Everyone in the Harem Has a Cheat Except Me - Chapter 4

The Virtuous Consort certainly didn’t stand on ceremony. The maid had barely finished speaking, and the empress hadn’t even had time to feign a response, before she arrived.

At the sight of the empress, she gave a mocking smile. “Oh. Your Majesty is here too.”

The empress’s face cooled. Old enemies were bound to bristle at the sight of each other. Still maintaining her dignity, she merely said, “Virtuous Consort, enough of this nonsense.”

The consort laughed, unconcerned. She walked right up to me, swept her gaze over my face, and scoffed. “That’s all?”

Then she turned back to the empress. “Since when have you been so impatient, Your Majesty? A few rumors, and you rush over to flatter a Palace Beauty who’s only just arrived?”

Rather than taking offense, the empress smiled. “Mind your words, Virtuous Consort.” Her tone was almost gentle; her eyes gleamed with anticipation of a show.

That only inflamed the consort. Clearly she did not regard the rumors as lightly as she claimed. She glared at me.

“I hate it when other people look like me. I am one of a kind. Counterfeits ought to be des—” She reached toward my face as she spoke.

Before she could finish the word or touch me, my “reflexes” took over. I caught her wrist and sent her sprawling, limbs flying, until she landed face-first on the floor.

The bang stunned everyone present, the empress included. The Virtuous Consort lay on the floor looking as though she doubted reality itself. Her attendants finally came to their senses and rushed to help her.

Several hairpins had fallen out, and her coiffure was a mess. Perhaps I’d thrown her too hard, or perhaps her skin was especially delicate: a red patch had appeared on her forehead and cheek.

Supported by her maids, she pointed at me, eyes red with rage. “Sheng Lianyi! How dare you!”

How dare I what?

I sighed. “Your Highness, you can’t blame me. I have an illness. I can’t bear to be touched. When someone does, I lose control of my body. You’ve just seen what that looks like.”

The consort had no answer. The empress stared for a moment, then lowered her head and fought desperately not to laugh. She was probably thinking that she’d held my hand without incident and that I simply disliked the Virtuous Consort.

Well, yes. I had done it on purpose. But honestly, two women holding hands was one thing. Who touched a stranger’s face at their very first meeting? And the consort’s intentions were plainly malicious.

My explanation only made her angrier. “Sheng Lianyi, you dared attack your superior! Seize her!” Unable to beat me herself, she summoned help.

The empress’s expression darkened. “Virtuous Consort, what are you doing?”

“She laid hands on me. Will Your Majesty protect her regardless of right and wrong?”

“You insulted her first.”

“Then let His Majesty decide between us,” the consort said with a disdainful laugh.

The empress looked at her as though she were a fool. The consort’s heart seemed to sink under that look.

I, on the other hand, clapped in delight. “Liu Lü, please invite His Majesty over.”

Then I reconsidered. “Actually, Your Majesty, Your Highness, why don’t you go to him yourselves?”

The consort glared. “You’re not coming?”

I gave her a sympathetic look. “It might be better if I didn’t.”

She might have been ready to retreat, but my words made that impossible. “If we go, we all go.”

“Very well,” I said with a helpless sigh.

Liu Lü looked numb. She must have been wondering how I’d steered things here. In any case, the empress, the Virtuous Consort, and I marched with our respective attendants to Qin Jun’s Qianqing Palace.