In the spring of the nineteenth year of Ping Yuan, the palace was in the midst of its once-every-three-years Grand Selection.
Since the Crown Prince, six years married, still had few children under his roof, this round saw as many as four new women bestowed upon the Eastern Palace.
Shen Yanshui was one of the four.
“Sister Shen, you’ve been bestowed upon His Highness the Crown Prince!”
Shen Yanshui listened to the voice beside her—lowered, yet still faintly excited—and pushed down her own disappointment, adding a measure of confusion to it.
How could it possibly be the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace?
Xu Qingle looked at her expression and spoke hesitantly, softly, “Sister Shen, you… aren’t happy?”
Shen Yanshui turned to look at her, her brows curving into a smile. “No, I was just too happy for a moment—didn’t react in time, that’s all.”
Well, fine. The Crown Prince it was, then. The imperial edict had already been issued—what else could she do about it?
In her past life, the apocalypse had struck while she was in university.
Fortunately, her luck hadn’t been too bad—she’d awakened a wood-type ability.
And even after crossing over, that wood-type ability had remained with her.
Only now, the power she’d once wielded as easily as her own limbs could merely be sensed—faint, and utterly unusable.
Black Lotus novel Novel Translation · Black Lotus NovelLuckily, in this life she’d been reborn as a young lady of the Marquis Zhongyi household in the Great Yong Dynasty, with no need to rely on her ability to get by.
Though born of a concubine, her legitimate mother wasn’t particularly harsh, and the concubine-born children of the household were never mistreated when it came to food, clothing, and daily necessities.
She had spent sixteen peaceful years lying about in comfort, well-fed and well-cared-for, in a world with no apocalypse lurking around every corner—and so, little by little, she’d let go of her attachment to her ability.
Some time ago, under her legitimate mother’s arrangement, she’d begun looking into a marriage match.
She had shown herself to be perfectly docile and obedient about it.
In the Great Yong Dynasty, lavish dowries were the fashion.
Her nominal father in this life was, at the very least, a marquis from a line of hereditary nobility, and her legitimate mother was herself the legitimate daughter of a marquis household—both people who cared about appearances. They would never have skimped on her dowry.
Only… something had gone wrong partway through.
Her legitimate elder sister, who had entered the palace three years prior, had already been pregnant—but then, out of nowhere, word came of a miscarriage.
Her health had been damaged because of it, and she could no longer conceive.
After the household received the letter from her elder sister, it took only a few days before her legitimate mother went back on the verbal marriage agreement she’d just made on Shen Yanshui’s behalf.
She’d specially summoned Shen Yanshui for a talk, the gist of it—between the lines—being that she wanted her to enter the palace and help her elder sister compete for favor and bear children, promising that good days would follow for her too.
Naturally, Shen Yanshui had no interest in this. Who would want to serve some old man—especially one who was the old emperor, holding the power of life and death over everyone? B L A C K L O T U S Novel Translation Site | black lotus novel B L A C K L O T U S Novel Translation Site | black lotus novel
But refusing had gotten her nowhere.
Not that it mattered to her.
Who said that once she entered the palace, she absolutely had to end up in the old emperor’s harem?
So, during the time she spent learning palace etiquette, she’d put in some effort quietly looking into the various imperial princes who had come of age but were not yet married.
In the end, she’d set her sights on the Fifth Prince.
The Fifth Prince had been born blind, destined to have no connection to the throne, fated for a lifetime as a wealthy, idle prince. No matter which prince eventually ascended, none of them would ever target the Fifth Prince.
black lotus Novel Translation Site · Black LotusWealth secured, food and comfort never a worry, and safety guaranteed too—simply perfect!
During this period, she’d made two calculated appearances before Consort Liang, the Fifth Prince’s birth mother.
Just a couple of days ago, seeing Consort Liang’s attitude toward her, she’d thought it was as good as settled.
She never expected that, in the end, she would be sent into the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace.
Xu Qingle stared at the light, faint smile on her face and found herself dazed for a moment.
There stood Shen Yanshui, dressed in a lotus-purple plain silk narrow-sleeved robe, layered with a sky-water-blue half-sleeve overrobe, her hair styled in a tasseled bun, her face like congealed cream, her brows like spring mountains, a pair of peach-blossom eyes brimming with tender feeling—even without smiling, she was captivating enough that one couldn’t look away.
Her lashes, dark and dense as crow feathers, curled long and thick, her eyes bright and clear as if washed by water—even another woman looking at her couldn’t help a slight flush and quickened pulse.
Xu Qingle looked at that nearly flawless face and said softly, blushing, “With looks like these, Sister Shen, you’re sure to win His Highness’s favor and affection.”black lotus Novel Site — Black Lotus
Shen Yanshui gave her hand a squeeze, smiled, and said nothing for a moment.
Her legitimate elder sister now lived in Consort Lan’s Jingfu Palace—she was Consort Lan’s person.
And Consort Lan and the Crown Prince’s birth mother, the current Empress, were like fire and water—utterly incompatible.
She’d heard that the Empress had fallen seriously ill two years ago and had never fully recovered.
Even for this round of the Grand Selection, the Empress had only made a single appearance at the very start.
Everything afterward had been handled jointly by the Consorts Xian, Liang, Shu, and De, together with Consort Lan.
The Crown Prince was the Empress’s only son, while the Fourth and Eighth Princes, born of Consort Lan, had both already grown to adulthood.
The Fourth Prince was even only a year younger than the Crown Prince.
She was starting to suspect that Consort Lan had deliberately arranged for her to enter the Eastern Palace just to spite the Empress and the Crown Prince.
Or perhaps the plan was to use her later as an inside pawn?
She had no idea. In any case, so far, no one had secretly approached her about anything.
Her elder sister had summoned her to Jingfu Palace twice.
But from the way she’d talked, reading between the lines, it seemed she too just wanted to soothe her, to use her as a tool for bearing children.
Either way, as things stood, anyone looking at her would probably assume she was a pawn Consort Lan had planted in the Eastern Palace.
Forget about winning the Crown Prince’s favor and affection—as long as he didn’t take his anger out on her, and ideally just ignored her like she was invisible, she’d be perfectly satisfied.
Shen Yanshui lifted her eyes to look at Xu Qingle and said with a low smile, “I’ve heard the Seventh Prince has always been filial. From now on, you should follow his lead and be filial to Consort Wan together with him.”BLACK LOTUS Novel Chapters · Black Lotus
Xu Qingle’s delicate, pretty face flushed slightly, and she nodded earnestly. “Mm, I will. I’ll remember everything you’ve said, Sister Shen.”
She had been bestowed as a secondary consort to the Seventh Prince, with the wedding set for the end of this year.
“Ladies, young mistresses—are you all packed and ready?” A matron from the Chuxiu Palace asked with a smile, her tone noticeably more respectful than usual.
Until today, they had all been candidates learning palace etiquette, their fates undecided.
But now, though some had been eliminated, others were future princess consorts, and some could already be addressed as “young mistress.”
The imperial edict had been issued; all that remained was for the palace maids and eunuchs to lead them off, each to their own destination.
“What did you say? Fourth sister has gone to the Eastern Palace?!”
A startled cry rang out from the rear hall of Jingfu Palace.
Shen Ronghua, dressed in a plain silk robe, her hair unbound, her once-lovely face now tinged with a pallor and thinness, had been reclining on the couch—but at these words, she sat up straight without thinking.
Her face full of shock, she looked at Xiangmo, her personal maid, standing before her. “How could it be the Eastern Palace? Did you hear wrong?”
Xiangmo, dressed in a maid’s uniform of jade-green tie-dyed narrow-sleeved round-collar robe, a goose-yellow apron tied at her waist, her hair in twin drooping buns fastened with a light green ribbon, knit her brows and bowed slightly as she answered in a low voice, “Reporting to my lady, this servant asked carefully and there’s no mistake at all. Fourth Miss really was bestowed upon the Crown Prince by His Majesty.”
The shock had not faded from Shen Ronghua’s face—if anything, it had turned even paler. Her thin hand pressed down on the small table beside her, knuckles white with the force of it, and she murmured to herself as if she’d lost her soul, “How could it be the Crown Prince…” B L A C K L O T U S Translation · Black Lotus | BLACK LOTUS Novel Chapters · Black Lotus
Two months ago, ever since her miscarriage, she had been plagued by one nightmare after another.
She’d dreamed that after her miscarriage, the Emperor’s favor had gradually slipped away from her.
She’d dreamed of the Emperor’s sudden death.
She’d dreamed of the Crown Prince falling ill with plague, beyond the reach of any medicine.
And in the end, it was the Sixth Prince who ascended to the throne…
As for herself—a former imperial concubine long since stripped of favor, with no children to depend on—she’d been sent to a temple in the end, to spend the rest of her days before a Buddha altar, barely clinging to life!
Meanwhile, her half-sister Shen Yanshui, lazy and useless since childhood, had married a newly-appointed scholar-official and ended up bestowed the title of First Rank Lady, crowned with honor and glory.
A month ago, after cross-checking events against her dream, she’d begun to believe every bit of it.
She had since sent a letter to her mother.
In her past life she’d met such a bleak and miserable end—so why should Shen Yanshui get to obtain all that wealth and glory so easily?
Black Lotus Reading | Black Lotus NovelHer expression twisted, unable to help itself, betraying a jealousy she hadn’t even realized she harbored.
Shen Ronghua touched her own belly. Whatever happened later, if she could raise a child of her own, it would be her safeguard for the future, a way out.
It was only for that reason that her father and mother had agreed to send Shen Yanshui into the palace.
But she had clearly mentioned it to the Noble Consort, and the Consort hadn’t refused—so why had her fourth sister ended up in the Eastern Palace instead?
She remembered that after the Crown Prince’s death, the Sixth Prince hadn’t ascended the throne immediately—the Crown Prince still had a legitimate son.
At the time, there had been strong calls at court to name an Imperial Grandson as heir, simply because the Crown Prince represented the orthodox line.
But the Crown Prince’s legitimate eldest son had been sickly, and in the end, it was still the Sixth Prince who took the throne…
“…My lady? My lady?” Xiangmo’s face was full of worry.
Seeing her mistress seemingly in some kind of trance, muttering things that made no sense, her complexion growing ever more ashen, she hurried forward to support her.
Shen Ronghua clutched tightly at her own sleeve with one hand, her chest heaving uncontrollably, and stared at Xiangmo, asking quickly, “Do you know which consort’s doing it was, that fourth sister ended up marked for this?”
Xiangmo stumbled over her words in her haste to answer, “Reporting to my lady, it was the Noble Consort.”
Shen Ronghua’s hand suddenly clenched, her expression growing uglier still.
Seeing this, Xiangmo couldn’t help furrowing her brow with worry, and spoke to comfort her, “My lady, please don’t fret. The imperial physician said that as long as you rest and recuperate properly, your body will gradually recover—it’s not as though you can never bear children again.”
“A child you carry and bear yourself will always be far better than one that crawled out of Fourth Miss’s belly. Why pin all your hopes on her?”
“This servant heard that when Consort Shu gave birth to the Sixth Prince, her body was also badly hurt afterward—but didn’t she still go on to bear the Seventh Princess a few years later? My lady, your good days are still ahead of you.”
Listening to her words, Shen Ronghua knit her brows and fell into thought for a moment, and her complexion gradually began to improve.
How could she have forgotten? Consort Shu, and the Sixth Prince who currently showed no particular promise, were the truly crucial pieces here.
Besides, what Xiangmo said made sense—it wasn’t as though she could never bear children again. It was only in the dream that, after her miscarriage, she’d spent her days weeping and gradually lost the Emperor’s favor.
She still had plenty of time now to plan things out, slowly.
It was just—what a pity for her fourth sister… After the Crown Prince died, she’d probably end up meeting the same fate Shen Ronghua herself had met in that other life.
Or perhaps even worse.
