessings and golden peace.”
Consort Rou put down her teacup, paused, and said, “You may all rise.”
Qing Luo quickly rose with the others, found her designated seat, and sat down obediently.
Since Qing Luo had been ill, Consort Rou first inquired about her condition.
“Attendant Pei, you look well. It seems you have fully recovered.”
Qing Luo, who had just sat down, immediately stood up to reply, focusing on expressing her gratitude.
During her recovery, Consort Rou had sent a maid to deliver a fifty-year-old ginseng root to Qing Luo to nourish her body.
Both by courtesy and reason, Qing Luo had to thank her.
Things were going smoothly, but Attendant Chen suddenly interjected, saying, “Her Ladyship is truly kind to Sister Pei. Others can only envy such good luck; they simply don’t have the fortune.”
Consort Rou gave her a light glance.
“This Consort is never partial to anyone. If someone else falls ill tomorrow, this Consort can certainly afford to send another ginseng root.”
This statement was true.
When dealing with squabbles and disputes among the lower-ranked Imperial Concubines, Consort Rou was indeed fair and impartial.
Normally, she did not deliberately mistreat the Imperial Concubines residing in Xianfu Palace.
Her personality was as gentle as her title suggested.
Otherwise, given the Original Owner’s meek personality, encountering a difficult chief Consort would have made her situation even more miserable.
However, gentleness did not mean she lacked temper.
Consort Rou naturally would not tolerate the passive-aggressiveness of an Attendant.
So what if she had recently gained a little favor?
She hadn’t conceived a dragon fetus.
If she truly had a dragon fetus, then Consort Rou would indeed have to respect her and give her three parts of courtesy.
Just because she had been summoned to attend the Emperor a few times, did she really think she was something special?
There were countless Imperial Concubines just like Attendant Chen.
The atmosphere grew somewhat tense.
Noble Lady Zhang immediately took the lead in smoothing things over.
After that, Attendant Chen did not say anything provocative again.
Consort Rou did not keep them for long, and the greetings soon concluded.
“Send someone to the Office of the Imperial attendance to inform them to hang up Attendant Pei’s Green Plaque.”
After a moment of thought, Consort Rou ordered her subordinates to carry out the task of running an errand to the Office of the Imperial attendance…
Upon returning from the greeting, Qing Luo collapsed onto her bed.
The first thing she did was catch up on sleep, sleeping soundly and deeply.
When she had slept enough and woke up feeling refreshed, it was time for lunch.
Looking at the meal laid out on the table—a few plain oil pancakes, a bowl of white porridge, a dish of pickles, and a bowl of vegetable soup—Qing Luo immediately lost her appetite.
However, since her stomach was still rumbling incessantly, she could only grimace and start eating.
Even though an Attendant’s rank was low, she was still the Emperor’s woman.
Under normal circumstances, she should still have meat to eat and not be completely deprived of savory food, and she should also have some fashionable vegetables.
But in the palace, people always flattered the powerful and stepped on the weak.
Qing Luo had no favor nor money, so even her food was being skimped on.
She wasn’t the only one in this situation; the treatment of all unfavored Imperial Concubines was similar.
The plain oil pancakes were quite tasty, given they were made by an Imperial Chef in the palace, but after eating them continuously for half a month, no matter how good they were, she was tired of them.
Qing Luo barely managed to eat half of one and stopped.
She didn’t want to eat the rest, resting her chin on her hand and sighing listlessly.
Zhu Lan advised, “Little Master, you’ve eaten too little. Please eat more.”
Qing Luo shook her head and complained pitifully, “My dear Zhu Lan, it’s not that I don’t want to eat, it’s that I truly can’t swallow it.”
She recalled that in modern society, she was a small rich second generation.
Her family was quite wealthy.
Her parents, grandparents, and older brother had pampered her since childhood, turning her into a delicate little girl.
While it wasn’t as exaggerated as having clothes handed to her and food fed to her, she had never suffered, and she certainly had never been mistreated when it came to food.
But now?
She couldn’t even eat meat; there wasn’t a single savory dish.
If this continued, she might have to start cultivating immortality and subsisting on air.
Zhu Lan also knew her Little Master was craving meat.
After thinking for a moment, she said, “This servant will ask Xiao Guizi to spend some silver and have the Imperial Kitchen add a dish for Little Master.”
Money makes the world go round.
As long as the silver was paid, the Imperial Kitchen could even provide specialized custom services.
Hearing about the silver, Qing Luo couldn’t help but sigh again, and said painfully, “Take five taels of silver and see if we can get a decent dish added.”
Her current private savings totaled only twenty-something taels, and she was about to spend one-fifth of it just for a bite of food.
From this, it was clear that she was truly desperate for meat.
Following her instructions, Zhu Lan had Xiao Guizi take the silver and go handle the matter.
About half an hour later, Xiao Guizi returned with a plate of Shredded Pork with Green Peppers.
She finally got to eat meat and see a savory dish.
Although the portion of shredded pork wasn’t large, Qing Luo ate it quite contentedly.
After satisfying her craving, Qing Luo started worrying again.
She couldn’t keep living like this, or she would soon run out of money just for food.
She loved meat; eating only vegetables was practically killing her.
The good pregnancy system suddenly popped up.
[host, as long as you give birth to a Child, your problems will be solved easily. Delicacies, bird’s nest, abalone… everything you want to eat will be yours, just by saying the word.]
[You will also live in a spacious grand palace, sleep on a comfortable, soft large bed, and have many palace maids serving you. Your life will be incredibly wonderful…]
Seeing that Qing Luo wasn’t very enthusiastic about giving birth to a child, the good pregnancy system was quite anxious.
Systems like them had KPI assessments for every mission.
The hosts bound to other good pregnancy systems were incredibly fertile, and its host couldn’t fall behind.
Previously, Qing Luo would never have listened to the good pregnancy system’s nagging.
How unfair it would be for her to arrive and immediately have a child for an old man.
But after half a month of harsh reality—the unappetizing food, the dilapidated, cramped living quarters… and Attendant Chen’s contempt today—all these things piled up.
Qing Luo felt that listening to the good pregnancy system was the wisest choice if she wanted to live well in the future.
Otherwise, her life would remain as miserable as the Original Owner’s.
Qing Luo, who had been raised in luxury, did not want to suffer hardships.
She wanted to live a good life.
“But having children has many drawbacks. Skin gets loose, the face becomes unsightly, you get spots, and maybe stretch marks… I heard childbirth is also incredibly painful, and there’s the risk of difficult labor, killing both mother and child.”
When Qing Luo thought of these things, her scalp tingled.
Difficult labor, in particular, made her feel terrible.
Even in modern society, where medical technology was so advanced, many pregnant women still died in childbirth.
This was ancient times; if she had difficult labor, she would essentially be finished.
[host, please rest assured. A general does not fight an unprepared battle. Our good pregnancy system has all sorts of good items to help the host, striving to ensure the host safely and easily gives birth to every child.]
[The Beauty Pill can help the host maintain her skin and restore her youth. Even during pregnancy, it can keep you beautiful and make you the prettiest pregnant woman.]
[The Fetus Protection Pill can provide the best and most robust protection and nutrition to the baby in your belly, allowing the baby to grow up strong.]
[The Body Nourishment Pill is a soul-level good item custom-made for the host to condition her body, keeping it in its optimal state, forever eighteen years old.]
[Just one small Delivery Assistance Pill can ensure the host gives birth smoothly, with both mother and child safe and sound.]
[There is also the miraculous Painless Pill, allowing the host to have a completely painless delivery, relaxed and stress-free, without suffering at all.]
…The good pregnancy system rattled off a long list of miracle medicines, making Qing Luo’s heart pound with interest.
It sounded pretty good.
This way, having a child didn’t seem so terrifying anymore.
[Please trust systems self-designation. systems self-designation will do its best to provide you with the best service and will always be with you.]
“Are those pills free? Can I have as many as I want?” Qing Luo asked.
The good pregnancy system gave two dry laughs.
[Well, of course not. The host needs to exchange them using points. You get ten thousand points for every child you give birth to. Once you have points, you can buy, buy, buy.]
“Then I’m finished,” Qing Luo sighed again.
She would only have points to buy those pills after she had given birth to her first child.
[host, don’t lose heart yet. You still have the Novice Gift Pack, which contains many good items.]
When Qing Luo heard this, her interest was immediately piqued.
The contents of the Novice Gift Pack were quite comprehensive, containing many of the pills.
It seemed they were preparations for giving birth to the first child.
Additionally, there was a thumb-sized bottle containing an unknown transparent liquid.
“What is this?”
[This is Spirit Liquid. It’s for conditioning the Emperor’s ‘aspect,’ intended to produce even smarter and higher-quality child. Our slogan is: not only should you give birth often, but you must also practice eugenics.]
“But right now, I’m just a nobody. I have zero presence with the Emperor. To give birth to a child, I first need to attend to him in bed.”
No matter how many treasures she had, they couldn’t make her pregnant without attending to the Emperor, or else the Emperor would have a nice green grassland growing on his head.
[Who said there’s no opportunity? The best chance has already arrived.]
Note guys:an attendant is the lowest rank of concubines, they are divided into two the unranked attendant which they also call little concubines, while the ranked one are called attendant.