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

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: The Emperor is My Patron

The Longevity Festival began under a blanket of white snow.

The customs of this dynasty were relatively open. While noble ladies couldn’t bare their arms, they could still wear lighter fabrics for the sake of aesthetics. Jiang Xian turned off her warming aura and took a stroll outside. She estimated that in modern times, it was already cold enough to turn on the heat and wear a padded jacket. Even the most beauty-conscious woman would have had to bundle herself up.

All sorts of ornaments depicting bountiful fruits were worn, creating scenes of graceful luxury everywhere.

Jiang Xian disliked wearing heavy clothing, finding that it restricted her movement. When paying her daily respects, she would usually set her warming aura to a comfortable temperature—just enough to keep from shivering. She didn’t do anything as outlandish as wearing summer clothes in a blizzard, but she still looked far more slender and graceful than the other concubines who feared the cold. Her neighbor, Chen Daying, who was quite vain, came to her for advice. "Sister Shu, how do you manage to keep your body so warm and unafraid of the cold?"

"While other women suffer from internal cold, I suffer from internal heat."

Chen Daying and He Xiang both stared at her with incredulous expressions.

"If you exercise more, you can be like me too," Jiang Xian said.

The moment she heard the word "exercise," Chen Daying gave up on the idea.

When she was attending to him in bed, the Emperor also noticed something unusual about Jiang Xian. Of course, she couldn’t repeat that nonsense about "internal heat" to His Majesty. Instead, she put on a delighted expression and tilted her head up. "I’m not sure myself, Your Majesty. It must be because I missed you so much that I wanted to be able to warm your hands."

The Emperor was never short on charcoal fires. It was never cold when he favored a concubine with his presence; in fact, the braziers sometimes made it so hot that the air felt dry and stifling.

But when he felt like admiring the scenery on a whim, bringing Jiang Xian along was an excellent idea.

On one occasion when he had summoned Shu Changzai to accompany him, Liang Yuyin presented the Dragon Claw Hand Warmer as usual, but the Emperor waved it away. "There’s no need. Having Shu Changzai is enough for me."

The Beauty’s fair, delicate little hand felt like a piece of warm jade enveloped in his large one.

The two of them strolled through the Imperial Garden for a while.

The garden, having been cleared in advance, was perfectly quiet. Around a corner was a man-made spring, lending the scenery a unique charm. He casually brought up the topic, "I hear my beloved concubine has been practicing dance with Chen Daying lately, but the results have been... less than ideal?"

’Less than ideal’ was a polite way of putting it.

Sometime earlier, Consort Guo had secretly suggested to the Emperor that since the time for presenting gifts at the Longevity Festival was precious, perhaps concubines below the Standard Sixth Rank shouldn’t perform at all. Their gifts could simply be collected and sent to the imperial treasury.

The rank of Noble Lady was, coincidentally, the Standard Sixth Rank.

Her reasoning sounded quite considerate—those below the Sixth Rank were of too low a station and from unremarkable families, so they likely had no real talents to offer. They might even end up embarrassing themselves in front of the daughters of official families who came to celebrate.

Translated into plain language, her argument was:

’All the concubines below the Standard Sixth Rank are basically country bumpkins. They definitely didn’t take any special talent classes as kids, so what could they possibly perform? Their dancing is awful, probably not even as good as the trust-fund babies attending the celebration. Just let it go.’

A rumor repeated often enough becomes truth in the harem, and since Jiang Xian had intentionally fanned the flames, the Emperor believed about thirty percent of it.

He said, "Why don’t you perform for me first, my beloved concubine, and then we’ll decide whether you should perform at the Longevity Festival. After all, you’ve only been learning to dance for a short time. I appreciate your efforts, and I will promote you to the rank of Beauty either way."

The Emperor had thought everything through for her.

She would perform for him in private, and he would cancel Chen Daying’s performance. With no one else to bear witness, nobody would know how well—or poorly—Jiang Xian had danced. He could then privately declare his great imperial pleasure, and surely no one would dare question the Emperor’s aesthetic judgment. Her rank would be raised, and her dignity would be preserved.

Jiang Xian froze.

’The boss is really going to great lengths just to give me a promotion.’

"Your Majesty treats me so well. I don’t know how I can ever repay you."

She lowered her head.

The conflicts in the harem were shadowy and lethal—one misstep could cost you your head. In the modern workplace, however, it was more about the exhaustive schemes people used to block a female employee’s path to promotion. Only once had a female superior recognized her hard work and professional skills, and she too had gone against the grain to promote her, just like this.

The system offered a gentle reminder: [According to an AI analysis of harem conflict data, it is highly inadvisable to develop emotional attachments in the harem.]

Jiang Xian: [It’s the gratitude of being truly seen.]

Jiang Xian: [The Emperor is my patron!]

Seeing the Emperor and his concubine whispering intimately, the surrounding palace attendants had already retreated to a bowshot’s distance.

"I completely understand Your Majesty’s plan for me, and I would never want to waste your kind intentions," Jiang Xian said, squeezing his hand in return. Her naturally coquettish, fox-like eyes were now shining with a burning intensity. "I ask only that Your Majesty trust me this once. As for the performance at the Longevity Festival... I will not let you down. However, regarding Little Sister Chen’s performance, I must ask Your Majesty to find a solution. She acted as a shield for me and has taken the blame in my stead."

Shu Changzai had spoken plainly, and the Emperor understood everything. Realizing the full extent of her scheme, he wasn’t angry in the slightest; he just laughed. "So that’s how it is! My beloved concubine, you’ve played a trick on the entire Six Palaces!" Then he asked, "If I hadn’t brought it up, how were you planning to resolve the situation? Were you going to have Chen Daying feign illness?"

’Jiang Xian hadn’t expected Chen Daying to be *that* bad at dancing.’

’If her performance had been merely mediocre, it would have been overlooked for the sake of the celebration.’

’If she didn’t step in, Chen Daying would truly become her foil, and she would be left with the reputation of a deep and calculating schemer.’

’All she could say was...’

’Even a King Juan miscalculates sometimes, and it’s usually by assuming everyone else has the same work ethic.’

Jiang Xian answered frankly, "I was slow on the uptake. Fortunately, I have Your Majesty’s affection, so I could only come to you for help."

’When in doubt, ask the boss.’

’Revealing a small weakness would make the boss more comfortable using her. Besides, she could sense that the Emperor was already inclined to help her clean up the mess anyway.’

Just as she expected, the Emperor’s expression softened.

He knew from the time she stayed up all night copying the *Women’s Precepts* after serving him that Shu Changzai had an extremely competitive personality. The fact that such a strong-willed woman was now at a complete loss and turning to him for help deeply satisfied his vanity. "You want me to clean up this mess for you? Absolutely not!" he said. "Not unless my beloved concubine can truly present a dance at the Longevity Festival that will astound me. Otherwise, I forbid you from receiving the rank of Beauty!"

He was deliberately trying to scare her, but his threat was about thirty percent genuine.

Jiang Xian smiled faintly. "As Your Majesty commands."