Jiang Wan knew her life was temporarily spared. She beamed brightly, nodding like a chicken pecking at rice, then shook her outstretched hand again. “Your Eminence, my arm is sore from holding it up for so long.”
Xie Changlin lowered his gaze to the pastry at her fingertips but ultimately did not take it. Instead, he leaned lazily to the right, adopting an extremely indolent posture, and urged, “Your Highness, please proceed quickly.”
Unbothered, Jiang Wan stuffed the pastry into her mouth, casually brushed off the powder clinging to her fingers, and opened the ledger. “Consort Wan of Ninghua Palace and Consort Ning of Yuehua Palace had a dispute. Relying on the Emperor’s favor, Consort Ning refuses to accept punishment and even requests an opportunity to see her father…”
This Consort Ning sounded somewhat familiar.
She paused, tentatively asking, “Should I first determine who is right and who is wrong before making a decision?”
Xie Changlin, still toying with his prayer beads, replied in a flat tone, “Consort Ning’s father was a great hero who suppressed bandits last year.”
Jiang Wan didn’t understand why he specifically mentioned this. After a moment’s thought, she asked, “So, should I grant her request to see him?”
Xie Changlin glanced at her. “If you ask me, just bestow Consort Ning with white silk and poisoned wine.”
Jiang Wan: “??”
“Regardless of how favored she is by the Emperor or how useful her father is, she is merely a consort. For her to clash with a higher-ranking consort is already a mistake. Since this matter has reached Your Highness instead of the Emperor, you have the authority to deal with her.” He took a sip of tea. “Right and wrong are determined by those in power.”
“Consort Ning has a domineering temperament and will undoubtedly cause trouble in the future. Why bother letting her see her father? It’s cleaner to just have her executed.”
Jiang Wan listened, half-understanding, but felt something was off.
Right and wrong are determined by those in power.
Fine. Xie Changlin decides.
“But if she’s really executed just like that, will her father agree?”
“That’s for the Emperor to consider.”
“Isn’t it for Your Eminence to consider?”
A faint smile curled at the corner of Xie Changlin’s lips. “Indeed. If he causes trouble, just kill him too.”
Jiang Wan: “……” Now she finally understood how he became a treacherous eunuch.
He was leading her down the wrong path!
Was he trying to drag her into killing everyone inside and out?
Jiang Wan shrank her neck slightly and cleared her throat. “I understand. Then, according to palace regulations, Consort Ning will be punished for disrespecting her superiors. However, given her father’s merits, the punishment can be appropriately lenient.”
Xie Changlin neither agreed nor disagreed.
Jiang Wan flipped through a few more ledgers, finding answers in the twisted logic he provided. Surprisingly, she managed to handle most of them quite well.
“Your Eminence, you’re truly remarkable!”
“……”
He glanced at her again, his eyes filled with impatience. Jiang Wan hurriedly took out the most important account book. “I still don’t know how to review accounts, but since Your Eminence mentioned the national treasury is depleted, shouldn’t we appropriately reduce the expenditures of the rear palace and cut unnecessary expenses?”
This time, Xie Changlin gave a straightforward answer. “If expenditures are reduced, how will those delicate ladies in the rear palace survive?”
He clearly disagreed.
“I never realized Your Eminence was so chivalrous toward women,” she muttered. “It’s too extravagant. The monthly expenses for meals alone are enormous, which is entirely unnecessary.”
Xie Changlin ignored her, propping his head on his hand and slightly closing his eyes. “If Your Highness has nothing else, you may leave.”
Jiang Wan stared at him for a moment, then smiled. “Is Your Eminence tired?”
“I believe Your Highness must be tired.”
“I’m not tired!”
Xie Changlin remained unmoved, raising his voice slightly, “Rong Qing.”
Jiang Wan was forced to leave. Upon returning to Eternal Joy Palace, she saw the same Cairen Chu from yesterday.
Her head was bowed low, not daring to lift it even a little, and she performed a proper, respectful bow.
Jiang Wan smiled faintly, “Rise.”
Hearing this amused voice, Cairen Chu was taken aback. She stole a glance at her, and that single look made her drop to her knees with a thud, “Your… Your Majesty!”
The Tiao Tiao who had helped her yesterday was actually the Empress?!
“Why are you kneeling again? Get up quickly. You arrived quite fast—I thought with your timid nature, you might not dare to come for a few more days.”
Jiang Wan teased her straightforwardly, reaching out to help her up.
She had originally planned to spend a few more days as Tiao Tiao to go play with her.
Cairen Chu’s face flushed red from her words, whether from embarrassment or fear, and her eyes also reddened.
“Don’t start crying again, pull yourself together.” Jiang Wan laughed even louder. No wonder they say women are made of water—the one before her truly resembled an easily startled little white rabbit.
Well, a cat and a little white rabbit could probably be friends.
Cairen Chu sniffled, “I won’t cry anymore. Please don’t laugh at me, Your Majesty.”
“Alright, I won’t laugh.” Jiang Wan sat down and gestured for her to sit as well. “What’s your full name?”
Seeing her so approachable and without any airs, Cairen Chu completely relaxed, smiling gently. “This concubine is Chu Suian. My father is Chu Si, the magistrate of Sui County.”
“Suian? A lovely name.”
She praised, then noticed her father’s position—Sui County? Wasn’t that the county on the verge of falling?
Chu Suian’s eyes lit up with a smile. “Yes, my parents wished for me to have peace and safety year after year.”
A flicker of longing passed through Jiang Wan’s eyes, but it vanished in an instant as she changed the subject.
Chu Suian had brought pastries she had made herself—the very ones Jiang Wan had previously found too sweet and cloying. Yet she tried them anyway and found them unexpectedly delicious.
“How did you make these? They’re truly delicious, not cloying at all.”
“This concubine loved experimenting with cooking back at home. Worried that Your Majesty might not prefer overly sweet food, I made them with a lighter flavor. I’m glad you like them.” Chu Suian smiled sweetly, no longer as reserved as before. “This concubine knows how to make many other delicious dishes too. I’ll make them all for Your Majesty in the future!”
The two chatted about all sorts of things for a while longer. Jiang Wan was in excellent spirits. Once this Cairen Chu opened up a bit, her personality was quite endearing. It seemed she had been doted on and cherished while growing up at home. Why, then, had she been sent into the palace? And at such a critical time for Sui County, no less.
She hadn’t expected that, after just a few days here, she would come to understand the feelings of her family before she entered the palace.
To be honest, the palace truly wasn’t a good place. Even she had to constantly watch her step, let alone others. At any moment, one could be casually disposed of by the Ceremonial Directorate.
After a moment’s thought, she asked again, “Has the Emperor summoned you to attend him?”
Chu Suian’s face flushed red once more. “Not yet. I’ve heard His Majesty is unwell, and besides, even if it were my turn, it wouldn’t come to me.”
“Do you wish to attend him?”
Chu Suian was taken aback, biting her lip. “If Your Majesty wishes to hear the truth, then this concubine does not.”
She had been forced into the palace. For the first half of her life, she had always believed she could find a good man who would be devoted to her alone, according to her own wishes. What hope did she have left now?
“How did you come to enter the palace?”
“An imperial decree from the Ceremonial Directorate…”
Jiang Wan: “…”
So Xie Changlin not only withheld funds from her family but also exploited her father by forcing his daughter to marry into the palace?
Forget it, she cannot be scolded.
Our own Your Eminence, even if wrong, is right.