[Tang Tang, could we show a little self-respect? She's your mother, after all. Could you rein in those thoughts?]
[Little Useless System, what do you know? I'm simply admiring a gorgeous woman. I like beauties. What's wrong with that? Can't I look?]
Ye Tangtang felt perfectly justified.
System: [...]
Holy crap! No one else could make being a lecher sound so righteous!
Impressive. Truly impressive!
"Mommy, let's hurry up and take a bath together."
Shen Qingqing couldn't bear to refuse her daughter. Taking her little hand, she led her to the warm pool. The water had already been adjusted to the right temperature, and red petals floated on its surface. Rising white mist gave it a hazy beauty.
Ye Tangtang stripped off her ragged clothes. Her little body was scrawny, with barely any flesh on it-clearly the result of long-term malnutrition.
She was already twelve, yet she hadn't developed at all. She looked like a little bean sprout. Then she looked at her mother's...
Ye Tangtang stared, transfixed. Her mommy's were large and pale and looked soft. Drool practically poured from her eyes as she eagerly scooted over and nestled into her mother's arms.
"Mommy, why are mine so small?"
"Because you haven't grown up yet, Tang Tang. You're still little. You'll be grown up after your coming-of-age ceremony at fifteen."
Her mother washed Ye Tangtang until she was spotless. Her skin glowed pale all over, and she gave off a faint milky scent.
Now she was Mommy's clean little darling, too.
Shen Qingqing dressed Ye Tangtang in new clothes.
The girl's tender, fair little face was exquisitely delicate. Her almond-shaped eyes shimmered, her nose was dainty, and her lips were alluring as cherries. Especially when she smiled, two adorable dimples appeared, making her look innocent and harmless.
"Our Tang Tang is so pretty."
Shen Qingqing's eyes lit up. This was the first time she had seen her daughter completely clean.
Tang Tang used to be quiet and withdrawn, refusing to let her wash her body or hair. Filthy as a little beggar, she had only now begun to look like a little princess.
Ye Tangtang looked at herself in the bronze mirror. Wasn't this exactly how she had looked in her previous life?
[Little Useless System, I really am a born beauty. Does a woman as beautiful as me have the potential to become a kingdom-ruining temptress consort?]
[Yes, yes, yes. Right, absolutely right.]
[You're brushing me off. I quit. I don't want the points, either. Go play by yourself.]
System: [...]
Oh, heavens! Oh, earth! Would someone please give him a different host?
If he had done wrong, heaven should punish him-not saddle him with a host like this, who was both difficult and determined to give up.
[Tang Tang is a born beauty with the potential to become a kingdom-ruining temptress consort. You'll definitely become one someday-a beautiful scourge!]
She even needed her system to coax her? Had anyone ever seen a host like this? No? Well, now they could.
The system's praise put Ye Tangtang in a wonderful mood.
[Little Useless System, since you praised me, your big sis is feeling generous. I'll reluctantly do a mission today. Tell me what you've got. It has to be the easiest one.]
[Tang Tang, could we go see the male lead? Even a casual chat would do. If... if you could get on good terms with him, that would be even better!]
[Not happening. Keep dreaming, Little Useless System. He's so vicious he'll beat me to death.]
System: [Dead]
"Oh my, did you hear that woman in the Cold Palace got out? She'd been there for twelve years. How did she manage to leave?"
"She must have used some foxy trick to seduce His Majesty. That's why he brought the mother and daughter out of the Cold Palace and let them live in the Palace of Gathered Elegance again."
Consort Shu and Liu Meier were out for a walk. Seeing so much activity at the Palace of Gathered Elegance, they couldn't help stopping.
The Palace of Gathered Elegance was a principal consort's residence, second only to the Empress's Fengxi Palace. It had stood empty for twelve years, yet someone had moved in-and a mere lady-in-waiting from the Cold Palace, at that.
"Your Highness, I hear the woman living here is only a lady-in-waiting. Acting so ostentatiously right after leaving the Cold Palace-she clearly has no regard for you."
Consort Shu's residence was closest to the Palace of Gathered Elegance. Being outshone by a lowly lady-in-waiting naturally left her resentful.
Consort Shu led her attendants into the Palace of Gathered Elegance.
"I wondered who it was. So it's Lady-in-Waiting Shen. After all these years, surely you haven't forgotten me?"
Shen Qingqing greeted her respectfully. "Greetings, Consort Shu."
"So you do remember me. We entered the palace together more than a decade ago, and within a year, you were thrown into the Cold Palace. I never imagined you'd make it out."
Shen Qingqing lowered her eyes. "Naturally, I cannot compare with the favor Your Highness has enjoyed all these years. I was fortunate enough to receive His Majesty's compassion, which allowed me to leave the Cold Palace."
Lady Liu held her chin high. "Good, as long as you know it. Remember who your mistress is from now on."
"Did His Majesty bestow all these things on you?"
At the dazzling array of gifts, Lady Liu was already wild with jealousy. She hadn't even met His Majesty.
Yet His Majesty cared so much about a woman fresh out of the Cold Palace that he had bestowed all these gifts on her, including precious luozi dai.
"Lady-in-Waiting Shen, I imagine you have no use for this luozi dai. Why not present it to Consort Shu as a token of respect?"
Shen Qingqing said, "Of course."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll take this. This fabric would suit Consort Shu perfectly. This hairpin is lovely, too. I'll take that as well."
Lady Liu took well over half of Shen Qingqing's gifts and still wasn't satisfied.
Ye Tangtang watched the two women warily.
[One looks sour and mean, and the other looks sinister and cunning. Neither is a good person. They must be here to bully my beautiful mommy.]
"This must be the Ninth Princess. I hear she's not quite right in the head. An idiot, isn't she?" Lady Liu covered her lips and laughed.
Not right in the head?
Ye Tangtang smiled. Since she wasn't right in the head, she might as well take it all the way.
From somewhere, Ye Tangtang hauled over an enormous bucket, bigger than she was.
Lady Liu and Consort Shu were still choosing things when a chill washed over them. Water poured down from their heads to their feet...
Winter had already arrived. Lady Liu and Consort Shu were drenched, and a gust of wind set them shivering.
"How dare you! Do you know who this is? You dare disrespect Consort Shu!"
When had Consort Shu ever suffered such humiliation? She raised her hand to teach the little bastard a lesson. A bitch's spawn was a bastard indeed!
Ye Tangtang was hardly the type to stand there and take a beating. She was the one who beat others. Somehow, a hoe appeared in her hands. She planted it on the ground and rested one little hand on it.
"This is my home. If you don't leave, I'll get rough."
"You... you've gone too far! Xiaocui, you two, restrain her! Today, I'm going to teach this little bastard a proper lesson!"
Ye Tangtang swung up the hoe. "Come on, then, if you're not afraid to die."
"Your Highness... we... we don't dare go near her."
"A bunch of useless fools! She's only a ten-year-old girl."
Ye Tangtang lifted the hoe and jabbed at Consort Shu's feet. Consort Shu went deathly pale with fright and, in her panic, landed flat on her backside.
Lady Liu fared even worse. Ye Tangtang kicked her over, and with water all over the floor, she looked utterly bedraggled. Even the headdress on her head was ruined.
"Hahahaha! You... you're hilarious!"
Ye Tangtang clutched her stomach and laughed so hard she nearly got a stitch. Turning to see her stunned mother standing nearby, she hurriedly threw the hoe aside and stood meekly.
[What do I do? What do I do? Will Mommy's image of me as her adorable little girl come crashing down now? No! I'm a cute, kind, delicate little fairy!]
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