Gold Medal Mediator [Quick Transmigration] 12

Chapter 12: The Empire This One Conquered For You (2)

“Demure and understated is also a kind of quiet beauty.”

The System tried hard to find a positive trait in the character it had created for her this time. “Look at your calm and steady temperament. It’s a perfect fit for a personal handmaiden. One look at you and people feel reassured.”

Hua Baihe snorted. “This is the first I’ve heard that ‘reassuringly plain’ can be used as a compliment.”

System: “Have you learned something today?”

Hua Baihe was trying very hard to control her urge to curse.

Before she could make peace with this mediocre vessel, a voice called out from the side:

“Qing Jia.”

Seeing her emerge from the washing courtyard with a basin, a handmaiden from outside called out to stop her.

Qing Jia was her name in this world. The System had already arranged her identity. The moment she entered this world, everyone would know that she was now the Empress’s most capable head palace maid.

The woman in the green palace attire, a dark green pin in her hair, glanced around to make sure no one was there before hurrying towards her.

This was the time of the new Emperor’s ascension.

The Empress’s coronation ceremony had just been held a few days ago. Jiang Yao had only just been named Empress. Given her previous orderly management of the Crown Prince’s courtyard and the currently sparse state of the harem—with only one consort and one lady-in-waiting—logically, nothing major should be happening yet.

With this in mind, Hua Baihe had a good grasp of the situation. She took the Empress’s undergarments, which she had already washed, out of the basin, shaking them out one by one to hang them while watching the approaching woman.

“Huan Xi, what is it?”

Huan Xi was the handmaiden Hua Baihe remembered from the original story, the one most trusted by Jiang Yao, and also the one who was closest to Concubine Jia when she miscarried.

She seemed to have easily accepted the setting that ‘Qing Jia and I both came from the prince’s manor and are very close.’ The authoritative air of a head palace maid that she could put on in front of others completely crumbled when she saw Hua Baihe.

Huan Xi pulled a dark blue cloth-wrapped bundle from her clothes and leaned towards Hua Baihe, whispering:

“I heard that in this morning’s court session, the Minister of Rites proposed a plan for selecting new concubines for the Emperor to review.”

Hua Baihe remained nonchalant, shaking the water droplets from the clothes as she said, “Even the stray cat in the Imperial Kitchen knows about that.”

Life in the harem was dull. When wasn’t news from the court the first thing to spread?

Besides, this was the Palace of Eternal Joy, where the Empress resided.

As for selecting concubines, it was customary—

The new Emperor’s throne was barely warm. As long as the eldest prince was not born, these officials from the Ministry of Rites, who did little else, would find ways to make their presence known.

All this talk of for the good of the country, for the sake of the imperial heir… Hua Baihe had seen such lines countless times in palace-intrigue dramas. She could picture the white-bearded old ministers earnestly advising the Emperor with her eyes closed.

—Their combat effectiveness was comparable to that of those busybody neighborhood aunties who couldn’t control their own mischievous kids but were eager to inquire about other people’s children’s school rankings, annual salaries, and when they were getting married.

Seeing that she wasn’t surprised at all, Huan Xi smiled. “Yes, His Majesty did suppress the matter in court—”

Then, the smile on Huan Xi’s face turned bitter. “But after court, the Young Lord Jiang sent this gift to the Palace of Eternal Joy. It was supposed to be presented directly to Her Majesty by me, but the Young Lord Jiang has always been unpredictable. If I were to present it to Her Majesty so rashly…”

At this point, Hua Baihe understood.

The so-called Young Lord Jiang, Jiang Zhenhai, was the youngest to inherit the title in the Jiang family.

Jiang Yao’s grandfather, a duke for three generations, had served the previous two emperors with utmost dedication, bringing glory to their family. But such a prestigious family had a fatal flaw: very few descendants.

By Jiang Zhenhai’s generation, it was like a sow giving birth to a mouse—

—each generation worse than the last.

Because he was the only son, Jiang Yao’s mother had doted on him excessively. He hadn’t learned any of the skills of a second-generation official, but he had mastered the arts of showing off, causing trouble, and bullying others. He had been a troublemaker since childhood.

Now that his own sister had become the Empress, he had evolved into the second species in the capital that walked sideways.

…The first was the crab.

Given that this Young Lord Jiang Zhenhai had sent many ‘surprises’ to the Palace of Eternal Joy, the most memorable of which was a dead rat, flattened and framed.

This glorious achievement was accomplished by Comrade Jiang Zhenhai while drunk—

—he was said to be nostalgic for his childhood days of raiding rat nests at home and wanted to try the ‘roasted rat’ that the commoners made. He was nearly beaten to death by his father with the family discipline rod and was only saved by his sister.

The day the gift was received, everyone in the Palace of Eternal Joy wept after hearing the story.

…from the stench of the dead rat.

Unfortunately, the Emperor happened to visit the Palace of Eternal Joy that day after court.

His face was said to have been very dark. He immediately ordered the pageboy who presented the gift to be beaten eighty times with a plank and issued an edict reprimanding Jiang Zhenhai for his lack of respect, scaring the old Lord Jiang into rushing to the palace overnight to kneel, tremble, and tearfully beg for mercy for his grandson.

In summary, with such a useless heir, it was perfectly logical that the Jiang family would later be unable to compete with the valiant and battle-hardened brothers of Concubine Jia’s family at court.

**

By the time Hua Baihe had finished recalling Jiang Zhenhai’s ‘glorious history,’ the blue cloth bundle in Huan Xi’s hand had already been thrust into her arms.

“Qing Jia, you’ve always been the smartest among us. It’s best to leave this matter to you.”

Huan Xi felt the bundle was a hot potato—

Because Jiang Yao was a legendary enabler of her brother. No matter how many absurd things Jiang Zhenhai did, she could still view her dear brother through a fifteen-times beautifying filter.

So, whether one knew the contents and destroyed it, or presented it directly to the Empress, there was a risk of getting one’s bottom beaten.

Hua Baihe was suddenly saddled with this task. “…?”

Is it a crime to be too competent?!

In the brief moment she was stunned, Huan Xi felt as if she had cast off the heaviest burden of the day and returned to the main hall to continue serving the Empress with peace of mind.

Hua Baihe and the blue bundle stared at each other, unsure what to do with this ‘Schrödinger’s gift.’

She first weighed it in her hands, then felt its thickness…

“This texture,” she muttered to herself, “is it a book?”

She found it rather strange. What kind of book would be worth the Young Lord secretly sending it in from outside the palace, specifically for the Empress?

A second later, Hua Baihe was blinded by the illustration on the cover.

The System, seeing the mosaic image, belatedly realized something. It was about to offer some comfort when it saw Hua Baihe put on an expression as serious as if she were reading a research paper. She stared at the cover for a long time, then asked:

“…This position, is it doggy style?”

System: “【I’m just a baby, I don’t know anything.jpg】”

Jiang Zhenhai had once again lowered the bar for his gift-giving.

Breaking through the many barriers of the harem, he had sent his own sister… an erotic book.

It contained everything from ‘Guanyin sitting on the lotus,’ to ‘the goat against the tree,’ to ‘the phoenix roaming the cinnabar cave.’

Connecting this to the events at court today, it wasn’t hard for Hua Baihe to guess his intention in sending such a book of sexual positions—

He wanted Jiang Yao to secure the Emperor’s favor, give birth to the eldest prince as soon as possible, and firmly establish her position as the number one woman in the harem.

But if word of this got out…

The folk storytellers would have a few new tales to tell—

#Investigating the Brother-in-Law Who Meddled in the Emperor’s Harem#, #The Bedtime Reading of the Mother of the Nation#, #Disharmony in the Imperial Couple’s Sex Life: A Degeneration of Humanity or a Collapse of Morals?#…

Various headlines flashed through Hua Baihe’s mind. With considerable calm, she rolled up the book and stuffed it into her robes.

“This book is confiscated.”

Seeing that she hadn’t destroyed it on the spot, the System asked tentatively, “You’re not going to keep it for yourself, are you?”

Hua Baihe said righteously, “What kind of person do you take me for!”

Just then, another handmaiden in a peach-colored dress hurried over to her, calling out, “Sister Qing Jia, Her Majesty is in the mood for a game of chess with Consort Wan today. She asked where you put the white jade chessboard that His Majesty gifted her last time.”

Consort Wan had previously been the Crown Prince’s secondary consort and had served him alongside Jiang Yao. She was eight or nine years older than Jiang Yao. Now that the Crown Prince had become the Emperor, her status had also been elevated, making her the only consort in the harem.

Consort Wan was even more zen than Jiang Yao, never starting trouble and being practically invisible in the harem.

Hearing her words, Hua Baihe started walking with her. “Her Majesty had it put in the storeroom. I’ll go fetch it now—oh, right, Consort Wan is fond of Maojian tea. Remind Huan Xi.”

The handmaiden called out from a distance, “Yes!”

**

A quarter of an hour later.

Hua Baihe saw Jiang Yao in person, and her appearance was so stunning that she barely even noticed Consort Wan across from her.

Her body’s programmed instincts forced her to stop this disrespectful act of staring at her mistress, but that one glance had already left a deep and vivid impression on her mind—

The brilliant, bright yellow informal robe she wore was dazzling, its golden light illuminating the entire Palace of Eternal Joy, yet it couldn’t outshine her own radiance.

The line of her neck visible above the collar was more graceful than a swan’s. Her complexion was fairer than fresh snow, especially her dark eyes, which held a smiling warmth that reflected her gentle nature.

Her elegant and noble features could command the authority of an Empress without being intimidating, making one instantly fond of her.

Hua Baihe, a lifelong member of the stan-pretty-faces fan club, stood stiffly in attendance, but in her heart, she wished she could make the Empress’s stunning beauty her phone wallpaper and admire it thousands of times over.

She was so captivated that she didn’t even notice when Consort Wan left.

“Qing Jia…” It wasn’t until that gentle voice sounded beside her again.

Hua Baihe snapped back to reality and said in a low voice, “Your Majesty.”

“What’s the matter today? You seem to be in a daze.” Jiang Yao spoke with a natural, well-bred cadence. Her enunciation was clear, yet held no trace of condescension, only a perfect propriety.

Feeling her ears were blessed, Hua Baihe deftly began to clear the chessboard on the table, her eyes lowered as she smiled.

“Your Majesty is overthinking it. I was just thinking about the news from the Imperial Kitchen. Little Fanzi said a dozen fat ducks came in today. It’s the perfect season for duck meat. Perhaps Your Majesty would like to order a duck soup for dinner?”

Jiang Yao couldn’t help but laugh, not expecting her to be worrying about her meals already. She was about to say something when she suddenly noticed a dark blue corner sticking out from her robes as she bent over.

“…What is that in your clothes?”

Hua Baihe looked up blankly, almost instinctively answering: My chest!

But when she followed her gaze downward—

Thud.

The book, which had been mostly exposed, fell completely onto the table.

The blue cloth wrap had been loose to begin with, and now, half of the hand-drawn cover illustration was faintly visible.

The exposed half happened to be the lower bodies of two figures engaged in vigorous exercise.

Hua Baihe: “…!!!”

***

Author’s Note:

Hua Baihe: What to do when discovered hiding a dirty book, waiting online, it’s urgent!