00s Regulate the Harem - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The emperor didn’t love her, the Favorite Consort plotted against her, and although the original owner of this body was the Empress, she had no status to speak of. She’d been dealt a great hand and played it into a complete disaster.

I could not be happy. Not even a little.

Depressed, I gnawed my way through two whole basins of chilled watermelon. Then Xiaoying came in again with a face that said, “Whoever wants this shift can take it.”

“Your Highness, your maiden family has sent over last month’s dividends.”

I became happy.

The curve of my lips was very hard to suppress.

I took the thick stack of banknotes, spat on my finger, and began counting.

I counted for ages and still wasn’t done. Xiaoying stood to one side, her face full of class resentment.

I glanced at her. “You look down on merchants?”

Xiaoying pouted at the ceiling. “Merchants are lowly, nothing more.”

I pulled out a fifty-tael note and placed it in her palm. “Say that again.”

Xiaoying instantly beamed. “Merchants will forever be the elite.”

I took the note back. “Well said.”

Xiaoying: “…”

My guiding principle was simple: spend where you should, save where you can.

Before I could finish counting, Xiaoying handed me an empty box with a sour face.

I was baffled. “What’s this for?”

Xiaoying widened her eyes slightly. “For the silver notes. In the past, whenever you received your dividends, didn’t you always take more than half to show filial respect to the Empress Dowager? Hurry up. It’s almost time for you to knead the Empress Dowager’s feet.”

I was dumbstruck. “Not only did I rush to give the Empress Dowager money, I also had to massage her feet every day? If I loved the Empress Dowager that much, then the Empress Dowager must be my one and only salvation in this cold, heartless harem.”

Xiaoying’s lips trembled.

Without another word, I rushed straight to the Empress Dowager’s palace. I urgently needed to feel the warmth of being loved.

The Empress Dowager was lying on a chaise longue. Hearing the commotion, she lifted her eyelids.

I nearly burst into tears. What a kind, benevolent old granny!

Then the Empress Dowager opened her mouth. “Why haven’t you rolled over here to massage my feet yet?”

Damn. What a masterfully fake old white lotus.

I couldn’t understand why the original owner had tried so hard to please her.

I put on a standard smile. “My apologies. Wrong palace.”

I turned to leave, but the old white lotus wouldn’t have it. “Zhu Yurun, you were the one who begged and pleaded to show me filial respect back then. Never mind that you’re late today, but now you want to leave without doing the work? What exactly are you trying to do?”

Oh, I could not hold it in anymore.

I unmuted on the spot. “A crow feeds its parents only because it was once fed. Children show filial piety only when their elders have virtue. May I ask-do you have any?”

The Empress Dowager froze all over, her eyes full of shock and disbelief.

Having done my background research, I kept firing. “Back then, the emperor was beaten so badly he looked like someone’s grandson, and the treasury was emptied clean. He was the one who begged my father to let me become his second Empress. Cart after cart of my dowry was poured into the national treasury, and only then did he manage to keep his throne. I am the benefactor of your family. I should be the person with the most say in this palace. So why should I work myself to the bone for you?”

The Empress Dowager pointed at me with a trembling nail guard, her face red with anger. “Zhu Yurun, you… your family is nothing but the lowest of merchants! My son granting you the position of Empress was already a blessing beyond measure, yet you know no gratitude and dare spout such outrageous words!”

I burst out laughing. “The emperor made me Empress, but he has never given me the dignity of an Empress. For three years, I endured neglect and humbled myself to please everyone, but all I got in return were cold eyes and contempt. If this is such a blessing, do you want it?”

The Empress Dowager clenched her fists and stared at me. “You… you are ugly, talentless, and lacking in virtue. My son has already shown you every possible tolerance, yet you still aren’t satisfied?”

I rolled my eyes. “The late Empress died of illness, which was clearly because your son’s high cheekbones brought her bad luck. He’s a second-marriage, unchaste phoenix man living off his wife’s family, and I’m supposed to be satisfied? Do I look that cheap?”

When would men and certain women start applying those worldly standards to themselves? One judgment and they would all go silent.

“Insolence! You…” The Empress Dowager was so furious she rose from the chaise longue. She got up too fast, went a little anemic, swayed, and sat back down again.

The nanny beside her was both worried and angry. She snapped at me, “Empress, stop disrespecting the Empress Dowager! Hurry and leave this month’s offering here, then go!”

Seeing this, Xiaoying instinctively moved to present the brocade box.

I pinched the back of her neck and dragged her back, smiling without warmth. “First, the Zhu Family has shown the imperial family great kindness. There is only the logic of the imperial family repaying that kindness, not the Zhu Family rushing to curry favor. If the imperial family can’t swallow that, then at worst, I will divorce the emperor, move my dowry back to my maiden home, and you can all stop dreaming about the Zhu Family’s annual tribute.

“Second, I’m not here to be a tyrant. I only want fairness and reason. Since this position of Empress was bought with our Zhu Family’s money, then it needs to be worth the price. The respect I should have must be given. The status I deserve must be granted. If you can’t do that, refer to point one.

“Third-” I narrowed my eyes at that nanny. “What exactly are you, to dare order me around?”

The nanny shuddered and looked to the Empress Dowager for help. But the Empress Dowager was still too stunned to speak, so the nanny’s legs went weak and she knelt.

I strode out of the hall, feeling as if I had vented a tiny bit of resentment on the original owner’s behalf.

Xiaoying asked anxiously from beside me, “You’ve completely fallen out with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. What if the Emperor sends soldiers to confiscate the Zhu Family’s property?”

I stretched both arms. “You think he doesn’t want to? If he could, he would have done it long ago. I’ve already discussed it with my father. The Zhu Family’s influence stretches across the entire country, rooted deep and tangled everywhere. If he dares lift a finger against us, this empire could change hands in minutes.”

Xiaoying looked at me once, then looked at me again.

I clicked my tongue. “If you’ve got something to say, spit it out.”

Xiaoying muttered quietly, “For the past three years, you’ve swallowed every grievance and lived worse than a dog. If I’d known hanging yourself from a beam would make you this powerful, I should have strung you up sooner.”

I said, “Thanks so much. Truly.”