Chapter 18: Junior Consort (Xiao Yi)

Because of the newcomers entering the palace, everyone's break was cut short after just thirteen days.

For this, the newcomers had already earned a bit of resentment.

Lu Baolin, Shen Chuliu, and Attendant An knelt in the Empress’s palace to receive instructions. That evening, each hosted a small banquet of their own, which served as a celebration.

After all, the rank of Baolin was just seventh rank—not very high.

Everyone was watching to see whose name the Emperor would flip that night. In the end, word came that His Majesty had gone to Consort Yi’s palace.

Well, that was a relief for everyone.

Shen Chuliu couldn’t help but laugh. “Why do I feel like His Majesty is avoiding us?”

“Well, no matter whose name he picked tonight, it wouldn’t have been appropriate,” Zizhu chuckled.

“True enough. Consort Yi is impressive,” Shen said. It seemed whenever the Emperor had trouble making a decision, he went straight to Consort Yi.

“She’s still the most favored, after all. I was wondering—once An Baolin gives birth, will her child be handed over to Consort Yi to raise?”

There were only so many high-ranking consorts allowed to raise royal offspring, and currently Consort Yi and Xiurong Song didn’t have any children.

“Hard to say,” Shen Chuliu shook her head.

“No point worrying about that now. Didn’t the new girls enter the palace today? We’ll see them at Fengzao Palace tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.”

Zirui responded and helped her settle in for the night. Though it was still early, after so many years in the palace, she was already used to the schedule.

The next morning, Shen Chuliu changed into a qi-xiong ruqun—a style she now favored. Since she had just been promoted yesterday, today she dressed in a brighter peach-pink outfit embroidered with gold-threaded flowers on a pleated skirt.

She wore her hair in a bun slightly higher than usual, pinned with a step-shaking gold-and-gem hairpin.

She swept the stray hair from her forehead, revealing a smooth and beautiful brow. Her skin was naturally pale—porcelain with a hint of pink, the kind that never tans.

From a distance, you might not notice, but up close, “skin like jade” wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

She wore delicate, pastel-glass earrings given by Qi Yixiu.

She brought with her a seasonal embroidered fan decorated with lotus flowers.

When Baolin Yao saw her, she bowed first. Now there was a real rank difference between them.

The two left Cuiyun Pavilion together for Fengzao Palace. On the way, they ran into Lady Liu from Yinyue Pavilion and entered together.

The two new consorts were already there, dressed up and looking delicate and beautiful.

Since the Emperor would be attending to receive their greetings, Consort Yi and Noble Consort Feng naturally arrived early as well.

After everyone exchanged formalities and sat, the two newcomers knelt to greet the Emperor and Empress.

“Oh my, such beautiful new sisters! It makes clumsy people like me feel ashamed to look at you,” He Xiuyi said, half envious, half bitter.

Ever since giving birth to the eldest princess, she had fallen out of favor. In the past few years, the Emperor had visited her so few times she could count them on one hand.

“They really are quite lovely,” the Empress said with a smile. “You two are now consorts in the harem. Remember to abide by the rules, serve His Majesty well, and live in harmony with your sisters. Bear many sons for the royal family.”

She signaled for her maid to present them with gifts.

The two women thanked the Empress in unison, vowing to always follow the rules.

Between the two, Wu Baolin was the more beautiful—an oval face, sharp chin, the kind that evoked sympathy at a glance.

But today, Qi Yixiu's gaze was fixed on Shen Chuliu.

Ordinarily, Shen Chuliu made a point of keeping a low profile—whether in how she spoke or dressed, she kept it moderate and unremarkable.

A man like the Emperor wouldn’t waste time digging through a plain appearance to discover someone’s hidden charm.

But today, Shen Chuliu had dressed up. She radiated a lively charm from head to toe.

She had always been beautiful, but she used to hide about 40% of it on purpose.

Now that she no longer concealed it, she was more striking than even the prettiest newcomers.

Her face was a classic oval, with large almond-shaped eyes full of light, a straight and refined nose, and full lips that weren’t too thick—just right.

Even the philtrum below her nose was perfectly shaped.

She had shaped her eyebrows into “yuan brows”—long and elegant, with a slight upward tilt.

And Qi Yixiu noticed details he didn’t understand—her eyes, for example. Still the same pair, yet now they sparkled with charm and allure. (Friend, ever heard of tightlining?)

And she’d even drawn a tiny black beauty mark under the corner of her left eye.

Rather than being a flaw, it came off as playful.

Qi Yixiu saw that dot and immediately understood.

His own consort—sure, he’d never scrutinized just how beautiful she was before. But if she really had a mole on her face, wouldn’t he have noticed?

He almost wanted to laugh. So, she couldn’t sit still now that newcomers were arriving?

So she’d been playing coy all along.

“Your Majesty?” the Empress called when she saw him lost in thought.

The two newcomers kneeling before him grew nervous.

“Mm. What the Empress said is correct. You must be diligent in observing the rules. This is your first official greeting—make sure you continue paying respects to the Empress. If there’s nothing else, we’re done here. I need to get back to work. Empress, I’ll have dinner in your palace tonight.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll prepare it,” the Empress replied calmly.

It wasn’t that she was cold to the Emperor—her expression was naturally frosty.

The Emperor knew this, and didn’t take it personally.

But he didn’t favor her, either—he simply didn’t like her.

“Chusi, send a few boxes of that tribute eyebrow powder to Junior Consort Shen. I’m afraid she might be running low,” Qi Yixiu said with a smile, not looking at anyone in particular, and then left.

As Shen Chuliu bowed to see him off, she wiped away that strategic beauty mark.

A little flirtation was enough—if others caught on, it wouldn’t be good.

So she looked up with a dazed expression and quickly offered thanks again.

“Oh my, His Majesty really dotes on Junior Consort Shen,” He Xiuyi couldn’t hold her tongue even if she tried.

“Xiuyi Sister,” Shen said shyly, “was His Majesty implying that I did a poor job with my eyebrows? I did them myself…”

She looked genuinely embarrassed, her cheeks flushing red.

The others couldn’t help but glance over—her eyebrows were quite well done. At the time, there wasn’t one fixed style of brow for women.

While not as diverse as in modern times, there were still variations.

Her makeup today was hardly over-the-top.

Junior Consort Lu smiled. “Maybe His Majesty thought your eyebrows looked good and wanted to reward you for it.”

Shen Chuliu blushed further.

Everyone else smiled politely, but especially the newcomers—privately, they started to doubt what they’d been told.

They hadn’t heard that the Shen family was in favor. Had their intelligence been wrong?

Regardless, as newcomers, they couldn’t say much. They simply smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with Junior Consort Shen before everyone dispersed.

On the way back to Cuiyun Pavilion, Baolin Yao asked curiously, “Why did you wipe off that little dot, Sister?”

She had been with her all morning—how could she not notice?

Shen Chuliu still wasn’t used to being called “Sister.” But in the palace, everyone addressed each other by rank…

Even if Baolin Yao was nine years older than her…

“Yao-jie, could you just call me by my name instead?” Shen Chuliu asked awkwardly.

“It’s not allowed by the rules, but privately, how about I call you Chuliu?” Baolin Yao agreed, also finding “Sister” a bit too sycophantic.

Though she did want to cozy up to Junior Consort Shen, too much flattery would put people off.