Ning Shu sent Attendant Zhou some nourishing foods and told her to take good care of her body when she awoke from her three-day coma.

  After her body’s blood loss and oxygen deprivation her brain had suffered, her physical and mental states were unknown. When she woke up, she kept staring blankly at the top of the bed.

  Ning Shu asked Qiu Ling to put the gifts down and intended to leave.

  “Your Majesty, aren’t you tired of this?” Attendant Zhou turned her head to look at Ning Shu. “You probably hate all the concubines with every fiber of your being, and must still pretend to be virtuous and tolerant. Can you really tolerate other women sharing your husband?”


  Ning Shu smiled slightly. “What is it that Attendant Zhou really means to say? That the emperor hurt your heart?”


  “We’re less than nothing to him. We can easily be tossed aside.” Attendant Zhou’s eyes were a bit red. All the harem’s women put together were worth less than one of Zhao Xu’s fingers.

  That was the truth of the harem. The emperor was heartless and the concubines had to constantly attack each other. Even with the favored concubine system, she faced extreme difficulties.

  Ning Shu wanted to roll her eyes. Tut, tut, tut. The man just wasn’t as affectionate as she thought he would be, and here she was acting aggrieved when she’d been treating others like fools not too long ago.

  They weren’t sincere with one another. Their relationship was only an equivalent exchange.

  Both carried out their own schemes, neither taking the other seriously.

  All of the women in the harem belonged to the emperor. He simply hadn’t gotten to the point where he insisted on having Attendant Zhou. If a concubine died, Zhao Xu definitely wouldn’t care.

  Those who couldn’t obtain what they desired always longed after the unobtainable, while those who managed to obtain favor always became unbridled.

  Yet Attendant Zhou was acting all pretentious because her heart had been hurt? Who was this act for?

  “We all depend on the emperor to survive. You need to take good care of your body and recover quickly,” Ning Shu said lightly. The concubines were all vassals of Zhao Xu and weren’t even his equals. They all had to refer to themselves as subjects in front of His Majesty, so what love was there to speak of?

  Attendant Zhou sneered. “This fucking world.”


  Ning Shu pressed her lips together. It didn’t matter that the world was a ‘fucking’ world, the only thing that did was whether one was strong enough to survive it.

  Putting one’s fate in the hands of others was stupid.

  Another person being able to control your destiny as they pleased was utterly terrifying.

  Attendant Zhou’s current resentment was nothing but anger at her own incompetence. Had she succeeded in rescuing His Majesty this time, she wouldn’t be whining but would happily welcome a new round of his favor.

  The favored concubine system turned Attendant Zhou into the perfect woman for Zhao Xu. She was talented, captivatingly beautiful, and narcissistic.

  As for whether she truly loved Zhao Xu…who knew?

  Seeing Attendant Zhou playing the victim made Ning Shu lose her appetite.

  “Take care of your body.” Ning Shu made to leave.

  “Your Majesty…”


  Ning Shu turned back to look at Attendant Zhou, who asked, “Your Majesty, did the emperor say anything about-?”


  “The emperor has been busy interrogating the assassin and this empress hasn’t seen him.” Ning Shu’s expression was serious. “What you have to do now is take care of your body.”


  Attendant Zhou’s face turned even grayer upon hearing Ning Shu’s words. Her expression was disheartened.

  “You failed the rescue task. The allotted punishment of a thousand cuts will now be executed,” the mechanical voice of the favored concubine system sounded once more.

  Attendant Zhou’s heart raced. “Even if it’s a punishment, could it wait a while? Just until my injury heals. I really can’t take it right now.”


  Editor: Shark

  Translator: Kaho