“Your Majesty.” Consort Zhuang twisted her handkerchief and said in a dissatisfied tone, “Everyone here had followed the rules. She was just a ninth rank selected lady, but she completely disregarded the rules. What will the other sisters think of this?

  “She directly ran into the imperial garden to talk with His Majesty, and that very night, climbed onto His Majesty’s bed. If everyone behaved this way, won’t the inner palace become a complete mess? Your Majesty, please don’t indulge her insolent behavior.” Consort Zhuang’s face was filled with indignation and disgust.

  Ning Shu picked up the tea and took a sip. She had entered this world a little late. If she had been a little earlier, she could have directly dealt with Selected Lady Zhou while she was still in the Cold Palace. She could have killed the issue in the cradle.

  However, Zhao Xu now already had a relationship with Zhou Ningning. Zhao Xu had already noticed Zhou Ningning.

  Zhou Ningning was basically a walking aphrodisiac. As soon as you had a taste of her, you were addicted.

  “Your Majesty…” When Consort Zhuang saw that Ning Shu was spacing out, she couldn’t help but say, “Your Majesty, you are the master of the inner palace. You should make sure that the rules are followed.”


  “All right, you must be thirsty from talking so much by now. Head back, have some tea, and calm down.” Ning Shu set down the teacup and said calmly, “As of now, Selected Lady Zhou had already attended to the emperor.”


  “But Your Majesty, she had broken the rules.” Consort Zhuang couldn’t accept it. “She had seduced the emperor.”


  Ning Shu scoffed. “His Majesty has the final say on the rules. What do you want this empress to do? Have Selected Lady Zhou be beaten up?”


  “Your Majesty, that’s not what this consort means. This consort just can’t take how much disrespect she is showing for you, how rude she is being towards all the sisters in this inner palace.” Consort Zhuang wrung her handkerchief.

  “Enough, let’s leave this at here. You should head back as well. The emperor dislikes not seeing the harem in harmony.” Ning Shu waved dismissively. “If you act in such a rush to target Selected Lady Zhou, the emperor will be displeased.”


  Consort Zhuang’s facial color immediately changed and she stood up to curtsy towards Ning Shu. “This consort is not trying to deliberately target Selected Lady Zhou. The fact of the matter is, Selected Lady Zhou truly doesn’t understand the rules.”


  “She had been sent to the Cold Palace as soon as she entered the palace. If she told His Majesty that she hadn’t had a chance to learn the rules because she was in the Cold Palace, and at that time, His Majesty asked how she ended up in the Cold Palace?” Ning Shu lifted her brows as she looked towards Consort Zhuang. Consort Zhuang was the reason why Selected Lady Zhou had ended up in the Cold Palace.

  It was fine before since Zhao Xu had never seen Selected Lady Zhou before since the emperor wouldn’t bother himself with a mere selected lady. However, the current situation was different. He quite liked this new woman of his.

  If Consort Zhuang insisted on targeting Selected Lady Zhou, she would definitely meet an unfortunate end.

  With how impatient Consort Zhuang was, if it weren’t for the fact that her grandfather was a general, there was no way she could have survived this long in the harem.

  The reason why Consort Zhuang was still doing well in the inner palace was because Zhao Xu was looking out for her.

  When Consort Zhuang heard what Ning Shu said, she curtsied and said, “This consort understands. Then this consort will leave now.”


  After Consort Zhuang left, Ning Shu did some neck rolls. Her hair had been piled up high above her head and was filled with hair accessories, it was seriously heavy.

  “Qiu Ling, you can start preparing breakfast.” Her stomach felt really empty.

  Earlier, a huge wave of concubines had come over to give her their morning greetings, then Consort Zhuang stayed behind to complain. So at this point, she was starving.

  Qiu Ling hastily had palace maids bring the food to the table.

  The empress’s breakfast was rather sumptuous. The entire table was filled with dishes. Although Ning Shu was eating elegantly, she was stuffing her mouth with food nonstop.

  A palace maid walked in and curtsied towards Ning Shu before saying, “Reporting, Your Majesty, Selected Lady Zhou is still in the Palace of Flourishing Happiness.”


  The Palace of Flourishing Happiness was where the emperor slept. That meant that Zhou Ningning was still in his bedroom.

  Ning Shu didn’t say anything, so Qiu Ling had the maid leave.

  “Your Majesty, although Selected Lady Zhou had attended to the emperor, she didn’t come to give you her greetings.” Qiu Ling said to Ning Shu, “According to the rules, all the concubines who have attended to the emperor must come to give their morning greetings to the empress.”


  Ning Shu took a bite of the sesame roll as she said, “Perhaps Selected Lady Zhou doesn’t have any suitable clothes and cannot come to give her morning greetings. Qiu Ling, have the clothing department make an outfit for Selected Lady Zhou and send it to the Palace of Flourishing Happiness. Make it a personal trip.”


  “Understood.” Qiu Ling curtsied and headed off.

  ?Chapter 1941: The Task of Attending to His Majesty for the Night

  In the Palace of Flourishing Happiness, Selected Lady Zhou lay on the spacious dragon bed, eyes wide open as she looked at the intricate patterns at the top of the bed.

  Zhou Ningning inwardly sighed in relief. The task of attending to His Majesty for the night was finally accomplished.

  What the heck? Just attending to His Majesty for the night wouldn’t count, she even had to sleep for an entire night on the dragon bed?

  Zhou Ningning still had a basic knowledge of the era. After concubines finished attending to His Majesty, they would be carried back.

  After tumbling around with the emperor for half the night, Zhou Ningning pretended to be too tired to head back. Actually, there was no need to pretend, she really was exhausted. Zhou Ningning snuggled against the hollow of Zhao Xu’s neck and immediately fell asleep.

  It seemed that the emperor had been satisfied with her service as he unexpectedly allowed her to sleep on the dragon bed.

  Lady Zhou originally wanted to get up, but since she didn’t have a single piece of clothing on her, she had no choice but to lie back down.

  “Congratulations on completing the task of attending to His Majesty for the night. You have received breath of orchid.” The voice of the favored concubine system echoed in Zhou Ningning’s mind.

  Lady Zhou was delighted. She got another skill!

  Lady Zhou placed her hand in front of her mouth and exhaled, then took a sniff. Her breath was very pleasant to smell. It was a mild, very elegant fragrance, like an orchid hidden in a deep valley.

  She had previously gotten skin like silk which allowed her skin to instantly become a few shades lighter and all of the blemishes on her skin disappeared. That was why the emperor had fondled her body so admiringly. And now, she received breath of orchid. It was practically doubling her power.

  Suddenly, Lady Zhou heard the sound of the door opening. She immediately closed her eyes and felt someone approach the bed.

  “Still pretending to sleep? We can see your eyes moving.” A low, deep, magnetic voice sounded.

  Lady Zhou slowly opened her eyes and saw Zhao Xu, dressed in the dragon robe with the imperial crown on his head.

  Zhao Xu had features like carved jade and a majestic aura. The imperial family didn’t have much ugliness.

  When Lady Zhou saw Zhao Xu, she sighed in her heart. The emperor was countless times better compared to those companies’ obese bosses with bulging stomachs. It wasn’t a loss even if they slept together.

  “You’re staring.” Zhao Xu raised his handsome eyebrows and looked through the beaded curtain at the woman in the bed. “Who gave you the courage to look at the face of the emperor?”


  “Your Majesty.” Lady Zhou promptly sat up and the blanket on her chest slipped down, exposing her plump, kissmark-covered chest. Her chest bounced slightly from this movement, and the traces of red and purple on that snowy skin made Zhao Xu’s gaze deepen.

  Upon sensing Zhao Xu’s burning gaze, Lady Zhou was startled and hurriedly pulled the blanket up to cover her chest.

  Zhao Xu sat down by the bed, his tone teasing. “Haven’t we already shared it all last night?”


  “Your Majesty…” Lady Zhou lowered her head. Her hair fell, revealing her beautiful swan neck that was slender and as white as jade. Against hair that was as black as ink, the skin was as white as snow.

  Zhao Xu extended a hand to touch Lady Zhou’s shoulder. His thumb moved slightly, rubbing against Lady Zhou’s smooth, tender skin.

  Lady Zhou raised her head to look at Zhao Xu a bit pitifully. “Your Majesty, this subject’s body is very sore.”


  The corner of Zhao Xu’s mouth hooked up. “Where does it hurt? Let us see.”


  “Your Majesty.” Lady Zhou tightly hugged the blanket to cover her front, but it ended up revealing her collarbone and arms which was even sexier.

  “Issuing a new task: leave the Cold Palace. Have the emperor arrange a palace for you, Host.” The favored concubine system in Lady Zhou’s head said, “Task reward: eyes like autumn waters, gaze full of tender feelings skill. “


  Translator: Kiara

  Editor: Shark

  Translator: Kaho