The cat had finally arrived at Xiao Shizhi’s place, a massive Maine Coon that anyone could pet.
Xiao Shizhi stroked the cat’s soft belly while facing piles of memorials.
Rubbing his tired brow, Xiao Shizhi asked, “Has Consort Bai not requested an audience today?”
Li Dequan replied softly, “Your Majesty, Her Highness said the summer heat is oppressive and she’s resting in her palace.”
Xiao Shizhi scratched the cat’s neck, and the feline purred contentedly for quite some time.
With a complicated expression, Xiao Shizhi remarked, “Consort Bai seemed to like cats, yet now that this cat is with me, she doesn’t even come to see it. So much for that.”
Li Dequan: “…”
The more memorials Xiao Shizhi reviewed, the angrier he became. Last night, he had glimpsed Bai Fuxue from afar.
From a distance, he could hear decadent music. Beautiful palace maids knelt half-way, massaging her legs, while others pressed her temples.
Behind large ice blocks stood several more maids gently fanning her.
Additionally, zither players, pipa musicians, and dancers crowded the Pearl Mirror Hall.
It was truly a scene of a kingdom heading toward ruin.
Meanwhile, Xiao Shizhi had nothing but memorials. At court, his uncle’s faction watched him like hawks; the Jiangnan levees needed reinforcement; and even the consorts in the rear palace were vying to deliver personally brewed soups to the Purple Dawn Hall.
Xiao Shizhi couldn’t catch a moment’s rest.
As the saying goes, one could endure darkness if they had never seen light.
Xiao Shizhi said gravely, “Li Dequan.”
Li Dequan bowed deeply. “Your servant is here.”
Xiao Shizhi: “The Bai family has served as military generals for generations, so they likely neglected their daughter’s education. Find some matrons from the Directorate of Ceremonies and the Directorate of Attire to teach Consort Bai etiquette and embroidery. Give her something to do.”
A malicious smile curled on Xiao Shizhi’s lips. “If she remains idle in the rear palace, I fear she might end up back in the cold palace starving to death one day.”
Li Dequan lowered his head. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
After losing her cat, Bai Fuxue turned completely into a couch potato.
Songluo whispered, “Your Highness, His Majesty hasn’t visited us for several days.”
Worried, Songluo asked, “Should Your Highness go to the Purple Dawn Hall to see him?”
Bai Fuxue said weakly, “Do you want His Majesty to come that much?”
Songluo prepared a bowl of sour plum soup for her mistress, adding a few ice cubes the perfect summer refreshment.
Songluo: “No consort in the rear palace doesn’t wish for His Majesty’s visit. His favor is of utmost importance.”
Bai Fuxue sat up, her bones aching from lying down all day.
Gazing at the swaying green leaves outside, she yawned tiredly. She wanted to sleep again.
“If the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain. If His Majesty truly wanted to see me, he would have come already. If he doesn’t, my going would be pointless.”
Bai Fuxue continued lounging and took a bite of lychee.
So sweet.
With a wave of her hand, she had the maids remove the pits from the lychees one by one.
Chilled with ice, it was pure bliss.
This happiness didn’t last long. Li Dequan entered, wiping sweat from his brow.
Li Dequan: “Your servant pays respects to Consort Bai. May Your Highness be well.”
Li Dequan had expected that without her cat or the emperor’s company these past few days, Consort Bai would appear haggard.
As soon as he entered the palace, he was greeted by the fresh and delicate fragrance of flowers and fruits. Everywhere his eyes fell, there was nothing but refinement and comfort.
Consort Bai reclined on a chaise lounge, her ample chest strikingly fair and alluring. She wore a light green gauze dress, her long hair pinned up with a hairpin, revealing the elegant curve of her neck.
In front of her was a small jade bowl filled with pitted lychees soaked in milk, a sight that made one’s mouth water just by looking at it.
Li Dequan inwardly marveled this Bai Fuxue was no ordinary woman!
Bai Fuxue lazily asked, “What does His Majesty want?”
Li Dequan’s face broke into a smile, the wrinkles around his eyes resembling chrysanthemum petals, as he led several court ladies in bowing to Bai Fuxue.
Li Dequan said, “His Majesty has specifically assigned a few senior court ladies to instruct you, Your Highness.”
Bai Fuxue: ????
Say that again???
Bai Fuxue jolted upright as if rising from her deathbed, her entire demeanor shifting unnaturally.
She was utterly shattered.
Li Dequan respectfully presented a schedule with both hands. “This was personally set by His Majesty. Please take a look, Your Highness.”
Bai Fuxue took the paper with trembling hands.
She automatically converted the time units into hours.
Starting at 9 a.m. until 11 a.m., she was to learn to play the zither. From 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., she would have lunch and rest for half an hour.
From 12:30 p.m. until 7 p.m., she was to study embroidery, calligraphy, chess, and so on.
From 7 p.m. onward, she was to wait for His Majesty to visit. If His Majesty did not come, she was to read books.
Each segment of the schedule was to be supervised by designated court ladies.
Bai Fuxue was absolutely shattered.
Her eyes glazed over as she muttered, “A woman without talent is virtuous. Is my virtue not abundant enough?”
Li Dequan replied, “Your Highness, His Majesty believes your life is too idle and that you are unfit to set an example for the harem.”
Bai Fuxue felt utterly numb. “With the Empress around, what need is there for me to set an example?”
Li Dequan: “…”
A court lady behind him interjected, “Your Highness, your language should not be vulgar.”
Bai Fuxue: “.”
Damn.
After completing his task, Li Dequan returned to the Zichen Hall.
Xiao Shizhi continued writing without pause, swiftly reviewing memorials while sparing a fraction of her attention to ask the chief eunuch beside her.
“How is Bai Fuxue?”
Li Dequan reported truthfully, “Her Highness needs some time to adjust.”
Xiao Shizhi let out a cold laugh and slammed the memorial she had just reviewed onto the table.
She was not one to seek revenge, but she simply couldn’t tolerate Bai Fuxue’s idleness, which reminded her of a fish left hanging to dry.
Xiao Shizhi gritted her teeth. “Look at the other consorts some bring soup, others stage ‘chance encounters’ in the imperial garden, and some even feign illness to get me to visit!”
Xiao Shizhi continued, “And then there’s Bai Fuxue, who does nothing but lie around all day. Even when I visit, there’s not a hint of tenderness or affection.”
Every time Xiao Shizhi visited Bai Fuxue, her demeanor was all technique and no genuine emotion, as if she were a subordinate merely going through the motions.
Li Dequan watched as the empress’s expression shifted from fury to complexity, before she finally fell into a prolonged silence.
A few hours later, after meeting with several rounds of ministers, Xiao Shizhi turned to Li Dequan with concern.
“At this hour, Bai Fuxue is probably reading. Do you think I’ve put too much pressure on her?”
Li Dequan: “…”
Xiao Shizhi calmed down, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt she had been too harsh.
In the original novel, Bai Fuxue was quite delicate and fragile. After being tormented like this, even if she wasn’t weeping and wailing, she would at least be unable to eat or sleep peacefully.
Xiao Shizhi finally let out a heavy breath and sat down on the palanquin.
In the deep silence of the night, the swaying lanterns and the fireflies in the grass shimmered in harmony.
The grand doors of the Pearl Mirror Palace were now closed.
Xiao Shizhi instructed the palace maids and eunuchs not to announce her arrival and quietly entered alone.
A tall, slender female official sighed helplessly, “Your Highness, you’ve barely read a few pages of the book, and you’re already asleep again?!”
Bai Fuxue lay languidly on the chaise lounge, “No more reading, no more. I don’t know how to read.”
The female official exclaimed, “Your Highness!”
Bai Fuxue replied weakly, “I am merely a short-sighted consort in the inner palace. Why must I read the Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning?”
The female official responded, “Your Highness, these are the books His Majesty reads.”
Bai Fuxue reached out and flipped through the pages. If it were any other book, she might have managed to say, “I can recognize each character, but when they’re put together, I can’t understand them.”
But as she turned the pages, she realized she couldn’t even recognize most of the characters.
The female official looked utterly defeated. “Since Your Highness refuses to read, please get up and write a few characters.”
Bai Fuxue, unable to resist the female official’s insistence, reluctantly picked up a brush and produced a few ink blots.
It really wasn’t her fault in the modern world, she was used to ballpoint and fountain pens and had almost forgotten how to hold a brush correctly.
Both the female official and Xiao Shizhi stared at the messy ink blots, utterly speechless.
The erudite female official thought to herself: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
A disrespectful thought arose in her mind: None of the emperors are good, they all favor useless beauties like Bai Fuxue, who are uneducated and empty-headed.
In the real world, Xiao Shizhi had practiced calligraphy for years and could write a decent hand in small regular script.
As for Bai Fuxue, a corporate drone in her past life, she had no such leisure.
Bai Fuxue complained pitifully, “Auntie, I don’t know a single character. I can’t even read books, let alone write.”
Xiao Shizhi stood behind the screen, her expression understanding. In the original novel, it was never mentioned that Bai Fuxue was talented in literature.
For a woman in ancient times, it was quite normal not to know how to read.
The female official tasked with teaching Bai Fuxue was at her wit’s end.
After one lesson, the student was driven mad, and the teacher was nearly there too.
Xiao Shizhi was so angry that her head buzzed. She stepped out from behind the screen and said, “You’ve worked hard today. You may leave.”
The female official felt as if she had been granted a pardon. “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration. This humble servant takes her leave!”
In a flash, she was gone.
Xiao Shizhi saw Bai Fuxue, dressed in a lotus-root-colored outer garment, leaning back on the chaise lounge. The cat scratches on her beautiful neck had already faded.
Her skin was now delicate and smooth, and her collarbone was faintly veiled by a sheer gauze.
It was a sight that hinted at more than it revealed.
Especially her exposed ankle, adorned with a silver bell that tinkled softly with every step.
Xiao Shizhi felt her throat go dry, her voice low and husky. “You may have a beautiful exterior, but inside, you’re nothing but a hollow shell.”
Bai Fuxue smiled coyly and pressed herself against Xiao Shizhi, her fingers gently grasping Xiao Shizhi’s wrist.
Bai Fuxue said charmingly, “Your servant only knows how to serve Your Majesty well. Everything else is merely icing on the cake.”
Bai Fuxue rubbed her soft peach-like body against the cool silk of Xiao Shizhi’s robes, igniting a flicker of heat in the cool palace halls.
Xiao Shizhi wrapped her arm around Bai Fuxue’s slender and delicate waist, biting the back of her neck.
Xiao Shizhi: “You really are.”
The beautiful young woman held a piece of ice in her mouth, her rosy lips enclosing the ice cube as she slowly transferred it to Xiao Shizhi’s lips.
Their breathing suddenly grew ragged.
Bai Fuxue chuckled ambiguously, her smile enchanting, “Whether I live well or poorly in the harem depends entirely on Your Majesty’s word. I must do my best to please you.”
Xiao Shizhi laughed hoarsely, holding her even tighter.
“What a little thing who can’t bear to be apart from me.”
“Tell me, did you write it like this on purpose to catch my attention?”