SRAD Chapter 1

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“How do this season’s tribute fruits from Liangguang taste?”

I immediately praised them sincerely. “Not bad, not bad. These lychees are still fresh and juicy, which shows great care was taken.”

He smiled. “Eating too many lychees causes internal heat. Soak them in the well water before eating… Leping, later, send the lychees from my share to the Marquis of Chang’an as well.”

“That wouldn’t be proper! Your Majesty, I remember that you also enjoy lychees. How could I possibly—”

“If you like them, then of course I must satisfy you.”

He spoke lightly, but I had long since grown numb to hearing such words. Over the past days, conversations like this had occurred too many times to count. If not for the fear of being hounded by the imperial censors, who would undoubtedly deliver tearful rebukes, I believed he would even let me wear his dragon-embroidered imperial robes.

And if I refused under some pretext, this seemingly gentle and considerate emperor would immediately change his expression. “Since the Marquis of Chang’an finds them unworthy, it must mean the attendants have not been diligent. Someone, punish—”

“—Your Majesty, please wait!”

I, Rong Huaizhen, am neither an honest and upright minister nor a great villain. How could I stand by and let others be reprimanded by this tyrant because of me?

I endured.

If not for the Emperor’s most favored consort, Consort Chen, sending someone to summon him away, I feared he would have stayed, watching me until I finished all the lychees he bestowed—just as he had watched me eat dried persimmons last time. Those persimmons were so sweet—I ate an entire jin of them, leaving my throat dry for three days, yet I dared not utter a single complaint.

After all, have you ever seen a hostage complain to their captor about poor food and harsh treatment?

At this moment, I was, true to my name, sincerely praising Consort Chen in my heart—singing silent odes to her delicate constitution, which made her faint every three days and suffer heart pains every five. Though in my past life, she…

…My past life.

Duan Mingzhang had not treated me like this before. If not for my elder brothers both leading troops to the northwest, I doubted he would have even noticed that the House of the Duke of Dingbei had such an unremarkable third son.

Neither of my elder brothers had married before departing. Before leaving, my eldest brother submitted a memorial requesting a hereditary title for me.

In my past life, the emperor approved it and brought me into the palace for “care.”

In this life, the emperor rejected the memorial, changed his approach, and instead conferred upon me the title of Marquis of Chang’an—while still bringing me into the palace for “care.”

The three of us huddled together, utterly baffled as we stared at the imperial edict. My elder brothers wondered, “Since when has the stingy emperor become so generous?”

I wondered, “Could it be that Duan Mingzhang has also been reborn?”

…But that didn’t make sense. If he were reborn, wouldn’t he be executing my entire family instead? Why would he grant me a noble title? Had he lost his mind?

And so, I suddenly felt much more at ease.

I figured that my brothers would return victorious just as they had in my past life. So I earnestly instructed my second brother, “Second Brother, you must take good care of Eldest Brother. Don’t let him stay up all night studying military strategy and then scare the troops with his dark circles the next morning.”

My second brother, Rong Huaifang, replied, “...Understood. I will watch him.”

I then turned to my eldest brother. “Eldest Brother, you must take good care of Second Brother. Make sure he doesn’t kick off his blankets at night. If he catches a cold, that would be terrible.”

My eldest brother, Rong Huaiyuan, replied, “...Understood. I will cover him up.”

With that settled, the army should be able to return home a day earlier.

Relieved, I happily entered the palace.

After all, this time, I had mastered all the essential survival skills for the imperial harem. Having learned my lesson from past mistakes, I vowed never to make the same errors—like startling Consort Wan’s cat, interrupting Consort Cen’s dance performance, picking the flowers planted by Noble Lord Lu, or eating the yogurt Consort Chen wanted…

My ideals were grand, but reality was cruel.

On the third day after entering the palace, I belatedly realized—horrified—that the emperor really had lost his mind!

The emperor had three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two consorts, with a total of three thousand beauties in the harem. Even if he slept with a different woman every day, it would take him ten years to get through them all.

Even his most favored Consort Chen, I had heard, had only ever received imperial favor twice in a single month at most.

Yet ever since I entered the palace, the emperor visited my temporary residence, Haiqing Pavilion, every single day.

Sometimes—twice a day!

—In this life, I hadn’t even had the chance to do anything yet, and I had already offended all three thousand beauties in the emperor’s harem…

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