Shang Shi had a lively and easygoing temperament, while Li Jiubao was gentle and compliant. After sharing a handful of melon seeds, the two became acquainted. Shang Shi said, “I’m thirteen years old, you’re fourteen. I’ll call you Sister Li, and you can just call me by my personal name, Qinglan.”

Li Jiubao praised, “Qinglan? Blue mist in the forest—so poetic and picturesque, what a beautiful name.”

“My father flipped through many books to choose this name for me,” Shang Qinglan said. “Sister’s name is also wonderful. Jiubao—just hearing it, one knows you’re a person blessed with fortune.”

Li Jiubao smiled without speaking. Her father was a compulsive gambler, and nine was the highest number in pai gow. That’s why he named her Jiubao. Her life was bitter indeed—where was the fortune in that?

Little palace maids brought four sets of clothing, skirts, shoes, socks, and jewelry. The matrons required them to change, as all the selected maidens had to dress identically: they wore gold-brocaded crossed-collar short jackets, with green satin horse-face skirts below, the skirt hems decorated with gold-woven pearl-and-gem Eight Treasures border patterns.

Since the weather had turned cool, they also wore short-sleeved plain silk vests over the jackets. The vests had front openings, with collars, sleeve cuffs, and front edges all trimmed with gold-brocaded floral satin. From collar to hem, there were four pairs of butterfly-and-flower gold-set gemstone buttons.

Shang Qinglan stroked the gold and gemstones on the clothes, as well as the Eight Treasures tassels made of pearls and gems strung on the skirt hem. Her originally round eyes grew even rounder. “This gold, these gemstones, and pearl strings aren’t even used for jewelry—they’re just decorations on clothes! Heavens, not counting the fabric, just calculating the gold, silver, pearls, and gems on top, this one outfit must cost one or two hundred taels of silver.”

Li Jiubao had also never seen such magnificent clothing, and there were four sets! Not counting jewelry, the clothes alone must cost five hundred taels of silver.

The palace matrons urged, “Hurry up and change your clothes, then go outside to line up and listen to the female officials teach etiquette. In this palace, sitting, walking, retreating, and stopping all have rules. If you can’t learn the rules, you’ll be eliminated directly. Don’t embarrass yourselves in front of the noble ladies.”

Shang Qinglan asked, “Matron, if I’m too stupid and can’t learn no matter what, and get eliminated, can I take these clothes home?”

After selecting maidens for so many years, this was the first time a matron had heard a maiden ask this question so directly. She immediately looked at Shang Qinglan more closely—this girl’s courage was as big as her eyes.

The matron said, “The Forbidden City is the wealthiest place in the world—who would wear your old clothes? If you haven’t committed any major errors and are eliminated normally, the imperial family is benevolent. You can take all the clothing and jewelry out of the palace. They won’t let you make the trip for nothing.”

“There’s such a good thing!” Shang Qinglan hugged the pile of new clothes and closed her eyes in bliss. “This trip to the palace for selection really pays off. When I leave the palace, I’ll show my father each piece of clothing to open his eyes too!”

Looking at her shallow nature, she probably wouldn’t last until tomorrow. The matron’s eyes showed contempt. “Everyone should wear twin spiral buns, choose and insert the jewelry yourselves. In a quarter-hour, assemble in the courtyard for roll call. No tardiness allowed.”

The two hurried to change into their new clothes and styled two hair buns. Li Jiubao inserted a pair of pearl flowers, while Shang Qinglan only used a pair of red silk ribbons to tie her buns, saying, “With so many maidens in the courtyard, people crowding together, what if the jewelry gets lost? I need to take everything home to show my father.”

Shang Qinglan’s every sentence mentioned her beloved father—clearly a girl who had an excellent relationship with her father and grew up deeply cherished by him.

Li Jiubao thought of her own gambling-addicted father and could only sigh, picking up a red silk ribbon. “Let me help you tie it.”

In the courtyard, twenty maidens formed one group, with female officials from the Palace Administration Bureau teaching them how to walk and bow. For the entire afternoon, except for drinking water and using the privy, they didn’t stop for a moment.

Li Jiubao handled all household chores alone, sometimes even climbing onto roofs to repair tiles. She was hardworking and could endure hardship, so learning etiquette wasn’t strenuous for her. Chen Jingji was in the palace—she had to stay and couldn’t be eliminated, so she studied with particular diligence.

But Shang Qinglan was obviously pampered at home and couldn’t endure it. She frequently raised her hand, saying she needed to relieve herself.

Each time she wore a smiling face, and one doesn’t strike a smiling person. The female officials granted permission, but with too many requests, the female official was clearly displeased.

Li Jiubao hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand along with Shang Qinglan. “Scholar Cui, I’d like to go too.”

Li Jiubao’s performance was outstanding—she learned well and had never raised her hand before. For her sake, the female official granted permission: “You two go quickly and return quickly.”

Shang Qinglan said, “I need to make a big—mmph!”

Li Jiubao covered her mouth and led her away.

Without even removing her pants, Shang Qinglan sat on the chamber pot massaging her calves and waist. “It hurts so much. I’ve never stood for such a long time.”

Li Jiubao helped massage her legs. “Endure a bit more. When dinner time comes at dusk, you can rest.”

“I can’t do it,” Shang Qinglan said frankly. “Don’t worry about me—I’ll drag you down. Someone like me will definitely be eliminated, sooner or later. I’ve gotten four sets of clothes and a box of gold and silver jewelry for free. With these, my father won’t even need to prepare a dowry for me in the future.”

Li Jiubao said, “Since you’re here for profit, how do you know there won’t be more and better rewards tomorrow and beyond?”

“You’re right. Getting all this on the first day in the palace—since I’m already here, I might as well earn more. I’ll last as long as I can, one day at a time.” Thinking of the gold, silver jewelry, and magnificent clothes, Shang Qinglan suddenly found strength and lasted until dusk.

When the two returned to their room, little palace maids had already brought food boxes—six dishes and one soup, both meat and vegetarian. The two sat down to eat. Shang Qinglan held her rice bowl in her right hand and a flower roll in her left. “Even the rice and steamed bread in the palace are whiter and more fragrant than at home!”

With one chopstick, she picked up a Four-Joy meatball as big as a fist and took a bite. “Sister Li, this is delicious! The meat is tender and springy, not greasy at all! The imperial chefs really are different!”

Shang Qinglan had come purely to experience palace life, adaptable to circumstances, not considering the outcome at all.

Shang Qinglan ate happily, infecting the troubled Li Jiubao, whose face couldn’t help but show some smiles. Except for the soup, the two nearly finished all the dishes.

Both ate until they were stuffed, lying on the kang unwilling to move. That night, the old matron came again with bedding and slept on the kang. With an outsider present, Shang Qinglan restrained herself somewhat. Combined with being truly exhausted from the day, she fell into deep sleep after exchanging a few words and laughs with Li Jiubao.

The next morning, some maidens were eliminated and sent away, sobbing pitifully. They were basically from poor families, and having seen the wealth of the Forbidden City, were reluctant to leave.

Li Jiubao watched with alarm, asking the matron supervising their room: “Matron, what exactly did they do wrong? If they didn’t learn etiquette well yesterday, they could study again today. Don’t they get even one chance to improve?”

The matron laughed, “It has nothing to do with etiquette—who can learn it properly in just a day or two? Yesterday they deliberately tired you out, not letting you rest midway, so you slept deeply at night. Those who snored, ground their teeth, talked in their sleep, had terrible sleeping postures, or even sleepwalked revealed their true nature. Such girls cannot be chosen.”

So it wasn’t supervision—it was surveillance.

Li Jiubao felt lingering fear. “Matron, what about us two—”

The matron said, “You both passed, clearing the hurdle together. The girl in the room next to ours—her snoring nearly lifted the roof. I couldn’t sleep half the night. If such a girl were to attend His Majesty, would the Emperor be able to sleep?”

Shang Qinglan widened her big eyes again. “What? We have to sleep with the Emperor too? I’ve always slept alone and am not used to having someone sleep beside me. Even the night-duty maids sleep in the adjacent ear room. I’m not used to sleeping in the same bed with others.”

Li Jiubao wished she could bury her head to her toes.

“You—” The matron was stunned for a moment, then said, “With your qualifications, don’t think too much. Hurry up and eat breakfast—there’s still practice today.”

This day’s etiquette learning was much more relaxed, with breaks for tea and snacks at most every half-hour.

The palace had a great variety of pastries. Shang Qinglan was gluttonous and ate until she was stuffed. Combined with the overly sweet pastries making her thirsty, she drank too much tea. The tea swelled the pastries, making Shang Qinglan feel nauseous and sick to her stomach. She endured it several times, but finally couldn’t hold back when bending to bow, vomiting with a loud retch.

Shang Qinglan was sent back to her room, with Li Jiubao returning to accompany her. Shang Qinglan couldn’t stop vomiting. The old matron responsible for the two quickly reported to the supervising eunuch of Chuxiu Palace, requesting a palace female physician to treat Qinglan.

The old matron said, “That female physician named Wei Caiwei is quite good. Let’s summon Doctor Wei into the palace.”

The supervising eunuch said, “This person has never been summoned to the palace before—wouldn’t that be improper? You’re responsible for these two maidens who both show good potential. If anything happens, Matron Song should consider the consequences.”

Matron Song said, “Doctor Wei treated me during the imperial physician examinations. At that time, I suffered from blocked qi syndrome because an old palace sister who had left the palace died in depression. Feeling the sorrow of a fellow creature’s death, I hadn’t improved for half a year and was sent to the Comfort Hall to await death. She performed acupuncture and prescribed medicine using methods from the famous female physician Tan Yunxian’s ‘Miscellaneous Words of a Female Physician,’ and also comforted me to broaden my thoughts. Later I recovered in a month, left the Comfort Hall, and continued my duties. I trust her.”

So it turned out to be a karmic bond Wei Caiwei had formed during the imperial physician examinations.

The supervising eunuch said, “Fine, since you’re the one requesting her summons to the palace, you’ll bear responsibility if anything goes wrong.”

People from the Ceremonial Directorate went to Sweet Water Lane to summon Wei Caiwei to the palace.

This was her first summons—she dared not delay and immediately shouldered her medical bag to board the carriage.

Arriving at the Chuxiu Palace gate, Matron Song welcomed Wei Caiwei. “Does Doctor Wei still remember me?”

Wei Caiwei smiled, “I can see the matron’s blocked qi syndrome has been cured.” No wonder she had been summoned to the palace—it was the patient she had encountered on examination day who had found her.

Matron Song said, “There’s a maiden who can’t stop vomiting. She was fine yesterday, but this morning suddenly began vomiting continuously. She even threw up breakfast, vomits when drinking water, and now only retches sour fluid. Doctor Wei, please go look quickly.”

Wei Caiwei entered the room and saw a maiden with twin circular buns tied with red ribbons lying on the large kang by the window, hugging a spittoon while dry-heaving.

Another maiden dressed identically except for pearl flowers inserted in her hair buns sat nearby, gently patting her back to help with the nausea.

Matron Song said, “The female physician has arrived.”

Both maidens turned to look at the door simultaneously. All three were stunned.

They turned out to be old acquaintances.

Both maidens called out together: “Doctor Wei?”

Wei Caiwei: “Li Jiubao? Shang Qinglan?”

What fate indeed. In her previous life, she and Shang Qinglan had shared a room. In this life, Li Jiubao had taken her place.

In her previous life, Shang Qinglan had sprained her ankle while practicing etiquette, and she had healed Qinglan. In this life, Shang Qinglan’s feet were fine, but she had started vomiting instead.

Author’s Note: The three armies meet with joy and celebration. Three women are about to turn the Forbidden City completely upside down.