The porridge tasted like hot water with rice-flavored disappointment, but Alex's stomach accepted it without immediate rebellion, which he counted as a win. Small victories. You built empires on small victories.
Xiao Cui sat on a small stool beside the bed, hands twisted in her lap, looking like she was being interrogated by the police. Which, in a way, she was. Alex had spent the last twenty minutes extracting every piece of information she had about the Emperor, and the girl was clearly unused to this level of focused attention.
"So let me make sure I have this right," Alex said, setting down the empty bowl. "Emperor Li Feng is twenty-eight years old, has been on the throne for six years, and is considered a brilliant military strategist but is basically drowning in court politics and has no idea how to manage the harem."
"Well, I wouldn't say it exactly like that, mistress... I mean, Lingxi." Xiao Cui stumbled over the name. "His Majesty is very wise and powerful! It's just that the ministers are very traditional, and the harem has always been managed by the Empress Dowager, but she's been ill lately, and Consort Su has been..."
"Taking advantage of the power vacuum. Standard opportunistic behavior." Alex nodded. That tracked with everything else he had learned. "And the Emperor has how many consorts?"
"Twelve, including you. Well, thirteen if you count the Empress, but she lives in the separate Empress's Palace and rarely interacts with the consorts."
"What's her situation?"
"Empress Zhou?" Xiao Cui's voice dropped to a whisper. "She's from a very powerful military family. The marriage was political. She and His Majesty are... polite to each other. She has given him one son, the Crown Prince, who is seven years old. After that, she requested to live separately to focus on raising the prince, and His Majesty agreed."
Translation: A political marriage that was functional but cold. The Empress had produced an heir and then effectively retired from the relationship. Smart woman, actually. She had secured her position and then extracted herself from the chaos of harem politics.
"And Consort Su's position?"
"She's ranked third among the consorts, but everyone knows she has the most favor right now. His Majesty visits her chambers at least twice a week. She hasn't borne any children yet, but..." Xiao Cui hesitated.
"But what?"
"There are rumors she's been taking contraceptive herbs. Some of the maids say she doesn't want to get pregnant yet because it would ruin her figure, and she's afraid His Majesty would lose interest."
Alex filed that away. Interesting. So Consort Su was prioritizing maintaining the Emperor's sexual interest over producing children, which in this context was probably the whole point of being a consort. That suggested either vanity, strategic thinking about long-term positioning, or both.
"And where do I rank?"
Xiao Cui looked miserable. "You're... you're ranked last, Lingxi. Twelfth out of twelve consorts."
"Because the Emperor has never visited me."
"Yes."
"Not once in three years."
"No, mistress."
Alex considered this. On one hand, it was objectively terrible for Yan Lingxi's position and status. On the other hand, it meant he didn't have to deal with the awkward situation of the Emperor expecting... certain activities. Yet. That bought him time.
"Tell me about that conversation I had with the Emperor at the selection ceremony. The poetry discussion."
Xiao Cui's face brightened a little. "Oh! That was before I served you, but I heard about it from the other servants. They said His Majesty was walking through the candidates, just giving each girl a few polite words, but when he reached you, you quoted a poem by Du Fu. Not one of the famous ones that everyone knows, but an obscure one about governance and responsibility. His Majesty was surprised and asked you about it, and you two ended up having a long discussion about the poet's philosophy and how it applied to running an empire."
Alex blinked. So the original Yan Lingxi had been educated and intelligent. That was useful. It meant this body's brain was functional and had relevant knowledge stored in it somewhere. He just needed to figure out how to access it.
"The other candidates were so jealous," Xiao Cui continued. "Everyone thought for sure you would be ranked highly. But then when the rankings were announced, you were placed last. No one understood why. Some people thought maybe you had offended His Majesty somehow during the conversation, but you were so happy afterward, you said he was brilliant and kind and..."
"And I developed a crush on him," Alex finished. Of course. The original Yan Lingxi had been an idealistic scholar's daughter who had a romantic view of the Emperor and thought their intellectual connection meant something. Then reality had crashed down when she was ranked last and subsequently ignored.
Classic mistake. Never mistake an employer's momentary interest for actual investment.
"Do you know why I was ranked last?"
Xiao Cui shook her head. "No one does. It's been a mystery for three years."
Alex filed that away as a problem to solve later. Right now, he needed to focus on immediate survival and resource acquisition.
"Alright. Next question. This monthly stipend of thirty taels. What does that actually buy?"
"Well..." Xiao Cui counted on her fingers. "It covers food for you and the four servants, basic clothing, incense, lamp oil, and a little left over for maintenance and emergencies. But we can't afford anything extra. No new furniture, no good fabric for dresses, no jewelry, no gifts for other consorts during festivals..."
"So we're operating at subsistence level with no budget for relationship building or status displays. Got it." Alex had run startups with worse cash flow. "And there's no way to increase the stipend?"
"Only if His Majesty increases your rank, or if you bear him a son."
Neither of which was happening anytime soon. So income was fixed, which meant he needed to either reduce expenses or generate additional revenue streams.
"What about assets? Do I own anything valuable?"
Xiao Cui looked around the sparse room. "You have some books that your father sent when you entered the palace. A few pieces of jewelry, but nothing expensive. Your clothes. That's... that's about it, Lingxi."
"What about skills? What was I good at before the poison?"
"You could read and write beautifully. You knew poetry and history. You played the guqin, though not very well. You were good at painting, especially landscapes. And..." She paused. "You were very good at calligraphy. Some of the other consorts used to ask you to write letters for them, before Consort Su made them stop associating with you."