"You have to carry this Jade Pendant with you at all times, don’t even take it off when you sleep. This is an immortal’s artifact." Tianmiao took out a perfectly ordinary-looking Jade Pendant and handed it to the Emperor.
"An immortal’s artifact?!" The Emperor jolted, hurriedly accepted it with great solemnity, then stared wide‑eyed at the Jade Pendant in his hand, thinking, It’s over, did Mother get scammed? Did some temple con her while she was burning incense? This Jade Pendant doesn’t even have any luster, the quality’s awful. An immortal’s artifact, seriously? I’ll have someone look into this later and find out who tricked Imperial Mother. I’ll make him pay.
Though the Emperor’s inner monologue was running wild, on the surface he still accepted it very happily and put it on right then and there.
"Thank you, Mother. I really like this gift." The Emperor said cheerfully after putting it on. Even if Mother had been scammed, it was still her heartfelt gesture, so of course he was happy.
Tianmiao gave him a mysterious smile. She certainly knew the Emperor didn’t believe this was an immortal’s artifact, but very soon... the Emperor would believe.
After lunch, the Emperor got up again, planning to stroll slowly back to the Imperial Study Room—walking back would help with digestion.
When he passed by the Imperial Garden, he ran into a Noble Lady who was there admiring the flowers.
This Noble Lady was also one of the pre‑selected candidates. Seemed she’d already been titled Noble Lady Qing? The Emperor thought back, not entirely sure.
Noble Lady Qing saw the Emperor coming from afar. She hurriedly smoothed the hair by her ear, gave a bashful smile, and when the Emperor came closer, she stepped forward to salute.
"Your concubine greets the Emperor." Noble Lady Qing curtsied.
"Rise." The Emperor sized up the woman before him. Oh, her outfit was actually quite fresh and simple, not all gaudy reds and greens. Looked decent enough.
Just then, the Emperor was stunned to discover a little white ball hovering above Noble Lady Qing’s head. A line of text appeared above the little ball.
"The Emperor is pleased with your outfit. Favorability +1."
The Emperor’s eyes flew wide open. What the hell is that?
He did think Noble Lady Qing’s outfit was okay. This "favorability level"??? He could understand the literal meaning well enough. But what on earth was going on? Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at his Chief Eunuch and saw that his expression was perfectly normal. The Emperor guessed in his heart, Could it be that this little ball is visible only to me?
The Emperor felt a bit panicked inside. Something this bizarre, and only he could see it?
Even though he was inwardly flustered, he was still the Emperor after all. He quickly smoothed his expression and waved his hand. "You may rise. Is Noble Lady Qing here admiring the flowers? I still have business to attend to." With that, the Emperor strode off.
After rising, Noble Lady Qing watched the Emperor’s departing figure, a bit vexed. According to the information given by her system, she’d put on the style of clothing the Emperor liked. How come the Emperor was completely unmoved?
The Emperor was still shaken and hurried toward the study, but he hadn’t gone far before he ran into another Concubine who seemed to be admiring flowers but was actually lying in wait for him. This time it was Concubine Jing.
"Your concubine greets the Emperor." Concubine Jing also curtsied.
"Rise." The Emperor was somewhat absent‑minded, still thinking about what had just happened.
"The Emperor works so hard, you must take care of your dragon body. This concubine has boiled some white fungus soup and was planning to deliver it to Your Majesty," Concubine Jing said in a soft, coy voice.
The Emperor was just about to say something when he suddenly saw that there was also a little white ball by the left side of Concubine Jing’s head. A line of text floated up above the ball.
"At one quarter past You‑hour, the Emperor will go to the Empress Dowager again to have dinner and will eat roasted whole lamb, which is a bit greasy. It is recommended that you stew some mung bean soup and send it over to help him cut the grease."
The Emperor’s eyes flew wide open again. What the hell is this now?
"No need. You drink it yourself." The Emperor suddenly felt the Jade Pendant on his chest, then turned and headed straight for the Empress Dowager’s palace.
Before leaving, he abruptly halted and looked toward Concubine Jing’s little white ball, only to see a new line of text appear above it.
"The Emperor is going to see the Empress Dowager."
The Emperor felt utterly spooked and quickened his pace, hurrying off to find his mother.
What on earth was going on with all this? What were these things he was seeing? Was it related to the Jade Pendant Mother had given him? Was this Jade Pendant really an immortal’s artifact?