Chapter 36 (None)
According to custom, concubines summoned by the emperor for his favor must dress up in their finest attire.
Jiang Ling was like a puppet, letting Wen Juan and A Ruo do her hair and change her clothes.
Aruo was overjoyed. She rummaged through all the clothes in the trunk and held them up in front of Jiang Ling, intending to choose the most beautiful one.
Unfortunately, last year's winter clothes are already half worn out. This year's are newer, and since I was promoted to a higher rank, I received an additional monthly allowance, so I only have five sets in total.
Aruo could not hide her disappointment. After tossing and turning for a long time, she chose a light blue jacket with a front opening and helped Jiang Ling change into it.
Wenjuan deftly tied her hair into a bun, glancing at Jiang Ling in the bronze mirror from time to time, her eyes filled with worry.
"Is my beauty satisfied with what she has to say?" Wenjuan asked softly with a smile.
"Satisfied," Jiang Ling said without even looking up.
Wen Juan paused slightly, her expression hesitant. She asked A'ruo to go and greet Huang Liangzhang, the clerk, and finally mustered her courage to whisper, "Is something on your mind, my beauty?"
"No." Jiang Ling stood up, with a resolute determination, and walked outside.
Her thoughts were too complex to be explained in a few words. Wenjuan might not understand; in fact, she herself was also in a state of confusion.
Upon seeing Jiang Ling emerge, Huang Liang and Zhang Lushi hurriedly rose to their feet. Wen Juan presented him with two purses, smiling, "Thank you both for your hard work."
Jiang Ling lowered his head and walked out, trying his best not to listen to their small talk.
A chill was in the air, and the night sky was filled with countless stars, their light shimmering and shifting. Such a dazzling starry night was rarely seen in the past.
Jiang Ling had no interest in appreciating it; she felt as if the stars were watching a joke. She was like a dish served on a beautiful plate, presented to Emperor Yuanming for his enjoyment.
Wen Juan was shrewd in her dealings with people; she took the money and rewarded Huang Liangzhang, the clerk. It was as if even her dish required money to be served to Emperor Yuanming.
You bastard!
Jiang Ling cursed all the way into Qionghua Pavilion, where Emperor Yuanming was leaning back comfortably on the couch, holding a teacup and drinking tea.
The room was warm and cozy, with wintersweet in a vase in the corner, its refreshing fragrance filling the air.
Jiang Ling lowered her eyes and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Majesty, I greet you."
"Please sit down," Emperor Yuanming said, bowing his head to drink his tea.
"Why is she so quiet?" Emperor Yuanming was prepared for her to ramble on and on, but to his surprise, she remained silent.
For some reason, Emperor Yuanming felt inexplicably uneasy. He lifted his eyelids to look and saw that she had thanked him and sat down, her hands resting on her knees, gentle and obedient, still silent.
He coughed slightly and ordered, "Serve the meal."
Huang Liang went out and soon led the eunuchs and maids, carrying hot water towels and food boxes, back in one after another.
After Emperor Yuanming washed his hands, he took the handkerchief and wiped them. He glanced sideways at Jiang Ling, whose hands were in a silver basin, her slender fingers interlacing and rubbing together, her head lowered, revealing a section of her snow-white neck.
"You only dipped your hands in water to wash them, why didn't you just spit on them and wipe them? How dirty!"
Having finally heard her heartfelt words, Emperor Yuanming would rather be deaf. With a blank expression, he threw the handkerchief into the silver basin and sat down at the table.
Huang Liang led the eunuchs forward to serve the meal, and he raised his hand and said, "All of you, leave."
To prevent her from secretly mocking him later, it turns out the emperor eats and uses the toilet himself.
Huang Liang led the palace maids and eunuchs out, and the room became quiet. Emperor Yuanming glanced at Jiang Ling, who was sitting upright, picked up the pot and poured half a cup of wine, saying, "It's cold in winter, have some warm wine to ward off the cold."
The wine pot was soaking in hot water, and Jiang Ling had already smelled the aroma of yellow wine. She poured a full cup, and after Emperor Yuanming took a sip, she turned to the side, raised her sleeve to slightly cover her mouth, and drank the wine in one gulp.
The yellow wine was sweet and delicious. Jiang Ling sipped his lips and poured himself another cup. On the table were steamed lamb, honey-roasted goose, steamed fish, crystal stew, golden jade soup, melon salad, and other dishes, a beautiful and plentiful feast.
Jiang Ling only ate two bites of the steamed fish and melon salad, ignoring everything else. He put down his chopsticks, picked up his wine glass, and drank every last drop of wine.
She can only handle one bottle of beer, and she has excellent drinking manners; after getting drunk, she doesn't make a fuss and just falls asleep.
Shaoxing wine has a strong aftereffect. After two cups, Jiang Ling estimated that he was almost done drinking and quietly waited for the effects of the alcohol to kick in.
"Don't eat too fast, have some vegetables first." Emperor Yuanming looked closely at Jiang Ling, finally disregarding the rule of not speaking while eating or sleeping, and frowned as he reminded him.
Jiang Ling silently put down the wine pot, picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of fish, cursing inwardly: "Look at that stingy guy! I've come all this way to sleep with you, what's wrong with me drinking a few cups of your wine? You can't tell me whether I eat the food or not. If I don't like it, I won't eat it!"
Despite her secret machinations, he wanted to sleep with her. With the magnanimity of an emperor, he didn't hold it against her.
Bai Ri had promised not to mistreat her and had summoned her to his bedchamber to bestow honor upon her, but she was ungrateful!
The imperial harem was filled with concubines, all vying for the emperor's favor. He was the emperor; for her, to have his way with her was the greatest honor. What did he care what she thought?
Emperor Yuanming, his face ashen, poured himself a cup of wine and swallowed it down angrily. His good intentions were wasted; he ignored her and let her eat. He wanted to see just how much she could manage!
Jiang Ling waited for the effects of the wine to take hold, but found herself perfectly clear-headed. After a while, she suddenly realized what was happening and poured herself another cup.
Just because she used to have a low alcohol tolerance doesn't mean she has a low alcohol tolerance now.
Jiang Ling sipped his wine, pondering, when a thought suddenly popped into his head: "No, I have to sleep with him! I'll sleep with him!"
Now that things have come to this, it doesn't matter whether Emperor Yuanming is clean or not. She has never thought that love between men and women is a shameful thing; she takes the initiative and enjoys it like a man.
Emperor Yuanming had just taken a sip of wine when he was so shocked by her that he spat it out and coughed loudly. Huang Liang, who was outside, heard this and rushed to the door, peering inside before hurrying in and anxiously asking, "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Should I summon the imperial physician?"
Jiang Ling was also startled, looking at Emperor Yuanming with a bewildered expression, thinking to himself, "What a weakling, he can choke on a sip of wine. Huang Liang is also quite funny, acting like he's seriously ill and needs to call the imperial physician. Heh heh, he needs to call the imperial physician to fix his brain."
Emperor Yuanming was so angry he wanted to strangle Jiang Ling, but she provoked him, and he said in a deep voice, panting, "Bring another table of food and wine, and warm up a few more pots of wine!"
He wanted to see what she was capable of, how much alcohol she could drink, and wait for her to sleep with him!
Seeing that Emperor Yuanming was angry, Huang Liang didn't dare to utter a sound, bowed and withdrew, and hurriedly called the eunuchs to prepare wine and dishes.
Soon, Emperor Yuanming's table was once again filled with wine and dishes. He glanced sideways at Jiang Ling and said, "Come sit down, I'll have a few drinks with you."
Jiang Ling cursed under his breath and, as ordered, sat down next to Emperor Yuanming. He raised his chin and said sternly, "Pour the wine."
"You have long hands, are you only using them to pick your nose?" Jiang Ling poured wine politely, cursing inwardly.
Emperor Yuanming gasped for breath, staring intently at Jiang Ling, and said sarcastically, "This face is just like the one of those opera singers on stage, it's really ugly."
The room was warm from the underfloor heating. Jiang Ling guessed that the makeup on her face had smudged, so she raised her hand to touch it and then picked up a handkerchief to wipe it off.
"Hey, don't move." Emperor Yuanming grabbed Jiang Ling's sleeve, leaned closer, and carefully examined the floral decoration between her eyebrows.
"What is this?" Emperor Yuanming saw the protruding red envelope and reached out to touch it.
Jiang Ling subconsciously turned her head away and said, "Your Majesty, I have pimples on my face..." A thought suddenly struck her, and she quickly stepped back, saying with trepidation, "I am unwell, and my face is unsightly. I shouldn't have concealed it. Please forgive me, Your Majesty..."
"Sit still!" Emperor Yuanming said with a half-smile.
She shouldn't even think about making excuses; she's treating this mere pimple as if it were an incurable disease.
Jiang Ling was extremely frustrated and could only go back to sit down and pick up a handkerchief to continue wiping.
Emperor Yuanming looked at her brow and couldn't help but say, "Keep it, it will cover up your indecent appearance."
Though her mind was shallow and uncultured, her appearance was truly beautiful. Wiping away the rouge and powder from her face revealed her naturally fair and delicate features, which, combined with the floral decoration between her brows, made her as beautiful as a plum blossom blooming in the snow.
Jiang Ling put away the handkerchief, lowered her eyes, and muttered under her breath, "Please, go look in the mirror. Look at your appearance! If you weren't the emperor, you wouldn't be able to find a wife in our village!"
Emperor Yuanming was always confident; he was a man of extraordinary bearing, how could he be swayed by her few words? However, her father had served as a county magistrate for many years, and she was born and raised in the county government office—where did this talk of her being from a village come from?
Thinking that she always talked nonsense, Emperor Yuanming quickly dispelled his doubts and asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly develop pimples on your face?"
If Jiang Ling were to tell the truth that it was because she ate too much sugar, he would probably laugh at her. She chuckled awkwardly and said vaguely, "I don't know either, I just suddenly gave birth."
Seeing her guilty look, Emperor Yuanming knew perfectly well that she was lying. He graciously refrained from calling her out, picked up his wine cup, and said, "The food and wine are getting cold; let's eat quickly."
Jiang Ling chuckled; his initiative to drink was exactly what she wanted. She picked up the wine, drank it down in one gulp, then lowered the cup, saying, "Your Majesty, I have finished drinking."
Not to be outdone, Emperor Yuanming also raised his head and finished his drink. The two secretly competed, drinking back and forth, and soon both jugs of wine were empty.
The effects of the alcohol finally took hold. Jiang Ling's eyes turned red, her body felt hot, and she felt a little lightheaded, smiling uncontrollably.
Emperor Yuanming was a frequent drinker with an excellent capacity for alcohol. However, he was very health-conscious and had never drunk so much as he had tonight. His head began to feel heavy, and he knew he was getting drunk. He stared at Jiang Ling, threw down his wine cup, and said, "It's getting late, let's rest."
Jiang Ling smiled and said "good," thinking happily, "weakling!"
Emperor Yuanming gritted his teeth, suppressing the raging fire in his heart, and summoned Huang Liang into the room to serve him.
I'll deal with her later, I'll make her cry and scream!
The palace maids in charge of the bedchamber had already made the bed, and another maid led Jiang Ling to wash up. When she came out after washing, Emperor Yuanming was already lying on his side on the bed. His inner robe was half open, and a strand of hair fell onto his exposed skin.
"Didn't he wash?" Jiang Ling's eyes widened, staring intently at him.
Emperor Yuanming ignored her and waved away the serving maids, saying displeasedly, "What are you still standing there for?"
Jiang Ling walked step by step towards the dragon bed, lifted the footstool, and looked down. Finally, she saw his slightly damp hair and breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, he washed up..."
Suddenly, her vision blurred, and she collapsed onto the bed.
Emperor Yuanming could no longer bear to listen and reached out to pull her onto the bed. The moment he raised his hand, everything went black, and she had already pressed herself against him.
"Great..." Emperor Yuanming blurted out a curse, but quickly stopped himself. His eyes gleamed, unable to conceal his anticipation.
Jiang Ling couldn't let him only care about his own pleasure; she wanted absolute control. She didn't hold back, first checking his basic condition.
Neither good nor bad.
Being picky was useless, so Jiang Ling could only make do and hope that he could make up for it with skill and endurance.
Emperor Yuanming's breathing became heavy, the alcohol mingling with excitement, his mind completely out of control. In a daze, his head followed Jiang Ling's lead and sank deep into the ground.
On the spacious dragon bed, the bedding was in disarray, and on the foot of the bed lay a pile of the torn silk undergarments of Emperor Yuanming.
Emperor Yuanming was so overjoyed that his internal organs were clamoring. He stared intently at the top of the tent, trembling and breathing heavily.
Jiang Ling sat up, rummaged through the bedding to find his undergarments and put them on. He got out of bed and slipped on his shoes, but Emperor Yuanming reached out and pulled him back.
"It's cold at night, you should rest here." Having never experienced such a satisfying night with the emperor, Emperor Yuanming was very reluctant to let her leave.
After serving the emperor, the concubines had to return to their own palaces. Rules were rules, but ultimately, the emperor had the final say.
Jiang Ling withdrew her arm without changing her expression and said, "Your Majesty, this is against the rules. I shall take my leave." She curtsied and walked briskly to the washroom to wash and dress.
The palace and the court are currently in turmoil, and there is still no news about the death of Consort Fang Si Deng.
Emperor Yuanming put her in charge of the Imperial Bedchamber Bureau, showering her with rewards and favors. At first glance, she seemed to have become the most favored person.
Favored concubines rarely meet a good end, let alone someone who was only in name.
At this time of day, Jiang Ling would usually be asleep. The effects of the alcohol had worn off somewhat, and she was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyelids open.
His previous performance was mediocre, and the emperor's domineering aura did not help him to display his imperial power.
Judging from the situation, she is willing but unable to recover and will need at least one or two hours to recover. It's not worth her staying.
Emperor Yuanming stared blankly at Jiang Ling's departing figure, a thought popping into his mind.
He really slept with her!
Once she put on her clothes, she wouldn't recognize anyone!
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