Chapter Ninety-Five: A World Apart in Treatment

“Your Majesty, what is the matter?”

Seeing her on the verge of collapse, Suxin grew a little frightened and hurriedly reached out to support her.

“I’m all right. Let me calm myself and think about what ridiculous thing I have done.”

Huarong shook her head. The sick, twisting feeling in her chest was impossible to ignore, as though she had swallowed a mouthful of mustard.

At least she now sat upright, her hands folded together. Like a cultivator in deep meditation, she drew breath from her lower abdomen up to her chest, then slowly inhaled and exhaled.

Suxin watched beside her, utterly bewildered. “Your Majesty, what are you doing? It looks so mysterious. You’re not practicing some sinister art, are you? We may need to compete for the emperor’s favor, but we can’t go down crooked paths!”

Though she had calmed a little, Huarong still felt that something was not right. Opening her eyes, she cast a sharp glance at Suxin. “Wait. Have you been reading lately?”

She had heard that Suxin had even been willing to spend a little money to buy a few books from someone in private.

At the time she had not paid attention, but now, seeing Suxin acting so oddly, she could not help suspecting her.

At that, Suxin’s expression changed slightly. She shook her head vigorously. “How could that be? This servant has no such hobby. I only know how to eat, drink, and enjoy myself in ordinary days!”

“Enough nonsense. Hand them over.”

Huarong held out her hand. Clearly, there was no room for negotiation.

In the end, Suxin could only produce all the things she had hidden away. “Your Majesty, though these did not cost much, they are all treasured copies of this servant’s collection. Please do not be angry after reading them…”

“Fine, enough talk. Give them here.”

Seeing Suxin’s reluctant look, Huarong did not bother being polite. She simply snatched the books away.

It was one thing not to look, and another to be startled by what she saw.

“What on earth are these?!”

A closer look made her blink in disbelief.

“How to Be a Virtuous Wife. How to Win a Man’s Heart.”

“What kind of books are these? Why are they such a mess? You’ve been studying this sort of thing all this time?”

Huarong had never dreamed that her little palace maid possessed such a lofty spirit. And she was actually interested in these things.

Faced with Huarong’s shocked expression, Suxin pouted, looking both aggrieved and helpless. “You said just now that you wouldn’t be angry…”

“All right, I’m not angry. Explain yourself. Who are you secretly pining for?”

Huarong sighed. No wonder Suxin had been spouting so much poisonous advice by her ear all this time; so she had learned it from these books. If only she could find the author, Huarong truly wanted to drag the fellow out and beat him senseless.

Writing books and leading innocent girls astray.

“Your Majesty, this servant is not reading them for myself, but for your sake and the emperor’s. What is written inside really does make sense. It says that if you want to capture a man’s heart, first capture his stomach; it also says men like delicate, dainty women…”

“That is enough!”

If she went on, Huarong felt she might retch. What sort of nonsense was this?

She gathered up the books, then removed a hairpin from her own hair. “Forget about reading these books. I don’t want them to lead you astray. Consider this hairpin payment for the books. I’ll have these things dealt with later.”

With that, she took the books and walked off.

Suxin stood there, thoroughly vexed, and still could not help saying, “Your Majesty, those books are good things! Most of what’s in them has been tried by someone before, and it works very well…”

Huarong was walking too quickly to know whether she had heard. Even if she had, she would likely have taken it in through one ear and let it out the other.

Looking at the golden hairpin left on the table, one could say it was worth a fortune, but Suxin did not care for it at all.

Turning it over in her hand for a moment, she still sighed. “Not as good as my precious books. What a pity my hidden treasures are gone.”

It was not until the afternoon that Huarong received Huayue’s invitation.

“My elder sister wants me to go to Moonlight Palace?”

Looking at the invitation, she felt somewhat uneasy. That was the place once occupied by the empress. Was the emperor’s intention not obvious enough?

“Forget it, I’ll go. After all, she is my own sister. I never had any real feelings for the emperor to begin with. If my elder sister truly wants him, then I can only bless her.”

Huarong forcefully hypnotized herself, then took Suxin along to Moonlight Palace.

But when she arrived, it was bustling with excitement. Nearly all the beauties of the harem had come, including Consort Wen.

Huayue, for her part, seemed to enjoy life to the fullest. She had a grand banquet spread out in the courtyard and was chatting merrily with the concubines, as though she had been sisters with them for many years.

Huarong was utterly stunned. “Her social skills are way too good!”

Though both were favored by the emperor, and though they were sisters of the same family, their treatment was worlds apart.

One was adored and fawned over; the other was despised, always in danger of losing her life at any moment.

She curled her lips and felt even more miserable when Huayue suddenly came over, taking Huarong by the arm. “My dear sister, why have you only just arrived? I’ve been waiting for you for ages!”

“My Azure Mirror Palace is a bit out of the way, so I came late.”

Huarong forced out a smile. Seeing that Huayue was doing well, she had no reason to feel guilty or worried.

She sat down at the banquet with the others. Even Jade Noble Lady, who had earlier been confined, had been released, and at the moment was quite intimate with Huayue.

“Sister Hua, I never knew Auntie was so remarkable, giving birth to two beautiful daughters. How enviable.”

Her words were honeyed, and the contrast in treatment was glaring.

A silent sigh drifted slowly up from the depths of Huarong’s heart.

“Is this what they call a snob?”

Huarong was trying with all her might to befriend them and preserve her own life, yet things had gone so badly against her wishes that they had twisted her into this state.

“Heh.”

Huarong awkwardly tugged at the corners of her mouth. She truly admired Jade Noble Lady, who could sit here talking and laughing as if nothing had happened.

“Little sister, you look rather reluctant. Are you unhappy?”

Huayue lowered her head slightly to look at Huarong. If she had not said it, it might have been fine, but saying it only made things more awkward.

Upon hearing this, Jade Noble Lady was not the least bit polite. Her sarcastic tone followed at once. “Your Majesty’s status is noble. I fear that aside from Consort Wen, you would not deign to associate with the rest of us. After all, noble ladies and concubines like us probably are not worthy of being seen on the same level before Your Majesty, are we?”

By status, Huarong was indeed slightly above everyone present.

Of course, the highest-ranking among them was Consort Wen. Yet she had always been kind and gentle toward others, and no one could bear her envy; nor did anyone dare possess the power to do so.

After all, Consort Wen’s family background was truly formidable. Compared with the fallen Hua family behind Huarong, they were simply on entirely different levels.