Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved
Chapter 312 You must compete for favor to avoid being humiliated

Chapter 312: Chapter 312 You must compete for favor to avoid being humiliated

Only a few months had passed, yet Yun Pin, once so bright and beautiful, now appeared somewhat withered and frail.

Though there were eunuchs and palace maids outside the hall, they all shirked their duties, only hurrying over to attend to matters when they saw someone approaching.

Jun Yuyan did not enter the hall, keeping his distance as was especially necessary between men and women within the palace.

"Princess Consort Ling?"

Yun Pin, delirious with illness and with cracked lips, when she saw Murong Jiu, thought she was dreaming.

"My Lady! This servant has brought Princess Consort Ling to see to your illness, please let Princess Consort Ling feel your pulse!"

The palace maid hurriedly exclaimed.

Murong Jiu approached, and as Yun Pin was so surprised she was about to sit up, Murong Jiu pressed her shoulders to make her lie down, only to realize upon touching her just how drastically thin Yun Pin had become.

"Consort Yun Pin, just lie down, I’ll have a look at you," she said.

She took Yun Pin’s pulse.

When she arrived, the palace maid called Gui Zhi had already roughly explained the situation.

Ever since her miscarriage, Yun Pin’s health had been poor. Combined with excessive grief, she was also plagued with unhappiness for a while. Initially, the Emperor would still visit her, sending gifts, but gradually, he seemed to forget about Yun Pin’s existence—not even visiting her, and probably not even remembering that she existed.

Yun Pin had her pride; she thought she had a relationship with the Emperor, but to her dismay, the Emperor had completely forgotten her. Out of anger, she stopped attending the palace banquets. As a result, the Emperor forgot about her even more. Seeing that their mistress had no chance of regaining favor, some of the eunuchs and palace maids ran off to serve in other palaces, leaving the rest to become idle and indolent.

Half a month ago, Yun Pin contracted a chill. It started with a cough, and she was almost better when one night, a palace maid shirked her duty and forgot to close the window, worsening Yun Pin’s illness significantly.

"It’s still the chill; you need to bring down the fever first, then take some medicine for a few days, and you will be fine. What plagues Consort Yun Pin most is sickness of the heart."

Murong Jiu took out some fever-reducing pills from her locked chest, and Gui Zhi hurriedly helped Yun Pin take them.

"Illness of the heart must be cured with medicine of the heart."

Yun Pin’s eyes reddened.

She dismissed everyone else out, leaving only Murong Jiu and the palace maid Gui Zhi.

"Princess Consort Ling, I regret it, I really should have fought for favor. Otherwise, otherwise Qing Zhi wouldn’t have died, and Gui Zhi wouldn’t have been bullied..."

Murong Jiu saw the slap mark on Gui Zhi’s face. She had asked about it earlier, and Gui Zhi merely said she had fallen.

As Yun Pin was as good as placed in the Cold Palace, her palace maids were naturally prone to bullying. For instance, when they went to fetch something, they would be ridiculed by eunuchs and maids from other palaces, which made them feel superior by contrast.

Murong Jiu did not ask how Qing Zhi had died, but Yun Pin, perhaps because she hadn’t had visitors for so long and felt an inexplicable trust in Murong Jiu, tearfully explained.

It turned out that Qing Zhi and Gui Zhi, both third-class palace maids in charge of cleaning, remained loyal to Yun Pin because they remembered her previous kindness, despite the disrespect from other maids. However, Qing Zhi had never returned from fetching Silver Thread Charcoal on a winter day.

Yun Pin had spent a lot of silver before finding out that Qing Zhi had accidentally stepped on the foot of a first-class palace maid from Consort Jing’s entourage. She was pushed harshly by the other and fell into the lake in the Imperial Garden. Since that palace maid just coldly observed without intervention, nobody dared to save her.

Qing Zhi couldn’t swim and, coupled with the cold winter days that froze the earth, she struggled for only a short while before sinking down. By the time she was dragged out of the water, her body was already stiff and purple from the cold. Consort Yun Pin and Gui Zhi didn’t even get a chance to see her corpse, as it was wrapped in a mat and quickly taken out of the palace.

"Qing Zhi’s entire family was gone. She fled to the Capital City and sold herself into the palace. I entered the palace with her at that time. Qing Zhi was like a sister to me and always protected me, but... but they wouldn’t give my sister Qing Zhi justice, they even said she accidentally fell into the lake on her own... She had no family and could only be thrown into the mass grave..."

Gui Zhi sobbed, so heartbroken that she almost fainted.

Murong Jiu quickly patted her back to prevent her from getting overly agitated and suffering from hyperventilation. She had seen such cases before; a woman argued with someone else so fiercely that she started breathing rapidly, her limbs twitched, and she became dizzy. The situation had improved only after acupuncture was administered to restore her breathing.

Consort Yun Pin also cried in sorrow, claiming that it was her fault that Qing Zhi had died.

Murong Jiu could only comfort her by saying, "The court is a place where people prey on each other. Consort Yun Pin, if you want to avenge Qing Zhi, you need to get better quickly and strive for the Emperor’s favor to teach those eunuchs and palace maids who bullied her a lesson. You must stand on your own."

Although she didn’t think Consort Yun Pin could truly win the Emperor’s favor, she needed to give her a goal; otherwise, the situation would only worsen, both in terms of health and circumstance.

What was the Emperor, this decrepit old man, worth, to make so many beautiful young girls compete for his favor? But that was the reality; without competing for favor, Consort Yun Pin would have a hard time finding a way to survive.

"In three days, it will be Consort Jing’s birthday banquet. All the concubines will attend, and if you can recover sooner, Consort Yun Pin, it will be the earliest opportunity for you to see our Emperor."

Murong Jiu didn’t truly wish for her to compete for favor so soon; she just hoped she would get well quickly.

Consort Yun Pin took the advice to heart and nodded earnestly: "Thank you, Princess Consort. I will remember your words. In the future, if I really manage to turn my life around, Princess Consort, should you need any help, I will do my utmost to assist!"

Murong Jiu encouraged her confidence, "Consort Yun Pin, you are someone blessed with good fortune. You will surely turn your life around, but..."

She whispered, "A woman should not fall in love too easily; it only leads to heartache and harm to one’s health."

Consort Yun Pin blinked in surprise, then nodded with red-rimmed eyes.

Indeed, she had entertained unrealistic thoughts about the Emperor. She became resentful in her heart when the Emperor didn’t visit her, not realizing that the Emperor had truly forgotten her.

The palace had many beautiful women, not just her. Imperial Noble Consort Qi, Consort Qin, were all stunningly beautiful. How could the Emperor remember them all?

In the end, the Emperor was a man without affection; his heart only knew Consort Jing.

This was not only known to others; Consort Yun Pin was well aware of it, too.

That was why the palace maids around Consort Jing were so bold and reckless with other people’s lives; it was tragic that Qing Zhi didn’t get to enjoy even a day of fortune with her.

Seeing that Consort Yun Pin’s condition was improving and she was regaining vitality, Murong Jiu prescribed a few medicines. She had Hong Yi personally rush to the Imperial Medical Office to fetch the medications and asked Gui Zhi to brew them for Consort Yun Pin to drink.

With a few days of medication, her illness should greatly improve.

Once out of the palace, Murong Jiu lamented, "Women in the harem are also pitiful. Father Emperor is a carefree person, yet he still covets pleasures of the flesh and admits new imperial maidens into the palace year after year."

Jun Yuyan hugged her into his arms, "Ah Jiu, don’t worry. Not everyone in the world is like Father Emperor. You are the only one for me, whether it has been in the past or will be in the future, we will be together for life, growing old together without parting."

Murong Jiu, reminded of Consort Yun Pin’s pallid and fragile appearance, said softly, "But in this world, no Emperor is without a harem."

"Then I shall be the first in this world."