NABC Chapter 78 Relying on Favor
Chapter 78 Relying on Favor
Shen Shixi rolled her eyes. "Look at you, so pathetic. Why should I go and welcome the Emperor in? If I don't want to see him, I just don't want to. Why should I force myself?"
"But you and the Emperor have a falling out, there has to be a reason! This is for no reason, the Emperor hasn't done anything to you! What kind of grievance is this? Keep acting up, sooner or later you'll make the Emperor refuse to come anymore, then you'll regret it!"
"If you don't want to come, you don't have to. Don't worry, this day will come sooner or later." Shen Shixi didn't seem annoyed. She was too lazy to write anymore, so she picked up a piece of paper and wrote something casually.
"It is said that when Pangu separated heaven and earth, the world was divided into four continents. One of the continents was called Dongsheng Shenzhou. There was a country called Aolai. Near the sea, there was a mountain called Huaguo Mountain. On the mountain was a stone."
This stone, imbued with the spirit of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon, suddenly exploded with a loud bang one day, and a hairy monkey leaped out from within…
Chao En entered and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor hasn't left yet. He's drinking alone in the pavilion outside. Would Your Majesty like to go out and take a look?"
Frustrated, Shen Shixi threw down her pen, stood up, and said, "Go to sleep. You should all go and rest too!"
Chao En was surprised by this and looked to Bai Ping for help.
What can Bai Ping do?
This was the first time Qinghao had encountered something like this, and she couldn't help but feel terrified. She had been in the palace for many years and had never heard of anyone becoming so arrogant because of the emperor's favor.
I can't help but think that I'll probably end up in the cold palace someday.
Inside the bedchamber, Shen Shixi was already asleep, but Bai Ping couldn't sleep. She knelt on the footboard, unsure how to comfort him.
"This servant knows that you are suffering, but you are already like this, life must go on. You are not afraid of going to the Cold Palace, but life there is truly unbearable! I heard that Consort Jiang, who has been banished to the Cold Palace, is almost at her breaking point."
Shen Shixi turned over to face her, "Bai Ping, if you were a concubine in an ordinary family, your name wouldn't be recorded in the family genealogy, and the children you bore wouldn't be able to call you their mother. If you were a concubine in the royal family, no matter how much the emperor favored me in the future, I wouldn't be buried in the imperial mausoleum after I died, and my position wouldn't be attached to the ancestral temple."
Admittedly, after death, one knows nothing, and I don't care about that. But how can I not care about the treatment I received while alive?
Bai Ping was heartbroken. Her mistress could have chosen not to be a concubine!
"Good girl, you shouldn't suffer such injustice. It was my stupidity that I didn't expect this!" she cried.
Shen Shixi smiled and touched her face. "Silly girl, who invited the Empress to the Empress Dowager's palace today? It was the Emperor! He felt that since I hosted the banquet, and the Empress is the principal wife, it would be impolite of me not to invite her. He invited the Empress to teach me the proper etiquette between嫡庶 (legitimate and illegitimate children).
But why did I invite the Empress Dowager and him to a banquet? I originally just wanted him to know how to eat these crops so that he could promote them. But the Empress Dowager doesn't eat them, and it would be unfilial for him to eat them, so I went to the Empress Dowager's palace.
What was my intention? Was it just a meal? He's making a mountain out of a molehill with me like this! And why should I invite his whole family to dinner?
Shen Shixi sighed, "I'm doing this for the people. This is a matter of state, not a family matter! Bai Ping, today he can force me to bow before the Empress for this little bit of courtesy, but tomorrow he could take my life for something else. Do you understand?"
She could choose not to be a favored concubine, but she couldn't be cannon fodder either.
Bai Ping shook her head, weeping, and said, "This servant doesn't understand, but no matter what you do, mistress, this servant will follow you, even in life and death!"
Shen Shixi hugged her, "Silly girl, why are you saying such things!"
She never intended to disrespect the Empress; what she respected was not the person, but the position, the social system, and the order.
Whether she is respectful or not is her business; whether the emperor forces her to be respectful is another matter entirely.
Hearing the voices, Bai Kui came over with a candle. "Your Highness shouldn't have let the old master go and tell the Emperor to make the Empress Empress."
Shen Shixi chuckled and poked Bai Kui's forehead. "So indignant! What was the situation back then? The Emperor had only been the Crown Prince for less than two years. His foundation was unstable. He had just ascended the throne. Without the support of the Pei family, he would have faced countless difficulties."
Rather than having the Emperor appoint my elder sister as Empress, which would hinder his rule and cause him to harbor resentment towards Lady Shen, it would be better to appoint Lady Pei as Empress, so that the Emperor would feel sympathy and guilt towards Lady Shen.
There's no way she can be made empress.
Bai Kui pouted and said, "I've never seen the Emperor remember our kindness. I don't understand, but after hearing what you said just now, I'm so angry I could die."
"Silly girl, if I didn't, the Emperor would have punished me today and stormed off. Why would I be doing this outside?"
She sighed, "It's a pity that my elder sister couldn't understand these things. She blamed me until her death for not making her empress, but she didn't know that if she had become empress, she might not have lived for more than half a year."
In the depths of the palace, whoever falls in love is not far from death.
Neither Bai Ping nor Bai Kui knew how to comfort her.
Shen Shixi didn't need anyone's comfort. "It's late, go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow!"
Li Yuanke sat in the pavilion until the beginning of the 9-11 AM before leaving and returning to Qianyuan Palace.
Everyone in the palace knew that Zhaoyang Palace had locked the Emperor out, and that he had waited for almost an hour before leaving.
The Empress Dowager also learned of this and asked, "Who invited the Empress here today?"
By this time, the Empress Dowager had also come to her senses.
Aunt Qingruo said, "The Emperor encountered the Empress on his way here. I don't know if the Emperor sent someone to invite her."
The Empress Dowager sighed.
Yang Tingyue said, "Aunt, isn't Shen Shixi too arrogant and spoiled? The Emperor will get tired of her sooner or later. The Emperor is the Emperor after all. She is just ignorant of manners and doesn't know her place. She dares to lock the Emperor out."
The Empress Dowager poked her forehead. "If you had her ambition, I wouldn't have to worry about you!"
Yang Tingyue shook the Empress Dowager's hand, "Aunt, Yue'er only has my cousin in her heart, and there is no room for anyone else. If I cannot marry my cousin, Yue'er will never marry and will stay with you, Aunt."
The Empress Dowager said, "Then think carefully about why the Empress helped you today. Once you understand, I might be able to agree to your request."
Yang Tingyue frowned and looked to Aunt Qingruo for help.
Aunt Qingruo smiled and turned her head away.
The next day, after Shen Shixi finished exercising and had breakfast, he went to Fengyi Palace.
She arrived late, but everyone who was supposed to come had already arrived, saving her the trouble of getting up repeatedly to pay her respects to the high-ranking concubines.
Those of lower rank than her also rose to pay their respects, saying, "Greetings to Consort Yuan!"
"Tong'an!" Shen Shixi sat down.
The Empress emerged, and everyone bowed to her. Before they could even sit down, Consort Qing said, "Consort Yuan, how arrogant you are! You even dared to lock the Emperor out. I heard you even dared to lay a hand on him! Your Majesty, how can there be such an arrogant, rude, and disrespectful person in the harem? Shouldn't you punish her?"
Shen Shixi said, "Did His Majesty tell Consort Qing that I locked him out? And that I even attacked him? That's why he sent you to help him stand up for him?"
"Does His Majesty need to say it? Weren't you the one who inflicted the injuries on Li Fude's face?"
"Did Eunuch Li tell you that I was the one who did it?" Shen Shixi said.
"If it's not you, then who else could it be but the Emperor? You dare say it's not you?"
"Whether she's a concubine or not has nothing to do with Consort Qing. If you think she's a concubine, then go tell the Emperor that she has been disrespectful and he should just beat her to death!"
Consort Qiong said, "Consort Qing, even if you beat Consort Yuan to death, the Emperor won't favor you any more. Why bother? Besides, the Emperor's affairs and the people around him are not things we can inquire about! Your Majesty, don't you agree?"
Consort Qiong spoke up for Shen Shixi so quickly!