To replenish the harem, a full seventeen new women entered the palace.
After their first formal greeting, everyone was on the edge of their seats, waiting to see who would be the first to serve the Emperor.
But to everyone's surprise, the Emperor didn't sample the new arrivals. He first visited the Empress, then Noble Princess Consort Rong. This left the newcomers as anxious as ants on a hot pan, endlessly replaying their performance from the selection ceremony, consumed by doubt. The most nervous of them all was Consort Guo.
Among this batch of newcomers, she held the highest initial rank.
If she couldn't be the first, she feared the others would laugh at her.
The day after Noble Princess Consort Rong served the Emperor, she remarked, seemingly offhand, "If the fire in your heart won't subside, no amount of chrysanthemum and mulberry leaf tea will do you any good."
Having only been in the palace for a short time, Consort Guo's expression changed in an instant.
How did the Noble Princess Consort in Zhaoyang Palace know about the chrysanthemum and mulberry leaf tea she was drinking in Zhongcui Palace?
'If the Noble Princess Consort knows even what kind of tea I drink,' she thought, 'wouldn't it be child's play for her to add something to it?' Consort Guo pressed her lips together, silent, but she had already decided to discipline her palace attendants when she returned and find out who leaked the information.
Jiang Xian remained silent, taking in the expressions of those in the seats of honor. She had already guessed most of what they were thinking.
System: [Host, didn't you say you don't understand palace fighting?]
Jiang Xian: [I don't understand palace fighting, but I understand office politics. The workplace has its own fair share of subtle power plays.]
After the morning greetings were finished, Chen Daying suddenly struck up a conversation with her. "Ever since I was little, my parents have said I'm meticulous and observant. And today, during the greetings, I discovered something very important."
"Hm?"
Seeing Chen Daying acting all mysterious, Jiang Xian played along and put on a listening face.
"The Lady must really love chrysanthemum and mulberry leaf tea. If I ever get a chance to host her, I'll make sure to prepare it for her. Maybe she'll take a liking to me."
"..."
Jiang Xian said, "Excellent observation. Now, never observe again."
This "enterprise-level" interpretation reminded Jiang Xian of an intern she once supervised—someone with the emotional intelligence to spin the lazy Susan just as their boss was reaching for a dish.
Chen Daying was in a huff. Back at Yizhu Pavilion, she saw Jiang Xian freshening up and preparing to go out again. "Are you going to the Plum Garden again today?" she asked. "I really don't get you. That place is so deserted... It's a good thing we're both out of favor. Otherwise, if someone wanted to get rid of you, they could just push you into the pond there, and no one would even notice until you started to smell."
"I'm particularly fond of plum blossoms in winter,"
Jiang Xian paused. "Besides, plum blossoms and snow make for a fine poetic image."
"Fine. Just take a couple more servants with you, and remember to wear a cloak outside." With that, Chen Daying went back to her own room.
When she went out, Jiang Xian took Zhenqiu, who had a steadier personality.
Steady, perhaps, but she was also very young.
'In the modern world, she'd still be a student,' Jiang Xian thought. She then asked her abruptly, "What do you make of Chen Daying?"
"To answer my lady," Zhenqiu said after a moment of thought, "Miss Chen has a lively personality, a bit rambunctious, but she doesn't seem like a deep schemer. The palace is a lonely place; it's common for the ladies to befriend each other for companionship."
A servant couldn't speak ill of a master, and even praise had to be carefully worded.
But Jiang Xian just chuckled. "The most dangerous enemies often come in the guise of friends."
Zhenqiu lowered her head.
Today at the Plum Garden, Jiang Xian didn't practice her dancing. Instead, she sat in the pavilion and played the guqin for a while.
She was using a guqin tutorial she had purchased from the system. After all, before her transmigration, the original owner of this body had been a lazy "salted fish," and her needlework skills were rudimentary at best. In her past life, it wasn't until she got to University that she realized just how many people had learned instruments as children—as common as stars in the sky—while her own family couldn't even afford tutoring fees.
Now that she could trade Palace Fighting Points for lessons, she absorbed the knowledge like a sponge, unwilling to rest for even a moment.
There was now one day left until the Emperor's Footprint would appear in the Plum Garden.
The two low-ranking concubines of Yizhu Pavilion had no connections or power in the palace, and since neither had been spending silver to gather news, they were like deaf-mutes. It wasn't until the morning greetings the next day, when they saw a radiant Consort Guo sauntering in late, that Jiang Xian and Chen Daying realized she had gotten her wish. She had become the first of the new arrivals to serve the Emperor.
"A concubine must perform a grand rite before the Empress after her first night of service. Could it be that Consort Guo is so unwilling to perform this rite that she has arrived this late?"
Noble Princess Consort Rong, who usually loved to be late, had arrived unusually early. Upon discovering someone was capable of putting on even more airs than herself, her pretty face fell. With a smirk, she said, "The Empress has always been magnanimous. If Consort Guo is unwilling, I'm sure the Empress won't mind."
"Empress, please forgive me! I am willing to uphold the rites and perform the grand rite before you. I was delayed on the way here and was quite frantic, but I am relieved I did not miss the hour for the morning greetings. I beg for Your Majesty's mercy."
Consort Guo, who had been looking rather pleased with herself, was instantly horrified and dropped to her knees.
To pay respects to the Empress after one's first night with the Emperor was both a privilege and a matter of honor.
If the Empress truly forbade her from performing this rite, her position would become illegitimate. She would be ridiculed by the entire palace, and if word reached the Outer Court, her father, a Second-rank Official, would be greatly shamed. With a single, vicious sentence, the Noble Princess Consort had transformed Consort Guo from a preening peacock into a drenched quail.
The other concubines fell silent, not daring to speak, but they were all enjoying Consort Guo's predicament.
Jiang Xian's gaze, however, shifted to the Empress.
'If this dynasty were a corporation,' Jiang Xian mused, 'the Emperor would be the Chairman of the Board. The Empress would be the CEO of the 'harem' subsidiary—the Chief Executive Officer—and all of us are her subordinates.'
'Even a senior executive like Noble Princess Consort Rong is still just a subordinate.'
The other concubines were all watching the Lady, waiting for her next move. But Jiang Xian knew she had already said her piece. How Consort Guo would be dealt with was now entirely up to the CEO's judgment.
Jiang Xian observed the Empress, wanting to get a read on the personality of her future boss.
The Empress...
Queen Chu had a gentle, dignified face. Her earlobes were exceptionally large and full, adorned with dangling emerald earrings that looked like they might drip. In the eyes of the ancients, this was a sign of a truly blessed visage.
But as Jiang Xian watched her for a moment, she realized the Empress seemed to be... spacing out?
For an Empress from a great aristocratic family, etiquette was second nature. Even if her mind wasn't on the morning's proceedings, a flawless, dignified smile remained on her lips.
Even Jiang Xian, who was a seasoned judge of character, couldn't say for sure that the Empress was zoned out.
'Perhaps she's just putting on airs.'
But the old-timers who had been with them since their time in the Prince Mansion knew exactly what was happening.
Princess Consort Zhang: 'Oh, she's spacing out again.'
Noble Princess Consort Rong: 'Last night, I gave her the Imperial Household's account books to review. I knew she'd be up all night, and I knew she'd be distracted this morning. By using her as a pretense to stir up trouble, I can intimidate the entire Six Palaces.'
At this thought, the corners of her lips curled up.
Meanwhile, Consort Guo and the other uninformed concubines trembled in fear.
After a pause of about five seconds, the Empress returned to herself. She waved a hand, allowing Consort Guo to finish the rite. Once the grand rite was completed with much trepidation, the Empress said, "From now on, serve the Emperor dutifully. I am tired. You may all leave."