Chapter Ninety-Nine: No Need to Thank Me Too Much

With a flick of her right hand, she deftly pinched a pill between her fingers. While the Consort got up to check on something else, she twirled her fingers with a flourish, and the pill was sent flying straight into the Consort’s teacup. It dissolved instantly, leaving no trace of color or taste—these medicines from her secret stash were truly remarkable!

Once the Consort had finished her other tasks, she locked herself alone in the inner chamber. Unaware, she drank the drugged tea as she prepared to resume reviewing the accounts. Suddenly, a shadow slipped soundlessly through the window!

“Shen—” The Consort could hardly believe her eyes. Wasn’t Shen Fuyu still under house arrest? How could she appear so silently in the Palace of Gentle Serenity? Just as she opened her mouth to call for help, she realized she couldn’t move! Not even a word escaped her lips.

“Dear Elder Sister Consort, it’s been such a long time. Have you missed me?” Shen Fuyu patted the dust off her clothes with a sly grin. Watching the Consort’s face turn from shock to fear and fury, Shen Fuyu could no longer contain her smile. She leaned in with feigned affection. “I guessed you must miss me dearly, so I came to see you.”

The Consort: ...

What had this wretched girl done to her? Why couldn’t she move?

It was Puppet Pill No. 2.

Compared to Shen Fuyu, the spatial artifact named things with far less taste. Puppet Pill No. 2 was much like the first but with subtle differences—it caused muscle paralysis for the time it took to burn an incense stick. During that period, the victim couldn’t move or speak, but remained fully aware of everything. It was, in short, a sobering knockout drug.

Shen Fuyu looked upon the Consort with pure mischief. She studied her closely—tsk, tsk, tsk—upon closer inspection, it was no wonder this woman had once rivaled Shen Tangyu for favor. Such a petite figure, such delicate features.

She wore the very expression of someone about to do something wicked.

Amid her rage, the Consort began to feel fear. The more she struggled to control her body, the more she realized her muscles ached terribly. Sweat beaded on her brow from anxiety.

“Dear sister, look at you! The weather’s already cooled, yet you’re sweating so much,” Shen Fuyu blinked innocently. “I’m such a harmless soul—what could I possibly do to you?”

The Consort: ...

There was nothing this fiend wouldn’t dare!

Beneath Shen Fuyu’s harmless exterior lurked pure malice. Suddenly, she picked up an account ledger from the desk, glanced at it, and laughed. “You must be so busy, managing all the affairs of the six palaces. Why don’t I help you, sister?”

With that, she let the ledger slip from her hand, sending it tumbling straight onto the inkstone!

The Consort: !!?

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry! I must be clumsy because of the pregnancy!” she said, though there was not a hint of apology in her tone. Shen Fuyu looked positively delighted. When she retrieved the ledger, the page full of problematic entries was now thoroughly smeared—completely illegible!

The Consort trembled with rage. She wanted nothing more than to leap up and strangle Shen Fuyu, but she couldn’t move a muscle.

Was this wretch deliberately sabotaging her?

“I’m so terribly sorry. Maybe it’s the pregnancy—my hands just don’t work like they used to. I truly didn’t mean it,” Shen Fuyu continued with feigned regret.

It was all too obvious she was doing this on purpose! The Consort’s eyes were red with fury. If only she could move, she would have thrown all dignity aside and killed Shen Fuyu on the spot!

“What to do now? The ink’s soaked through—maybe it can be washed?” The more agitated the Consort became, the more Shen Fuyu played the innocent. Without further ado, she tossed the ledger into the brush washer.

Was she mad? The Consort almost ground her teeth to dust. Everyone knew you never dunk paper in water! The moment the books got wet, the ink would run. What was once just a ruined page, now the entire account book was destroyed! How dare she! How could she!

But alas, Shen Fuyu didn’t care for such things—she dared anything!

“Oh sister, don’t cry! I know you’ve been working so hard, but I was only trying to help! No need to be so emotional!” Shen Fuyu feigned panic, grabbed another ledger, tore out two pages, and wiped the Consort’s face with them. “Please, don’t cry! It’s really nothing at all!”

Up close, she could hear the Consort’s ragged, furious breathing.

Tears smeared with ink, those two pages were ruined as well.

Shen Fuyu glanced at the remaining ledgers and, pretending to assist, leafed through them. “This is outrageous! Just look—errors everywhere!”

She picked up a brush and marked every page with bold strokes, as if she were the Monkey King running amok in the Underworld, rewriting the Book of Life and Death!

The Consort was about to explode with rage. Was this what she called help? She was clearly here to wreak havoc! The hateful wretch—she wished Shen Fuyu a thousand deaths!

The ledgers from each department had been meant for the Consort’s review; she would circle problems and send them back for correction, keeping the ones that passed, and using the rest as an excuse to replace officials with her own people. Now, all her plans were ruined! Worse still, with the ledgers in such a state, she couldn’t send them back at all.

Those officials all belonged to Jing Lanxi. If the first signs of trouble came from her side, she’d have no explanation whatsoever. The Consort couldn’t bear to have her hard-won power snatched away before she’d even warmed the seat!

And to make matters worse, what kind of sorcery had Shen Fuyu used that left her so helpless?

After she was done with the ledgers, Shen Fuyu, brush in hand, was suddenly struck by inspiration.

“Mmm...” Shen Fuyu rested her chin in her hand, pondering what design to draw on the Consort’s face.

The Consort, enraged to the point of bursting blood vessels, glared at her with bloodshot eyes. Shen Fuyu thought for a moment, lifted the Consort’s bangs, and wrote three words on her forehead:

“I am a pig.”

Still unsatisfied, she drew a blow-dryer pig on the Consort’s left cheek.

Finding one pig too lonely, she went ahead and drew the pig’s entire family on the Consort’s face.

After completing her artwork, Shen Fuyu mused—no one here would even recognize the blow-dryer pig, would they?

Then she rolled up the Consort’s sleeve and drew a New Year’s pig on her arm.

Perfect! Vivid and lifelike!

With her right arm exposed to the air, Shen Fuyu spotted a cinnabar mole on the inside of the Consort’s wrist.

“Oh my, what’s this?” She circled the mole with her brush again and again. “Sister, you’re already seventeen and still a maiden?”

“Oh, silly me! Of course—His Majesty has yet to grace you, so the cinnabar mole remains!”