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Chapter 19: Switching with Yun guiren
“Empress, An guifei has been escorted back.” This was not the first time the Empress had sent away a consort or concubine who had been serving at her Majesty’s side. Feng Ying was no longer surprised as she had slowly gotten used to it after the first couple of times. It was a common occurrence, so she merely waited for the Empress’ next orders.
Guifei: Imperial Consort of the highest rank and is below the Empress (King Consort in this book)
Guiren: Noble Consort below Guifei and Empress (King Consort in this book)
“Feng Ying, arrange for Yun guiren to come and serve zhen.” When she had accepted the responsibility of the throne after becoming one body and soul with the entity she had been transmigrated into, she had already accepted these people along the way. However, the people in her fragmented memories were muddy and indistinct, their faces a blurry afterimage. She could only recall the scenes that had occurred on the dragon bed, some of them she never wanted to think about again. In her memory, she didn’t have much recollection of these men. Since she had already accepted the responsibility to care for these men, she would have to get to know these people. One by one, she arranged it so that all of them could take turns to serve her themselves.
“Yes.” Feng Ying arranged for palace attendants to pass on the message of the Empress’ decree. Although the Empress’ actions had markedly diverged from her previous actions, the Empress was the Empress, as long as she liked it, then all was good.
Yun guiren, otherwise known as Yun Tailing,  was actually the son of Imperial Doctor Yun Yangrong. He was 22 years old and had been a childhood companion for Qianhe Liyou since he was a child. Qianhe Liyou had naturally accepted this companion as a consort when he had become an adult. Later on, when Qianhe Liyou stepped onto the throne, she did not treat him poorly and had bestowed a noble title to him. Yun Tailing possessed an extremely low-key and steady personality, even knowing some medical knowledge and skills. He did not fight for the Empress’ favor or cause trouble within the harem. In his free time, he read books and grew medicinal herbs, living his days under the radar from the rest of the harem intrigue.
Qianhe Liyou was not a petty or picky person, but she had been waiting for more than an hour since she had sent down the command to summon Yun guiren. After waiting for quite some time, she felt a bit impatient….
About another quarter of an hour later, a palace attendant hurriedly announced Yun guiren’s arrival. Qianhe Liyou watched as a man hurriedly rushed in.
“This concubine greets the Empress.”
While Qianhe Liyou had been waiting, more than two hours had passed. She had thought that this man would garnish and adorn himself with luxurious, fine garments or jewelry, but she didn’t expect that the man, who came after such a long time, would actually come in with rumpled, stained robes, his hair ruffled and unadorned as if he had just woken up. There was also a slight fragrance drifting off his body, a medicinal and earthy scent. Although it was not unpleasant, it was very strange!
“Explain.” She didn’t like to wait for people. If this man couldn’t provide a reasonable explanation, he couldn’t blame her for being ruthless. Those who offend her were to be thoroughly punished.
“….This concubine arrived late, the Empress may dole out punishment as your Majesty sees fit!” Yun guiren was not a fool. The Empress had only said two words and he had understood them, but he did not feel the need to explain anything in great detail.
“Explain, don’t let zhen say this a third time!” Such perfunctory responses, did he really think this would satisfy her?
“….This concubine  has nothing to explain, this consort had arrived late due to some personal matters, Empress, please punish accordingly!”
“What matters?” Her patience was running out. If this man still insisted on being ambiguous and brief , she could only employ some methods to help this man understand what it meant to be obedient!
The Empress’ questioning no longer made it possible for the unwilling to elaborate Yun guiren to dawdle any further, “Empress, Enchanting guifei accidentally moved too suddenly and thus disturbed his fetus. This consort went to see him, and was thus delayed.” This time he did not ask the Empress to punish him, because he thought, the Empress would punish him anyway just based on his words. Haha, how will the Empress punish him this time? Whipping? Planking? Or throw him into the cold palace?”
“You went to see him? For more than an hour?”
“This concubine knows some medical techniques and concocted some nourishing soups to help stabilize his pregnancy.”
“Why save him?” Qianhe Liyou, if she recalled correctly, was led to believe that all of these consorts and concubines did not like the Enchanting guifei. But, unexpectedly, firstly, her King Consort would plead for him, and now Yun guiren helped him to stabilize his pregnancy. She really doubted this body’s current memories right now, there had to be something wrong with the previous Empress’ memories, or was it these men in front of him all did not understand hatred?
“A human life was at stake. As a doctor, how can this consort stand there and just watch…” Yun Tailing wanted to elaborate further but promptly sealed his mouth. He had always wanted to become a doctor, but alas, he was not of the right gender. After entering the imperial palace as a guiren, a noble consort, his hopes and dreams were dashed, unable to ever become reality.
“Spit out what you have to say, zhen hates these humming and hawing people the most.”
“This concubine, since beginning primary schooling, has always wanted to become a doctor. It was impossible to watch someone die without trying to save them. Moreover, the Enchanting guifei is actually very pitiful…this concubine knows that he should not have privately visited the Cold Palace, let alone diagnose and treat the Enchanting guifei. The Imperial Doctors cannot be summoned to treat the guifei without the Empress’ decree. Additionally, the Enchanting guifei had disturbed the fetus and the child in his belly is of Your Majesty’s flesh and blood.” Sigh, he had been with the Empress since he was a child. The Empress had been just as ruthless, grumpy, and impatient since she was a child. She only ever acted according to her own character and principles, apathetic to other people’s life and death. It looked like he had said all this for nothing, and looking at the Empress’ gloomy expression, he concluded that punishment was unavoidable this time around.
“Are you criticizing zhen?”
“This concubine dares not!”
After saying all this, he still felt aggrieved? Qianhe Liyou really felt that these men were all dishonest, each one of them making her feel baffled.
‘Forget it, you are dismissed to go and clean up your unsightly dress. Come and serve zhen when you are done.”
“Yes.” Yun guiren had been inwardly flabbergasted that the Empress had just let him off and ordered him to wash up.. While the Empress had not seemed angry, his face had stiffened after he heard the order “serve”. To be honest, he despised coming to serve the Empress in bed. Her callousness, rudeness and ruthlessness made him feel like a thoughtless doll. He could only let the other party do whatever she wanted and could not speak up. Every time he returned to his residence, he felt that he was covered in filth, dirty to the point that he wanted to vomit…
Yun Tailing was inwardly disgusted, and although he tried to feign an indifferent and placid expression, a trace of revulsion stayed…Qianhe Liyou had been secretly observing Yun Tailing this entire time, and naturally, she did not miss that trace of aversion.
It was not difficult to conjecture what the loathing glint in this Yun guiren’s eyes were due to. Qianhe Liyou had instantly understood it after pondering over it. But upon discovering Yun guiren’s obvious distaste,  she felt slightly uncomfortable. It stood to reason that this man belonged to her, especially more so in a country in which women dominated society. This man was expected to depend on her to exist and regard her as his tian, his sky, and pillar of strength. But she could only find hate and revulsion in this man’s eyes. This was simply….outrageous!
But, she couldn’t blame the man, and this is what made her the most depressed. She never expected to receive the warmth of a family, but at least she wouldn’t allow these people to look upon her with disgust and fear. She did not want them to get along with her on the surface, only to hide their attitude of disgust and horror on the inside. Thinking of Luo Weiqing and Murong Xuanhe’s trembling appearances when interacting with her, Qianhe Liyou suddenly felt aggravated.
Yun Tailing had already left to freshen up, and as such Qianhe Liyou no longer wanted to stay in the bedroom quarters any longer. She dismissed the procession of palace attendants and guards following after her and walked to the Imperial Garden alone. There was a century-old tree located in the Imperial Garden, the highest vantage point in the entire imperial palace. She drifted up, easily fluttering her way up to stand on the highest branch, quietly basking in the moonlight.
Qianhe Liyou liked the moon, and preferred to moon gaze under quiet, secluded circumstances, bathing in the luminescent threads of the moonlight trickling from the sky. This had been a habit of hers for thousands of years, especially when she was feeling irritable. By simply gazing at the moon and meditating silently, she felt that it was mystical and soothing. She would always feel her mood slowly calming down, just like it was now, and it would have been even better if she was undisturbed…
“Ning’ er, long time no see, benwang* has missed your presence greatly…”