The Job Of An Imperial Concubine

108

"This concubine felt tired after returning from Jingyang Palace, so went to take a nap. This concubine did not know Your Highness the noble consort had taken the trip here. May Your Highness please forgive me." Zhuang Laoyan faintly bent her knees. Naturally, she would not perform a full curtsy in her state.

Noble Consort Shu said, "No need to be so polite, Consort Zhao. This palace was the one disturbing you." After Zhuang Laoyan had taken a seat, she continued, "This palace came today to ask a favor. May Consort Zhao lend a slight hand."

Zhuang Laoyan had not foreseen that the always-tactful Noble Consort Shu would get right to the point. She sat in a distracted manner for a moment before saying, "Your Highness the noble consort is too serious. If even your honored self is unable to accomplish this task, how could this concubine be of any help? Your Highness the noble consort must cease it with the jokes."

"I presume you are unwilling to help." Noble Consort Shu's expression proved calm, yet Zhuang Laoyan felt she had already sunk into despair.

"Ever since you regained the emperor's favor, I had thought the emperor only regarded you as a fresh and novel experience. Yet, more than two years have passed, and while many people lost favor or died, you went from a little wanyi to a Consort Zhao." A bitter smile slid across Noble Consort Shu's face. "It's to the point where even though I'm no longer as favored as in the past, the emperor visits your palace more and more. For the child in your womb, he dispatched many people to your side. Who knows how many schemes he blocked for you?"

When Zhuang Laoyan heard such words, she had this impression: Noble Consort Shu had not come here to ask her to plead leniency for her family. Rather, she had come to vent her feelings. But as Zhuang Laoyan listened to her tranquil tone when speaking, she felt cold and miserable for some reason.

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"The words of Your Highness the noble consort are too serious." The smile on Zhuang Laoyan's face gradually dimmed. "How does Your Highness the noble consort know if this concubine didn't envy you? This concubine had just turned seventeen when entering the palace. The emperor doted on me for a few days, and this concubine thought he understood my feelings. Thus, this concubine grew happy to the point of forgetting my manners. Later on, this concubine learned that the emperor had only treated me as a novel experience.

"At that time, this concubine only saw His Majesty favoring you. Loving you. And this concubine thought, if this concubine's situation could be half as good as yours, then this concubine will be satisfied." A trace of a bitter smile appeared on Zhuang Laoyan's face. "Afterward, this concubine learned how to mask my feelings. And the emperor gradually treated me better. But during the night, fear always enters my heart. Once the emperor no longer favors me, what's to be done?"

After quite a while of silence, Noble Consort Shu suddenly laughed, low to the ears. To the point where she even shed tears in the process. "So that's how it is. So that's how it is. No wonder you, the only legitimate daughter of the Zhuang family, entered the palace back then. Surprisingly, it was due to this reason." She cut a regretful and sympathetic figure as she looked at Zhuang Laoyan. "Now that you've entered such a place, hopefully there won't be a day when you regret it."

Disbelief flashed through Noble Consort Shu's eyes as she gazed at the woman before her. How could there be a woman stupid enough to enter the imperial harem all for the emperor's sake? If she married an ordinary person, she could become the proper wife. Could become the master of the inner courtyard. Why come to such a place for a man she didn't understand?

Back then, the Su family's influence was in decline. Since her childhood, Su Ruizi had learned how to dance, and so they sent her to the imperial palace. She exhausted all her means to obtain the emperor's favor. Then, unconsciously, she started to regard this man as her savior. Just when did she give up? Was it during the time Zhuang Laoyan grew more and more favored? Was it when Zhuang Laoyan became with child? Or had she not given up yet?