Chapter 405
**Chapter 403: The Qin Fei**
Upon hearing this, Shen Wei picked up the book from the table again, leaning back in her rattan chair to continue reading, her expression calm and indifferent.
Cai Zhu, seeing Shen Wei unmoved, felt anxious and gently urged, “Miss, the Qin Fei is strict in her management of the palace. No one dares to defy her in the harem. If you don’t go to Han Zhang Palace, it could lead to serious trouble!”
Cai Zhu still remembered the last new concubine who tried to challenge the Qin Fei’s authority; she ended up punished to kneel for three days, ultimately freezing and starving to death. The Emperor, upon learning of this, did not intervene. As a result, everyone in the harem believed the Emperor favored the Qin Fei. From that moment on, no new concubine dared to provoke her authority.
Shen Wei had just entered the palace and was temporarily residing in Chang Le Palace. However, she had not yet served the Emperor, nor had he conferred a title upon her. Coming from a humble background as a foreign fisher girl, she felt as insignificant as dust compared to the powerful Qin Fei. With just a flick of her finger, the Qin Fei could crush Shen Wei.
Cai Zhu, being kind-hearted, urged again, “Miss, please listen to me and go pay your respects to the Qin Fei. As long as you don’t defy her, you’ll surely be safe.”
Without lifting her head, Shen Wei turned a page in her book. “No need.”
Didn’t Li Yuanli always say he liked her? Shen Wei wanted to use this situation to test the limits of Li Yuanli’s tolerance towards her.
The sun was warm, and Shen Wei reclined in her rattan chair, ignoring everything around her.
At the entrance of Chang Le Palace, the old matron beside the Qin Fei waited impatiently, her legs growing weary, yet Shen Wei still did not emerge.
The old matron was quite respected in the palace, and everyone feared her. She had never endured such humiliation and immediately scolded Cai Zhu, “This Yuan Xi’er is quite arrogant! The Qin Fei oversees the six palaces, and she, with no title or status, dares to provoke the Qin Fei?”
Cai Zhu lowered her head, racking her brain for an excuse. “Please don’t be angry, Matron... The Miss is delicate and weak, needing to take medicine every day to maintain her health. She truly cannot move.”
The old matron scoffed, “Cannot move? Should we send a palanquin to fetch her?”
Cai Zhu was too frightened to respond.
The old matron waved her sleeve and left, while cold sweat dripped from Cai Zhu’s forehead. She knew that Shen Wei would likely be resented for this.
...
In Han Zhang Palace, the garden was filled with blooming roses. Inside a pavilion, the Qin Fei, dressed in red, had her long sleeves tied back. A grill for roasting meat was set up, with rows of exquisite spice jars arranged neatly. The Qin Fei, Tuoba Shi, was brushing honey onto the roasting venison.
The charcoal fire crackled, and the aroma of the roasted deer meat wafted through the air.
The Qin Fei sliced off a piece of the roasted venison and offered it to a nearby palace maid for tasting. “Try this. Does the flavor improve with the honey?”
The maid took a small bite, her face lighting up with appreciation. “Your Highness, this roasted venison is crispy, and the honey adds a rich depth to the flavor. It’s truly delicious.”
A satisfied smile appeared on the Qin Fei’s beautifully maintained face. “Very good.”
She cut the roasted venison into thin slices, dividing it into a large and a small portion, and placed them into a food box.
The Emperor was known for his cold demeanor and unpredictable tastes, making it difficult for ordinary concubines to grasp his preferences. After years of observation, the Qin Fei had discovered that the Emperor seemed to enjoy roasted meat, horseback riding, and opera.
To win his favor, she took the initiative to learn horseback riding, singing, and roasting meat. Her efforts bore fruit, and the Emperor indeed began to regard her with new eyes.
The Qin Fei instructed the maid, “Send the smaller portion of roasted meat to the Ninth Prince. Then bring me some slices of citrus; I will personally deliver the roasted meat to the Emperor.”
As long as she could win the Emperor’s favor, she would use any means necessary.
Li Yuanli was not like other rulers; he was decisive and used iron-fisted methods to stabilize the court. Although the Qin Fei was the daughter of a prime minister, she had begun to sense that the Emperor harbored intentions against the increasingly powerful prime minister’s household.
To protect the prime minister’s family, she had to work hard to please the Emperor.
A gentle breeze blew through the pavilion, and the sun shone brightly. The Qin Fei loosened the ties on her sleeves and cast her alluring gaze over the garden full of roses.
She sighed softly, “A heart like a fierce tiger, delicately sniffing roses... Who would have thought that the Emperor’s favorite flower is the rose?”
No one could truly enter the Emperor’s heart.
Even more than a decade ago, when the Qin Fei had blocked a fatal blow for him, it had not earned her his affection.
Footsteps approached from outside, and the old matron returned with the palace maids. The Qin Fei’s beautiful eyes scanned the area but did not see the rumored fisher girl.
The old matron reported, “Your Highness, that girl from Chang Le Palace is truly arrogant and disrespectful. Knowing you summoned her, she still wouldn’t budge an inch.”
The Qin Fei’s eyes narrowed, and she smiled, “So, Yuan Xi’er thinks that just because she resides in Chang Le Palace, she can rest easy?”
To be honest, the Qin Fei had not expected the Emperor of Nan Chu to personally go abroad to bring back a fisher girl and even arrange for her to stay in Chang Le Palace, a place fit for the Empress.
But a fisher girl was still just a fisher girl, with no background. If she didn’t keep her head down in the harem, she would eventually meet a tragic end.
The Emperor’s actions were always hard to predict; perhaps he had simply taken a fancy to the fisher girl for a moment. After a few days, if he grew tired of her, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to have her killed.
The Qin Fei asked the old matron, “What does Yuan Xi’er look like?”
The old matron replied, “I haven’t entered Chang Le Palace, so I don’t know her appearance. But I’ve heard the maids attending her say that Yuan Xi’er has a face like soy sauce, with rough skin, and is not considered beautiful.”
The Qin Fei pondered, “How strange... How could the Emperor be so indiscriminate in his tastes? Could it be that Yuan Xi’er is deliberately pretending to be unattractive to deceive the outside world?”
The old matron responded, “That’s a possibility.”
In the constant power struggles of the harem, perhaps Yuan Xi’er was intentionally disguising herself to lower the guards of those around her.
“Since she refuses to move, I shall go to invite her myself.” The Qin Fei slowly rose.
She wanted to meet the rumored fisher girl.
...
...
In Chang Le Palace, Shen Wei seized the opportunity to absorb knowledge, striving to understand the customs, geography, and history of Nan Chu in the shortest time possible.
After all, since she had time on her hands, reading more and learning about the outside world could only be beneficial.
As Shen Wei immersed herself in her book, Cai Zhu fidgeted restlessly beside her.
Cai Zhu frequently glanced toward the door, anxious as if she were an ant on a hot pan.
At that moment, a eunuch’s announcement came from outside—
“Qin Fei has arrived!”
Cai Zhu’s taut nerves snapped, and her legs trembled like a sieve. The gates of Chang Le Palace swung open, and the Qin Fei’s magnificent palanquin came to a stop at the entrance. A pair of jeweled, embroidered shoes stepped down from the palanquin, treading on the back of a kneeling eunuch. The wide, gold and red gown swept across the ground, revealing the exquisitely made-up Qin Fei.
At thirty years old, the Qin Fei had meticulously maintained her beauty over the years, making her one of the most stunning women in the harem of Nan Chu. The palace maids knew all too well that beneath this beautiful facade lay a wealth of terrible and cunning schemes.
Everyone held her in awe.
The palace maids in Chang Le Palace knelt in fear, bowing to pay their respects to the Qin Fei.
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