Chapter One: Disguised as a Fat Man

Behind an artificial hill in the Imperial Garden.

Huarong was craning her neck, anxiously looking around as she waited for something.

“Are you sure? The Emperor will definitely come here?”

Beside her, the palace maid Suxin nodded with a somber seriousness. “I’m certain. The lotuses in the Imperial Garden are in bloom, and His Majesty has come to admire them every day after court recently.”

“Excellent,” Huarong replied without turning her head.

Suxin eyed the object in front of her, exasperation written all over her face. “My Lady, it’s not wrong for you to wait here for the Emperor, but could you at least dress a bit more… normally?”

Huarong refused solemnly. “That’s where you’re mistaken. If I act like everyone else, the Emperor will never remember me. Only by being unique can I leave a lasting impression.”

Suxin glanced up and down at Huarong’s “unique” attire, her mouth twitching uncontrollably. “My Lady, you…”

“He’s coming, he’s coming!”

At once, both mistress and maid held their breath and looked up.

The very next second, their breaths caught in unison.

Wow! So handsome!

At the head of the procession walked a young man, clad in a bright yellow dragon robe, his tall, noble figure exuding an aura that forbade disrespect. His features were exquisitely carved—an elegant nose, thin lips, and, most striking of all, a pair of eyes as deep and cold as a bottomless winter lake, unfathomable and remote.

No wonder he was hailed as the most handsome man in all of Fengling Dynasty.

Huarong marveled inwardly, drew a deep breath, and then dashed out.

Suxin was dumbfounded. Did she really have to be this direct?!

The Emperor, leisurely admiring the flowers, suddenly saw a massive figure barreling toward him!

The people around him were startled and about to intervene, when the large figure abruptly dropped to her knees with a thud, looked up with teary eyes, and cried, “Your Majesty, I have finally seen you again.”

The sudden turn of events left everyone momentarily speechless.

The Emperor stared at the young woman kneeling before him—who was easily two hundred pounds—and could not for the life of him recall when he’d acquired such a “substantial” concubine.

Eunuch Li, sweating profusely, stepped forward to offer an explanation. “Your Majesty, this is Lady Rong of Xuanji Palace. Only… when this old servant last saw her, she was not quite so… er, plump.”

Plump didn’t even begin to cover it!

Look at those thighs, that waist, those arms—oh, my eyes!

Hearing this, Huarong hung her head, smiling shyly. “Eunuch Li must be jesting. It’s just that I so rarely get to see Your Majesty, and my longing is hard to bear. Only by turning my yearning into appetite can I find a little solace. As the saying goes, being able to eat is a blessing. Your Majesty, just look at how blessed I am now.”

The corners of the eunuchs’ and maids’ mouths twitched in unison.

Only the Emperor, his face as icy and unchanging as ever, nodded perfunctorily.

Huarong’s face instantly lit up with joy. The next moment, a blush crept over her brow, and she twisted a handkerchief in her fingers, feigning bashfulness. “Your Majesty, tonight is the Seventh Night Festival. Why not summon me to attend you this evening?”

All the eunuchs and maids subtly shifted their gaze. Considering the difference in their sizes, they couldn’t help but picture their elegant Emperor being flattened into a meat patty beneath this rotund Lady Rong.

Everyone shuddered at the thought.

Ever dutiful, Eunuch Li hurried to the rescue, dabbing at his cold sweat. “Lady Rong, His Majesty has already summoned… summoned Lady Wan for tonight.”

“What?” Huarong was devastated, then looked at the Emperor with pitiful eyes. “Your Majesty, can’t you change your mind?”

The aloof Emperor replied coolly, “No.”

Everyone thought that with the Emperor’s answer, Huarong would finally back down.

Who would have thought, the next moment, she actually clung to the Emperor’s leg and began to wail!

“Your Majesty, why not? I’ve been in the palace for a year and have never once been summoned to your bedchamber. At this rate, my youth will be wasted away behind these palace walls! Are you really willing to let my best years slip by like this?”

For the first time, a hint of a crack appeared on the Emperor’s frozen face.

He lifted his hand, and a maid immediately stepped forward to pull Huarong away.

Then, with long strides, he left.

Even after he’d walked quite a distance, he could still hear Huarong calling after him, “Your Majesty, you can’t despise me just because I’m plump! My heart for you is as true as the heavens and the sun and moon. Please, just give me a chance to serve you!”

The Emperor pressed his lips together and walked even faster.

Not until he was completely out of sight did Huarong stop, the sorrow in her expression vanishing instantly. “Suxin, let’s go.”

Suxin emerged from behind the fake mountain, close to tears with frustration. “My Lady, what are you doing? Instead of leaving the Emperor with a good impression, you’ve made yourself a laughingstock.”

Huarong pulled four or five cloth bundles from her clothes and handed them all to Suxin, spreading her hands in mock innocence. “A miscalculation, I thought the Emperor would be drawn to my extraordinary look, but who would have guessed… ah, all my efforts wasted.”

Suxin’s look screamed, “I’d believe you if I were a fool.”

Who would choose rolls of fat over a slender figure?

“My Lady, you don’t really want to compete for favor, do you? Please, tell me seriously—am I imagining things?”

Huarong took a green plum from her pocket, took a couple of bites, and nodded. “Mm, you’re imagining it. Of course I want His Majesty’s favor. Truly.”

Suxin: Go on, keep acting.

After finishing the plum, Huarong pursed her lips in silent exasperation.

Competing for favor? Ha.

She’d gone through so much to escape an arranged marriage, only to die in the process and wake up in this palace intrigue novel.

The original Huarong was clever and resourceful—she’d won the Emperor’s favor on the Seventh Night and became the most favored consort in the harem. But what good did it do? In the end, the other concubines joined forces to destroy her, and her death was both tragic and humiliating.

As for herself—a modern soul drifting in—she might have inherited the original’s beauty, but certainly not her cunning. If she were summoned to the Emperor’s bed and he fell for her as madly as he had the original, the jealous concubines would surely finish her off too.

So, she must avoid his favor at all costs.

Huarong looked up at the blue sky, a contented sigh in her heart. “Ah, the salted fish life is truly fulfilling. Far from the Emperor, coasting my days away with nothing to do but eat and sleep—what bliss.”

…

In just a few days’ time, waves of gossip swept the harem.

Lady Rong of Xuanji Palace, in a bid to win the Emperor’s favor, had resorted to a desperate act in front of him—only for the Emperor to walk away in displeasure.

In the harem, where beauties were plentiful, a single loss of favor could spell a lifetime of loneliness.

So, in the eyes of the other consorts, Lady Rong was as good as an abandoned woman.

The already secluded Xuanji Palace grew ever quieter.

Huarong, however, found her days more comfortable than ever. She spent her time idling and eating, the very air in Xuanji Palace thick with the scent of a languid, carefree existence.

Today was no different. Huarong had just finished breakfast and was napping, when a shrill voice outside jolted her awake.

“What kind of thing do you think you are, to dare stand in my way!”

This was followed by the sharp crack of a series of slaps.