Who Would Understand, Her Ladyship Wrote A Hundred Palace Regulations - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Paying respects

The two of them walked halfway, and from the front palace road came a crisp slapping sound.

“You also dare to block my way?”

“Xue Jieyu, please calm down, your servant didn’t see you…”

A woman with a bright and beautiful face was reprimanding another concubine.

This was a necessary path to Jingxi Palace, and many concubines saw this scene, but none of them dared to linger, instead, they quickly lowered their heads and walked away.

“Cousin, this is Xue Jieyu, let’s quickly leave…” Tang Miaoling whispered a reminder.

Although she was domineering in the Ning family, she wasn’t without a brain. She was a bully who picked on the weak and feared the strong, never daring to be arrogant in front of people with more powerful family backgrounds.

Xue Jieyu was one of the two new palace maidens with the highest rank selected this time.

She came from the noble household of the Duke of Su.

When the Great Yan dynasty was founded, the founding emperor granted titles to his generals who helped him establish the country, including two dukes, four marquises, and twenty-one counts, with hereditary titles that would last as long as the nation.

Although there were occasional nobles granted titles for military merits later on, their titles would expire after three generations, and they couldn’t compare to the prestigious founding nobles.

These founding nobles were the true “nobility” in the eyes of the people.

Even a declining noble family like the Ning family, which held the title of count, would carefully choose officials of the third or fourth rank for marriage alliances. Not to mention the two great ducal families that held military power, governed the border regions of the Great Yan dynasty for generations, and wielded immense power.

It could be said that each dynasty had its own set of officials, and each dynasty had its own ducal families.

During the previous emperor’s reign, the Empress and the Imperial Noble Consort came from the two great ducal families, each having a son.

For the throne, the two ducal families’ factions fought fiercely, resulting in the deaths of both the Crown Prince (the Empress’s son) and Prince Ying (the Imperial Noble Consort’s son).

Later, the previous Emperor passed away.

The current Emperor was then nominated by the officials as the new ruler.

To be precise, nine out of ten officials in the court were from the two ducal families. This was actually a result of the two dukes weighing the pros and cons.

The current Emperor’s mother was of humble origin and passed away early. During the previous Emperor’s reign, he didn’t have the opportunity to participate in court politics and was just an idle prince, seemingly unaware of state affairs. However, his empress, the Empress Yuanxiao, was the legitimate daughter of a collateral branch of the Duke of Su’s mansion, making the Duke of Su’s mansion his in-laws. His concubine, Consort Shu’s family, had a marital connection with the Duke of Xin’s mansion.

He had connections with both sides but not strong ones.

If he ascended the throne, the Duke of Su’s mansion would get the empress position, and the Duke of Xin’s mansion would have a powerful consort.
Both families would benefit.

Moreover, with the Empress position vacant, they could send another daughter into the palace to compete for the position.

After calculating, the current emperor seemed to be the most suitable candidate among the many princes.

Xue Jieyu was well aware of this. Her grandfather had already explained it to her. She entered the palace this time solely for the Empress position.

She was the most noble legitimate daughter of the direct lineage of the Duke of Su’s mansion. Her older sister by blood was the crown princess, and her aunt was the late Empress Dowager Xue.

Even her cousin, who was from a collateral branch and whom she looked down upon, became Empress Yuanxiao.

How could a daughter of the Xue family not become the empress?

“Hmph!” Xue Jieyu slapped the woman several times, hitting her until her face was red and swollen before turning around to leave.

The accompanying maidservants hastily reminded her, “Mistress, you just entered the palace, this might be…”

“I’m doing this for the newly entered palace maidens to see, and also for Consort Shu to see. What kind of status does she have, and she’s worthy of managing the six palaces? It’s just that my incompetent cousin died early, which gave her this opportunity!”
Xue Jieyu’s eyes flashed with a hint of coldness. “Now that I’ve entered the palace, I must establish my authority and make an example.”

The maidservant didn’t dare to say anything more.

Their mistress wasn’t domineering before entering the palace, always gentle and courteous. Every move she made had her own intentions.

…

Ning Wanyin and Tang Miaoling arrived at Jingxi Palace and first paid their respects to Consort Shu, who was seated in the main position.

Consort Shu wore a deep purple dress with golden embroidery of a green bird, gentle and refined, and smiled warmly, “The two younger sisters, please rise. You are cousins, and this palace intentionally placed you in the same palace, so you can take care of each other.”

Tang Miaoling felt bitter in her heart but could only express her gratitude. From her short memory of the previous life, Consort Shu was a kind person who cared about everyone, and this was probably her good intention.

Ning Wanyin also thanked her. Consort Shu’s words were both a display of kindness and a warning that she was the one in power in the palace. She showed both kindness and authority, appearing gentle and virtuous, like a noble empress.

However, since she knew that Tang Miaoling and Ning Wanyin were cousins, how could she not investigate Tang Miaoling’s domineering behavior in the Ning family?

Putting them together was just to watch them fight each other.

The intentions were sinister.

But Tang Miaoling had suddenly changed recently, and Consort Shu wouldn’t be able to see the excitement for a while.

“She thinks she’s the empress, acting so pretentiously.” Consort Zhuang, seated in the lateral position, rolled her eyes, disapproving of Consort Shu’s behavior as if she were the main wife.
She wore a dress with a pattern of gathered beads and jade, with wide sleeves and a long train, and her hair was adorned with pearls and jewels, shining brightly.
She was one of the concubines of the current emperor’s when he was still a prince.

The emperor broke the ancestral rule of not granting the title of Consort to those without offspring for her.

He also placed the Eldest Princess, left behind by the late Empress, under her care.

She was the most favored concubine in the six palaces.

Consort Shu glanced at her, smiled faintly, and said nothing.

Fang Zhaoyi, seated in the lower position, immediately said, “Consort Shu, as the one managing the six palaces on behalf of the empress, has done her duties diligently, which is why Consort Zhuang might think of the empress.”

Consort Shu looked at her with appreciation and smiled, “Consort Zhuang’s praise is undeserved, this palace is far from comparable to the empress.”

Consort Zhuang was taken aback. She liked to stir up trouble but wasn’t good with words, and she never won against Consort Shu in verbal sparring.

The newly entered concubines all lowered their eyes silently, pretending not to hear.

In the harem, besides Consort Shu and Consort Zhuang, there were no other main concubines, and the rest were Zhaoyi, Jieyu, and others of lower ranks.

Because the current emperor wasn’t favored when he was a prince, the backgrounds of these old mansion concubines were quite ordinary.

They couldn’t compare to the two newly selected concubines with astonishing backgrounds.

The two new concubines almost arrived at the same time.

One was Xue Jieyu, with a bright and beautiful face, who had just slapped someone. The other was Cen Jieyu, with a gentle temperament, the legitimate daughter of the noble household of the Duke of Xin.

As soon as they appeared, the atmosphere in Jingxi Palace became quiet.

Many people had seen Xue Jieyu slap someone earlier and thought she wouldn’t be polite to Consort Shu and Consort Zhuang either.

But both she and Cen Jieyu were very polite, greeting the concubines with higher ranks one by one, without any flaws in their behavior.

Consort Shu showed enthusiastic smiles to both of them.

Even Consort Zhuang, who disliked everyone, didn’t make a sound.

Fang Zhaoyi was so nervous during their greetings that she shifted her body slightly to avoid receiving their bows.

The atmosphere became inexplicably tense for a moment.

Just then, Zhou Guiren walked in with a red and swollen face.

“Oh, Zhou Guiren, your face…” Consort Shu asked with feigned surprise and concern.

“It’s nothing,” Zhou Guiren replied, lowering her eyebrows and not saying another word. She knew very well that she couldn’t afford to offend the Xue family.

In the entire harem, there were few people who could afford to offend the Xue family.

Everyone else stopped talking, but Cen Jieyu glanced at Xue Jieyu and looked at Zhou Guiren with a warm smile. “Sister Zhou, your delicate face is injured, it’s such a pity. My maid is skilled at making medicinal ointments that are very effective for reducing swelling. Bi Qing, send a box of ointment to Zhou Guiren.”

Her accompanying maid immediately handed a box of ointment to Zhou Guiren.

Xue Jieyu glanced at Cen Jieyu, sneered, and her eyes were full of mockery.

Ning Wanyin watched this scene quietly.

Zhou Guiren’s family background was similar to her own, both being declining noble families. If she couldn’t find a strong backing in the palace, she might be trampled on by others at any time.

This was a lesson from the past.