Chapter 41:

No matter how she thought about it, Layue always presented herself to him with an innocent manner; even if she had some domineering and scheming traits, these were only directed toward outsiders. Toward Emperor Jing, she always appeared utterly dependent.

Indeed, upon hearing Layue’s words, the emperor did not press her with further questions. Not only that, but the hand gently stroking her back seemed to grow even gentler.

“As for all the quarrels and disputes in the palace, you needn’t concern yourself too much. If you have free time, accompanying the Empress Dowager to drink tea and play chess would be a pleasant pastime.

All their squabbles are merely for empty honors; in my heart, there is only you,” the emperor said affectionately.

Although he spoke thus, Layue dared not take his words seriously—after all, heaven knew how many women he had said similar things to.

However, regardless of her inner thoughts, she still feigned a moved expression on the surface, and directly offered her cherry lips.

Look at that—knowing it’s fake yet still pretending to be deeply touched. Isn’t this world always amusing?

…

After the emperor left, Layue submerged herself in water and held her breath. It was quite a while before she finally surfaced.

Only me in his heart? How ridiculous.

At best, she was merely a compliant and entertaining toy beside him.

However, his earlier words had indeed sparked some thoughts in her.

The fact that the Empress Dowager had always treated her kindly had long puzzled her. Reflecting carefully on her past life and comparing it with the present, was it really what she suspected? Because she couldn’t bear children in the near future and her family background was not prominent, had the emperor arranged for the Empress Dowager to become her patron?

If she dared to think further, could she suppose that the emperor intended to cultivate her into a third faction, following De Fei and Fu Jinyao?

Zhu Yuning was charming and proud, Lian Xiuyun lacked the capacity for great achievements, Bai Youran was indifferent and aloof, and those older palace women who had remained in the palace for four years without rising to high positions probably did not receive the emperor’s favor.

Despite this, she might not necessarily be a good candidate either—perhaps there was something about her that eventually pleased the emperor.

“Jinxin, tonight the sky is dark. Go hang up the red lanterns,” Layue instructed after drying herself.

“Yes.”

Standing by the window, Layue looked through the moonlight at the faintly visible red lanterns outside the gate, a faint smile appearing on her lips.

Previously, Layue would always stroll in the garden in the evening, but now that the weather had turned cold, she had become reluctant to go out. Somehow, she had become extremely sensitive to the cold.

That had never happened in her previous life.

She wasn’t puzzled by this—if everything were exactly the same, why would she have been reborn?

Unable to go walking, several senior maids like Taor would stay indoors to chat and entertain her.

Among them, Taor was the most talkative and well-informed. Compared to Guor’s quietness, Taor was overly lively.

“Your Highness, this afternoon I heard some news,” Taor said.

“Your news? Probably just about some palace maid pining for love in another palace, or a maid having an affair with a eunuch, or some old nurse causing trouble again,” Xingr teased.

Taor protested, “No, this time it’s really big news. You’ll know tomorrow.”

“Oh? What is it then?” Layue smiled and asked.

Seeing that her mistress was curious, Taor hurriedly shared her scoop.

“Today, bones were found in a dry well in Jiaoyun Palace. Noble Consort Fu was really frightened. The emperor said that since Noble Consort Fu is now pregnant, and such an ominous object was discovered in Jiaoyun Palace, it would be inappropriate for her to continue living there. The emperor already discussed it with Noble Consort Fu and plans to move her to Zhuxuan. The decree will likely be issued tomorrow.”

Layue feigned surprise.

Seeing that none of them had heard about it yet, Taor continued, “Besides the relocation, there’s another matter involving Noble Consort De. It’s said that upon hearing of Noble Consort Fu’s fright, the Empress Dowager severely reprimanded the servants in Jiaoyun Palace and ordered Noble Consort De to thoroughly investigate and eliminate any troublemakers. However, how could Noble Consort Fu allow Noble Consort De to do that? The two had quite a standoff. Later, the emperor arrived and mentioned the relocation, but also said that for Noble Consort Fu’s safety, Noble Consort De should still conduct an investigation.”

“I think, how could Noble Consort De possibly help Noble Consort Fu so simply? In the palace, only the late Empress and Noble Consort De have given birth to princes. If Noble Consort Fu also bears a prince, with her status elevated through motherhood and the support of the Fu family, who knows what the future holds?” Xingr analyzed.

Two senior eunuchs were on duty at the door while they chatted happily inside the room.

Layue listened for a while and then spoke seriously, “You are all my senior maids, so many things I don’t need to explain. Perhaps others may betray me, but you cannot. Once you have served as my senior maid, there will be no future in other palaces. However, you should also know that some matters must be handled with utmost caution, and you must manage the servants in Tingyu Pavilion well. As you suspect, Noble Consort Fu’s pregnancy may not be stable. We won’t harm others, but we must also guard against being used or framed by others.”

They all responded solemnly.

She would not give anyone a reason to make her a scapegoat. Judging from the current situation, such a possibility was not entirely absent.

It seemed that these days she really should obediently visit the Empress Dowager’s palace more often to play chess. Staying low and behaving properly was the right path.

In the following days, Layue behaved obediently and dutifully, only accompanying the Empress Dowager in playing chess and otherwise rarely leaving her quarters.

The palace had grown more wary of Layue due to the incidents involving Lian Xiuyun and Bai Xiaodie. After all, no one knew the emperor’s true thoughts, and Shen Layue was still in the emperor’s favor.

Because of this, her days became quite peaceful.

Noble Consort Fu had already moved to Zhuxuan. It was said that she really liked it there. True to its name, Zhuxuan had a courtyard filled with bamboo and a wooden pavilion inside. The pavilion was filled with calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, and there was an ancient qin, making it a truly elegant place.

The emperor often visited this pavilion to accompany Noble Consort Fu, drinking tea and listening to the qin, enjoying a blissful time together.

It might be sour grapes, but although Zhuxuan was a wonderful place, Layue always felt suspicious. As for what exactly felt wrong, she couldn’t tell. However, the sense of discomfort kept growing. She felt that she must have overlooked something regarding Zhuxuan.

However, even so, she did not show any excessive suspicion nor did she ever step foot in Zhuxuan. Regardless of how odd it seemed, it had nothing to do with Shen Layue.

If anything else during this period could be considered interesting, it would be Bai Youran. She had been at odds with Lian Xiuyun and Bai Xiaodie, yet unexpectedly gained Bai Youran’s favor. Originally, Bai Youran had been extremely cold, but now when she occasionally met Layue, she had put aside her usual coldness and showed more smiles.

If Bai Youran and Bai Xiaodie were of different statuses as legitimate and illegitimate daughters, and she was pleased to see Bai Xiaodie’s downfall, then Lian Xiuyun was her proper cousin on her mother’s side. Her current behavior left Layue perplexed. However, recalling that Bai Youran and Lian Xiuyun had never been close before, Layue thought to herself, every family has its own troubles.

Reflecting on the past, she seemed to have noticed some clues, which were not entirely unexpected.

Although Lian Xiuyun was the legitimate daughter of Bai Youran’s eldest uncle and the eldest daughter of Lian family, the Lian family had now declined and could not compare with the Bai family. Lian Da was also heavily dependent on the Bai family.

Madam Bai was not favored by Bai Da, and both Bai Youran and Lian Xiuyun were proud and talented women, naturally incompatible and frequently at odds. As a result, how could their cousinly relationship be close?

As for Bai Xiaodie, although she was a concubine-born daughter, her mother, Lady Die, was favored by Bai Da, and Bai Da favored the gentle and graceful Bai Xiaodie far more than his legitimate daughter Bai Youran.

Bai Xiaodie was not presentable and greatly admired Lian Xiuyun. Considering this, it was natural for the two to become close.

Being constantly looked up to with admiration and helping her family maintain good relations with the Bai family, how could she care about her aunt and legitimate cousin’s feelings? The more Layue thought about it, the more disgusted she felt toward Lian Xiuyun, a cold smile appearing on her face. What a shameless “talented lady.”

If such a reputation was bestowed by others, she wondered how much of a gift from the Lian family had been necessary for someone to make such a dishonest evaluation.

As a legitimate daughter raised with proper education, even after being reborn, she still found such behavior despicable. When she was young and naive, she had listened to Yulan and thought that since Bai Xiaodie was so favored at home, she must be clever. She had not expected that it would lead to the downfall of her family.

It was truly ridiculous that the two of them had entered the palace at the same time.

Now the weather had turned cold, and the first snow of winter had fallen the other day. The curtains in her quarters had already been replaced with thick, windproof ones.

Jinxin entered with a basin of hot water for Layue to wash her hands.

“Have you heard who the emperor summoned?” Layue rarely cared about whom the emperor summoned to his chambers, but she had been asking repeatedly these past couple of days.

Jinxin shook her head, “No, today the emperor still did not visit any of the palace consorts.”

Layue pondered. It had been five days now since the emperor last visited the inner palace. Every day he claimed to be busy with state affairs, but with the empire at peace, where could there be matters so urgent as to keep him from rest?

If there really was something going on, it might be related to the fact that five days ago Prince Liu had returned to the capital with his family. As for Prince Liu, Layue knew about him. Prince Liu was the emperor’s full brother, but they had fallen out years ago, fiercely competing for the throne. Later, the late emperor chose Jing as the successor and exiled Prince Liu to a border town.

She hadn’t expected that Prince Liu would return to the capital at this time.

In her previous life, Prince Liu had returned to the capital four years after she entered the palace. He had constantly opposed the emperor, and their rivalry continued until her death. Even then, the two were still locked in fierce conflict. Naturally, the emperor was the reigning monarch, while Prince Liu was merely a prince without real power. Yet despite this, everyone in the harem knew that Prince Liu would seize every opportunity to provoke and irritate the emperor.

At that time, when her Shen family fell into trouble, Prince Liu had even openly argued with the emperor in court!

Although ultimately he failed to save her family, he had at least tried to help them. She just didn’t know whether he did it merely out of rivalry or if there was some other hidden truth.