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

Granny Meng said, "As for appearance, our Emperor is extremely handsome. His Majesty has the bearing of a dragon and the grace of a phoenix, and the complexion of a jade-like beauty. Even among the handsome young men of the noble families in the capital, not one can compare to our Emperor. The Noble Consort will know this when she sees him."

"As for his temperament, our Emperor is cold and doesn't talk much. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he is aloof and taciturn. He is not very close to or concerned about the concubines in the harem. He usually only visits the harem once every ten days or half a month. If he is busy with state affairs, he may not visit the harem for a month."

"However, although His Majesty is cold-hearted, he is very filial. Every few days he comes to Cining Palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager and chat with her."

Shen Jiayu seemed to be deep in thought after hearing this.

Don't you visit the harem often?

With so many beauties in the harem, does His Majesty dislike them, or...?

Is he not good enough?

Shen Jiayu stopped herself from having this dangerous thought in time.

No, His Majesty's health has been carefully maintained by the imperial physicians, so he should not have any hidden ailments in this regard.

That is... he really doesn't get close to women.

Shen Jiayu pondered those words for a moment and couldn't help but laugh.

Nothing.

She's here.

It can correct His Majesty's abstinence.

It is important to know that in this life, one should seize the day and enjoy life to the fullest.

The master and his servants chatted idly inside the hall, while outside the sun slowly began to set in the west, and the sky gradually darkened.

After having dinner and resting, Shen Jiayu returned to her bed to rest.

Today is her first day in the palace. On the surface, everything seems peaceful, but she knows that this is just an illusion.

Undercurrents lurk beneath the surface, and countless dangers lurk in the days to come.

But it's okay.

there is always a solution to a problem.

Shen Jiayu was never afraid.

*

Shen Jiayu woke up at exactly 5:00 AM the next day.

I slept soundly that night and woke up feeling refreshed.

Today is the day the new concubine pays her first respects to the Empress. With the entire palace present, it is imperative to be meticulous.

After washing up, Shen Jiayu sat in front of the dressing table, waiting for Hongling and Lü'e to do her makeup and get ready.

She is beautiful, with fair and jade-like skin, and only needs a touch of makeup; she doesn't require much embellishment.

Hongling styled her hair into an exquisite bun, adorned it with a gold hairpin with pearl flowers, and then changed her into a crimson palace dress with gold-embroidered begonia patterns.

It was truly a beautiful and radiant sight.

This Shen Jiayu doesn't seem like a newly arrived concubine, but rather like a favored concubine who has been favored for a long time.

After looking at it for a while, Hongling couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, this outfit is beautiful, but isn't it a bit too flamboyant?"

Shen Jiayu laughed and said, "There's no need to suppress my personality or wrong myself. This is just right, so that others will know my true nature for the first time and won't bother me."

Having already accepted such a high position, what does this outfit matter now?

Moreover, she has never known how to write the word "reserved".

Hongling smiled and said, "This servant has remembered."

After getting dressed, Shen Jiayu led her entourage to Empress Luo's Phoenix Palace.

Along the way, they encountered two concubines, one of whom they had never seen before, and the other of whom were candidates for the imperial concubines who had entered the palace at the same time.

Both men were of lower rank than Shen Jiayu. After they finished their greetings, Shen Jiayu didn't say anything more and had the sedan chairs moved to Fengyi Palace.

Upon arriving at Fengyi Palace, Shen Jiayu and the other newly arrived concubines stood under the corridor, awaiting imperial decree.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes, a high-ranking eunuch came out and announced loudly, "Her Majesty the Empress has decreed that the new concubine be summoned to an audience!"

Five concubines were selected in this selection process.

Shen Jiayu, being the highest-ranking person, led the remaining people inside.

Upon entering the hall, the group followed instructions and knelt before Empress Luo, who was seated on the phoenix throne.

Empress Luo is twenty-five years old this year. She is beautiful and has a dignified demeanor. Every move she makes exudes the majesty of an empress.

According to etiquette, she taught the newcomers some palace rules and then asked them to rise.

After paying his respects to Empress Luo, he followed the eunuchs to pay his respects to the three consorts one by one.

Shen Jiayu only glanced at them briefly, but managed to barely recognize the three consorts.

Consort Li was as beautiful as her name suggested; she was naturally beautiful and charming.

Consort Lan was of average appearance, but she possessed a refined and gentle temperament, like a secluded orchid in a valley. She spoke softly and gently.

As for Consort Hui, she bore a resemblance to Empress Luo, appearing dignified and elegant. Her temperament, however, was unusual; she seemed to disregard them, glancing at them once before simply saying "Rise," and said nothing more.

After meeting the three high-ranking concubines, the newcomer finally took her seat.

Shen Jiayu's seat was the third one on the left. After she took her seat, she calmly accepted the scrutiny of the other concubines.

Seated at the head of the table, Empress Luo smiled gently and asked, "Sister Shen, are you adjusting well to life in the palace?"

This sentence is not simple.

Empress Luo did not address Consort Shen as "Noble Consort Shen," but instead called her "Sister Shen," which clearly shows her closeness to her.

It should be noted that over the years, Empress Luo has always adhered to palace rules and treated everyone the same, neither warm nor cold.

Today is truly an exception.

The concubines were surprised, but they did not show it on their faces.

This Lady Shen is truly different; she is indeed worthy of being the Empress Dowager's niece and His Majesty's cousin.

This level of treatment and importance is extraordinary.

Although they were envious, they also understood that they didn't have such good fortune.

Inside the hall, Shen Jiayu, sitting upright, naturally saw the envy in the eyes of the other concubines. She replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am doing well."

Empress Luo nodded: "With your words, sister, I'm sure Mother can rest assured, and I can also feel at ease."

Consort Li smiled sweetly at her, her red lips curving upwards. "Sister Shen, the Imperial Wardrobe, the Imperial Ceremonial Bureau, and the Imperial Bedchamber Bureau are all under my jurisdiction. If there is anything I cannot do or if I need anything, please be sure to send someone to inform me. There is no need to stand on ceremony."

Shen Jiayu calmly replied to Consort Li's words.

With the arrival of several new women, the concubines of the six palaces inevitably exchanged pleasantries and pleasantries for a while.

Just as things were getting lively, Consort Li looked at the concubine sitting next to Shen Jiayu and said softly, "Isn't this Consort Qi? Why are you out today? I remember the people in the palace said that my sister was ill, so they specially sent someone to the Imperial Bedchamber Bureau to remove your name from the list of concubines to serve the emperor. I thought Consort Qi was going to stay in the palace to recuperate for a while, but I didn't expect her to come to pay her respects after only asking the Empress for three days off."

A few days ago, the emperor beat a chief eunuch to death in front of him, which caused quite a stir.

The Emperor was tight-lipped, and none of the concubines could find out anything. But after this incident, the Emperor suddenly ordered Qi Ronghua's name to be crossed out of the list of concubines who would serve him in bed.

Upon closer examination, the two must be related.

It must be that Consort Qi did something to anger His Majesty, which is why she was punished by being forbidden from serving him in bed.

Upon hearing Consort Li's words, many of the palace concubines stopped talking and looked at Consort Qi.

Qi Ronghua, who was called out, stiffened for a moment, then recovered and smiled, "Thank you for your concern, Consort Li. I was indeed feeling unwell a few days ago, so I asked the Empress for leave. This morning, I suddenly felt much better, so I didn't come to pay my respects. I would have been neglecting the Empress."

She smiled outwardly, but inwardly she loathed Consort Li's gloating.

She hadn't expected things to turn out this way regarding the previous incident with the Emperor.

Liu Quan is useless. He took so many benefits from her, but he didn't get anything done and even dragged her down to this state.

How could she not be angry?

Despite her anger, Qi Ronghua understood that things had come to this point and there was no going back.

She then thought that if she came to pay her respects, she would inevitably be gossiped about and ridiculed, so she used this as an excuse to ask Empress Luo for leave.

But today she simply couldn't suppress her curiosity.

She wanted to see for herself whether this woman from the Shen family, who was touted as the most beautiful woman in the world, truly lived up to her reputation.

Surprisingly, it wasn't exaggerated at all.

This newly arrived Consort Shen truly possessed a face of unparalleled beauty, surpassing all others.

Before she could even process her jealousy, Consort Li launched an attack on her.

Qi Ronghua was absolutely furious.