Palace Intrigue?: I Make the Emperor Cry by Rewinding Time!-Chapter 76 - 71: Explanation

When Xie Zhixing wished Consort Xi to hand over the painting to Concubine Wei, it was because he didn’t want to damage his own eyes.

An emperor of a nation is overly busy, sitting daily in front of the imperial desk reviewing memorials, sitting to the point where his lumbar disk is nearly protruding. Even though diligent in governance, Yan Chi is no Utopia; unless only looking at those flattering and praiseworthy rainbow-fart memorials, otherwise, upon deeper investigation, there will always be somewhere in the land encountering troubles, there will always be someone just occupying the position without doing actual work, decaying and putrid.

Seeing such things every day, while unable to resolve them in a short time, can your mood be good?

So during leisure, Xie Zhixing just wants to see some good things.

Stop mistreating my eyes, the Emperor’s life is also a life.

"Your Majesty," Ying Lu entered with bowed shoulders and stooped waist, kneeling on the ground to present an item with both hands: "This is the painting collected from Consort Xi by Concubine Wei, does Your Majesty wish to keep it?"

Resting for a moment on the long couch, Xie Zhixing’s eyelids twitched: "...bring it over."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

As he just extended his hand, the stack of papers was placed right into his hand.

Xie Zhixing looked at two sheets, and he sat up straight.

Ying Lu, having brought it in, did not dare to look much but had a slight understanding of Consort Xi’s accomplishments in painting, and immediately in his heart thudded, preparing for the Emperor’s potential anger.

But he waited and waited, only to hear the sound of paper being flipped.

Next, there was a light laugh.

Just as Ying Lu was deeply puzzled, the Emperor sighed, making him even more curious.

The painting passed on by Consort Xi, is it good or bad?

"Take a look yourself."

After browsing through, the Emperor let out a long sigh as he handed the stack of papers to Ying Lu, but there was a hint of laughter in his tone, indicating his mood had changed from cloudy to sunny. Does Consort Xi really have such a charm?

"Then I’ll bask in Your Majesty’s light and appreciate Consort Xi’s painting."

"Appreciate? This thing is not about appreciation, it is just very interesting."

Ying Lu lowered his head to look, and after finishing, he imitated the Emperor’s response and started laughing too: "Consort Xi’s painting has many words, this servant is illiterate, wasting the master’s painstaking effort, but just by looking at the picture, it’s already very amusing."

"I forgot you can’t read, but didn’t you recognize who the people painted are?"

Picture books are usually equipped with captions.

But for a good picture book, even without captions, the meaning the author wants to express can still be understood roughly.

The Emperor turned his head, looking at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

Ying Lu pondered for a moment, quickly putting on a fearful expression: "This servant can only recognize roughly, not daring to presumptuously make identifications."

The Emperor chuckled and closed his eyes again:

"Tonight, draw Consort Xi’s card."

...

Having turned in her homework, Yun Jiao was happily lying on the couch, just ready to peacefully fall asleep, when someone from Qiankun Palace arrived, saying that today the Emperor drew her card, so she should prepare in advance.

"The master is truly fortunate, the painting was just presented, and the Emperor thought of our little mistress."

Xue Ya was smiling from ear to ear with happiness.

Just after turning in the homework, it got checked by the head teacher, Yun Jiao really couldn’t laugh.

She was quite happy while drawing it, but what if it didn’t pass the Emperor’s test? Hence, she held down Xue Ya’s hand that was about to apply makeup on her, instructing: "Make me look wan and sallow, best to look like I’m not eating well, not sleeping well, on my last legs."

"How can the little mistress say that about herself? Facing the Emperor, of course, you should dress up beautifully."

"You don’t understand, just listen to me, I have my unique understanding of court strategies to have gotten here today, quickly make me look like a short-lived ghost."

This was a defense technique Yun Jiao learned from the internet.

If one lacks capability, then dressing plainly during a defense, with a bare face and dark circles, seeking sympathy points—"She’s already like this, the Emperor should not make it difficult for her!"

Xue Ya was half-believing, half-doubting.

But she dared not make the mistress look ugly, only making her slightly pale and pitiable.

Thus, when she sat on the soft sedan, arriving at Weiyang Palace, she gave Chief Su who came to greet her a bit of a fright: "Has the mistress not rested well? Or did this servant not serve attentively enough?"

"Just a bit tired these days, it’s nothing."

"As long as it doesn’t impair attending to the bedchamber, the Emperor is already inside waiting, mistress should go in quickly."

On hearing this, Yun Jiao quickened her pace.

Saying he was waiting for her wasn’t entirely so.

Xie Zhixing didn’t have a moment of idleness, even with light snow outside, the beautiful scenery not stirring him to appreciate it. Seeing snow, he thought of the rich burning stoves for leisure while the commoners gritted their teeth to endure winter, if a snow disaster occurred, disaster relief would be necessary, and when the true harsh cold came, some nomads not yet subdued might revolt due to "white disaster", even if not a match for Yan Chi, mosquitoes in numbers are a nuisance.

The more he scrutinized, the less the people suffered.

At this moment, footsteps approached from outside.

The curtain was lifted, first entering was Ying Lu, announcing Consort Xi had arrived. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The Emperor, when drawing cards, used a soft sedan to receive the person, with eunuchs holding umbrellas in front and back, so Yun Jiao wasn’t drenched with snow, but her nose was red from the cold as she entered and properly saluted, Xie Zhixing just called her to rise, and she immediately revealed her true nature: "So cold, so cold, it’s much warmer here with the Emperor."

Weiyang Palace has underfloor heating, once stepping on it, the warm and soft comfort made her bones melt.

Xie Zhixing waved her over: "If cold, come to me."

Yun Jiao stepped over adorably, rolling into his embrace.

With the cold weather, the tiger skin coat came in handy, she turned into a Northeast Jincheng tabby, with the tiger ears on her hood brushing his chin, making it itch lightly: "Has the Imperial Household shorted you on charcoal?"

Yun Jiao: "If I say yes, will the Emperor make their heads roll?"

"I will instruct the Imperial Household to bring forth a list, to see if the quota of your charcoal has been fully delivered; if it has been delivered, I’ll move some for you from my private store. If not, Ying Lu will make a trip to the Imperial Household to ask how the task is being done! Swap the person in charge of the charcoal store out, flog the ones in charge twenty times, then send them off to do hard labor. The ones managing charcoal are very haughty every winter, it’s a plump position that never lacks tributes, if even this is brought to my attention, it shows they are incompetent, and the Imperial Household cannot tolerate such servants,"

Xie Zhixing paused, pinching her cheek: "Why, do you wish badly for their heads to roll?"

Yun Jiao shook her head vigorously like a rattle-drum.

He suspected the eunuchs’ heads in the Imperial Household were still well attached to their necks, but she first shook her own head off, fiddling her fingers: "This is the Emperor’s might I imagined before entering the palace..."

"The past three dynasties were not ones that indulged in wanton slaughter."

Xie Zhixing chuckled, she didn’t know how indiscreet her comments were,

"I know the Emperor is merciful."

"Not so much merciful, any character that is savage and fond of killing, in my position, will not lack for people to execute," every day as the imperial brush falls, someone dies, he doesn’t want to talk about such combative things with Yun Jiao, so he shifts the topic: "The painting you gave to Concubine Wei, I’ve seen it all."

As expected, he wants to talk about this!

Yun Jiao raised her face in his arms: "Didn’t His Majesty say he wouldn’t look at it?"

"You specially made it nice, not to look at it is to thwart your well-meaning effort."

Unexpectedly, hearing this, Yun Jiao got spirited: "Since Your Majesty said I was thoughtful, then later you can’t say I’m not and have me redo it!"

"..."

Somehow, in interacting with her, Xie Zhixing actually tasted a bit of how difficult it is to educate children.

He pulled out that picture book: "Why don’t you tell me what went through your mind while you were drawing?"

"Yun Jiao’s Marvelous Adventure" is very rich in content.

The story revolves around the protagonist, Consort Xi, Yun Jiao’s eating, drinking, playing, and casual wandering in the harem, with occasional small interactions occurring when encountering other concubines.

The first Chapter has the meticulously dressed Yun Jiao meeting a certain Servant Consort, who fawns and flatters her, adding strokes to show a wagging dog’s tail, and surprisingly, it gives a sense of dynamic tail-wagging at first glance. In the first frame, Yun Jiao responds reluctantly, but after walking just a couple of steps, in the third frame, she encounters another Attendant Lady.

Yun Jiao places her hands in front of her, each stroke expressing immense resistance.

Finally, the little Consort Xi’s head is weighted down with countless hats like "most-favored in the harem", "enchanting the capital", and "brimming with talent", pressing her to the point where she squats down, clutching her cheeks in distress, the tiles beneath shattered with cracks.

"They start by calling me sister, whenever outsiders call me sister, just like when others meet and call a man elder brother, it’s never a good thing, either asking you to do things, borrow money, or notifying that he’s getting married, naturally, I’m apprehensive."

"Shouldn’t others thinking of you for their joyous wedding event be a good thing?"

"If I have to gift them money, of course, it’s not great."