20 - Consort De

Chapter 20 – Consort De

Si Liujing wants her to be his Wangfei ?

His tone was firm without any hesitation and she was dumbfounded.

What he said did not sound like he was joking at all and it sounded more like an order that could not be disobeyed.

Does he want her to be his wife and Wangfei ?

“I want you to be in charge of the rear courtyard. When I am away, you have to manage the royal mansion and let me be free from worries.”

“The position of Wangfei comes with powers in the imperial court and the status of Wangye is noble. Although the noble ladies of prominent families may not be many, I would never have the privilege to become a Wangfei. What capabilities do I have?”

“Who I marry will depend on me and if I don’t marry, no one can force me. Besides, I don’t covet the position of the Crown Prince, so I don’t need to marry a powerful noblewoman as my wife.”

“A Wangfei ‘s position is of noble status and it has always been held by noble daughters of royal families or noble families with prominent backgrounds. My family background is very obvious, so how can I ascend to this position?”

“That is the reason why I arranged for your father to enter the Ministry of Appointments. He is in charge of appointments, promotions, demotions, and evaluation of officials, so who dares to offend him? Besides, the Minister of Appointments, Lord Li, is one of my people, and I have given him instructions to help your father establish contacts. Therefore, you have to work hard to climb up for me.”

“In the past dynasties, there has never been a case of a Wangye who lifted the rank of his concubine to that of a Wangfei . Isn’t this a disparity with the system?”

“Who said there is a disparity? The system did not stipulate this just because no one had ever done it. After you have given birth to my first son, it will be regarded as you have done a meritorious deed for the royal family. At that time, I will take the opportunity to submit a request for you to be lifted to the rank of Wangfei .”

“Huh? It’s alright for you to devise plans on me, but you also want to devise plans on my son?”

“What do you mean your son? That’s our son!”

“Huh, that’s a beautiful thought. Perhaps, the other sisters have already secretly conceived your flesh and blood.”

“Impossible.”

“Why?”

“If I don’t allow it, they won’t be able to conceive. Even if they played tricks and avoided drinking the contraceptive soup, it will still be useless. I have other ways to stop it.”

“Uh, what other ways? Can it be there is another contraceptive method that can be done on men?”

“You don’t need to know about those kinds of insidious methods. What you should do now is to serve your man properly and you’d better take it seriously!”

While they were talking about this, Si Liujing was making love to her. Usually at this time, which woman would not take this opportunity to please her man? Who is like her, persistently asking questions and at the same time, pouting in protest!

“Who said I’m not serious? It’s because I am very serious that I asked questions to have a better understanding.”

Numerous noble ladies of the royal families and noble families in the imperial city are fighting for a chance to climb up to the position of Wangfei in the Ling Wang Mansion. So of course, she must first weigh herself and ask questions to understand the situation better. She needs to find out how much bargaining chips she holds, otherwise, her heart would be filled with uncertainties!

“Shut up! If you’re not taking this seriously, don’t even harbor the thought of sleeping tonight!”

“Alright! Alright! My Wangye , please be gentler, your concubine is dying……”

Her tender voice sounded coquettish and she started to seriously turn on her foxy charm to moan delicately in his ear.

Even knowing she did it on purpose, Si Liujing still bought her trick and it turned out to be really effective. His lust grew stronger and replacing words with actions, he completely ate her from head to toe.

***☆☆☆***

The following several days, Si Liujing spent the nights in her bedchamber and she served him in bed. In her heart, she understood that he was giving her full support.

In fact, it would be a lie if she says that the position of Wangfei is not tempting. This is an opportunity for her to be his wife, be able to share the same bed with him when alive, and be buried in the same grave with him when dead. A hundred years later, the only person qualified to accompany him and be buried with him would only be his Wangfei .

He said he wanted her to be his Wangfei and it represented his affection and promise. For his love, she could not shrink and must try her best to move forward.

So from today onwards, she would become busier, and also if she becomes the Wangfei , wouldn’t it be easier for her to sneak out of the mansion?

To stand upright in the world, a man needs to do meritorious deeds and similarly, although she is a woman, she also has the ambition of a man. She aspires to work as a secret constable without seeking fame and it is only for the reason she can stand upright in the world.

However, she had not informed Si Liujing about her job as a secret constable and she was also reluctant to tell him as she was afraid he would force her to stop working. Because she is a constable, she understood the world is very big, therefore, she could look upon the women residing in the inner courtyards with calmness.

So she should be allowed to keep this little secret of hers!

She also understood the reason why Si Liujing promoted her up the ranks. It was just to give her more power and since her position was not lower than that of Lan Shufei , she could compete with Lan Shufei on equal footing.

"

"

Therefore, the first thing she has to do now is to take control of the rear courtyard.

***☆☆☆***

Just as Bai Yuxiao expected, not long after becoming a Shufei , she became the opponent of Lan Shufei .

The internal affairs of the inner courtyards were still in the hands of Lan Shufei who entered the royal mansion a year earlier than her. All the while, Lan Shufei was in charge of the inner courtyards and many of the servants in the mansion were her people.

On the surface, Lan Shufei appeared to be on amicable terms with her as sisters but had started to put restraints on her in secret.

For example, in the past, she only had two personal maids, Zhaolu and Shuang’er, as well as a few mamas and young maidservants to serve her. But now there is an increase in the number of servants in her courtyard and Lan Shufei had planted a lot of spies among the mamas and maidservants.

As a secret constable, Bai Yuxiao is also considered a spy in her line of work.

Now, the only reliable people around her are Zhaolu and Shuang’er which is not enough but in this short period of time, she is unable to train her own people.

She could not just rely on Si Liujing to gain the power of managing the inner courtyards. When he made an exception and promoted her up the ranks, it had already caused dissatisfaction among the people. Since she has just been promoted and if he immediately transferred the power of managing the inner courtyards to her, it was equivalent to slapping Lan Shufei ’s face, and slapping her face was the same as slapping the face of Lan Shufei ’s family.

Lan Shufei is the second daughter of the Duke of Zhen Guo and she is also a distant cousin of Si Liujing.

The reason he wanted Bai Yuxiao to take control of the inner courtyards was to balance the power of all the parties. She could not drag him down and so to restrain Lan Shufei , she could only find another way.

However, Lan Shufei was not considered as the most troublesome. The first problem she encountered and the most troublesome was the decree she received from the palace – – Consort De summoned for her to enter the palace.

Consort De is Si Liujing’s biological mother.

Her son had never favored any woman before and now he had requested the Emperor to promote a Liangdi to the position of a Shufei . Naturally, as his mother, she wanted to have a look at the concubine to see what kind of woman could charm her son.

Before entering the palace, Bai Yuxiao especially bathed and cleansed her body.

It was the first time she was meeting her mother-in-law. What to wear and how to dress up is knowledge that had to be learned. If one is dressed too elegantly, it would be considered as too inappropriate and if one is dressed too gorgeously, it would also be considered as too enticing. Therefore, a gentle and solemn image is the most suitable.

When she was ready, she took Shuang’er with her and sat in the sedan chair sent from the imperial palace.

After entering the imperial palace, the sedan chair was carried directly to the inner palace where Consort De was staying. After Bai Yuxiao and Shuang’er got off the sedan chair, they followed the palace maid inside. Just before entering through the door, Shuang’er was left outside and Bai Yuxiao entered the Consort De’s palace alone.

“This concubine greets Consort De. May Niangniang be blessed with peace and prosperity.” Bai Yuxiao knelt and bowed to offer her greetings.

With her head bowed, she waited for Consort De to give her permission to stand up but did not hear any command from Consort De for a long time. She could occasionally hear the sounds of the teacup’s lid knocking against the rim of the cup which obviously showed that the superior person is leisurely enjoying her tea and had no intention of giving her permission to rise.

It seems the Consort De is angry with her and summoning her to enter the palace is just to punish her.

Bai Yuxiao knew that although the palace looks gorgeous, it is actually a place where people are devoured without leaving behind any bones. If the superior person wants to mete out punishment, there are many methods to do it. No matter how highly skilled in martial arts one is, one still has to lower his head in the face of the other person’s superiority in power and status.

It looked like Consort De had the intention to keep her kneeling there.

Bai Yuxiao has a martial arts foundation so she is not afraid to kneel. However, she is only concerned about Consort De’s attitude as it would be bothersome if her mother-in-law keeps summoning her to the palace every now and then.

Suddenly, she had an idea and raised her head to look directly at Consort De.

“Audacious!” The momo beside Consort De shouted. “ Niangniang didn’t tell you to look up, you dare to take the initiative to lift your head? Do you think that you, this slave, can look at Niangniang’ s face?!”

In their eyes, even if she has been promoted to the position of Shufei , she is still a concubine with a status that is only a little higher than a maidservant.

Consort De ordered coldly. “Go over and slap her mouth.”

After Qin Momo was given the order, she was stepped forward and raised her hand. She was about to slap her when Bai Yuxiao held up her clasped hands without a trace of panic and said. “ Niangniang , don’t be angry. This subordinate has something to report.”

She did not refer to herself as ‘slave’ but ‘subordinate’, taking the initiative to turn the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law into a relationship between a master and subordinate.

There is a difference between a subordinate and a servant. A servant is a slave but a subordinate is a subject. It is very different.

As soon as Bai Yuxiao spoke, Consort De was stunned. She had lived in the palace for many years and she had seen all kinds of people in the palace. Everyone in every status carries an individual aura on his body. When this Shui Shufei spoke, Consort De immediately felt a different aura exuding from her. It was not the aura of a wife, concubine, or slave but the aura of a courtier.

“Wait!” Consort De gave an order and Qin Momo’s raised her hand that was about to swing downwards stopped moving. She looked doubtfully at her master and saw her master waved her hand. Then she immediately retreated to the side.

Consort De looked at the woman in front of her and saw that although she was respectful, her attitude was neither humble nor overbearing. Even when she heard she was about to be slapped, she did not even show any panic.

Besides, she mentioned she had something to report which aroused her curiosity…….. Never mind, she just wanted to see what kind of tricks this woman is going to play. If this woman fails, then do not blame her for being merciless! She would give orders for this woman’s face to be struck leaving behind injuries and she wants to see how this woman can continue to seduce her son!

“Speak! What do you have to tell me?!” With a proud expression, Consort De leaned back and changed to a lazy posture.

Bai Yuxiao said firmly. “The report of this subordinate is confidential. Niangniang , please order everyone to withdraw.”

“Audacious! Do you know what place this is? Do you have the right to request for anything?” Qin Momo scolded.

Bai Yuxiao turned her head to give Qin Momo a cold stare and said solemnly. “This subordinate is only loyal to the Wangye and this matter concerns the Wangye . Can you bear the responsibility?”

Her words made Qin Momo choked and at the same time, she received Bai Yuxiao’s fierce stare. Qin Momo felt an invisible pressure on her and she could not help but retreat a step back.

Bai Yuxiao turned her head around and said respectfully to Consort De. “ Niangniang, please consider. After Niangniang had listened to this subordinate’s report, Niangniang can decide who should know about this matter and who shouldn’t know.”

Consort De’s interest was completely aroused by what she said and she could feel the aura this woman exuded. After staying in the palace for such a long time, she had never seen any other concubine with this kind of aura. This woman seemed to be vastly different from the spoilt women living in the inner courtyards.

Because of her courage, Consort De decided to listen to her first.

“Everyone withdraw.” Consort De ordered and waited until all the palace maids and eunuchs had left the palace. After confirming that the walls have no ears, Consort De said. “Speak, what do you want to report?” She let Bai Yuxiao continue to kneel and had no intention to let her get up.

However, Bai Yuxiao did not feel annoyed and she said respectfully and cautiously. “Reporting to Niangniang , this subordinate is an undercover agent placed inside the royal mansion by the Wangye .”

Consort De was startled. “Undercover agent? What do you mean?”

“When Wangye was attacked the last time, he suspected that there is a traitor beside him.”

Consort De was shocked.

"

"

When her Jing’er* went missing for a month the last time, she cried so grievously that she fell ill and was bedridden. It was until her son returned safely that her health improved. It was heard that the situation was extremely dangerous and her son escaped from death. She did not know how many times she had thanked God and she still has lingering fears whenever she thought of it.

(Consort De referred to Si Liujing as Jing’er, an intimate way of calling her son.)

“Rise and come over here to speak.” She ordered.

“Yes.” Bai Yuxiao immediately stood up and walked over. Then she whispered a rough outline of the matter to Consort De.

The contents were about how she hid the Wangye to heal his wounds for a month and how they escaped and avoided the enemy’s pursuit. After returning to the mansion, the Wangye had asked her to secretly monitor the situation and hold the fort for him. However, if she is to help him, her status could not be too low and thus, using the excuse that she is a favored concubine, she was promoted to the position of Shufei .

All these were experienced by her, so she said it with seriousness to gain the trust of Consort De. In actual fact, she did not deceive Consort De. It was just a different way of telling Consort De about this matter to convince her. She must make Consort De her support and not an opponent in a palace struggle.

In addition, Bai Yuxiao is a secret constable, so her knowledge is naturally higher than any of the women in the rear courtyard. Everything she analyzed was from the perspective of the Wangye and for his benefit. Si Liujing is Consort De’s only son and naturally, she would always think for her son.

If someone stands on her son’s side and carries out tasks for him, that person would be her ally and not an enemy.