The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 170 Strange
Large beads of sweat dripped down Huang Zongxiao's face. He trembled with fear and kowtowed several times: "Eunuch Jixiang, if you ask me to bring those two pots of green chrysanthemums now, aren't you going to kill me? Those two pots of green chrysanthemums are currently in Consort Xian's palace. You know Consort Xian's temper. Please, Eunuch Jixiang, have mercy and spare me."

“Why don’t we remember these two pots of green chrysanthemums? When did His Majesty ever bestow them upon anyone?” Wu Jixiang sneered: “Even if he did, it was just given to the eldest princess. As for how they ended up with Consort Xian, I’m sure Eunuch Huang knows better than anyone else.”

Huang Zongxiao was stunned for a moment, then raised his hand and slapped himself in the mouth. "This servant deserves to die. It's all my fault. I still have an old mother to serve. Please, Eunuch Jixiang, show me the right path. I really don't want to die."

Before he could finish speaking, Wu Jixiang stood up. “The Emperor is waiting for me to serve him. I’ll trouble Eunuch Huang to get what I need done before dawn.”

Before dawn...

These two pots of green chrysanthemums are still in Consort Xian's palace. Are you suggesting he steal them?

Huang Zongxiao desperately wanted to defend himself.

Wu Jixiang didn't give him a chance to speak before he had already left.

The next morning.

Just as Consort Xian got up, Xia Mei hurriedly walked in from outside.

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Huang from the flower room requests an audience, saying he has something to ask Your Majesty."

Greenhouse?

Consort Xian yawned lazily, her eyes full of impatience. "What happened?"

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Huang said that spring is coming soon and he wants to change the flowers in Your Majesty's palace."

Consort Xian walked to the chaise lounge and lay down lazily. One after another, palace servants brought in toiletries.

Now that the Emperor doesn't come to Jingyang Palace and I don't need to attend to him in bed, I should be able to rest properly, but for some reason, I can't sleep at all.

Her chronic sleep deprivation made her incredibly irritable every morning when she woke up. In the past, she would have definitely had him kicked out and refused to see him at all.

But now, she is no longer the Consort Xian who was the apple of Emperor Yuanwu's eye. She watches as new concubines enter the palace one by one, each young and beautiful.

Emperor Yuanwu had a constant stream of new favorites every day. Today it was Consort Shen, tomorrow it was Consort Xia, and the day after tomorrow another Consort Chang would appear out of nowhere.

When will he remember the person he once doted on exclusively?

The imperial harem is ultimately a place where only new concubines are seen laughing, while the old ones are never seen crying.

It's rare that the head eunuch of the flower room still cares about her.

Consort Xian sighed inwardly, took the mouthwash handed to her by the maid, rinsed her mouth, and said, "It's rare for him to have such filial piety, so let's agree."

"Yes," Xia Mei replied, just about to go and relay the message.

Consort Xian suddenly realized something. She was no longer in the emperor's favor. Even if Huang Zongxiao wanted to curry favor, he should do so with the newly favored concubines.

Besides, she didn't seem to have any connection with the head eunuch of this flower shop.

Even though he had sent her some rare flowers before, it was because Emperor Yuanwu used to visit her palace every day. It was more for Emperor Yuanwu to see than for her to admire.

Even if he has this filial piety, there's no need for him to come so early in the morning.

"Wait a moment."

Xia Mei hurriedly returned, "Does Your Majesty have any further instructions?"

"In previous years, the replacement of various potted plants in the palace didn't start until the beginning of spring, did it? It's still the first month of the lunar calendar, why are they being replaced so early?" Consort Xian wondered.

"Perhaps the servants in the flower room are thinking of Your Highness and want to change the flowers for you as soon as possible so that Your Highness can choose first. Even in previous years, the best of the new varieties cultivated by the flower room were always sent to Your Highness's palace first. Only the ones that Your Highness didn't choose were sent to the palaces of other concubines. I think this year will be the same as in previous years."

Hearing Xia Mei's words, Consort Xian slowly shook her head.

In previous years, she rarely interfered with minor matters such as replacing potted plants in the palace, as it was not a big deal.

However, Huang Zongxiao's arrival so early and in such a hurry seemed overly deliberate.

Could there be something fishy going on here?
"Let Huang Zongxiao in, I have something to say to him."

When Xia Mei came out, Huang Zongxiao was frozen stiff. He huddled up, rubbing his hands together and constantly tiptoeing.

Seeing Xia Mei come out, he hurriedly went to greet her, "Aunt Xia Mei, has Consort Xian gotten up yet? Has Her Highness agreed to my request to replace the potted plants in Jingyang Palace?"

Xia Mei slowly shook her head. "Eunuch Xia, Her Majesty invites you in to speak."

Go in?

Huang Zongxiao's face, which had turned purple from the cold, froze instantly: "Aunt Xia Mei, this is nothing serious. Why did it alarm Her Majesty to see this servant in person? Please, Aunt Xia Mei, put in a good word for this servant with Her Majesty. This servant is of lowly status and will not go so early in the morning to offend Consort Xian."

Xia Mei frowned slightly. "Eunuch Huang is really getting better and better at his job. Even Consort Xian has to make several requests to see you. Does she expect Consort Xian to come out and see you in person?"

Huang Zongxiao gave an awkward laugh: "Aunt Xia Mei would not dare to say that. How could this servant have such thoughts? I just feel that Your Highness is of noble birth and should not be disturbed by such a trivial matter."

"Your Highness is only showing favor to Eunuch Huang. He just got up and is already going to see the Emperor in person. If it were anyone else, I'm afraid they wouldn't have such good fortune." Xia Mei shivered and was too lazy to argue with him any further. "If Eunuch Huang doesn't want to go in, just let me know so that I can go in and report back to Your Highness."

"How dare I?" Huang Zongxiao's expression changed rapidly. He glanced at Xia Mei's back and followed her into the main hall of Jingyang Palace.

At this moment, Consort Xian was sitting in front of the food tray having breakfast. She was gently stirring a bowl of bird's nest porridge with a white jade spoon. Hearing the sound, she glanced indifferently towards the door.

"Greetings, Consort Xian. This servant pays his respects to Consort Xian." Huang Zongxiao knelt on the ground to pay his respects. His face appeared calm, but his heart was in turmoil. He kept his head down, afraid that Consort Xian would notice something amiss. He was thinking to himself that as long as Consort Xian agreed to let him help Jingyang Palace replace a batch of potted plants, he could take this opportunity to secretly replace the two pots of green chrysanthemums.

"Please rise, Eunuch Huang." Consort Xian paused in stirring the bird's nest porridge. "Go and bring Eunuch Huang a stool."

Huang Zongxiao was so startled that he couldn't help but shudder. "Your Majesty is too kind. This servant wouldn't dare. Your Majesty, please feel free to give any instructions. This servant will do his best to accomplish anything that is within his power."

"Oh?" Consort Xian glanced at Huang Zongxiao with a drawn-out tone. "Eunuch Huang, you are mistaken. This morning, didn't you say you wanted to replace a batch of potted plants in Jingyang Palace and came to request an audience? Why do you sound like I summoned you here because I had something to discuss?"

(End of this chapter)