How to skip Chapter 7?

The dancers in the music hall danced all the time, and over time they would get injured. When they could no longer dance and were not old enough to leave the palace, they would be sent to other palaces. They had many choices: they could become palace maids in the concubines' palaces or do odd jobs in Lin Heng's office. Those who were literate, quiet, and capable might be sent to Wan Shu Ge.

The palace servants at Wanshuge were the most leisurely, firstly because they rarely had disputes with the ladies of the palace, and secondly because His Majesty did not visit them often.

However, there are downsides to being idle. The palace servants in Wanshuge receive less monthly salary, and there are more eunuchs than palace maids there. But most importantly, the palace maids in Wanshuge can leave the palace early when they turn twenty-three.

Lan Wu is seventeen years old this year. Her old injuries from dancing are not serious, but if she wants to leave the music hall and go elsewhere, she will need a deliberately created 'accident'. Once she really arrives at Wanshu Pavilion, it means that she only needs to stay in the palace for another six years before she can leave.

However, before she could decide whether to injure her foot and leave the music hall smoothly, the news that Consort Shu had ordered someone to invite her over arrived before her.

In her previous life at Lejingxuan, Consort Shu taught her a lot about etiquette. She had to wake up earlier than Consort Shu in the morning and kneel outside the palace until Consort Shu got up before she could enter the palace.

The longest she ever knelt was when her knees were bruised. She complained to Chu Mingheng, who then exempted her from the traditional courtesan ceremony, infuriating Consort Shu. Afterward, Consort Shu sought other ways to torment her.

Consort Shu was a vicious woman, though she was beautiful. In Lan Wu's mind, she was like a snake demon from a book, with a beautiful face and a viper's body.

Now, she was just a lowly musician, but somehow she caught the attention of Consort Shu, who wanted to summon her to her side.

Lan Wu looked at the person in front of her.

Yun Qing was also observing Lan Wu. Although she had witnessed Lan Wu's beauty while accompanying Consort Shu at the Emperor's birthday celebration, Lan Wu was still stunningly beautiful even without elaborate clothing or exquisite hairpins.

"Her Highness Consort Shu requests Miss Lanwu's presence. It would be best not to keep Her Highness waiting, Miss Lanwu." Yun Qing spoke in a very calm tone, without any condescending attitude.

Lan Wu whispered "yes," then gently said to Xia Chu, who was not far behind her, "Consort Li asked me to help her pick flowers today, but I can't go today. I hope you can go to Jinghua Palace and tell Consort Li that I will apologize later."

Consort Shu may not necessarily take action against her today to eliminate future troubles, but just in case, she is of great use to Consort Li now. If her face or body is injured or damaged, it would be a pity for her. So she told Consort Li to prevent any accidents from happening.

Xia Chu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly grabbed Lan Wu's hand. "Don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you."

Lan Wu followed Yun Qing away.

The weather is fine today, and the flowers in the Imperial Garden are in full bloom in spring. The deeper you walk into the Imperial Garden, the more you can hear the laughter of women.

Lan Wu thought to herself, "This is bad."

If it were only in Yifang Palace, Consort Shu might not have dared to lay a hand on her, but if there were many concubines of all kinds, then she would likely suffer a great deal.

Consort Shu is still the same Consort Shu, always adept at using treacherous schemes.

Within the Imperial Garden were many other gardens, one of which was called Liuyuan. It wasn't specially constructed with bricks and stones, but rather a space enclosed by flowering trees, with only a pebble path leading to the other side, and the rest of the ground covered with shallow grass. However, since it was a place for the masters to play, there were no sharp stones among the grass.

There was a large pavilion in front of her. Even from a distance, Lanwu could see the concubines chatting and laughing in the pavilion. The one sitting on the soft chair in the center was Consort Shu.

Now, the two factions of Consort Shu and Consort Rou are evenly matched, and the concubines who have entered the palace through the selection process have all taken their positions. Those who are not conspicuous don't even have the chance to see these two.

"This servant, Lanwu, greets Consort Shu and all the ladies." Lanwu was led down the steps and knelt on the ground to perform a curtsy.

Consort Shu did not speak, but raised her eyebrows and looked at Lan Wu below, then reached out and gently moved the chess pieces on the table.

If she doesn't speak, someone else will do it for her.

Liu Shuyi walked forward with a light laugh, reached out and lifted Lan Wu's chin. When she saw Lan Wu's face, a clear look of jealousy flashed across her face. Then, before Lan Wu could react, she slapped Lan Wu across the face.

"How dare you! Where did this servant come from, daring to look directly at her mistress?" Liu Shuyi slapped her, not with much force, but in the palace, offending someone's dignity was an exceptionally humiliating punishment.

After she slapped him, someone handed her a handkerchief to wipe her hands.

Lan Wu had already suffered from their methods before. Liu Shuyi was a mad dog under Consort Shu's command, and she had done a lot of dirty work.

In her previous life, when she was a concubine, Liu Shuyi disliked her and used her lack of manners as an excuse to hit her. However, after she slapped her once, Lan Wu returned the favor in kind, bringing Liu Shuyi to Consort Li's side and using Consort Li to slap Liu Shuyi several times.

Lan Wu didn't take the full slap; she dodged slightly so that Liu Shuyi wouldn't notice.

After the crisp sound of the slap, Lan Wu covered her face and timidly cried out, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."

“Sister Liu, why are you so angry? She’s a girl the Empress summoned to dance and entertain. If she gets so scared that her legs go weak, how will she dance?” Bai Xiuyi said, ordering someone to help Lan Wu up. She went up to look at Lan Wu’s face, gently running her fingers over the spot where she had been hit, and sighed regretfully.

There were some concubines around who couldn't say a word but were watching the show, all waiting for it to begin.

Consort Shu took a sip of tea and finally spoke: "I saw you dance so well the other day, so I specially invited you to come and dance for me and all my sisters."

Lan Wu's face paled slightly. Just as she was about to agree, Bai Xiuyi suddenly said, "I saw that this young lady danced barefoot the other day. Why don't we do the same today?"

Lan Wu immediately understood what they wanted to do.

She guessed that there must be quite a few sharp pebbles in this shallow patch of grass.

Dancing like this would inevitably injure her feet, but in another sense, it also suited her wishes by accident.

With her foot injured, she could leave the music hall, bribe the manager, and perhaps get to the Wanshu Pavilion smoothly.

Just then, someone spoke up again: "That girl wasn't wearing this outfit that day. In my opinion, she should have taken off all her clothes before jumping."

This statement caused a moment of silence, but soon people echoed that it was true.

Lan Wu was just a lowly dancer; any of the palace concubines here could easily kill her, so naturally no one took her wishes seriously.

Lan Wu instinctively gripped her sleeves, a hint of humiliation on her face. Taking off her shoes was fine, but if they tried to strip her clothes, she was about to make a huge scene.