Chapter 11: Petty

The two didn’t speak further. Qi Yixiu absentmindedly ran his fingers across Shen Chuliu’s back like petting a cat.

At first, she felt ticklish, then sleepiness overtook her.

She had woken up too early and hadn’t rested well at noon...

The surrounding servants exchanged odd looks. What was going on? Why was there still no movement?

After a quarter of an hour, Qi Yixiu finally tried to rise, only to realize the little concubine in his arms had fallen asleep.

“Your Majesty, I’ve been discourteous,” Shen Chuliu murmured when she woke.

Though she said she’d been improper, she didn’t seem to care much.

Qi Yixiu, naturally, didn’t make an issue out of such a minor thing. “Mm. Let’s go. It’s late.”

Shen Chuliu blushed and agreed. What came next was bedchamber service, after all—it was only natural to be shy.

In the sleeping chamber, the young woman trembled in the emperor’s arms.

Qi Yixiu was satisfied. He rather enjoyed the style Shen Baolin had in bed—delicate, yet daring.

“How should I reward you?” he asked, voice slightly husky.

Shen Chuliu was silent for a while before answering, “It would be my loss not to accept a reward, but I can’t think of anything for the moment. Could I let Your Majesty know when I do?”

Qi Yixiu had no objections. He figured this was just another strategy of retreating to advance.

After all, what woman in the harem didn’t eagerly grasp at any reward he offered?

Not wanting one? Hard to believe. She probably had plenty of things she desired.

Still, he’d seen this kind of thing since he was young and didn’t care much.

If someone truly had no desires, he wouldn’t be interested anyway.

Shen Chuliu was exhausted. After the palace maids came in to assist with washing up, she quickly fell asleep next to the emperor.

Before she drifted off, she thought: at least the emperor had always been considerate toward the Jing’an Marquis’s household. After she served in bed, she’d never been sent away immediately afterward.

That much, the palace ladies couldn’t all say for themselves.

—

The next morning, after seeing the emperor off to court, Shen Chuliu went to Fengzao Palace.

She was running a bit late today and didn’t arrive as early as usual.

Still, the Empress didn’t make things difficult for her.

To be precise, the Empress never liked to trouble anyone over trivial matters.

“Oh my, Shen Baolin is late today. Yesterday Miao Cairen was promoted—it should’ve been her night to serve, yet it was Shen Baolin who got the opportunity.” He Xiuyi teased.

After greeting everyone, Shen Chuliu replied, “The emperor’s wishes are not something we can influence.”

Miao Cairen, sitting off to the side, looked as if she’d been slapped across the face.

Before Shen Chuliu arrived, she’d already been the target of jokes for half the morning.

She couldn’t talk back either—not when everyone present outranked her.

Even if she had something to say, she didn’t dare offend them.

Consort Cao hadn’t come today, but Li Jieyu chimed in, “That Miao Xiaoyi used to be the only one at her rank. Now that she’s Cairen, tsk tsk, even Ning Cairen can’t compare anymore.”

After all, Miao Cairen had a title now.

“It’s no big deal that I’m not as favored,” Ning Cairen said coldly. “With Miao Cairen’s talent, I’m sure even Sisters Cao and Li won’t be able to compare soon. After only a few days in the palace, she’s already Cairen—Meiren and Jieyu must be just around the corner.”

“If you’d said that before, I’d think you were bewitched,” Li Jieyu replied, not offended. “But now? Who knows anymore.”

At this point, anyone who couldn’t see that Miao Cairen was all show and no substance was either blind or willfully ignorant.

What no one quite understood was whether the emperor favored her because of the Duke of Lu or for some other reason.

With that understanding, the other women became even less polite to Miao Cairen.

Strictly speaking, after last night’s events, Shen Baolin had “stolen” Miao Cairen’s favor. Miao should’ve tried to make things difficult for Shen.

But now? She didn’t even dare.

When Consort Feng and Consort Yi arrived together, everyone stood to greet them again.

The Empress had never liked Consort Feng, but she still maintained civility.

The Empress, once a princess of another nation, had high status. She had married into the Da Yi court at age fourteen, when the emperor was still a prince.

Now, eight years had passed and she still had no children. The reasons for that remained unclear.

Consort Feng, niece of Empress Dowager Feng and a noblewoman of this dynasty, naturally looked down on a foreign princess.

Especially now that Chao was weak, and the Empress had only entered the marriage as part of a diplomatic alliance.

These days, with Consort Yi siding with Consort Feng, it was obvious they didn’t think highly of the Empress either.

Both women outranked the others significantly, so they couldn’t be bothered mocking someone like Miao Cairen. They didn’t even give her a glance.

When greetings were done, everyone dispersed in small groups.

Lu Baolin invited Shen Chuliu for another stroll through the Imperial Garden.

This time, Shen didn’t refuse. She went along with Lu Baolin and Yao Baolin.

Just as they passed a cluster of fading peonies, they heard a eunuch scolding some palace maids.

“A bunch of careless things! You dared break the flowers Consort Yi wanted? Don’t try to weasel out of it—none of you are getting away. Off to the Inner Punishment Bureau!”

The moment they heard “Inner Punishment Bureau,” the maids fell to their knees in terror, begging for mercy.

Lu Baolin suddenly spoke up, “What’s going on here?”

The head eunuch, seeing the three Baolins, immediately put on a smile. “Ah, so it’s you three. These unruly girls made a mistake. Apologies for the disturbance.”

“I heard it too,” Lu Baolin said lightly. “A few flowers and plants—hardly worth sending them to the Punishment Bureau. They’re all young girls, after all. Couldn’t you let them off for our sake?”

Shen Chuliu suddenly smiled. “Sister Lu, you really are kind-hearted. But we only caught part of the conversation—we wouldn’t want to hinder your work by stepping in without knowing the full story. Weren’t we going to see the lotuses? Let’s go.”

With that, she walked off ahead.

Lu Baolin paused, frowning slightly, but said nothing.

Yao Baolin hadn’t said a word the entire time.

The eunuch, still smiling, respectfully saw them off. When they were out of sight, he muttered, “Busybody.”

The maids were still sent to the Inner Punishment Bureau.

While admiring the lotus flowers, Lu Baolin said suddenly, “Sister, do you think I shouldn’t have spoken up? Are you afraid of offending Consort Yi? But it’s not such a big matter—surely she wouldn’t mind?”

Shen Chuliu replied lazily, “You’re overthinking it, Sister Lu. I just genuinely thought we didn’t hear everything and might make things worse by acting without understanding.”

Yao Baolin chuckled, “Good intentions won’t get you far in the palace.”

Seeing the two of them so aligned, Lu Baolin dropped the topic and quietly left soon after.

After she was gone, Yao Baolin said, “She’s kind, that’s for sure.”

Shen Chuliu smiled faintly but didn’t respond.

Kind-hearted? If Lu Baolin were truly a saint—tsk. Women in the palace don’t show their true selves so easily.

With their ranks still so low, nothing was real yet.

Time would reveal everything.

Anyway, she couldn’t get close to someone like Lu Baolin.

There was something off about her. She came from a scholarly family, yet sought bedchamber duties by relying on her embroidery skills to please the Empress.

There was nothing wrong with doing so—but with a background like hers, it just came off as... petty.