Daji understood Emperors.
Every field has its expert. Heeding her advice, Jiang Xian asked a palace maid for a brush, ink, and paper.
The palace maid tried to dissuade her. "The Emperor could arrive at any moment. Even the finest ink has an odor. Aren't you afraid of offending him, my lady? The ladies who wait in the side hall never make trouble. The Emperor's consideration that you might be hungry is already a tremendous honor."
No matter what she said, Jiang Xian automatically filtered it down to four words:
Don't take the blame.
Imbued with the willfulness of a favored concubine, Jiang Xian shot her a glance. "I'm only asking for a brush, ink, and paper, and you're making all these excuses. If I'm delayed in handling a matter for the Lady Noble Consort, can you bear the consequences?"
'How did the Noble Consort get involved in this?'
The palace maid was a little confused, but her lady wouldn't listen, and there was nothing she could do. Fortunately, Qiankun Palace was never short of writing materials, so she quickly procured them for her. Jiang Xian tied up her dark hair, spread the paper open, and began to write.
She was writing the *Women's Precepts*, the book the Noble Consort had punished her by making her copy.
The *Women's Precepts* was about 1,600 characters long. For a champion of the exam-oriented education system, memorizing it was a simple task.
Jiang Xian lifted her brush and began to write from memory, but the voice in her mind suddenly stopped her with a coquettish command:
'That won't do. You need to send someone to fetch a copy of the *Women's Precepts*. From your memories, it's a book that tells women to follow their duties, be demure and chaste, and uphold feminine virtue, speech, and appearance, isn't it? Just put it on the desk and copy it. When the Emperor arrives, you must clumsily hide it in your robes. Remember—be clumsy! Your movements can't be too smooth!'
The *Women's Precepts* was written by Ban Zhao during the Eastern Han Dynasty. The femme fatale of the Shang Dynasty had never laid eyes on it. But this wasn't the complete, independent Daji, just a set of memories temporarily inhabiting Jiang Xian's mind. Thus, she had a rough idea of what the *Women's Precepts* was, which only increased her disdain. 'To think someone wants to teach me how to be a woman. As I see it, without the Emperor's favor, everything else is just empty talk. No matter how perfect your virtue, speech, and appearance, you're fated to a life of endless suffering.'
Jiang Xian's eyelids twitched.
She recalled seeing in Daji's memories an era where human lives were worthless. Cruel tortures were truly inflicted upon Palace Attendants, which had led Daji to adopt a more radical view on how to survive in the harem.
When the palace maid heard Shu Changzai ask for the *Women's Precepts*, her face remained impassive, but inwardly she was baffled.
'When the Emperor summons a concubine, isn't it to share his bed?'
'Who would want to read *this* while in the throes of passion?'
'Isn't Shu Changzai afraid the Emperor will lose all interest the moment he sees the *Women's Precepts*?'
The palace maid didn't voice these thoughts.
She saw Shu Changzai as the arrogant type, getting a little favor and immediately causing a scene in Qiankun Palace. 'She won't be this audacious for long,' the maid thought, 'so I might as well just go along with her.' Soon, Jiang Xian had the *Women's Precepts* in hand. She unfolded it, placed it to her left, and began to copy.
In the main hall of Qiankun Palace, Emperor Xie Che closed a scroll, his face etched with fatigue. "Have Shu Changzai brought over."
"Your Majesty, Shu Changzai is already waiting in the side hall."
The Emperor shot him a sidelong glance.
Liang Yuyin lowered his head in utmost deference.
A moment later, he heard the Emperor chuckle. "Fine..." The Emperor stood up, then paused. "Don't announce my arrival. I want to see what she's doing while she waits for me."
'What a wicked sense of humor this Emperor has!'
Liang Yuyin knew exactly what Shu Changzai was up to.
He began to ponder which concubine would be summoned to serve the Emperor if Shu Changzai managed to kill the mood.
The main and side halls of Qiankun Palace were not far apart. The Emperor crossed the long corridor, parted the beaded curtain, and saw the Beauty sitting there.
Jiang Xian was dressed in thin robes that revealed her delicate figure. Daji, having observed the layout of the side hall, knew that anyone entering would see Jiang Xian's back. She had instructed her to put her hair up. As a result, the first thing the Emperor saw upon entering was her jet-black hair and the smooth, pale nape of her neck.
The flickering lamplight made her skin seem as smooth as satin.
"Why are you copying books?"
The Emperor asked in a low voice as he walked over and sat down beside her.
He questioned her with such righteous authority, as if he weren't the one who had dismissed all the eunuchs and palace maids to sneak in. His sharp eyes scanned the paper. He wasn't very familiar with its contents.
Any other concubine, questioned by the suddenly-appeared, grim-faced Emperor, would have been scared witless even if she'd done nothing wrong.
Jiang Xian wasn't frightened.
The Emperor was a trained martial artist. He had silenced his steps, but he couldn't hide his shadow. Even a faint one could be caught by a detail-oriented professional like her. She was already prepared, feigning a startled expression as she hid the *Women's Precepts* in her robes and leaned against him.
Had the old Jiang Xian tried to act coquettishly, it would have come off as rather stiff.
But things were different now.
Now, she was a master of coquetry, tutored by a legendary favored concubine. As she fell into his arms, her timid, fox-like eyes gazed up at him. The Emperor's nonexistent anger instantly vanished. He soothed her in a low voice, "I was only asking. You were bold enough to order a palace maid to fetch you writing supplies, so what is there to be afraid of? What are you copying? Let me see."
The Beauty's face was a picture of grievance. In a soft voice, she said, "This is all your fault, Your Majesty."
"My fault?"
"If it weren't for Your Majesty yesterday..." Her voice dropped lower. "How could I have been teased by all my sisters during morning greetings today, and then be punished by the Lady Noble Consort to copy a book? I'm afraid I won't be able to turn it in tomorrow, so I don't want to waste a single moment."
With the Blame Template's support, an act that should have been awkward came off as perfectly natural.
For Daji, who had been presented to her king as a tribute, capturing the Emperor's heart was the only way to survive.
To lose favor was to fall into a bottomless abyss.
When it came to men, Jiang Xian was a novice.
Daji, however, was a master of the art. She had perfectly calibrated the coquetry. The Emperor stroked Jiang Xian's slender back, a hint of tenderness welling up inside him. "Who was it that clung to me, begging for more again and again? And now you dare blame me. How bold."
Daji provided her remote technical support: 'Alright, the mood is set. Now let the Emperor find the book.'
Jiang Xian did as instructed, allowing the corner of the book in her robes to press against the Emperor's hand.
Ignoring the Beauty's protests, the Emperor pulled the book from her grasp. Warmed by her body, the pages still retained a delicate fragrance.
The most restrictive of books had appeared in the most seductive of scenes.
The Emperor's eyes darkened. He watched the Beauty bite her lower lip and gaze up at him, her cheeks and earlobes flushed pink with shyness. This display was far more captivating than yesterday's raw, artless charm! This Shu Changzai was truly a treasure, like a jewelry box with endless layers to uncover.
Eunuchs were, after all, only half-men, and inexperienced palace maids couldn't possibly understand the pleasures of the bedchamber.
What they thought would be a mood-killer had instead become a powerful aphrodisiac.
Emperor Xie Che was handsome; his cold, beautiful face was jarringly paired with eyes that seemed to hold unspoken desires. His gaze made Jiang Xian's skin tingle. As her mind started to wander, only the voice of the legendary femme fatale could bring her back to her senses: 'What do eunuchs and palace maids know? Here, let me teach you some more, little sister...'
She quickly focused all her attention.
In reality, the Emperor was making her work physical overtime.
In her mind, Daji was giving her private lessons from the sidelines.
Jiang Xian found herself lost in a state of full and busy bliss.