Yu Miaohua had simply shared a meal with each of her divine consorts, effortlessly quelling their resentment and completing her mission.
[Congratulations, Host, for completing Main Mission 6.4: Comfort each divine consort to prevent them from harboring jealousy over the Crown Prince's favor. Mission rewards have been distributed.]
[Pei Yuheng's favorability toward you has reached 75. You have completed the mission "Pei Yuheng's Favorability Reaches 70." Reward: Silver mirror production techniques.]
[Shen Sushang's favorability toward you has reached 70. You have completed the mission "Shen Sushang's Favorability Reaches 70." Reward: Advanced shipbuilding techniques, including watertight bulkhead designs and multi-mast systems.]
[Pei Chiyan's favorability toward you has reached 80. You have completed the mission "Pei Chiyan's Favorability Reaches 70." Reward: Red Barbarian Cannon technology.]
Wait, what?
Yu Miaohua was stunned.
[Huh? The Crown Prince's favorability toward me is actually this high?]
Pei Yuheng's high favorability didn’t surprise her, but the Crown Prince’s was at 80? Was that even reasonable?
After a moment of contemplation, she quickly found the answer.
She had been too narrow-minded. One person’s favorability toward another wasn’t necessarily limited to romantic love—it could also stem from friendship, familial affection, or similar bonds.
Given her close relationship with the Empress and her immense contributions to Great Qi, it made sense for the Crown Prince to hold her in high regard.
[System, can I check the favorability of others?]
[Whose favorability does the Host wish to check?]
[The Emperor’s!] Yu Miaohua answered without hesitation.
[The Emperor is not a romanceable target, so his favorability cannot be checked.]
[How is he not a romanceable target? He was clearly the main romanceable target in the early stages! The Crown Prince and the others are just side routes. Since when can’t you check the favorability of the main romanceable target while only checking side routes?]
In any otome game, the Emperor would be the official love interest.
[And why don’t I get rewards for the Emperor’s favorability? Look at how much we’re missing out on!]
The system hated losing out more than anything. It found the Host’s argument logical and well-reasoned, so it eagerly rushed back to the Transmigration Bureau.
Yu Miaohua couldn’t help but think the Transmigration Bureau was rather slapdash, with its mission planning being utterly unreliable.
When the system returned, its tone was downright chirpy.
[Host, I’ve successfully applied for the Emperor’s favorability check function, usable once every half-month. The rewards for the Emperor’s favorability have also been retroactively issued.]
Here, it sounded a little guilty. It didn’t tell the Host that it had taken the opportunity to extort some extra energy compensation—after all, it had its eye on another dazzlingly beautiful skin.
[You have completed the mission "Pei Lingyue’s Favorability Reaches 20." Reward: Flood control methods, including river channeling techniques.]
[You have completed the mission "Pei Lingyue’s Favorability Reaches 30." Reward: Advanced copper smelting techniques, including the cementation method and pyrometallurgy.]
[You have completed the mission "Pei Lingyue’s Favorability Reaches 50." Reward: Improved metallurgical fuel technology, including coal utilization.]
[You have completed the mission "Pei Lingyue’s Favorability Reaches 70." Reward: A map of all coal deposits in Great Qi.]
[You have completed the mission "Pei Lingyue’s Favorability Reaches 90." Reward: The third piece of the previous dynasty’s treasure map.]
This avalanche of rewards left Yu Miaohua dizzy.
Good heavens, she was about to strike it rich! So many rewards!
Pei Lingyue’s favorability was actually above 90?
[System, check Pei Lingyue’s exact favorability for me.]
[Favorability: 99. Host, you are the apple of his eye, the treasure in his palm.]
The system was thrilled.
Ninety-nine!
Yu Miaohua gasped—just one point shy of a hundred.
All she felt was shock.
Her earlier guess had been correct: favorability wasn’t limited to romantic love. Did Pei Lingyue love her? No—he loved the benefits she, as the Divine Maiden, brought.
No wonder Pei Lingyue was such a career-driven emperor. Yu Miaohua had no doubt that as long as she remained the Divine Maiden, she would forever be his cherished darling.
Once she confirmed this theory, Yu Miaohua breathed a sigh of relief.
Given Pei Chiyan’s virtuous and devoted demeanor, his feelings for her definitely weren’t romantic.
This realization put her completely at ease.
With so many mission rewards in hand, Yu Miaohua packed them all into a chest and headed to the palace to see Pei Lingyue.
After moving into the Divine Maiden’s residence, Yu Miaohua was no longer the Imperial Noble Consort but the Divine Maiden of Great Qi. Her rank as the Divine Maiden surpassed even the State Preceptor, with privileges on par with the Empress and above those of a prince.
Pei Lingyue had made it abundantly clear to the outside world that stripping her of the Imperial Noble Consort title was merely a pretext to bestow divine consorts upon her—in reality, it was a promotion.
After all, the Divine Maiden had once been a purely ceremonial title, but now, with concrete rank and privileges, it carried real weight.
Though no longer one of the Emperor’s consorts, Yu Miaohua had been granted a token allowing her free access to the palace.
Now acting as a subject, she submitted a memorial requesting an audience with the Emperor.
The moment Pei Lingyue heard Yu Miaohua wished to see him—and had even brought a chest—he immediately set aside his memorials.
He had already heard about how the Crown Prince had managed Yu Miaohua’s household affairs and couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly: overseeing a household was child’s play for the Crown Prince.
Still, the fact that Yu Miaohua had entrusted her household to him showed that the Crown Prince had won her trust—a promising sign.
When Yu Miaohua saw Pei Lingyue, she bowed respectfully.
Pei Lingyue quickly waved his hand. "No need for formalities, Divine Maiden."
His gaze fell on the chest behind her. "And this is…?"
This was the downside of Yu Miaohua moving out of the palace—he could no longer keep immediate tabs on her missions.
Yet he couldn’t very well send the Empress, Concubine Yuan, and Consort De to the Divine Maiden’s residence.
Nor could he pack off high-ranking officials to serve as divine consorts.
Wait—currently, only officials of the fifth rank or higher could perceive divine spirits…
What if they were female officials of the fifth rank?
Pei Lingyue mused that this might be worth exploring.
Yu Miaohua had originally planned to say these were divine blessings, as per usual. But just as the words were about to leave her lips, her sister’s teasing about "betrothal gifts" flashed through her mind, and she blurted out instead, "These are betrothal gifts."
Pei Lingyue froze. Betrothal gifts?
As someone who kept a close ear on court gossip, he immediately caught the reference and teased, "You have nine divine consorts—you’d need at least nine betrothal gifts."
[Hahaha, Host, in a way, these really are betrothal gifts.]
After all, most were rewards from favorability missions.
The system’s words made Pei Lingyue’s heart itch with curiosity. Yet, for once, the usually chatty divine spirit didn’t elaborate, leaving him unsatisfied.
Yu Miaohua coughed awkwardly. "Your Majesty should take a look—there are many valuable things inside."
To be fair, none of the system’s rewards were ever lacking.
Pei Lingyue had assumed there would be at most two or three rewards—Yu Miaohua had only left the palace less than half a month ago.
Missions were a matter of luck: on good days, one might trigger two; on bad days, none for a whole month.
However, when the box was opened and Pei Lingyue listened to Yu Miaohua introduce each item one by one, he instantly transformed into a mouse that had fallen into a rice vat.
Happiness! Such overwhelming joy made him wonder if he was dreaming.
"There really are nine types?" His voice brimmed with delight as he cradled the box like a precious treasure.
As for the earlier potato reward, Yu Miaohua had already given it to Pei Lingyue without delay. Last month, Pei Lingyue had dispatched a new ship to search for potatoes.
Yu Miaohua: "..."
This really was just a coincidence.
After his initial excitement, Pei Lingyue was consumed by burning curiosity—just what tasks had Yu Miaohua completed during this time to earn such bountiful rewards?
Damn it, he really wanted to know.
"On behalf of Great Qi, I thank you. You are the heavens' greatest gift to our empire," Pei Lingyue said with heartfelt sincerity. "What reward would you like?"
Perhaps he would confer the title of Duke upon Yu Miaohua’s father later.
But compared to these rewards, a dukedom still seemed too meager. Since she had presented such a lavish "betrothal gift," he ought to reciprocate with some "dowry" of his own.
The idea of assigning female officials to serve Yu Miaohua resurfaced in his mind—he absolutely had to arrange for a few visible attendants to be by her side.
Yu Miaohua thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I was wondering—if childless concubines in the rear palace wish to leave, could they be permitted to do so?"
Pei Lingyue agreed without hesitation. "Granted."
To him, the departure of a few concubines in exchange for Yu Miaohua’s goodwill toward the imperial family was more than worth it.
Truly, Yu Miaohua was Yu Miaohua—even now, she didn’t seek benefits for her own family.
Yu Miaohua hadn’t expected the Emperor to agree so readily and couldn’t help but smile genuinely. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Now that she was no longer a concubine, she prepared to take her leave after concluding official matters.
"Wait." Pei Lingyue suddenly called out to her, and Yu Miaohua turned back in confusion.
Pei Lingyue said, "In a few days, new rewards will be bestowed. You can look forward to them."
After saying this, he waved his hand dismissively.
Yu Miaohua was baffled: Why so mysterious? Why not just explain clearly?
Once Yu Miaohua left, Pei Lingyue summoned the Crown Prince, his expression brimming with gossipy intrigue. "How far has your relationship with the Divine Maiden progressed?"
"Have you shared a bed yet?"
Pei Chiyan’s smile stiffened—if he dared do such a thing now, he’d surely be banished to the cold palace immediately.
Pei Lingyue could guess from his expression. "Have you at least kissed?"
Pei Chiyan’s smile faded further. Was His Majesty deliberately trying to provoke him?
"Don’t tell me you haven’t even held hands?"
"Father, did you summon me just to ask these things?" Pei Chiyan’s tone carried rare frustration, his smile vanishing entirely.
Pei Lingyue shook his head, his face full of disappointment.
So there had been no progress at all.
If even the Crown Prince was like this, he refused to believe any other Divine Consort could get close to Yu Miaohua under his watch.
Then how had she earned all those task rewards?
Assigning female officials was now an urgent priority.
"Never mind. You may leave."
Pei Chiyan was certain now—his father had summoned him purely to mock him.
A man of action, Pei Lingyue wasted no time. After dismissing the Crown Prince, he immediately called for his trusted ministers.
He recalled a line he’d once read in a divine scripture: "If you want to open a window, first tear off the roof." He found this logic quite sound.
Thus, he gathered his ministers in the palace.
"I dreamed of the late Emperor."
The ministers exchanged glances, their expressions saying, "Here we go again." What did the Emperor plan to do now under the pretense of the late Emperor’s will?
Pei Lingyue continued, "The gods have prepared many betrothal gifts for the Divine Maiden. The late Emperor expressed that our Great Qi imperial family cannot offer nothing in return—we must send attendants to serve her."
"What do you think of sending Concubine Yuan and Consort De?"
Originally, he had considered naming the Empress, but realizing how outrageous that would sound, he removed her from the list. Yes, he was still quite prudent.
The ministers were stunned: Send Concubine Yuan and Consort De to serve the Divine Maiden? Had the Emperor been possessed by the late Emperor’s spirit?
