Transmigration: Reverse Exploitation, the System Works for Me

In Zhongcui Palace, the idea that Consort Zhuang was bedridden to rest during her pregnancy was simply impossible!

Yu Ying'er, with her pregnant belly showing, was having a great time playing with the palace maids and eunuchs. They played on swings, pitch-pot, and mahjong, especially mahjong, which she had recently become particularly addicted to.

The reason for feigning illness was twofold: firstly, to allow Yu Ying'er to focus on her pregnancy, and secondly, to avoid An Lingrong.

If Xi Qiao wants An Lingrong to expose the secret of the Huan Yi Xiang in Consort Hua's palace, he must create an irreparable rift between An Lingrong and Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang, making An Lingrong believe from the bottom of her heart that Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang are unreliable.

Only when she was desperate would An Lingrong turn around and actively seek refuge with Consort Hua. And in order to gain Consort Hua's trust, the secret of the Huan Yi Xiang was her best way to get in touch.

Only in this way can Xi Qiao proceed with her next plan.

As for creating discord between An Lingrong and Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang, Xi Qiao didn't need to do even the slightest bit of pushing.

In the original drama, Shen Meizhuang was favored and had the opportunity to learn about the affairs of the six palaces, yet she ignored An Lingrong's situation and allowed An Lingrong to have her allowances reduced by the Imperial Household Department and to be ridiculed and bullied by the concubines and palace servants.

Now, perhaps because Xi Qiao's various shady actions have changed the plot, Shen Meizhuang, although still considered the most favored among the newcomers, has not been granted the opportunity by the emperor to learn palace affairs.

Without power in her hands, the palace servants naturally no longer feared Shen Meizhuang, and An Lingrong could no longer rely on her influence.

Moreover, Shen Meizhuang's mind was completely preoccupied with Zhen Huan, who was punished by being confined to her quarters and copying palace rules. Today she had to use her own allowance to make up for Zhen Huan's deficit, and tomorrow she had to worry that the palace maids and eunuchs in Suiyu Pavilion would not serve Zhen Huan wholeheartedly.

With so much worry and effort on Zhen Huan's behalf, and having to deal with Consort Hua's constant provocations and suppression, and most importantly, having to scheme and win the Emperor's favor in order to better support Zhen Huan, she had no energy left to understand An Lingrong's situation.

Besides, even if she knew, what could she do?

Aside from what she used herself, she gave all the rest of her allowance to her beloved Huan'er at Suiyuxuan.

Lacking favor, with insufficient allowances, and subjected to oppression by Consort Xia in Yanxi Palace, how could An Lingrong possibly have an easy life?

In this situation, in order to prevent An Lingrong from seeking help from Zhongcui Palace, and also to prevent An Lingrong from resenting Zhongcui Palace for not lending a helping hand when she was in trouble, Xi Qiao decisively used the excuse that Yu Ying'er was pregnant with an elephant to stay in the palace to recuperate.

This effectively cut off all of An Lingrong's escape routes.

Only in this way would An Lingrong willingly embark on the path that Xi Qiao had chosen for her long ago.

Although Xi Qiao felt sorry for An Lingrong's plight, he still pretended to be blind to her true feelings in order to win the lottery through the system.

After December, when An Lingrong is returned to her rightful place and Yu Ying'er is six months pregnant, it will be just the right time for them to reappear in public!

It can not only point out the direction for An Lingrong and provide her with emotional value, but also point out the inaction of Shen and Zhen.

Most importantly, Xi Qiao didn't have to lift a finger to get these things done, and she could reap the benefits without getting her hands dirty. It couldn't be more to her liking!

Of course, Yu Ying'er's cooperation is necessary to achieve this.

Fortunately, Yu Ying'er was a spoiled girl, and she did whatever Xi Qiao said.

So, during the days of seclusion and recuperation, the people of Zhongcui Palace lived an incredibly comfortable and blissful life!

There's no need to worry about palace rules, no one to suppress or cheat you, your master is kind and generous, you can eat and dress well every day and receive rewards, all you need to do is your assigned cleaning and chores and play with your master.

The fence around Zhongcui Palace was very secure. Apart from the Empress Dowager, no one else in the palaces heard a word about it and assumed that Yu Ying'er was in bed protecting her pregnancy.

But plans can't keep up with changes. Before the return of the jade intact could happen, in the dead of winter, when Xiao Lezi went to the kitchen to collect ingredients from the Zhongcui Palace's small kitchen, he heard someone tell him something incredible and interesting. He then told Xi Qiao and Yu Ying'er about it.

“After being refused when asked to embroider a purse, Consort Xia of Yanxi Palace held a grudge. Yesterday, taking advantage of the moment when Consort An went out for a stroll, she ordered the palace gates to be closed.”

"When Consort An returned, she was unable to enter Yanxi Palace. Furious, she went to Yikun Palace to ask Consort Hua to uphold justice. Consort Hua was furious and punished Consort Xia by making her kneel for an hour."

"After Xia Changzai finished making An Daying kneel, she led people to drag An Daying to the snow and poured a bucket of ice water over her head. She also had people press An Daying down to kneel in the snow. If it weren't for Consort Fucha stopping her in time, An Daying would probably have frozen to death."

Winters in Beijing are already incredibly cold, with temperatures often below freezing. Recently, there has been heavy snowfall, and the howling winds are biting. Stepping outside gives you the feeling that you're about to freeze into an icicle.

If you get a bucket of ice water poured over your head in this kind of weather, you're almost guaranteed to catch a cold.

Xi Qiao was afraid that Xia Dongchun, that simpleton, would ruin An Lingrong's life, so he even had Xiao Xizi and Xiao Lianzi carry two baskets of top-quality silver frost charcoal to accompany her to Yanxi Palace to visit her.

Yanxi Palace.

An Lingrong, her lips bluish-green, huddled under the covers, shivering from both cold and fear.

Yesterday, she finally mustered up the courage to go find Consort Hua, but she almost lost her life as soon as Consort Hua's men left.

When that bucket of ice water was poured over her from head to toe, she even felt like she was going to freeze to death.

An Lingrong hugged the thin blanket tightly and silently shed tears. The humiliation she had suffered these past few days and the fear of almost losing her life yesterday surged into her heart.

Does she deserve to suffer such injustice because she comes from a humble background?

Just because she is of low rank, does that mean she deserves to be humiliated to the point of almost losing her life?

“My lady…” Seeing her eyes red from crying, Baoque was overcome with grief and couldn’t help but shed tears as well.

Their lives were truly miserable.

The young lady has been in the palace for a long time but has not yet served the emperor. Her monthly allowance has been severely reduced by the Imperial Household Department. The cotton-padded clothes and quilts she receives in winter are all inferior goods that are not warm enough. The charcoal used for heating not only produces a lot of choking smoke, but also has too little quantity and is simply not enough. As for monthly allowances, they are almost never seen.

Yesterday, after being doused with ice water, the young lady developed a fever. She went to the Imperial Hospital to ask for a physician, but they couldn't come. The reason was simple: she didn't have the money.

In the end, she could only use the last piece of silver to buy a few pills for her mistress to take.

But the pills were ineffective, and the young mistress developed a high fever before nightfall. Helpless, she could only grit her teeth and take the only valuable gold hairpin in the young mistress's dressing case to beg Aunt He. That gold hairpin was a gift from Consort Zhuang when the young mistress entered the palace.

Aunt He had received a benefit and personally went to the Imperial Hospital, but she could only invite an older female physician. After taking the pulse, the physician wrote a prescription and got the medicine. She quickly brewed the medicine and fed it to the young master.

After taking the medicine, the young lady's fever subsided by dawn, but she was not fully recovered. They had neither a thick quilt to keep warm nor charcoal to provide warmth, so the young lady shivered in bed from the cold.

Xi Qiao's first impression upon entering Mingse Residence was that it was cold, as cold as an ice cave.

"Young Master An." Xi Qiao stepped into the room and saw the master and servant hugging and crying.

Upon hearing the voice, Baoque quickly wiped away her tears and turned around. When she saw that it was Xi Qiao, her eyes lit up immediately: "Aunt Chunrong!"

"Greetings, Aunt. I apologize for my rudeness." Baoque hurriedly stood up to greet her.

Xi Qiao waved his hand to signal her not to be so polite, and walked a few steps to the bedside. He said to An Lingrong, who was about to get up, "Please lie down, Miss An. Miss Zhuang and I have both heard about what happened yesterday. You must not catch a cold again before you have fully recovered."

An Lingrong obeyed and shrank back into the quilt, trembling as she weakly said, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh at me, Aunt. My clothes are very simple. Please don't mind. Baoque, quickly bring me a stool."

Xi Qiao stepped forward and touched the quilt. It was thin and stiff, not a new quilt. It was clear that with Xia Changzai, who was like a troublemaker, An Lingrong's life was indeed much more difficult than in the original story.

“This quilt…” Xi Qiao frowned, but didn’t say much in the end. “I brought some silver frost charcoal. Bao Que, go and light a charcoal brazier first.”

Looking at An Lingrong's red eyes, she sighed with pity and said, "Please bear with it a little longer, my lady, it will be warm soon."

An Lingrong's tears, which she had just stopped, fell again. "Thank you, Auntie. Thank you, Sister Zhuang."

It's so cold in the palace; she thought she wouldn't make it through the winter.

Looking at her lips, which were blue and purple from the cold, and her pale face, which was devoid of color due to illness, Xi Qiao was afraid that she really wouldn't make it through. He quickly stuffed the hand warmer he had been holding into her blanket.

"If Xiao Lezi hadn't overheard the news when she went to the Imperial Kitchen to collect ingredients today, our young master wouldn't have known that her situation was so difficult. Our young master is also stubborn. Not to mention others, our young master would never stand idly by. She should have sent someone to tell us sooner."

An Lingrong's tears flowed uncontrollably, as she sobbed, "Sister Zhuang's pregnancy seems unsettled, I'm afraid of disturbing her recovery. And...and..."

She always thought that since Sister Shen was favored, she wouldn't just ignore her forever, but who would have thought...

An Lingrong pursed her lips and stopped thinking about it.

The magpie finally brought over the charcoal brazier, bringing some warmth to the room.

Seeing An Lingrong's tears flowing incessantly, Baoque also began to wipe away her own tears.

Xi Qiao handed Bao Que a purse full of loose silver. "Don't cry. It's against palace rules to not hear crying. If someone hears it, it'll cause trouble again. Take this silver and go with Xiao Lianzi to the Imperial Household Department to smooth things over. The important thing is to get Consort An's monthly allowance back first."

Baoque quickly stopped crying, raised her hand to wipe away her tears with her sleeve, and said, "This servant thanks you, Aunt."

Xi Qiao had been there for a while and only saw the two of them, the mistress and the servant. He hadn't heard a sound from Ju Qing at all, so he asked, "Young master, where is Ju Qing?"