After Transmigrating Into A Eunuch, I Became Famous In The Harem - Chapter 16

Shao Yin arrived at the Noble Consort’s Palace. A eunuch informed her that the Noble Consort was playing cards with two Junior Attendants in her side chamber and that he needed to announce her arrival first.

Shao Yin waited outside the door.

Noble Consort Liang Fujun played cards with the Junior Attendants with obvious disinterest. When she heard that Shao Yin had come bearing an imperial decree from the Empress, she was somewhat surprised. “Did you say the Empress sent Shao Yin?” she asked the eunuch.

A sudden smile appeared on her face, a flicker of interest brightening her already lovely features. “Isn’t he the Emperor’s favorite? Which consort in the Imperial Harem actually likes him? Why would the Empress start using him? Is she hinting that I should punish him?”

The eunuch stepped forward. “Your Majesty,” he said, “considering what happened just now, I’ve heard that Eunuch Shao has become the Empress’s favorite. If this is true, the Empress sending him here likely isn’t a hint for you to punish him.”

These words seemed to strike a chord with the Noble Consort.

Moments later, the smile in her eyes grew more meaningful. “How long has it been? And he’s already become Kunning Palace’s favorite?”

“Su Zhongjie, the Empress’s trusted eunuch, would he really let Shao Yin become the Empress’s favorite? This Eunuch Su is far too inexperienced.”

No one dared discuss Eunuch Su with her, not even the two Junior Attendants.

Su Zhongjie was the chief eunuch of the Empress.

On the surface, the Junior Attendants were her superiors, but in reality, Eunuch Su’s position in the palace far surpassed theirs.

“Summon Eunuch Shao,” she ordered. “I want to hear why the Empress sent him here.”

Before long, Shao Yin arrived before the Noble Consort, bowed, and relayed the Empress’s message: she wished the Noble Consort to visit her.

“Did she not tell you what it’s about? I’ve heard you’ve become the Empress’s favored eunuch. How could you not even know this?”

Liang Fujun’s words were not something a typical harem concubine would dare utter, her tone carrying a hint of disdain.

Faced with the Noble Consort’s taunts, Shao Yin didn’t dare show even a trace of displeasure.

The Noble Consort came from a general’s family—her father and brothers were renowned generals on the battlefield.

Raised in such a household, her personality was exceptionally arrogant and domineering. With her father and brothers as her unshakable pillars of support, her arrogance and domineering nature seemed entirely natural.

Moreover, based on the original records Shao Yin had read, the Noble Consort was a ruthless character.

Most people in the Imperial Harem, including the Emperor himself, dared not provoke her precisely because she exuded a fierce determination to take everyone down with her if angered.

Her aura, that if you provoke me, I’ll take you down with me, was so menacing that no one dared to challenge her head-on.

Shao Yin, of course, knew why the Empress had summoned the Noble Consort, but she couldn’t say it—especially not in front of all these servants and the two Junior Attendants.

The Imperial Harem mustn’t interfere in state affairs. How could she be so tactless as to reveal the Empress’s purpose for summoning the Noble Consort?

So she lowered her head, not puffing up at being called the Noble Consort’s “favored one,” but rather bowing even lower in respect. “The Empress didn’t say anything specific,” she said. “She only said that once you arrive, you’ll understand.”

The Noble Consort sighed softly, suddenly finding Shao Yin utterly dull. How had this man become the favored one of both the Emperor and the Empress?

She rose and walked to Shao Yin, hooking her chin with a fingernail to force her to look up. Leaning down to study Shao Yin’s delicate features. Those eyes shimmering like a lake surface, she felt a surge of doubt. Could it really be because of this face?

Yet she also knew that this face could bewitch the shallow Emperor, nearly driving him mad with infatuation.

But the Empress wouldn’t enlist a eunuch into her inner circle just for his looks.

Having known the Empress for so long in the Imperial Harem, she had never considered her a foolish woman.

Regardless of the Empress’s feelings toward this eunuch, Liang Fujun’s irritation intensified whenever she imagined him scheming at the Emperor’s side. She had even heard rumors that he had so distracted the Emperor from state affairs that he neglected court duties, stopped approving memorials, and spent his days indulging in leisure with him.

It was precisely because of these treacherous courtiers that her father and brothers, stationed on the border, were left vulnerable due to lack of supplies and funding.

Liang Fujun made no effort to conceal her contempt. Standing tall, she extended her hand and glanced down at Shao Yin, who remained bowed. “Why are you still standing there? Do you think I’m unworthy of your support to Kunning Palace?”

Only then did Shao Yin realize she was being asked for assistance. She quickly stepped forward, allowing the Noble Consort to rest her hand on her wrist, and bent to escort her out of the palace.

Even after leaving her chambers, Liang Fujun refused to ride in a sedan chair, preferring to keep her hand on Shao Yin’s wrist throughout the journey.

She couldn’t quite articulate her motives. She knew this treatment wasn’t a true torment for a mere servant, yet she relished asserting her authority over Shao Yin.

As they approached Kunning Palace, they passed through the main gate and followed the central axis toward the main hall.

The Empress, having just finished breakfast, looked up to see Shao Yin. The eunuch she had recently taken under her wing was obsequiously supporting the Noble Consort as they approached.

The faint smile in the Empress’s eyes vanished instantly.

Even when the Empress traveled alone, no one had ever been so proactive in helping her. Not even the Dog Emperor received such treatment.

She suspected this was the Noble Consort’s coercion, so she suppressed the sudden surge of emotion and regarded the newcomer with her usual cool detachment.

The Noble Consort performed the customary courtesy, which the Empress dismissed, inviting her to be seated.

But even after sitting down, the Noble Consort didn’t let Shao Yin off the hook. Leaning back against the chair, she fixed Shao Yin with her bewitching gaze and said, “How can this servant be so oblivious? Doesn’t she know to massage my shoulders and rub my legs? Wasn’t my journey here exhausting?”

Shao Yin lowered her head, afraid to look up, lest she betray the emotions surging within her.

It had been a leisurely stroll of less than ten minutes. How could her shoulders ache and legs tire so quickly?

The Noble Consort just wants to torment me, Shao Yin thought.

But what choice did she have? Despite her nominal status as a favored eunuch in the palace, she remained at the bottom of the hierarchy, subject to the whims of any master.

She could only bow low and approach the Noble Consort to massage her shoulders. But the moment she raised her hand, she heard the Empress’s cold laugh from her seat of honor: “If you hadn’t come, Sister, I wouldn’t have realized this servant was so obedient.”

Shao Yin’s hand hung in mid-air, neither lowering nor continuing to serve the Noble Consort.

The wind outside, carrying the chill of the first snow, drifted into the room, unable to disperse the tense atmosphere between the three.

The air seemed to freeze, growing colder than the snow outside.

Liang Fujun turned to look at the Empress, surprised that she would actually protect this eunuch.

Wasn’t this just a slave? she thought. Couldn’t she order him around?

Even Eunuch Qian, who served the Emperor himself, obeyed her commands. What made Shao Yin so special?

Standing closest to the Noble Consort, Shao Yin even held her breath.

After a moment, she looked up at the Empress, wanting to say that, as a slave, serving any master was the same. This wasn’t the twenty-first century, and she didn’t believe that, as a eunuch, she had any human rights.

Isn’t it just a shoulder massage? she thought. I’d kneel and massage her legs without a word.

Which palace slave doesn’t kneel to massage their master’s legs?
But Guan Zhixian saw Shao Yin’s subservient demeanor as obsequious and sycophantic, stirring an indescribable emotion within her. Her expression grew even colder.

I stood up for Shao Yin here, and she turns around and kneels for the Noble Consort?

Guan Zhixian’s gaze sharpened, her lips curving into a smirk, but her eyes remained cold and devoid of warmth.

Shao Yin’s breath hitched, realizing her good intentions had backfired.

She withdrew her hand, but it was too late. The Empress’s icy voice cut through the air: “Go wait outside. Once I’ve finished handling official matters, I’ll deal with you.”

The Empress’s harsh words struck Shao Yin’s heart. She knelt to apologize, then bowed and retreated.

As she closed the door, she heard the Noble Consort’s taunting voice: “Your Majesty, it was just a servant of yours. Why are you being so petty?”

Shao Yin closed her eyes: Ancestors, I’ve really called the Noble Consort my ancestor now. Is she trying to get me killed?

Standing by the door, she watched the fine snow flutter down, feeling her heart grow colder than the falling flakes.

Su Zhongjie slowly approached, his voice tinged with schadenfreude. “Got chewed out, huh? In this palace, the most important thing is to choose a master and remain loyal to them alone. You can’t have divided loyalties.”

“Next time, you’d better think carefully about how to handle other masters. Our Imperial Consort is usually quite lenient, but she has her limits.”

Shao Yin gazed at the snow, thinking of the impenetrable walls of the Inner Palace that trapped her.

What choice did she have? She had only been serving as a eunuch for a few months, yet she already felt herself developing a subservient mindset.

Half an hour later, the Noble Consort pulled open the door. Her earlier flirtatious provocation had vanished, replaced by a somber expression.

The Empress must have already told her about Shao Yin’s plan.
This wasn’t something the imperial concubines could achieve alone. They needed to coordinate with each other, involve their families, and have their relatives support each other in court to gradually advance their goals.

But with the war situation critical and time running out, how could the Noble Consort not take this matter seriously?

Before the Noble Consort could leave Kunning Palace, the Empress’s cold voice rang out from within the hall: “Shao Yin, come in.”

Cold sweat beaded on Shao Yin’s back.

The Noble Consort, who had been within sight, stopped and turned to look at Shao Yin. A flicker of amusement crossed her cold eyes, as if she relished watching Shao Yin suffer the consequences of her actions.

Shao Yin closed her eyes and turned, meeting Su Zhongjie’s sympathetic gaze as she entered the hall.

Guan Zhixian sat at the head of the hall, her gaze fixed on her meticulously manicured nails. Her voice was low and commanding:

“Close the door. Come here.”

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