My Sin

Back At Work

Since the empress finished giving birth, the emperor changed dramatically. Back then he still argued with the empress, but now all he did was comply and blame himself. Many people just thought that the emperor would get tired of the empress seeing his many rejections, but they were of course disappointed-098 as the emperor really did stay like this even after two weeks. The concubines were getting more and more worried, as the empress not only successfully gave birth to the quadruplets, but he was also getting the attention of the emperor, and if that wasn't enough, the mother of the empress had finished her purge and the court was now stable with many officials supporting the empress, to add more salt to the injury the empress dad just came back from a successful war and would once again receive merit.

The empress of course knew about the worries of the concubines. Even though he was out for a while, Li Dani wasn't, and he made sure to tell the empress every detail of what happened to the empress. From what Li Dani told the empress, it seemed like Hereditary Consort Xuilan had gained somewhat of a foothold in the palace. She was now respected both because of her family background, but also because the emperor put her in charge of imperial affairs while he was down. But of course, there were many oppositions, especially from Imperial Wife Huian.

Imperial Wife Huian was the most favored concubine after Noble Lady Shu before Noble Lady Shu fell out of favor. She was still second as the emperor now favored the empress above all his concubines. As far as the empress knew, the reason why Imperial Wife Huian was so favored was because of her intelligence. Imperial Wife Huian did possess a beauty that could outdo most in the harem but her intelligence was greater than many scholars, and she played an important role in keeping the empire afloat in the empress's last life as the emperor indulged Noble Lady Shu.

The reason why the emperor liked visiting Imperial Wife Huian so much was that she was very good a politics and helped him make decisions. Most of the time he went to her palace they did not spend the night together. The emperor was of course interested in her but Imperial Wife Huian was more interested in getting her ideas implemented through the emperor. She played a major role in the Jin empire's economics, as she introduced the night market to the Jin people, which almost tripled the revenue of the empire. With all that being said even if they were not lovers, she was a very important friend to the emperor.

So when Hereditary Consort Xuilan tried to fight against Imperial Wife Huian she suffered a crushing defeat, and instead of reflecting on herself, she ran to cry to the emperor. The emperor of course sided with Imperial Wife Huian as she had never been one to initiate petty fights but he only gave his opinion and said the empress would handle it. 

After hearing the report of Li Dani, the empress was pissed about having to take care of another petty fight but then remembered that he was the one who told the emperor to butt out of harem affairs as he could take care of his own backyard. The empress couldn't help but cuss, since when was this danm emperor so obedient?

So the empress had no choice but to dress up and head to the greeting hall. When he got there everyone had already been there. They all bowed and greeted him respectfully. Though they were still respectful to him back then, he felt like their tones were even humbler than they were now.

"You may rise," The empress instructed before he sat on the throne.

"Thank you, your highness," The concubine thanked before seating down in their respective seats.

"I am fresh out of confinement, yet I have to handle a petty fight that happened between my meimei," The empress said leisurely as he sipped his tea while looking at the concubines coldly.

"I apologize, jiejie, but you know that you meimei have an intolerance for dirty rats around her, so meimei had to show the rat their place," Imperial Wife Huian said bluntly in an apologetic tone. This is the reason many people feared Imperial Wife Huian, she was blunt and never took secret routes before telling you what she needs to tell you. Of course, the new concubines were taken aback by her behavior but the empress was just amused. Even if they were not friends in their last life, Imperial Wife Huian never took the chance to hit her when he was already down unlike the other concubine, she was someone who liked to mind the business that pays her.

"Haha! Jiejie knows, but meimei really needs to start learning how to set deadly traps for rats instead of stepping on them right there and then." The empress laughed as he joked.

"Meimei will take your advice," Imperial Wife Huian said as she bowed. Seeing them exchange jokes so about her so blatantly, Hereditary Consort Xuilan's face couldn't help but falter. 

"Now, Hereditary Consort Xuilan, I don't need to hear your story because the emperor had personally asked me to take care of this fight so I know the ins and outs of this fight and you are at fault. As a nice jiejie, let me remind you, your position does not always mean you're superior, your impact does. Imperial Wife Huian might be a couple of ranks lower than you, but she's well-loved and respected by both the palace and the people. So this is a warning for you, next time I won't be so lenient. Apologize to Imperial Wife Huian." The empress explained and instructed.

"Yes, your majesty," From his cold eyes, Hereditary Consort Xuilan knew that he was not in the mood for answer rebuttals, so she could only comply. 

"This concubine apologizes to Imperial Wife Huian. I hope Imperial Wife Huian forgives me for my oversight," Hereditary Consort Xuilan apologized as she bowed.

"I am not that narrow-minded, you're forgiven," Imperial Wife Huian said lazily as she leaned back on her chair.

"This empress is leaving, you all can stay and enjoy your time," The empress announced before getting up from his throne. The concubines immediately stood up and kneeled as they said their goodbyes to the empress. 

The empress sighed deeply after exiting the greeting hall. He did not even care about the backyard anymore, all he wanted to do was to stay in his palace and inhale the sweet smell his babies carried. 

After he left the greeting hall was peaceful, as the concubines engaged in hidden battles once again, but peaceful would not be a word to describe what was going on on the other side of the palace.

Hello Luvlies, I know you all probably hate me for updating this late, so I will be honest. My first reason was that it was the end of the school year and I had to turn in everything that was missing, but I still had time to update, which I didn't do because I was hit with writer's block (n a lil laziness). Every time I tried to write I was just stuck and it felt like everything I came up with was mediocre. I finally had some inspiration tonight and wrote a chapter. I am sorry guys, I really did want to update. I will try my hardest to update more often!