Transmigrating into a book, seducing him to rise to power

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine (Ling Yue) fainted during the execution today, but she has now woken up and sent someone to say she wants to see you," An Shun respectfully reported.

A complex, indescribable look flashed across Jun Zechen's eyes before he said softly, "Let's go to Yikun Palace."

Some things really should be made clear.

When Jun Zechen arrived at Yikun Palace, the bloodstains left by the caning had not yet been cleaned up outside the palace.

Jun Zechen frowned slightly, then stepped into Yikun Palace.

He said in a deep voice, "Where is your master?"

"Your Majesty, the master is unwell and is resting in his bedchamber," a palace servant replied cautiously, head bowed.

Upon hearing this, Jun Zechen walked straight towards the bedroom without saying a word.

When the Imperial Concubine saw Jun Zechen enter, she quickly got up from the bed and said in a slightly weak voice, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

"Get up. You're not feeling well. Sit down." Jun Zechen's voice remained indifferent.

After the Imperial Concubine paid her respects, she sat on the bed, while Jun Zechen slowly sat down in the chair opposite her.

Her face was extremely pale. She had never seen anyone die in front of her like this before, and she had never witnessed such a bloody and cruel scene.

Even now, just recalling that scene makes her stomach churn and she feels nauseous.

"Your Majesty... you know everything?" The Imperial Concubine asked cautiously, her face pale.

"What does the Imperial Concubine think I know?" Jun Zechen's voice remained calm.

"Does Your Majesty have to be so cold to me? Does Your Majesty find me very repulsive now...?"

The imperial concubine lowered her head, her voice filled with endless paleness and loneliness.

"I can accept you scheming against those who hurt you, but why scheme against Consort Chunshu?" Jun Zechen asked in a cold and indifferent voice.

"So that's how it is. It's because I schemed against Consort Chun Shu that Your Majesty is so angry?" the Consort murmured.

Jun Zechen frowned deeply, then questioned, "Are you that jealous of Consort Chunshu? Even though she once saved you, even though you were once so close?"

"When we were in the Eastern Palace, I asked you that it would be difficult to be my Crown Princess, but you chose to stay. You should know that I will have many more women in the future."

The imperial concubine's emotions suddenly became somewhat unstable, and her eyes reddened.

Her voice trembled as she said, "But all the women who came after me were different from Consort Chunshu. Your Majesty, do you know how different you were towards Consort Chunshu? It was she who stole you away from me!"

Jun Zechen's face instantly darkened. He knew that his heart had indeed uncontrollably leaned towards someone else.

But this is by no means an excuse for her to scheme against innocent people.

"My heart has changed. The Consort should be disgusted with me, not others. You'd better watch yourself."

After saying that, Jun Zechen stood up and prepared to leave.

The imperial concubine's heart skipped a beat. No, she absolutely couldn't let him leave like this.

She hurriedly got out of bed, ran quickly behind Jun Zechen, and hugged his waist tightly.

With a sob in her voice, she said, "Your Majesty, I was wrong. I will never do such a thing again. I will never hurt Consort Chunshu again. I will be magnanimous. Please don't go... Your Majesty, please give me another chance..."

Jun Zechen closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, his eyes filled with indifference.

But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to be cruel to her, and his voice softened: "Go back and rest. I have things to attend to. I'll come see you again tonight."

Having said that, he gently separated her hands from his waist, looked straight ahead, and walked out of Yikun Palace without the slightest hesitation.

Cining Palace.

When the Empress Dowager has nothing to do lately, she often immerses herself in tending to those flowers and plants.

She found many books about flower arranging and carefully read and studied them.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager was attentively tending to the various flowers that had just been delivered to the flower room. She carefully selected and arranged them in extremely harmonious colors before placing them in an exquisite blue and white porcelain vase.

The finished product is truly a feast for the eyes.

Aunt Jinhua stood quietly beside the Empress Dowager, softly reporting the details of the recent poisoning of the Imperial Concubine.

"Your Majesty, the palace maids Qin'er and Ping'er who poisoned the Imperial Concubine have been executed by His Majesty and were flogged in Yikun Palace."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager chuckled softly.

Then she said slowly, "Jinhua, tell me, isn't this Consort Chunshu quite intelligent?"

"When I first saw her, I thought she was both gentle and cowardly, but now I see that her gentleness was directed towards the emperor, while her cowardice was directed towards the enemy."

"When Consort Chunshu was deliberately framed by Consort Gui, in order to show fairness, she took the initiative to stop investigating the case. This really set an example for the whole harem. She was very clear-headed, smart but did not scheme against others."

Aunt Jinhua has been following the Empress Dowager for decades, and naturally she has her own set of standards for judging people.

"Yes, these women in the harem all wear masks, just to survive better. As long as they do not hinder the interests of the royal family or harm the emperor, I don't mind how they scheme."

The Empress Dowager, who had spent decades in the harem, only came to understand a principle in the last ten years: what one should scheme for in the harem is the emperor's heart, not the other concubines.

She didn't know if Consort Chunshu was truly naive or just pretending, but Consort Chunshu was a clever woman, and everything she did was after the emperor's heart had already turned towards her.

The Empress Dowager suddenly seemed to remember something and asked again, "The Emperor punished someone in front of the Consort, didn't the Consort make a scene?"

Aunt Jinhua frowned slightly and said slowly, "I heard that the Imperial Concubine couldn't withstand such a shock and fainted. She even had His Majesty invited to Yikun Palace."

"His Majesty... has already gone to Yikun Palace to visit him."

The Empress Dowager's eyes suddenly darkened; the Consort's methods were still too simplistic.

This is also why the Empress Dowager disliked her.

The upbringing and shrewdness that a noblewoman receives from childhood cannot be learned in a short time.

If Consort Gui were to become Empress in the future, putting aside whether she could manage the harem, her jealousy alone would make her absolutely incapable of becoming a qualified Empress.

After returning to Qianqing Palace, Jun Zechen sat on the dragon throne, his eyes fixed on Ling Yi, the leader of the secret guards standing below, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Is it really that difficult for you to find a fish?"

Jun Zechen's bodyguards are divided into his own private guards and royal bodyguards.

He personally trained his private guards during his time as crown prince, while the royal secret guards were passed down from the royal family to each emperor.

Jun Zechen dispatched his private guards to search for them. In the Jun Kingdom, he had already established numerous businesses in various cities, and each city was equipped with corresponding secret guards.

Four days have passed since Yao Yao's birthday, but there is still no news.

Lingyi stood quietly, wearing a cold mask that made it impossible to read his expression, but his voice was exceptionally cold and hard.

"Your Majesty, I have ordered the secret guards in each city to search with all their might. There are quite a few cities in the country with developed fishing industries. Now we only know the general appearance of the butterfly carp. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It is really difficult."

"I wonder if these butterfly koi have any special environmental requirements?"

Jun Zechen was silent for a moment. Was this butterfly carp really that rare?

The secret guards would usually search in the places with the most diverse fish species in each city. If they couldn't find them in those places, then there were many more places to search in this vast world.

Jun Zechen pondered for a while, and then Yao Yao seemed to have said that she had read a certain book.

He then turned slightly to Anshun and instructed, "Anshun, send someone to invite Minister Su. I am very curious about the book 'Tales of Strange Beasts and Monsters' in his collection. Have Minister Su bring the book here."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Anshun replied respectfully, then withdrew and ordered someone to leave the palace to summon Minister Su.

When Minister Su, who was in the palace with some court officials to handle state affairs, heard His Majesty's request, he was full of confusion. What kind of book is "Tales of Strange Beasts and Monsters"?

He didn't recall it. Could it be that Yao Yao had mentioned it to His Majesty?

Although he had many questions in his mind, Minister Su told his colleagues to return to their residences first, and then he quickly went to his study to find the book that His Majesty wanted.

There are thousands of books in this study, all neatly arranged on the bookshelves.

The books that Minister Su usually reads are mostly related to politics, history, and strategy. Only his daughter, who reads all kinds of books, would pay attention to a book like "Tales of Strange Beasts and Monsters".

When Minister Su finally found him, he was covered in sweat, and the little eunuch waiting outside also seemed a bit anxious.

Then, he hurriedly headed towards the palace.

This was the first time he had come to the Qianqing Palace for matters unrelated to politics.

As soon as he entered, he saw His Majesty sitting upright on the majestic dragon throne, calmly processing memorials.

"Your humble servant pays his respects to Your Majesty." Minister Su walked steadily to the center of the hall and bowed respectfully.

"Minister Su, please rise." Jun Zechen's voice was calm and steady.

When Jun Zechen first ascended to the position of Crown Prince, he had a heated confrontation with Minister Su in the court.

However, it is perfectly normal for people to have differing political views.

Minister Su's ability to handle government affairs is evident to all; he is an old fox with very deep scheming.

However, because he was Yao Yao's father, Jun Zechen found him much more agreeable.

Minister Su presented the book, and then An Shun stepped forward to take it and respectfully presented it to Jun Zechen.

As Jun Zechen casually flipped through the book, he asked in passing, "Does Minister Su know about butterfly koi?"

Minister Su frowned slightly, and replied with a puzzled look, "Your Majesty, I do not know."

At that moment, Jun Zechen happened to find an introduction to butterfly koi in this book.

His lips curled up slightly, with a hint of teasing.

"It seems that Minister Su is not familiar enough with the books in his study."

He then added, "The butterfly carp described in this book are exceptionally beautiful, prefer warm waters, and require pure, sweet water. Based on this description, it's quite possible that they live in Jade Dragon City."

A thoughtful look flashed in Jun Zechen's eyes, and his brows furrowed slightly. Butterfly carp have such high environmental requirements; it would be difficult to transport them to the capital alive.

Minister Su was still somewhat confused as to why His Majesty had summoned him.

Although he didn't understand, he quickly replied, "If Your Majesty likes this butterfly carp, I will immediately instruct the city lord of Jade Dragon City to search for it in various lakes, and I will surely find it for Your Majesty."

"Yes, I trust Minister Su. As for the cities where the butterfly carp described in the book might live, Minister Su, please give the order. I like this butterfly carp, have someone find it and present it to me. I will reward you handsomely."

Jun Zechen's face carried a faint air of authority.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Minister Su replied respectfully.

He didn't have any particular thoughts about His Majesty's request, nor did he feel that it was extravagant because it was time-consuming and laborious.

After all, every year the cities would struggle to find what to offer His Majesty. Since His Majesty has something he wants this year, then let the cities below find it.

If Minister Su knew that His Majesty had summoned him to the palace to search for butterfly carp in order to please his daughter, I wonder what he would think.