“Considering that you were acting out of panic and did not truly intend to slander His Majesty, this palace will punish you by confining you to your quarters for half a month. Do you have any objections?”
“I… this concubine has no objections. Thank you for Your Majesty’s mercy.”
Jiang Xiuyuan’s face was practically green with anger, but she could only accept the order and leave.
Lin Anran also understood that the charge of “slandering the emperor” was difficult to firmly establish. She never intended to use such a shaky accusation to bring Jiang Xiuyuan down anyway, which was why the punishment was only half a month of confinement.
After all, concubines of rank could already impose confinement on others, let alone the Empress.
The punishment was not severe, but it was enough to serve as a warning to both Jiang Xiuyuan and the Noble Consort.
If Lin Anran wanted a peaceful “retired life” in the harem, she couldn’t allow others to think she was an easy target. Showing a bit of her methods at the right time would prevent many future troubles.
At the very least, no one should be coming to her palace looking for trouble anytime soon.
And indeed, that was the case.
The Empress held a noble position, the Lin family was powerful, and she even had the favored Princess Shengshi by her side. The emperor’s attitude was also unclear at present. Before anyone could figure out the Empress’s true methods, no one would be foolish enough to provoke her.
In the following days, aside from morning greetings and occasional exchanges with the other consorts, Lin Anran lived quite leisurely.
Ever since the emperor visited Fengyi Palace on the first day of the month, he had not stepped foot there again. However, the responsibility of managing the six palaces gradually returned to Lin Anran.
Lin Anran had also once been a team leader in her modern life. Although harem affairs were complicated, most departments handled the trivial tasks themselves. She only needed to review things broadly and make key decisions—much easier than modern work.
With the Noble Consort acting as a free “assistant” doing the busywork, Lin Anran was even more relaxed.
The only thing she needed to pay attention to was small details in reports, to avoid being set up by others. That required a bit more caution than in the workplace.
Being a leader wasn’t that easy after all.
Another thing Lin Anran found speechless was that every time the emperor summoned a consort, he would still inform her, the Empress. It made her feel that being the emperor’s “official wife” was truly not a human job.
A woman still had to arrange for her husband to sleep with other women—just thinking about it felt suffocating. No wonder the original owner became depressed.
Fortunately, Lin Anran had little interest in romance, so she treated it all as gossip.
As for the emperor, he was not having an easy time either. He had to get up before dawn to work, exhaust himself during the day, and even “work out” at night.
Regardless of whether he wanted to or not, he was required to attend to consorts at least twenty nights a month. And it wasn’t about preference either—he had to rotate. No consort could be summoned for three consecutive nights, otherwise the Empress would have to intervene, and she might even be criticized by officials in court.
But Lin Anran did not sympathize. Enjoying supreme power came with certain sacrifices—that was normal.
Besides, emperors were naturally indifferent, and men had physical needs. It didn’t really matter who it was; as long as the desire was satisfied, that was enough.
Today was the fifteenth again.
Lin Anran had learned her lesson this time. Thinking the emperor would definitely come due to the strict rules, she bathed early, dressed modestly, and slipped into bed early.
If she fell asleep, the emperor surely wouldn’t wake her up just for that, right?
That would be extremely inconsiderate.
But she miscalculated—tonight, the emperor actually arrived half an hour earlier than usual.
Normally, he would finish state affairs around nine and then head to the consorts’ palaces, so why was he here at eight today?
Lin Anran simply threw the book aside and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.
Pretending to sleep still counted as sleeping—no problem.
When Guo Yichen entered, the room was dimly lit by candlelight, yet he could still clearly see Lin Anran’s eyes rolling slightly under her lids.
She was clearly not asleep.