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

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Squeaky Changzai

Noble Princess Consort Rong’s breath caught in her throat.

Jiang Xian leaned into the Emperor’s embrace, her foxy eyes lifting to look at her delicately. Her expression was one of perfectly calibrated fear; she even squeezed out a single teardrop, which glittered like a crushed diamond in the sunlight. The Emperor stood nearly six-foot-three, and looking down, her small, pointed face seemed all the more pitiable and endearing.

"Your Majesty..."

It was a girlish, lilting voice that seemed to twist and turn.

The Emperor steadied her.

Noble Princess Consort Rong never thought she would experience a wave of nausea, not because she was pregnant with the Emperor’s child, but because of another concubine.

’Did she really need to shrink back like that?’

’Her tone and body language are completely absurd!’

’Her title shouldn’t be Shu Changzai, but Phony Changzai. She’s just so good at faking it!’

Jiang Xian, too, felt her performance might have been a bit over the top. After all, she lacked practical experience. Her entire act was based on the teachings of her [Daji Template]. She had learned all of Daji’s tricks for handling Emperor Xin, but she had no idea if this emperor would fall for them.

"Noble Consort, you have held a high position for many years and carry significant authority. There’s no need to lord it over a Changzai who has just entered the palace." The Emperor’s actions proved he was indeed falling for it. "She’s only eighteen. How old are you now?"

...

This time, it was Jiang Xian’s turn to be shocked.

’Your Majesty, can you really say that?’

If the Noble Consort felt like vomiting before, now she just felt her chest tighten with indignation.

Normally, Jiang Xian would have stayed quiet. But today was different. Chen Daying had stuck her neck out for her, so Jiang Xian had to be even more vicious to firmly draw the Noble Consort’s hatred back to herself. And so, she continued weakly, "It is my fate to be ostracized by the Noble Consort; I understand. Having Your Majesty’s trust is enough. I am endlessly grateful and feel no grievance at all."

"Your Majesty..."

The Noble Consort couldn’t take it anymore. She covered her face, weeping in anguish.

If she had simply stood there and cried, she might have moved the Emperor’s heart and set things right. But she was too conscious of her status, unwilling to shed tears in front of Jiang Xian. So, while covering her face, she bowed and asked to be excused.

But in the eyes of the most confident—and oblivious—man in the whole Capital City...

...it just looked like the Noble Consort was being defiant, her silence a form of protest. The Emperor’s expression hardened. "Go back and reflect on what you’ve done. You have sorely disappointed me!"

In the Emperor’s arms, Jiang Xian also raised a sleeve to hide her face.

’If Noble Princess Consort Rong were a video game character, that question about her age was true damage. This ’You have disappointed me’ was a damage-over-time debuff, stabbing right at her heart. She felt utterly devastated, but the Emperor didn’t get it. He just thought she was being difficult.’

In the Emperor’s practical mind, every action needed a clear purpose. His comment about Shu Changzai’s youth wasn’t just a simple case of "the elder should give way to the younger." He believed Shu Changzai was a newcomer with no real power, posing zero threat to the Noble Consort’s position. So why bother attacking her? It wasn’t just petty; it was foolish.

From the Noble Consort’s perspective, however, it was a battle for a man’s favor and a move to assert her dominance in the harem.

The two of them were just not on the same wavelength.

Jiang Xian, however, could understand the Noble Consort’s position and guess the Emperor’s thoughts.

’Ah, what can you do?’

’This is the harem, after all. You can’t make the pie bigger, so all anyone can do is tear each other apart over the same small slice.’

"I still have memorials to review in Qiankun Palace, so I won’t escort you back to Yizhu Pavilion. Have Doctor Qi prescribe you some calming tonic. Don’t take what the Noble Consort said to heart. She has a short temper and will forget about it in a few days. You’ve always been well-behaved. I have no worries about you."

After resolving the incident, the Emperor didn’t do what Noble Princess Consort Rong had imagined—embrace the little hussy and dote on her. He had to return to his state affairs.

As the Emperor, he was mindful of his dignity. The only reason he had come personally on such a snowy day for such a trivial matter was his fear that anyone else he sent would be unable to stand up to the Noble Consort’s imposing presence. The fault didn’t lie with Shu Changzai, who had been innocently dragged into this. The blame could only fall on the Noble Consort.

Aside from thanking her ’big boss’ for coming to her rescue, Jiang Xian didn’t try to make him stay long. She merely raised the temperature of her hands, her soft, small palms enveloping the Emperor’s large ones to warm them. "I am not wronged, Your Majesty. Take care on your way out."

’To a diligent emperor, the harem is just a place to rest and relax. The Noble Consort’s actions were like those popular games that spam players with annoying messages, begging them to come back. If you’re lucky, you might persuade the player to log on for a bit. If you’re not, you just become a nuisance.’

As the incident was over, Jiang Xian deactivated her Little Pitiful Halo, leaving only the Fan Filter active.

The Emperor glanced down and saw her blushing cheeks, which made her look adorably helpless.

It was a soft-focus effect. She had applied a soft-focus filter.

’This time, I really don’t want to leave.’

He took a deep breath. "I’ll come see you tonight."

Then, remembering the mountain of memorials awaiting him, he corrected himself, "If not tonight, then tomorrow night."

The Emperor summoned a palanquin to send both Jiang Xian and Chen Daying back to Yizhu Pavilion.

Then he ordered Liang Yuyin to deliver a reward to Yizhu Pavilion.

This time, he didn’t specify what the reward should be, leaving it to Liang Yuyin’s discretion.

Liang Yuyin quickly assessed Shu Changzai’s level of favor and approached with a warm, amiable expression. "The Emperor has ordered a reward," he asked eagerly, "but he did not specify what. Would you two Misses be so kind as to give this servant some direction?"

Jiang Xian: "Silver."

"..."

"Miss, that’s hardly appropriate..."

To give something so crass—if the other concubines heard, they would surely laugh at Jiang Xian.

Liang Yuyin hinted at this diplomatically.

But Jiang Xian was firm. Since both she and Chen Daying came from humble backgrounds, they hadn’t brought much silver with them into the palace. Money was needed everywhere, and you could never have too much. As for face, she smiled. "When it comes to face, the Emperor has already rewarded me plenty."

Liang Yuyin was inwardly speechless. He gave a slight bow. "This servant understands. And Miss Chen?"

He no longer held out any hope for the ladies of Yizhu Pavilion.

Chen Daying was surprised. "Mr. Liang, I get to choose, too? I haven’t even seen His Majesty."

When she had gone to summon the Emperor, the reporting eunuch had gone inside, and then the Emperor had immediately set out. She had been kneeling outside the door the entire time and was only brought along by Liang Yuyin afterward. She never had a chance to see the Emperor’s face.

Chen Daying wasn’t upset about this, however.

’Palace Attendants fought tooth and nail to serve in the imperial court. It was easy to get promoted, and if the Emperor was pleased, the rewards were generous. With a bit of luck, you could even elevate your family’s status—benefits you’d never get from serving a concubine. But serving the Emperor is like living with a tiger. A careless slip-up in front of a concubine might just get you fined or beaten. But startling the Emperor in court? That was a crime punishable by death.’

’That kind of prestige wasn’t easy to earn.’

Liang Yuyin maintained his smile. "But of course. The Emperor’s word is law, so we must naturally ask for Chen Daying’s opinion. If you hadn’t delivered the message, I’m afraid Shu Changzai would have suffered a great deal."

This time, it could be said that the Emperor was rewarding her on Shu Changzai’s behalf.

Chen Daying said, "So that’s how it is. Truly, ’when one person finds favor, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.’"

He Xiang forcefully pinched her mistress’s waist.

Liang Yuyin: ...

’I should have just offered her some silver and been done with it.’