Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 71

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Xie Nuange looked at Su Ye in alarm.

“The carriage is here.”

Su Ye closed the window. “Go on.”

“I’m so jealous of you.”

Xie Nuange stared at Su Ye.

Su Ye snorted. “Funny. I never saw you envying me when I had to work.”

She tried to encourage Xie Nuange.

“You can do it. Sacrifice yourself, and both of us can clear the scenario. I’ll go gather information for you.”

Chuntao reported softly from outside the door, “Your Ladyship, the carriage has arrived.”

Xie Nuange took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked out.

The night wind was somewhat chilly. Red lanterns had been hung from the eastern side hall of the Palace of Eternal Spring today.

They signified that the Emperor had selected the lady of the Palace of Eternal Spring for the night.

Xie Nuange crossed the threshold and walked toward the courtyard gate. The Phoenix Carriage of Spring Favor was waiting just outside.

It had vermilion wheels and imperial-yellow curtains. The eunuch driver stood beside it with his hands lowered.

A red lantern hung from each of the four corners of the carriage roof, swaying gently in the night wind.

Su Ye followed behind Xie Nuange and was about to step forward to support her when a young eunuch from the carriage stopped her.

“Miss, palace servants are not permitted to accompany the Phoenix Carriage of Spring Favor.”

Xie Nuange paused in the act of boarding and turned to look at Su Ye.

The young eunuch continued with a bow, “You must carry a lantern and walk to the Palace of Receiving Grace.”

Su Ye stood beside the carriage, and the two exchanged a look.

Now it was Su Ye’s turn to envy Xie Nuange. At least Xie Nuange had a carriage to ride in.

Su Ye had to walk with a lantern. Who knew what she might encounter on the way?

Only after Su Ye nodded did Xie Nuange step onto the footstool and board the carriage.

The Phoenix Carriage of Spring Favor swayed gently as it carried her toward the Palace of Receiving Grace.

Its wheels rumbled over the flagstones.

The curtains fluttered in the wind, giving those outside fleeting glimpses into the carriage while leaving the passenger’s view unobstructed.

Sitting inside, Xie Nuange watched as they left the Palace of Eternal Spring, turned left, and passed Zhongcui Palace, followed by the Palace of Universal Happiness…

Palace servants occasionally stood before the gates, peering toward the carriage on behalf of their mistresses to see which newcomer had been selected first.

Xie Nuange gripped Jiang Fan’s hairpin between her fingers and prayed that it would work.

She had no idea whether Jiang Fan’s influence would be enough to make the Emperor agree to let her attend the birthday banquet.

After traveling for a while, the carriage stopped before a palace.

Xie Nuange lifted the curtain. A palace maid dressed in lake-green came forward to greet her.

“This way, please, Noble Lady Xie.”

The maid helped Xie Nuange out of the carriage and led her inside.

The hall contained a bathing pool. In each of its four corners stood a bronze crane holding a candle in its beak. Candlelight reflected off the water, filling the entire bathing chamber with shimmering light.

Water flowed into the pool from the cranes’ beaks. A thick layer of flower petals floated on the surface, and the rising steam filled the room with a sweet fragrance.

Upon entering, Xie Nuange first circled the side hall. There were no notes and no clues.

She crouched, dipped a hand into the bathing pool, and stirred the water. Nothing seemed wrong.

“Your Ladyship?”

The palace maids were puzzled by her circuit of the room.

“It’s nothing.”

Xie Nuange shook her head and stood. The maids gathered around to undress her and let down her hair.

She stood still and allowed them to serve her.

“Your Ladyship, please.”

Once she was undressed, the palace maids helped her into the pool. After she was seated, they knelt beside it and bathed her.

Xie Nuange leaned against the edge, feeling warm water glide over her body.

The maids washed her meticulously. By the time she emerged from the pool, her skin had turned a delicate pink.

They wrapped her in a large piece of fine cotton cloth, slowly patted away every trace of moisture, then dressed her in a silver-red gauze robe.

Xie Nuange looked down at herself, wrapped like a vacuum-sealed package, and swallowed. “Shouldn’t I wear a dudou underneath?”

Being dressed in so little made her panic.

“Your Ladyship, this is how it’s always done. The robe is made of moonlight gauze. No one can see through it from the outside.”

The palace maid supported her by the arm. “Please follow this servant, Your Ladyship.”

Xie Nuange did not leave through the hall entrance. Instead, she followed the maid behind the screen at the far side of the bathing pool, where a small door led directly into the main hall’s bedchamber.

“Please enter, Your Ladyship. You need only wait in the main hall for His Majesty to arrive.”

Xie Nuange stepped inside, and the door closed behind her.

She was alone in the bedchamber. A canopy bed stood in the center, draped in red curtains.

Bright-red bedding covered the mattress, its surface embroidered with a design of a hundred sons and a thousand descendants.

Beside the bed stood a long table holding a pair of red candles, a pot of wine, two cups, and a sheet of paper.

She hurried over and picked up the paper.

[Rules for Attending the Emperor in Bed]

[Remember: in the imperial harem, you do not have to be loved, but you must never be hated.]

[Rule One: As an imperial consort, you may not refuse the Emperor’s orders or demands.]

[Rule Two: While attending the Emperor in bed, the candles in the bedchamber must not go out. If they do, relight them as quickly as possible, or something bad will happen.]

[Rule Three: If you hear someone speaking while attending the Emperor in bed, do not respond. There are only two people in the bedchamber: you and the Emperor.]

[Rule Four: You may not lie to the Emperor more than three times in a single day.]

[Rule Five: Pleasing the Emperor and obeying the rules is the fastest path to rising in rank.]

[Rule Six: Do not refuse physical contact with the Emperor.]

[Rule Seven: Do not remain in the bedchamber overnight! Otherwise, you will remain here forever!]

[Rule Eight: If you spend more than two ke—half an hour—with the Emperor, your bedchamber service will be considered successful. Something terrifying may happen if you fail.]

[Rule Nine: When you do not know what to do, try drinking the wine on the table. It will help you.]

[Some of the rules above are false.]

Once the rules appeared, Xie Nuange began memorizing the important points.

There were false rules…

Which one was false?

The one about lying? Staying overnight?

Or the candles?

The rules soon dissolved into specks of light.

How far had Su Ye made it by now?

Would she encounter danger?

As Xie Nuange wondered, a eunuch’s shrill voice rang out beyond the door. “His Majesty has arrived…”

Footsteps sounded outside, followed by another, deeper voice.

“Who is inside?”

“Your Majesty, it is Lady Xie.”

The door opened, and the Emperor entered.

Xie Nuange instinctively withdrew her empty hand, bent her knees, and lowered her head.

“This concubine greets Your Majesty.”

The Emperor walked past her. From the corner of her eye, she saw the hem of an imperial-yellow robe cross the threshold.

The eunuch remained outside and closed the door again.

Xie Nuange glanced at the water clock in the corner and memorized the time. If the rule about the duration of bedchamber service was true, she only needed to last half an hour to succeed.

But what would she do after that half hour?

The Emperor sat directly on the bed. “Dispense with the formalities.”

Xie Nuange lowered her eyes and walked over. As she reached the bed, a hand extended before her, palm up.

“Come sit.”

She hesitated for an instant. The rules said she could not refuse physical contact or disobey the Emperor.

Xie Nuange reached out and placed her hand in his.

His hand enveloped hers. It was warm.

It seemed that ever since they had left the palace, the scenario had been activated, and everyone now carried the vitality of a living person.

Temperature could no longer tell her whether someone was an anomaly.

The hand drew Xie Nuange down to sit beside the Emperor.

He studied her lowered face and asked, “Why did you enter the palace?”

She could not lie to the Emperor more than three times.

Was that rule true or false?