Shang Fuqu understood.
She had heard of this.
The late Emperor’s harem had been full of beauties, yet he had precious few children.
Lu Huai, born of the Empress, came late—and the moment he was born, he was named Crown Prince.
The late Emperor couldn’t keep up himself, so he pinned all his hopes on the apple of his eye. Thus the phrase ”hoping one’s son becomes a dragon” was made concrete: reportedly, during his early schooling it reached a ratio of many tutors to one student, and it only grew with time.
Court officials worked for the late Emperor during morning court.
After court, they served as private tutors to the Crown Prince.
Life was wonderful, and everyone had a bright future ahead.
Under such circumstances, the young Emperor truly surpassed his teacher. Even in the matter of heirs—his rear courtyard had not a single flower, not even a blade of grass.
At this thought, she suddenly understood the Empress Dowager’s urgency.
So that was it—she was afraid His Majesty would also have a child late in life, becoming Late Emperor 2.0.
…
By the time Lu Huai returned to the palace, it was already late.
After days away, he was weary all over. Treading through moonlight beyond the palace walls, he noticed from afar that the lamps lit tonight seemed more numerous than usual. He didn’t dwell on it, and upon returning went straight into his own quarters.
The palace servants brought in his evening meal.
There was a dish of steamed prawns with garlic; he silently pushed it aside in distaste. He had barely taken two bites with his chopsticks when a strange voice suddenly surfaced in his mind.
[The Imperial Concubine Cultivation System has successfully bound to the Host.]
Lu Huai: ??
Who?
Who’s the imperial concubine?
After an eerie silence, that steady voice—almost entirely devoid of emotional fluctuation—reluctantly corrected itself.
[Updating version… Upgrade successful.]
[Greetings, noble Host. “Cultivate Your Imperial Concubine” is a free-form, open-ended cultivation game. Train the designated consort to complete tasks and receive rewards.]
The young Emperor laughed. “Ridiculous. I possess all under heaven—why would I covet such trifles?”
Besides, he was the Emperor—why would he need anyone else’s rewards?
[Current task: Recite one copy of the Three Character Classic. Probability of natural disasters this year: -10%]
The young Emperor’s words of refusal took a turn on his tongue and instantly became—
“Where is she right now?”
[In your harem.]
Lu Huai: ??
Since when did he have a harem?
An ominous premonition rose in his heart, and on that vast white mental screen, a little figure had already appeared.
It was an art style he had never seen before.
A round face, bean-like eyes, looking rather dopey. She cradled a bouquet of lotus flowers in her arms, her gaze following his face. At the top, a line of text was displayed.
—Shang Fuqu
Current rank: Lady-in-waiting of the lowest rank
Below it was that newly issued task.
[Would you like to enable screen sharing? It will help you locate the character you are cultivating.]
The little figure was rather abstract, after all, and the System, having erred once already, was terrified the Emperor would find the wrong person.
“Enable it.”
[Location confirmed.]
In the blink of an eye, the bean-eyed little figure on the screen changed to a lounging position, cracking melon seeds while listening to music.
The Emperor fell silent.
He had worked himself to the bone and only just gotten to eat a hot meal at this hour, while she had already burrowed under her covers, enjoying the good life.
“Someone come!”
He raised a hand, and Qi hurried forward with a bow.
Behind him followed a eunuch with a bitter expression, seizing the opportunity to present the registry.
Lu Huai had ascended the throne young and was not yet twenty. Calling him a new Emperor, he was really only new in terms of age. A boy this age should long since have awakened to such matters, but this one lived a two-point-one-line life, devoted solely to state affairs.
The reason he had refused the Empress Dowager’s proposals to select consorts, countless times before, was only ever one—
Women only slow down the speed at which one reviews memorials.
So, delivering the register to the Son of Heaven was absolutely a thankless task.
Eunuch Qi glanced at the poor attendant kneeling on the ground, trembling, then secretly studied the young emperor’s expression, which betrayed nothing.
In the end, he steeled himself and chimed in, “Your Majesty, these past few days, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has selected several consorts for you, and they have now settled into the rear palace. Here is the register—perhaps you’d like to flip through it… get acquainted?”
The implication being: they’ve already been delivered to your door, so hold your nose and make do.
One would think the young emperor would be seething with suppressed rage at being schemed against by his own mother.
But contrary to expectations, the youth was calm to the point of eeriness. His heavy gaze settled only on the brand-new register, rushed out just that afternoon.
He scanned it back and forth, as if searching for something, and finally landed precisely on a name in the very corner.
“Shang Fuqu?”
Eunuch Qi froze for a moment, then grew wildly excited, exerting every ounce of skill he had. “Yes, yes, yes! This one was praised by the ladies-in-waiting and Her Majesty the Empress Dowager herself. She lives up to her name—beautiful and captivating, just like a lotus flower. And her temperament is honest and sincere—she ate two whole bowls at dinner! Ate every last bit!”
He praised her looks, then her character—inside and out.
You never miss the water till the well runs dry. Just as he was about to laud this Lady Shang as peerless in heaven and on earth, the youth’s slender fingertip tapped lightly on the name.
“Her, then.”
Shang Fuqu of Hanlan Pavilion.
This was no mere lady-in-waiting of the lowest rank—this was his favorable weather and peaceful seas, his prosperity across the four corners of the realm.
“Y-yes, Your Majesty!”
Eunuch Qi hurried to withdraw and make preparations, and to spread this joyous news fit for universal celebration.
“Wait.”
One leg had barely crossed the threshold when Lu Huai suddenly called him back. “Go to the storeroom and pick out a copy of the Three Character Classic, and wrap up several other books as well. Deliver them to Shang Fuqu later—tell her to read more when she has nothing to do.”
Less snacking on melon seeds and listening to tunes!
Unexpected, yet reasonable. Eunuch Qi didn’t find anything odd about it.
After all, that was simply His Majesty’s nature. He must have taken a fancy to Shang Fuqu to act this way.
Truly worthy of being the Emperor—even now, his thoughts were on studying.
Meanwhile, Shang Fuqu, having finished her melon seeds and her tunes, shook out her covers and prepared to lie down for the night.
Xiaodie had long since grown used to her pig-fattening schedule, but the newly arrived Xing’er’s eyes went wide. “My lady, you’re retiring this early? What if His Majesty comes over?”
Shang Fuqu waved her hand confidently. “His Majesty won’t come. Take the lamp away.”
Tonight’s garlic steamed prawns—she had devoured an entire plate and was thoroughly satisfied. It seemed life in the palace wasn’t as dreadful as she’d imagined.
Savoring the memory of those prawns, Shang Fuqu’s thoughts leapt wildly to Zhao Shuran.
She had actually only skimmed the beginning and end of that fanfiction novel, never reading it closely. After all, seeing an unlucky side character who shared her own name had always felt rather awkward.
But after today, it was no longer a question of awkward or not. To keep her little life, she needed to flip through it several more times, as soon as possible, and do her best to avoid the miserable fate that awaited her in the book.
…
“Lady Shang, your good fortune has arrived!”
Eunuch Qi’s excited shout from outside, duck-like in its intensity, was especially startling in the evening.
The utterly unprepared Shang Fuqu jolted.
But Xiaodie and Xing’er beamed with delight and hurried to greet him.
“Congratulations, my lady! His Majesty has sent this servant to collect the lamp…” Eunuch Qi swept in, flicking his horsetail whisk, and the moment he raised his eyes, he came face to face with Shang Fuqu, lying ramrod straight, her face a picture of blank bewilderment.
Her brain was awake, but her body hadn’t caught up.
“……”
This Lady-in-waiting really is quite considerate.
“Please freshen up and get ready first, His Majesty will be over shortly… Huh, where’s the lamp?”