On The Self-Cultivation Of A Favored Concubine - Chapter 43

The lights were extinguished in the eastern wing, and the palace maids were asleep in the lower quarters. Lu Lu, believing her mistress was with the Emperor, had even dispensed with the night watch.

Meimei leaped onto the roof, quietly lifted a tile, and peered down.

“Do you recognize the head maid by Consort Yue’s side?”

Black Egg hopped in front of her, remaining silent.

Meimei had no choice but to pick it up, cradling it in her palm as she asked again.

Black Egg squirmed. “Of course I do. I know most of the people in your palace.”

“Go down now, wake her up, and lead her to the main house to intercept that Lin Yulang.”

“I want a reward.”

Meimei stared at it. After a long silence, she said coldly, “Are you going or not?”

That gaze was like the descent of autumn frost or winter snow. Black Egg shuddered and scurried down to follow orders.

Lu Lu was jolted awake by a gust of cold air. She hurriedly sat up and looked around.

The midnight moonlight spilled across the floor outside the window. Everything was deathly quiet; even the footsteps of the patrolling guards could no longer be heard.

She scratched her hair and was about to lie back down when the bedroom door suddenly creaked open, a sound particularly sharp in the silence of midnight.

Lu Lu scrambled out of bed, throwing on only an outer robe. “Who is it?!”

Standing before the pushed-open door was a tall figure, judging by the silhouette, it was a man.

Lu Lu was terrified. Just as she was about to scream, the figure stepped forward and said in a heavy voice, “Where is your mistress?”

By the moonlight, Lu Lu finally recognized him as the Emperor’s favorite, Lin Yulang.

Not daring to be disrespectful, Lu Lu said, “Our mistress is attending to His Majesty tonight. She hasn’t returned and likely won’t be back until tomorrow morning.”

Lin Yulang’s expression froze, and suspicion instantly flooded his heart. Consort Yue is attending the Emperor?

That vixen! Lin Yulang didn’t stop to think. He hitched up his robes and turned to leave, desperate to seek verification from the Emperor. Panic even began to rise in his chest, could His Majesty have deceived him, using this reason just to brush him aside?

The thought of so many eager, beautiful men lurking around the Emperor sent Lin Yulang into a deeper state of panic.

Lu Lu watched the hurried departure of Lin Yulang with a bewildered face. Unable to make sense of it after a long while, she looked at the quiet bedroom and went back to sleep.

Perched on the eaves, Meimei watched Lin Yulang rush toward the Emperor’s quarters and knew the crisis had passed.

“Why aren’t you following him?” Black Egg asked, looking curiously at the motionless girl.

“The Emperor’s residence is bound to be more heavily guarded than a consort’s. If I follow blindly and get caught, it would lead straight back to the Empress without even needing an investigation. So, we stay here.” As she spoke, Meimei sat up and laid her sword across her knees. “I will keep watch from here.”

Black Egg hopped onto her lap and found a spot on the scabbard to lie down.

Lin Yulang sprinted all the way to the Emperor’s residence. The place was brilliantly lit, and the Emperor had not yet retired; the sounds of decadent music could be heard from afar.

Just as I thought. Taking advantage of his absence, the Emperor had summoned other male favorites. Could Consort Yue truly be inside?!

The eunuch guarding the door blocked his path. “Lord Yulang, please stop. His Majesty did not summon you tonight.”

“Then who is in that room right now?” Lin Yulang suppressed his temper and handed the eunuch some silver.

The eunuch said respectfully, “It is Her Highness, Consort Yue.”

“What?!” Lin Yulang’s lips turned deathly pale. The Emperor had personally promised him he could go to Consort Yue’s place tonight, yet he turned around and summoned her himself? Was this a deliberate attempt to make him a fool, or a test to see if he would actually go? The more Lin Yulang thought about this possibility, the more he broke into a cold sweat, filled with an inexplicable dread.

The Emperor’s mind was unpredictable. Tonight’s events made Lin Yulang even more uncertain of what the Emperor intended!

Paralyzed by fear, Lin Yulang voluntarily knelt at the bottom of the stone steps, waiting for the Emperor’s reprimand the following morning.

The night passed quickly.

Behind the floor length curtains of the dragon bed, the Emperor rolled over lazily and habitually embraced the person beside him. “Yulang…”

“Your Majesty, it’s me.” A soft, seductive female voice suddenly spoke, sending a jolt through the Emperor. He woke up completely, practically rolling off the bed in shock as he stared bug-eyed at the woman on the bed!

The woman crawled lazily out from under the quilts, revealing a snowy-white body with graceful curves. Faint red marks lingered on her neck and wrists, and the aura around her suggested just how extravagant and wild the previous night had been.

“Yue… Consort Yue, why are you here?!” The Emperor stood up from the floor, but his hands were still shaking violently. Had he really touched this woman last night?! Why didn’t he feel the usual revulsion? No, this couldn’t be real.

“Your Majesty treated me like that last night, and now that dawn has broken, are you going to pull up your pants and refuse to acknowledge it?” The woman’s breath was like orchids. Her originally tender and cute face had been transformed into one of extreme charm and sexiness.

The Emperor felt that today’s Consort Yue was different from before, but thinking that she had indeed served him last night, it seemed normal for her to become so alluring. Standing barefoot, he felt a tragic sense of confusion, like a warrior holding a sword but finding no enemy to strike.

Blaming the excessive wine from the night before, he had actually touched this woman. The Emperor climbed back onto the bed and tentatively touched her, his inner revulsion welled up again, so he quickly let go and stopped touching her.

“Go back. What happened last night has happened.” The Emperor’s face turned cold as he looked at her. “Just don’t forget your mission.”

The woman gave a soft laugh, stood up gracefully, and put her palace dress back on. Without saying much more, she said, “Then I shall take my leave.”

Several maids and eunuchs escorted her out of the room, preparing to take her back to the eastern wing.

Kneeling outside, Lin Yulang watched with his own eyes as Consort Yue emerged with an air of noble coldness. Only then did he fully believe the Emperor had indeed summoned her! His throat felt parched, dejected, he hung his head, not daring to look again. The Emperor must have been testing him to see if he harbored any illicit desires for his consort.

Consort Yue raised a hand to elegantly adjust her hair. Turning her gaze, she saw Lin Yulang kneeling there and walked over, looking down at him from a height.

“So, you are Lin Yulang?”

Lin Yulang pursed his lips and remained silent.

“You don’t have to speak. I recognize you. You’d best remember your place, what you should touch, and what you shouldn’t.”

The onlookers saw the imposing Consort Yue and thought that being favored really did change one’s aura.

Consort Yue’s gaze dropped to the area between Lin Yulang’s legs where his robes were spread. “If you dare to harbor such improper thoughts again, watch out for that little ‘thing’ of yours.”

She leaned in slightly, staring at Lin Yulang, and made a swift cutting motion with her hand right in front of him.

Lin Yulang’s lips turned white, and he trembled with fear, staring in terror at this transformed Consort Yue. Was all her previous innocence just an act? Now that she had achieved her goal after one night of favor, was she finally showing her true colors?!

“Let’s go. You stay here and keep kneeling properly.” Having finished, Consort Yue led the group back to her wing with great fanfare.

Meimei, who had been watching from the roof all night, was stunned to see Consort Yue actually returning from the outside. She really went to serve the Emperor?

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to be out all night.

Then what was the point of the Empress’s repeated instructions to send her a kitten!

Meimei felt a surge of indignation on behalf of the Empress, but she couldn’t do anything for the moment. She flipped down and returned to the Empress at top speed to report everything that had happened, leaving the Empress to make her own judgment.

Lu Lu heard the noise outside and hurried out. Seeing the Emperor’s own maids and eunuchs personally escorting her mistress back, she knew that things had been successful.

“Congratulations, Your Highness! Wonderful news!” Lu Lu hurriedly bowed, her face beaming with joy.

Consort Yue sized her up, said nothing, and pushed her way inside. Lu Lu followed behind, chattering incessantly.

Halfway through, the “Consort” couldn’t take it anymore and rubbed her ears. “Lu Lu, leave us.”

“Your Highness?” Lu Lu felt the mistress who returned was strange, though she couldn’t put her finger on why; she just felt much more distant.

“I’m tired and need to lie down. Go brew some soup, plum soup would be best,” she instructed nonchalantly.

Lu Lu hurried to comply.

Once no one was around, this “Consort Yue” quickly stretched her limbs. Being so stiff all the time was exhausting!

She walked over to the bed and looked at the figure fast asleep under the covers, letting out a snort. “You sure are comfortable, going straight back to sleep while I’m the one you called over to do all the work.”

As she spoke, she leaned down and pinched the cat ears of the sleeping figure.

Liu Qinglan was sleeping soundly when her ear was suddenly pinched. She snapped her eyes open and instantly transformed into human form.

Realizing she was naked under the covers, Liu Qinglan hastily conjured her palace dress, still the pomegranate flower silk robe from yesterday. She looked around. Wait, where did the beautiful Empress go? Why am I lying in this room!

She hurriedly felt her chest and, sensing the mark there, she breathed a sigh of relief. The love bond from last night had been successful!

After confirming this, she looked up happily and saw the girl standing by the bed who looked exactly like her. She clutched her chest and leaned back. “Whoa! Why are you here!”

The person before her was a Sharp Nosed Viper (Deinagkistrodon) who had cultivated into a spirit. She lived in the Huoshan Mountains and was an old acquaintance of Liu Qinglan, the two had met while fighting over the same prey.

The Viper sat limply on the edge of the bed, her tail already impatiently peeking out from under her dress to get some air.

“Wasn’t it you who summoned me with your ‘meowing’ in the middle of the night? Did you forget?” the Viper said crossly.

Liu Qinglan, nursing a hangover, rubbed her head. “Why don’t I remember anything?”

“So you were drunk.” The Viper gave a secret smile. “It seems you haven’t lived in the mountains for nothing; even when drunk, you can sense danger. Last night, you suddenly sent out a demonic transmission. Every spirit in the mountains heard it and knew ‘Boss Liu’ was in danger. Your group of fair-weather friends came to find me, saying I was the most experienced, so they sent me to save you.”

Liu Qinglan tried hard to remember. She had a blurry memory of someone with ill intentions sneaking into her room, it seemed someone had lunged onto the bed and pinned her awake. But she couldn’t remember much more than that.

“Then… then why did you turn into me?” Liu Qinglan looked at the Viper wearing her face and felt like meowing in frustration.

The Viper covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled, winking flirtatiously. “I took your place and went to find the Emperor. Then, I used a little bit of charm magic to make that human Emperor think he favored you last night. Haha! You should have seen him when he woke up this morning, his face was white with fright, as if I were some kind of monster!”

Liu Qinglan’s fur metaphorically stood on end. “You… how could you do that with my face! Besides, you are a monster! The news of a consort serving the Emperor will definitely spread. If the beautiful Empress finds out, right after I took her to bond our hearts, that I ‘served’ the Emperor…!”

Liu Qinglan collapsed onto the pillow, wanting to cry but having no tears.

Why did she have to summon this chaos loving Sharp Nosed Viper!