Transmigrating into a book, seducing him to rise to power

Su Jingyao woke up around the end of the morning, got up, and sat in front of her dressing table.

Miaoxia stood to the side, gently combing her long, flowing hair.

Su Jingyao narrowed her eyes slightly, looking relaxed.

Looking at her mistress's stunning face in the mirror, Miaoxia picked up a hair ornament and gently inserted it into her hair.

"Your Majesty, the rumors in the harem spread much faster than those in the Eastern Palace."

Miaoxia frowned slightly, her tone tinged with resentment.

"Hmm? Why do you say that?" Su Jingyao lazily raised her eyelids and asked softly.

"Didn't Your Highness go to the Qianqing Palace to see His Majesty yesterday? Everyone in the palace said that you were actively vying for favor, but His Majesty still went to the Yikun Palace and said that even if you gave birth to the eldest prince, you are still not as good as the Noble Consort."

As Miaoxia spoke, an indignant look appeared on her face.

She was furious when she heard these rumors this morning.

If His Majesty truly favored the Imperial Concubine, why would he demote her from wife to concubine? Last night, he was merely comforting her.

"fine."

Su Jingyao simply curled the corners of her lips slightly, then stretched out her slender fingers and began selecting items on the dressing table.

Finally, I picked up a white magnolia hairpin that Jun Zechen had given me yesterday.

Smiling, she said, "Please put this hairpin in my hair."

"Yes, Master."

Miaoxia agreed, took the hairpin, and carefully put it on her hair.

"Miaoxia, if His Majesty knew about these rumors in the palace, he would only feel more sorry for me, and the other concubines would only be more jealous of the Noble Consort."

Su Jingyao tilted her head slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips.

After listening, Miaoxia thought about it carefully and realized that it made perfect sense.

But I still felt it was unfair to hear the palace servants say some things about their master today.

In her heart, her master was the best, so what if he was a concubine?

Just then, Miaoyun hurried in, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine has already left Yikun Palace."

"Alright, then I shall prepare to depart as well."

As she spoke, Su Jingyao stood up, preparing to head to Cining Palace.

The Qianqing Palace is located in the center of the entire palace, while the Yikun Palace and Zhaochun Palace are the palaces in the Eastern Six Palaces, located to the east of the Qianqing Palace.

Yikun Palace and Zhaochun Palace are on the same palace road, but Zhaochun Palace is below Yikun Palace.

Cining Palace is located south of the Eastern Six Palaces, so when the Imperial Concubine came from Yikun Palace to Cining Palace, she had to pass through Zhaochun Palace.

Su Jingyao calmly and deliberately left the palace at the appointed time.

They happened to run into Ling Yue, who was on her way to Cining Palace.

Su Jingyao had a perfectly timed smile on her lips, her eyes calm and composed. She bowed slightly, her movements elegant and proper.

She said softly, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to Your Highness. May Your Highness enjoy boundless blessings."

The moment Ling Yue saw Su Jingyao, her eyes immediately sharpened.

His gaze, sharp as a knife, fell directly on Su Jingyao's head, a hint of undisguised disgust flashing deep in his eyes.

Su Jingyao kept her head slightly lowered, as if she hadn't noticed anything.

Ling Yue's gaze inadvertently fell upon the exquisite white jade hairpin in Su Jingyao's hair.

Instantly, her face darkened further, her long nails digging deep into her palms, yet she seemed oblivious, feeling no pain whatsoever.

Is there anything more painful for her than last night?

Ling Yue's thoughts suddenly drifted back to last night.

When Jun Zechen stepped into Yikun Palace, she looked up and forced a smile, tinged with bitterness.

Jun Zechen looked at her quietly, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

After that, he began to explain and comfort her, and even told Ling Yue everything the Empress Dowager had said.

Tell her that she will be adopted by a prince in the future, and then she can rightfully become the empress.

However, for Ling Yue, no matter how eloquently he spoke, it was all meaningless.

But ultimately, isn't it also true that this man's heart has gradually changed?

She didn't throw a hysterical tantrum; she simply imitated Consort Shu silently.

Her eyes were red and teary as she looked at Jun Zechen, her eyes brimming with tears that seemed about to spill over at any moment.

She appeared to silently accept all his arrangements, yet she was filled with resentment.

Sure enough, when Jun Zechen saw her like this, a look of guilt gradually appeared on his face, and his expression became increasingly gentle.

She feigned magnanimity and said to Jun Zechen, "I heard that Consort Shu went to Qianqing Palace today. Your Majesty should have been with Consort Shu, after all, she gave birth to the eldest prince. I know I was wrong, and I can accept the punishment from Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager."

"Yue'er is kind-hearted, and it's good that you think this way. When I came here today, Consort Shu didn't mind. I ordered Anshun to give Consort Shu a white jade hairpin to appease her, since she had said before that she liked it."

"Therefore, Yue'er need not worry about Consort Shu's feelings."

Ling Yue obediently replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, you have been overthinking it. Consort Shu has always been broad-minded, kind, and innocent."

Yes, kind and innocent, otherwise where would the title of "pure" come from?

In the entire palace, only Consort Shu had a title, and since Consort Shu had a prince, Consort Chun Shu and Consort Shu were practically equals.

Not long after Jun Zechen arrived at Yikun Palace, he began to feel drowsy.

Ling Yue gently removed Jun Zechen's outer robe. After he sat on the bed in the bedroom, he looked at Ling Yue's back as she changed clothes and removed her hairpins with a dazed expression.

The figure in the distance appeared somewhat blurry in his eyes.

Before Ling Yue could finish changing, Jun Zechen leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes to rest.

As Ling Yue changed her clothes and slowly walked over, she softly called out, "Your Majesty?"

Jun Zechen opened his eyes upon hearing the sound, and then seemed to be suddenly ignited by some kind of desire.

He grabbed the woman in front of him and pulled her into his arms, then flipped her over and pinned her down.

Ling Yue was initially surprised by his sudden action, but then felt a surge of joy.

He seemed to have never been so eager and enthusiastic towards her since Consort Shu entered the Eastern Palace.

Passionate kisses rained down on her neck, then gradually moved to her earlobes.

A deep, magnetic voice slowly sounded in her ear, "Yao Yao..."

Ling Yue was stunned, as if struck by a blow to the head.

The hands that had been tightly wrapped around the man's waist fell limply to his sides.

It turns out that two years of love and time were all wasted; he no longer loved her...

After what happened, Ling Yue felt her mind go blank, as if the whole world had lost its reality.

As her thoughts gradually returned, Ling Yue's gaze settled on the white jade hairpin in Consort Shu's hair.

Therefore, on the first night of his ascension to the throne, Jun Zechen most wanted to go to Zhaochun Palace, and he longed for Consort Chunshu.

Because of my guilt towards her, I had no choice but to come to Yikun Palace. So this hairpin was a special compensation to please Consort Shu.

Jun Zechen came to Yikun Palace only to explain and comfort her...

It's ridiculous; I never knew a man's heart could change so quickly.

Su Jingyao had been slightly curtsying for a while, then slowly raised her eyes, a hint of doubt in them, and softly called out, "Sister?"

"Pure Consort, please rise. I was so captivated by your beauty that I was mesmerized. What a coincidence that we are meeting today."

Ling Yue said expressionlessly, her tone so calm that it revealed not a trace of emotion.

"Thank you for your kind words, Sister. It's such a coincidence that I'll accompany you today," Su Jingyao said with a smile.

"There's only one road to Cining Palace, so you can't refuse to come along."

Ling Yue's tone seemed to carry a hint of anger, a suppressed anger that was difficult to completely hide.

Su Jingyao still had a smile on her face, as if she hadn't noticed anything.

Before he could even test her, this obvious hostility was already rushing towards him, almost hitting him directly.

It seems Jun Zechen didn't make her happy last night.

And so, the two walked together on the palace path in silence, without uttering a sound.

Since they were going to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager, neither of them rode in a sedan chair. In addition, these palaces were all central palaces in the imperial palace and were not far apart.

When they arrived at Cining Palace, the other concubines had already arrived.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects. May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace."

Ling Yue and Su Jingyao bowed gracefully, their tone respectful. Since Ling Yue was not yet the Empress, she could only address the Empress Dowager as such, just like everyone else.

The Empress Dowager sat firmly in the head seat, slightly raising her hand, her expression both dignified and kind.

Get up.

After Ling Yue stood up, she walked to the left of the Empress Dowager and sat down.

Su Jingyao sat to the right of the Empress Dowager, with a perfectly appropriate smile on her face.

This promotion was made by the Empress Dowager, while the other concubines were all promoted in this way.

Su Jingyao's gaze fell on the other women. Today, An Jinyan was graceful and charming. Because of her good family background, she was given the title of Zhaorong, a second-rank official.

Bai Mengli was also granted the title of Jieyu, a third-rank official, because her father was a Zhongshu Shilang (a high-ranking official in the Imperial Secretariat) and she came from a good family.

Shen Biwan and Shangguan Yi had not been very prominent in the Eastern Palace before. Although they were noble ladies from other cities, their status in the harem was not high.

Shen Biwan was granted the title of Ronghua, a fourth-rank official, while Shangguan Yi was granted the title of Meiren, a fifth-rank official.

Tang Suxi did not come today; she is still recovering from a miscarriage.

However, because she lost her child due to the Imperial Concubine, the Empress Dowager gave her a decent rank as compensation: Ronghua, a fourth-rank official.

With this conferment, Shangguan Yi ended up with the lowest rank among the old retainers of the Prince's residence, merely a mere beauty.

The Empress Dowager slowly glanced around at the Emperor's several concubines.

The number of them is still too small. Nowadays, the only ones who can win the emperor's favor are probably the Imperial Concubine and the Noble Concubine.

But the Imperial Concubine was infertile.

Because of her feud with the Imperial Concubine, Consort An was naturally disliked by the Emperor.

Tang Ronghua was originally favored by the emperor, but she had just lost her child and would probably not be able to conceive again for a while.

As for Consort Bai, Consort Shen, and Consort Shangguan, they were all insignificant figures when they were in the Eastern Palace.

Ugh.

The Empress Dowager sighed inwardly; the Emperor still had too few children.

"Today is the first time you have come to Cining Palace to pay your respects since the Emperor ascended the throne."

The Empress Dowager spoke in a calm voice, her gaze sweeping over the crowd with majesty, "I have two main matters to announce."

"The first thing is that I am preparing to give the power to assist in managing the inner palace to Consort Gui and Consort Chunshu."

The Empress Dowager paused briefly before continuing, "The inner palace has six bureaus and one department, which together govern twenty-five departments. Among them, the Palace Administration Department is independent of the six bureaus."

"I intend for the Noble Consort to assist in managing the Bureau of Ceremonies, Bureau of Clothing, Bureau of Food, and Bureau of Imperial Household, while the Virtuous Consort will assist in managing the Bureau of Palace Attendants, Bureau of Bedchamber, Bureau of Works, and Bureau of Palace Administration."

Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's instructions, Su Jingyao and Ling Yue both stood up.

Ling Yue first gave a slight curtsy, "Your Majesty, I thank you. I will do my utmost to manage the affairs of the three palaces and the Imperial Household Department."

Su Jingyao then bowed respectfully, her expression solemn and resolute. "I am deeply grateful for the Empress Dowager's high regard. I will certainly do my best, uphold justice, live in harmony with my sisters in the palace, and manage the affairs of the three palaces and the Palace Administration Office well."

"Get up." The Empress Dowager nodded slightly.

Su Jingyao and Ling Yue then returned to their seats.

The Empress Dowager continued, "Now that the Emperor has few heirs, I am preparing to select a concubine for him. The date has been set for March. The Consort and the Pure Consort have made the arrangements."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The two responded in unison. Ling Yue's face remained expressionless, but her heart ached uncontrollably.

She must take advantage of His Majesty's guilt to firmly grasp power. If His Majesty could change his mind because of Consort Shu, then he could also change his mind because of the newly arrived young women.

She will no longer dwell on this.

Su Jingyao nodded slightly, a thoughtful look flashing in her eyes.