After Transmigrating Into A Eunuch, I Became Famous In The Harem - Chapter 10

Shao Yin reached out and gripped Guan Zhixian’s wrist.

Guan Zhixian flushed crimson in an instant, the corners of her eyes was reddening.

She couldn’t understand why the Empress would suddenly treat her this way. During her time in the Empress’s Palace, she had never sensed any hostility from this woman.

She even considered whether she should reveal her entire hand now—her true identity and her trivial knowledge of this world’s future, to secure her survival.

But she didn’t want to take that step. Unless absolutely necessary, she refused to lay all her cards on the table.

If she revealed her origins to anyone here, her chances of survival would plummet.

Her eyes pleaded, unsure what had angered the Empress.

Guan Zhixian’s gaze grew colder, her eyes fixed on the person before her who dared to plead with her.

Yet her heart softened before her thoughts could catch up.

To be fair, Shao Yin had done nothing to wrong her thus far.

She had even reduced Shao Yin’s kneeling punishment.

Her actions now stemmed from a disturbed heart, a desire to uproot the weed completely.

Guan Zhixian gradually loosened her grip, but she didn’t let go of Shao Yin. She stepped forward, still holding Shao Yin’s wrist in one hand and pinching her neck with the other. Leaning in, she pressed her red lips close to Shao Yin’s ear.

Her gaze fell upon Shao Yin’s earlobe, small and round, tinged with a faint redness, like the woman herself—seemingly delicate enough to crumble with a touch.

Guan Zhixian shifted her gaze, suppressing her labored breathing. In a voice only the two of them could hear, she forced down the raw, forbidden emotion lurking in her depths and said, “I don’t know who you truly are, but don’t think you can hide from me. One day, I will uncover every secret about you. While you’re in my grasp, you’ll always be as worthless as an ant—ripe for slaughter at my whim.”

Shao Yin couldn’t help but swallow hard, her throat bobbing slightly beneath Guan Zhixian’s thumb.

It took every ounce of Guan Zhixian’s willpower to resist the urge to bite down on that fragile neck. She wrenched herself away from Shao Yin, suppressing her violent impulses.

She was the most dignified and noble Empress. Such thoughts should never arise in her mind.

The sounds from the inner chamber reached their final frenzy.

Then came the Emperor’s deep sighs, clearly indicating his extraordinary satisfaction.

Guan Zhixian and Shao Yin both breathed a sigh of relief. Xian Zhu had taken the medicine.

Finally, this torment was over.

Yet unexpectedly, the Emperor lay back against the bed, still unsatisfied despite his earlier antics with the two Junior Attendants. A hollow emptiness lingered in his heart.

In that moment, the image that flashed through his mind wasn’t Shao Yin’s face, which always stirred in him a desire to protect and cherish, but rather the Empress’s dignified and noble bearing.

In his youth, the Empress had been so tender and fresh.

Back then, she hadn’t yet acquired her current unyielding composure, and traces of bashfulness still lingered.

He had cherished the Empress for many years; otherwise, how could she have so effortlessly borne him two heirs in those early days?

It was all due to his devotion.

Today, he found himself unexpectedly missing the Empress.

Today was supposed to be the day he visited her chambers.

The Emperor was the most exalted person in the world. Who would dare deny him anything he desired?

“Empress, come in,” the Emperor called out without hesitation, stopping the Empress as she was about to leave.

The moment the Emperor called out, an overwhelming wave of loathing surged through Guan Zhixian’s heart. Her already irritable mood intensified, and she even entertained the thought of killing him.

But she couldn’t act on it. In the court and harem, who could truly live as they pleased? Even the Emperor himself had to hand over his beloved to her custody.

The Empress lowered her gaze, her expression was resolute as if she was facing death. She stepped into the inner chamber.

Shao Yin, an adult, understood the meaning behind the Emperor’s call. The entire Imperial Hospital existed to serve him, and he never lacked for medicinal pills. This clearly meant he wasn’t finished playing and wanted to spend another night of passion with the Empress.

Shao Yin also knew the Empress had no desire for such intimacy. Otherwise, why else would she have summoned those two Junior Attendants to keep her company at mahjong? How could she possibly stand in this outer chamber, enduring the Emperor’s humiliation? And why would her steps be so heavy as she walked toward the inner chamber?

Watching the Empress’s retreating figure, Shao Yin felt a flicker of pity. The women of the Imperial Harem truly led difficult lives.

Yet this same woman had just tried to kill her.

But what if she were the Great Female Protagonist?

In the end, that small, insignificant pity, along with her rational planning for the future, led Shao Yin to follow the Empress into the inner chamber.

Hearing the footsteps behind her, the Empress seemed to come to a realization. She couldn’t tell whether this person would act as she hoped or report her to the Emperor.

As they entered the inner chamber, the Emperor saw them and kicked the two Junior Attendants off the bed. He then flashed them a suggestive smile, as if the two standing before him weren’t his personal eunuch and his Empress, but two top courtesans from a brothel.

His gaze lingered on the red mark on Shao Yin’s neck. “Why is your neck red?” he asked, his tone laced with suspicion. “Who pinched you?”

He turned to the Empress, his gaze no longer as gentle as before.

Shao Yin lowered her head. “I pinched myself, Your Majesty.”

Guan Zhixian lowered her gaze, her eyes flickering slightly.

“I wanted to cough,” Shao Yin continued, “but I feared disturbing Your Majesty’s pleasure, so I held it back. I accidentally pressed too hard, leaving a mark. But I’m perfectly fine, Your Majesty need not worry.”

The Emperor’s expression softened. He tilted his chin toward Guan Zhixian. “Empress, come serve me.”

Guan Zhixian’s body stiffened involuntarily.

Standing beside her, Shao Yin could clearly feel the suppressed tension radiating from Guan Zhixian.

Despite the Empress having struck her moments ago, Shao Yin couldn’t bear to see such a dignified and noble woman like the Empress being humiliated by a despicable man like the Emperor.

Her gaze suddenly snapped up to meet the Emperor’s, a shallow sob rising from the depths of her throat.

The rims of her eyes were still tinged red from the Empress’s earlier actions, and faint finger marks marred her neck. Now, she looked at the Emperor with vulnerable helplessness, as if bearing the weight of a great injustice.

She opened her mouth, words catching in her throat.

In the end, emotion triumphed over her usual caution. The Emperor watched as she whimpered and pleaded, “Your Majesty, are you summoning the Empress to attend to you?”

Her voice carried an innocent vulnerability that tugged at the heartstrings.

It wasn’t just the Emperor who felt this way; even the Empress beside her felt her heart clench as if gripped by an invisible hand, her breath catching in her throat.

At that moment, Guan Zhixian’s suspicions solidified further.

Shao Yin’s voice and tone just now were far softer than her usual restrained manner. The lingering notes carried a warmth like spring water flowing past, capable of melting half a person’s bones.

The Emperor was utterly unable to resist.

Only now did he realize the depth of the affection he had once taken pride in.

Indeed, sleeping with Junior Attendants or palace maids was entirely different from sleeping with the Empress.

The Empress was the mother of the nation, his officially recognized wife, and the most esteemed consort in the imperial harem.

By bedding the Empress, he would be granting her the honor she deserved.

He had always believed himself deeply in love with Shao Yin and vowed never to take any other woman in the imperial harem.

But when he spoke of “any other woman,” he meant consorts like the Empress—those with established status within the harem.

Not these insignificant Junior Attendants and palace maids whose favors came without consequence.

Moreover, his Yin’er was currently residing in the Empress’s Palace. If he were to bed the Empress and grant her the honor she craved, what if she secretly bullied his Yin’er in retaliation?

Yet the burning anger in his heart refused to subside.

Had they been in his own palace, he might have lost control and forcibly taken his Yin’er.

But this was the Empress’s Palace.

He could humiliate the Empress as he had today, but if he dared to act on his desires in front of her, she might resort to desperate measures, even taking Yin’er’s life in vengeance.

Furthermore, Yin’er’s true identity must remain concealed at all costs.

A noble’s child disguised as a eunuch to get close to the Emperor—such treachery deserved death.

He couldn’t bear to let his Yin’er fall into the Empress’s clutches and suffer a gruesome death at her hands.

Touched by his deep affection, the Emperor eventually waved them out. He then ordered the two Junior Attendants, who had knelt shivering on the floor for hours, back to bed.

Shao Yin and the Empress were finally allowed to leave.
Yet Shao Yin felt that no place was truly her home.

All she wanted was to return to her small room and rest.

But the Empress wouldn’t let her go. They stepped out of the side room and stood in the courtyard.

Moonlight spilled across the ground, and a chilly wind rustled the Empress’s robes.

Guan Zhixian’s gaze fell on the red mark on Shao Yin’s neck. Recalling what had just transpired, she murmured, “Follow me back to the palace.”

With no choice, Shao Yin trailed behind the Empress.

Inside the palace, candles blazed brightly.

Shao Yin lowered her head, pondering how to survive this situation.

Unexpectedly, the Empress didn’t torment her further. Instead, she leaned closer and whispered, “I want your life. Why do you still help me?”

“How dare you, to have dared to read this Empress’s thoughts? To dare to prevent His Majesty from favoring me?”

Because she simply couldn’t bear to see such a woman be ravaged by the Emperor.

Shao Yin lowered her head and said nothing more.

These words could never be spoken aloud.

She watched as the person before her raised her hand again.

In the candlelight, the hand appeared exceptionally slender, its knuckles distinct and elongated, a truly beautiful hand.

The hand rose again, pinching her chin and forcing her to look up.

Shao Yin met the Empress’s gaze.

Even she didn’t realize that beneath the shimmering surface of her eyes, like the reflection on a lake, lay a vulnerable fragility.

A fragility born of being adrift under imperial power, uncertain of her place.

A fragility stemming from not knowing her future path.

A fragility rooted in her life being held in another’s hands, helpless and at their mercy.

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