Chapter 3 SSS-level start

When it was still dark, Xie Fenghuang... No, Yun Fenghuang got up and dressed up according to the rules. She then said goodbye to Yun Ju and his wife, getting in the cart with Nian Xuan to the palace.

Xiu Fu returned to the palace to report to Noble Consort Shu in the previous day, so Yun Fenghuang was relaxed. But after they met other noble ladies at the gate of the palace and saw the majestic palace walls and serious guarded men from the shaky curtain, Nian Xuan became silent, and Yun Fenghuang also felt a little nervous.

Ever since Yun Fenghuang saw Xie Fenghuan being sunk into the river, she had rarely felt nervous.

The cart ran over the palace bricks, and the four sides of the cart were covered with cyan cloth. The hairpins shined occasionally from the gap. Keeping the rules in mind, no one dared to speak. The convoy drove along the aisle for a long time before it finally stopped. After a while, a eunuch with a slightly sharp voice in the outside asked everyone to get out of the cart and enter the room to bow to the Empress Dowager for her grace.

The Empress Dowager had not been in charge of the palace since she became the Queen Mother, but she accepted the visit of the new concubines this time. There might be two reasons for this: one was that she made the imperial decree; and another was that she was quite concerned about Emperor Chunjia who really had few children.

After all, the late Emperor, Xiaozong, son of the Empress Dowager, had no prince, so he adopted his niece, Princedom Fuyang, as the new Emperor before his death.

However, Emperor Chunjia had taken eight years in his throne but didn’t even have a princess. It was reasonable to worry that he would have the same fate as the late Emperor.

“Fenghuang!” A group of noble ladies stepped off the cart one after another, and saw a tall and towering palace standing in front of them. There was a plaque, saying “Qing Ci” painted with gold lacquer. It was Qing Ci Palace, the living palace of the Queen Mothers in the past dynasties... Of course, the Empress Dowager lived here during this period.

The new concubines lined up according to the instructions of the eunuchs. During the period, those who had known each other inevitably said hello to each other. Yun Qingman also got closed to greet with Yun Fenghuang excitedly, but a eunuch far away stared at them sternly. Yun Fenghuang quickly signaled her to wait in line first.

After seeing the noble ladies lining up, the maid at the gate went in and asked for instructions. After she came out, she ordered the concubines to bow in different groups to thank the Empress Dowager for her appreciation.

Yun Qingman’s father was Duke Yi and her sister was Noble Consort Shu, so she visited the Empress Dowager in the first group. Those who were together with her must had come from noble families, so they talked with the Empress Dowager for a long time and came out with plenty of rewards. They were relaxed and shy, so Yun Fenghuang guessed the Empress Dowager must be kind.

At least she was kind to those noble ladies.

After coming out, Yun Qingman planned to wait for Yun Fenghuang. However, after being urged by the maid, she had to get on the cart. She winked at Yun Fenghuang, indicating that she had something to tell her.

“Does she want to talk something about Duke Yi?” Yun Fenghuang was not surprised, because no matter Yun Ju had let her join the Imperial Harem intentionally or not, Duke Yi must had played an important role. Therefore, it was reasonable that Yun Qingman felt sorry for this.

Yun Fenghuang had already thought about how to deal with it, so she didn’t think much about it at this moment. She cared more about her thanks to the Empress Dowager.

Obviously, the Empress Dowager treated the new concubines differently according to their family backgrounds. She spent the longest time with the concubines of the first group. After that, she spent shorter and shorter time, so Yun Fenghuang’s turn came quickly.

She was in the last group!

After those who were truly noble ladies had gone, there were girls either had barely decent family background or others like Yun Fenghuang who were totally fake nobles. Though they dressed with gold and silver ornaments and looked noble, they were diffident.

Yun Fenghuang sighed quietly and pretended to be noble ladies to come in, trying her best to make the best of what she had been trained from Xiu Fu.

After passing the screen in the entrance of the hall, there were plenty of red steps, and a seat was placed at the end of the steps. The seat was curved with dragons and phoenixes patterns. A woman in yellow-patterned skirt sat here, and her shoes decorated with blue phoenix clouds were exposed under the skirt. There was a picture of peony embroidered with golden and silver threads in the shoes and the edges were also inlaid with pearls… She must be the Empress Dowager, legal wife of Emperor Shenzong and birth mother of Emperor Xiaozong.

Yun Fenghuang didn’t dare to see how the Empress Dowager looked like. She only glanced at her in a hurry but didn’t see her appearance clearly. After she greeted the Empress Dowager respectfully, she heard the maid beside the dowager telling the concubines’ names and the reasons for being selected... The reasons were basically the same: they were beautiful, clever, gentle, considerate and noble enough to serve the Emperor.

“You are all good girls.” The Empress Dowager said, and it seemed she was tired and ill. She glanced at those concubines one by one, and said slowly, “Give them the rewards”.

Yun Fenghuang and other concubines quickly bowed down, saying thanks in a soft voice.

That’s all. They were sent out after that.

Yun Fenghuang guessed that the Empress Dowager didn’t even remember her and other three concubines’ faces…

Her aunt was right. Without a powerful family background, there was almost no future for a concubine…

She sighed for this, and even felt helpless after knowing where she was gonna live, “Xi Xing Building in Hu Zhu Palace? Mammy, I heard that Hu Zhu Palace is hosted by Consort Yue?”

The maid looked at her with sympathy, “That’s right. Consort Yue is amiable and kind. Bao Lin, after you live there, you will soon adapt to it.”

“...” Yun Fenghuang looked up at the sky for a moment, and then nodded with a fake smile, “Thanks for your blessing.”

She had heard about Consort Yue from Xiu Fu, okay?

Consort Yue, whose family name was Yuan, ranked in a high position. She was only inferior to the Empress and the four Noble Consorts, and she was favored by the Emperor. But…her characteristic was totally the opposite of amiable and kind!

No wonder Consort Yue was bad-tempered. She was the niece of Queen Mother Yuan. The latter was Emperor Chunjia’s legal mother and the legal wife of Princedom Fuyang. Besides, Consort Yue had an engagement with Emperor Chunjia when they were fetuses. Therefore, she should have been the Empress.

However, Emperor Chunjia couldn’t get his throne without the help of Ji’s Family, and they had a legitimate daughter who had the similar age as the Emperor, so she became the Empress. Ji’s Family worried that Consort Yue would threaten the power of their Empress, so they forced her to be a Fu Ren at the very beginning. It was said that she didn’t become the Consort until something happened in the past few years.

Therefore, Consort Yue’s bad temper could be understood. Her natal family was considered a clan in Fuyang but a small one in Dijing. Even if she was favored by the Emperor, she couldn’t embarrass the Empress or other noble concubines. As a result, she could only vent her anger at the lower-grade concubines who had nothing to rely on.

According to Xiu Fu, most of the low-grade concubines who died in the past two years were because of Consort Yue.

Since Yun Fenghuang was arranged to live in her palace, it was not just about her future in the palace, but a matter of life and death...

Hu Zhu Palace was in the northwest corner, far from Yan Fu Palace where the Empress lived, and farther away from Tai Chu Palace where the Emperor lived. The surrounding palaces had been abandoned or left vacant for many years, and one even had to pass a relatively desolate road to get there.

The palace was like being alone overseas.

It showed how the Empress disliked Consort Yue.

And Consort Yue disliked the lower-grade concubines even more.

Yun Fenghuang stood for a long time at the gate of the main hall, and then a maid in pink came out and said indifferently, “Bao Lin, you are allowed to meet Consort Yue.”

“You are the Bao Lin joining the Imperial Harem this time? Out of cordial invitation?” Yun Fenghuang and Nian Xuan walked in and saluted to her carefully... After a long time, seeing them trembling, a woman snorted coldly, saying in a very unfriendly voice, “Since you are the sister of Noble Consort Shu, I dare not offend you. Sit down!”

Yun Fenghuang didn’t dare to sit down immediately. After saluting one more time, she sat on the chair beside uneasily.

Some maids served tea for her deftly. She glanced at Consort Yue when she lowered her head to show thanks.

Consort Yue was in her early twenties. She was gorgeously dressed and exquisite in makeup. She actually looked not as menacing as others said, instead, she had round face and eyes and a petite figure. If she didn’t show her anger, she seemed actually very approachable, and even quite cute.

At that moment, she propped on the small table with one hand, fiddling with the tea bowl in front of her with another, and looked at Yun Fenghuang with her head tilted, “You look unlike Noble Consort Shu.”

“We are different branches of Yun’s Family.” Yun Fenghuang explained. In fact, she thought in mind that she had nothing to do with Noble Consort Shu at all, so how could they look alike?

“No wonder she arranged her biological sister in Tong Xia Palace but sent you here.” Consort Yue said with a smirk, observing Yun Fenghuang carefully. After seeing that Yun Fenghuang kept calm and said nothing, as if she didn’t catch her words, Consort Yue turned around and told her maid, “Tell her about the rules here.”

There were many rules in Hu Zhu Palace, morning greeting and night greeting were the basic ones. Others were made according to the likes and dislikes of Consort Yue. For example, one couldn’t play the qin (A kind of musical instruments in ancient China) here because Consort Yue disliked it, and one couldn’t dance here also because Consort Yue disliked it... So, what if one did these privately and avoided bothering Consort Yue?

No! In Hu Zhu Palace, Consort Yue was the master. One couldn’t do anything she disliked anywhere.

In addition, one couldn’t eat any food or have any decorations Consort Yue disliked. In a word, anyone in Hu Zhu Palace should obey Consort Yue. This was her place.

“Miss, what should we do now?” Seeing her maid finish teaching the rules after quite a while, Consort Yue said goodbye to Yun Fenghuang arrogantly.

On the way to Xi Xing Building, Nian Xuan couldn’t even put their luggage in place, and said worriedly, “There are too many rules, so many nos. What should we do in the future? What if we turn to Fourth Miss? Oh, no, Mei Ren Yun. We can ask her for help. She could beg for Noble Consort Shu to allow you to move into Tong Xia Palace.”

Yun Fenghuang was also in a bad mood. She had learned from Xiu Fu that Consort Yue was not easy to get along with, but she still felt hopeful before their meeting. It turned out Consort Yue was more arrogant than what Xiu Fu told her, but she didn’t agree with Nian Xuan’s idea, saying, “According to Consort Yue, it was Noble Consort Shu who arranged us here. If so, it was useless to turn to Qingman for help from Noble Consort Shu.”

“My aunt also told me before that Qingman and Noble Consort Shu have different mothers, so we can’t get her involved... Although there are many rules in here, we can be careful, right?”

It was easy for her to say. The reality made her realize how miserable it was to obey these rules. In the afternoon that day, when Yun Fenghuang and Nian Xuan finished ordering an inferior maid and a eunuch to put the things they brought into the palace in order, a servant from the main hall asked Yun Fenghuang to serve Consort Yue for meal.

Yun Fenghuang could bear this. After all, she had practiced for this in her family because she had to serve her parents-in-law after her marriage. The problem was that she met with Consort Yue for the first time, so she didn’t know her likes and dislikes.

Therefore, during the process, Consort Yue blamed Yun Fenghuang for many times. Yun Fenghuang became more and more helpless and panicky, and eventually overturned a bowl of soup which was not too hot into Consort Yue’s sleeve!

“How dare you!” Consort Yue was furious and stood up immediately, raising her hand to slap her!

Yun Fenghuang kneeled in panic and chocked, begging for mercy, “Sorry, My Lady. I didn’t mean it.”

Consort Yue slapped her but in vain. She stood up from her seat without the maid’s help, intending to continue to maltreat the poor Bao Lin. Unexpectedly, the eunuch outside called, “Here comes the Emperor——”