Hustle Queen in the Harem: My Consort Won't Stop Grinding

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Dedicated BGM for Harem Infighting

It had been a long time since Noble Princess Consort Rong had lost her composure like this.

She glanced down at her snow-white fingertips, shocked and suspicious, then looked up at Jiang Xian. Jiang Xian stood below, letting her look, her expression as placid as ever. This only made the Noble Princess Consort seem more flustered. She commanded, "Ma Wan Yi, go and touch her face."

Ma Wan Yi: ...

’I’m not your palace maid.’

Despite her internal grumbling, her body faithfully carried out the order. She reluctantly touched the other concubine’s face. But this Shu Changzai was so thick-skinned that not only did she not flinch, she even leaned in a little with a smile.

Ma Wan Yi cautiously touched her cheek.

Noble Princess Consort Rong: "Well?"

"Sister-in-law, it’s not hot."

Ma Wan Yi was puzzled.

In that brief moment, Jiang Xian had already lowered her temperature back to normal. Ma Wan Yi felt no difference, but she did notice that Shu Changzai’s skin was as smooth as fine cream. She wondered how she maintained it, a pang of jealousy striking her. Pausing for a moment, Ma Wan Yi came up with a convenient excuse for the Noble Consort: "Perhaps Shu Changzai just came in from outside. After being warmed by the charcoal brazier, her face felt scorching to the touch."

’How could the temperature be so different when felt less than a minute apart?’

Noble Princess Consort Rong furrowed her brow.

Shu Changzai had been a guest in her Zhaoyang Palace for only half an hour before developing such a high fever; it would look like it was her fault. She had originally wanted to find some subtle ways to torture her, but that was no longer an option. So, she put on a mask of concern. "Shu Changzai, have you caught a chill and developed a fever? No matter. With your low rank, you usually can’t summon a highly skilled Imperial Physician. It’s a good thing you’re in my Zhaoyang Palace today. Someone, go and fetch Doctor Qi."

Qiu Yun had just left when Noble Princess Consort Rong frowned and continued, "Since Shu Changzai has caught a cold, it’s a contagious illness. We absolutely cannot let the Emperor be exposed... and it wouldn’t be good to expose the other concubines, either. You should just rest well in Yizhu Pavilion!"

With a single sentence, she had her name plate set aside.

She also had her confined to Yizhu Pavilion to keep her from wandering around and "accidentally" running into the Emperor.

"Isn’t Chen Daying also in Yizhu Pavilion? I imagine this illness didn’t just start after you came to Zhaoyang Palace. You two have always been close, so you can rest and recuperate together!"

Noble Princess Consort Rong said in a leisurely, drawn-out tone.

When the Lady purged her rivals, she always favored collective punishment. Whoever she wanted to strike, she would launch a wide-ranging area-of-effect (AOE) attack. In the past, concubines who crossed her often ended up with deserted homes, in a pitiful state where no one dared to go near.

Only when she heard Chen Daying mentioned did Jiang Xian feel a bit unhappy.

’One person should face the consequences of their own actions. Why drag the neighbor into this?’

But she didn’t speak up to plead or defend herself. She just lowered her head, quietly looking for an opportunity.

Before long, Doctor Qi arrived with his medical kit to take Shu Changzai’s pulse. The moment he did, his brow furrowed. Shu Changzai’s pulse was long, steady, and strong. She didn’t even show the signs of internal weakness common among cloistered women.

He cautiously took her pulse again...

Forget the Chief Imperial Doctor; even a eunuch with a basic understanding of medicine could tell that Shu Changzai was perfectly healthy! Even he wanted to know what Shu Changzai’s daily wellness routine was. But Ma Wan Yi asked, "Does Shu Changzai show signs of qi deficiency and excessive liver fire?"

A high body temperature is not a good thing, medically speaking.

Doctor Qi was even more at a loss for how to answer.

The eunuch who had summoned him said Shu Changzai had a high fever, and his medical kit contained emergency tools specifically for that. Now, not a single one was needed.

But the Noble Consort had said Shu Changzai had a cold. If he said otherwise, wouldn’t he be offending the Noble Consort?

Just then, from outside Zhaoyang Palace, Liang Yuyin’s high-pitched announcement rang out:

"The Emperor has arrived!"

*

As it turned out, Zhenqiu, waiting outside Zhaoyang Palace, hadn’t heard her mistress’s signal for help. However, she saw a little eunuch from the palace hurrying anxiously toward the Imperial Hospital. She followed him, and after confirming that he was indeed going to summon an Imperial Physician, she became frantic. She assumed her mistress was being so horribly mistreated inside that the Noble Consort had no choice but to call for a doctor.

So, she went to the pavilion to find Chen Daying, and together they went to seek an audience with the Emperor.

Chen Daying had guessed correctly. Liang Yuyin was attending to matters in the inner hall, and the one guarding the door was one of his many god-sons. He treated the palace maids and eunuchs of the Six Palaces with his nose in the air. He wouldn’t listen to a word Zhenqiu said, not until Chen Daying stiffened her neck and announced herself: "I am Chen Daying of Yizhu Pavilion. I must trouble you, Sir, to announce us. It is an urgent matter concerning Shu Changzai."

An urgent matter concerning two mistresses, even low-ranking ones, was something the eunuch didn’t dare to ignore. "What’s the matter?"

Chen Daying quickly explained the whole story.

He Xiang, who was at her side, added, "Before going in, Shu Changzai waited in front of Zhaoyang Palace for half an hour."

Hearing this, the eunuch’s expression changed.

The rank of Changzai wasn’t high, but she had the advantage of being new. It had only been two days since Jiang Xian received her title, and she had also been given special permission to move into a main hall. Those who served in the imperial court knew very well that the Emperor was currently very taken with Shu Changzai.

"Please wait a moment, Miss Chen. This servant will go and announce you right away."

The eunuch paused. "Whatever decree the Emperor issues, that will be Shu Changzai’s own fortune. You can’t blame this servant."

’The Holy Will is difficult to fathom.’

After the eunuch went inside, Chen Daying asked in confusion, "He Xiang, you have no sense of priority. The urgent thing is that Zhaoyang Palace summoned an Imperial Physician. Why did you bring up what happened before she even went inside?"

"..."

He Xiang was exasperated. She lowered her voice and said, "That’s the backstory! It’s to make the Emperor pity Shu Changzai!"

"Oh," Chen Daying thought for a moment, then said with distress, "Mrs. Jiang has a strong constitution. Standing in the snow for half an hour is pitiful, but it’s not enough to make her suffer greatly. For them to call an Imperial Physician for her, they must be torturing her inside."

To He Xiang, her own mistress was the real torture.

*

Fortunately, the Emperor did not disappoint the residents of Yizhu Pavilion. He arrived at Zhaoyang Palace at almost the same time as Doctor Qi.

With the arrival of His Majesty, everyone in Zhaoyang Palace came out to greet him.

Noble Princess Consort Rong was at the forefront.

In the past, when the Emperor came to Zhaoyang Palace, she would be filled with joy.

This time, she wore a smile on her face, but she was cursing inwardly.

’That bitch Shu Changzai, actually sending someone to get the Emperor for help! What a trivial matter to trouble His Majesty over!’

Ma Wan Yi, however, was thrilled.

She was being used like a half-servant by the Noble Consort, and her Holy Favor was much less than before. The last time she had seen the Emperor was a month ago. She noticed the Noble Consort was too busy taking her anger out on Shu Changzai to pay her any mind, so she angled her face to its most beautiful curve, raised her eyes, and sent a flirtatious glance toward the Emperor.

At the same time, Jiang Xian was in the System Mall, purchasing a discounted [Little Pitiful Halo] and putting it on.

She hadn’t wanted to buy it.

The moment she saw the Emperor, she knew that Zhenqiu and Chen Daying must have swallowed their pride to call for reinforcements. She had to put on a more perfect performance to make the Emperor’s heart lean in her favor. Only then could her entire team retreat unscathed.

So she browsed through the single-use consumables for anything that could beautify herself and used a whole bunch of them at once.

Among them, there was one that was perfect for Jiang Xian.

[Name]: Basic Personal BGM

[Type]: Single-Use Consumable

[Function]: The host can select targets (max: three people). A specified piece of music from within your cognitive range will play in their minds. The targets will not question the music’s origin.

[Note]: The mood has been set. It would be rude not to get emo.

Cue the music—

*Alaska Bay*!