I Was Supposed to Be the Villainous Consort

News that the Empress Dowager had summoned Qin Xiyue quickly reached Yun Zhao.

Xiangxue continued, her head lowered, "When Qin Xiyue came out of Shouci Palace, she looked dreadful. Her attendant, Hua Ying, was in tears. Both mistress and servant seemed to be in a bad state."

Song Yunzhao frowned slightly. ’I’ve been so busy lately that I’d completely forgotten about Qin Xiyue. What could the Empress Dowager want with her at a time like this? She must be trying to push Qin Xiyue to clash with me. But Qin Xiyue is no fool. As the patient and forbearing female lead, she’s an expert at weighing the pros and cons and certainly wouldn’t just do the Empress Dowager’s bidding.’

’When the Empress Dowager fails to get her way, she’s bound to say a few nasty things. Qin Xiyue can take it, but Hua Ying can’t. Not everyone has the mental fortitude and resilience of a protagonist.’

Song Yunzhao was getting tired of this. The Empress Dowager was always finding ways to disgust her, yet there was nothing she could do about it right now. It wasn’t just her; even Feng Yi was powerless against her.

’Unless I get a good opportunity to drag An Shutong, the vessel of all the Empress Dowager’s hopes, down to hell and completely crush her spirit. Maybe then the Empress Dowager will finally quiet down a little.’

Besides, the Empress Dowager had gotten smarter. She was constantly causing minor trouble but never made any major mistakes. Even if Feng Yi wanted to back Song Yunzhao up, he had no perfectly justifiable reason to do so.

’So irritating.’

"Don’t worry about what’s happening at Huayang Palace. As long as Qin Xiyue doesn’t do anything untoward, you are to act as if you’ve seen nothing," Song Yunzhao said. She was only keeping an eye on Qin Xiyue because of the law of protagonists and supporting female characters.

’If Qin Xiyue weren’t described in the book as someone remarkably adaptable and patient, I definitely wouldn’t be bothering to watch her now.’

’But she is.’

So Song Yunzhao had to remain constantly vigilant, lest she get blindsided and capsize in a ditch.

Was she in a good mood?

Of course not.

Who would want to watch someone else like a creep? It was a thoroughly unpleasant experience.

The date for the final review of the selection candidates hadn’t been set yet, but on Princess Consort Wan’s end, the first batch of formulas had already been sent to the workshop for trial production.

She was a bit surprised. She hadn’t expected Princess Consort Wan to personally oversee the process. Whenever a step wasn’t done correctly, she would go over and provide guidance herself. Seeing such professionalism, Song Yunzhao had the Imperial Kitchen prepare a full banquet and invited Princess Consort Wan and the others for a meal.

Consort Shu was so busy she couldn’t make it, but she had two extra dishes added to the meal as a token of her goodwill.

Song Yunzhao was speechless.

’Right, that’s something Consort Shu would do. Adding dishes to *my* banquet... she’s really trying to be the host, isn’t she?’

Han Jinyi was gentle and polite. Since Princess Consort Wan often visited the workshop, the two interacted quite a bit. Moreover, whenever Princess Consort Wan pointed out a mistake, Han Jinyi would take note of it and make sure to watch that step closely the next time, saving Princess Consort Wan a lot of trouble. As a result, Princess Consort Wan now felt very close to Han Jinyi and even took the time during the banquet to explain the intricacies of the business to her.

Lu Zhixue had no patience for such things and thus didn’t earn Princess Consort Wan’s approval. However, since Han Jinyi was taking care of things on Princess Consort Wan’s end, Lu Zhixue shouldered more of the other workshop duties.

Lately, Lu Zhixue had been looking in the mirror often, feeling that all the running around had tanned her skin.

Song Yunzhao found this quite amusing. She comforted her a little and promised to ask Princess Consort Wan to formulate a whitening cream for her later, which finally cheered Lu Zhixue up.

Wang Zhaorong was in charge of promotion. The term "promotion" itself was something she had first heard from Song Yunzhao. It sounded novel, but after hearing the explanation, she felt it was quite apt.

Her idea of promotion was simply writing letters to friends and family. That was how everyone did it—recommending good things to one another.

Given that the Wang Family had already fallen, Wang Zhaorong could only write to her former sworn sisters. Although she felt a bit embarrassed, she still had to do it.

After all, she was short on Silver.

That was when Song Yunzhao gave her an idea: have the workshop produce a batch of trial samples for Wang Zhaorong to give away.

There’s an old saying that good wine needs no bush, but they couldn’t afford to believe that.

A good product needs advertising.

Furthermore, in a stroke of crafty genius, Song Yunzhao had the small golden seal the Emperor had the Six Departments make for her stamped onto the packaging of the trial samples.

’A golden seal from the palace carries the imperial insignia. It’s just like the logo of a major international brand in a later era—extremely eye-catching.’

Wang Zhaorong also thought this was a brilliant move. The Emperor had given Ming Fei special permission to open the Baozhuang Building. As soon as the shop was established, Zhang Maoquan and his men were out publicizing its origins. Within a few days, everyone knew that Lady Ming was opening a shop. It was also said that half of the shop’s profits would be paid as tax to the National Treasury.

Regardless of whether it would be profitable, that statement from Ming Fei alone piqued the curiosity of countless people.

The shop hadn’t even opened, but its reputation was already spreading.

Now, Wang Zhaorong could ride this wave of momentum and distribute the trial samples. What a great honor! Forgetting for a moment whether the product was any good, how many people could claim the glory of getting their hands on it before anyone else?

Song Yunzhao also prepared a batch herself. She sent a few boxes to Princess Fuke and set some aside for the Song Family, including portions for the married daughters like Xie Linlang and Song Yexi.

’The Song Family is now considered imperial in-laws, and I’m a favored concubine. Besides, it’s my shop. Isn’t it only right that my maiden family gets some?’

In addition, Song Yunzhao had someone quietly deliver a share to the Young Madam of Marquis Wuxin. Song Qinghan and Xu Anxing were a ticking time bomb, and she needed Xu Anchen and his wife to help keep an eye on them.

When Mrs. Pan received the gift, she let out a long sigh of relief. It wasn’t that she lacked rouge, powders, or fragrance creams, but this delivery from Ming Fei was a clear gesture of respect toward her.

Her mother-in-law, however, had received nothing.

After some thought, Mrs. Pan took out one box to present to her mother-in-law out of filial piety and sent two more boxes back to her own maiden family. She absolutely had to take advantage of the favorable wind Ming Fei had created.

Princess Fuke had always been one for grand gestures. The day after Song Yunzhao’s gift arrived, she hosted a banquet, inviting numerous guests to build up the reputation of the Baozhuang Building.

The two families were related by marriage, and Princess Fuke had always been generous. When Feng Yi heard about it, he even had Meng Jiuchang make a special trip to deliver a reward to her.

What was the Emperor implying by this?

He was backing Ming Fei.

Princess Fuke was doing this to build Ming Fei’s reputation, so by rewarding Princess Fuke, wasn’t the Emperor indirectly bolstering Ming Fei?

The imperial selection was in full swing within the palace, yet here was Ming Fei, busy with some "Baozhuang Building." Not only did she seem unconcerned about new beauties entering the palace, but she also appeared to be ambitiously expanding her influence—and to top it all off, the Emperor was cheering her on.

This displeased all the great aristocratic families in the Capital City who had sent their daughters to participate in this year’s selection, especially Marchioness Wu Xin.

Her daughter was still in Zhichun Palace learning the rules, and now her daughter-in-law was bringing her things from the Baozhuang Building. What was the meaning of this?

Marchioness Wu Xin was so furious she immediately smashed the gift. A day later, she found an excuse to scold her eldest daughter-in-law, which finally helped her vent some of her anger.

Mrs. Pan wore a somber expression. When her husband returned, she calmly told him about the scolding she had received, putting on a look of terror and unease. She tearfully claimed that she had displeased his mother and that she was being unfilial.

Xu Anchen’s face turned black with anger. He patted his wife’s back and offered a few words of comfort.

’His mother’s favoritism was truly getting out of hand.’

’If this continues, will I even have to give up my position as the heir?’

’That’s unacceptable. I have to think of a solution.’