Chapter 260

“The Empress Dowager has to do nothing at all. Why wouldn’t she be pleased?”

The Empress retorted, a leisurely smile on her face. “In the first half of my life, I treated the Six Palace Concubines generously and was never unjust to anyone for personal reasons. I was devoted and dutiful. When the court criticized me, it was only for being childless. If that day truly comes, he will surely provide for me in honor until my old age.”

‘It’s just that the Chu Family will likely lose its glory and have to rely on itself.’

‘If the emperor isn’t my biological son, he naturally won’t feel close to my maternal clan or extend his protection to my family.’

“The other day, my mother came to the palace and said many heartfelt things to me. She told me I don’t need to be so tense and always consider my family. I thought about it and realized she’s right. In any case, I have no hope of bearing another legitimate heir. It’s better for me to be alive than gone. At least there will still be someone in the palace who’s breathing and has a say.”

It was as if, having been suppressed for too long, she had to let loose twice as much after casting off her burdens.

A frail, sickly woman is often said to have the delicate beauty of a weeping willow in the wind, but the Empress was different. She had a lovely face; when healthy, she was the picture of noble grace, but illness had hollowed her cheeks, and her suffering was plain to see. “From the moment I first saw you, I’ve been so envious of you.”

“Envious of me?”

Jiang Xian was bewildered.

‘Although I’m the daughter of an official family—which in modern times is at least like being a deputy county magistrate’s daughter—that’s nothing compared to the Empress.’ She couldn’t help but blurt out, “Logically, I should be the one envying you, Your Ladyship. You were born with everything… Surely Your Ladyship can’t be envious that I’ve received the Emperor’s favor!”

[Flaunting Holy Favor to the Empress, Palace Fighting Points +100]

…

‘No, that wasn’t what I meant.’

The Empress said, “No, it’s not that.”

The Empress continued, “The Holy Favor, to me, is icing on the cake… No, perhaps it’s more of an extra burden. I’ve observed passion and love in storybooks and plays, and it seems so time-consuming and exhausting. I’m already drained from managing palace affairs and social obligations both inside and outside the palace. If I also had to… with the Emperor…” She imagined it for a moment, then shook her head. “It is enough that the Emperor respects me.”

The Empress thought Jiang Xian would object to her words.

After all, when it came to which of the Six Palace Concubines had won the Emperor’s heart, even someone as stubborn as Lu Ronghua would have to admit it was Lady Shufei.

But unexpectedly, Jiang Xian strongly agreed. “My thoughts align perfectly with Your Ladyship’s.”

‘People dedicated to their careers say love is merely an embellishment to life.’

‘But in reality, managing a relationship well requires no less mental energy than a full-time job. If you took the effort used to write heartfelt love notes and applied it to drafting proposals, treated clients like the object of your affection, and channeled the anxiety of “Does he love me? Does he love my body or my soul?” into nitpicking a project… how could you fail to achieve great things?’

“I envy your boundless energy. If you were me, you would surely have managed Chu Siyun’s life much better.” The Empress’s smile held a hint of melancholy. “All these years, I haven’t dared to relax for a moment. I’ve had to use all my strength just to keep my position secure, to let everyone under heaven know that a daughter of the Chu Family is worthy of the empress’s throne, that I haven’t failed the upbringing the Chu Family gave me.”

A woman’s given name is both precious and yet ignored by all.

Everyone knew her as the Empress; no one remembered her name was Chu Siyun.

The Empress stared blankly at Jiang Xian’s face—at her fair, full cheeks and her vibrant eyes. “I don’t envy your beauty. I envy how you enjoy being busy with everything, while I just want to escape.” Her breathing grew ragged. “I can’t do it. I don’t like any of this. I want to say, ‘If you all like it so much, just take it,’ but I can’t.”

Since there were no other Palace Attendants nearby, Jiang Xian quickly rose and gently patted her back to help soothe her breathing.

The Empress’s shoulders were frail; Jiang Xian, whose hands were not large to begin with, could cup a shoulder in her palm. It felt like a fragile butterfly trembling in her hand, ready to shatter at any moment. The two of them were like opposite ends of a spectrum, the extremely rich and the extremely poor. The Empress had everything from the moment she was born, a wide, open road laid out before her. Yet all she wanted was to lie down at the starting line, but countless warm hands had lifted her and carried her all the way to Rome.

Jiang Xian, on the other hand, was born on the edge of a deep pit, with no one to pull her up…

No, there were even many people at the bottom of the pit trying to drag her down.

The fact that the Empress could see her today, could speak with her as a near-equal, was all thanks to her own constant vigilance and careful judgment of every situation. Jiang Xian felt a bit wistful, but not self-pitying. She said in a gentle voice, “I’ll take care of everything. Your Ladyship has worked hard for most of your life. You really should take a rest.”

‘Even the most honored person, without their entourage of followers, is still a mortal being of flesh and blood who gets hungry and tired.’

‘So this is what a pampered young lady, who has never been held back by her birth or tormented by the need for food and warmth, thinks like.’

“I don’t care what you’re really thinking. I just love to hear that,” the Empress said with a laugh.

“I am someone who works for Your Ladyship. Naturally, I must say what Your Ladyship loves to hear.”

The Empress caught her breath, then lifted her limpid autumn-water eyes to look at her. “And you? What is it that you want?”

“…”

‘Why do the Emperor and Empress both love asking me this kind of question!’

Seeing Jiang Xian frown, the Empress clapped her hands and laughed. “So there are times when even the Pure Consort is at a loss for words!”

‘This pampered young lady was no naive simpleton. She had long since honed her discerning eyes at countless gatherings of clever minds and cunning hearts. I’ve underestimated her. There’s no one in the palace who is easy to fool—except for Chen Guiren, who can be pleased for a long time with a single plate of crystal pork knuckle.’

“I am content just to have things to do. Beyond that, I have no other desires.”

“To think there’s someone as peculiar as you in this world. The one thing I long for is to have nothing to do.”

Jiang Xian was taken aback. “As long as I’m useful, I have value and a sense of security,” she said.

The Empress found this incomprehensible. For all these years, she had seen how well the Emperor treated the Pure Consort—well enough to spoil her into a generation’s most favored concubine. And yet, the Pure Consort remained relentlessly ambitious, never daring to relax… ‘Ah, well,’ the Empress thought, ‘how could I, a mere bystander, understand the relationship between a man and a woman? The Emperor is probably not as good to her as he appears, which is why the Pure Consort is forced to tread on thin ice.’

At this thought, the Empress couldn’t help but feel a surge of dissatisfaction toward the Emperor.

Jiang Xian had no idea that the Empress had interpreted her anxiety into a ten-thousand-word tragic romance, with Xie Che once again cast in the role of a heartless scoundrel. The Empress, meanwhile, was consoling her new “little sister.” “It was I who suggested to the Emperor that you perform the Silkworm-Rearing Ceremony in my stead, with the full regalia of an Imperial Concubine. You have my backing. There is nothing to be afraid of.”

Jiang Xian had already guessed as much. The Emperor was always methodical and tried to consider all angles. If the Empress hadn’t insisted, he would never have done something that could undermine the Empress’s prestige.

Nevertheless, she still played along, pretending not to know. “The regalia of an Imperial Concubine… how could I be worthy? So the reason the Emperor wouldn’t retract his decree was because of you, Your Ladyship. You flatter me too much.”

“There are too many sly servants who treat people according to their status. If your rank isn’t high enough, you won’t be able to keep them in line.”

The Empress squeezed her hand.

The slender hand covering hers was surprisingly strong.

‘This time, someone else was pulling me up again.’