Princess Bao’an Yang Fu of Chu—when the Chu Kingdom fell, she was captured by the Li family who occupied Daming Palace. She was the only Chu princess remaining in Great Chen. After Emperor Chenming ascended the throne, he didn’t make things difficult for this weak woman, tacitly allowing her to continue residing in Luanyi Pavilion and retain her title as princess of old Chu.
Perhaps because of her stunning beauty, Prince Yan and the Crown Prince showed her attentive care and treated her with respect.
Even so, this princess from the former dynasty was ultimately living under another’s roof with an awkward status. Yang Fu felt deeply humiliated and rarely went out, until Nan Chu spies in the palace secretly sent her word that Qun Qing hadn’t actually died that year—she’d become a spy and would soon return to the palace. From that day on, Yang Fu tore through almanacs daily. She awaited this female servant like awaiting a life-saving straw.
Wishing on stars and moon, she finally waited for this day of palace maid selection. Her task was very simple—select Qun Qing into Luanyi Pavilion. Yang Fu thought her stifled days were about to end.
Instead, she received a crushing blow.
Gazes from all directions froze her like cold arrows. Yang Fu’s tears congealed in her eyes. She could barely sit steady in her chair and nearly slid down: “…What did you say?”
But Qun Qing’s mouth didn’t stop. She bowed once and continued: “This servant only knows that a noble mistress’s status relates to this servant’s life and death. Princess Bao’an is a princess of Chu, but Chu has now fallen. How will the Princess manage herself? If I follow the Princess, should His Majesty one day be in poor spirits and no longer acknowledge you as princess, this servant fears there will be mortal danger in the future.”
Everyone knew the status issue was this former dynasty princess’s most sensitive point. The palace maids erupted in commotion. Matron Zhang dropped the registry and rushed forward to cover Qun Qing’s mouth: “Hysteria!”
Matron Zhang swore earnestly: “Princess, don’t blame her—her hysteria isn’t fully cured. She’s talking nonsense!”
Heaven strike her dead—this child who was usually so clever and nimble always went mad at critical moments. What kind of illness was this?
Yang Fu froze like an ice sculpture. Qun Qing’s tone was clearly familiar, but that expression was extremely strange. She only cared that in this female servant’s gaze toward her, that bright crystalline loyalty it originally contained had somehow been extinguished. Like a bottomless well, it made her heart continuously sink.
How could she possibly say such things! Yang Fu’s face turned deathly pale. Because this reversal was too drastic, far exceeding her expectations, there could only be one explanation.
Acting—yes, yes, definitely acting.
Nan Chu’s arrangements must have undergone some change that she didn’t know about. She couldn’t bear the surrounding gazes yet didn’t dare act rashly, fearing she’d ruin things. She could only sit frozen like an ice sculpture. But how could the alarmed doubts in her heart be so easily suppressed? Inadvertently, she’d wrinkled her entire skirt from gripping it.
“Who says she has hysteria?” Zheng Zhiyi’s scornful laugh was like oil sparks falling on fire, bursting into flame. “I think she’s very clear-headed.”
Zheng Zhiyi paced back and forth in the vast hall. Seeing the vase flowers by the window that Li Xuan had arranged for the Princess, she pulled them out: “She’s merely speaking what everyone present is thinking. Pitiful that even these servants disdain you—why must you deceive yourself?”
Yang Fu’s eyes suddenly turned stern: “In this palace’s hall, who permitted you, this country bumpkin, to run wild? Get out.”
Zheng Zhiyi was genuinely startled and dropped the flowers.
Yang Fu, relying on being a princess, usually only looked down on her with her eyes, as if even quarreling with her would contaminate one with vulgarity. Today she didn’t know what madness possessed her. Being rebuked in public, Zheng Zhiyi felt she’d lost tremendous face.
“Your hall? Says who?” Zheng Zhiyi swept down the flower vase with one motion. “This is the palace my father-in-law conquered—it’s my family’s territory. You dare tell me to get out? I refuse to get out. I’ll stomp wherever I want. Even if I shit and piss on the carpet, it’s none of your business!” She stamped forcefully on the carpet with her embroidered shoes, grinding the flower branches into powder on the floor.
Yang Fu burned with fury inside. This kind of person previously didn’t even qualify to enter the palace city, yet now could run wild in her sleeping hall. She threw the scented ball from her sleeve.
The scented ball grazed past Zheng Zhiyi’s cheek, making her eyes widen. Then she rolled up her sleeves and leaped up violently. Matron Zhang grabbed her: “Good Lady Zheng, don’t strike!”
The two had long-accumulated grievances. Now suddenly coming to blows, Princess Bao’an’s maids crowded around while the two maids Zheng Zhiyi brought pulled at Matron Zhang. The scene descended into chaos.
“This… this servant will go mediate…”
Outside the hall, rain threads flew slantwise. Shouxi held an umbrella, having stood with the Crown Prince observing from outside the window for quite a while.
But Li Xuan by the window shook his head.
His cheeks were rather thin, his eyebrows swept into his temples. His skin and thin lips lacked color, but those narrow phoenix eyes were very spirited.
“How did the Palace Service Bureau select such a stupid and ignorant person who dares openly defy Princess Bao’an!” Shouxi cursed. Everyone knew Princess Bao’an was the person both Crown Prince and Prince Yan held precious in their hearts.
Inside the hall, figures tangled in chaos. Only Qun Qing kept her head lowered, kneeling as if it had nothing to do with her.
A trace of disgust flashed through Li Xuan’s eyes.
Someone who could provoke strife yet escape unscathed was absolutely not stupid, but rather clever—and vicious.
Li Xuan coughed twice. Shouxi hastily tilted the umbrella toward him. Li Xuan waved his hand: “Continue.”
Shouxi replied: “While Your Highness was escorting the Glazed Kingdom envoys into Chang’an these past days, many things happened.”
“That Chief Clerk Lu beside Third Young Master, together with people from the Court of Judicial Review, was investigating a case. Somehow they traced it to Meng Guanlou’s private residence in Chang’an and discovered a secretly kept mistress. The news reached His Majesty and Her Majesty overnight. During the day, Minister Meng was still trying to arrange a marriage between Meng Guanlou and Princess Danyang. His Majesty was so angry he smashed his teacup. Meng Guanlou marrying the Princess definitely won’t happen now. Also, officials of fifth rank and above are forbidden from keeping mistresses, so Meng Guanlou’s mistress was confiscated to the Palace Service Bureau according to law.”
Li Xuan closed his eyes.
“Your Highness knows Meng Guanlou’s temperament. Perhaps unable to swallow this humiliation, he went to their door to hurl abuse and splashed a bucket of black dog’s blood at Chief Clerk Lu’s gate. He even wrote on the door that Chief Clerk Lu was an inauspicious lone star who killed his mother.”
Li Xuan’s eyes flew open, breaking into cold sweat: “He broke into Prince Yan’s mansion? What was Lu Huating’s reaction?”
“No reaction.” Shouxi spoke carefully. “They say Chief Clerk Lu was originally resting with his head on the desk and was literally cursed awake by Meng Guanlou. But after waking, he ignored Meng Guanlou, only opened the memorials before him one by one, looked at the contents inside, then pushed them all to the side without saying a word.”
“And then?”
“Then Chief Clerk Lu did go out to see Meng Guanlou, but only stood at the gate, touched the black dog’s blood on the door with his fingers, looked up at the sun, then stared fixedly at Meng Guanlou as if he’d never seen him before.”
This series of abnormal actions indeed made Li Xuan’s brow furrow tightly.
“Meng Guanlou went too far this time—he definitely stepped on Lu Huating’s sore spot. You don’t understand—this person takes revenge for every slight. If a deadly enmity is formed, he’ll strike with deadly force in the future.” Li Xuan said.
Shouxi was alarmed: “This Meng Guanlou used to be fairly proper, but since entering Chang’an city, he’s acted arrogantly without restraint. Sooner or later he’ll implicate Your Highness. Should we remind Minister Meng to discipline him a bit?”
But Li Xuan shook his head lightly.
He gestured for Shouxi to look into Luanyi Pavilion. Shouxi clearly saw Baoshu mediating beside Princess Bao’an and was also surprised: “Baoshu? When did she enter the palace without even greeting this servant?”
Li Xuan smiled: “This young lady just arrived from Longxi. Instead of enjoying comfort at her Chang’an home, she insists on becoming a palace maid, and specifically wants to serve the temperamental Princess Bao’an. Shouxi, can you understand? This palace thinks it’s perhaps her father’s intention. For the Crown Princess position, Grand Tutor Meng seems to be betting on the Princess.”
His smile slightly faded, freezing at a somewhat disgusted angle.
With the new dynasty just established, everyone scrambled for advantage. Minister Meng’s son already held an important position, yet he also wanted to send his daughter to a noble’s side to befriend the noble mistress. Even grasping for power shouldn’t be this rushed.
Li Xuan was suspicious by nature. Even toward those around him, he couldn’t completely trust.
“What’s there to watch in inner palace squabbles?” Li Xuan lost interest and turned to leave. His light words scattered in the wind: “As for the flaws Meng Guanlou left during the palace examination, hurry and clean them up for him. Don’t let Lu Huating get a handle on it.”
Shouxi’s heart trembled. Li Xuan’s golden sash floated past. This Crown Prince who had just escorted the envoys into Biquan Palace and accompanied them in Buddhist rites still carried faint sandalwood fragrance on his clothes—
Inside the hall, Yang Fu laughed coldly: “Brother Xuan and I have known each other for ages. He never mentioned having a cast-off wife like you. You look like a mud monkey, black and ugly, so beneath notice. Staying behind closed doors as good lady is one thing—what face do you have parading around outside? Do you know everyone in the palace is laughing at you?”
Matron Zhang silently chanted Amitabha. The infuriated Zheng Zhiyi grabbed her collar: “Think I don’t know—you Palace Service Bureau people are in cahoots with this slut. You stop me but not her—you don’t take me seriously!”
Matron Zhang protested: “This servant did try to stop her!”
Yang Fu’s voice floated over eerily: “Don’t stop her. Let’s see if she dares come.”
Zheng Zhiyi flung hard. Poor Matron Zhang flew to the side like a kite.
“Speaking of laughingstocks, I’m still better than certain shameless people with neither name nor status.” Zheng Zhiyi glared furiously. “At least I’m Li Xuan’s lawfully wedded wife. What about you? Before even marrying, you and Prince Yan…”
Yang Fu grabbed her hair. Zheng Zhiyi lunged forward. Just as they were about to fight again, someone blocked them.
This person moved extremely fast, squeezing between them in an instant and separating them.
Yang Fu opened her eyes to see that familiar slender figure blocking in front of her. Her nose stung.
Zheng Zhiyi was in the heat of rage and reached out to push Qun Qing aside. As a horse bandit’s daughter, she had strength in her hands, but unexpectedly her arm was grabbed in return. Using ten parts of her strength, she still couldn’t break free.
Unable to resist that force, Zheng Zhiyi actually retreated several steps, saying incredulously: “You dare push me?!”
Qun Qing lifted her hem with lightning speed and knelt in the open space she’d yielded: “Good Lady Zheng, calm your anger. This servant wishes to serve you.”
Zheng Zhiyi’s curse caught in her throat at this reversal.
“You’re… the one who just had the hysteria attack?”
She opened her mouth.
“This servant has no hysteria.” Qun Qing said. “What your servant said was sincere. Unwilling to serve in Luanyi Pavilion, fearing an unclear future path. You are the good lady personally appointed by His Highness the Crown Prince and favored by His Majesty. Just now you took notice of this servant—it’s this servant’s fortune. This servant is extremely willing.”
How could someone speak such flattering words so matter-of-factly?
Zheng Zhiyi forcefully lifted Qun Qing’s face. She was fairly pretty with a gentle air, especially those eyes—when looking up at people, they resembled two pools of still water, so clear one could see to the bottom, inspiring no desire to attack.
No one had ever complimented Zheng Zhiyi in front of so many people before, so much so that her face actually began heating up.
The angry flames in Zheng Zhiyi’s heart subsided, giving way to slight fear: The matter of Princess Bao’an’s lost chastity—the Crown Prince had already forbidden the entire palace from mentioning it. If this servant hadn’t interrupted, she’d nearly let disaster escape her mouth again: “…At least you have discerning eyes.”
Matron Zhang hastily mediated: “If that’s the case, let her leave with the good lady. The good lady now has five servants—in the inner court, second only to the Empress among noble mistresses.”
Zheng Zhiyi seized Matron Zhang’s registry and snatched her person right in front of Yang Fu, finally feeling thoroughly satisfied.
So when Princess Consort of Yan Xiao Yunru returned, she saw the mess on the floor, the displaced chairs, the tearful Yang Fu, and the disheveled but triumphant Zheng Zhiyi.
She fell silent for a moment, not knowing what had happened in that brief quarter hour.
But Xiao Yunru was ultimately a general’s daughter, possessing the steadiness of one unmoved by eight winds. She smoothed her skirt and sat down, taking the registry as if nothing had happened and looking it over: “Very good. The servants the two noble mistresses didn’t select will be distributed by Jingchun to other palaces as menial workers. Today’s twenty Palace Service Bureau maids have all found their places.”
Xiao Yunru’s features were grand, her jawline slightly wide, her voice steady. She wasn’t as beautiful as Princess Bao’an, but sitting there, she commanded great authority: “His Majesty is benevolent, reforming the previous dynasty’s Palace Service Bureau rule of lifelong slavery, allowing Palace Service Bureau servants to also be selected for advancement into the palace quarters—this is your fortune. I hope you perform your duties well beside your noble mistresses and are selected for the Six Bureaus in the future.”
A chorus of joyful thanks drowned out Xiao Yunru’s series of coughs. Qun Qing saw the redness beneath her eyes and how she covered her mouth with her sleeve, taking medicine pills with her maid’s assistance. She was clearly unwell but forcing herself to endure.
Qun Qing’s thoughts drifted somewhat. Xiao Yunru seemed to die in the second year of Sheng Lin.
In her childhood, she’d always heard Xiao Yunru’s name, saying she was Chang’an city’s famous high-born gentlewoman, a lady both talented and skilled at household management.
Seeing her now, she indeed had extraordinary bearing, though her eye for men was a bit poor: After the Li family attacked Chang’an, Xiao Yunru brought the Xiao family army to seek marriage with Prince Yan and was enfeoffed by His Majesty as Princess Consort of Yan.
Qun Qing remembered in her previous life, after Xiao Yunru married Li Huan, she opposed Prince Yan’s warmongering and bloodlust, often dissuading him with benevolent governance—quite effectively too. Sadly she passed away too early.
If she were still alive, Li Huan probably wouldn’t have attacked Nan Chu so quickly…
Qun Qing decided that in the future when burning incense, she’d pray for Xiao Yunru as well—
Before moving into Qingxuan Pavilion, Qun Qing needed to return to the Palace Service Bureau to pack her belongings. Concerned about Su Run, she walked quickly the entire way.
But as soon as she returned to those low-roofed tile buildings, she saw a group of eunuchs standing at the door of the Palace Academy instructor’s quarters, seemingly observing some misfortune.
She squeezed over. Immediately those eunuchs carried out a corpse from the quarters. Supervisor Pei announced loudly: “Everyone make way—ninth-rank Palace Academy Instructor Su Run died suddenly.”
Qun Qing felt thunderstruck. She retreated to the side of the path, watching helplessly as that sedan passed before her eyes.
Under the white cloth, a pair of soles covered with grit was exposed, along with a hairy calf. The limbs had already turned bluish-green, indeed completely lifeless.
Qun Qing stared at the corpse for a long while, suspecting her eyes were playing tricks.
She’d changed Su Run’s dressing just this morning. Were Su Run’s leg hairs this thick? Looking again at the corpse’s dangling fingers curled and rigid as stone—that wasn’t right either. Dead for at least half a day.
Before Supervisor Pei noticed her, Qun Qing slipped away. Returning to the North Warehouse to check, there were no signs of violent searching. She’d been worried for nothing—Su Run had borrowed money from her, so he’d definitely head straight for Prince Yan’s mansion. Unless he was stupid, there was no reason to return to that filthy, chaotic residence.
Therefore, the corpse carried from the residence wasn’t Su Run, but someone else’s body.
Reaching this conclusion, Qun Qing felt cold sweat seeping from her temples.
This wasn’t meal delivery time—there was no reason to suddenly carry out a corpse unless someone had broken into the Palace Academy instructor’s residence to do something and discovered he was already dead. If previously Meng Guanlou gave her the impression of being brutal, today’s events forced her to properly assess this person who dared to silence witnesses: If she’d sent Su Run back to his residence, today he’d have met his end there!
Wind blew through the trees with rustling sounds, coolness penetrating sleeves.
Within just a few hours, to have reassigned Supervisor Pei, avoided passing eyes and ears, and seamlessly placed a corpse of similar appearance in the residence—this wasn’t something an ordinary person could accomplish.
In the first year of Sheng Lin, Lu Huating’s response and planning was already this meticulous and rapid.
So much so that she’d actually completed a seamless handoff across empty space with that old enemy she’d never met.
Qun Qing packed her belongings into her bundle.
She’d been worried Su Run couldn’t get into Prince Yan’s mansion. Little did she expect Lu Huating to be this professional.