By noon, a sharp-witted little maid arrived carrying a food box. “This is the midday meal that Sister Yao Huang instructed me to bring. Sister Yao Huang said that today is Miss Ling’s first day in the palace, so there is no inconvenience in having the meal delivered. After today, she asks that Miss Ling send someone to the kitchen to collect the food box herself.”
Empress Xu received three meals a day, each carefully prepared and delivered by the imperial chefs of the Imperial Kitchen.
The meals for all the attendants and maids within Jiaofang Palace, however, were prepared by Jiaofang Palace’s own kitchen. The kitchen employed four cooks and eight rough-work helpers, all of whom fell under Yao Huang’s supervision.
Beyond meals and refreshments, the hot water needed each day also had to be collected from the kitchen. Everything followed a fixed schedule; if one arrived late, there would be nothing left to collect, and one could only blame oneself.
The little maid who had brought the food box was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and she had the look of an honest, straightforward girl. Qiao Yun pressed a few fragments of silver into her hand and quickly struck up a friendly rapport, managing to learn quite a few trivial yet useful tidbits of information.
After a half-day of bustle, the mistress and her two maids were all exhausted.
Ling Jingshu summoned her spirits and said with a smile, “There is no one else here — just the three of us. Bai Yu, Qiao Yun, there is no need for you to keep standing. Come sit down, all of us, and eat the midday meal together.”
Both Bai Yu and Qiao Yun were startled, and declined repeatedly, refusing to sit.
Ling Jingshu feigned displeasure and drew her expression into a stern look. “Am I still your mistress? The moment we enter the palace, you both stop listening to me — is that it?”
“Your servant would not dare!” Bai Yu and Qiao Yun answered together in anxious reverence, yet still would not sit down.
Ling Jingshu let out a soft sigh and softened her voice. “I know that the two of you are completely devoted to me. Now that we have entered the palace, I do not have a single familiar face around me — I have only the two of you by my side. It is fortunate that you are here with me; without you, I would be entirely alone, gazing about with no one to turn to.”
“Following me will inevitably bring hardship. As your mistress, there is little else I can do for you — I have no means to make your lives easier or more comfortable. Will you not even sit down and keep me company at the meal?”
These words moved Bai Yu to tears. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, then sat down.
Qiao Yun hesitated briefly, then followed suit.
The food box held four dishes and a soup, along with three bowls of rice.
The dishes were still letting off a trace of warmth — two meat, two vegetable — and the rice was palatable enough.
Everything before her was considerably better than Ling Jingshu had expected. Once her stomach was filled, a wave of drowsiness came over her. Without the energy for idle worrying, she lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
……
Empress Xu had spent the entire day in the Hall of Purple Morning, and it was not until evening that she returned to Jiaofang Palace.
Qiu Shuang stepped forward respectfully and asked, “Your Majesty the Empress, Miss Ling entered the palace this morning and has already settled in. Does Your Majesty wish to see her?”
A flicker passed through Empress Xu’s eyes, and she said lightly, “If you had not mentioned it, this Empress had nearly forgotten.”
Qiu Shuang’s smile stiffened slightly.
Had Her Majesty the Empress not been the one to summon Ling Jingshu into the palace? Why this cold indifference now? The more Qiu Shuang thought about it, the more vexed she felt — had she known it would come to this, she truly should not have opened her mouth.
Rui Lian lowered her eyes, concealing the contempt lurking within them. This Qiu Shuang, always straining every effort to outdo her, never missing a single chance to fawn on and flatter Empress Xu.
This time, she had flattered her way straight into a wall!
Qiu Shuang steeled herself and begged pardon. “It was entirely this servant’s loose tongue. This servant asks for Your Majesty’s forgiveness!”
“Enough. It is a trifling matter — what fault is there?” Empress Xu gave Qiu Shuang a glance that was neither smiling nor not. “Have someone run an errand and fetch Ling Jingshu here.”
Qiu Shuang assented meekly. She cursed herself again inwardly for her meddling ways!
But what was said had been said, and Empress Xu had issued the command — she had no choice but to carry it out.
Qiu Shuang withdrew from the hall and called over a maid, giving her brief instructions. The maid went off at a trot to fetch the person, and Qiu Shuang waited beneath the steps outside the hall for a short while before catching sight of Ling Jingshu’s figure.
Qiu Shuang gave Ling Jingshu a quick once-over and saw that she had already changed into palace attire, and that her two personal maids had not accompanied her. Qiu Shuang gave an inward nod of approval.
Though she had only just arrived, Ling Jingshu conducted herself with measured propriety, leaving nothing for anyone to fault.
“You have finally come.”
Qiu Shuang lowered her voice with a sigh. “Just now, when Her Majesty the Empress returned to the palace, I took it upon myself to speak up on your behalf, and only then did Her Majesty agree to see you. I can see that Her Majesty’s mood does not seem very good — most likely because His Majesty’s health has yet to fully recover. You must be careful with your words and conduct once you go in.”
Having already done the deed, one may as well collect the goodwill from it!
“Many thanks for the reminder, Sister Qiu Shuang.” Ling Jingshu looked at her with a grateful expression.
Only then did Qiu Shuang feel somewhat appeased. She smiled quietly and said, “We serve together — it is only right to watch out for one another. Come, follow me in quickly!”
……
Though evening had not yet fallen, the interior and exterior of Jiaofang Palace were already ablaze with lamplight.
In the bright candlelight, the wrinkles at the corners of Empress Xu’s eyes and temples were plainly visible on her unpowdered face.
Empress Xu sat in her chair, gazing at Ling Jingshu — whose palace attire could not conceal even a fraction of her beauty — with an unreadable expression, her mood impossible to discern.
“This servant pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress!” Ling Jingshu stepped forward and performed a full kneeling bow with reverence.
After a long pause, Empress Xu spoke slowly and unhurriedly. “Enough — rise and be at ease. From now on, when you see this Empress, there is no need for such deep ceremony. Living here in the palace day after day, there will be ample opportunity to meet. If you must kneel and rise like this every single time, you will find it tiresome, and this Empress will grow weary of watching.”
Though the words were a bestowment of grace, the tone carried a strange note to them — one that left the listener with a vague, inexplicable unease.
Ling Jingshu had long since steeled herself for all manner of deliberate difficulties. For Empress Xu to let her off so lightly came as an unexpected surprise.
Ling Jingshu expressed her gratitude and rose, standing at attention with her head lowered and her gaze meek and composed — no different in bearing from Rui Lian, Qiu Shuang, and the others.
And yet, no matter how Ling Jingshu comported herself, Empress Xu found her presence an eyesore. “I hear from Qiu Shuang that you have already settled in.”
Ling Jingshu replied, “This servant settled in this morning. Many thanks for Her Majesty’s kind concern.”
“Has Rui Lian explained all the rules of Jiaofang Palace to you?” Empress Xu asked in an idle tone.
Ling Jingshu gave a slight nod. “Yes. On the way here this morning, Sister Rui Lian explained the workings of Jiaofang Palace to this servant in complete and careful detail. Might this servant ask what duties I am to be assigned?”
So eager to take up a duty and start working?
A flicker ran through Empress Xu’s gaze, and she smiled casually. “You have only just entered the palace — you ought to rest for a few days before beginning your duties.”
Ling Jingshu spoke respectfully. “This servant has been shown such exceptional favor by Your Majesty in being summoned to the palace to serve. This servant humbly asks that Your Majesty make arrangements for this servant’s duties at the earliest opportunity. Otherwise, this servant would truly have no face to remain in Jiaofang Palace.”
Empress Xu considered for a moment, then smiled slowly. “Very well. Since you are sincere in your wish, it would be unkind of this Empress to refuse and disappoint you. Let this Empress ask — what things do you enjoy and excel at in your daily life?”