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

Chapter 80: Chapter 65: Loose-leaf Notebook (Royal VIP Version)

The palace maid who entered braced herself and explained what had happened.

It turned out that Jianzhang Palace had presented something called a "loose-leaf notebook" to the Emperor. It was said to be extremely convenient for recording official documents, as one could freely remove any of its pages. After admiring it, the Emperor had urgently summoned the Six Ministers to the palace, and they were all greatly impressed.

"What’s the use of that? From the way they were praising it, I thought the Empress had come up with something useful for a military campaign," Noble Princess Consort Rong said, her lips curling in disdain. The Rong Family came from a long line of military generals, and she had always valued martial prowess over scholarly pursuits. She then added, "The Empress, capable of such a clever idea? It’s as if I’m meeting her for the first time."

Hearing this, Ma Wan Yi wanted to laugh but didn’t dare.

’The Noble Princess Consort truly despises the Empress!’

Noble Princess Consort Rong shot her a glance. "Are you thinking to yourself that I can’t stand to see the Empress doing well?"

"I wouldn’t dare."

"You don’t understand. I knew the Empress before my coming-of-age ceremony. She’s the type... how should I put it? Whenever there was some new, fun toy at a gathering, while all the other children scrambled to play with it, she was the only one who could sit still. The adults called her composed, but that was a complete misunderstanding. She was just too lazy to move. If something wasn’t handed directly to her, she wouldn’t even touch it. A person with a temperament like that, thinking up a new use for something? I don’t believe it for a second."

At the mention of the adults’ praise for Chu Siyun’s composure, Noble Princess Consort Rong practically seethed with a hatred so deep it felt like she could spit blood.

Just because she used to enjoy snatching other people’s toys, everyone said her temperament was inferior to that of the Chu Family’s young lady.

To Noble Princess Consort Rong, that Chu woman was nothing more than a lazy ass.

"There’s definitely something fishy about this."

When she then heard the palace maid add that the Emperor was heaping praise on the loose-leaf notebook, an unbearable agitation welled up in Noble Princess Consort Rong’s heart.

It was infuriating enough that her own favor with the Emperor had waned.

But seeing the Empress win his approval was worse than death.

Just as Noble Princess Consort Rong was grinding her molars to dust, the "fishy" part of the matter was quickly revealed—

The loose-leaf notebook had been presented by Jiang Xian.

The Empress had merely helped by taking it to the Manufacturing Office to make the originally crude notebook more beautiful.

After all, they had been married since they were young; the Empress understood the Emperor’s preferences deeply. She knew he had been pampered since childhood and had a taste for luxurious and exquisite things. Jiang Xian’s initial loose-leaf notebook was very useful, but its appearance was far too crude. No matter how brilliant the contents, its looks would have been a major drawback.

The Empress had seen the Luanqi’s account book that Jiang Xian had illustrated. The chibi-style drawings of each collectible inside were both charming and vivid. And yet, the cover was a dusty gray, and the binding string was just a common piece of twine. So, with a wave of her small hand, she sent it to the Manufacturing Office with instructions to make it look as opulent as possible.

When the loose-leaf notebook was returned to Jiang Xian, she almost didn’t recognize it.

’Who in their right mind embroiders gold thread onto the cover of a loose-leaf notebook?’

’Who in their right mind makes the clasp for a loose-leaf notebook out of solid gold?’

The eyes and beak of the golden bird on the notebook’s cover were inlaid with rubies and emeralds. Between each category of items in the account book was an embroidered silk page, adding a rich texture and a uniquely clever touch.

The Empress said, "There, that looks much better. Before, it was a true waste of your clever design."

Jiang Xian: "..."

’It was her first project, and they went and inlaid it with gold and silver.’

’What a waste of production costs!’

Seeing her stunned expression, the Empress added, "Anything for the Emperor’s use cannot look shabby or cheap."

Jiang Xian nodded, taking the lesson to heart.

’A new workplace lesson was learned: When you work for the Royal Family, you shouldn’t try to save money. On the contrary, you should spend it like there’s no tomorrow.’