LOT – Chapter 125 Such Good Fabric Is Wasted on the Emperor

Anyway, everyone felt that Lin Mo definitely wasn’t some ordinary person.

Although the gifts this girl presented were never normal, they were always highly anticipated—because you could never guess what strange thing she would come up with next.

An official beside Minister Lin curiously asked, “Lord Lin, do you know what kind of jade carving Young Master Lin is preparing for Her Majesty the Empress?”

Minister Lin shook his head. “I don’t know.” He had no idea what kind of mischief that girl was up to every day in her room. All he knew was that her courtyard was lively day after day.

Ever since the system turned into a human, the two of them practically turned the courtyard upside down. One day they were busy here, the next day over there—by now, their yard had been tossed into a complete mess.

Lin Qi suddenly remembered that half-finished jade carving he had seen that day.

It looked… like a chicken? Could it be that that was the gift the girl was going to present to the empress?

Lin Mo, of course, was deliberately keeping it a secret. The thing she was giving this time would definitely astonish everyone again, just like last time!

All through morning court, no one could figure out what exactly she planned to give the empress.

After court ended, the crown prince immediately went to find his mother.

The empress was busy with a group of concubines, tallying up accounts. Recently, income had been quite good—the emperor’s clothes were selling extremely well, and those “tokens of respect” the ministers offered every year on their birthdays also fetched a fine price.

“The emperor’s underclothes are running low now. If you take some, remember to replenish stock. No need to use anything too fine—just make sure the fabric doesn’t chafe his backside.”

While flicking her abacus, the empress continued without even looking up: “Oh, Consort De, didn’t the emperor sneak a jade vase from your palace last time? Make sure he returns it. These things must go into the storeroom—if we ever run out of money, they can still be sold.”

Consort De nodded. “Don’t worry, Your Majesty, I’ll definitely have him return it.”

Standing at the doorway, the crown prince was speechless.

…Why did it feel like the ladies of the harem were a little different from the ones he’d seen before?

Although Father’s harem had always been harmonious, right now it didn’t look like a harem at all—it looked like an accounting office.

“Your son greets Mother, and pays respects to all esteemed consorts,” the crown prince greeted properly before his elders.

“Oh, the crown prince is here. What brings you today?”

Everyone glanced to see if he had brought any gifts. When they saw he came empty-handed, a hint of disappointment crossed their faces.

Tsk! He didn’t even think to bring something nice along. Didn’t he know how hard life was for them in the harem?

The emperor didn’t have many consorts, and only a few princes and princesses were born, so essentially all the children were raised collectively.

These women had treated the children as if they were their own.

The empress couldn’t be bothered entertaining her son. “If you’ve got nothing urgent, go sit somewhere. We’re very busy.”

“Oh, and remember to remind your father to return the jade vase he took from Consort De’s palace. For an emperor to sneak off with someone’s belongings—what a disgrace!”

“Yes, Mother. Your son will remind Father.”

The crown prince’s head was in a whirl.

…Wait, what had he come here for again?

By the time he left the palace, he still hadn’t said what he wanted to.

No way! Wasn’t I here to tell Mother about Young Master Lin’s gift? How did I get sidetracked like that?!

After sending her son off, the empress led the concubines to do embroidery.

There was no helping it—if they could earn a little more money, they would. Besides, they had been noble ladies to begin with; aside from chatting in groups, embroidery was also their specialty.

When Emperor Xuande entered the harem, he found it empty.

Looking at the deserted Fengyi Palace, he asked in puzzlement, “Where’s the empress?”

A palace maid replied, “Reporting to Your Majesty, the empress has gone with the ladies to the embroidery house.”

To the embroidery house? Could it be… they were making him something new?

Xuande Emperor’s eyes lit up immediately.

The last time the empress had led the concubines to embroider something for him was five years ago. He still wore the shoes and carried the sachet they made back then.

Tsk, the empress and my consorts are the best—they know how to care for me!

At that very moment in the embroidery room, the empress and the others were working with utmost seriousness.

The empress held up a piece of medium-quality cloth. “Whoever has time, embroider a sachet for His Majesty with this. Just stitch something casually.”

Everyone lowered their heads. They were all too busy to spare the time.

The work in their hands could be sold for money—embroidering a sachet for the emperor couldn’t be sold at all.

“Your Majesty the Empress, I was the one who embroidered the sachet five years ago. This year, I really don’t want to do it again. This cloth is quite nice though—why not switch it for something a little inferior?” Consort De looked at the fabric with real heartache. After all, they had bought it with their own money!

The empress said, “Even so, he is the emperor. How could he use poor fabric? This piece will have to do. Since you did it last time, I’ll do it this year.”

The empress sighed and could only start working herself.

To be a consort and end up like this—truly, who else had it so hard?

Everyone assumed the imperial concubines lived in luxury, pampered in every way, their food, clothing, and daily needs all the best.

But who would know? Although they had attendants, life wasn’t as good as it seemed.

The emperor had no money, and the harem had no money either!

Even though the treasury was now recovering, they couldn’t exactly dip into national funds. So they could only rely on themselves.

Besides, they all had generous dowries, and had been scraping by like this for years already.

Three days later, Emperor Xuande beamed as he looked at the freshly made sachet.

“I knew the empress cared for me most of all. Look how exquisitely this sachet is embroidered, and how fragrant it smells.”

The emperor proudly showed it off to Eunuch Li, who was utterly speechless.

Seriously, Your Majesty, isn’t your filter a little too strong? Where exactly is this sachet exquisite? You could buy better ones on the street.

And this fabric? It wasn’t even high-quality—clearly, the ladies were just going through the motions.

But Eunuch Li dared not say such things aloud. The consorts already had it hard enough. Compared to the former emperor’s harem, today’s consorts lived worse than the lowest-ranked concubines of that time.

Back then, even the low-ranked concubines, though they had fewer attendants, hardly had to do anything and would occasionally receive rewards.

The late emperor had truly squandered away too much wealth. If not for that, how could today’s emperor and his consorts be living such a pitiful life?