After many days of bitter training during which several people were eliminated, Xiao Hua and the rest where finally able to become official low-ranked palace maids and leave the training grounds.
The servants in the Jing Prince Estate were not just called maids, but palace maids. They were divided into different rankings, all the way up to high-ranked palace maids. The low-ranked palace maid and mid-ranked palace maid titles were similar to the common maids and junior maids, whereas the high-ranked palace maid was similar to a senior maid. The aunties in charge were similar to the matrons, but here they were called aunties instead.
The batch of low-ranked palace maids were brought to a place called the sweeper area, where they were settled.
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It was worth noting that the four people who lived in the same room during training were still in the same room. It had to be said this was a kind of fate.
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Only after staying in the sweeper area for a few days did Xiao Hua's batch of newly-minted low-ranked palace maids realize how grand and vast the Jing Prince Estate was.
The estate was large to the extent that these palace maids working in the sweeper area still didn't have a complete picture.
Especially since they didn't have much freedom to speak of. Normally when they went about their chores there would be a mid-ranked palace maid leading them and watching from the side. When they were off duty they could only stay in their rooms and were not permitted to leave the area.
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Waking up before dawn every day, they would eat their breakfast and go off to sweep the walkways of various pavilions. They returned before noon, and in the afternoon someone would take them if there were additional chores to be done. Otherwise, they would be instructed in various rules and regulations of the estate.
Yet this busy schedule couldn't prevent a few of the low palace maids with proactive tendencies to scout out some information. After pooling the gathered information, everyone finally had some understanding of the Jing Prince Estate's structure.
The layout was similar to that of the imperial palace, where the son of heaven 1 was the highest authority. The heart of the estate was gated on all four sides like a walled capital, and the outside was surrounded by a moat fifteen zhang2 long. The layout could be described as that of an imperial city, though that was avoided by calling it an estate.
Jing Prince Estate's main doors were known as the Gates of Ceremony. The eastern doors were the Gates of Benevolence, the western doors the Gates of Righteousness and the northern doors the Gate of Wisdom. Through the Gates of ceremony were the Gates of Ascension, as well as the three forward palace halls known as the Hall of Ascension, the Hall of Origin and the Hall of Deliberation. This was where the Jing Prince would conduct his daily affairs. Behind the Hall of Deliberation was the Hall of Splendor where the Jing Prince rested. Apart from the palace halls in the center, the "imperial city" still had three pavilions to the east and west, a library, a retirement hall, a treasury, a place in charge of meals, a place to offer tribute, the six departments3, and the employees' sleeping quarters. The space the estate occupied was enormous.
The Jing Prince Estate's front and back section was divided by the Hall of Deliberation's passageways. The front section was where the current prince would handle official business and the back was where he would live with his wife and concubines.
Xiao Hua's normal chores as a low-ranked palace maid was to sweep the three western pavilions.
Although they were called pavilions, they were actually far more superior. At least Xiao Hua hadn't seen buildings with such high steps inside the Jinyang Marquis Estate before. Today Xiao Hua's group had swept until the second area. While they had to sweep the outside, the buildings themselves were off limits.
The western three pavilions were one of the areas for the Jing Prince's would be wives and concubines. However, since the estate was overly large, only the eastern three pavilions were in use at the moment. The western ones were currently empty. Since there was no one living there, every now and then someone would be sent to sweep the courtyard which was filled with leaves, as well as the walkways.
Xiao Hua swept the floor with her large broom in silence. Xi'er with her lively nature would sweep for a bit and run off to chat with a few low-ranked palace maids, looking around curiously before continuing her sweeping.
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"Xiao Hua, Xiao Hua! Look how beautiful it is inside. I just peeked into the window there and it is super luxurious inside." Xi'er grabbed Xiao Hua's arm and excitedly pointed at the building in the middle of the yard.
"Making a mountain out of a molehill!" Qiao Lian rolled her eyes and sneered, "Such a country bumpkin! Don't you know the layout of this prince's estate? Although this place is called a pavilion, the imperial-palace-based layout indicates that these kinds of buildings can only belong to a few of those masters inside this estate."
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This group stayed together during training for over half a month and then got assigned to the same room in the sweeper area. These girls who were of similar ages spent all their time going in and out, eating and drinking and living together. Inevitably, some feelings of friendship ended up developing.
After Xiao Hua, Xi'er and Xiu Yun got to know each other better, they would occasionally sit together and converse. Due to her tendency to give people crap, the three of them were not too willing to associate with Qiao Lian.
However, Qiao Lian got along quite well with several other low palace maids. Those few were all good at gathering gossip, and since Qiao Lian associated with them, she often knew more about things than others. Many of the things Xiao Hua's group knew about actually came from Qiao Lian.
While Xi'er usually didn't like Qiao Lian much, her love for Qiao Lian's gossip overshadowed her dislike. This time was no exception as she sidled up beaming in front of her.
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"Qiao Lian you really know so much. Tell us how many masters we have in our estate."
Qiao Lian glanced sidelong at Xi'er, and seemingly wanting to show off her vast knowledge, spoke properly for once: "Our estate's masters naturally are the royal highness, his consort, his senior concubine and the two madams.
"Do they all live over by the three eastern pavilions?"
Qiao Lian sneered in an unpleasant tone: "You're really a dumbass. His highness definitely wouldn't live in the eastern pavilions. That's where his harem lives. His highness lives in the Hall of Splendor."
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Xi'er let out an "ohh" and continued speaking: "Then his highness really doesn't have many people in his harem. There's only a total of four. The rich old master I served before had a ton of concubines and mistresses in his room."
"What business is it of yours how many concubines and wives his highness decides to take? We're just low-ranked palace maids from the sweeper area. Don't let your imagination wander." Qiao Lian sneered once again and angrily left with her broom.
Qiao Lian seemed extra jittery today, her words sharper than usual. But then again, when were her words not sharp?
Xiu Yun glanced at Qiao Lian's retreating figure and lowered her head again, her sweeping motions never stopping.
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"What a short temper, what's wrong with her today?" Xiu Yun asked quietly.
Xiu Yun was a frail young lady with delicate features, giving off a gentle and refined air.
Xiao Hua's figure was naturally skinny. Even while at the Jinyang Marquis Estate she had been thin and frail, and after more than a month of torment at the hands of traffickers she was even more skin and bones. After getting to the Jing Prince Estate, although learning etiquette had been strenuous, the meals were pretty decent so she gradually grew some meat on her bones, recovering her previous appearance.
It's just that since her reincarnation she had gotten used to hiding herself, so not many people noticed. Xiu Yun however was observant despite speaking little, and had slowly realized that the initially unremarkable looking Xiao Hua was gradually revealing some good looks. Yet she didn't take it to heart since all the girls coming out to sweep everyday had decent appearances and Xiao Hua was also not too outstanding.
"Who knows?" Xiao Hua also glanced at Qiao Lian's back and lowered her head once more.
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Xi'er on the other hand knew a couple of things, and her little mouth moved nonstop as she spilled it out: "I heard Zhi'er say Qiao Lian tried to flatter big sis Su Lan into giving her a different position, but it doesn't seem to be going too well."
Zhi'er was one of the palace maids Qiao Lian was close to. Xi'er was naturally outgoing and was close with all the low-ranked palace maids in their batch, so her relationship with Zhi'er was also pretty good.
Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun looked at each other and didn't say anything.
During their time working in the sweeper area, the batch of new palace maids had witnessed the imposing air of the imperial household. The environment was completely different from their previous places. No wonder the prince's estate could be called an imperial city.
At first this group of low-ranked palace maids were full of joy at being qualified to enter the estate. But after a few days working in the sweeper area, the initial feelings of happiness faded.
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The world outside was vast. The world outside was also imposing and magnificent.
The estate was large, the chores were many. The sweeper area chores which they originally thought were pretty good were actually the estate's lowest position and the most tiring work. Therefore, many people began to entertain thoughts of wanting to change jobs.
As time passed, a few who were good at sucking up to others for personal gain started flattering a few mid-ranked palace maids once they got a grasp on the situation, hoping to change their roles sooner rather than later.
Looks like Qiao Lian could also no longer remain still.
Xiao Hua only found out in the past few days that Qiao Lian had other sides to her as well.
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Towards them she would rarely have pleasant expressions. If her nose wasn't in the air then her voice would be full of sarcasm. But towards others who were "useful" or to those mid-ranked palace maids in charge of them, her face would by full of smiles as she sucked up to them skillfully.
Regarding this, Xiao Hua didn't really know what to say. Some people were drawn towards getting benefits, and it was unavoidably the same everywhere. Her small group of three were merely low-ranked palace maids who stuck to the rules and weren't good at currying favor. They didn't reach the level where Qiao Lian felt she needed to build a better relationship with them.
From their daily interactions it was apparent that Qiao Lian didn't really bother with her and the well-behaved Xiu Yun. Only Xi'er was worth talking with occasionally, and Xiao Hua could tell that it was only because Xi'er would sometimes have some gossip of her own as well. It was just a relationship where they both used one another.
Therefore, Xiao Hua had quite a high level of trust in Xi'er's words.
"Xiao Hua, don't you want to switch jobs?" Xi'er suddenly asked after sweeping a few times.
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Xiao Hua silently shook her head. Xi'er looked towards Xiu Yun, who had the same reaction as Xiao Hua.
Xi'er seemed to have some complaints about them not turning from iron to steel: "How can you guys be so laidback? There's no freedom in this area, and the work is hard. We're so strictly controlled and aren't allowed to come and go as we please. I saw the low-ranked palace maids in other areas moving about freely."
Xiao Hua was also aware of this fact. It was probably because they were new to the estate that they had such strict oversight.
Of course she also knew that Xi'er wasn't just saying this because she wanted more "freedom". After all, Qiao Lian wasn't the only one who couldn't sit still these past few days. Just from rumors alone one could tell several of these low-ranked palace maids had developed desires to relocate. Looks like Xi'er had started having similar thoughts.
It was true that the sweeper area chores weren't that easy. Especially since it was now June. Despite the weather in the Jing Province not being too hot, the work was all physical so they would inevitably be covered in sweat while their faces turned red from exposure to the sun. Girls at their age loved to appear beautiful, and no one was willing to weather the elements since it would make their skin coarse and rough.
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The chores of some palace maids who were the same level were easier while they had to do hard labor. Anyone in this situation would feel dissatisfied. No wonder Xi'er would hate iron for not turning to steel so much.
But Xiao Hua wasn't one of those who had restless feelings. She felt the sweeper area was pretty decent, the work was simple and uninvolved with other areas. Although the days were dreary it was much better than having to struggle against others.
While the rules of the Jing Prince Estate were strict, Xiao Hua didn't believe there wouldn't be any struggles. After all, places with many women would have many quarrels. Based on the places she stayed at previously, the closer to the center the more intense the struggles.
The sweeper area was clearly a place on the outskirts. Xiao Hua felt that muddling about in this place until she turned twenty-five didn't seem too bad.
Since coming to the sweeper area, although the work was hard, Xiao Hua felt unprecedented peace in her heart. She even felt that staying here forever wouldn't be bad.
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Of course, there wouldn't be many here who would approve of her thoughts, and she also wouldn't say them out loud.
Seeing Xi'er continuously hopping about, Xiao Hua gave her some advice: "Wishing by ourselves doesn't do any good. Only the Aunties have the authority to change our positions. Being impatient won't do anything."
Xi'er also understood this, but couldn't help feeling impetuous and impatient so she stomped her foot a little and ran off. But Xiao Hua knew that she would come running back after a bit. Xi'er was always like this.
As expected, after a few moments Xi'er returned, picked up her broom and began sweeping. After a few sweeps, she started her chattering again. Although Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun didn't really respond much, the talking never stopped.
Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun smiled helplessly at each other.
Once noon arrived, Su Yan took the low palace maids who were done working back to the sweeper area.
As they were walking along the passageway, Su Yan who was leading the way suddenly spoke quietly: "His highness approaches, everyone kneel." Following which she was the first to kneel down in front.
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This was covered in the estate rules. When encountering masters or mistresses inside the estate they had to kneel and keep their heads down without peeking. Especially for those who were common palace servants. They were not qualified to look them in the face.
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Ten or so low palace maids hurriedly knelt and lowered their heads. However, there were a few who didn't manage to react, still standing there foolishly.
Xiao Hua lowered her head and didn't know what was going on. But through the corner of her eyes she saw a black pair of dragon engraved boots and the lower hem of a purple colored robe pass in front of her, followed by another pair of black boots.
Only after the people had walked off into the distance did the kneeling servants stand up.
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After Su Yan stood up, her expression was furious but she didn't say anything, merely glaring at those low palace maids who stood there foolishly.
This included Xi'er and Qiao Lian. When Xiao Hua knelt down, she had pulled on Xi'er a couple of times. It wasn't clear what kind of daze Xi'er was in that she didn't even feel it.
The silent group made their way back towards the sweeper area. It wasn't clear what Xi'er was thinking about as she walked, her expression flickering constantly. Due to Su Yan's ugly expression, the palace maids who failed to kneel earlier all knew they made a mistake and their hearts were apprehensive.
The moment they returned to the sweeper area, Su Yan made them stand outside while she entered.
Seeing the situation, everyone grew even more uneasy.
The few who forgot to kneel all had ugly expressions. Only now did Xi'er snap out of it. Her eyes reddened, "They wouldn't take away our meal today, right?"
Not being allowed to eat would be letting them off lightly. The real concern was –
As expected, things weren't quite so simple. Auntie Chen, the Auntie of the sweeper area walked out with Su Yan.
Auntie Chen was around forty, with a long narrow face and prominent cheekbones. Her face was strict and she was clothed in a maroon jacket paired with a lilac traditional skirt1. She swept the crowd with a sharp gaze the moment she stepped out.
"Those who broke the rules, step forwards."
There was first a spell of silence over the crowd before a single low palace maid stepped out, following which the rest walked out in succession, unable to resist Auntie Chen's pressure.
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Xi'er's eyes turned even redder, and glanced anxiously at Xiao Hua and then at Xiu Yun and Qiao Lian. However, she also knew she couldn't hide from it and dragged herself out. Qiao Lian's face had long since turned pale. Seeing everyone else walk out she also followed behind.
No one dared to try and weasel out of it because Su Yan was there at the time. She was certain to have already reported the situation to Auntie Chen.
Auntie Chen laughed coldly, "Very good, looks like you all know you messed up. If you break the rules you must suffer the punishment. That is how our estate operates. For your first offense, you will each be given ten strokes of the plank."
As her voice fell, two sturdy palace maids walked in with a punishment plank that was one and a third zhang long, one chi wide and five cun long2. One of them also carried a long bench.
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Seeing this display, all the low palace maids were stunned including Xiao Hua.
She was beaten to death in her past life, but the plank in the Jinyang Marquis Estate wasn't as terrifying. Not just the length, but even its thickness was shocking.
Xiao Hua didn't know these measurements were standard for the planks used in the palace.
These two palace maids seemed to be old hands with the plank. Seeing no one take the initiative to step up, they pulled one of the guilty palace maids over without a saying a word and pressed her down onto the bench. One of them lifted her skirt and pulled her undergarment halfway off before beginning the beating.
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At that moment all the palace maids standing to the side unconsciously wrapped their arms around themselves as though they were the ones getting beaten. The other guilty low palace maids were all scared to tears.
Even though they cried, they still had to accept the plank.
The guilty maids stood unsteadily after the ten strokes.
But Xiao Hua knew that these two had shown mercy and weren't too heavy-handed. She had been beaten like this in her past life before, and knew that if they had really gone all out these ten strokes would have laid them to the ground, without even the ability to stand afterwards.
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Of course, having your pants pulled off and then being beaten wasn't just a physical punishment. It was also an extreme humiliation since these girls were all in their teens.
Xiao Hua sighed again with complicated emotions in her heart.
It wasn't as if she had never seen maids being beaten by a plank before in the Jinyang Marquis Estate. But this was the first time she saw trousers being pulled down for the beating. What Xiao Hua didn't know was this rule had always been present in the palace. This wasn't just a physical punishment, but also an emotional one. Making you feel shame so you wouldn't reoffend in the future.
Seeing Xi'er and Qiao Lian standing unsteadily after being beaten, Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun each supported one as they returned to their room. Upon entering, Xi'er started crying loudly. Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun spoke a few words of comfort, but seemed to be unable to placate her.
At this time, a low palace maid came and delivered two bottles of wound medicine, saying it was for those who were beaten.
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Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun each took a bottle and started helping the two apply the medicine.
Qiao Lian was normally arrogant but at the moment even she was in floods of tears, let alone Xi'er who hadn't stopped crying since the beginning.
"Alright, don't cry anymore. Although Auntie Chen had you beaten with the plank, she was also teaching you the rules. Those who carried out the punishment weren't heavy-handed, otherwise after ten strokes you would be on the floor without even being able to stand unsteadily." Xiao Hua helped Xi'er apply medicine as she sighed and spoke.
"That's easy for you to say, you weren't the one who got beaten!" Qiao Lian said resentfully.
Xiao Hua's expression froze and she didn't retort. After helping Xi'er apply medicine, she put the medicine bottle down and faintly said: "I'm going to go eat lunch."
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Xiu Yun was also done helping Qiao Lian with the medicine and hurriedly stood up, "Xiao Hua, I'll go with you." Feeling the awkward atmosphere, she spoke again: "I'll go eat with Xiao Hua first, and bring you guys some food back later."
Two of them went for lunch and returned with some food for the other two.
Because she was truly afraid of Qiao Lian's mouth, Xiao Hua placed the bowl on the table and propped herself up on her bed. Xiu Yun didn't say anything and also placed the food in her hands on the table.
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No matter how dense Xi'er was, she could tell something wasn't right and slowly pulled herself up as she went to eat by the table. Having worked all morning and then suffering a beaten, she was starving.
Qiao Lian glared at the simple minded Xi'er, and then looked at the other two who seemed to be minding their own business and said mockingly: "Don't you like to pretend to be good people? Why don't you feed us? You guys are really heartless. Having lived in the same room for so long, don't you know to take care of the wounded?"
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"Qiao Lian, it's not as though you can't move, why would you make others feed you? Come eat quickly, the food is getting cold." Xi'er also wasn't willing to talk to Qiao Lian, but seeing her mock Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun, she couldn't help but say a few words.
Qiao Lian snapped at her, "Who asked for your opinion?!"
All at once the room became silent. Face red, Xi'er angrily closed her mouth, though her movements while eating became excessively fierce.
Low-ranked palace maids were the lowest in status amongst the servants of the Jing Prince Estate. Even if they were beaten, they still had to perform their duties.
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This time as they went to sweep, the group included a few who walked very stiffly, clearly those who were beaten the day before.
After this event, all the low palace maids kept their nerves taut, deeply afraid of being beaten over one thing or another.
Xiao Hua saw Xi'er trembling in fear for a few days and couldn't help but say to her, "As long as you keep the estate's rules in mind and follow them there's no need to live in fear."
Xi'er didn't believe it at first, but after some thought felt it made some sense. Because Auntie Chen had said on that day they were being punished for violating estate rules, and so they were beaten.
She knew there were many articles in the estate rules, so much so that every afternoon if there were no chores a mid-ranked palace maid would come and go through the rules with them. There were a total of forty major rules and a hundred and twenty minor ones, many of them being very trivial.
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These palace maids didn't know these rules were just an abridged version of the actual imperial palace rules, which had many more articles.
Even so, they were enough to make Xi'er feel anxious. Her memory had never been good, how could she remember so many rules? Qiao Lian mocked Xiao Hua on the surface for being a know-it-all, but clearly put in an extreme amount of effort herself during rule review.
Xiao Hua declined to comment.
If you want to muddle along in a place, you have to be familiar with the rules of the game. The places she had stayed in before, though they didn't have many estate rules, still had many rules that were taught by the matrons. If she didn't remember clearly or didn't follow them, she would be criticized. Missing a meal would be a light punishment and getting beaten would be a heavier one.
Therefore ever since mid-ranked palace maids started teaching them estate rules, Xiao Hua had been especially diligent and had more or less memorized all of the estate's rules.
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Regarding why those palace maids failed to kneel after Su Yan's reminder that day, Xi'er explained her own situation. According to her, she had been awestruck at seeing his highness, though she didn't know if that was the case for everyone.
Hearing Qiao Lian scold her in humiliation to "stop spreading rumors", Xiao Hua realized that was the case for Qiao Lian as well.
Awestruck?
How good looking could a guy be?
Xiao Hua thought to herself in amusement and in the blink of an eye put the thought in the back of her mind.
But within a few days, word of his highness's incredibly handsome appearance had spread amongst the low-ranked palace maids. Xiao Hua could see the eyes of those who secretly discussed it radiate a longing adoration.
What teenage girl didn't yearn for love, especially from one who was exceptionally handsome with such a majestic status. To embody wealth and status, to embody someone who was above others, to embody flying up into the skies, as long as you were a person, you probably would have such desires.
When Xiao Hua first entered the Jinyang Marquis Estate in her past life as a sweeper maid, she also encountered such a situation, though the object of desire back then was the 4th young master instead of his highness. The 4th young master was young and handsome, as well as innocent without any chambermaids yet. He could be said to be the dream of many sweeper maids.
After reincarnating and seeing such a scene once again, Xiao Hua only smiled bitterly and had no other thoughts.
Translator's notes: For those of you dissatisfied at the male lead's brief appearance I'm gonna direct your curses to the author's note below.
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Author's notes:
Male lead: "….." Look! I, this humble prince, have appeared.
Author: "Say something!"
Male Lead: "….." Look! I, this humble prince, have appeared.
Author is angry: "You damn brat, who taught you not to speak?"
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Male Lead: "…." My mother taught me.
Author: "sigh, let me formally introduce my house's damn brat. What he was trying to say was that he appeared. Please see the fifth paragraph 'through the corner of her eyes she saw a black pair of dragon engraved boots and the lower hem of a purple colored robe'….yep just like that."
"Horse-face" skirt, named so due to their similarity to "horse-face" city walls.
Around 4m x 33cm x 10cm. Dimensions make it seem more plank/board shaped than a rod or cane, so I translated it as such.
Since it was only some flesh wounds and with Auntie Chen's medicine, the low-ranked palace maids who were beaten recovered within a few days.
After keeping silent a few more days, each started getting restless again.
Having experienced this beating, it seemed that Qiao Lian and Xi'er had grown even more impatient and eager to leave the sweeper area.
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But since they had just entered as low-ranked palace maids, the people they knew outside their circle were only the mid-ranked palace maids who were in charge of them as well as the Aunties. Auntie Chen who was in charge of the sweeper area was a grave and stern person, so they only dared to fawn upon the mid-ranked palace maids.
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Within the room, Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun both remained inactive. Xiao Hua because she didn't have the desire and Xiu Yun seemingly because she was overly dense, and didn't have a grasp on these concepts.
But in Xiao Hua's opinion, there was no way someone who got the qualifications to enter this estate amongst so many other girls could be dense.
Perhaps Xiu Yun had the desires but was just better at hiding it?
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Xiao Hua kept these thoughts inside her mind and didn't speak them out loud.
But soon Xiao Hua didn't have the time to think about others because her period came.
This was Xiao Hua's first period in this life. In her past life her period had started very late as well, only coming at fifteen. It actually came slightly earlier in this life.
In her past life it was a torturous session every time and she expected this life's to be no different.
Feeling chills from head to toe, her hands and feet cold as ice, all her body's sensations gathered in her lower abdomen. Her face turned pale from the pain and her legs turned weak, as though falling heavily ill.
The other three in the room had already experienced their periods before. The Jing Prince Estate's benefits were good, even handing out menstruation straps.1 Xiu Yun saw Xiao Hua's expression of suffering and helped her collect the strap as well as a bag of herbal powder.
The mid-ranked palace maid asked about the situation, and upon finding out it was Xiao Hua's first period she let her have a few days off, telling her to rest until it passes before getting back to work.
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Since Xiao Hua was feeling extremely uncomfortable, she didn't dwell on it and simply lay back on her bed.
Finally after enduring four or five days her period was gone. Xiao Hua seemed to be resurrected, feeling comfortable all over. She didn't delay and went back to work.
All the meals for the palace maids in the estate were prepared at the meal management center.
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Every day when the time came, mid-ranked palace maids from everywhere would lead a few low-ranked palace maids to carry the food back. Normally Su Yan would be the one to take people for their sweeper area, though the low-ranked palace maids would be chosen at random. Whoever she ran into would be brought along.
This counted as the only opportunity for those in the sweeper area to roam outside so those low-ranked palace maids often fell over each other to be chosen, hovering around Su Yan as mealtime approached.
Out of the four in the room, only Xi'er and Qiao Lian would normally do so. Today was a rare occasion as Xiu Yun also seemed to have something on her mind as the time approached. Xiu Yun seemed to have made a big decision before coming up to Xiao Hua and saying quietly: "Xiao Hua, could you please help me with something? I want to make a trip to the meal management center, could you come with me?"
Xiao Hua was very puzzled. Just go if you wanted to, why drag her along?
Xiao Yun seemed to have noticed her confusion and explained: "My older sister also works in the Jing Prince Estate. I haven't seen her in a really long time. She's currently working in the meal management center so I thought I'd try and see if I could run into her. If we really meet up, I need someone to cover me for a bit while I talk with her."
Since she had already put it this way, refusing would seem a little unreasonable. Xiao Hua also didn't think too much and walked out with Xiu Yun after agreeing.
Their luck was pretty good. Su Yan was just about to leave to fetch lunch and also happened to see Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun. Knowing that these two were normally extremely well-behaved she went ahead and picked the two of them, called another two over and the five of them left for the meal management center.
The sweeper area was located in the estate's northwest corner. To reach the meal management center they would have to pass a long alleyway.
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Along the way, pale grey perimeter walls were everywhere and one could see many palace maids coming and going. Occasionally a palace eunuch would pass by.
Xiao Hua only learned about eunuchs after coming to the Jing Prince Estate. It was said they came from the imperial palace, and had always been serving the princes and imperial concubines inside. The eunuchs in the estate were all brought over by the prince as he came to the vassal state.
They all had some feelings of reverence, especially when seeing the usually imposing Su Yan lower her head towards those dressed as eunuchs. The act subconsciously birthed this type of reverence within the hearts of the low-ranked palace maids.
After arriving at the meal management center, Xiao Hua realized that comparing the Jinyang Marquis Estate's main kitchen to this place would be like a minor mage standing in front of a grand wizard. Not only was the area large, the people working inside were all extremely organized. It was clear their roles were well divided and their habits were excellent.
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Xiao Hua often felt that the customs of the Jing Prince Estate were far better than those of the Jinyang Marquis Estate. Without looking at anything else, in the main kitchen of the Jinyang Marquis Estate the sight of old maids yelling at common maids for slacking was common. Here, no one dared to be sloppy in their tasks, and those in charge also austerely kept things well under control.
The meal management center was divided into several areas. The area that prepared meals for the palace maids was a large building in the outer corner. Those coming to fetch the food were not permitted to enter, and could only wait by the door for someone to bring the food out.
There were a lot of people outside the kitchen doors obviously here to fetch food.
After arriving at the meal management center, Xiao Hua noticed Xiu Yun's normally calm gaze turn a little anxious. She saw her looking all over the place but wasn't sure whether she spotted her sister or not.
At this moment, a round faced sixteen or seventeen year old palace maid dressed in a bright red short coat and verdant skirt walked up.
Ezoic
She first smiled at Su Yan and spoke: "Greetings big sis. I saw someone from my hometown amongst your group, and want to ask about my family's situation. Would it be possible to accommodate us for a bit?"
Status in the Jing Prince Estate could be differentiated by the clothing. Mid-ranked palace maids would dress in bright red short coats and verdant skirts. Su Yan was also dressed this way. Therefore, even if you didn't recognize someone you were able to tell how to address them based on the clothing.
Furthermore, mid-ranked palace maids were also divided based on their assignments. Clearly those that worked in the meal management center was a little higher in status than those in the sweeper area. Therefore Su Yan was very willing to give her some face. Especially since this was human nature. Having worked in the estate for so long without being able to go home, seeing someone from your hometown would naturally evoke such a situation.
Xiao Hua saw the palace maid call Su Yan over and knew it was definitely Xiu Yun's biological sister. She didn't know why she had to say "someone from my hometown".
However, this was their business and since it wasn't necessary to provide any cover on her part anymore, she didn't think too much of it.
Ezoic
Ezoic
Xiu Yun walked with Ru'er to a secluded corner before stopping.
"Sister, we finally meet. You have no idea how scared I was….." Xiu Yun's expression was very emotional. She pulled Ru'er's hand and started to sob.
Ru'er half embraced her and patted her comfortingly. Only after some time did Xiu Yun recover her calm.
Ru'er glanced around, confirming they were alone before saying quietly: "How is this batch of low-ranked palace maids? Have you been paying attention to see if you are the best of the lot?"
Xiu Yun wiped away her tears. Hearing her sister ask this question her face reddened a little, but she knew their time was short.
Ezoic
"There are a few whose appearances are top notch, I can't be counted as one of the best."
A trace of disappointment flickered across Ru'er's face. After some thought she asked again: "Then have you observed amongst the other rooms if there is a room where all the people have decent appearances?"
Although Xiu Yun didn't understand her line of questioning, she still honestly answered: "Some rooms could be passable, some not so much. But the people in my room do each have their own distinguishing features."
After speaking, Xiu Yun revealed a puzzled expression but Ru'er ignored it and continued asking, "Your group wouldn't happen to have been placed in the same room from the beginning, and now in the sweeper area as well would it?"
Xiu Yun nodded her head.
Ezoic
"Did this happen with any other rooms?"
Xiu Yun thought about it and shook her head.
Ru'er let out a breath of relief, looked Xiu Yun up and down and spoke with a sigh: "My sister's appearance is becoming better and better. Make sure to mind your words and actions, and maybe a huge stroke of fortune will fall upon you."
Xiu Yun's expression remained puzzled, "Sis, what do you mean by that? Also, what you initially told me to do, I still don't understand the reason for it."
Ru'er knew that she now had to tell her sister the truth of the matter, and after half a second of hesitation she opened her mouth: "I was fifteen when I entered, and as of now have been here almost two years. I was like you and went from the training grounds to the sweeper area, but in between then I was taken to serve in the Hall of Splendor for a few days. Because my etiquette was lacking and wasn't stable enough I was eliminated and placed in a different role….I am good at networking and know of many things. Afterwards, I realized that every one and a half years the estate would bring in a batch of low-ranked palace maids, and every time a few of them would be selected and sent to the Hall of Splendor to serve in front of his highness."
"But what does that have to do with the two of us?"
Ezoic
Ru'er had a little hate for the iron not becoming steel and said quietly: "You know that the pavilion by the water gets the moonlight first, right? Which palace maid of the right age isn't eager to serve by his highness's side? But the Hall of Splendor is managed by Eunuch Fu, and he never picks people from within the estate. Every time it would be from amongst newly entered low-ranked palace maids…."
"When I first entered I didn't have a grasp of the situation. Otherwise I wouldn't have been eliminated. You have to work hard. If you're able to catch his highness's eye you would ascend to the sky….for the sake of finding out when the estate was bringing in people, I had to spend a huge amount of effort and money to obtain the information from the hands of the traffickers. I've invested all my many months of savings into this. You need to work hard for me."
Her sister's words were too unimaginable to the extent that Xiu Yun found it hard to digest right away.
Hearing Xiao Hua call out that they were leaving, she could only hurriedly nod her head at Ru'er.
Ezoic
Ru'er patted her sister on the arm, "Remember my words."
Xiu Yun nodded again and returned to her group who already had the food in hand.
Author's notes:
In the theater—
Interviewer: Author
Interviewee: The author's little brat the Jing Prince.
Author: Little brat, people are saying you have wives and concubines already. Why are you drooling over our little flower?
Jing Prince: "….." Who is Xiao Hua, this humble prince doesn't know her. Also, this humble prince doesn't drool.
Due to the interviewee not talking, subtitles have been added. Everyone please see the subtitles.
Author: Little brat, some people are saying you are no good as the male lead, and they want someone else.
Ezoic
Jing Prince: "….." Damn, this humble prince died in his last life without being a main character. Coming back in this life you're still not going let this humble prince become a main character? (Due to his anger, the Jing Prince finally opens his mouth and says two words: "How come?!")
Ezoic
Author: (innocent expression) People disdain you for not being a virgin and say you're no longer clean. (Author is also grumbling in her heart about why she created an unclean male lead).
Jing Prince: "….." This humble prince is a royal son of the Grand Xi Dynasty. As a royal descendent, is it possible to remain a virgin? (not even worth an expression of disdain)
Author: "Well that's not going to fly. Everyone dislikes unclean male leads. How about this, why don't you tell us about your good points to let our readers accept you more.
Jing Prince: "…." Although this humble prince isn't the virgin you guys are talking about, this prince is a male god in terms of exercising self-restraint. This humble prince lives a clean life, this humble prince does not fall for feminine charms, this prince was a vegetarian and lived as a monk in his past life who understands that "to have not is to have, and to have is to have not". As for the Xiao Hua you guys are talking about, what the heck is that?
Author: (gloomy expression) Xiao Hua is my household's little maiden.
Jing Prince: "…" What does your household's maiden have to do with me?
Author: Aren't you able to become the male lead because of her? How are you like a male lead? Male leads need to be able to say sweet nothings, make oaths of eternal love and be pure of heart and body. You fail on all three accounts, couldn't hit shit after three strikes. If you hadn't caught my unwed daughter's eye, you would be a minor character even after burning incense for eight lifetimes. (author has gone berserk)
Jing Prince: "…." This humble prince tears up.
The passage above was just messing around, just laugh and let it go. The male lead will reappear within two chapters, don't be impatient. You won't be able to eat warm tofu if your heart is impatient.
After getting back, Xiu Yun seemed preoccupied for the rest of the day and seemed completely different from her usual calm self.
She spent an entire day digesting her sister's words.
Xiu Yun and Ru'er were both from the Jing Province. Their family was a poor farming household. They had their father, but since their mother sadly passed away early he remarried and their stepmother gave birth to two younger brothers. Therefore, the two sisters became eyesores in their own house.1
Ezoic
Just as Ru'er was about to be betrothed, her stepmother prevented it and sold her off instead. The excuse was that her two sons needed money to go to a private school and bring honor to the family in the future.
Once you have a stepmother, you also have a stepfather. This saying was completely accurate. Unwed daughters were money drains to begin with so her father didn't think twice before obeying the stepmother and selling his oldest daughter off.
Ezoic
The panic and grievance this induced naturally doesn't need to be said. But Ru'er was lucky. The trafficker she was sold to was responsible for bringing servants to the Jing Prince Estate, and by coincidence Ru'er was able to enter the estate.
After getting there, things were naturally worlds apart from her past.
It was just unfortunate that despite having a decent appearance, Ru'er was from the countryside in the end. Her etiquette and vision were both insufficient and the opportunity passed her by. She was a clever one though, and her relationships within the estate were managed well. Staying in the estate for two years, she had seen through many things and ended up having thoughts to make arrangements for her younger sister.
Ezoic
For servants working in the Jing Prince Estate, if their home was within the Jing Province they could return home once a year. Ru'er took the opportunity to make a trip home. Regarding her sister Xiu Yun's situation, Ru'er was able to guess without having to see it. She was probably about to be sold off or married off in exchange for a few silver in betrothal gifts.
Weighing the two options, Ru'er decided to manipulate her father into "selling" her sister into the Jing Prince Estate.
Of course it wasn't possible to completely grasp the timing, and some luck was needed. But Ru'er also thought that regardless it would be better than staying at home. She could tell that their stepmother had been preparing to marry her sister off to the idiot son of some local landlord. It was only because her stepmother could earn more from selling her than the betrothal gifts that she changed her mind.
Now that Xiu Yun successfully entered the estate, if she was lucky enough to be assigned to the Hall of Splendor Ru'er thought that the possibilities were endless. All that remained to be seen was if her sister would be lucky enough.
Yet taking ten thousand steps back, even if there wasn't any luck, staying here was pretty good already. At least she didn't have to worry about being married to some idiot.
Xiu Yun was a clever young lady and could of course understand the intentions. She had followed her sister's instructions to the letter, saying little and observing more, properly learning the rules.
Ezoic
It was just that this situation was too shocking so Xiu Yun was unable to sleep the entire night, tossing and turning.
Xiu Yun also realized she had made a little slip-up today. She hadn't been sure at the time and was afraid it would be hard to speak with her sister once she found her and so asked Xiao Hua to come along to help cover them. However, who knew her sister had done better than expected and could directly take her away from Su Yan.
The only thing that didn't match up was that she had said it was her sister whereas Ru'er had said someone from her hometown. But Xiu Yun saw that Xiao Hua didn't make any strange reactions so she thought Xiao Hua hadn't heard it at the time.
It was late into the night and the people in the room were asleep.
Ezoic
Xiao Hua was in close proximity to Xiu Yun so naturally heard her tossing and turning.
Thinking of the scene at noon, the weird occurrences and now the usually calm Xiu Yun so flustered, Xiao Hua felt that something was definitely going on.
Could it also have to do with switching jobs?
But since she wasn't some prophet, and also didn't want to care too much about others, she could only think it over and then put it to the back of her mind.
Nothing seemed to have changed from before and Xiu Yun was still the same as she was in the past.
At first Xiao Hua thought the sisters might be discussing how to get Xiu Yun a different job, but seeing Xiu Yun remain in place afterwards, she didn't think anything more of it.
During this time, a few lower palace maids left the sweeper area. It was said that they went to another place to work but there were no further developments on this side.
Ezoic
Those who couldn't hold it in became even more desperate, but there wasn't much they could do except suffer inwardly.
The fact that Xiu Yun had someone from her hometown working as a mid-ranked palace maid in the meal management center was somehow leaked. Qiao Lian's treatment of Xiu Yun immediately turned for the better, and Xi'er in her simplemindedness pulled Xiu Yun over to ask her all sorts of questions about the situation.
Xiu Yun brushed it off by saying it was just someone from the same town and the relationship wasn't very deep, so no need for her to even think about trying to get help switching jobs. If she could get help she wouldn't still be here.
Hearing this, Qiao Lian and Xi'er's faces turned grumpy. Xi'er no longer bothered Xiu Yun and went off to play with others. Qiao Lian's expression returned to its normal sourness, and even spoke a few words of mockery.
Ezoic
Seeing such a performance, Xiao Hua felt very helpless but also felt some discomfort in her heart. This scene reminded her of many past experiences, and she had slowly begun to drift apart from Xi'er. She had even gradually become distant with Xiu Yun due to the weirdness surrounding her.
The wheels of fate continued to turn slowly, until one windy afternoon it suddenly descended.
On this day, Auntie Qi suddenly appeared in the sweeper area.
The usually stern and grave Auntie Chen had a bit of a flattering attitude as she escorted her to the group of low-ranked palace maids.
Having worked in the estate for a period of time, everyone already knew a little about Auntie Qi's background.
Ezoic
Auntie Qi was one of the Aunties within Jing Prince Estate. What was most impressive about her was that she didn't enter the estate the same way other palace maids did, but rather came from the imperial palace itself. Her seniority was extremely high, and she was said to have come along with the prince when he first moved to the Jing Province.
The experiences of these low-ranked palace maids were all similar. They either came as previous maids of rich households or were commoners forced to sell themselves for one reason or another. Their worldview was limited and anyone from the imperial palace was incredibly awesome in their eyes.
Xiao Hua's previous household was probably the wealthiest out of everyone's here, but in both her lives her experience was still rather limited. At her best she was merely the estate young master's concubine, one that could never leave the house and could only remain in the backyard at that. Anything regarding the imperial palace was just a pipe dream for her.
Therefore these low palace maids always had feelings of reverence whenever they saw Auntie Qi, each now tightening their expressions and staring at the stage.
Auntie Qi's appearance was unchanged from when they had last seen each other, with the same unaffected expression and calm gaze, her appearance unassuming. Her presence made others involuntarily turn silent, though it wasn't known if this was a psychological reaction.
Ezoic
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"Auntie Qi, that batch of low palace maids are all here." Just from her address, they could tell that despite also being an Auntie, Auntie Chen's rank was clearly much lower.
Auntie Qi nodded briefly, and a palace maid wearing a pinkish red short coat and lilac dress held up a piece of paper and walked in front of Xiao Hua and the rest.
"Those whose names I call out, step forward."
The palace maid paused a little and started calling out names.
Xiao Hua, Xiu Yun, Xi'er and Qiao Lian were all part of the list. A total of twelve people stepped out.
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"Alright, you guys come with me." Auntie Qi finished speaking and took the lead along with the high palace maid, and had the rest follow behind.
Head slightly lowered, light steps, speed in sync with the palace maid in front and maintaining a distance of three steps without the hair or skirt hem moving. These were the estate rules for their walking postures. Based on their appearance, these low-ranked palace maids had all learned it pretty well.
Still, the half lowered eyes exchanged glances with each other. However, they were mostly looks of pleasant surprise since everyone knew that this was a change of jobs.
Only Xiao Hua's emotions were a little complicated since she didn't know if this switch was good or bad.
After walking for a while, twisting and turning several times, even Xiao Hua who felt her memory was pretty good had completely lost track of the way.
Ezoic
After entering a courtyard, Auntie Qi led them to a stop. Moments later someone wearing a small black feudal hat2 and an embroidered dark cyan garment came walking out. He was a middle-aged forty or fifty year old man but his face was hairless.
"Eunuch Fu, I've brought the people. Will you take a look?" Auntie Qi showed a rare smile. From their expressions it seemed the two were extremely close.
The one called Eunuch Fu laughed helplessly and walked up to examine each of them.
Each of them were examined for a long while. These low-ranked palace maids were all young, and being stared at for so long unavoidably made them feel ill at ease. Especially when meeting Eunuch Fu's eyes, which made them unable to resist hurriedly lowering their heads.
Eunuch Fu shook his head after looking at one, then shook his head again after another. Auntie Qi's heart grew more and more heavy. The scene's mood turned extremely weird, each of them seemingly able to hear their own hearts beating rapidly.
Ezoic
Xiao Hua kept her eyelids half closed until she was enveloped by a dark shadow.
She could feel Eunuch Fu looking at her, the gaze making her feel extremely uncomfortable as though she was being dissected and examined inch by inch. Xiao Hua couldn't resist raising her eyes, happening to lock eyes with the person across from her.
She wanted to lower her head at first, but after some thought decided to maintain her posture, only lowering her eyes and half dropping her head in respect.
After a moment, the shadow over her moved on.
Looking over all twelve took quite a while.
Ezoic
"How is it?" Though it wasn't clear why, the usually calm and composed Auntie Qi's tone had a hint of restlessness.
The Eunuch Fu kept them in suspense as he shook his head until her saw Auntie Qi's disappointment in her eyes, then smiled and said: "Forget it, let's pick a few to go serve first. I just so happen to need some workers."
He then raised his finger and pointed a few times, selecting four people: Xiao Hua, Xi'er, Qiao Lian and a low-ranked palace maid called Zhi'er.
Xiu Yun couldn't help but squeeze her hands tight.
Eunuch Fu's behavior was extremely strange, hesitating for a long time while looking repeatedly, and finally raised his finger again and pointed out two more. This time Xiu Yun and another called Mei'er was selected.
"These six it shall be."
Auntie Qi let out a breath, and her tone clearly contained traces of happiness. She nodded her head towards Eunuch Fu, and placated the remaining people in a rare display of good mood.
"Alright, those who weren't chosen don't be upset. I will arrange another role for you guys." She turned her head towards Xiao Hua's group and said, "Go with Eunuch Fu and work properly. By all means, don't screw up and get returned."
"Yes."
Only after being taken into the Hall of Splendor by Eunuch Fu did these six low-ranked palace maids realize the stroke of luck that had befallen them.
Ezoic
It was as though heaven's fortune had descended and struck them all on the head.
The Hall of Splendor was his highness the Jing Prince's residence, and Eunuch Fu was the estate's eunuch in charge of internal affairs. This time he was choosing people to fill spots in the Hall of Splendor, though no one had expected themselves to be chosen.
Ezoic
Everyone could understand what it meant to work in the Hall of Splendor so the group was overjoyed.
Eunuch Fu glanced at these overjoyed low-ranked palace maids and his eyes flashed a little, though he didn't say anything and called over a low-ranked eunuch to lead them away before leaving himself.
The low-ranked eunuch took Xiao Hua and the rest to the palace maids' room and gave them a brief explanation of the Hall of Splendor's situation and the restrictions of working here. He then left them to familiarize themselves with the situation. Their roles would be arranged by tomorrow.
Ezoic
The palace maids' room was similar to the rooms in the sweeper area, the only difference being that it was six to a room here instead of four. The room was a large open area with three beds in a row on either side. Because all the beds were against the wall, there really wasn't a need to worry about whether a spot was better than another. Xiao Hua chose the innermost bed on the right side and placed her bag of belongings down. Xiu Yun chose the middle bed next to Xiao Hua's.
Qiao Lian's personality was forceful, and seeing Xiao Hua occupy an innermost bed she immediately walked towards the innermost bed on the left side. The low-ranked palace maid called Zhi'er started moving around the same time, and the two of them stood glaring at each other in front of the bed. Zhi'er was seemingly no match for Qiao Lian and went to the middle spot instead. The remaining two could only go to the outermost beds. Xi'er chose the bed by Xiu Yun and Mei'er was left with the remaining bed.
Their personalities were just that weird. Despite having just fought over spots until their faces were red a moment ago, they soon gathered together and started chatting.
As expected, they talked about the kinds of jobs they might get, as well as whether or not his highness would be hard to serve.
Xiao Hua didn't join in the fun, silently organizing her stuff instead. The palace maids each received a small cabinet as well. Xiao Hua checked for dust in her cabinet and put her two sets of clothing inside.
Each person got a set of bedsheets and blankets on their bed. Xiao Hua again busied herself with arranging her bedding. After everything was done, she half lay on her bed as she looked at those clearly excited low-ranked palace maids, letting out a sigh in her heart.
In fact, if she had the choice, she wouldn't have come here. But since it was an order from above, what could a mere low-ranked palace maid say. She could only take things as they came.
Xiu Yun also didn't join in on the conversation, and silently arranged her own bedding. Only her lightly trembling fingers revealed how excited she was.
Her sister's words had finally been confirmed!
Ezoic
The Hall of Splendor was a very large palace pavilion.
The actual hall in the middle was an enormous residence where the Jing Prince lived. There were adjacent halls on either side, and on the edges were small courtyards where the palace maids and eunuchs lived. There was also a large kitchen that covered much of the area.
The chores of Xiao Hua's group had been decided. They were responsible for sweeping the various courtyards and walkways of the Hall of Splendor. Their roles hadn't changed much and they were still low-ranked palace maids who were sweeping outside. However, sweeping the Hall of Splendor was naturally different from sweeping various places outside, so everyone was endlessly joyous. Only Xiao Hua was worried after a few days that things weren't as simple as they seemed.
No matter how wealthy the Hall of Splendor was, they didn't need to hire six low-ranked palace maids to do such a small task. However, she wasn't able to figure out their intentions.
A few more days passed. Although the six palace maids were always working inside the Hall of Splendor, they never saw the Jing Prince. Only when Zhi'er brought back some news did they realize the Jing Prince had not been in the estate these past few days.
Ezoic
Zhi'er was someone who was really good at flattering others with her palm sized faced, large eyes and cherry lips. She was full of smiles when she spoke, and her words were especially sweet. Within a few days, she had gotten to know several of the low-ranked eunuchs, and the news about the Jing Prince was also obtained from them.
Xiao Hua understood the thoughts of these low-ranked palace maids in the room.
What could there be to not understand? No matter if it was low-ranked palace maids or common estate maids, their thoughts would all be similar. Everyone understood the concept of being the closest pavilion to the water.
Ezoic
Yet her heart was filled with anxiety. Eunuch Fu and Auntie Qi's behavior was too strange. The Hall of Splendor was extremely solemn. All the servants that came and went were either eunuchs or palace maids who were average in appearance and over thirty years old. These few days the only bright faces she saw were those of her group. Everyone else's expressions were solemn and lifeless.
The situation was abnormal enough for it to be creepy. Xiao Hua's biggest desire now was to reach the age of release. She wanted nothing else. But often times when a tree wanted to remain still, the wind would unceasingly blow.
The Jing Prince returned from his trip outside, and realized something was abnormal the moment he entered the Hall of Splendor.
Ezoic
His steps slowed slightly, then passed by the few people who were kneeling and entered the hall right away, Eunuch Fu following behind him.
After the Jing Prince left, Xi'er who was kneeling excitedly pulled on the people around her, "That was our royal highness."
Xi'er's voice was very low, and only the palace maids kneeling next to her could hear her. Xiao Hua had kept her head lowered the whole time, and didn't see clearly what the person looked like. The only things she saw were once again a pair of men's feet.
The Jing Prince entered the hall and sat down. A low-ranked eunuch served some tea and took his leave.
Only the Jing Prince and Eunuch Fu were left in the hall, the atmosphere extremely heavy.
Ezoic
Eunuch Fu knew his highness's personality and awkwardly laughed a few times in his heart, standing by his side without speaking.
Both people were the types who could keep their composure well, and were completely able to disregard the silence inside the hall. The Jing Prince finished his tea. With the help of a low-ranked eunuch, he went to the inner hall and changed into his regular clothing before coming out and sitting in the hall once more.
He sat for a very long while, long enough for people to forget the passing of time. During this time the Jing Prince had done nothing except sit there silently, making others feel extremely weird.
Ezoic
Eunuch Fu glanced at his master who sat there silently as though imitating a monk, and felt disorder in his heart.
Eunuch Fu had entered the imperial palace when he was eight years old. At eighteen he was assigned to serve the mother of the Jing Prince. After she passed away, he had remained beside the Jing Prince, who was then known just as the fifth prince, all the way until this fifth prince received his father's orders to rule over a vassal state and moved to the Jing Province. As of today, he had assumed the management position in the estate and oversaw not only the Jing Prince's food and drink, but also various affairs within the prince's estate.
Ezoic
In theory, his current life shouldn't be any worse off than the management eunuchs within the imperial palace. However, Eunuch Fu was actually unhappy.
The reason was non-other than the Jing Prince's weird personality.
His personality was weird, his temper was weird, and his actions were weird.
He was clearly capable of speech, but never spoke, earning himself the nickname of "mute" yet accepting this with equanimity. Even though this had resulted in the current emperor's disgust, he had no intentions to change.
When first arriving in the Jing Province, Eunuch Fu had been extremely shocked when he found out his highness was able to speak.
Ezoic
Alright, forget about that part. After all, his highness's affairs were not something a servant could comment on.
But what was up with not wanting to get close to girls?
When it first started, Eunuch Fu hadn't been worried. When the Jing Prince's consort first married in, a bunch of arguments broke out resulting in a rift between the prince and his consort, which meant the prince rarely went to spend the night with his consort. This was something Eunuch Fu could understand.
The following year, Senior Concubine Qiao entered the doors.
The Jing Prince again acted like it was a transaction. Apart from dutifully visiting the first few days, he rarely went after that. He often went several months to half a year without going to that part of the estate. The time he spent with the two were pitifully few. Not to mention the two madams who were bestowed by the emperor before they left to the Jing Province. He hadn't even touched them.
Ezoic
It wasn't that Eunuch Fu was vulgarly interested in the Jing Prince's intimate affairs. It was because he spent twelve hours a day by the prince's side, and knew many things others weren't aware of.
Whether or not he got intimate with women wasn't the point. The prince was already twenty-five this year, and still had no offspring. This couldn't be called a small matter anymore. Within the royal clan, which twenty-four, twenty-five year old wasn't a father to several kids? But the Jing Prince didn't even have a single sapling.
Eunuch Fu could be said to have watched the prince grow up. They had known each other for a long time and their relationship was naturally not ordinary. It was natural for him to be worried about this matter.
Worrying was one thing, but speaking about it to his highness was certainly not appropriate. Eunuch Fu was extremely anxious, and helplessly gathered several of his "old buddies" who had served in the estate for a long time for a discussion.
After various debates and discussions, the underlying conclusion obtained was that no man was immune to charm. His highness being indifferent definitely had to do with his harem not suiting his tastes. The solution was to add some new faces.
But for a servant to offer girls to their master?
Let's not joke around. For them to secretly discuss this was one thing, it they were to openly suggest it was just asking for death. They had all come from the palace, and this little bit of insight and sense of taboo was common sense.
They could thus only rely on external forces.
From their discussions, they realized there were only three possible sources. One was for the consort to suggest it, but this was impossible and was eliminated right away.
Another way was when the officials under their jurisdiction sent over beauties to gain favor. The Jing Prince's behavior had always been apathetic, but it wasn't as if no one tried to send over a few beauties. The point was that every time the Jing Prince's reaction would make everyone extremely embarrassed, and over time people were tactful enough not to offend their superior anymore.
Ezoic
The third way was the emperor's bestowal. The Jing Prince had never been favored by the emperor, and this was apparent by how he had never been bestowed anything after moving to the Jing Province. The emperor had probably forgotten about this son of his already, let alone worry about his intimate affairs.
Unable to think of a fitting solution, these faithful servants could only helplessly compromise. They decided that every time the estate brought in new people, they would pick a few with fresh and tender appearances to serve by his highness's side and see if they could stimulate this apathetic prince's appetite.
Of course this was all kept under wraps, and could never be revealed in the open.
It was also why this new batch of low-ranked palace maids were trained so strictly while undergoing overt and covert scrutiny. The ones selected not only had fresh appearances and excellent etiquette, but they all had experienced their first periods already. One could see how much effort these "loyal" servants had spent on his highness's matter.
If the Jing Prince had been willing to speak, he would definitely have told them they were overthinking things.
No need to mention these things at the moment. Basically, it wasn't the first time pretty palace maids had been selected to serve at his highness's side, but each had been asked to leave due to various reasons every time. Eunuch Fu's group was also like an undying cockroach, continuing to struggle after suffering defeat after defeat. The current batch was already their fifth attempt in over two years.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice sounded and interrupted Eunuch Fu's aggrieved line of thought.
"Speak."
The sound of this word almost made Eunuch Fu shed a few old tears.
If the master was too taciturn, the servant would also have trouble serving properly. Luckily he had served by his master's side from a young age, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to endure such an oppressive atmosphere.
Ezoic
Eunuch Fu awkwardly laughed inside and spoke in an earnest voice about some not so earnest things, "Your highness, this hall hasn't had fresh and pretty faces in a long time and it's always stuffy and dead. This old servant thought your majesty would be annoyed at seeing this same air day after day, and so brought some spritely palace maids in to add some color."
The Jing Prince's heart had a trace of helplessness, but his expression remained unchanged. Even his mouth remained unmoved as he continue to sit there and "ponder". Eunuch Fu watched the back of the Jing Prince's head as his own expression became aggrieved.
His highness was definitely doing this on purpose. It's definitely on purpose.
Such were his thoughts but he remained stifled there silent and unmoving.
Another while passed before Eunuch Fu finally got the answer he wanted.
Ezoic
"Do whatever."
Having been kept in suspense for so long, Eunuch Fu's heart even had a rare moment of excitement. This emotion hadn't appeared much since moving to the estate.
"Then this old servant will go make the arrangements." After speaking, he hurriedly left the hall, clearly in high spirits.
Only after Eunuch Fu left for a while did the Jing Prince's calm and expressionless face show a trace of emotion.
This old thing!
Ezoic
Whatever, let him do as he wants.
How could he not understand Eunuch Fu's thoughts. However, Eunuch Fu had served him for two lifetimes, and in both his lives he had been steadfastly loyal. Even in death he had died protecting him.
For things that were still within what he could permit, he was willing to tolerate Eunuch Fu's whims.
When Eunuch Fu, who had vanished after bringing them into the hall, announced that from today on they would be serving inside the hall itself, the group of low-ranked palace maids were speechless in disbelief and pleasant surprise.
Ezoic
What kind of luck did they stumble into? Why was it that all their wishes seemed to be coming true? All these thoughts and emotions didn't need words to be expressed.
Of course, this didn't include Xiao Hua.
Not only did Eunuch Fu permit them to serve inside the hall itself, he even handed them two sets of beautiful clothes. The material was of excellent quality, and even included some head ornaments and jewelry.
Ezoic
These palace maids were astonished. Were these the benefits of working inside the hall?
Everyone's complicated thoughts and feelings didn't need to be described in detail. After they put away the things they received, Eunuch Fu had been considerate to the end and let them have the rest of the afternoon off to prepare for tomorrow's work.
Within the palace maids' room, Xi'er stroked the clothing fabric fondly, spreading it out and looking it over repeatedly.
Ezoic
"This is for us to wear? How nice!" After being excited for a while, she said again: "Would we get into trouble for not wearing the low-ranked palace maid outfit?"
"Country bumpkin." Sneered Qiao Lian.
By now those in the room had learned to ignore Qiao Lian's harsh remarks, since after all if they were to argue with her every day they might as well not have a life.
Zhi'er smiled prettily like a flower to the side, "Definitely not. Eunuch Fu is the estate's general manager. Since he has spoken, there would definitely be no one to punish us."
The Jing Prince Estate's rules were strict. Every level of palace maid had their own attire.
Ezoic
The mid-ranked palace maids wore bright red short coats and verdant green skirts, high-ranked palace maids wore pinkish red short coats and lilac skirts. The aunties in charge wore maroon layered short coats with periwinkle1 skirt with an extra white necktie. Some aunties in charge had an extra brown hat on, though as of today Xiao Hua had only seen it appear on Auntie Qi.
The low-ranked palace maid attire was especially ugly. The short coat was indigo blue and the skirt was ginger. The colors were extremely dark, a dirty blur when seen from afar. But because these low-ranked palace maids all did unskilled labor, the dirt couldn't be seen on their dark faces.
Having worn these dark colors for almost two months, seeing these bright and fresh colored clothing and being told they could wear it, even the normally silent and wooden Xiu Yun had a happy expression.
After all they were young girls. Were there any who wouldn't like appearing beautiful? Each of them started trying on their new outfits.
Ezoic
"You guys take a look. Does it look good?" Xi'er finished changing and asked excitedly.
Xi'er had put on the crimson orange short coat and pea green skirt. The colors were extremely vivid, and Xi'er's pale face and large eyes stood out beautifully in contrast.
The few who hadn't put on their clothes yet saw Xi'er's suddenly beautiful appearance and their eyes flashed in admiration while their actions became several times quicker.
The clothes they received were all the same, but because each had their own unique traits the clothes brought out different flavors in each of them.
Ezoic
Xi'er was naturally bright and lively, Qiao Lian was flashy and overbearing, Xiu Yun was gentle and refined, Zhi'er was charming and agreeable, Mei'er was fresh and pure. Each had their own flavor.
This Eunuch Fu really knew how to pick people. There was one of every type.
"Xiao Hua, why don't you try on your new clothes?"
Xiao Hua's expression froze and she softly said: "I'd better pass. I was thinking to take a bath first and put it on tomorrow."
Ezoic
Eunuch Fu had told them prior to leaving that he would prepare a place for them to bath tonight so they could go to work tomorrow clean and fair.
Of course what Eunuch Fu was saying in his heart was so they could go to work tomorrow clean and fair and dressed prettily so that my house's indifferent highness's appetite could better be stimulated.
When these few palace maids heard her words, they were all extremely vexed.
Turns out Xiao Hua was the smart one after all, knowing to take care of her clothing. It wasn't often they got a chance to bath as low palace maids, perhaps once in ten days in the public bathhouse for palace maids. Normally when they felt dirty, they would wipe themselves down with water.
Ezoic
Putting on new clothing over their dirty bodies made them feel uncomfortable inside, afraid to get the clothes dirty. They quickly took off the clothes and carefully put them away.
After a moment of silence, they each started trying on their head ornaments and jewelry. The head ornament was a silver plum-blossom hairpin, and the jewelry was a small pearl earring. Everyone had the same things. These pieces were all extremely beautiful, causing Xi'er to start making a fuss again.
The next day they all put on their clothes and accessories and left to go to work.
After spending the afternoon and night, everyone had more or less figured out their circumstances. Everyone's moods were unusual. Although they didn't show much on the outside, since they were all young some evidence still appeared in their expressions.
"Xiao Hua, who would have thought you were so good looking." Xi'er exclaimed.
Ezoic
All the eyes in the room gathered upon Xiao Hua in an instant.
Dawn had just broken at the moment, and the rising sun shone through the window onto Xiao Hua's body clad in crimson orange and pea green.
Her body was very slim with hints of newly developed curves. Her pale skin and small pointed face made her silhouette appear exceptionally delicate. The most outstanding were her pair of eyes. They were long, with a high curve on her upper eyelids and their inner corners were sharp and pointed downwards. The shape was similar to that of peach blossom petals. Her thick eyelashes unwitting let out a sort of seductive charm as they blinked.
That's right, peach blossom eyes. Xiao Hua only knew about this because the 4th young master had described them as such while touching her eyes in her past life.
In order to not stand out and draw attention, Xiao Hua normally kept her head half lowered and eyes half shut. But when Xi'er suddenly called out, she had reflexively turned to look, allowing others to see her original appearance in that moment.
Ezoic
A few people's expressions turned complicated, and Xiao Hua knew what that meant.
Xiu Yun opened her mouth and interrupted: "Alright, let's go. Careful or we'll be late." But in her half-lowered eyes there was an unknowingly gloomy flicker of abnormal expression.
Qiao Lian coughed lightly and took the lead in walking out, everyone else following behind in single file.
Seeing the six uniquely good looking low-ranked palace maids before him, Eunuch Fu hated that he couldn't stroke his imaginary mustache in satisfaction.
He would have this feeling from time to time, but how it usually ends up turning out was unknown.
Ezoic
The first time Xiao Hua saw the Jing Prince was when he came back from the front court around noon.
She was acting as a pillar inside the hall when the Jing Prince walked in from outside.
She looked over reflexively and the words Xi'er said suddenly rang out in her mind –
"I was awestruck."
Ezoic
Xiao Hua also turned a little sluggish when she looked, but she quickly lowered her eyes and didn't dare to peek any further.
The Jing Prince wore a royal crown of white jade, his delicate and fair face was slightly androgynous with a high nose and thin lips. His eyes were slender and slanted, with dark pupils full of depth. He wore a set of murky green robes embroidered with clouds, which made his skin appear white as jade. His frame was not sturdy, but also not weak. Tall and straight, slender yet full of energy, his entire body was filled with a very apathetic air.
The Jing Prince entered the hall and sat down, and a low-ranked palace maid stepped forward to serve tea.
Eunuch Fu stood to the side with his head half lowered and said smilingly: "Your highness, these few are the ones this old servant has arranged to enter the hall. There are a total of six people." He seemed to be explaining why the tea servers had changed, and also the presence of the two other low-ranked palace maids standing at attention in the hall.
The Jing Prince didn't even take a glance and didn't say anything, only raising his tea up for a sip.
Ezoic
Xiao Hua's group of six was arranged in the inner hall, each with a different role. Two were responsible for serving meals, two responsible for steeping and serving tea, and two were responsible to serve nearby. Those serving nearby, to speak plainly, were just standing there at attention. They lent a hand if someone called for them, but at other times they would stand unmoving.
As for the truly intimate jobs such as changing clothes, it was still left to the eunuchs. Eunuch Fu was still aware of his highness's bottom line, and didn't casually try to cross it.
Xiao Hua was assigned to the standing role along with Xiu Yun. Qiao Lian and Zhi'er were responsible for the tea, Mei'er and Xi'er were responsible for the meals.
Before they started their jobs, Eunuch Fu had warned them to be mindful of their words and actions and perform their roles carefully. Therefore, although Qiao Lian and Zhi'er were extremely excited at the moment, they were able to serve the tea without incident.
Palace maids had to step down after serving tea. Before Qiao Lian and Zhi'er left, their gazes intentionally or otherwise wandered over Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun.
Ezoic
The Jing Prince drank his tea, sat for a while and then entered the inner hall to change his clothes. After coming out, lunch was already served.
The ones who served lunch was Mei'er and Xi'er.
Having seen the Jing Prince for only a brief amount of time, Xiao Hua already felt the weirdness.
She wasn't able to figure out exactly what was weird yet. Only after the Jing Prince finished the meal and returned to sit on the chair in the hall did she realize. The weirdness was coming from the prince himself.
During this entire time, she hadn't heard him speak and from the very beginning she hadn't seen his expression change. Only Eunuch Fu's voice would ring out every once in a while. If it wasn't to order the eunuchs to do something, it was to have a one-sided conversation with the prince. Meanwhile, the prince would either have no response to Eunuch Fu's words, or merely give a nod or shake of his head.
The prince had already sat in the hall for quite a while after finishing his meal. During this time, he hadn't done anything except sit there. The hall remained very quiet, quiet enough to make one's heart palpitate.
Within the hall, only Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun remained as pillars along with the prince and Eunuch Fu. Xiao Hua secretly raised her eyes. Her position was very convenient, being able to see the seated prince by just raising her eyes.
The Jing Prince sat majestically, his posture upright and without moving. His eyes remained apathetic, seemingly focused yet unfocused at the same time, his face without any expression. The kind of apathetic feeling coming from him made it seem as though he wasn't a mortal, but rather a god looking down from above. After a while, it even made people feel that it wasn't a person sitting there, but a beautiful white jade statue of a Bodhisattva.
Xiao Hua new that everyone inevitably had their eccentricities, but this was her first time seeing such a strange person.
Ezoic
It wasn't clear how much time had passed when the Jing Prince suddenly stood up and walked towards the hall's study.
Ezoic
After Xiao Hua and the rest had entered the hall before noon, they had already been familiarized with the layout of the hall.
The Hall of Splendor was divided into two parts front and back. The front hall had five chambers, three bright rooms and two dark ones. The bright rooms had doors leading outside and cracked ice patterned windows2. The front hall was used as a living room and study, whereas the back hall was used as the sleeping quarters where unrelated personnel were not permitted to enter. Xiao Hua and the rest were only permitted inside the front hall.
Eunuch Fu gave her and Xiu Yun the task of remaining within the scope of the Jing Prince's gaze. Seeing the Jing Prince stand and Eunuch Fu follow three steps behind him, Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun kept their distance and silently followed behind Eunuch Fu.
Entering the study, the two each found a corner to stand silently in.
Xiao Hua's first day in the inner hall was very smooth. Apart from her legs being a little tired, everything was normal.
Ezoic
From start to finish, the Jing Prince had not given them any orders. The most she did was when Eunuch Fu hinted at them to change the tea, and she had gone to the tea room and asked for tea to be served.
This day, Xiao Hua had not heard the Jing Prince say a word.
Exact Chinese colors see here. High maids second from left, aunties fifth from left. Compared with English color schemes since I also had no clue about various shades of purple, but there seemed to be a lot of inconsistencies in pictures. Just think of it as pale pink purple and pale blue purple
Something like this.
The Changchun1 Pavilion was where the Jing Consort lived. It was the most gorgeous of the three eastern pavilions, and the richly ornamented and magnificent buildings were naturally extraordinary.
Because they had known the Jing Prince would be coming today, the Changchun Pavilion had been swept all over, and all the decorations had to be rearranged. Although it didn't look much different from the past, a good amount of effort had been spent.
Every ten days the Jing Prince would come to the pavilion to visit his consort. The time was not fixed but he would definitely come. This was a practice that everyone in the estate was familiar with. Therefore, every time the palace maids in the pavilion would be especially excited.
Ezoic
The Jing Consort had also dressed herself up early and waited inside the building.
Ezoic
She seemed to be over twenty years old, and was dignified and beautiful. Today she wore a pale rose robe, making her look several fold more moving. At this time she sat a little restlessly inside the living room, every now and then ordering the palace maids to go outside and see if the prince had come yet.
Beside her stood an old lady in a caramel colored skirt with her hair in a bun, her round face giving off the air of a wet nurse. She opened her mouth and said: "Two low-ranked palace maids have been arranged at the gates. The moment they see his highness they will come to report. Consort, your illness has just faded and you cannot sit for too long. Would you like to lie down on the consort's couch for a bit?"
This old lady was surnamed Li, and everyone called her Nana Li since she was the Jing Consort's wet nurse. When the consort was married off, she had accompanied her over. She had a lot of credibility in front of the consort, and could be said to be her most trusted person.
Ezoic
The Jing Consort gripped her handkerchief tightly and shook her head, "Nana, let's forget it in case I end up having to run back and forth." The Jing Consort had made herself up beautifully today, but one could still see a hint of illness on her face, the reddish glow a result of rouge not health.
Nana Li did not say anything in response, but merely sighed in her heart.
After a while, someone dressed in low palace maid attire reported outside the door, "His highness is walking in this direction."
The two people walked outside the living room and stood waiting at the door.
Only when she saw the purple robed silhouette walk into the gate did the Jing Consort let out a happy smile.
The Jing Prince wore a purple robe embroidered with dark clouds. His figure was tall and handsome, his hair bound by a purple gold embedded jade crown. His skin was white as though a jade statue and his high nose matched his thin lips, above which where a pair of phoenix eyes that were apathetic to the point of being emotionless.
The Jing Consort's face reddened slightly, and seeing the Jing Prince approach she hurriedly performed a curtsey.
"Greetings to your highness."
A jade-like white hand was slightly raised while the Jing Prince's eyes didn't even spare his consort a glance, minding his own business as he passed by and entered the living room.
The Jing Consort followed behind, a smile on her face as she ordered the palace maids to serve tea and refreshments.
After finishing her tasks, she sat down in the chair beside the Jing Prince.
Ezoic
She looked his figure up and down, and seeing him not even give her a glance, forcefully maintained her smile as she asked Eunuch Fu a few perfunctory questions. Questions with no substance such as "is his highness doing well?", "has he been enjoying his meals?", "has he been very busy?".
This kind of interaction was extremely weird. As his consort, the person in question was next to her but she directed her questions at the eunuch instead. This would make one cluck their tongue in trying to explain.
But those who knew the situation clearly understood the reasoning. The Jing Prince was a little unsound, and was mute. Within the capital, he always had the nickname of the mute fifth prince.
It was said after coming to the vassal state, he had been cured by a divine doctor. But since his personality had already been set, he remained taciturn and apathetic, rarely opening his mouth. Even towards his consort he rarely spoke, resulting in the current situation.
The Jing Consort understood this, and also understood that her actions in the past had resulted in a rift between them, which made the prince so cold towards her. For the sake of her own face, as well as for the sake of making the prince understand that she cared about him, she had a one-sided conversation with him through Eunuch Fu. Although she looked at Eunuch Fu, her words were really spoken for the prince to hear.
Eunuch Fu had served the prince for many years, and regarding the situation between the prince and his consort he was also very clear. He maintained a smile on his face as he respectfully answered all of the consort's questions. Although he spoke a lot on the surface, his answers were similarly lacking in substance.
Ezoic
Nana Li watched from the side in a panic, wanting to interrupt but not knowing where to cut in, not to mention the fact that she was a servant who shouldn't be saying anything.
The Jing Consort racked her brains and finally finished asking everything she wanted to ask. Looking at the prince's expressionless face on the side, her heart felt extremely dejected and extremely worried, but she didn't know what else to say. She was also afraid that after this routine checkup, the prince would leave right away.
Ezoic
After being stifled for a while she finally opened her mouth and spoke, "Your highness, you haven't eaten lunch yet right? I will have the small kitchen prepare some food, would you like to eat here?"
The room was very silent. The Jing Consort's servants were all holding their breaths, hoping the prince would stay for a meal. Eunuch Fu still had a smile on his face, though he was sighing in his heart.
The Jing Prince didn't look at his smiling consort before standing up and walking out. He never spoke a word from beginning to end.
Eunuch Fu threw a quick "his highness still has some matters to attend to" as explanation, and hurriedly followed him out.
Ezoic
The Jing Consort opened her mouth wanting to say something, but resentfully stopped herself. She could only watch helplessly as the Jing Prince and Eunuch Fu's silhouettes vanished before her eyes. She was also very clear that the next time he would visit was ten days later.
The Changchun Pavilion was scarily silent. No one dared to move while the Jing Consort remained unmoving.
After a good while, the consort smashed her tea cup, and sobbed, "What's the point of passing the days like this!?"
Nana Li made a gesture to the side and all the servants filed out, leaving the consort's personal servants Chun Xiang, Xia Xiang, Qiu Xiang and Dong Xiang2.
Only after the doors were closed from the outside did Nana Li say comfortingly: "Consort, don't cry anymore. His highness's personality is like this, it's not as if you don't know."
Ezoic
"Wuwuwu…." The tears fell in a string on the consort's face, "I've already kept my voice and temper down, I've already changed, why can he not just forgive me? How could he be so heartless?"
Nana Li also didn't know what to say. She really wanted to say 'why didn't you do anything in the beginning?', but could she say that? She could only sigh.
The four Xiangs all made various expressions and opened their mouths to comfort her.
"Consort, quick, stop crying. Otherwise it won't look good once your eyes swell up."
"Your body has just recovered, you definitely can't cry."
Ezoic
Ezoic
The few personal palace maids all spoke at once to console her before managing to bring her along to wash off the ruined make up on her face.
The three eastern pavilions were all lone pavilions that were parallel to each other, the distance being quite close.
The Jing Prince coming once every ten days to the Changchun Pavilion was no longer a rare occasion, and the concubines living in the other pavilion was naturally aware as well. It was to the extent that low palace maids would be posted outside both the Rongxi3 Pavilion and Hanxiang4 Pavilion to keep watch.
As a matter of fact, the prince had just left the Changchun pavilion when he ran into Senior Concubine Qiao in the alleyway.
Senior Concubine Qiao was around twenty this year. She had bright eyes and white teeth and was extremely beautiful. She wore robes embroidered with butterflies and flowers, making her figure appear even more lithe and enchanting.
Ezoic
Seeing the prince approach, she immediately paid her respects, "This concubine greets his highness."
Senior Concubine Qiao's curtsey was very graceful, and her expression as she lowered and raised her head was also very beautiful. However, the charm was helplessly thrown at a blind man. The prince's steps never faltered as he walked around her and off into the distance.
Only after the prince had left did Concubine Qiao raise herself up. She looked at his silhouette and angrily stomped her foot a little.
The sound of laughter sounded behind her. It was the Jing Prince's other two concubines, Madam Jiao and Madam Rong.
"Big sis is really diligent. Unfortunately it seems like it didn't catch our highness's eyes." Madam Yu Jiao said sweetly, covering her mouth and laughing lightly while speaking as though she was afraid others wouldn't know she was mocking Senior Concubine Qiao.
Ezoic
Senior Concubine Qiao also wasn't someone who was easy to deal with. She put on a fake smile, "At least it's better than some people who are just here for show and haven't even gotten intimate with his highness before."
The personal palace maid by her side Die'er naturally supported her mistress as she covered her mouth and let out a couple of laughs, instantly turning Madam Yu Jiao and Madam Yu Rong's laughing faces dark.
Senior Concubine Qiao couldn't be blamed for speaking like this.
Yu Jiao and Yu Rong used to be palace maids in the imperial palace. Both were good looking, and prior to the prince moving to his vassal state they were bestowed by Emperor Xi to his son as concubines. It seemed that the emperor had felt he was being too obvious, conferring the title of Jing Prince to his son right after his coming of age ceremony and immediately ordering him to relocate. It could be considered as compensation instead of trying to cover up his intentions.
But the Jing Prince had always played his part dutifully. Since his father had bestowed them, he gave them both the status of madams and placed them in the rear court. Whether putting them there was a good thing for them was not his concern.
Ezoic
Only after seeing their dark expressions did Senior Concubine Qiao leave with Die'er in joyous satisfaction.
Just a couple of idiots, they dared come exchange barbs with her? Characters that were dealt with in a single sentence naturally weren't worth her attention.
However, Yu Jiao and Yu Rong had stayed in the estate for several years, and they were aware of a few things. Perhaps at first they cared a lot about the fact that they hadn't been able to get intimate with the prince, but as time passed they had stopped seeing it as a disgrace. After all, it wasn't that the two of them weren't favored. The Jing Prince's court had very few concubines, merely four people. Therefore, the prince also rarely set foot in the rear court.
Seeing that Senior Concubine Qiao hadn't yet gone far, Yu Rong grumbled a retort, "What do you have to be proud of? Who doesn't know that his highness hasn't gone to your place in ages? Every time another year and a half goes by. No wonder someone was desperate enough to block his path in an alleyway."
Senior Concubine Qiao's graceful steps turned chaotic for a second, and she hurriedly left with Die'er.
Ezoic
What Senior Concubine Qiao had said was right. What Yu Rong had said was also right.
The only male in the rear court rarely approached women. The few fights here and there between the girls were also dull, only exchanging some insults when they ran into each other and nothing more.
Didn't you see? Even the Jing Consort's steps had moss growing on it, let alone those of the others.
Lasting Youth
Their names each begin with a season and end in "fragrance" i.e. Spring Fragrance etc.
Honor loving
Cold fragrance
Objectively, the Jing Prince was someone who was very easy to serve.
Ezoic
As low-ranked palace maids who had only been doing manual labor, none of them had any experience in personally serving the master. They had all been a little flustered in the beginning, but the Jing Prince had never commented on it. Only Eunuch Fu would give them a few reminders in private.
However, Xiao Hua had also confirmed that the Jing Prince was a very strange person. In the few days she had served him, she had never heard him speak, and he had never given them any orders.
Ezoic
When he returned to the hall, he would sit there without moving. Every time he sat, it seemed as though he entered a meditative state, his face expressionless. At least Xiao Hua hadn't seen him make any other expression besides his lack of expression.
Xiao Hua even started to suspect whether he was a mute, though of course she could only keep her suspicions to herself and didn't dare express it.
Having served a few days in the hall, Xiao Hua's group also had some understanding of the prince's character.
Ezoic
This understanding came from their own observations during their work, and also from what the two low-ranked eunuchs serving with them in the front hall had pointed out. These two eunuchs were called Xiao Xia Zi and Xiao Qin Zi1. The two of them were the hall's eunuchs who performed miscellaneous tasks, their status slightly higher than the eunuchs who performed such tasks outside the hall. After all, there was still a difference between the inside and outside of the hall, and even for miscellaneous tasks the difference in status was clearly noted.
There were a few other eunuchs in the Hall of Splendor, but those few were all extremely strict and were only responsible for serving his highness personally. They never spoke with Xiao Hua's group of low-ranked palace maids so they weren't familiar with them.
According to Xiao Xia Zi, his highness the Jing Prince's character was just that indifferent. He rarely spoke so it was important to pay attention to what his eyes were saying when serving him.
What was said with the eyes was usually nebulous, and whether one could understand the meaning depended on personal skill. Xiao Xia Zi could only give them a few pointers that made it easier to serve his highness in the future, but wasn't able to say much else.
And regarding the reason for the Jing Prince's weirdness, no one dared to ask and no one dared to tell.
How can a servant comment on his master's business? They just had to do their jobs well. The closer one served by the master's side, the better the opportunities but also the greater the dangers. This was what Xiao Xia Zi said as he pretended to be profound in response to Xi'er who showed signs of wanting to ask about his highness's personality.
Some people didn't accept this while others deeply accepted it. Xiao Hua, for example, knew these words were true.
Without considering anything else, just the fact that everyone who served in the Hall of Splendor had solemn and respectful bearings made this concept very clear. Xiao Xia Zi also normally looked to be mindful of his words and actions, so it was unexpected that he acted so familiar with their group of low-ranked palace maids.
Xiao Hua didn't learn much else from her two lifetimes, but she had learned how to read people pretty well. At least she could tell that behind Xiao Xia Zi's smiling face hid arrogance. She reckoned that someone had instructed him to fill them in on things, otherwise he wouldn't take the time to be bothered with them.
After serving inside the hall for a few days, Xiao Hua had pretty much figured out that they were last minute additions.
Ezoic
While they seemed to be serving, the available jobs had already been divided amongst others. Those who served the tea only served tea, those responsible for meals only waited on the prince during the meal, whereas she and Xiu Yun were responsible for just standing there.
People would come out and stop them if they tried to do additional work. It somehow gave Xiao Hua the feeling of not fitting in, as if they were outsiders. Despite entering the hall, they weren't truly part of it.
Ezoic
Xiao Hua did not tell anyone about these worries and merely kept it in her heart and raised her alertness. Of course, she could just be overthinking things.
People had different statuses, and jobs were divided into good and bad which was really decided by one's perspective.
Having served in the hall for a few days, these low palace maids could all somewhat sense a few things.
At least some people understood that despite them all being the same, there were two people whose jobs were better than everyone else's, these two being Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun.
The way this was reflected was that Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun became isolated by everyone else in the room.
Ezoic
These days the others in the room, intentionally or not, rarely spoke with the two. Even Xi'er who normally enjoyed sticking to others and chatting had spoken noticeably less. Luckily Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun both knew how to be tactful, otherwise it would really have been a little hard to get used to.
Of course this was just the beginning. In the following days, the others gradually started saying a few sour words. Only then did Xiao Hua realized why she and Xiu Yun received such "special" treatment from the others in the room. It was because their jobs allowed them to stay by the Jing Prince's side the longest.
After Xiao Hua understood, the only thing she could do was smile bitterly.
The one who acted out the most was Qiao Lian, followed by Zhi'er. Mei'er and Xi'er didn't really say much, but Xi'er barely spoke with Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun anymore, often looking at them with a complicated expression.
Ezoic
Serving by the master's side often meant they went hungry. The master sits while you stand. The master eats while you watch. If the Jing Prince didn't take a rest after eating, Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun would have to hungrily wait until he left.
Therefore, the job was not as great as it seemed. These things Xiao Hu could understand, but unfortunately the rest could not.
Having endured their hunger until the Jing Prince took Eunuch Fu to the front court in the afternoon, Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun let out a breath and returned to the palace maids' room. Their lunch had already been delivered, and those in the room had already eaten. Only they had yet to eat.
The food left on the table had gotten cold, and also seemed like someone's leftovers.
This situation had happened several times before. When Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun were unable to make it back for lunch, the food was brought over by the rest of the low palace maids in the room.
Ezoic
At first it was still alright, but it gradually became this way. The food grew less and less, with only a few grains of rice while the dishes were more sauce than substance.
The Jing Prince Estate's meals were pretty decent, and having come to the Hall of Splendor things only improved. For it to become like this, Xiao Hua didn't believe the rest didn't do it on purpose.
She didn't say anything, and only looked fixedly at her own bowl.
When Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun got back, everyone in the room had been talking. When they entered things had quieted down a little, and seeing Xiao Hua's lunch the room had fallen silent.
"Who helped fetch my food today?" Xiao Hua did her best to keep her voice mild and succeeded, though she was not as successful in keeping her expression mild. Actually, Xiao Hua's current appearance was really not that different from her usual self, but those with guilty consciences would let their imaginations run and feel guilty.
Ezoic
"I did." Zhi'er smiled uncomfortably, pretending to accidentally glance at their food, "oh, you guys must know since you weren't able to eat on time, there were a lot of people eating and by the time I got there this was all that was left."
A "witness" appeared on the side, "That's right, I was with Zhi'er at the time."
Qiao Lian appeared much more overbearing, "What, you wouldn't be blaming Zhi'er right? Is she going to get blamed while trying to be nice? Why are you being so picky when we helped bring back food for you?"
Xiu Yun didn't say anything to the side. Her head was lowered and she slowly clenched her hands.
Xiao Hua smiled and said: "Qiao Lian, you certainly have a vivid imagination. When did I say anything that sounded like I was blaming Zhi'er?"
Ezoic
There were no stools inside the room so she grabbed her bowl and sat on her bed.
"Helping your roommates bring back food should be a standard convention, but I still want to thank you guys. However, I do want to ask, aren't the meals fixed in timing and quantity?" Without waiting for anyone to react, Xiao Hua continued: "I know you guys are all really busy, and that the two of us are causing you a lot of hassle. If it's not convenient, please tell us directly and I can have Eunuch Fu arrange someone else to help us with our meals."
Currently the awkward situation had been kept under the surface. Those in the room at most just outwardly ignored the two, or occasionally had a sour undertone in their words. No matter how turbulent things got beneath the surface, no one wanted things to reach Eunuch Fu's ears.
"Based on what Xiao Hua is saying, I guess we can only blame ourselves for being too slow today. We will be more careful next time, no need to bother Eunuch Fu." Zhi'er smilingly promised.
The others also spoke up and agreed. Only Qiao Lian remained silent and gave Xiao Hua a glare.
Ezoic
"Then I really have to thank all my sisters here." Xiao Hua smiled widely but it didn't reach her eyes.
After speaking, she silently held her bowl and ate.
Taking advantage of the two being gone to do their dishes, Zhi'er opened her mouth and spoke: "I told you this wasn't a good idea, but you still insisted."
QIao Lian also had a bellyful of anger, "Was I the only one?"
What she said was true. At first it was only Qiao Lian who would do it while the others watched without saying anything, as though watching a show. Seeing Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun not react the first time, and knowing the two had taciturn personalities, the others also had the idea to let them suffer in silence.
Ezoic
They had indeed suffered in silence, and suffered for a few days at that. But it seemed like they did not intend to suffer any longer.
"Enough, enough, let's not go overboard. If things got to Eunuch Fu it would get ugly." Mei'er helped smooth things over at the side. They were palace maids who had just entered the Hall of Splendor. They had to at least maintain a harmonious appearance.
Qiao Lian hmphed and didn't say anything.
The days passed and things became more complicated and busy. As long as the Jing Prince was present, they would have to serve him, and they couldn't go about their work as idly as they had in the past. Since they were under the eyes of the biggest master in the estate, even if they schemed against each other in private, they still paid strict attention to their work.
Ezoic
The Jing Prince rarely stayed in the Hall of Splendor, mostly going to the front court. He left in the morning and returning for lunch though sometimes he would remain out. Sometimes he would read in the study in the afternoon, or sit fixedly in the hall. Of course there were times when he couldn't be seen.
When the Jing Prince wasn't there, Xiao Hua's group was also not permitted to enter the hall. Once evening arrived they were permitted to end their shifts. Adding up the time they were on duty and the breaks in between, apart from the tension while on duty they had a good amount of free time.
Ezoic
During their free time, the few palace maids who were adept at flattery continued to expand their network. In this aspect, Xi'er and Zhi'er both became magnanimous and contributed no little effort. Xiao Hua didn't enjoy such activities but didn't stop herself from picking up on what they heard in gossip.
Although the Hall of Splendor was large, it was still a palace pavilion. There was not a lot of people for Xiao Hua's group to interact with. Xiao Hua's personality was very steady so she was fine with staying in the room after getting off work. Others got bored of the same thing after a few days.
That was how Xiao Hua found out that they were allowed to leave the Hall of Splendor if they had business elsewhere.
The good news was brought over by Xi'er, who had asked the low ranked eunuchs. Leaving the hall wasn't difficult. All they had to do was report to Eunuch Chang and explain their reasons. Eunuch Chang was the Hall of Splendor's vice-management eunuch. Eunuch Fu had to serve his highness on a daily basis, so in his absence Eunuch Chang would manage the hall's affairs.
Having received this good news, Xi'er went out for a trip, saying she was going to find her old friends. Seeing Xi'er leave successfully, Zhi'er and Qiao Lian also went out, though what excuse they used was unknown.
Ezoic
Seeing them leave, Xiao Hua didn't make a move. She never had "good friends" and she was also too lazy to move. When she was unlucky she would have to stand the whole day for her shift. Since she had some free time she might as well use it to rest in her room.
Xiu Yun had always wanted to go find her sister, but had cautiously refrained from making a move. Seeing a few people take the lead, she also went to apply for a leave with Eunuch Chang, her excuse being to meet someone from her hometown.
Xiu Yun walked to the meal management center and was able to find Ru'er without any obstacles.
Ezoic
Ru'er had done pretty well for herself, and as a mid-ranked palace maid she had been given authority over one of the kitchens.
However, the meal management center was divided into many kitchens, so the position wasn't something outstanding, but could still be said to be decent. Working in the kitchen meant being in charge of meals for palace maids all over. Even though the estate had strict rules and shady things such as withholding meals from others didn't exist, there would still inevitably be those that tried to curry favor.
Ru'er saw her sister wearing a different palace maid outfit, and was instantly delighted in her heart. She took Xiu Yun to her own palace maids' room and asked many questions such as where she was working, what she was responsible for, and whether she was able to serve inside the hall.
After hearing Xiu Yun's description, Ru'er knew her sister had gotten off to a good start.
"Xiu Yun, you're off to a good start. You've been arranged to serve inside the hall so you definitely have to be meticulous in your work. Don't make mistakes. Based on sister's past experience, a single mistake would mean getting kicked out of the hall."
Ezoic
"I think it should be fine. We all made some small mistakes in the past few days, but his highness didn't have any reaction."
Seeing her sister's frivolous attitude, Ru'er couldn't help but frown and say sternly: "That's because his highness doesn't want to be picky, or perhaps there are other reasons. Keep in mind that you have to be cautious, cautious and even more cautious. Definitely don't get kicked out."
Xiu Yun was only fifteen this year. While she normally looked calm and steady, it was only slowly learned when entering the estate. Of course, Ru'er's "teachings" also forced her to mind her words and actions tightly. Seeing her sister's seriousness, she nodded her head, obedient as usual.
Ru'er also didn't want to give her sister too much pressure, and said gently: "Sister is also doing this for your own good. You know clearly how hard we sisters had it growing up. Since our fate is bad, we can only rely on ourselves."
"Sis, I understand."
Ezoic
"We don't have a mother, and we might as well not have a father. I was able to enter the Jing Prince Estate due to luck. I don't dare to consider where I might have ended up if I wasn't lucky. Even after that woman sold me off, she still wanted to marry you off to some idiot. To be honest, this was all because we didn't have the ability to resist. Now we finally have a chance. Perhaps this will change our destinies. Xiu Yun, you must work hard. Sister's future is in your hands."
Ru'er had said similar words to Xiu Yun many times.
Xiu Yun also knew what her sister said was true. It was because they were too weak that they were constantly bullied by their stepmother. Now that this chance was before her eyes, as long as she could persevere and steadily serve by his highness's side, there would come a day when she could ascend to the sky.
The two sister's spoke again for a long time. Most of it was Ru'er speaking while Xiu Yun listened, and the contents were mostly encouragement or reinforcement.
After they were done talking, Ru'er again asked Xiu Yun about the other palace maids that entered the hall.
Xiu Yun gave a summary of everyone in their room. Ru'er carefully asked a few follow up questions when her sister brought up the one called Xiao Hua.
Ru'er was silent for a while before speaking: "From what you said, out of everyone only that Xiao Hua is a steady one. Sister also doesn't have much experience serving others. You can observe and learn from that Xiao Hua. And you must remember, you have to be steady in the beginning. Those that can't, won't be able to stay long."
Xiu Yun nodded her head and took her sister's words to heart.
Ru'er looked at the color of the sky outside and realized they had been talking for a long time. She carefully instructed Xiu Yun a few more times before letting her leave. Xiu Yun returned to the Hall of Splendor and saw Xiao Hua half lying on her bed in the room.
Ezoic
She thought about her sister's words as she snuck a glance at Xiao Hua.
Ezoic
In her eyes, Xiao Hua was a very steady person. She was clearly younger than her, but her actions clearly showed that she knew when to advance and when to retreat.
It wasn't clear in the training grounds but there had been some small changes during their time in the sweeper area. Now after entering the hall and doing the same work as her, Xiu Yun could finally feel the distance between them.
She couldn't describe this feeling of distance, but it made her feel as though she was looking up at a tall mountain.
This was also why Xiu Yun brought up Xiao Hua in her conversation with Ru'er today. Having such a person next to her in comparison, she felt a lot of pressure.
Xiu Yun thought about her sister telling her to learn properly from Xiao Hua and felt uncomfortable in her heart. Seeing that it wasn't early anymore, she still softly called to Xiao Hua: "It's getting late, let's go to work."
Ezoic
"Oh."
Little child/son Xia and little child/son Qin
In the blink of an eye, over half a month had passed. Eunuch Fu had been in a good mood recently, humming little tunes in the mornings.
"Master, this disciple noticed your mood has been pretty good these past few days."
An Chen was a seventeen or eighteen year old1 eunuch who served in the rear hall of the Hall of Splendor. His features were delicate and his face was full of smiles as he spoke, making him extremely likeable. Of course this was only towards his highness and his master. Towards others, An Chen was extremely arrogant.
Ezoic
Eunuch Fu laughed and swung a kick at him, "You little brat, when did you learn to laugh at your master?"
Ezoic
An Chen pretended to stagger back from the kick, then straightened himself and sidled up to Eunuch Fu, his face full of smiles.
"Disciple clearly saw master being in a cheerful mood, even humming a little tune." An Chen put on an aggrieved appearance, making Eunuch Fu laugh even harder.
Eunuch Fu gave An Chen a side eye, "You don't know why I'm happy? Where's his highness?"
Ezoic
"His highness is in the front hall eating breakfast." An Chen laughed drily in mischief a couple of times, leaning close to Eunuch Fu and whispering: "His highness hasn't made any moves yet this time, this is really a hugely wonderful thing."
When this was mentioned Eunuch Fu couldn't help his lips from curving upwards.
"How are those low palace maids doing recently? When I'm not present you must ask someone to keep a close watch."
"Master can rest assured when An Chen handles things. I've asked someone to keep an eye out."
"These few low palace maids are all quite young. Make Xiao Xia Zi and the others teach them some more indirectly."
"Please don't worry about this matter, master." An Chen naturally knew what Eunuch Fu liked to hear, and chose his words to please him, "This time it will definitely succeed. Look how short those previous palace maids lasted. This time it's already been over half a month, meaning this time the people definitely fit his highness's desires. Master has really good insight, and really knows how to pick people."
Eunuch Fu smiled a little while stroking his bald chin and spoke: "That would be for the best. Otherwise I would worry myself to death."
An Chen did not banter with this line. Although he normally spoke in an unrestrained manner with his master, he knew what he could say and couldn't say. He couldn't afford to take this line lightly.
As Eunuch Fu's disciple, everyone in the estate had to view him with some importance.
However, An Chen was clear that in the Jing Prince's heart, he wasn't someone irreplaceable unlike his master. His master had watched the prince grow up. Otherwise what household's servant would dare openly arrange women by his master's side.
Of course, whether his highness accepted it was another thing, but to dare do so or for the Jing Prince to give sufficient face to do so, only Eunuch Fu barely qualified.
Ezoic
Everyone in the estate understood the Jing Prince's indifferent character, but who would dare speak out against it even a little. Don't you see that even his highness's consort, the Jing Consort, stayed in her house the whole time without daring to say a word?
In the end, the royal household's rules were different from other places, and the royal family's prestige cannot be infringed upon. The master could act as he liked and that was his business. Servants who said one word too many would end up dead.
If An Chen commented carelessly, it wouldn't even require others to act since his own master Eunuch Fu wouldn't spare him.
"I'm going to the front hall. If things succeed this time, your benefits also wouldn't be lacking." After speaking, Eunuch Fu walked off.
Ezoic
Maintaining the smile on his face as he sent Eunuch Fu off with his eyes, An Chen finally straightened his posture.
Xiao Li ZI who had been standing to the side as though invisible approached and said: "Brother An, don't we need to report the matter with those palace maids to Grandpa Fu?"
Eunuch Fu arranging people into the hall was known by those who had served there for a long time. On the surface it seemed as if only Xiao Xia Zi and Xiao Qin Zi were willing to bother with them while everyone else remained solemn and removed. The truth was that an unknown amount of people were watching them closely, and regarding the palace maids' hidden schemes everyone was clear in their hearts.
"Those little girls fighting and scheming against each other in the dark isn't worth reporting to master. If I told him he would just say I was making a fuss over nothing." An Chen assumed the look of an instructor as he opened his mouth and preached, "Master's old self doesn't need to be bothered by small things such as this. Human nature will cause conflict to erupt wherever they are. We just need to keep a close watch."
Ezoic
"Right, right, right. What brother An said makes sense."
An Chen glanced sideways at Xiao Li Zi. This person was still too tender, not knowing that master is more than happy to see this situation occur. Struggles are good. Struggles meant they had ambition, and only with ambition could things come to fruition. If things could succeed that would be good. For those at the top, the results justified the means.
The Jing Prince could also see that Eunuch Fu was in a good mood, but he didn't reveal anything in his expression.
After finishing breakfast, the prince went to the martial training grounds.
Ezoic
In the past, the Jing Prince didn't know any martial arts. Within the palace, no one asked and no one taught. Only after coming to the Jing Province did he find himself some martial arts masters and had them instruct him in martial arts.
Martial arts was something that needed to be trained at a young age. Only then could the muscles and bones be developed properly. The Jing Prince started too late, and he had to put in several more times the effort for very little result.
Master Yan was responsible for teaching kickboxing styled kung-fu. He was a famous general in the past and afterwards was invited by the Jing Prince to be his personal kickboxing instructor. Master Yan told the Jing Prince several times that learning kickboxing at his age wasn't very useful, but the prince continued learning from him single-mindedly, and did not miss a single day.
The Jing Prince first practiced archery, and then practiced Master Yan's techniques.
After training for an hour, he was sweating all over. His expression still unchanged, he went to take a bath and changed clothes before going to the front court's Hall of Deliberation.
Ezoic
The Hall of Deliberation was where the Jing Prince handled official business. There he either met officials under his jurisdiction or took care of his business.
Although it was called taking care of business, there really wasn't anything important. After all, the Jing Prince Estate had an Adjutant's Office that would take care of most important matters normally and only the smaller things get passed on to the prince. Of course the office still reported regularly to the prince, especially since he took his work very seriously.
Precisely because of his work ethic, along with his habitually silent personality, those office workers he had dealings with often felt a lot of pressure.
If the boss has too much of a personality, those under him will need to adapt.
The result of adaptation was that those who were successful could continue to work while those who weren't went elsewhere. The Jing Prince relocated to the Jing Province right after his coming-of-age ceremony at twenty years old, and it's been five years since. Over the years, all those that worked under him had gone through this adaptation process.
Ezoic
Of course this only went for those in the Adjutant's Office. The other officials under his jurisdiction were able to escape this fate since they rarely had interactions with the prince.
Of course there were those who couldn't adapt but the Jing Prince also couldn't just get rid of. The Adjutant Office's Left Adjutant Guan Zheng was one such example.
The Left Adjutant was the highest official in the Adjutant's office. The position couldn't be decided by the prince, but was instead appointed by the imperial court. His role wasn't merely to help the prince govern the vassal state, but also to act as an auditor.
Ezoic
The Adjutant's Office was allocated a certain number of units, and each had their clearly defined roles. The justice center was responsible for administering punishments for crimes. The meal management center was responsible for the food, drink and feasts of everyone in the estate. The regulatory center was responsible for all the stamps and seals of the estate. The virtuous guidance center was responsible in teaching the prince's would be offspring etiquette, hosting national holidays of gratitude and doing virtuous deeds in name of the prince. The tribute and offerings center gave rites to the gods and ancestors. The ceremonial center was responsible for ceremonies and etiquette within the estate. The skilled labor center maintained, repaired and renovated the estate. The medical center was responsible for medical treatment and hygiene. The transportation center was responsible for chariots, carriages and the riding thereof, as well as ceremonial weaponry. The herding center was responsible for raising livestock. The offices of the protectorate and honor guards were responsible for the estate's safety and ceremonial patrols. The warehouse and granary were responsible for collecting, storing and distributing food and salary. There were also those tutors, professors, ceremony officiators and so on who were permanent residents in the estate.
It could be said that the Adjutant's Office was the largest governmental division within the vassal state.
Ezoic
Included within the adjutant's duties were to "reinforce official decrees within the estate, prevent the prince from making mistakes, rectify the prince's mistakes, manage all the estate's workers and some miscellaneous affairs, deal with the citizens' requests for names, titles, marriage, favor and gratitude, write various reports and clean it all up for his highness's eyes.
From this it was clear that the Adjutant's Office had a lot of authority.
It was also clear that the every vassal prince would feel their adjutant's office played the role of an eyesore. But they also couldn't obstruct the imperial court's proceedings and couldn't act carelessly. There were many princes who had lots of disagreements with their adjutants, but were unable to deal with them and instead had to suppress their arrogance and maintain a harmonious appearance.
Of course, the Left Adjutant's position wasn't as well off as it seemed on the surface. To speak plainly, the Left Adjutant was caught between the anger of the imperial court and the prince. On one side he had to keep his position as a subordinate of the prince. On the other, he had to obey the imperial court and keep an eye on the prince.
Ever since Guan Zheng was appointed to the Jing Prince Estate's Adjutant's Office, he was well aware of his situation going forward. He had also prepared himself mentally, but had never expected the master above him to have such a personality.
Ezoic
It wasn't that the prince made things difficult for him, and there was no need to expect deferential treatment. Besides, would he insist on getting deferential treatment from someone of royal birth? If the prince dared act deferentially, would he dare receive it? The prince did show him courtesy though. There was no need to mention anything else, what gave Guan Zheng a headache was how he should interact with the Jing Prince.
The Jing Prince never made things difficult for him, but he also never spoke.
It was truly never speaking. From the time Guan Zheng was assigned to the estate four months ago, the Jing Prince hadn't spoken over five sentences to him.
Ezoic
Guan Zheng as the left adjutant couldn't say anything in regards to this. What was there to say? The Jing Prince's personality was just so, and in the capital he had been known as 'the mute fifth prince'. Although it was later proven that he could speak, his personally was like this and whether he was willing to speak was another matter.
This made Guan Zheng especially vexed, since he had the feeling of 'I made all these preparations but the person in question doesn't even bother with me'.
But thinking of his 'colleague' in the Qi Province, he felt that although the Jing Prince was eccentric, it could have been worse. At least he didn't get whipped.
Guan Zheng was forty this year, and becoming an official at forty wasn't that late. It was supposed to be the prime of his youth as he set out to do great things. However, since he was of humble birth, he was appointed to the Jing Prince Estate as the chief of the Adjutant Office instead.
It was a fifth rank official's position, which wasn't bad. It was even an official of the imperial court, and theoretically it should be extremely good. At least better than those seventh or eighth ranked low officials that were sent outside the capital.
But those that knew the situation all viewed the Left Adjutant's assignment as being thrown to the wolves.
The reason was precisely because he would be attacked from both sides. Otherwise how could his poor self with no backing have gotten the assignment? But it could be said that things were already very good here by the Jing Prince. Over by the Qi Province's Qi Prince, the Left Adjutant's position could switch several times a year.
Ezoic
The Qi Prince had a bad temper, and often had his officials beaten. Even the adjutant sent by the imperial court was beaten. Since he was currently favored by the emperor, those minor officials could only endure it and even those who suffered major grievances didn't dare report him.
If you couldn't compare to those better off than you, you might as well compare yourself to those who are worse off. This was human nature. Therefore despite Guan Zheng feeling like interacting with the Jing Prince was a huge burden, he also thought himself rather fortunate. At least, more fortunate than those sent over to the Qi Prince.
Guan Zheng procedurally finished giving his report, and only after a long while did the Jing Prince wave his hand and let him leave. Guan Zheng felt as if he was a criminal who had just received a pardon, and gladly took his leave.
Ezoic
Although he had been full of complaints when the Jing Prince had ignored him for a long while, he thought about his colleagues in the Qi Province again and thus left the Hall of Deliberation in high spirits.
Whatever, whatever. I came from a poor family and don't have any backing to speak of. Although the Jing Prince wasn't easy to interact with, my days here are pretty easy. Let's continue muddling about in this way. The adjutant's role was for three years, meaning he only had to endure two more years before being able to leave.
Soon after Guan Zhen left, someone entered the hall from outside.
"Your highness, this subordinate has followed your orders and leaked the situation in the Qi Province to the Left Adjutant. Do we need to continue doing so?"
The Jing Prince didn't blink an eye, "Continue."
"Yes."
Waving his hand to let the person take his leave, the Jing Prince continued to look at the report in his hands.
Ezoic
Although the Qi Prince was a violent person, he still had his uses. At least he could be used as a boogeyman to help keep his subordinates in line.
The Jing Prince had a simple personality in his previous life, and would never know to do such things. In this life he slowly watched and slowly learned. He felt he wasn't any worse at it than others.
The clumsier bird starts flying ahead of time. Although he couldn't fly early anymore, he could at least give himself some advantages.
Take it slowly, don't rush. There was still a long time before that day would come.
After the Jing Prince returned from the front court, he first went to change in the inner hall before returning to sit in the outer hall.
Those who were aware of his character would be serving him tea at this moment.
Ezoic
Having served in the Hall of Splendor all this time, the few low-ranked palace maids had all changed in small ways.
Ezoic
Without mentioning anything else, at least they now have mastered the 'meaningful glances'. The purpose of these meaningful glances won't be mentioned for the moment, but it basically let them continue doing their jobs well.
Qiao Lian and Zhi'er who were responsible for serving tea had recently been struggling over it very hard. One person was clearly sufficient to serve the tea, but these days the two were inseparable, coming and going together.
Qiao Lian carried the carved lacquer tea set and Zhi'er was responsible for placing the teacup onto the table. Both of them had something to do, and both of them made an appearance, their roles were divided clearly.
Ezoic
As for how the two managed to reach such a cooperation Xiao Hua didn't know, but the fact they were still secretly competing with each other was still apparent to bystanders.
As a matter of fact, Xiao Hua who was standing quite close clearly saw that as Zhi'er lifted the teacup, Qiao Lian retrieved the tray and accidentally nudged her.
The result was obvious: the cup in Zhi'er's hands fell onto the floor.
The hall was very silent, and the sound rang out clearly.
Xiao Hua was very speechless. She had no idea what Qiao Lian was thinking.
Zhi'er frantically knelt to the floor as Qiao Lian stood to the side, a cold smile appearing on her mouth for an instant.
The Jing Prince never looked over, but Eunuch Fu who was constantly beside the prince as a backdrop saw things clearly, including the cause of the situation.
His good mood instantly turned bad as he hated how he couldn't have these two immature low palace maids dragged out and beaten to death. But considering the Jing Prince's indulgent attitude in this half a month, he felt a little relieved though the worry was still present.
"That was really careless. Hurry and clean the floor up." Eunuch Fu reprimanded in a low voice. He was hoping to use this interruption to smooth things over.
Unfortunately, heaven decided to play a joke on him.
"Have these two leave."
Ezoic
The silent prince finally opened his mouth, but his words had no introdction or conclusion.
The Jing Prince's attitude had been very calm, and his tone was calm as well. Zhi'er who had been dismayed and frightened earlier immediately sighed in relief.
But Eunuch Fu's attitude was hard to understand, seeming flustered and exasperated all of a sudden. Ordering Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun to step up and clean, he waved his hand at the same time for Qiao Lian and Zhi'er to take their leave, his expression extremely ugly.
From his expression, it seemed as though his parents passed away.
Ezoic
Xiao Hua thought she had seen wrongly and didn't put it to heart.
As she griped that 'turns out his highness could speak', she also felt that his highness was a pretty nice person. Although he was usually taciturn and apathetic, he wasn't harsh towards others. In the past she had often seen similar situations where teacups were spilled. The rules were usually stricter, directly ordering the offender to kneel outside and be reprimanded harshly. This Jing Prince didn't have any expressions, and only asked them to leave.
Only when they got off work that night and returned to their room did Xiao Hua realize things weren't so simple. Only then did she understand why Eunuch Fu's expression had been so weird.
Turns out that 'have these two leave' wasn't left at that, but rather after leaving they were not allowed back in the hall to serve.
Ezoic
Before Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun returned, Xiao Xia Zi had already come and told them his highness's orders. In the future, Qiao Lian and Zhi'er would be responsible for sweeping the yard outside the hall.
They had fallen from heaven to earth in the blink of an eye. Having worked hard for so long, struggled for so long, they ended up back where they started.
Qiao Lian and Zhi'er were sprawled on their beds crying hard, seemingly unable to accept such a large downgrade.
Mei'er and Xi'er were consoling them on the side, though they had some schadenfreude in their expressions that couldn't quite be concealed.
Ezoic
The more time Xiao Hua spent with Xi'er, the more she realized that she wasn't that innocent. At least an innocent person wouldn't be able to carry out such acts of flattery, and also wouldn't have such an expression of joy at someone's misfortune.
The initial good feelings about her seemed ridiculous at this moment.
Turns out no one was innocent in a rich household after all. Even if they were innocent to begin with, they would change due to various circumstances over time. Especially when those who spent a lot of time together end up infringing on each other's benefits. Such changes were especially despicable.
When Xiao Hua worked at the various different places in the past, she had encountered such situations before. It wasn't as clear in other places since those were all smaller households. After getting to the Jingyang Marquis Estate it had gotten a lot more obvious.
Entering the Jingyang Marquis Estate at twelve, she started off as a sweeper maid.
Ezoic
The work of a sweeper maid was very labor intensive, and they would often get bullied by the other maids. Each of them were filled with thoughts of switching jobs. Those who stuck out in front of the grannies in charge would end up being besieged by the others in the dark. After she had entered the Jinxiu Pavilion and successfully schemed her way to senior maid, all those "good sisters" of hers in the past had changed their attitudes towards her.
When faced with such a stark change in attitude, she had secretly cried before, felt wronged before and complained before.
Ezoic
Only after dying once and coming back did she understand that the so called friendship and sisterhood was nothing in front of personal benefits.
Understanding is understanding, but every time she saw Xi'er she would think of the noisy girl she had gotten to know at first and feel faintly uncomfortable in her heart.
"Could you stop being so fake? I know you guys want to laugh. Laugh all you want, no need to feel stifled by holding it in." Qiao Lian pulled Xi'er's hand away, yelling as she sat up.
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Her face was extremely twisted. She had never been one to hold in her anger, and now seemed even more hysterical.
Xi'er's face was full of shock, as though she couldn't believe Qiao Lian could talk about her like that, her eyes instantly turning red in grievance, "Qiao Lian how could you say that, I would never….."
Qiao Lian pushed her away, "Go go go, go further away. Stop acting all pure and innocent every day, your act doesn't fool me." She paused, then continued yelling at the others in the room: "We all know each other very well, why are you pretending? Does your heart feel so comfortable when seeing others in a tight spot that you have to come show off your existence?"
Qiao Lian's words didn't just anger Xi'er to the point where she turned around and went back to her own bed. Even Mei'er's expression had turned ugly.
The room was incredibly silent for a long while before Xi'er angrily grumbled, "Dog who bites the hand that feeds."
Ezoic
Xiao Hua didn't speak, going over to her bed and carefully undressing before lying down.
The scary silence in the room was broken only by the occasional sob. After this round of arguments, the room was imperceptibly filled with an air of depression, making one feel uncomfortable.
Originally planning to fetch some water to wash up before sleeping, Xiao Hua didn't feel like moving anymore and lay on her bed, feeling an indescribable weariness in her heart.
Xiu Yun who was similarly quiet was gripping her hand tightly. She finally understood her sister's meaning, and finally understood the result of not being steady.
Although everyone in the room was silent, they were each absorbed in their own thoughts.
Ezoic
Afterwards, due to Eunuch Fu's frustration, he gathered the remaining four people and knocked them down a peg or two.
Only then did Xiao Hua realize that the always smiling Eunuch Fu actually had such a side to him.
His face was still the same face, but his expression and tone was a little frightening. Actually he didn't scold them, only warning them to work properly without making mistakes.
Yet they couldn't help but feel frightened.
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Of course after knocking them down he still gave them something to soften the blow. That something was another set of clothing.
This time it was a delicate piece: a pink short coat with a pale greenish blue skirt. The material was very good, and the measurements fit their bodies precisely. It was unknown how Eunuch Fu magically knew the low-ranked palace maids' measurements.
The implied meaning was to tell everyone that working properly without making mistakes will bring many rewards. Of course, the rewards would be even better if they could take it a step further.
While the last part was interpreted according to their own desires, it actually wasn't that far from the truth. Xiao Hua could also tell that Eunuch Fu's intentions were the same.
Within the room of six, four people received the clothes. The other two could only watch in vain. After Xiao Xia Zi brought the things over, the room's atmosphere became frozen.
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Xiao Hua held the clothes in hand, not knowing if Eunuch Fu was unaware or if it was intentional.
Wasn't this just causing conflict? There was already enough conflict as it was!
"Looks like those serving inside the hall are different from us who are outside. Even the benefits are different." Zhi'er's tone was extremely sour, and after speaking she sidled up to Xi'er, "Little sis Xi'er, after you ascend to the sky in the future, don't forget to lend this big sis a few helping hands."
Xi'er originally had a face full of smiles and was very excited in her heart, but after being stabbed by Zhi'er's words, she immediately withdrew her smile. Her relationship with Zhi'er had been pretty good in the past so she was bound to have a few misgivings, making it inconvenient to lose her temper. She could only lower her head and say: "Big sis Zhi'er, you shouldn't say it like that. What does that have to do with anything?"
Qiao Lian sneered at the side, "Fake!"
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Xi'er glared a little, endured a little and didn't retort.
"Eunuch Fu's meaning is already extremely clear. Those who can seize the target will get extraordinary treatment. Stop pretending like you all didn't understand. You clearly want it so badly in your hearts, it's disgusting how you are all acting clueless."
Qiao Lian's words were a little ugly. While it was one thing for everyone to think it, having someone say it out loud was another. Especially since these words were like a bamboo stick that tipped a boatload of everyone's suspicions.
Xi'er couldn't sit still any longer, standing up and glaring at Qiao Lian, "You're the disgusting one. Why don't you look at your face, it's twisted so much that it's disgusting."
Mei'er stood to the side and acted as if she was unintentionally interrupting: "Tsk, your eyes are turning red from jealousy. If you had known this day would come would you have changed your initial path? Didn't you enjoy internal strife? Screwing over one of your own, and though the victim ended up in a bad spot, you got yourself implicated as well."
Ezoic
Zhi'er only dropped the teacup because she was bumped by Qiao Lian. This wasn't a secret. Zhi'er clearly knew this in her heart, and the rest of the people in the room were also clear about it. Normally everyone wanted to avoid raising problems. Normally everyone ignored or yielded to Qiao Lian's ugly words, but everyone had a breaking point. Mei'er probably had had enough of Qiao Lian's words these past few days and ended up spilling it all out.
"You—-" Qiao Lian glared angrily at Mei'er, her expression as though hating she couldn't swallow her up.
Mei'er wasn't going to be outdone, "Me what? Everyone just doesn't want to bother with you, did you really think we were afraid?" Putting on a look of disinterest, she turned her head and said to Xi'er, "Xi'er, when we're working you mustn't follow in certain people's footsteps. We are all grasshoppers on the same thread, only idiots would try and screw over one of their own."
Zhi'er's expression also turned ugly. Presumably, Mei'er's words had poked at the sore spot in her heart.
Xi'er nodded vigorously, intentionally raising her voice, "Of course, I'm definitely not that dumb."
After speaking, the two looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Zhi'er sat silently on her bed without speaking. Qiao Lian angrily got on her bed and covered her head with the blanket.
Xiao Hua inwardly shook her head, not wanting to look in that direction any longer. Xiu Yun's eyes flashed a little before she lowered them once more.
After Qiao Lian and Zhi'er were relocated outside the hall, the remaining four became even more cautious.
Ezoic
Xi'er was naturally lively, but after serving inside the hall she had become much more restrained. Nowadays, her actions and manners became even more solemn, seeming to have matured a lot in a brief amount of time.
On this day, the prince was eating while Xi'er and Mei'er served the meal.
The Jing Prince was wearing a sapphire blue embroidered robe, a pure gold crown on his head, making him appear even more jade-like and handsome. It was just that his face didn't have any expression, and he didn't say a word.
Seriously speaking, these palace maids all had some understanding of his character after serving for a while. Although they were afraid, they were unable to prevent the thoughts in their hearts of ascending to the sky, especially with the prince's status placed in front of them. Combined with his handsome appearance, it dealt a critical blow to these palace maids.
Xi'er served the meal at the side, seeming a little absent-minded, sneaking glances at the prince while an infatuated expression flashed across her face.
The hall was extremely silent. Xiao Hua stood and watched the situation from afar and kept having the urge to frown.
The Jing Prince's table manners were excellent, calm and unhurried. His movements of eating were very slow, and each bite was chewed thoroughly. The Jing Prince had the habit of drinking soup after he finished eating. When he placed his chopsticks down and gazed at the soup, it meant he was ready for soup.
This habit was known not only to Xi'er and Mei'er, but even Xiao Hua knew it after watching from the side. But for some reason, when the Jing Prince put his chopsticks down today, Xi'er who was responsible for serving the soup didn't make a move.
Mei'er stood to the side and gave her a few glances but she didn't notice any of it. Mei'er could only helplessly walk to her side, holding the empty soup bowl.
Ezoic
What was this Xi'er doing? How did she not notice such an obvious gesture from his highness?
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Mei'er's movements shocked Xi'er awake. She only remembered her responsibilities after seeing Mei'er carrying the bowl of soup. She grabbed the bowl out of her hands, and without checking how much was already in it, added two scoops of soup before offering it to the prince with shaking hands.
"Your highness."
Xi'er's voice was shaking heavily, even Xiao Hua who had her head lowered and didn't feel like watching could hear the abnormality. She raised her eyes to look and happened to see Xi'er's expression which contained infatuation, excitement and happiness along with her two slightly trembling hands.
The Jing Prince raised his hands to receive the bowl without looking at the palace maid beside him. It wasn't known if Xi'er was too excited or if the bowl was overfilled, but the bowl shook a little in her hand and happened to spill some soup onto the prince's delicate hand.
The person who got soup spilled on didn't say anything, but Xi'er was panicked. In her fright she ended up dropping the bowl of soup. It spilled all over Xi'er, but more importantly also spilled onto the prince's shoes and the hems of his robe.
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"I didn't do it on purpose, it wasn't on purpose, wuwuwu, your highness let me wipe it off for you…."
Xi'er pulled out her own handkerchief in a fluster and wanted to step up and wipe the prince clean but was stopped by Eunuch Fu's hand.
"Leave."
Eunuch Fu's face froze. Without saying anything, he indicated with his hands for Xiao Hua and Xiu Yun to come clean up the floor.
"Your highness, I really didn't do it on purpose…." Xi'er cried until her eyes were red. She knelt on the floor and still wanted to beg for mercy. She crawled forward seemingly wanting to hug the prince's legs.
Ezoic
The prince's brows furrowed in a rare display of emotion, and he stood up.
"Eunuch Fu, have both of these people leave."1 After speaking, he went to the back to change.
At this time, Eunuch Fu was unable to maintain a good expression anymore. He frowned as he impatiently waved his hand. Two eunuchs walked up from the side and pulled the crying Xi'er who still wanted to struggle outside. Mei'er followed behind, her face full of vexation.
Xiu Yun and Xiao Hua were left behind to clean up the mess on the floor. When Xi'er was pulled out, Xiu Yun raised her eyes and glanced at Xiao Hua. She had thought her gaze to be discreet, but it unexpectedly met with Xiao Hua's own gaze.
Xiao Hua gave a faint sigh, and didn't want to waste her thoughts trying to decipher what was contained in Xiu Yun's gaze.2