Chapter 5: The Imperial Palace Is Indeed a Great Place
“Clang!”
“Clang!”
One heavy redwood chest after another slammed onto the gleaming golden-brick floor of Zhaoyang Hall.
The most lavish and spacious hall in the Great Yuan imperial palace looked like a dock in the middle of a war zone.
Sweat-soaked Imperial Guards stood in a long line, huffing and puffing as they carried goods into the main hall.
And standing in the very center, directing them, was a little girl barely tall enough to reach an adult’s waist.
Su Yaoyao wore the innocent face of an eight-year-old, but with her little hands planted on her hips, she had the air of a bandit inspecting her territory.
“You over there! Yes, you! Be careful when you set that chest down!”
“Those are exquisite glazed cups inside! If you chip even one, selling you to the Palace Bureau to become a eunuch wouldn’t be enough to cover the loss!”
Su Yaoyao shouted in her childish voice. Her practiced underworld slang and arrogant attitude were nothing like those of an eight-year-old.
Of course, inside her body lived the soul of an eighteen-year-old interstellar poison doctor and master mechanic.
As an interstellar laborer who had suffered through poverty, she had finally risen through the ranks. Naturally, she had to count every last penny!
The dozens of palace maids and eunuchs serving in the hall stood stiffly against the walls like wooden posts, scarcely daring to breathe.
They stared at the newly appointed Crown Princess in horror, their entire understanding of the world shattered.
According to rumor, Her Highness had been brought back by the emperor from the most chaotic underground black market in the capital.
Everyone had assumed she would be a timid, cowardly country girl who had never seen the world.
But once she entered the palace, it became clear that she had not come to be a caged songbird.
With all those bundles and chests, she looked for all the world like she had come to stock up on merchandise!
“Oh, is this thing made of pure gold?”
Su Yaoyao toddled over to a waist-high golden toad ornament in the corner of the hall.
Her eyes lit up. She reached out with her short, chubby hand and stroked its glittering surface.
Then, under the horrified gazes of every servant present, the Crown Princess rose onto her tiptoes, opened her mouth, and bit down hard on the golden toad’s back!
Crunch.
The metal warped.
Su Yaoyao let go and examined the row of tiny, clearly visible teeth marks on the toad’s back. Her peach-blossom eyes narrowed in satisfaction.
Real gold!
Extremely pure!
The little abacus in her mind began clacking away.
【Tsk, tsk, tsk. Tyrant Dad is certainly generous. Every ornament in Zhaoyang Hall is a hard currency.】
【Just this golden toad alone, melted down and made into gold bars, could probably buy half a street of shops.】
【The imperial palace really is a wonderful place. Gold everywhere you look. This trip is a huge profit!】
The palace maids and eunuchs stared at the imperial golden toad, now bearing a row of bite marks, their legs trembling violently.
If the emperor found out, the Crown Princess might be perfectly fine, but their heads certainly would not remain attached to their bodies!
After four full hours of chaos, the Imperial Guards had finally transported every last possession from the black market.
Su Yaoyao waved them away, dismissing the Imperial Guard commander like a laborer who had finished the job.
She turned around and looked toward the ornate canopy bed at the far end of the hall.
The bed had been carved from a single piece of century-old golden-thread nanmu, and its thick mattress was covered with snow-marten fur from the Western Regions.
It looked impossibly soft and radiated an alluring scent of wealth.
An eight-year-old body really did tire easily.
Su Yaoyao stretched luxuriantly.
She kicked off her little boots and was just about to fling herself onto the fragrant bed and enjoy a good, well-earned rest.
Suddenly, a sharp, piercing eunuch’s announcement rang out from beyond the hall.
“Noble Consort Jing has arrived!”
Su Yaoyao froze mid-pounce.
She knitted her little brows and pursed her lips unhappily.
【Noble Consort Jing? The old hag who rules the entire harem and whose informant eunuch just died?】
【I haven’t even touched my bed yet, and someone’s already come here to offer up their head?】
A crisp jingle of ornaments rang out as a strong, pungent wave of face powder swept into Zhaoyang Hall.
Noble Consort Jing entered with an imposing air, surrounded by a group of palace maids and senior matrons.
She wore a gorgeous bright-red peony palace gown, and the golden hairpins dangling from her head swayed violently with every step.
Although she wore a smile, it did not reach her eyes. Instead, her expression held a coldness sharpened by barely contained resentment.
In the imperial harem, Noble Consort Jing had thrown her weight around for many years.
She had long regarded the empress’s position as already hers for the taking.
And then, today, an eight-year-old brat had appeared out of nowhere and climbed above her, becoming the Crown Princess!
How could she possibly swallow such an insult?
“Oh my, so this is the Crown Princess?”
Noble Consort Jing walked to the center of the hall and looked down at Su Yaoyao.
When she saw that exquisite little face—one that resembled the late empress’s by at least seventy percent—the jealousy in her eyes nearly burst into flames.
“This consort pays her respects to Your Highness.”
Noble Consort Jing gave a perfunctory curtsy, barely bending her knees before straightening again.
She covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief and cast a disdainful glance at the redwood chests that had yet to be cleared away.
“As expected of someone from the common folk. She’s never seen the world.”
“How dare she bring all this junk into Zhaoyang Hall? It reeks of the shabby, vulgar air of the marketplace.”
The moment Noble Consort Jing opened her mouth, she was already dripping with sarcasm.
Counting on Su Yaoyao being a child who could not understand the hidden meaning behind her words, she made no effort to show restraint.
The palace maids and eunuchs in the hall all lowered their heads, not daring even to breathe too loudly.
When immortals fought, ordinary people suffered.
Everyone had witnessed Noble Consort Jing’s methods in the harem.
Su Yaoyao stood barefoot on the golden-brick floor. She tilted her little head and blinked her clear, luminous eyes at Noble Consort Jing.
【The gold hairpin on that old hag’s head is quite heavy. It must weigh at least three ounces of gold.】
【The pearls on her clothes aren’t bad either. I could probably sell them for a pretty penny after prying them off.】
【It’s just a shame that her mouth stinks so badly. It’s as if she’s been eating dead rats.】
Seeing that Su Yaoyao did not respond, Noble Consort Jing assumed the little girl had been frightened senseless by her imposing manner.
The mockery at the corners of her mouth deepened as she let out a cold laugh.
“Now that Your Highness has entered the palace, you represent the dignity of the Great Yuan Kingdom.”
“That wild, uncivilized behavior you displayed in the black market must be changed completely. Otherwise, you’ll cause trouble in the future and bring shame upon His Majesty.”
Noble Consort Jing turned and pulled forward an imposing old woman with a burly build and a face full of flesh.
The woman had high cheekbones and narrow, triangular eyes. One look was enough to tell that she was vicious and ruthless.
“His Majesty is busy with state affairs and has no time to educate Your Highness.”
“As the head of the imperial harem, it is only natural that I should relieve His Majesty of this burden.”
Noble Consort Jing pointed at the old woman with a false smile plastered across her face.
“This is Nanny Gui, the person in the palace who understands the rules best.”
“From today onward, Nanny Gui will remain in Zhaoyang Hall and personally teach Your Highness palace etiquette.”
“If Your Highness makes any mistakes, Nanny Gui may act on my behalf and discipline you. So please don’t complain about hardship.”
It was called instruction, but in truth it was torture—and an attempt to plant a spy at her side.
The tricks of the imperial harem were nothing new to eighteen-year-old Su Yaoyao. She had seen them countless times in costume dramas.
She still said nothing. She simply watched Noble Consort Jing perform, a pure smile curving her lips.
Receiving Noble Consort Jing’s meaningful glance, Nanny Gui immediately understood.
She strode forward and loomed over Su Yaoyao.
“Your Highness, the first rule in the palace is that status and seniority must be respected.”
Nanny Gui’s voice was rough and unpleasant, like a night bird shrieking in the dark.
“Her Highness the Noble Consort is your elder. Your Highness ought to pay your respects with a formal bow.”
As she spoke, Nanny Gui extended a large hand as rough as dry tree bark and pressed it toward Su Yaoyao’s tender shoulder.
She used tremendous force, clearly intent on forcing the girl to her knees and making a spectacle of her!
The palace attendants around them drew in sharp breaths, yet no one dared step forward to intervene.
Nanny Gui’s hand was just about to land on that tiny shoulder.
At the bend in the corridor outside Zhaoyang Hall,
Su Zhen had just finished rapidly reviewing memorials in the Imperial Study and hurried over, his heart brimming with delight at the thought of seeing his beloved daughter.
He stopped in his tracks.
The smile on his face suddenly darkened, as though rainwater might drip from it.
At the very instant Nanny Gui made her move,
an inner voice, excited to the point of madness—as though it wanted to devour someone—rang out in Su Zhen’s mind...