Ah Xin helped Ning Zhiqing into the cold palace’s room, put her on the couch, turn around and go out, Ning Zhiqing who was still somewhat awake grabbed her sleeve and didn’t let go, the voice of patience sounded, “Consort Lin… No, Noble Lady Lin, where are you going?”
Ah Xin glanced back at the woman whose face was red hot and said, “You’ve been drugged.”
“I know.” Ning Zhiqing was in a panic, it was Noble Lady Lin who rescued her from that…. so she took Lin Xin, who had been demoted to a noble lady long time ago and sent to the cold palace, as her last life saving straw, “Help me.”
Ah Xin held Ning Zhiqing’s hand, squatted down and looked at Ning Zhiqing’s painful face, touched a handkerchief to wipe the sweat on her face, and asked simply, “Do you prefer cold water or s3x.”[1]
“Naturally, I prefer cold water.”
Ning Zhiqing let out a low mockery, sniffing the faint fragrance of the woman’s body, she was much more awake, her natural and beautiful face stunned her, she and Noble Lady Lin entered the palace in the same batch, why is today’s Noble Lady Lin was a bit different from the previous one?
She had only been put in the cold palace yesterday, before she was stripped of her status as a Noble Consort, her innocence was almost ruined. When she had given up, Lin Xin appeared. The Imperial Teacher’s[2] former daughter, who was gentle, tender looking, and talented, would use such brute tactics to bring her out. Could… this be the power of concubine who has spent so much time in Water Hall[3]?
“Wait.”
Ah Xin put Ning Zhiqing’s hand down, ran with fast and steady steps, and brought in a bucket. After Ning Zhiqing saw her return, she felt a little relieved, but now the heat inside was unbearable. She leaned on the couch, grabbed the blanket with both hands, her fingers whitening, and clenched her teeth without uttering a word. Her beautiful face was full of stubbornness, and her bright eyes were filled with reluctance and anger.
Ah Xin went back and forth several times before filling the barrel halfway, Ning Zhiqing could see the water shaking in the barrel, and asked anxiously, “Is it ready?”
“Wait a little longer, the water isn’t cold enough.”
Ah Xin reached into the barrel to try it out, and with a slight twist of her eyebrows, she looked up at Ning Zhiqing, whose face was flushed red, “I’ll be right back.”
This time, Ning Zhiqing waited for a long time, and her patience, as strong as it was, was getting smaller, so she deliriously began to undress. Ah Xin came in with the ice cubes, and she saw Ning Zhiqing was only wearing obscene pants and corset[4]. If a man saw what was happening in front of her, he might not be able to control himself.
Ah Xin threw the ice cubes into the barrel and turned around to help Ning Zhiqing, who was seductive and sultry. Nin Zhiqing tensed, but after she smelled the familiar fragrance, she relaxed her body and allowed herself to be put into the barrel by Ah Xin. For some reason, the faint fragrance actually gave her a sense of peace and stability.
“There’s ice in the water, it’s cold.”
“I’m not afraid of the cold.”
The cold water soaked her body, she shivered at the coldness, and as she sat in the barrel with her arms folded, she felt at peace as never before. She felt pair of gentle hands was wiping the sweat from her face with a handkerchief, so she opened her eyes and said with shivering lips, “Thank you, Noble Lady Lin.”
As the heat gradually faded, Ning Zhiqing looked at Ah Xin, who was boiling medicine on one side, and asked curiously, “Where did you get the ice?”
“I took it from the cellar.” Ah Xin didn’t return, but continued to fan the fire, blowing the fire even more.
‘How did you get it?’
The cellar wasn’t the backyard of the Cold Palace like the Water Hall, and ice is so precious in the palace that every summer, only concubines of high rank were eligible to enjoy it. She was full of doubts, but she did not ask this question again. She took a look at the medicine in the jar and her curiosity came out again.
“Where did you get the medicine?”
“I took it from the Imperial Hospital.”
“It’s already late at night, and there is no one at Imperial Hospital.” Ning Zhiqing muttered inwardly, after all, a Cold Palace’s abandoned concubine, if she went to the Imperial Hospital to get medicine, will they give it? She stared at Ah Xin as if to ask if she was lying to her because she was unable to read and write.
Ah Xin replied, “It’s easy for the talented, but it’s impossible for others.”
Finally, Ning Zhiqing understood after Ah Xin told her that it was taken secretly. She looked at Ah Xin, who was calmly decocting medicine, and wondered why this talented girl had become a thief tonight. It was even crazier than what she, a grassroots general’s daughter, had done. But Noble Lady Lin had no friendship with her, so why did she help her? And taking such a big risk, once she was found out, she would be sentenced to death.
“You…”
Ah Xin walked to the barrel with a pair of clean underwear and asked in a low voice, “Are you feeling hot?”
“It’s comfortable, and not hot.” Ning Zhiqing briefly forgot the question she was about to ask, and that’s when she felt so cold, “I just feel very cold and my body is a bit stiff.”
Ah Xin took a step forward, helped Ning Zhiqing out of the barrel and took a look at her, “Can you change yourself?”
Ning Zhiqing tried to pick up the underwear, but unfortunately her hands were shaking due to cold, and she couldn’t hold on to it at all, so she was a little frustrated, “Sorry, I’ll trouble you, Noble Lady Lin.”
It’s not like Ning Zhiqing has never been waited on by a palace maid to change clothes and bathe. She was a little embarrassed to face the Noble Lady Lin in front of her, and her cheeks turned red. Ah Xin didn’t think too much about it, and quickly pulled off her corset, brought a new one, and draped the corset over her body.
“I’ll do the pants myself…” Ning Zhiqing was really embarrassed, the body warmed up a bit, quickly took the obscene pants, change quickly, she herself didn’t know why she changed so quickly. After she’s finished, her body was wrapped in a layer of bedding, and she heard Ah Xin say, “Go to the couch, I’ll get you some medicine, drink it so you won’t get sick.”
Ning Zhiqing obediently sat on the couch and watched with her beautiful eyes as Ah Xin busied herself with her work, and finally handed her a bowl of hot medicine, “The palace gate is closed, so I can’t find any candied fruit or honey. I don’t know where the licorice root from the Imperial Hospital is kept, but I don’t want you to wait too long to look for it. The medicine is a bit bitter.”
Ning Zhiqing, who was frowning as she drank the bitter medicine, almost spurt it out as she heard this, she didn’t know that Noble Lady Lin had the ability. If the palace gate was open, she probably would really find a plate of candied fruit or honey for her.
She was bewildered, this downtrodden Noble Lady Lin was a bit mysterious. She didn’t know the details of the Lin family, she only knew that the Imperial Teacher had made a mistake and was banished to a poor place and died on his way. She was implicated by the incident, and since she had no idea about it, she was sent to the cold palace, her rank dropped into a Noble Lady.
After drinking the medicine, Ning Zhiqing obediently wrapped herself in the bedding inside, only a head was uncovered. As she remembered what happened before, it made her face pale, hidden under the bedding, her hands clenched into a fist, the nails are about to scratch her palm. As she remembered the news that she had heard at the day she was sent to the cold palace, her eyes turned red and she began to cry.
“What’s wrong?” Ah Xin sat beside her and took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, Ning Zhiqing whimpered, “They said my father was plotting a rebellion, and they said they have found evidence, the emperor has sent an order to bring my father back, if my father comes back, he will definitely die.”
“How could my father plan a rebellion, he was only good at martial arts, can fight a little. In fact, he couldn’t read, he had no greedy heart for power. The reason why I entered the palace was due to Helian Zheng’s decree, father simply can’t bear it, Helian Zheng is the emperor, and we didn’t dare to disobey his decree. Although father is a big old man, but he still understands that his existence scared Helian Zheng, so he ordered him to go guard the frontier, but he didn’t expect…” …That Helian Zheng still had no intention to spare them.
“If father knew that I was sent to the cold palace, and was almost raeped… He would have attacked the palace for me even if he didn’t plot a rebellion, and then it would have confirmed his rebellion. “
“I finally understood why Bai Xi wanted to do this to me, that’s what she wanted to happen,” Ning Zhiqing wiped her tears, “They definitely don’t have absolute proof yet, that’s why they will get it from me, yes, yes, once an accident happens to me, with my father’s big temper. He will never think of any consequences, and will only die as a result of their plots and schemes.”
“But even if I were to see through their schemes, so what? Even if nothing happened to me, they could just as easily spread a false message, and my father would absolutely come back regardless, and there would still be no escape against their schemes.”
“Noble Lady Lin.” Ning Zhiqing suddenly remembered Ah Xin, busy grabbing her hand and looking at her in prayer, “You are a talented girl who is famous all over the capital, can you help me think of a way to keep my father alive? As long as you are willing to help me, I’ll do whatever you need me to do, I am not afraid of staying in the cold palace at all, nor am I afraid of not being full of debts, I just want my father to live.”
Ah Xin wiped the tears from Ning Zhiqing’s cheeks and helped her to the couch, “I’ll help you.”
“What conditions does Noble Lady Lin want?”
“From now on, listen to me and do whatever I say.”
Ning Zhiqing hesitated before she agreed, “Okay.”
“Now, you need to get some sleep.”
Ning Zhiqing wanted to ask what she would need to do to help her father escape, but looking at Noble Lady Lin’s calm appearance, she retracted her head into the futon, perhaps she was too tired, and fell asleep after just a few moments.
Ah Xin, put on a thicker clothes and sat beside her. As she was looking at the sleeping Ning Zhiqing, a faint mass of light appeared in front of her, and she asked it, “I want your body. In exchange, you ask me any requests, I’ll fulfil it.”
“I have two requests, first, help my father to clear his name, and second, make Helian Zheng and Bai Xi’s didn’t want to live, they can’t be allowed to die, they must live in more pain and suffering, experiencing live worse than death.”
“I agree.”
The body’s name was Lin Xin, and its identity was the daughter of a former Imperial Teacher. He was accused of embezzling relief grain, the disaster worsened, and Helian Zheng, remembering his past, confiscated the Lin family’s wealth and sentenced him to banishment in the disaster-stricken area.
Imperial Teacher Lin was a man of talent and integrity, but he was framed for corruption. Lin Xin was implicated in this incident and was thrown into the cold palace. She was very clever, and even though she was in the cold palace, she gradually figured out that there was an injustice in the case of Imperial Teacher Lin, and finally found out that the person who framed Imperial Teacher Lin is Bai Xi, and that this was also Helian Zheng’s doing.
She wanted to find out more, but as an abandoned concubine in the cold palace, she couldn’t do it, her talents were useless in this palace and she would be better off with silver. She wouldn’t have the chance to politically rehabilitate Imperial Teacher’s name, and would gladly exchange her body to Ah Xin.
Bai Xi is the heroine of the world and Helian Zheng is the male lead.
There was a twist to this world, Bai Xi is a reborn woman, and after her rebirth, she is bound by a system called the Pampered Consort System, which as the name suggests, wants Bai Xi to take the path to be the pampered consort.
In her previous life, Bai Xi was a concubine, but she was only a Noble Lady before her death. She waited six month before she was blessed by the Emperor.[5] Fortunately, she was blessed with a son overnight, but this led to the hatred of countless palace concubines. She was a low-born, low status concubine, and her survival in the harem was like a bamboo raft floating in the sea, and she couldn’t survive.
She was reborn and met Helian Zheng early with the help of the pampered consort system and became the cusp of Helian Zheng’s heart. She didn’t stop Helian Zheng from having concubines because she wanted those concubines the feeling of being widowed for the rest of their lives.
She didn’t know who killed her in her previous life, so she put the blame on all the imperial consorts. She started with setting up up the death of Helian Zheng’s main wife, the Empress Meng, and then she made the Imperial Teacher Lin’s daughter, Lin Xin, sent to the cold palace.
She remembered that when she had been framed that she had an affair with a guard in her previous life, Noble Consort Ning Zhiqing said, “How can a concubine have an affair with someone else and do something that wasn’t allowed in the palace?” Bai Xi held a grudge and wanted Ning Zhiqing to taste the pain in this life as well. Bai Xi had never thought that her plan would fail now.
Ah Xin opened her eyes and murmured, “Pampered Consort System, the hell is that thing?”
Hong Yan was one of Bai Xi’s place maids, specializing in helping her filthy affairs. Hong Yan was drunk after being filled with wine by Ah Xin, and she was exhausted from tangling with two men until dawn.
When she woke up, she felt something wrong around her, and opened her eyes to find many people looking at her.
“Hong Yan, how dare you!”
She was completely exposed to the eunuchs and maids around her, and Eunuch Yu was berating her.
Bai Xi who was held in Helian Zheng’s arms, was covering her eyes.
“Consort Xi, this maid servant is wrongly framed.”
“Your Majesty, the truth isn’t what you see.”
Bai Xi frowned with an unseen frown, [System, do you know what’s going on? Hong Yan has always worked steadily, and this time she is just going to deal with a Ning Zhiqing, how could she make a mistake?]
【Host, I didn’t find anything unusual, maybe it was Hong Yan’s own mistake.]
Bai Shi swept over to Ning Zhiqing and asked, 【Is there anything wrong in Ning Zhiqing?]
[Hosts can rest assured that there is no abnormality in Ning Zhiqing’s soul and won’t be in the same situation as the hosts].
Bai Xi sighed in relief. This is good, perhaps it was Hong Yan’s own mistake, she didn’t believe that Ning Zhiqing, a flat chest illiterate woman, could escape from Hong Yan’s design. The two men lying on the ground looked strong, and even if they don’t use drugs, they were strong, and Ning Zhiqing can’t escape. Maybe it was this girl, Hong Yan, who had a slutty heart and after she saw these two men, she wanted to have fun first. Her willow brows knitted slightly, ‘What a useless person;’
Hong Yan knew Bai Xi’s facial expression well, and when she saw her frown, she knew that the other party was about to give up on her, so she hurriedly shouted, “Your Highness Consort Xi, maid servant is really wronged, maid servant is framed by Noble Lady Lin.”
“Noble Lady Lin?” Bai Xi was surprised.
The shocked and furious Helian Zheng couldn’t help but ask, “Who is this Noble Lady Lin?”
Hong Yan thought she had a chance to prove her innocence, but she was busy looking for her in the crowd and finally saw where Ah Xin was. She shouted excitedly, “It’s her, Noble Lady Lin, Lin Xin.”
Everyone looked at Ah Xin’s body as she came out of the crowd, a weak body, thin cheeks, and a wrist that wasn’t as thick as a man’s. How could she frame Hong Yan?
Ning Zhiqing was nervous as she watched Hong Yan pulling Ah Xin into the muddy water, and subconsciously wanted to open her mouth. Ah Xin glanced at Hong Yan on the ground, and then looked at Bai Xi.
‘Is that the system’s sounds?’
“This sinful concubine doesn’t know this palace maid.”[6]
“You’re lying!”
Hong Yan jumped up and was about to hit someone. But the small corset on her body couldn’t cover her body at all. In a flash, it slipped and the two white flesh of her body was fully shown. She was so ashamed that she hastily squatted down to cover them up, “Noble Lady Lin, aren’t you afraid that after framing this maidservant, a ghost will knock on your door in the middle of the night to seek your life?”
“Which ghost?”
“Are you, are you inhuman?” [7]
Ah Xin asked calmly with a pale and emotionless face. No one suspected that she would frame Hong Yan, who had no grudge against her. Since she had been living in the cold palace, she had always looked like this, always speaking in the same tone, sometimes in a gloomy way, wearing clothes that were almost white from washing, and there were rumors that she liked to wash her clothes at night by the well, which scared the cold palace concubines half to death when they came out to cool off in the summer.
Everyone in the palace knows that a concubine who lived in the cold palace will have all kinds of abnormalities in her head within half a year, and if she lives in the cold palace for three years, she will go crazy. They subconsciously looked at the other side of the palace, the concubines in the cold palace, who had dishevelled hair,[8] and some had her fine black hair turned white, but were still looking at Helian Zheng with a shy expression. Not all of them were Helian Zheng’s concubines, many of them were from the previous emperor, and all of them were abnormal.
When they saw a man, they greeted him and kneeled down, shouting, “Concubine has met the emperor.”
“Your Majesty, you have finally come to see your concubine.”
“The concubine has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Once they noticed the visitor wasn’t the emperor, they would turn pale and change their previous delicate and soft posture into a strong concubine, “How bold, impersonating the emperor, someone, pull out and cane him.”
They won’t wait for a reaction, they will immediately squat on the ground and roll, whimpering and crying, being miserable. No one was pitying this, and those who were in the cold palace were used to it.
“Your Majesty, I didn’t think that this girl Hong Yan would make such a big mistake.” Bai Xi took her handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes, “As a concubine, I didn’t dare to shield her, Your Majesty, please deal with it, lest it bring bad influence to the harem. I feel guilty that I couldn’t control the people under my hands.”
Bai Xi knew, if she were to protect Hong Yan, it would definitely affect her status in Helian Zheng’s mind. Helian Zheng thought that Hong Yan was his loyal person, but in reality, he didn’t know that she had already used the system-produced loyalty talisman. Because of this Hong Yan, she was able to know exactly what Helian Zheng’s movements were.
If he wanted to get rid of someone, she will help him. Hong Yan is obviously helping Herman Zheng, but she was actually doing what she wanted. For example, this time, it was Helian Zheng who asked Hong Yan to find a man and lock him up with Ning Zhiqing, not to touch Ning Zhiqing. After all, Ning Zhiqing is his nominal consort, he can’t really wear a green hat.[9]
Hong Yan was loyal to her, and that’s why she followed her instructions to use the medicine on Ning Zhiqing, and found two strong men. She didn’t want to give up such a useful chess piece as Hong Yan, the loyalty talisman isn’t easy to get, but if Hong Yan ruins Helian Zheng’s life, she won’t be able to live, so why would she give Helian Zheng a hard time?
In front of Helian Zheng, she will always be the most understanding, the most understanding and the cleanest concubine in his heart. She didn’t need to do anything, just accept his protection. Even if Helian Zheng likes her, he is still a very suspicious man and does not like to go beyond control. She will grasp the situation and when her future son takes the throne, she will simmer down and because she had the pampered concubines system and will certainly outlive Helian Zheng.
Heloan Zheng heard Bai Xi’s words, really satisfied, embraced her in his arms, “Xi’er, this Hongyan really can’t stay.”
“Yes, this concubine understands.”
Helian Zheng also said, “I will personally choose another maidservant for Xi’er.”
Helian Zheng raised his voice, “Someone, drag her away and beat her to death.”
“Your Majesty, spare my life!”
Hong Yan, due to the loyalty talisman, simply couldn’t say bad words about Bai Xi, even if her heart again dissatisfied, she had no way to express it, shouting, the small eunuch smacked her mouth with a shoes, before the shoe was used to gag the mouth, it was hard to drag her, her dragging marks was all over the place, there was a long blood trail.
The screams came from the outside, and soon, it gradually got lower and lower, and the eunuchs came in to report that she was gone.
In the end, Helian Zheng frowned at Ning Zhiqing, he was unhappy with the Hong Yan’s inability to do things, ignored Ning Zhiqing, and leading Bai Xi away.
Ning Zhiqing was relieved, her heart was still beating wildly as she looked at the long bloody trail. Last night, if it hadn’t been for Noble Lady Lin’s help, she would have been the one to walk out this bloody path today. Thinking of that scene made her legs go weak and she was about to fall to the ground when a thin palm held her up and sat her down.
“Noble Lady Lin, what should I do?” Helian Zheng is the emperor, what should she do to keep her father and her alive?
Ah Xin leaned close to Ning Zhiqing, stroked her unruly hair, and whisperee into her ear, “Do you want to be a Female Emperor?”[10]
Ning Zhiqing thought she had misheard, and became so frightened that she stood up in a hurry to make sure she hadn’t misheard, and she shook her head, “I can’t read nor write, and I don’t know how to handle government affairs. Noble Lady Lin shouldn’t make a joke.”
Ah Xin looked at Ning Zhiqing’s apprehensive appearance, and finally had a small smile and whispered in her ear, “Being an Emperor is indeed really tiring, you can just rule behind the curtains.”[11]
“Politics, I’ll teach you how to handle it.”
‘Wh-what?’ Ning Zhiqing was dumbfounded, ‘Me, controlling the government?’ She touched her stomach, ‘I have no son, right!?’