Your Majesty, please do not disturb, the empress only wants to engage in business

Chapter 188 Can it compare?

Consort Rong was not actually without a way out.

On the contrary, she had many opportunities. In the palace and the royal residence, she had been focused on winning the emperor's favor for many years and had successfully maintained a loving relationship with him. As a result, she developed a habit of being arrogant and disdainful of others most of the time.

So over the years, it's not really true that Consort Rong truly wanted to harm anyone.

Once you're in someone else's position, you no longer need to offer advice or strategies yourself.

When Consort Yi was still alive, Consort Yi, as the vanguard, would always eliminate anyone Consort Rong disliked, without delaying for long.

After entering the palace, Consort Rong, holding a high position, became even more arrogant. Apart from the Empress and Consort Zhuang, unless she needed someone's help, it was rare for anyone to smile at her—except when Consort Rong herself was very happy.

When Consort Yi fell from power, Yao Jinse went to great lengths to pin everything on her. In any case, Consort Rong never personally intervened in these matters, so now, Consort Rong is considered a clean slate in the eyes of the Emperor and Empress.

As for Yao Jinse... it has to be said that both her predecessor Yao Jieyu and Yao Jinse herself are the kind of people who are very careful. In any case, they will never get involved in anything that could potentially harm others, but they do a lot of things to help others.

Whether you say she's winning people over or has ulterior motives, Lin Jieyu now enjoys a good reputation in the palace.

Although Consort Rong was disliked by many, no one was so afraid that they suspected her of harming them. This shows that Yao Jinse's efforts over the past year to have people carefully spread anecdotes about Consort Rong's foolishness and beauty had finally had some effect.

Thinking of this, Yao Jinse, lying in bed, couldn't help but sigh.

Bai Tao, who was outside, quickly called out, "Why is my lady sighing? Do you want some water?"

Yao Jinse hummed in agreement, and soon a cup of warm tea was brought over. She took the teacup, moistened her throat, took a sip, and then handed the teacup back.

Sighing isn't for drinking water, but taking a sip at this time can help calm your racing thoughts.

What she did wasn't really to help Consort Rong; it was more about helping herself. Consort Rong at least had the Emperor's lingering affection for her, but Consort Rong had nothing but her daughter.

The downfall of the Duke's mansion was almost inevitable, but if Consort Rong could be more open-minded and endure things in the harem, even for the sake of this unexpected child, the Emperor would not treat her too coldly.

A woman who has not committed any major wrongdoings, but has been implicated by her family and has completely lost her family to rely on, is the one in the harem whom the emperor can trust the most.

But all of this is based on the premise that Consort Rong will not fall out with the Emperor because of her maternal family's affairs.

Yao Jinse understood Consort Rong's personality all too well. Her arrogant and domineering nature meant she would find it difficult to bow to the enemy who had slaughtered her entire family for the sake of survival, especially since this enemy was also the love of her life. It could only be said that the deeper the love was initially, the more intense the hatred would be when the truth came out. At that point, even if the emperor had only lied to her in one way, Consort Rong would feel that he had lied to her tenfold. So many years of love would have vanished in an instant, leaving nothing behind. Yao Jinse had witnessed firsthand how devastating such a thing could be.

Love breeds hatred, and love breeds fear. However, the later Consort Rong, though filled with hatred and resentment, ultimately lacked the courage to challenge the emperor. She could only vent all her resentment on Qiao Yanran, ultimately ending up with nothing.

At that time, Consort Yao herself was completely out of options—born of humble origins, with only one daughter, having spent many years in the harem, and having never had any favors or kindness with the emperor, she was naturally wiped out by the emperor with a wave of his hand, without any schemes or framing, simply by having someone secretly take action.

As Yao Jinse thought about it, she began to see things in a more positive light.

To be honest, this kind of arbitrary disposal is better than the kind of death by imperial decree. After all, as long as you are careful, there are only a few ways to kill someone in secret.

It was either poisoning or an accident. If she wanted to keep it a secret, the fewer people who knew, the better. The emperor would care about her reputation in the harem, which was her best chance of survival.

Given the current situation, even if the Imperial Concubine falls from grace, my family will not be in any danger. At most, we will be implicated by her, suffer a few years of hardship, or simply disappear from the palace forever.

What kind of life is this? She has to be able to hold on in this harem.

If she were alone, she wouldn't really care; finding joy in hardship is naturally not difficult for her.

But there was a child lying in Yuxiu Palace. The child was less than a year old and knew nothing.

When Yao Jinse woke up, she made a vow to the mirror that she would take good care of the child and treat her as her own daughter. She had never been a mother in her previous life, but this life was a novel experience, and she was determined to be a good mother.

It didn't matter that she didn't have a man. Yao Jinse never thought she would rely on a man to live her life. She treated her life in the harem like a job. Emperor Xie Wei'an was the biggest boss, and Empress Shen and Consort Rong were his direct superiors. She could even serve Empress Dowager Xu, a very high-ranking veteran of the company, perfectly.

In her previous life, Yao Jinse was not a child who grew up in luxury. There were many people in the mountains who lived a hard life. The men would say they went out to work, but they would not come back for years. No one could see them or their money. No one knew whether they died outside or made money outside, and they completely severed ties with the mountains.

Women in the mountains survived by raising their children.

With a few crops on the mountain and a few chickens and ducks, each family consists of a woman raising several children, and there may be one or two elderly people who are bedridden and unable to get up.

Even in those days, she never saw any woman crying and wailing; everyone managed to get through it.

Now that she lives such a life, she doesn't have to worry about having enough to eat. What more could she possibly want?

It's nothing more than scheming and fighting among a group of people in the harem; in fact, this is just the beginning!
She risked her life and endured so much hardship back then, and finally earned herself a good life. Does that mean she can't live as long as she did in her past life?