Something's Off About Concubine Rou - Chapter 1

Everyone said I was the most wooden-headed empress in the history of Great Yan.

I had no idea how to please the emperor, and no idea how to make myself pretty.

All I did was shut myself away in my chambers and read.

I thought they were right. It didn’t particularly bother me.

After all, the other consorts in the palace were even more wooden-headed than I was, and even less successful at pleasing the emperor.

Li Yuanxiu spent more nights in the Hall of Mental Cultivation than he did in the inner palace.

Then one day, the General of Swift Cavalry sent his youngest daughter, Chang Wanrou, into the palace.

The inner palace, quiet for so long, erupted.

I heard that before she married, she was already known as the greatest beauty in the capital.

She hadn’t even entered the palace yet, and the emperor was already happily sending her heaps of jewels and rare treasures.

The other consorts were so envious they practically chewed their handkerchiefs to shreds.

As the saying goes, people don’t resent having little. They resent having less than everyone else.

When none of us were favored, we could all get along.

But if you alone were favored? That would never do.

So, the day before Concubine Rou arrived, my Hall of Phoenix Grace filled with more visitors than it ever had before.

“Your Majesty, if Chang Wanrou really enters the palace, how are we supposed to live?”

“His Majesty hardly ever visits me as it is. Once she’s here, I may never even see him again!”

“Yes! We can bear a little hardship ourselves, but what if one day she starts pushing Your Majesty around? Then…”

Their collective wailing was giving me a headache. At that last remark, however, I froze.

I owed my position as empress entirely to my father’s standing as chancellor.

But the General of Swift Cavalry had just returned to the capital and was the emperor’s current favorite.

It would make perfect sense for Chang Wanrou to replace me as empress.

I didn’t particularly mind. But what would become of my father? Of the Ning family?

At that thought, I finally spoke.

“Then what should I do?”

The consorts immediately began talking over one another. In the end, they arrived at a simple answer—

Stick to her.

Day and night. Never give her a chance to approach the emperor.

Surely the emperor couldn’t flirt with another consort right in front of his empress?

“Is that how it works…?” I frowned.

Something about it struck me as odd, but I resolved to do as they said.

On the day she entered the palace, Concubine Rou came to the Hall of Phoenix Grace to pay her respects.

One look at her alluring face, and I finally understood why Li Yuanxiu was so taken with her.

Her little face was no bigger than a palm, her skin fair and soft. Her eyes held a languid charm; every smile, every frown was lovely. She was like a little fox that knew how to draw you in.

I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. Such a captivating woman, doomed to have her whole life worn away within these palace walls.

My heart softened, and so did my tone.

“Are you settling in, Concubine Rou?” I asked gently. “If anything about your food, clothing, or daily supplies is unsatisfactory, you may raise it with the Imperial Household Department.”

She smiled faintly. “Your Majesty, I have no complaints. His Majesty bestowed so many things on me today that I doubt I could use them all this year.”

I nodded. That wretched emperor was certainly willing to spend when it came to winning women over.

Suddenly, Consort De, who was sitting beside me, gave a cold snort. In a voice only the two of us could hear, she said,

“Your Majesty, she’s showing off how well the emperor treats her!”

Huh? Was she? What was I supposed to do?

I hadn’t heard the slightest challenge in her voice, but Consort De had been my closest friend since before we married. I trusted that she wouldn’t lie to me.

There was just one problem. As the chancellor’s daughter by his principal wife, I had become empress through connections. I had no experience whatsoever in palace scheming.

For a moment, my mind went blank.

I stared at Concubine Rou’s little face. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

I had it!

“Matron Wang.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I waved a hand. “Fetch the gold-and-jade dangling hairpin from the treasury, the set of jeweled and pearl hair ornaments, the patterned agate pendant, the white sable pelt, the scented rouge from the Western Regions… and that thousand-year-old ginseng root as well.”

Consort De looked stunned. “Your Majesty, what are you—?”

I smiled. “They’re all gifts for Concubine Rou.”

What was so special about Li Yuanxiu’s things? Mine were real treasures.

I’d let Concubine Rou see whose patronage was worth seeking in this inner palace!

Consort De seemed so overwhelmed by my cleverness that she was speechless. She looked at me as though she wanted to say something, then thought better of it.

At the sight of those gleaming gifts, Concubine Rou’s smile became much more sincere.

“Your Majesty is so gentle, considerate, generous, and kind. I’m truly moved. But I wonder… does every beauty who enters the palace receive such rewards?”

What an odd question.

Not everyone had a father as powerful as yours, someone capable of knocking me off my empress’s seat.

Why would I need to please them?

So I shook my head honestly. “You’re the first.”

Concubine Rou’s smile broadened. Whether deliberately or not, she glanced at Consort De.

“Then I can rest easy.”

Noticing her gaze, I instinctively looked beside me.

I almost exclaimed aloud.

Wow. What a thunderous face!