Ning Shu wordlessly glanced at Lady Zhou. Zhao Xu extended a hand to help Ning Shu up. “Please rise, my empress.”


  “Thank you, Your Majesty.” Ning Shu stood up and asked, “Your Majesty, why have you come here?”


  “We brought Lady Zhou over.” Zhao Xu coughed somewhat awkwardly. “To let her come and pay her respects to you.”


  Ning Shu acted as though she’d only noticed Lady Zhou then and turned her head to look at her. “Lady Zhou, please rise.”


  “This subject appreciates Your Majesty’s kindness.” As Lady Zhou stood up, her stance remained beautiful. Beautiful people still looked beautiful, no matter what they were doing.

  Lady Zhou finished straightening up and heard a mechanical voice in her mind as she did so. “Issuing a new task: suppress the empress’ arrogance. Task deadline: within half a year. Task reward: fully aromatic body, everlasting scent.”


  When Lady Zhou heard that the task had a time limit of half a year, she felt relieved. She had been worried that the system would pit her against the empress right now, when she still lacked a firm standing. Directly offending her superior guaranteed a tragic death.

  Right now, the empress would be able to completely destroy her by pinning any random crime on her. Even if something happened, the emperor wouldn’t protect her. One was the woman he’d been married to for several years after all, while the other was just a short-term fling. The fact that he had been able to become the emperor, the leader of a country, showed that he was skilled at weighing his priorities.

  Moreover, there were so many beauties in the imperial harem, so what was one less?

  These thoughts flashed through Lady Zhou’s mind in an instant. This was what she’d learned in her many years of experience in the modern workplace.

  “My empress,” Zhao Xu called out to Ning Shu from the chair he sat on.

  Ning Shu asked him, “What’s the matter, Your Majesty?”


  “Now that Lady Zhou is a proper imperial concubine, she can’t go to the Cold Palace. Arrange another place for her to live.” Zhao Xu rotated the ornamental ring on his thumb. “And the status of a selected lady is too low.”


  Ning Shu nodded. “Allowing Lady Zhou to remain in the Cold Palace would indeed be wrong of us. The Jade Court in the Palace of Moonlight offers an excellent ambiance: it’s quiet and secluded, yet elegant. The master of the Palace of Moonlight is Consort Zhuang—she’s a lively person and will surely get along well with Lady Zhou.”


  Lady Zhou immediately had a bad feeling when she heard that the Palace of Moonlight was under Consort Zhuang’s control. She glanced at Ning Shu. It felt as though the empress was sending her into the hands of Consort Zhuang on purpose.

  She knew that it was Consort Zhuang who originally banished this body to the Cold Palace.

  Lady Zhou wanted to refuse, but noticed the satisfaction on Zhao Xu’s face. He was clearly pleased with this arrangement, so she could only stay silent. When one had no power whatsoever, they just had to accept it and carefully plan for the future.

  As for Consort Zhuang? She would slowly trade blows with her when the time came.

  “Lady Zhou has already attended to the emperor for the night and should be promoted to a higher position. Right now she’s a ninth-ranked selected lady. How about promoting her to an eighth-ranked attendant?” Ning Shu still smiled as she spoke to Zhao Xu.

  Zhao Xu glanced at the picturesque, simple, yet refined Lady Zhou standing there. He pursed his lips and said, “Attendant is a bit too low.”


  “What position does Your Majesty think she should be promoted to?” The smile on Ning Shu’s face faded a little bit and her mood soured.

  Zhao Xu naturally noticed Ning Shu’s expression and said, “How about a third-class seventh-ranked attendant?”


  “This subject wife will obey Your Majesty.” Ning Shu turned her head to look at Lady Zhou—no, she was Attendant Zhou now—and faintly said, “Hurry and thank His Majesty for his kindness. Others get promoted one rank at a time, yet you were promoted two ranks. Serve His Majesty well in the future.”


  Attendant Zhou curtsied promptly. “This subject is thankful for His Majesty’s, and Her Majesty’s, kindness.”


  “Status promoted. Reward: raindrops on pear blossom skill.” The favored concubine system’s voice echoed in her mind.

  Attendant Zhou was elated. She didn’t expect a reward for status promotion. The ‘raindrops on pear blossom’ skill would make her look lovely and moving when she wept.

  “Issuing a new task: promote your status again within two months. Task reward: dragon’s pearl.”


  Translator: Kiara