Who Is His Majesty Complaining About Today?

An unconventional palace-intrigue story with inner monologue, also known as "I Chat About Gossip With His Majesty in the Harem Every Day"

After Jiang Li, daughter of the Vice Minister of Works, entered the palace, she took a laid-back approach to life. All she wanted was to cling to the empress and coast along until she died.

Then one day, Jiang Li dreamed that the empress would be deposed and that she would be implicated, sent to the Cold Palace, and die of illness.

Jiang Li valued her life. At death's door, she sat bolt upright and joined the ranks of women vying for the emperor's favor.

Unfortunately, after half a year of competing for his attention, she was still just another invisible face in the palace.

By chance, Jiang Li heard the emperor's furious inner monologue:

That old Minister Yao embezzled two hundred thousand taels of silver, yet still puts on an act of poverty in front of me every day! When the time comes, I'll take him down!

Prefect Gao asks me if I'm well and what I've eaten every time he submits a memorial. He can't handle official business, but he's got plenty of nonsense to say!

I heard Academician Feng took two more concubines after his seventieth birthday. I'm curious if he's taken some kind of medicine. Can he keep up physically?

The young Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review has done well and recently solved a major case, but he's twenty-five and still unmarried. Word around the capital is that Chang has a private ailment. Should I summon him one day and ask?

...Beauty Li is dancing... A butterfly's been drawn in by her fragrance. What? She says she's had a natural fragrance since childhood? Ha! That little trick isn't even worth calling out!

Who is it now? That powder smells so strong I'm about to sneeze. But I have to hold it in. How annoying!

Another stroll through the imperial gardens, and I run into another consort. Who's that? She's got so many ornaments in her hair, it's a dizzying mess. What's pretty about that?

Jiang Li had just visited the imperial gardens and tried to run into the emperor. She was sweating buckets. Could the person he was talking about be her?

Still, she might have found an unconventional way to become one of his favorites.

"Help... help me up..." Jiang Li decided she could make a comeback after all!

Another half year passed, and Jiang Li gave up. This emperor had no heart. He didn't love anyone!

I'm tired. Let's destroy everything!

From then on, Jiang Li gave up and stopped wasting all her energy trying to please the emperor. Instead, she started making the rounds of the various palaces. Today she'd compliment Consort Shu on how much fairer her skin looked, tomorrow she'd praise Beauty Zhang for improving her dancing, and the day after she'd tell the Noble Consort that her hairpin suited her perfectly...

The emperor was busy reviewing memorials every day, but he kept feeling that something was off. When he asked his personal eunuch, he learned that Jiang, daughter of the Vice Minister, hadn't shown her face before him for several days.

The emperor began to ponder. When had he grown used to having her around?

After making more inquiries, the emperor learned that Jiang Li had become a well-known slacker in the harem. She got along with the women in charge of every palace and had even earned herself a tidy sum on the side.

Well... it looked like his consort was enjoying a pretty comfortable life. She could get along with anyone, but somehow she wasn't close to him, the emperor...

The emperor set down his memorial and stood up. "Come on. Let's see how much Consort Jiang has earned."

His personal eunuch: ...

Theme: Love life