The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 5, Pt 1 - Dim Sum

A female official beside Empress Wei raised her face and said, "It would be impolite for the imperial concubine to sit before the Empress Consort has spoken." The spoken words were a reprimand, but the tone of voice was somewhat unstable.

There was no need for Yuan Luo to open her mouth as Si Xi behind her shouted in a stern voice: "Shut your mouth! Our Empress has not yet spoken. Is it your turn as a servant to criticize?" The rules of etiquette are regarded as p in the eyes of her imperial consort.

The female officer didn’t dare to say anything more immediately as Yuan Luo’s hot ruthlessness was well-known throughout the imperial court. She just complained that she was fulfilling her duties as a court lady.

Yuan Luo smiled gently: "Seeing the Empress Consort enjoying the scenery here, I was momentarily curious, so I came to have a look."

While carefully examining Empress Wei’s appearance over a period of time, she couldn’t help but sigh.  She truly was a superb young beauty.

She was worthy of being the female lead!

That’s right, the Empress Wei in front of her was the female main of the original story. She remembered that in the later half of the first part of the story, the Beirong had invaded south and had even captured the capital. Sikong Lin had run off in a great panic and all the concubines in the harem had fallen into the hands of the barbarians, suffering the the most extensive humiliation, abuse, and even death.

Empress Wei was unique in her character in that she was ready to die to preserve her own chastity. After the city’s capture, she used a golden hairpin to destroy her own appearance. Even the barbarians were bowled over by her actions and did not mistreat her. Afterwards, Empress Wei took refuge in the cold palace and, after a period of difficulty, at last the male protagonist lead an army to recover the mountains and rivers.

Because Sikong Lin was dead, she was revered as the Empress Dowager and the male lead especially found a legendary magic potion of immortals to restore the young Empress Dowager’s peerless appearance.

The author hadn’t written the second part of the story yet, but Yuan Luo was roughly able to speculate that it ought to be about the happy life of the hegemonic and charming Empress Dowager.

Speaking of the female lead, in fact, Empress Wei had very few scenes in the first half of the story and  no where near as many as Yuan Luo, the traitorous concubine.

Yuan Luo seriously doubted that the original book had intended for there to be a female lead in the beginning at all. Later, following the male lead’s rapid promotions on the battlefield, the readers appealed that the male protagonist was surrounded by a socialist brotherhood and there was no girl in existence around him. The author then realized that the protagonist should have a wife and, all of a sudden, urgently found a female character from within the original work to promote as the female protagonist.

The young female characters in the original story were pitifully few. Other than Yuan Luo, the treacherous concubine, there was only the little white lotus flower, Empress Wei. She was noble born and respectable with a remarkably beautiful appearance. She was rejected by the Emperor and was living alone in the deep palace. Yup, she was completely in keeping with the typical straight man aesthetic.

Yuan Luo took her measure from top to bottom.  With the way she was looking at her, Empress Wei's heart felt nervous and she couldn't help but open her mouth: "I heard that imperial consort is seriously ill. I know not if you are feeling better now?"

"Many thanks, Imperial Consort, for caring about me. I am already quite well." Yuan Luo smiled.

Who is concerned about you. Just die of illness already. Empress Wei’s mouth twitched and there was a frosty arrogance in her big, beautiful eyes, but she said: "Then you also should properly take good care of your health. As it is bitterly cold, the imperial concubine should not blow cold air here." Hurry up and leave. I don’t want to see you.

Yuan Luo listened to the insincere words and wanted to laugh.

She put her hands on the table and, because the two were so close, they inadvertently touched each other’s fingers. The Imperial Consort had likely been sitting in the pavilion for a while, because her fingers were chilled.

At the exact moment their fingers made contact, Yuan Luo was surprised to hear a voice.

The protagonist's favorability, -87.

Yuan Luo: !!! What’s this situation? Isn’t it only the male lead who has such a thing as a favorability query? She had experimented with Si Xi before, but she hadn’t gotten a response.  Only touching Gu Yi had produced a favorability response. Now she could also check Empress Wei.

In other words, the female lead was also considered to be a protagonist. It’s no wonder that the mission conditions announced by the system before were to raise ‘a’ protagonist’s favorability to more than 80 points, which meant that both the male and female protagonists were entirely possible. Desperate to complete the first mission, Yuan Luo suddenly saw a glimmer of light and was almost moved to tears. Compared to Gu Yi, which was impossible to resolve, obviously Empress Wei’s side should be easier.

Wait a minute, just now the value was -87.

What’s the situation? She had killed Gu Yi’s entire family and had caused his life to hover on the brink of death, giving her a deep hatred value of -52. Since Empress Wei had entered the palace, there had been practically no intersection between them, but occasionally when they had met, she had lost face several times and she had already reached -87. This was indeed an absolutely irreconcilable value!

Yuan Luo looked at Empress Wei in shock. Had she inadvertently offended her by accident? Or was this inflexible girl just a chicken belly!

Empress Wei hung her head, making it impossible to see her expression. For a split second, Yuan Luo felt that she exuded an unpredictable and mysterious aura.

-87!

"This imperial concubine is bored in the palace all day long. If you’re fond of visiting the garden, would it not be better if we went together," Yuan Luo attempted as an opening. In order to cultivate feelings between two people, it is best to start from everyday contact.

"No. As it is bitterly cold today, the Imperial Garden has nothing good to see," Empress Wei flatly refused.

Nothing good. Have you stayed here for too long? There was a copper furnace under the table inside the pavilion and both of them were each also holding a hand stove, but Empress Wei’s tiny hands were still ice-cold. From this point of view, she speculated that Empress Wei ought to have been here for half an hour.

What's so nice about the scenery on this hill? Arranged on the table were two small boxes of dim sum. Yuan Luo conveniently picked up a piece of the flaky lotus pastry and threw it into her mouth. Facing her, Empress Wei was taken aback and moved as if she had wanted to prevent her, but was too late to do so. Aware of her failure, she quickly lowered her head.

After taking two bites, Yuan Luo’s expression became rather strange.

It was definitely crispy…...and also much too sweet, quite unbearably. There was also a hint of a tart flavoring.

"This is unpalatable!" she couldn’t help but complain.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Empress Wei’s delicate eyebrows furrowed opposite her.

Was she angry?

It’s nothing more than dim sum. Could it be that she somehow thought she was trying to deceive her?

Yuan Luo simply picked up a piece and moved it toward her lips. "You taste it."

There was some sympathy in her heart. The Empress Consort was not favored and even the dim sum delivered to her were perfunctory. The dim sum she had eaten at Zichen Palace these days were very good. However, behind the Imperial Consort was the Wei clan, who has the power to dominate the opposition. She ought not to have been this miserable…

Empress Wei looked at the dim sum placed in front of her face and, unable to avoid it, could only take a bite. Soon, with an incredible expression on her face, she chewed hard, spit it out, took another piece, and put it into her mouth.

Yuan Luo suddenly realized: "You made these?"

Empress Wei threw down the unpalatable dim sum and resolutely denied: "No!"

This hypocrisy is your work of art! As the Imperial Consort of the dynasty, you’re bored so your hobby is making dim sum? This hobby is that of a little girl. Yuan Luo looked at the surrounding environment and abruptly came to a realization.

What a girl! She hasn't even entered Gong Dou thinking yet.