Refusing to Serve Me? Then Off With Your Head!

Chapter 46

The Diary of an Empress' Day

The emperor and bengong who were lazing around on bed were woken up by Tian Bing Qing and E Huang. We washed ourselves before sitting for breakfast. The concubines were left waiting outside, under the glaring sun.

——–They seemed to had been waiting for almost an hour.

E Huang told me that I needed to address myself as 'bengong'. I didn't really like that term of addressment.

The emperor who didn't have to attend the morning court was very leisure and idle. I already swallowed three pieces of shrimps and he was still chewing on his first crab dumpling.

I could not bear to see that and picked up a shrimp before offering it to him. He froze a little before opening his mouth and lightly chewed on the shrimp. He looked very pleased and comfortable.

E Huang and Tian Bing Qing exchanged a look before smiling together.

In my opinion, His Majesty was too elegant and dignified when he eats. It made me felt comfortable as well and could not bear to urge him to eat faster. Rather than inconveniencing His Majesty's tummy and ruining the elegant atmosphere, might as well inconvenience the legs of those concubines outside.

Breakfast took around 2 hours. By the time those gentle concubines were led in by Consort Yu and Consort De, they looked tired and pale. They kowtowed a couple of times.

After that, they kneeled and paid respect to His Majesty and bengong. As E Huang presented each of them with gifts, I gave them a good look; the beauties in His Majesty's harem were of all kinds; some were plump like Yang Guifei while some were slender like Zhao Feiyan. All of them looked pretty different from each other, just they all looked a little weak. Because of that, I gave an enthusiastic suggestion to His Majesty, "Your Majesty, chenqie thinks they look a little frail. They don't look like they can live long. Back then, when chenqie was living in the countryside, chenqie noticed that those women who lived there were all strong and healthy. Why don't we send them to live in the countryside for a period of time? So they can get healthy?"

(TN: 环肥燕瘦(Plump Huan, Slender Yan) refers to Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Feiyan. They were two famous women of ancient times. Yang Yuhuan was the infamous Yang Guifei who was the consort of Emperor Xuan Zong while Zhao Feiyan was a dancer from a humble background who rose and became the empress for Emperor Cheng. Her sister was Zhao He De, also a favored consort of Emperor Cheng. Yang Yuhuan was known to be of plump size while Zhao Feiyan was known for her slender figure. Scholars have been using them as an example to describe beauties of all types.)

When those concubines heard that, their faces turned white like paper. Consort De and Consort Yu looked at me with fiery eyes.

They did not understand my goodwill, bengong was so disappointed!

His Majesty nodded with a big smile, "Everything is up to the empress." In the blink of an eye, the hall was filled with sounds of murmurs.

Consort De looked at me in hatred and could not stop herself from muttering, "S*ut—–"

Before I even got to react, the emperor's face changed, "Somebody come! Consort De was disrespectful to the empress, slap her mouth twenty times!"

Consort De struggled while repeatedly calling out, "Your Majesty!" When the emperor seemed unperturbed, she went on and begged pitifully, "Biaoge.... Biaoge..... Shu Er did not offend the empress on purpose..."

(TN: Biaoge is the way younger females call their older male cousins.)

Bengong felt displeased on the inside.