Entering the palace means entering a high position; I'm His Majesty's cousin, who am I afr

Consort Li endured the humiliation and slowly began copying the scriptures.

She had been pampered since childhood, and after entering the palace, she lived a life of luxury. She had never suffered such hardship before.

After writing five or six pages, the soreness in my knees became increasingly difficult to ignore.

Consort Li frowned, her beautiful willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed, as if trying to shift her weight.

I don't want my hand to slip and accidentally smudge the ink.

Standing diagonally behind Consort Li, Granny Li ordered, "Someone, give Consort Li a new sheet of paper."

The palace servants removed the Xuan paper that Consort Li had smudged and replaced it with a brand new one.

Consort Li looked at the blank sheet of paper, and her eyes reddened.

Seeing her dawdling, Granny Li urged, "Consort Li, hurry up and write! At this rate, you won't finish before dark."

Consort Li bit her tongue, forcing herself to concentrate.

She picked up her pen again.

My legs went from pain to numbness, and finally I lost all feeling in them.

After Consort Li finished copying, she could no longer kneel and almost collapsed onto the cold ground.

Under Li Mama's scrutinizing gaze, she forced herself to finish reciting the scriptures.

As soon as Ci Xin finished reciting, she immediately stepped forward to help her up.

Just as the mistress and servant were about to leave the small Buddhist hall, they heard Li Mama's voice from behind: "Your Highness, this old servant will be here waiting for you again tomorrow."

Consort Li, who had been holding back her tears for so long, finally let them fall.

She hurriedly and awkwardly wiped it away.

Then she turned around and pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "I understand."

He staggered away.

After Consort Li left, Granny Li returned to the main hall to report: "Your Highness, Consort Li has finished copying today's Buddhist scriptures."

The Empress Dowager pressed her temples and casually asked, "What do you think?"

Granny Li replied respectfully, "This old servant only had someone bring a prayer mat. Consort Li has been kneeling for most of the day; I'm afraid her knees are already too bad to look at."

Empress Dowager Shen snorted coldly: "If you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? If she hadn't provoked my Yu'er, I certainly wouldn't have made things difficult for her."

Granny Li chimed in, "The days spent at the imperial palace should teach Consort Li a profound lesson."

Empress Dowager Shen nodded slightly: "You take care of Consort Li for now. I need to recover my health as soon as possible so that Yu'er won't worry and trouble herself every day."

Upon hearing this, Granny Li smiled and said, "Consort Chen is so filial to the Empress Dowager; even His Majesty doesn't visit her this often."

Empress Dowager Shen smiled with satisfaction: "Daughters are always more considerate than sons. It's a pity I'm not blessed enough to have His Majesty as my only son, and I can't enjoy the happiness of having a daughter by my side."

Granny Li quickly said, "Although Consort Chen is your niece, in my opinion, the bond between Consort Chen and the Empress Dowager is even closer than that between a mother and daughter. Why should the Empress Dowager feel sorry for herself?"

Empress Dowager Shen smiled and sighed, "That's true. With Yu'er here, I am content."

Granny Li also smiled and said, "With Consort Chen around for the past six months, the Empress Dowager's complexion has improved considerably."

After her reflections, Empress Dowager Shen suddenly remembered something. She composed herself and asked, "How is Zhilan doing?"

Speaking of this, Granny Li's smile gradually faded, and she shook her head. "This old servant went to visit her twice, and her condition was not good either. Most of the time, Consort Zhaoyuan is still bedridden, and when she is awake, she often coughs. When she saw this old servant, she said that she would come over to pay her respects and kowtow to the Empress Dowager once she felt better."

Empress Dowager Shen's expression darkened: "This child is unlucky. She has been in the palace for ten years and has suffered many misfortunes. Half of that time has been spent recuperating in the imperial palace. Tell the Imperial Hospital not to be stingy with any precious medicinal herbs and to prescribe a few more prescriptions for her to regulate her body."

After Li Mama agreed, she added, "The Six Bureaus and the Imperial Hospital have the records. The best ginseng, deer antler, and bird's nest are all selected and sent to Consort Zhaoyuan's palace. All other allowances are given according to the rank of the concubine."

Empress Dowager Shen's eyes were filled with complex emotions. She sighed deeply, "That's good then."

*

The night was deep.

Ningfang Terrace.

Consort Li couldn't get up from the sedan chair at all; she had to be carried back to the palace by palace servants.

After Cixin helped her sit down, she quickly had someone bring her some ointment.

She carefully lifted Consort Li's skirt to examine her.

Sure enough, his knee was covered in a large, purplish-black bruise, which looked quite horrifying.

Ci Xin couldn't help but tear up, and choked out, "Your Highness, please bear with it, I'll apply the medicine for you."

She selected the ointment and carefully applied it to Consort Li's knees.

During this process, Consort Li remained silent, only shedding tears in a daze.

After Cixin finished applying the medicine and bandaging her, she was startled to see the tear stains on her face: "Your Majesty..."

Consort Li asked softly, "In the past, even when the Luo family controlled the Empress, and Consort Lan and Consort Hui had a son, I was fearless. But everything changed after Consort Chen entered the palace. His Majesty and the Empress Dowager doted on her, and the entire harem fawned over and feared her. Consort Chen gained all the glory, while I was reduced to dust. Now I've been defeated by her—no, she didn't even need to lift a finger; His Majesty and the Empress Dowager punished me for her. How could she be so lucky…?"

Fearing that she might do something foolish due to her incomprehension, Ci Xin quickly said, "After Consort Chen entered the palace, those who had conflicts with her—Ruan, Qi, and Zhu—were either killed or deposed. This shows how deep Consort Chen's scheming is and how ruthless her methods are. If we can't defeat her, can't we at least avoid her? From now on, we should stay far away from her. If we provoke her again, we might end up following in their footsteps."

Consort Li slowly closed her eyes.

It was as if all my spirits had dissipated.