Chapter 28 Playing the Part: Only the most favored could enter and leave the council chamber…
He must have been planning this for a long time, only starting to act after his fiancée appeared. It wasn't to "compete" with his fiancée for her affections, but rather because he only had time to begin after the zombie outbreak ended.
Of course, he didn't want his fiancée to get close to me either. In his eyes, she was a spy, and I was too stupid to be easily tricked into revealing anything. He wouldn't let such a high-risk thing happen.
He's with me every night now. He sleeps in the bed, and I sleep on the floor.
I made a makeshift bed on the floor with my mattress and blankets, while he elegantly drew the heavy bed curtains, covering me completely, and slept soundly.
During the day, he accompanied me to the Imperial Study and the Stone Hall to "participate in politics," thus solidifying his reputation as the "chief mistress."
Only the most favored mistresses were allowed to enter and leave the political arena, while the newly arrived fiancées were treated as neglected decorations.
***
The snow that had been falling for days and nights finally stopped, and pale sunlight shone through the dense foliage into the long, dark corridor.
But the air was still cold, and all the maids who had to pass through the corridor wore thick hooded robes that covered even the back of their necks.
A group of maids in long hats were escorting a woman in a luxurious black fox fur coat down the corridor when a beautiful young girl in a white fox fur cloak came towards them.
"Good morning, Mrs. Lana," the beautiful young woman greeted her.
The maids were all startled, for they were surrounding the chief mistress. No matter how noble her status or how much the lord favored her, she was still just a mistress, and the principal wife would not deign to greet her.
The beautiful young woman before him was the lord's fiancée, Aife, who was essentially his legal wife.
The chief mistress stopped in her tracks. "Good morning."
The maids were startled again; the chief mistress's response was far too cold, especially considering the other woman was the legal wife.
But the real lady didn't mind at all, and even showed a bright smile, "Your makeup is so beautiful, unlike me who can't even apply foundation properly."
The maids chuckled inwardly, mocking the chief mistress for being less attractive than she was, who couldn't even apply foundation properly, despite her beautiful makeup.
It is obvious that, in terms of appearance, the legitimate wife is far superior.
But when it came to cunning, the maids didn't know whether the chief mistress was far superior to the legitimate wife, so they watched with bated breath.
This was the first time Bernard had ever encountered a woman like this. Although he had grown up in the court and witnessed countless women vying for favor, he had never gotten involved. Firstly, he was often sent out for training, which was ostensibly for training but in reality for being kicked around; secondly, he disdained to pay attention to women's tricks.
He curled his lips into a smile and said, "Ariel, go back to your room and bring me my foundation to give to Miss Aifu. My foundation is a high-end product that the lord specially sent people to purchase."
Is this a veiled criticism that the wife's foundation isn't as good as the mistress's?
A maid named Ari responded and stepped forward, then turned and walked in another direction.
“Thank you very much,” Eve said, not minding the obvious sarcasm at all. “You’re so kind.” She smiled and tried to take Bernard’s arm. “I have some nice things too. I’ll give you whichever one you like.”
Unexpectedly, Bernard suddenly pulled his arm back, almost causing her to fall.
Bernard disliked being touched by others; his body had changed, but his habits remained the same.
Ai's two maids quickly helped her up, their faces showing displeasure.
"It's alright." After regaining her balance, Aifu smiled gracefully. "It's fine if Madam doesn't want to go. Maybe next time. Thank you for the foundation, Madam."
Bernard looked at her coldly. "Goodbye."
His seductive acts were only for the lord; he had no patience for other women.
The chief mistress's arrogance and rudeness and the legitimate wife's sweet charm quickly spread.
While I was in the Imperial Study reviewing documents for the upcoming meeting, I discovered that the territory was facing three crises:
First, there's the snow disaster. Years of heavy snow have caused countless civilians to starve to death. Even though Bernot has potato and sweet potato seeds that can be grown without sunlight, the yield is limited and can only alleviate part of the local disaster, which is also hiding a zombie crisis.
Secondly, as long as the virus exists, there is a possibility that the zombie crisis will break out again, and suspicious signs have recently appeared around the cesspool.
Thirdly, there is the crisis of Roxi. Secret agents have reported that Roxi has been in close contact with the capital recently and seems to be showing signs of making trouble.
When the head maid reported the incident in the hallway to me, I was a little annoyed. "Don't bother me with these trivial matters anymore."
I'm so busy and overwhelmed, I don't have time to deal with such trivial matters.
No wonder men are generally impatient with women's jealousy and rivalry; I am one of them.
The high-level meeting began quickly. This was the first meeting since the zombie outbreak. Senior generals and castle officials had all arrived at the Imperial Study early. Just as I was about to announce the start, the door was suddenly pushed open, and my chief mistress, dressed in a gorgeous rose-colored long dress, swept in like a whirlwind. Under the stares of several pairs of eyes, she sat seductively on my lap, wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed my lips, murmuring:
"My lord, I cannot leave you for a moment."
I was both embarrassed and anxious, trying to avoid his kiss, but he was prepared.
He kissed me with great skill, his tongue curling around my teeth, his lips pressing firmly against mine, making it impossible to push him away.
This guy is a master kisser; I'm speechless with frustration.
He kissed me for a long time before reluctantly letting go, and then licked my lips again, still not satisfied.
I was stunned, but he said with an innocent and coquettish look, "My lord, I missed you."
She sat on my lap and refused to get down.
No matter how much I pleaded with him in a low voice, he just held tightly to my neck, whimpering and refusing to get down.
The others blushed and looked at each other in bewilderment.
Seeing him playing with my long hair, looking alluring and determined to stay, the youngest, Byrne, coughed twice and cleared his throat. "My lord, why don't we begin now?"
I reckon the mistress won't leave anytime soon.
No one else had any objections, but it shouldn't be a problem since it was just a woman.
The meeting resumed, and I was surprised to find that he immediately perked up his ears in my arms—though he pretended to flirt with me, twirling my long hair around his fingers, his mind was actually on the meeting.
“My lord, we caught a few spies yesterday,” Byrne spoke first. “They sneaked into the lowest latrine while the guards were on duty, acting suspiciously. A passing servant spotted them and quickly reported to the attendant, who soon apprehended them and handed them over to my subordinates. My lord, Rosie’s gang is still up to no good and may make a move.”
I understood what he meant. Just as I was about to suggest increasing manpower for defense and studying countermeasures, the person in my arms pinched the inside of my arm. It hurt so much that I almost cried, but I held back.
After waiting a while, seeing that I didn't say anything, Bourne stepped aside.
People speak according to their rank.
Byrne stepped forward first. “My lord, the snow disaster is getting worse. The food stored in the warehouses specifically for civilians is about to run out, and the new potatoes and sweet potatoes have not yet grown. Please instruct your subordinates on how to deploy them as soon as possible.”
I didn't say anything unless Bernard pinched me.
This problem is difficult to solve.
Bourne stepped aside.
The castle steward stepped forward, bowed, and said, “My lord, the zombie outbreak was caused by the toilet pipes and cesspools in the castle. So I specially found some agile young men to clean the pipes and sent dozens of cleaners to clean the cesspools. As a result, we found that there were still a few dung-eating ants in the pipes and that there was also newly grown green grass in the cesspools.”
Everyone's expression changed drastically. The zombie outbreak had killed many; another one would wipe out the entire castle!
I remained calm. I had already learned about this from the documents I had submitted in advance.
I wanted to say something, like about burning it, but my arm was pinched hard.
I was in so much pain I almost cried out, but I held back and didn't say anything.
The atmosphere in the imperial study immediately became heavy. A quarter of an hour later, another general stepped forward and said that according to the latest intelligence, Luo Xi had close ties with the capital, exchanging letters every three days, and suspected that another conspiracy was brewing.
They whispered among themselves for a while, but didn't come to any conclusion.
I was about to say a few polite words when my arm was pinched a few times, so I didn't dare to speak.
After the meeting, only my chief mistress and I remained in the imperial study.
“I don’t usually speak during meetings in the study,” the chief mistress said lazily, occupying the entire armchair. “Afterwards, I will distribute the proposed solutions to the generals and supervisors.”
"Is remaining silent to maintain the lord's mystique and authority?"
He stared at me lazily. "I didn't want to answer, but I explained it to you to avoid you being exposed. The study meeting is a small meeting, only high-ranking personnel can attend; the stone hall meeting is a large meeting, where generals and supervisors of all levels will be present. Small meetings usually discuss things that are inconvenient to mention in large meetings, such as dung beetles and green grass, to prevent rumors and unnecessary panic. Solving important problems is not something that can be answered immediately. Even if you have the answer in your mind, you need to consider it further to ensure it is watertight."
"oh."
Even if you have a perfect answer, you should tell me afterward.
"Why?"
"To prevent perfection from being imperfect."
Are all conferences in your country like this?
"No, it's just my meeting."
This is a nitpicky, perfectionist person. Such people are difficult to get along with, regardless of gender.
My head feels like it's going to double in size.
Looking at his own face, I felt like I didn't recognize him at all.
I believe he felt the same way—looking at me, he didn't recognize his own face at all.
We were busy in the Imperial Study all day, from day to evening, and from evening to midnight. If the head maid hadn't insisted that I rest, we probably would have been busy until dawn.
I jumped up and down the tall bookshelves to take down the books or documents I wanted, all sorts of information about the local customs, history, and castles of this territory.
I moved these things to the armchair, piling them up high, and sat on the carpet, flipping through them one by one.
He sat at his enormous desk, reviewing each document and occasionally writing something. The documents were piled up like a small mountain, obscuring half of his face.
Most of the time we don't talk.
He's busy with his thing, and I'm busy with mine.
Occasionally I would ask him a few questions about the weather and harvest here, and he would give a simple answer: "Before the snow disaster, the weather here was hot and it rarely rained. The land was very barren, but it was slightly better than it is now. At least what we planted could yield a harvest. Even if the harvest was not much, it was enough to fill our stomachs, but don't expect to pay taxes."
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