"Damn it! Why didn't you tell me that was Luo Nanchen earlier? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
At this moment, Luo Nanchen looked only eight or nine years old. He was thin and frail, showing none of the domineering aura he would later have as the ruler of the world. He just stood there timidly. He wanted to come over but didn't dare. Finally, he managed to say, "Don't be afraid."
Lin Qiao was trembling.
Damn it, bro. How can I not be scared...
You're the one who will turn me into a human swine with your own hands in the future...
No, no. She had to make amends. At least, she shouldn't let the kid have a psychological shadow at such a young age. Maybe... should she first show weakness to Luo Nanchen and tell him that she didn't mean to be fierce just now?
[OOC Warning! OOC Warning!]
A deafening siren sounded. Lin Qiao felt a tingling sensation on her scalp and a splitting headache. She quickly squatted down and hugged her head. Although she looked like a disheveled criminal, at least it stopped the pain.
"Your Majesty, we've found her. The Holy Maiden is by the Inkstone Pond Lake."
Seeing that things were getting out of control, Lin Qiao didn't care about anything else. Gritting her teeth, she said to Luo Nanchen, "Run quickly. Hurry up. Don't let others find you."
[Warning ineffective. Character OOC. 10 System B-grades deducted. Current B-grade is zero.]
[If the System B-grade is below zero, the host will be sent back to the original world.]
Lin Qiao felt wronged. Damn it, scaring the male lead for nothing...
In the original story, Luo Nanchen's father, Luo Siyuan, was in poor health. In recent years, his old illness had flared up, and he had searched everywhere for a cure to no avail. The Le'an Realm was a well - known nation for healing, and it had only gained fame in recent years. Therefore, after learning about it, Luo Siyuan spared no expense to marry the Holy Maiden of the Le'an Realm, hoping to cure his old illness.
But who was the original Lin Qiao? She was as arrogant as the sky and as proud as the earth. How could she be willing to serve an old man? So, after giving him a dose of medicine, he seemed to improve in the first few days and then looked radiant. But it wasn't until Luo Siyuan was on his deathbed that he realized it was just a temporary recovery due to the medicine's effect.
Luo Siyuan was in poor health and had a gentle name, but he was truly ruthless.
When he knew that he was beyond rescue, he made the original Lin Qiao order the execution of Luo Nanchen's mother in front of him. Although it wasn't the original Lin Qiao who did it, the purpose was obvious.
To make Luo Nanchen hate her. Even if Luo Nanchen couldn't become the emperor, he wouldn't let her have an easy life.
Siyuan. What a fitting name. He was truly far - sighted and ruthless.
If Lin Qiao said she wasn't afraid of such a person, she would be lying.
Although Emperor Yunjin had sincerely spent a fortune to marry her, once she was on someone else's territory, Lin Qiao naturally couldn't act arrogantly. Moreover, Lin Qiao was a bit afraid of this nominal husband. She quickly knelt down obediently and said, "Greetings to Your Majesty."
Luo Siyuan's illness was severe. By now, he couldn't even get out of bed and had to lie on a sedan chair carried by palace servants everywhere. He was lying lazily on his side, casually picking up a grape. "Why isn't the Holy Maiden in the wedding sedan? I came all the way and was disappointed to find you missing."
Looking at Luo Siyuan, he wasn't particularly old. He just seemed a bit weak in kidney qi and a bit greasy. But since he could give birth to a son like Luo Nanchen, who was loved by everyone, his appearance must have been quite good.
Lin Qiao lied without thinking, "The most important task for me to come to Yunjin is to cure Your Majesty's illness. Naturally, I need to first take a look at Your Majesty's living environment so that I can prescribe the right medicine. So, I came to this garden first."
Luo Siyuan gave a soft grunt and nodded lightly. "The Holy Maiden has really worked hard. Get up first."
"It's not hard. It's my honor to serve Your Majesty whole - heartedly."
After saying some nice words, Lin Qiao stood up and secretly looked behind her. When she found that Luo Nanchen had disappeared, she felt relieved. Luo Siyuan was very suspicious. If he saw that Luo Nanchen had something to do with her at this time, there might be a lot of trouble.
Since Luo Siyuan wanted Lin Qiao to treat his illness well, he had to give her some benefits first.
So, the ceremony to confer the title of queen was held as scheduled. The whole country celebrated, the emperor pardoned all criminals, and the whole world rejoiced. But the various palace ceremonies were just a formality.
Her two cute little maidens, Chunhua and Qiuyue, were very indignant about this. "Holy Maiden, what does that Emperor Yunjin take you for? He doesn't value you at all."
Lin Qiao just smiled.
She didn't really care about these empty formalities. What she really wanted was the phoenix seal and the real power in her own hands.
After the simple ceremony to confer the title of queen, all the concubines came to pay their respects to the newly - crowned queen.
None of the concubines had a good attitude towards Lin Qiao. It was understandable. The three thousand concubines in the harem had been vying for the position of queen for half their lives, but now Lin Qiao had suddenly taken it away. Anyone would feel aggrieved.
In the original story, Lin Qiao was just a fourteen - year - old girl at this time. She didn't have the appearance of the later seductress who would bring calamity to the nation and couldn't control the demons and ghosts in the harem.
But just because the original Lin Qiao didn't have the ability at this time didn't mean Lin Qiao didn't have it!
In just two days, by recalling the plot of the original story and asking around, she had already figured out the power distribution in the palace. Moreover, did they think she was just a casual viewer of *Empresses in the Palace*?
All the concubines knelt down to pay their respects to her together. One concubine lazily didn't kneel down. It was extremely perfunctory. Although none of the other concubines knelt down very standardly, this one was really too careless. She didn't even want to bend her knees.
Lin Qiao didn't sit upright formally to receive the concubines' respects. Instead, she leaned back casually and then assumed a lazy and lofty look. Smiling, she asked, "Who's that?"
Qiuyue replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, it's Consort Xia."
Oh, it seemed that the author of this book was also a die - hard fan of *Empresses in the Palace*. Lin Qiao smiled more charmingly. "Consort? Always here to make a fool of herself, right?"
That Consort Xia trembled and knelt down with a thud.
"Stay kneeling. All the sisters in the harem are a united body. Unity is the most important," Lin Qiao imitated Luo Nanchen's behavior after he turned evil. She was very lazy and looked like a person in a high position with great dignity. "Oh, by the way, all my sisters should maintain your current postures. If you're a bit too high or a bit too low, I'll be unhappy."
Originally, none of them knelt down very standardly. They just bent their knees and were about to finish.
It was okay to bend their bodies for a short time, but after Lin Qiao said this, they either had to kneel down standardly and wouldn't be very tired, or they had to maintain their original postures without moving. That could really be considered a kind of punishment.
Imperial Consort Yao was already in her thirties. Moreover, since she was the foster mother of the crown prince, she was extremely arrogant. Now, she had to kneel to the thirteen - year - old Lin Qiao for no reason and keep kneeling. Imperial Consort Yao's face had turned ashen and she looked very unhappy.
The imperial consort herself didn't speak, but the little maid beside her said, "What's this? Is there any sense of propriety? Your Majesty the Queen is new here. Maybe she doesn't know how noble our Lady is!"
Another little maid from another palace spoke up. It was the personal maid of Concubine Yue. "That's right. It's really outrageous. Even the former queen had to give our Lady some face. Who do you think you are? A little girl, putting on airs for whom?!"
"A quail that has flown up to a high branch is still a quail. It doesn't know any rules at all!"
"After all, she's not the material to be a phoenix."
Even some concubines couldn't help but step on Lin Qiao. The first one was that Consort Xia, who was full of resentment. "I heard that in the Le'an Realm, women are respected. Maybe Your Majesty the Queen is still half - asleep after coming to Yunjin?"
"Your Majesty the Queen is used to being the center of attention. She wants all of us to act with her."
If it were the original Lin Qiao, she would have written down all those who had mocked her and, when she was in power in the future, would have returned the insults one by one.
But Lin Qiao didn't say a word because the after - effect of the rice cakes she had eaten in the morning was a bit strong, and now she felt a bit choked.
Chunhua and Qiuyue were extremely angry, but maybe they knew they weren't good at arguing and didn't dare to speak easily without a good comeback. So, they held back for a long time, and their eyes were red from holding back.
After drinking a mouthful of tea and finally swallowing down the rice cakes, Lin Qiao said slowly, "Cuizui, smash her mouth."
Chunhua and Qiuyue didn't react at first. "What... what mouth? What smash?"
Not only the two little maidens didn't understand, but all the concubines and maids in the hall were also confused. Although they were still kneeling, they were all at a loss.
Lin Qiao wasn't embarrassed at all. She continued lazily, "Sorry, Cuiguo, smash their mouths."
There was no Cuiguo or Zhou Ninghai in the palace, but she had Chunhua and Qiuyue, as well as the super - strong bodyguard team she had brought when she came for the marriage alliance. This was probably the most important support for the original Lin Qiao when she bullied Luo Nanchen later.
Everyone who had spoken rudely to her got a few slaps.
She wasn't good at waiting to get even in the future because her memory wasn't good and she couldn't remember.
The anger she suffered now, she would return now.
If she carried the name of the seductress who brought calamity to the nation but suffered the anger of a pure - hearted female lead, Lin Qiao would be extremely aggrieved.
Lin Qiao smiled and still leaned lazily on the couch. She didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt for being a bad person. "I have a bad temper. All my sisters should be careful. I can reason with you with a smile, or I can teach you what propriety is."
After this visit, the concubines in the harem finally knew that the new queen was not to be trifled with. No one dared to show her a bad face for no reason. Later, because Lin Qiao liked to stay in bed in the morning, the daily audience was even cancelled.
She really had the demeanor of the later seductress who brought calamity to the nation.
Everyone in the harem was talking about it, but they didn't dare to do anything to Lin Qiao. Not only did the people in the harem not dare to say much, but even the close attendants around Luo Siyuan were very respectful to Lin Qiao because Lin Qiao's healing method held the emperor's life in her hands.
It was half a month after Lin Qiao entered the palace when she came to change Luo Siyuan's medicine again.
Luo Siyuan's old illness was showing signs of improvement. His complexion was much rosier. Seemingly casually, he held Lin Qiao's hand. "The Queen really has a pair of skillful hands. I feel much better."
Lin Qiao was smiling on the surface but cursing in her heart.
...Damn it. What kind of lousy medicine did this lousy system give? How does this old lecher still have the strength to touch her little hand?