Waking up early in the morning to find the displeased Sima Jiao sitting by the bed - what kind of experience is that? It's like going from a sweet dream into a nightmare.

Liao Tingyan blinked, still a bit dazed. Seeing the not-so-bright sky outside the window, she thought to herself, isn't Sima Jiao supposed to be an incompetent ruler?

Shouldn't an incompetent ruler sleep in late and not hold morning court?

Why is he here so early disturbing her dreams?

Does he even remember his incompetent ruler persona?

Since it was the unpredictable Sima Jiao, Liao Tingyan could only suppress her morning grumpiness. Wrapping the blanket around herself as she sat up, she put on a standard work smile and greeted, "Your Majesty."

Who isn't a corporate slave these days, having dealt with one or two difficult bosses.

Feeling a chill on her chin, Sima Jiao lightly pinched it, carefully examining her face. Liao Tingyan's heart pounded, wondering if he was going to go crazy so early in the morning.

"You're unhappy? Because I disturbed your rest?" Sima Jiao said.

Liao Tingyan once again pondered if she was being too obvious or if Sima Jiao was too perceptive, hitting the nail on the head each time. She struggled to continue her act, "How could that be, this concubine has rested well."

Sima Jiao snorted and strode out, sleeves flapping. Liao Tingyan looked at the door creaking from being kicked by him. After a moment's hesitation, she laid back down. It was impossible to get enough rest.

Since Sima Jiao had left, she would just keep sleeping. After traveling for so long, her energy wasn't so easily restored.

As a result, when she woke up from her extra nap, she again found Sima Jiao by the bedside.

"...Your Majesty."

Liao Tingyan didn't understand what he was trying to do, appearing suddenly like this time and again. Could it be he wanted to torment her with this special method?

"Had enough sleep this time?" Sima Jiao asked with a stern face.

Liao Tingyan didn't dare shake her head. So after she nodded, Sima Jiao pulled her out of bed and dragged her outside. Liao Tingyan was still wearing white sleepwear, hair loose and uncombed. She barely put on the shoes by the bed and stumblingly followed Sima Jiao.

The eunuchs and palace maids they encountered along the way all retreated and knelt, none daring to take an extra glance at the disheveled Liao Tingyan.

Sima Jiao's strides were too big. Liao Tingyan could only jog to keep up. The hand gripping her wrist was cold and forceful. She couldn't break free and didn't dare to, silently following Sima Jiao as they went to increasingly remote areas.

Seeing the fenced enclosure ahead and faintly hearing tiger roars, a chill ran down Liao Tingyan's back. No way, he specially waited for her to sleep well, then brought her here to feed to the tigers?!

As the tiger's roars got closer, even Liao Tingyan felt weak in the knees and couldn't help trembling at this moment. Noticing Liao Tingyan's slight shaking, Sima Jiao turned to glance at her and asked, "Why aren't you wearing an outer robe?"

Liao Tingyan: "..." Damn! Did you give me time to put on an outer robe? And you have the nerve to ask?

Sima Jiao: "Afraid of the heat and the cold, you really are troublesome."

Liao Tingyan: "..." You flatter me, you're way more troublesome than I am.

Sima Jiao released her and took off his own outer robe, draping it over Liao Tingyan.

Liao Tingyan silently put on that robe that lacked warmth but carried an unknown fragrance, feeling that Sima Jiao probably wasn't bringing her to her death.

She followed behind Sima Jiao, getting farther from the area of tiger roars, finally arriving at a garden. Liao Tingyan saw a few peacocks leisurely dragging their tails as they walked on the grass.

It seemed this was the palace's animal park, reportedly divided into many areas housing different animals. This section was likely for raising peacocks.

"The keeper reported this morning that the white peacock in the garden had spread its tail," Sima Jiao said. "That white peacock, earlier in the spring when the other peacocks displayed their tails, only it wouldn't. Now it's finally willing to... Didn't you say you wanted to see it?"

When they were chatting idly in the carriage before, Liao Tingyan had still thought he was just some random person and spoke casually. At that time when Sima Jiao brought up peacocks, she had indeed said she wanted to see a white peacock display its tail.

She never expected he would really remember and actually bring her to see it. Liao Tingyan suddenly felt rather complex emotions.

Sima Jiao looked left and right without seeing the white peacock. Already impatient, he summoned the keeper eunuch. "Where is that white peacock?"

The keeper's head was sweating as he hurriedly went to look. After much difficulty, he found the white peacock, but it had already folded its tail, no longer displaying.

Sima Jiao's face darkened as he looked at Liao Tingyan. "It was displaying its tail but you insisted on sleeping. Now you can't see it anymore."

Liao Tingyan thought, so you were sitting by my bed so early in the morning to bring me to see the white peacock display its tail. You didn't say so earlier. Sitting there with a stern face, who knew what you wanted to do. Those unaware might think you wanted to kill someone.

"It's this concubine's fault. Next time this white peacock displays its tail, this concubine will come see it then," Liao Tingyan said gently with the work ethic of revising a draft eight times in a day to serve a superior.

But her current boss Sima Jiao was much harder to handle than her previous bosses. He said coldly, "Not acceptable."

Turning to signal the keeper eunuch, "You go, make this peacock display its tail right now."

The keeper eunuch was about to cry from fright. His predecessor had ended up like this, eventually thrown into the tiger den without even leaving remains. If he displeased His Majesty, not only would he die, this white peacock might also have its feathers plucked and be sent to the imperial kitchen to become a dish served to His Majesty.

For the sake of their two little lives, he had to go try.

Perhaps this white peacock was indeed in a good mood today. It obligingly displayed its tail again, giving face. Sima Jiao was delighted this time and rewarded the eunuch with a case of gold.

Liao Tingyan, who had been watching the white peacock display its tail, stole a glance at that case of gold. The glittering scent of money - the emperor was indeed the emperor. Generous in killing and generous in rewarding.

She only peeked for a moment but was discovered by Sima Jiao.

"You want it too?"

That shouldn't be. How could the female lead's persona like gold and such impure things? Liao Tingyan replied tactfully, "This concubine prefers jade."

Top-quality jade was worth far more than gold and sounded more classy too.

Sima Jiao: "What's so good about that stuff? There's so much in my private treasury."

As he said this, he took Liao Tingyan to his private treasury to look at the jade. Liao Tingyan was full of enthusiasm, much happier than when she saw the white peacocks. Although the white peacocks spreading their tails were indeed a beautiful sight, she had actually seen white peacocks displaying their plumage in her original world, so in comparison, looking at treasures was more interesting.

At this time, Liao Tingyan didn't care at all that her hair wasn't combed and her clothes weren't properly worn. After all, she was now Emperor Sima Jiao's noble consort, and there wasn't a single man or woman who dared to look at her more than once. As for Sima Jiao, he was just looking.

Liao Tingyan once again reasonably suspected that Sima Jiao might not be capable.

"Here, if you like these jades, have someone send them to your palace." Sima Jiao pointed at those lustrous and beautiful jade stones without much care.

Liao Tingyan: "Thank you for your reward, Your Majesty." Hahaha, really?! This sugar-coated cannonball is too much to bear! She had even begun to be blinded by these beautiful jades, thinking that Sima Jiao was actually not bad!

Sima Jiao weighed a jade ring in his hand, "This kind of thing, when I was bored, I used to smash it to hear the sound. It's useless."

Liao Tingyan couldn't stand it. This wasteful thing actually used such good jade to smash and play with? It was so wasteful that her heart ached, and she simply wanted to press his head on the ground and smash it.

"Hehe, Your Majesty, it's too much of a pity to smash such beautiful jade for fun."

"Oh?" Sima Jiao played with the jade ring in his hand, walked to the edge of the pool outside, and casually threw it into the pool to hit the red carp. With a plop, the exquisite jade ring fell into the water, splashing up a spray of water.

Liao Tingyan: "..." Damn.

Seeing Liao Tingyan's expression, Sima Jiao turned his head and showed a carefree smile when she wasn't looking, feeling that his mood had improved a lot—every time Liao Tingyan said something, her eyes showed the exact opposite meaning, foolishly inconsistent with her appearance, which was particularly interesting.

After being tossed around by Sima Jiao for a morning, Liao Tingyan was finally able to return to her own palace to wash up and eat something close to noon. Not to mention anything else, the food, clothing, and daily necessities in the palace were all top-notch.

Even the serving maids were dexterous, they were so thoughtful that they were just like the worms in her stomach. Especially Guiye, before she even spoke, with just a glance, Guiye knew whether she was hungry and wanted to eat or thirsty and wanted to drink water.

How were they trained, scared by Sima Jiao? Liao Tingyan, who was served comfortably, felt that she might become a useless person in the near future. It turned out that having clothes handed to you and food brought to your mouth, without even having to speak or walk, was such an enjoyable thing.

Compared to her current treatment, although she also had people serving her when she was in Hexia, at that time she basically did many things herself, and the servants were more casual, without the strict rules of the palace.

Here, Guiye led dozens of palace servants to serve her alone, with royal top-notch service, which was indeed considerate and comfortable.

Liao Tingyan didn't understand, if Sima Jiao lived such a fairy-like life every day, how could he still grow up to be that demon king?

"Noble Consort, several concubines and beauties have come to pay their respects to you." Guiye came to report.

Liao Tingyan, who was eating melon, paused, wiped her hands and sat up, "Then let the beauties come in."

It's here! The first major scene of palace fighting!

In the palace, how could there be no struggle? Even if the surface is harmonious, there must be undercurrents in private. On the way here, she had imagined countless times the difficulties and dangers of the palace fighting, each time imagining herself being oppressed by high-ranking concubines as soon as she entered the palace, becoming friends with beauties who shared the same fate, and then being tragically betrayed.

She had imagined it so many times that her head was about to go bald.

—As a result, after entering the palace for half a day, she became the noble consort with the highest rank, and all the previous imaginations and various plot simulations were useless. She could only act according to the situation.

More than a dozen beauties with the highest rank knelt on the ground in a crowd. The other beauties didn't even have the qualifications to come and pay their respects to her because of their low rank. These beauties came to pay their respects to her, keeping their heads down the whole time, one by one in an orderly manner.

After paying their respects, they retreated in turn.

Liao Tingyan didn't even have time to show off before she saw them all leave.

Wait, when they say paying respects, do they really just pay respects and leave? The situation where everyone sits in a circle and then smilingly pokes each other and praises each other doesn't exist?

Liao Tingyan didn't react in time. Guiye saw that she was staring silently in the direction where the beauties had left, and thought she was unhappy that so many people had come to disturb her.

So she explained cautiously, "The beauties can only come to see you when you first enter the palace. In the future, they will only bow and pay their respects outside the hall every day, and you don't need to receive them in person. You like peace and quiet, and they don't dare to come and disturb you."

In other words, she didn't need to have tea parties and chat with a group of beauties every day.

After thinking for a while, Liao Tingyan suddenly understood. It wasn't that there were no beauties who wanted to fight in the palace, but that all the beauties in the palace who harbored dreams and wanted to reach the pinnacle of their lives through palace fighting had already been killed by Sima Jiao.

The emperor neglected his duties and thought about killing his own concubines when he had nothing to do, resulting in her, the noble consort, having no use for her skills.