What? Why am I not allowed to attend to the Emperor tonight?

After Nanny Lian and Aunt Ling were ushered into the palace hall and rose from their bows, they looked up to see a scene of opulent splendor. Upon the couch lay an ensemble of blue-and-white floral silk garments and rouge-colored skirts, within which a hint of pearl-white fabric was tucked. The owner of this pearlescent glow possessed a countenance of striking, luxurious beauty.

At this moment, she was dabbing tears from her face with a white embroidered handkerchief while glancing upward. During her time at the Pan estate, Pan Yulian had developed the habit of keeping her head bowed. Even now, she could not shake it; when she looked at someone, she did so from beneath her lashes. With the corners of her eyes slightly upturned, the suppressed allure leaked out with a provocative flair. Because her eyes were reddened and brimming with tears, this provocation transformed into an ambiguous, arrogant charm. It was a soft, fragile sort of insolence that was intoxicating, leaving one with an overwhelming urge to do something to crush that very defiance.

Nanny Lian took a slow breath, only then realizing she had been holding it subconsciously. She exhaled and could not help but silently recite a prayer to Buddha. Aunt Ling, who had seen much of the world while serving the Empress, was equally dazed for a moment. She then spoke with a touch of concern: "I heard that you have accidentally injured yourself, Mistress. The Empress has sent me to check on your condition."

"Wuwuwu, this concubine... wuwuwu, this concubine... is deeply grateful for the Empress's concern."

Seeing Pan Yulian sobbing so brokenly that she could barely finish a sentence, Aunt Ling turned to the imperial physician nearby. "Physician Dong, how is Mistress Pan's injury?"

Physician Dong, who had not dared to lift his eyes since entering the hall, replied with his head lowered: "The Mistress twisted her ankle without any external cause... it truly requires complete rest." Seeing how desperately Pan Yulian seemed to yearn for the honor of attending the Emperor, he added, "The injury is not severe, but if she is not careful, a permanent weakness may set in, and such sprains could easily become a recurring ailment."

Upon hearing this, Pan Yulian wept even louder. In the palace, the consorts were selected from the noble daughters of various houses; even those who were not naturally gentle and graceful were expected to be dignified and self-restrained. Such women possessed their own pride and rarely wept in front of outsiders. Even in the worst of circumstances, they would wipe away their tears in near-total silence, refusing to let others make a spectacle of them. Seeing Pan Yulian lack even the slightest shred of decorum, weeping until her entire body trembled, Aunt Ling and Nanny Lian could only sigh and offer words of comfort.

To set her mind at ease, Aunt Ling turned the original purpose of her visit—to announce that Pan Yulian must study palace etiquette—into a pretext for consolation: "Mistress, please stop grieving. The other new ladies must study etiquette as well. At the very least, no one can attend the Emperor while they are in training for the next half-month, can they?"

Hearing this, Pan Yulian inwardly rolled her eyes. It was glaringly obvious that this was aimed directly at her. *Ugh, that old man, the Emperor, is truly annoying. It is a blessing that I do not have to serve him.*

Wailing and feigning reluctance, Pan Yulian finally saw Nanny Lian and Aunt Ling off. But these two were only the beginning; the side hall was soon flooded with waves of palace servants from various quarters, arriving with gifts and "inquiries" about her. Without exception, they all came to see what the "famous" Pan Yulian actually looked like.

It was no wonder; someone like Pan Yulian was quite the novelty—her beauty was aggressively out of place with "worldly elegance." She was known for the wild, unbridled reputation she had gained during the selection process. She was the first person in history to have publicly and fiercely scolded a fellow candidate until she wept. She was the unlucky punchline who had been injured on her very first day in the palace.

Leaving the side hall of the Lin-hua Palace along with these curious, slightly bewildered servants was a "Blue Bird."

[Rumor Bird (Unlocked at VIP Level 1) — Words in the palace are fearsome; Mistress may seize the advantage of public opinion through the Blue Bird.]

[Note: Palace intrigue mode includes spreading rumors (Unlocked at VIP Level 1) and framing others (Unlocked at VIP Level 3). Only one mode may be selected per month. This count does not accumulate and resets monthly.]

This bird had cost Pan Yulian 10,000 silver leaves. Beyond the silver leaves she had accumulated since activating the system, she had also spent 200 gold leaves to exchange for more. Originally, silver leaves could be earned by completing main story quests, but since the system's combat function was damaged, her means of obtaining resources for free had been cut off. Everything in the store required "paying to win," with 10 silver leaves costing 1 gold leaf.

She had purchased such an expensive bird immediately upon entering the palace because Pan Yulian felt guilty—she was terrified that the sharp-witted palace dwellers would see through her desperate attempt to avoid the Emperor's favor.

If Emperor Mingchong were the beloved protagonist of an original novel—a man as handsome as jade and as charming as a flower—Pan Yulian would never have gone to such lengths. Even if she shouted her desire to avoid him, she would surely be met with eye-rolls and mockery, ridiculed for being mentally ill or shamelessly pretentious.

But in this book, the Emperor was merely a low-tier, ugly, and superficial background character. To put it bluntly, cruelly, and dehumanizingly: Imperial heirs—the most important political resource a consort could gain after attending the Emperor, the primary proof for promotion, and the security for one's later years—were off the table. The Emperor was infertile. That crucial resource was simply non-existent. Secondly, the Emperor was genuinely unpleasant to look at, both old and ugly.

Facing that face day and night, Pan Yulian’s standards had been raised so high that she could not bring herself to look down. Those nightmares of him pressing down on her at night had become a lingering trauma. Unlike those concubines who would spend their entire lives in the palace, Pan Yulian had hope of leaving. If any one of her three "big shots" could succeed, she would be rescued from the imperial temple and live the rest of her life in comfort. That was why she refused to face the Emperor.

However, a creature like an emperor is invariably a sensitive, small-minded person. Imagine if the Emperor discovered that Pan Yulian dared to find him repulsive. How would a fragile, defensive Emperor treat her?

After much deliberation, Pan Yulian decided to be a "giant in words, but a dwarf in action." The Rumor Bird’s function was to release rumors and facilitate the spread of palace gossip. The beauty of it lay in the fact that her heart was not with the Emperor, and her desire to serve him was a lie. This perfectly matched the nature of rumors—which are, by definition, false.

Let the rumors fly. It would be best if the entire palace believed in Mistress Pan's "sincere and burning" heart for the Emperor.

Normally, the first three months after a new arrival are critical; the Bedchamber Bureau follows protocol by placing these concubines' name plates in the first volume, and the Emperor specifically flips through them. After that period, such treatment fades. With so many beauties in the palace, would the Emperor still remember who among the newcomers he had or hadn't slept with?

Imagine a greedy, shallow, airheaded beauty who, upon entering the palace, thinks only of serving the Emperor—so anxious she would drag her broken leg to attend him—yet constantly encounters various accidents. She waits in bitter tears, only to find the prospect of service hopeless, and finally fades into silence in the palace... Isn't that the best joke of all?

Let them laugh. Let them laugh. They laugh in front, and Pan Yulian laughs behind their backs. Yes, everyone is happy.