Transmigration: Reverse Exploitation, the System Works for Me

With the Emperor's words, Consort Jing was undoubtedly extremely happy and relieved. If the Emperor was satisfied with her, then he would not take the little princess away from her.

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. I have no other talents, but I have been entrusted with the little princess by Your Majesty's grace. I can only love her doubly to live up to Your Majesty's expectations and to cherish this hard-won mother-daughter bond."

The emperor was even more pleased and raised his cup to her in acknowledgment.

Consort Jing quickly filled the cup, raised it, and drank it all in one gulp.

During the conversation between the emperor and the empress, all the concubines present couldn't help but glance at Zhen Huan.

As Zhen Huan listened to Yu Ying'er and the Emperor praising Consort Jing's doting affection for the little princess, she quietly tightened her grip on her chopsticks. Feeling the malicious gazes from those around her, she involuntarily tensed her face.

She couldn't show weakness in front of these people!

"Your Majesty is very magnanimous."

After the Emperor and Consort Jing shared a drink, Zhen Huan weakly stood up, supporting herself on the table. She raised a wine cup filled with honey water and looked at the Emperor from afar.

"The little princess is so loving and cared for by His Majesty and Consort Jing, I am deeply grateful. I will drink a cup to thank His Majesty and Consort Jing."

Zhen Huan tilted her head back and drank the honey water in her cup, then casually tossed the cup aside, knelt before the emperor, and said with tears streaming down her face:

"Your Majesty, the little princess was born weak, all because of my willful and reckless behavior. I know that I am not virtuous enough to be a mother, let alone the princess's mother. I dare to beg Your Majesty to change the little princess's genealogy so that she will only be the daughter of Consort Jing from now on."

Upon hearing this, everyone present was shocked and stared at Zhen Huan in disbelief.

Yu Ying'er almost popped her eyes out of their sockets. What did this bitch mean?

Was it a sudden awakening of maternal love? She was willing to give up the title of the princess's birth mother and the possibility of reuniting with the princess and her daughter in the future, in order to secure a more prestigious identity for her own flesh and blood?

Did she sense the emperor's unrequited love for his mother and deliberately stage this scene at the full moon celebration? Was she trying to demonstrate her sudden realization and sincere remorse, hoping to gain the emperor's forgiveness?

Why did she feel that this bitch didn't have the heart of a loving mother?

Yun Xinluo, the Noble Lady Yun, who was sitting to Yu Ying'er's right, was also thinking about these things.

She knew the reason why Zhen Huan fell out of favor.

But would Zhen Huan, who could scheme against and manipulate even her own birth mother and younger sister, truly care for a daughter she had no parental rights to?

Will not!

Yun Xinluo concluded with certainty.

She stared intently at Zhen Huan directly opposite her, trying to find a flaw in Zhen Huan's pale, round face, but unfortunately, Zhen Huan concealed it very well.

Consort Jing looked at Zhen Huan with a mixture of surprise and delight, then turned to look at the silent Emperor. For a moment, she seemed unsure of what to say. Changing the imperial edict and becoming his daughter—what a tempting offer!

Consort Jing could not refuse, nor could she utter the words of refusal.

She could only stammer as she said to Zhen Huan, "Sister, why are you in this state? The ground is cold, and you haven't recovered yet. Please get up quickly. Pei'er, help your mistress up."

At the head of the table, the Emperor looked at Zhen Huan, who was kneeling and pleading, and asked her with deep eyes, "Zhen, is that really what you think?"

Zhen Huan stopped her tears, her face showing reluctance yet resoluteness, and said, "As the ancients said, 'Parents who love their children plan far ahead for them.' I have made a grave mistake in failing to bring the little princess into this world properly. Now, this is the only thing I can do for her."

"Although I am reluctant, but..."

She glanced at Yu Ying'er, her expression a mix of crying and laughing, before finally covering her face and sobbing.

"I have already seen the quilt that Consort Zhuang mentioned earlier. Every stitch on it reflects Consort Jing's loving care for the little princess. I am ashamed to see it and have no face to face the little princess."

When the emperor saw her crying so bitterly, and repeatedly expressing remorse and admitting her mistakes, and saying that she was thinking of the little princess, he couldn't help but be moved.

Yu Ying'er's face showed an expression of "I knew it," and her gaze toward Zhen Huan was full of mockery and disdain.

That bitch was just using this opportunity to curry favor!

The Emperor sighed deeply: "Since you, my birth mother, have this idea, I cannot refuse. Su Peisheng, issue the decree: Princess..."

The emperor paused for a moment; the princess hadn't been named yet.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered the night the princess was born. He had sat up all night because of the empress's plot to murder Chun Yuan. The Yangxin Hall was silent and empty, with only the hazy moonlight outside the window for company.

"Princess Longyue, the daughter of Consort Jing, née Feng, was born on the 14th day of the 11th month of the second year of the Yongzheng reign. The Imperial Clan Court shall immediately record her in the Imperial Register."

Consort Jing's eyes lit up with surprise, and she hurriedly knelt down to express her gratitude: "Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace."

While all the concubines were surprised by the emperor's sudden decree, Consort Qi's head maid, Cui Guo, walked up to Consort Qi with a strange expression and whispered something in her ear.

Upon hearing this, Consort Qi's eyes widened, and she exclaimed in shock, "Fourth Prince?"

Along with her voice came the sound of a wine glass shattering on the ground.

In her shock, Consort Qi accidentally knocked over the wine glass beside her.

The duet began just as Consort Jing finished expressing her gratitude and the Emperor was about to announce that the formalities were off. These two voices were the only ones in the entire pavilion, and almost instantly, they drew everyone's attention.

The Emperor turned to look at him: "Consort Jing, please get up. Consort Qi, what's wrong with the Fourth Prince?"

What happened to the Fourth Prince? The Fourth Prince has committed a crime!

Consort Qi's eyes gleamed, but she was momentarily caught off guard by the Emperor's sudden mention of her, and could only reflexively stand up from her chair: "Your Majesty..."

Seeing her excited and foolish appearance, the Imperial Concubine couldn't help but sneer, "When I first arrived, I noticed that Consort Qi seemed distracted. I thought the Third Prince had been scolded again, but now it doesn't seem like that at all."

Amidst the Imperial Concubine's cold words, Consort Qi's agitation subsided slightly. She glared at the Imperial Concubine with annoyance and said proudly, "Hongshi has been working very hard lately. His Majesty hasn't scolded him in a long time."

The concubines: ...

It's quite difficult to evaluate.

The Imperial Concubine was speechless. She couldn't be bothered to argue with this fool. If she said another word, it would lower her status.

Seeing that the Imperial Concubine remained silent, Consort Qi, like a victorious rooster, stepped forward arrogantly and stood in the very center of the pavilion, saying, "Your Majesty, I have something to report. The Fourth Prince harbors wolfish ambitions and has colluded with commoners in the Cold Palace to harm the imperial concubines!"

Her words startled everyone present, and the concubines gasped in surprise. However, because the emperor was sitting above them, they quickly shut their mouths, only looking at Consort Qi with excitement in their eyes.

A glint of light flashed in Consort Zhao's eyes.

Consort Zhao was somewhat surprised, but not entirely unexpected, when Jue Chan's family "handed over" the matter of exposing the Fourth Prince's plot to harm Consort Zhen to Consort Qi.

In this palace, there are really only two people who are influential and willing to take the lead.

As for Consort Qi, she was of high status, yet foolish and unaware of it.