After a brief bout of anxiety, Yu Miaohua decided not to dwell on the matter any longer. After all, the Empress Dowager had yet to return to the palace, and overthinking wouldn’t change the current situation.
She had already endured life in the cold palace—what was the worst that could happen? She could always go back to growing vegetables there.
Oh, right. She still had the Champa rice. Once it was successfully cultivated, even the Empress Dowager would think twice before trying to control her.
With this reassurance, Yu Miaohua cheered herself up and happily resumed watching dramas through her system. There was no point in wallowing in misery over something that hadn’t even happened yet. What if nothing came of it in the end? Wouldn’t all that gloom have been for nothing?
She made no effort to inquire about the affairs of the Jade Blossom Palace, pretending to know nothing. After all, she had only learned of the news through her system.
For her, cotton seeds were the top priority now. She decided to stick with her previous method.
The brilliant "Tongtongzi" would make a grand return! With the successful precedents of white sugar and rock sugar, the emperor would surely not ignore Tongtongzi’s works this time.
Last time, Yu Miaohua hadn’t boldly written the name on the cover. Instead, she had cleverly hidden the recipe for rock sugar within a miscellaneous book—a collection of essays by various authors. This subtle arrangement had led scholars to believe that Yu Miaohua truly had the favor of destiny. After all, the second time, she had randomly picked a book from another shelf without even glancing at it beforehand.
So, she discussed it with her palace intrigue system.
"Tongtong, this time, manipulate things behind the scenes like before. Embed the articles and maps about cotton in other books, and we’ll borrow them again."
As for the cotton seeds, they were no longer necessary. The emperor could simply send people to transplant them from their native region.
Yu Miaohua had checked the map and discovered that cotton grew in the Half-Moon Country, which maintained an ambiguous relationship with Great Qi. The transplantation process might take some time.
The palace intrigue system was thrilled.
While white sugar and rock sugar had brought considerable profits to the imperial treasury, their importance paled in comparison to cotton.
Tongtongzi was one step closer to etching its name in history!
Thus, the system worked with unparalleled enthusiasm. The map detailing cotton cultivation was exquisitely drawn, and the cotton plants were rendered with lifelike precision, starkly different from the traditional impressionistic style.
"Should we leave it in the library again?"
After a moment’s thought, Yu Miaohua changed her mind.
"This time, let’s target the Virtue Pavilion."
Time to wreak havoc somewhere new.
Rumor had it that the Hanlin scholars were at their wits’ end with the antics of the imperial consorts. Some even criticized them for being useless, sitting atop a treasure trove yet achieving nothing, wasting their salaries.
Yu Miaohua almost felt guilty hearing that.
The Virtue Pavilion was the imperial library, accessible only to members of the royal family and housing around eighty thousand volumes. Given her current favor, borrowing books would be effortless.
Just as she had anticipated, Emperor Pei Lingyue paid close attention to Yu Miaohua’s every move. The moment she mentioned visiting the Virtue Pavilion, he granted her a token and even sent a eunuch to escort her personally.
Watching Yu Miaohua depart, Pei Lingyue’s mood lifted.
Surely, Lady Yu is borrowing books about cotton this time?
...
As the current rising star among the imperial consorts, Yu Miaohua’s every action was under scrutiny. Since she made no effort to conceal her movements, it wasn’t long before the other consorts learned she had switched to borrowing books from the Virtue Pavilion.
"Why is Lady Yu going to the Virtue Pavilion now?"
"Without the emperor’s personal permission, who has the right to borrow books from the Virtue Pavilion?"
If they had imperial princes or princesses, they could have their children borrow books for them. But those who already had royal offspring had secured their futures—why would they need to resort to desperate measures to win favor?
Moreover, using imperial children to curry favor would only invite the emperor and empress’s disdain.
Perhaps they should just give up? They couldn’t possibly wait until Lady Yu borrowed yet another useful book and then shamelessly beg the emperor for tokens, could they? The emperor wasn’t as accommodating as the empress—he would never agree.
After days of frantically borrowing books with no results, they looked like nothing more than clowns in a farce compared to Lady Yu, who had struck gold twice in just two attempts.
Most consorts gave up, but Lady Gu, the Honored Consort, refused to concede.
When she heard Yu Miaohua had gone to the Virtue Pavilion, she actually felt relieved.
In her view, the Virtue Pavilion’s books were meticulously organized by specialists—there was no way any valuable texts had slipped through the cracks. Yu Miaohua wouldn’t stumble upon another book to bolster her achievements.
She had to redouble her efforts. These past few days, she had even enlisted literate palace maids to help scour the books—otherwise, she’d never finish alone.
Rubbing her sore, bloodshot eyes—exhausted from prolonged reading—she considered asking the empress for more literate maids.
Just then, her confidante Shuiming rushed in, her face pale and her steps unsteady. She dropped to her knees before Lady Gu, her voice trembling with tears.
"My lady, disaster has struck! The Duke’s estate has been raided. The Duke has been thrown into the imperial prison and sentenced to execution in the autumn!"
Shuiming had overheard guards discussing the matter while placing an order at the imperial kitchens, and the news had nearly scared her soul out of her body.
She knew full well that her mistress’s dominance in the rear palace, despite lacking the emperor’s favor, relied entirely on her status as the emperor’s cousin.
But if the emperor showed no mercy—raiding the estate and even sentencing the Duke to death—then there was no kinship left to speak of.
At this realization, Shuiming couldn’t hold back her sobs. The Gu family was finished, and so was the Jade Blossom Palace.
A deafening roar filled Gu Shishi’s ears. Her eyes burned as she glared at Shuiming, her hand lashing out in a vicious slap. Her long nails raked across Shuiming’s face, leaving a deep, bloody gash on her fair skin.
"You wretched slave! How dare you curse my father!"
Gu Shishi’s subconscious refused to accept the truth. Her father was the emperor’s uncle—how could His Majesty be so cruel?
No, it was all lies! This vile maid must have turned traitor, deliberately spouting nonsense to upset her.
"Guards! Drag this wretch out and beat her to death!"
Blinded by rage and the terror lurking beneath, Gu Shishi had lost all rationality.
Shuiming clutched her bleeding face, tears streaming as the salt stung her wound. Desperate, she cried out, "This servant wouldn’t dare deceive you, my lady! The Second Master denounced the Duke in court today! The Duke was taken away right after the morning audience!"
The Second Master?
Her uncle?
Gu Shishi’s eyes blazed with hatred. Her uncle must have resented the main family’s prestige and deliberately slandered her father!
No—she had to see the emperor!
Gu Shishi bolted from the hall, only to trip over the threshold and crash to the ground, her hairpins scattering. Ignoring the pain in her palms and her disheveled state, she scrambled up, consumed by one thought: she must beg the emperor for mercy.
She didn’t know what the emperor had discovered or what accusations her uncle had made, but she had to plead for her father’s life.
If the main family fell, she would truly become a woman anyone in the palace could trample upon.
At this very moment, her aunt the Empress Dowager was not in the palace. Otherwise, out of respect for her aunt, the Emperor would not have been so merciless.
But before Gu Shishi could rush out of Yuhua Palace, she was stopped. At the same time, Pei Lingyue’s imperial edict arrived.
The decree listed in great detail all the palace rules Gu Shishi had violated over the years—
Brutally harming palace maids, disrespecting the Empress, the Noble Consort, and the Virtuous Consort, spying on the Emperor’s movements…
At the end, the edict declared that Gu Shishi would be stripped of her rank and reduced to a commoner, sent to Tianyi Nunnery to repent, copying scriptures and chanting Buddhist sutras to cleanse her sins.
Tianyi Nunnery was a royal convent specifically for imprisoning concubines who had committed grave crimes. Those sent there were not allowed to bring any attendants. Besides chanting sutras and copying scriptures, they had to chop firewood and labor in the fields.
Gu Shishi would rather be banished to the cold palace than go to Tianyi Nunnery. She had been pampered since childhood—how could she endure such hardship?
Her face drained of color, she murmured, "I refuse to accept this. I want to see my cousin. This can’t be real. Cousin wouldn’t do this to me! I’ve been framed!"
The eunuch delivering the decree looked at the former Lady Gu—no, now she was just a commoner—who still refused to give up.
He uttered a few names.
Upon hearing them, a chill shot up Gu Shishi’s spine, spreading to her limbs, as if her heart were freezing over.
These were the spies the Gu family had planted throughout the palace over the years—even her aunt the Empress Dowager didn’t know about them. The list had been handed to Gu Shishi when she entered the palace.
So the Emperor had discovered their existence. That was why he could no longer tolerate them.
Since entering the palace, aside from the incident of her miscarriage, everything had gone smoothly for Gu Shishi. This had inflated her arrogance, making her dismiss even the Empress and abandon her initial caution. She had acted too recklessly recently, even poisoning Yu Miaohua, which left traces for the Emperor to uncover, bringing ruin upon the Gu family.
But if the Emperor had shown her just a little more tenderness, she wouldn’t have become so unrecognizable.
A surge of hatred raged in her chest. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes, blurring her vision.
Gu Shishi’s voice was filled with despair. "False charges are easy to fabricate! The Emperor is punishing me like this to avenge Noble Lady Yu, isn’t he? I was momentarily blinded by jealousy of her favor, which is why I acted against her. I just loved the Emperor too much."
"The Emperor truly loves Noble Lady Yu—so much that he’s willing to use our Gu family as stepping stones. How I envy her for receiving so much of his affection..."
Her lowered lashes concealed the hatred in her eyes.
She refused to believe the Empress could maintain her so-called virtuous facade after learning of Noble Lady Yu’s special place in the Emperor’s heart. Nor would she let Yu Miaohua have an easy time. How could she effortlessly obtain everything Gu Shishi had longed for?
One was the legitimate wife, the mother of the nation, backed by the Crown Prince. The other was the beloved concubine, cherished by the Emperor in the palm of his hand…
She wondered which one her so-called brilliant and heroic cousin would choose.
Pity she wouldn’t get to witness them tearing each other apart.
Now, this was the only way she could retaliate in secret.
...
By the window, on an embroidered couch, a pair of jade-like hands carefully trimmed freshly picked roses from the garden.
A kneeling maidservant bowed her head, reporting the events at Yuhua Palace.
"Did Gu Shishi really say such things?" The consort in elegant palace robes paused, sunlight filtering through the carved window lattice and glinting coldly off the silver scissors in her hand.
"Little Yun heard it herself—not a single word was fabricated. This servant never imagined the Emperor would move against the Gu family just to avenge Noble Lady Yu. Yuhua Palace has been sealed off now." Little Yun was their planted spy in Yuhua Palace. She had just returned with some items when she witnessed the palace being locked down. Quick-witted, she hid and contacted them immediately to relay the news.
The consort’s tone carried a faint sigh. "So the Emperor is capable of loving someone, of protecting them so carefully, unwilling to let them suffer even the slightest harm. I always thought his heart belonged solely to the nation. After all these years by his side, I’ve never seen him act so irrationally."
"Could it be that the Great Qi imperial family is producing another love-struck fool?"
Her maidservant couldn’t help but recall the late Empress Zhenyi of the previous dynasty. "Noble Lady Yu might become another Empress Zhenyi. What if she climbs over Your Ladyship’s head someday…"
Even after leaving the cold palace, the Emperor had settled her in Guanju Palace, reviving the decades-sealed residence.
The consort stood, her smile eerily serene. "I almost hope she has Empress Zhenyi’s fate—enough to drag down our esteemed Empress."
The Empress and the Crown Prince’s positions were too secure—so secure it was suffocating.
"Gu Shishi was simply too incompetent."
She shook her head, a trace of disgust in her expression. As the Emperor’s cousin, with resources at her disposal and even her subtle support behind the scenes, she had still ended up like this. If she hadn’t erased all traces immediately, the investigation might have reached her.
"Your Ladyship, should we spread Gu Shishi’s words?"
A sharp glint flashed in the consort’s eyes. "Fool. Don’t act recklessly. I don’t want to hear even a whisper of this outside. Do you think the Emperor is a fool? For the next few years, cut all contact with the other palaces."
"Do nothing."
This time, there was no Gu Shishi to shield her.
She had waited this long—she could wait a little longer.
Besides, the Empress would find out eventually. And so would the Empress Dowager.
This was Gu Shishi’s final gambit.
"The palace is about to become lively."
