69novels Chapter 1 Your Majesty Reads My Heart
Chapter 1 Your Majesty Reads My Heart
(Just to clarify, this is not a story about two virgins. If you mind, you can skip this. Please be kind in the comments section. May good people have a peaceful life.)
[A tyrannical ruler! With so many women, he still holds a selection process!]
As soon as Shen Shixi entered the palace, he quickly looked up.
It had been a few years since we last met, and Li Yuanke had grown even taller. Now, as the emperor, his imperial power was even greater, and his features were even more sharp!
He is twenty-four years old this year, and he is naturally blessed with good looks, figure and demeanor.
His posture was majestic and imposing, his appearance exceptionally beautiful, surpassing even that of all his concubines.
Wow, he's so handsome! That face, that waist, those legs—absolutely stunning!
Even though I'll be sharing a rotten cucumber with many other people in the future, what am I going to do?
Fortunately, her face is quite beautiful, so I'll just have to bear with it!
She had been with many men in her past life, but she had never seen anyone with such looks. She was told to make do in this life, but she didn't want to wrong herself.
Shen Shixi and the other four ladies-in-waiting bowed together.
Emperor Yongxi's gaze also fell on Shen Shixi. When he sent her away from the capital, she was still a young girl. Now, with light makeup and delicate features, she is as beautiful as a crabapple tree.
He couldn't possibly give away the little girl who grew up on his back.
Upon hearing someone insult him, Li Yuanke flew into a rage, only to discover that he seemed to be the only one who could hear the voice.
This has never happened before. How can one person hear another's thoughts?
So weird!
"Your Majesty, what do you think of these five?"
After searching for so long, the emperor showed no interest and only kept the pre-selected candidates, leaving the empress both pleased and worried.
The Empress handed the list to the Emperor, who did not look at it. His sharp gaze swept over the five people. Except for the woman in the middle wearing a lilac-colored high-waisted ruqun who glanced at him shyly, the other four kept their eyes down and maintained their bowing posture.
They are all very honest and upright.
Even that little thing is very well-behaved.
"Won't you let us get up? I'm exhausted!"
Shen Shixi maintained his bowing posture, half-squatting, and was indeed exhausted, but the emperor showed no intention of telling him to get up.
Emperor Yongxi was about to shout, but then he heard him being scolded, so he simply stopped shouting.
He pretended to look at the list, but actually observed the other four people on the ground. He couldn't see anything amiss. When he saw the little thing wobbling and unable to stand steadily, he called out, "Get up!"
Shen Shixi breathed a sigh of relief and slowly stood up; her legs were numb.
[His voice is nicer now! Fine, considering this jerk is good in every way, I'll let it go!]
Shen Shixi was seething with anger!
The bastard treated her quite well when she was a child. After her elder sister died in a palace intrigue, he actually issued an imperial edict to let her enter the palace for the imperial concubine selection.
Are you angry or not?
Being an emperor means you can do whatever you want!
"Keep all five!" Emperor Yongxi didn't know who this person was, but he could hear the other person's thoughts, which made him very wary. The key point was that the other person was clearly dissatisfied with him.
Li Yuanke suspected that it was the girl in the middle who was clearly restless and deliberately seducing him.
The Empress Dowager was overjoyed; it was rare for her son to be so interested in the imperial concubine selection. "Then keep them! Select a few more!"
Among them was a girl from the Shen family, who was originally the intended recipient.
Upon hearing this, the faces of the concubines in the hall all turned sour.
Li Yuanke has been on the throne for nearly five years. He spent the first two and a half years observing mourning for his parents, and then he was busy consolidating his imperial power and eliminating his brothers. Only now does he have time to fill the harem and continue the imperial line.
A total of 1,500 people participated in this selection process, with 25 to be retained: 12 from the palace and 13 from the imperial clan.
Shen Shixi was naturally among those who were kept behind. However, the day to enter the palace was three days later, so she was sent home first.
The Shen family is known for its refined manners and scholarship; even the maids are literate. However, Shen Shixi is a scoundrel who can barely read and has been running around since he was a child.
She should be riding a donkey and enjoying the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan right now.
Now that she was about to enter the palace, the whole family was shrouded in gloom, except for her, who was rather heartless. Annoyed by her mother's crying, she stomped her foot and said, "Oh, just pretend I haven't come back yet, okay?"
"Your sister died in the palace!" Mother Shen cried.
"I promise I won't die in the palace. I won't die no matter who dies, okay?" She couldn't bear her mother's tears any longer, and they flooded the palace.
"My son, you've always been so outspoken. What will become of you if you enter the palace?"
Shen Shixi wasn't afraid. She was an outsider who entered the palace. As long as she didn't risk her life or wait to die like her elder sister, she generally wouldn't die.
My grandfather was the Grand Tutor, and the Pei family was the Empress's clan. The Prime Minister and the Empress's brother-in-law, Pei Wujiu, wanted to make the Empress's legitimate son the Crown Prince, but at that time, the only legitimate son who was spared was the Prince of Jin.
To put it nicely, the Prince of Jin is benevolent; to put it bluntly, he's a glutinous rice Bodhisattva. If you make him the crown prince, it's hard to say who will inherit the throne in the future.
The late emperor had thirteen sons, many of whom were outstanding. Why take such a big risk?
Shen Shixi tricked his grandfather into leading half of the court officials to oppose Pei Xiang and strongly recommended the eighth prince, Li Yuanke, as the crown prince.
There was no other way but to fight for the throne. After all, his grandfather had taken Li Yuanke as his student. Once the Prince of Jin ascended the throne, Li Yuanke would surely be purged, and the Shen family would also suffer the calamity of extermination.
Li Yuanke's mother was a princess of the previous dynasty, carrying the blood of two dynasties' royal families. Needless to say, her status was extremely noble. As for her personality, she was notoriously arrogant, domineering, reckless, and heartless.
But these disadvantages are actually advantages for an emperor.
Prime Minister Pei then attacked the Eighth Prince's background, saying that if the Eighth Prince became the Crown Prince, the Xiao family might be able to restore the country to its former glory.
Grand Tutor Shen said that Prime Minister Pei wanted to establish the Prince of Jin as the crown prince because he wanted to change the dynasty, since the Prince of Jin listened to Prime Minister Pei's advice.
After assessment, the late emperor concluded that the risk of making Prince Jin the crown prince was indeed greater, as Prime Minister Pei was clearly going to live longer than him; although the Eighth Prince had blood of the previous dynasty, he was such a selfish and ruthless person, would he disregard his own country for the sake of the previous dynasty?
Li Yuanke became the crown prince.
In order to gain the support of Prime Minister Pei, Grand Tutor Shen suggested that the Eighth Prince marry a girl from the Pei family.
This idea was also proposed by Shen Shixi; it was commonly known as the art of diplomacy and strategy during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
The late emperor betrothed his elder sister and a girl from the Pei family to the crown prince. The elder sister was a Liangdi (a concubine rank), and the Pei girl was a Liangyuan (another concubine rank). Originally, the elder sister's rank was one level higher than the other's, but she was love-struck and completely incompetent in palace intrigue.
The position of Crown Princess is vacant.
After Li Yuanke ascended the throne, in order to stabilize the Pei family, he appointed Pei as Empress, his elder sister as Consort Shu, and another Consort Min, Chen. A year after his elder sister died, the emperor demoted Chen to commoner and ordered her to commit suicide.
There was no official decree, but this was to tell the world that the eldest sister had died at the hands of the Chen family.
"Mother, my elder sister died under mysterious circumstances. If I go to the palace, I can avenge her!" Shen Shixi said tentatively.
Jiang shuddered in fright, "My son, don't do anything foolish! What your elder sister does has nothing to do with you, don't scare your mother!"
Although the eldest daughter is gone, she herself wanted to enter the palace back then. She had a high position in the Eastern Palace and was determined to become the Empress, but she had neither the means nor the luck.
Because of her ambition, the master remained seated at the Imperial Academy, not daring to move. Although she also felt sorry for her eldest daughter, she knew that if it weren't for this, her younger daughter wouldn't have had to enter the palace.
"Mother, the Chen family also has a daughter going to the palace this time. We'll run into her sooner or later!"
Shen Shixi was full of fighting spirit. Since the emperor insisted on her entering the palace, she would be happy if she could live well there. But if he dared to make her unhappy, she would burn down his harem sooner or later!
Madam Jiang said with concern, "Don't cause trouble. Just live well in the palace. Don't worry about favors. I'll find a way to send you money. Just live your life well and stay safe. That will be my greatest blessing."
"And one more thing..." Madam Jiang repeatedly warned, "Once you're in the palace, try to speak as little as possible. That loose tongue of yours will get you into trouble sooner or later!"
"I'm not stupid!" Shen Shixi said. "At home, I can say whatever I want in front of my parents. I certainly won't talk nonsense once I'm in the palace."
Jiang cried again. She felt uncomfortable even speaking in the palace. How could her daughter live?
Shen Shixi was born into the Shen family and spent sixteen years there, where she was pampered and never suffered any grievances.
All the favor she received was earned through struggle; she didn't suffer any injustice because she sought revenge without delay.
Early the next morning, officials from the Ministry of Rites arrived with an imperial edict, and Shen Shixi was conferred the title of Baolin, a seventh-rank official.
She entered the palace with her maids Bai Ping and Bai Kui, as well as half of the Shen family's assets, five hundred taels of silver, as her dowry.
Normally, these young ladies-in-waiting could only bring a very limited number of people and things into the palace, but she was chosen by imperial decree, so she was different from ordinary young ladies-in-waiting.
Of course, she had more than just five hundred taels of silver. Over the years, she had traveled around and owned some businesses, making her quite wealthy. In total, she brought fifty thousand taels of silver notes into the palace.
Of the twelve young ladies selected to remain in the palace, two were appointed as Baolin, six as Yunu, and four as Cainu. Among the Cainu was a woman surnamed Chen.
Chen's father was the Grand Secretary, but he was born out of wedlock, and his sister was given a death sentence, so his initial title was not high.
Along with Shen Shixi, Lin Guiyou, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Lu's family and the daughter of Lin Junji, the Right Guard General, was also granted the title of Baolin. This means that although they were both Baolin, Lin's rank was half a grade higher than hers.
After entering the palace, Shen Shixi and his servant were taken to Zhaoyang Palace by the people of the Imperial Household Department.
Zhaoyang Palace is located on the west side, next to the first row of palaces along the central axis, and is closest to Qianyuan Palace.
Shen Shixi was of low rank and could only live in the side hall.
Bai Ping slipped a purse to her father-in-law who was leading the way, saying, "Thank you for your hard work today, Father-in-law. We'll have to rely on you a lot in the future!"
The father-in-law weighed it in his hand; it was quite heavy. He thought to himself that Baolin was a sensible and perceptive person, and then gave her some pointers.
"Zhaoyang Palace is located to the west of Fengyi Palace. The time for the palace to pay respects to the Empress is Chenshi (7-9 AM). It takes about an incense stick to get there from here, and the ladies in the palace arrive half a cup of tea in advance."
"Thank you for your guidance, Father-in-law. Otherwise, our Baolin would still be groping in the dark tomorrow!" Bai Ping said with a smile.
Shen Shixi had already inquired about these rules, and thanked him profusely. Her father-in-law left with a smile.
Shen Shixi would never look down on eunuchs; to live well in this palace, every little person is important.
She has now settled down in Zhaoyang Palace, the palace where her elder sister used to live. After her elder sister passed away, the palace was renovated and looks quite new.
The furnishings inside were exquisite and luxurious, but not to Shen Shixi's liking. Bai Ping and Bai Kui tidied up the inner palace first, and Shen Shixi met the four people assigned to her in the palace: two eunuchs and two palace maids.
Eight people were kneeling outside the hall, responsible for cleaning and rough work in Zhaoyang Palace. This was not her business, but Zhaoyang Palace was currently without a principal seat.