The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 10, Pt 2 - Kunning Palace

Feeling depressed for nearly half a day, Yuan Luo put aside her prior concerns.

After eating lunch, she ordered Si Xi to summon the palace artisan workshop’s chief eunuch. A few nights ago, Yuan Luo had discovered that Sikong Lin’s playful life was really not healthy.

It was really not a good thing for a teenager whose mental and physical development were both immature, especially with a limited IQ, to have the right to control life and death.

According to his intellectual age, Yuan Luo tried to recall the developmental toys she knew from her previous life for kindergarten and elementary school children, especially those educational games that cultivate intelligence and judgment. She summoned a dozen master artisans and talked about several designs for playing equipment.

In this era, the artisan workshops in the palace are all very talented. They quickly understood Yuan Luo's ideas and drew design drawings on the spot.

Yuan Luo pointed out a few modifications. She then asked them to go back, consider carefully, and make samples.

Afterward, she summoned master painters. She chose a few dozen bright and colorful drawings with clear brushstrokes and ordered them to simplify the historical books and classical stories. She wanted them to draw atlases.

These were ancient versions of picture book stories. Yuan Luo later planned to prepare, according to what she could recall from her previous life, a selection of a few suitable stories for children and draw a book to guide Sikong Lin study every day.

While his innate intelligence was low, it could still be improved after standard guidance and education.

She also wasn't seeking to teach Sikong Lin so as to push herself forward and make herself into someone worthy of respect as a knowledgeable, talented person. If only in a few years she could nurture him toward being a person with the three correct outlooks, it would be sufficient.

She had been extremely busy with these projects for several days. During occasional breaks, Yuan Luo sighed ruefully. This was not the rhythm of being the Emperor's imperial concubine, but the rhythm of being the Emperor's mother!

In addition to educational toys and picture books, these past few days she has also directed the small kitchen and prepared several kinds of snacks.

It could only be said that the royal family was worthy of the royal family. She had thought that there were no food additives from her world and that some of the snacks would be difficult to replicate, but the palace’s culinary master, after listening to the taste and shape described by Yuan Luo, simply made what she wanted.

On the tray were twelve delicate, crystal flowers, which were bright in color, vivid in appearance, and gave off a sweet scent.

She picked up a delicate, pink peach blossom. It had soft flexible petals made of milk skin and the surface was sprinkled with pink sugar powder. Taking a bite, it gave off a strong, concentrated milky fragrance. Inside the milk skin there was a layer of sweetened bean paste and wrapped inside the sweet bean paste there was a delicious, salted egg yolk.

These twelve cakes were all similar to the flaky pastry goods with egg yolk created by internet celebrities from her world. Owing to the exquisite workmanship of the chef, they smelled, looked, and tasted far beyond the assembly line products which her generation could make.

These days, under Yuan Luo's guidance, many varieties of egg tarts, French fries, milk tea, lobster crisps, sponge cakes, and honey-glazed pork jerky were all placed in front of her. Even things like butter were made by a pastry chef, who normally used fresh milk to make cheese, he simply used the leftover whey to make butter. Although the butter wasn’t as smooth as what she was familiar with in her old world, it was basically usable and all the snacks were made with pure natural ingredients, which had a distinctly fresh flavor.

In addition to enjoying all these various kinds of snacks herself, the main thing was to provide them for Sikong Lin, while guiding him toward changing his manner of play. Various game instruments made in the artisan workshop have also been released successfully one after the other. Now every night Yuan Luo was able to have Sikong Lin play useful games as well as read books and study literature.

It was more tiring than raising children!

One day, she took a break from her busy schedule and tasted a rose crisp newly made by the imperial kitchen. The sweet and sour taste made Yuan Luo comfortably squint while she rested on the soft couch in the side palace hall.

Bright sunlight came in through the windows.

She remembered reading a Gong Dou story before that imperial concubines of the palace went to the Empress' palace to pay respect to her every morning. As an imperial concubine, she had never been to Kunning Palace once in the all days she'd been here.

She recalled the last time she had parted from Empress Wei was on bad terms. Yuan Luo found someone to lead her to Empress Wei's palace.

Kunning Palace was due north, not far from Zichen Palace.

Without needing to pass by female officials outside the palace hall, Yuan Luo went into the palace's main hall.

Previously, she had already been aware that in Sikong Lin’s harem, excluding herself, there were twenty or thirty imperial concubines who had entered the palace according to tradition after he had wed his wife. The harem was practically divided in half by aristocratic and poor family representation, ranging from the four high rank concubines to the lowest ranked beauties.

Since entering the palace, with the exception of Empress Wei, none of these people had basically ever seen Sikong Lin.

In the beginning, there were imperial concubines who wanted to challenge Yuan Luo's favor and fight for their own futures. They used small tricks such as garden encounters and the like, but under Yuan Luo’s cruel suppression and Sikong Lin’s heavy hand, the many imperial concubines rapidly gave in.

Justifiably, since none of them received favor, they all stopped. Every day they would go to Empress Wei’s courtyard and gather together in mass to talk and live peacefully.

When Yuan Luo stepped into the back hall of Kunning Palace, there were more than two dozen charming and agreeable girls talking and laughing. The atmosphere was harmonious and peaceful. A woman in a deep green palace dress sitting on the Empress’ right side, the seat of honor, apparently had just finished telling a joke. Even Empress Wei was smiling.

This scene fully demonstrated a harmonious and stable harem where the concubines were united around a small lead group in whose center was Empress Wei.

But this harmony was quickly interrupted by Yuan Luo, an unexpected guest.

Everyone stood one after the other. Even Empress Wei was astonished, but she did not get up. Instead she stared at Yuan Luo warily.

Yuan Luo smiled at Empress Wei, glanced around, and immediately discovered that, although the hall was spacious, a seat had not been reserved for her as an imperial concubines.

A woman in a dark green palace dress sitting on the Empress’ left side, the other seat of honor, stood up awkwardly: "Empress Concubine." The position in which she sat should have been Yuan Luo's logically, but Yuan Luo never went to visit Kunning Palace to pay respects, therefore, everyone automatically ignored her existence.

Only imperial concubine Zhuo Ying Ying, who was one of the four concubines of the highest rank, could sit in this position.

The Zhuo family was an aristocratic family, the hereditary Count of Huai’an. Zhuo Ying Ying's father was the current commander of the Five Cities soldiers and horses. Among the concubines from aristocratic family, her background was not considered to be distinguished and her appearance was not outstanding. She was able to occupy the position of an imperial concubine due to her reputation. Previously, she had waited upon her paternal grandmother for ten years at home. During which time she didn’t change to new clothing often, nor did she hesitate to delay her own marriage. She was well-known in the Capital as a very filial daughter.

She was also the oldest of the concubines in the harem. She acted calmly and steadily. She immediately gave up her seat and entreated Yuan Luo to take her seat.

Yuan Luo smiled and said, "Concubine Shu, sit. This palace is not fond of scrambling over a lower leader’s position."

Obviously the four concubines were all the same, but to be called a lower leader, the smile on Concubine Shu's face stiffened.

Si Xi took an idle palace maid and moved a chair from the back, placing it right next to Empress Wei’s side.

Numerous concubines watched this behavior, which exceeded etiquette, but each and every one remained as quiet as a chicken[1].

Empress Wei's face was very ugly, but this time it was Kunning Palace that was in the wrong first. She was unable to take advantage of the situation if she really wanted to make trouble, so she could only watch Yuan Luo helplessly.


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TN:
[1] Okay, anyone who has ever raised or been around chickens for any length of time would read this sentence and shake their head. There is likely a nuance that I’m missing, but chickens are far from being quiet at any time unless they’re asleep.