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Translator's note: Finally there are advance chapters availaible on Kofi
Chapter 109
Gu Han knew the wisdom of quitting while one was ahead, but for now, she simply pressed her lips together in silence, clearly unwilling to let the matter drop so easily.
The Emperor had not stepped foot in Yihe Palace for over half a month, something that had never happened before. To treat a problem, one had to find the root cause. If this happened a few more times, even someone as composed as Gu Han would lose her patience. Besides, she was genuinely baffled: what on earth had she done?
Lu Yu felt the weight of her gaze. He remained silent for a long time, his throat dry.
What was he supposed to say? That because she had known he was nearby that day but hadn't bothered to take a few steps toward him, her seemingly indifferent attitude had sent him into a spiral of irritation? That he had stayed away out of sheer, petty spite?
Just running those thoughts through his mind made Lu Yu feel a flush of shame. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"It wasn’t that I intentionally avoided you," he managed. "The court has been busy. I simply haven't had the time to visit the inner palace."
Gu Han lowered her eyes. "So, when Your Majesty is too busy to visit me, that 'lack of time' includes frequently playing and making merry with Noble Lady Yao?"
Lu Yu choked on his words.
After a long pause, Gu Han continued softly, "Since Your Majesty clearly didn't wish to see me, I won't stay here and be an eyesore. I’ve spent the last half-month racking my brain to figure out how I’d displeased you. It turns out the rumors were true, Your Majesty has simply grown tired of me."
With that, she stood up, supporting her waist as she prepared to march back down the steps.
Lu Yu’s heart leapt into his throat at the sight of her moving so abruptly. He hurriedly pulled her back, but Gu Han turned her face away, her lips tightly pursed in a clear display of anger.
He forced her back into her seat and sighed, the sound heavy with a headache. "Fine. A few days ago... I did misunderstand you. That is why I didn't visit."
He had finally told the truth. Gu Han looked at him at last, though her expression remained guarded.
Lu Yu’s eyes flickered away, and he said with palpable awkwardness, "That day in the garden... didn't Noble Lady Yao tell you I was right there in the pavilion?"
Gu Han thought back for a long moment before the memory surfaced. She looked up, incredulous. "Your Majesty was accompanied by a beautiful woman, and before I could even find the grounds to be jealous, you decided to turn around and blame *me*?"
Gu Han had never heard of anything so absurd. Supporting her belly, she was so angry she nearly laughed. "I chose not to interrupt Your Majesty while you were flying kites with a beauty, and that was my mistake?"
Lu Yu was left utterly speechless.
Gu Han’s eyes flickered with a hidden sharpness. She understood now what was happening: it was his vanity and ego at play. He felt entitled to be surrounded by women, yet he demanded the women of his harem keep him in their hearts at every moment, especially those he favored. The slightest hint of perceived neglect was enough to prick his pride.
She bit her lip, her eyes turning a watery, indignant red. "I never knew Your Majesty could be so cruel!"
"I am but a mere consort; I wouldn't dare dream of you staying by my side every day. It is one thing for you to seek pleasure with others, but I am here, painfully carrying your child, already anxious enough from the warnings of the physicians and the nannies. To have Noble Lady Yao come and flaunt herself before me was hard enough, but now you imply I should have gone to watch you dote on another woman?"
"Does Your Majesty really want me to witness such a scene with my own eyes?!"
With one speech, she shifted the entire weight of the blame onto him. Her eyes were red, and a single tear trembled on her lashes, threatening to fall. It was a sight designed to provoke nothing but pity and self-reproach.
Lu Yu couldn't find his voice. Everything she said was true. How could she have stood to watch that? She was already fragile and anxious due to her pregnancy; seeing him favor another would only have fueled her insecurities.
*Out of sight, out of mind.* She had been protecting herself, while he had been single-mindedly making her life miserable. No wonder she was this angry.
The irritation he had nursed for half a month dissolved into guilt. He found it difficult to look her in the eye. After a moment, he said in a low voice, "It was my fault. I was thoughtless toward your feelings."
Since his ascension to the throne, Lu Yu had never apologized to anyone. This was a first.
In his mind, his guilt quickly turned into cold anger toward Noble Lady Yao. In terms of seniority and favor, Noble Lady Yao was nowhere near Gu Han. What right did she have to flaunt herself? It was clear she had malicious intentions, seeking only to upset Gu Han.
Gu Han knew when to stop. She turned her head away, wiped a tear, and said indistinctly, "Eunuch Liu said Your Majesty hasn't eaten all day. Since you are so busy, I won't disturb you further."
Lu Yu caught her hand. "Since you’re already here, stay and eat with me before you go."
Gu Han made a show of trying to pull away, but when he didn't let go, she just gave him a sharp glare and relented.
Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief. The crisis had passed.
Liu An quickly brought in the lunch, shooting Gu Han a look of profound gratitude. Just then, his apprentice Xiao Wen entered to announce:
"Your Majesty, Noble Lady Yao has arrived. She wishes to see you."
The atmosphere in the hall shifted instantly. Liu An shot Xiao Wen a murderous glare. *Zhao Xiūróng is still inside! Have you no eyes in your head?!*
Xiao Wen felt his own bitterness. Noble Lady Yao was not an easy person to deal with, and lately, the Emperor had seen her every time she came to the front hall. That was the only reason he had dared to report her arrival.
Gu Han let out a short, cold laugh. "Since Your Majesty has a 'beauty' to keep you company, I shall take my leave."
Lu Yu had only just managed to coax her into staying; he wasn't about to let her go now. He cast a freezing look at Liu An. "What are you standing there for? Tell her to go back."
Gu Han glanced at him sideways, her tone leisurely. "Is Your Majesty not afraid of breaking her heart?"
Their first meeting had been something out of a storybook—the hero saving the damsel, which was likely why Noble Lady Yao had fallen for him so quickly.
Lu Yu didn't care about breaking hearts, but he found the current situation incredibly awkward. He personally placed a small side dish into Gu Han’s bowl and whispered, "I wouldn't dare break a beauty's heart."
The "beauty" he was referring to was clearly the one sitting in front of him.
Gu Han gave him a reproving look, thinking him quite the silver-tongued rogue.
---
Outside the hall, Noble Lady Yao stared at Xiao Wen in shock, her brow furrowed. "The Emperor has no time to see me?"
Her first reaction was: *How is that possible?*
When she first entered the palace, the Emperor had indeed ignored her, but lately, he had granted her entry almost every time she visited. Being able to keep him company daily at the Hall of Mental Cultivation was a privilege no one else in the harem currently enjoyed. She refused to believe it.
"I just saw the servants bringing in the meal. If the Emperor is eating, why doesn't he have time for me?"
Xiao Wen forced a smile. "No time" was just a polite way of saying the Emperor didn't want to see her. Why couldn't she understand that?
Seeing that she was going to persist until she got a real answer, Xiao Wen sighed. "Zhao Xiūróng is inside. His Majesty is not seeing anyone else right now."
The subtext was clear: *You've had some favor lately, but compared to the woman inside, you are second best.*
The servants at the Emperor's side were no fools. They knew exactly which consort held the Emperor’s heart. Even the dimmest among them only had to watch Liu An’s attitude to know the truth. When had Liu An ever seen Consort Zhao without a smile on his face?
Noble Lady Yao went silent. She glanced toward the hall and finally noticed the imperial palanquin resting in the shade. She twisted her silk handkerchief, glared at Xiao Wen, and turned to leave in a fit of pique.
Once she was finally gone, Xiao Wen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
---
Lu Yu hadn't been lying about one thing: he was genuinely busy. After lunch, Gu Han left the Hall of Mental Cultivation. As for the idea of dragging Lu Yu away for amusement, even if he were willing, she wasn't. She was barely a month away from her due date; if Lu Yu hadn't caused this sudden drama, she wouldn't have bothered with him at all.
News traveled fast in the six palaces. The fact that Zhao Xiūróng had stayed for lunch while Noble Lady Yao had been turned away at the door spread like wildfire.
The next day, as Noble Lady Yao passed through the Imperial Garden, she heard laughter coming from a pavilion.
"If we're talking about favor in this harem, first there is Consort Shu, then there is Zhao Xiūróng. Who else could possibly compete with those two? It's just that one is busy with palace affairs and the other is pregnant and preoccupied. That's the only reason *certain people* were able to find a crack to crawl through."
Noble Lady Yao clenched her fists. She saw Noble Lady Lin—who held the same rank as her, sitting in the pavilion, and she let out a cold snort before storming away.
Once she left, the women in the pavilion shared a look and burst into laughter. Noble Lady Yao had made many enemies lately. Perhaps back in YaoMo her status was incomparable, but since entering the palace, she had shown no restraint. She flaunted her favor shamelessly, and no one in the harem could stand it.
Even Zhao Xiūróng, who had been favored since she entered the palace, had never been so arrogant.
Returning to Lingyan Pavilion, Noble Lady Yao smashed a set of teacups in her rage. She spared the rest of the decor only because she couldn't bring herself to destroy the fine porcelain, a rarity back in her homeland. She stamped her foot. "Those gossiping wretches!"
She knew they had said those things specifically for her to hear. She had no friends in the palace to vent to. Since birth, she had never known grievance; even her early struggles in the palace had been brief.
For a moment, she was so angry she almost cried. She wiped her face. "Go to the front hall. See if you can invite the Emperor here."
Noble Lady Yao’s specialty was complaining. In YaoMo, her father doted on her, and many of her sisters had suffered because of her complaints. She wasn't entirely without wit, she knew the Emperor valued Zhao Xiūróng, so she wouldn't say a bad word about her. But those other consorts, who didn't see the Emperor once in a blue moon? What right did they have to mock her?!
Her maid didn't dare delay and hurried out, but she was back in less than fifteen minutes.
Noble Lady Yao looked at her expectantly, but the maid’s face was full of hesitation. "When I arrived... the Emperor had already been invited away by someone from Yi'an Palace."
Yesterday it was Zhao Xiūróng, today it was Consort Shu. Her two biggest rivals were the very ones who had snubbed her. After hearing the gossip today, those were the two names she hated most.
She slammed the table. "Get out! All of you, get out!"
---
Lu Yu had indeed been invited to Yi'an Palace by Consort Shu. As a maid served tea, Lu Yu caught a glimpse of Consort Shu leafing through palace records. For a fleeting second, he felt as though he were looking at the Empress. He remembered that every time he went to Kunning Palace, he would see a similar scene.
Noticing his gaze, Consort Shu immediately put down the scrolls and walked over to sit beside him with effortless grace. "It seems Your Majesty only has eyes for the new beauties now," she said with a hint of mock bitterness. "You’ve forgotten the old ones entirely. Have you even counted how long it has been since you last visited Yi'an Palace?"
She was a natural beauty, and her "jealousy" came across as charming coquetry.
Lu Yu actually paused to think about her question. But while he remembered with painful clarity that it had been fifteen days since he visited Yihe Palace, he realized he had no idea how many days it had been since he’d seen her.
He naturally bypassed the question. "The affairs of the harem are heavy. You must take care of your health."
It sounded like concern, but Consort Shu knew better. It was just his way of changing the subject.
"It is my honor to share Your Majesty's burdens," she replied smoothly. In truth, she hadn't invited him today just to complain. She had other matters to discuss.
---
Author's Note:
Kunning Palace: Empress
Yi'an Palace: Consort Shu
Xianleng Palace: Imperial Consort De
Zhaoyang Palace → Main Hall: Xiuyi He
Zhaoyang Palace → Side Hall: Rong Baolin
Yihe Palace → Changchun Pavilion: Female Lead
Rongcui Hall: Beauty Miao
Cuizhu Pavilion: Beauty Lin
Changning Courtyard: Zhou Meiren
Hanleng Palace → (Main Hall transferred to Side Hall): Talented Lady Yuan
Also appearing: Noble Lady Lin, Liu Baolin
Here are the ranks of imperial consorts:
- Empress (皇后 Huánghoù) — Head of the Imperial Harem
- Imperial Noble Consort (皇贵妃 Huáng Guìfēi) — Rank 1
- Noble Consort, Pure Consort, Virtuous Consort, Worthy Consort (贵妃、淑妃、德妃、贤妃 Guìfēi, Shūfēi, Défēi, Xiánfēi)** — Senior Rank 1 (The Four Consorts, with Noble Consort as the highest)
- Consort (妃 Fēi) — Junior Rank 2
- Bright Deportment, Bright Countenance (昭仪、昭容 Zhāoyí, Zhāoróng) — Senior Rank 3
- Cultivated Deportment, Cultivated Countenance (修仪、修容 Xiūyí, Xiūróng) — Junior Rank 3
- Noble Lady (贵嫔 Guìpín) — Senior Rank 4
- Imperial Concubine (嫔 Pín) — Junior Rank 4
- Beauty (美人 Měirén) — Senior Rank 5
- Talented Lady (才人 Cáirén) — Junior Rank 5
- Precious Grove (宝林 Bǎolín) — Senior Rank 6
- Imperial Woman (御女 Yùnǚ) — Junior Rank 6
- Palace Maid (宫女子 Gōngnǚzǐ) — Senior Rank 7
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