"It's okay. I'm not tired."
The woman in the light green palace dress has a soft voice, a slow tone, and speaks at a leisurely pace, with a unique charm.
The maid put one hand on her waist and said, "My lady, are you thirsty?"
Hearing this, Shi Qian felt a little thirsty in her mouth. She coughed softly and said, "I'm thirsty."
"Then drink some water to moisten your throat." The palace maid Hong Xing hurriedly picked up the teacup on the table, poured a small cup of tea, and handed it to Shi Qian.
Shi Qian put down the embroidery in her hand and took the teacup with both hands. Hong Xing was quick to move the embroidery that the young lady put down aside and used a pillow to separate them as if to cover up her mistake.
While drinking tea, Shi Qian saw the palace maid's little movements and her face showed a bit of helplessness, but she didn't say anything.
As a concubine, she had only two palace maids serving her, and the eunuchs had no right to share the service with her.
When she first entered the palace, her mother's family had no power and she herself was not favored by the emperor, so it was difficult for the maids assigned to her to pay attention to her.
But Hong Xing was not the palace maid assigned to her by the steward aunt, but a personal maid she brought from her mother's home, so she was much more considerate than the assigned palace maid.
And because she was a personal maid who had known each other for a long time, Hong Xing was more bold in her actions. For example, another palace maid Qiu Xin would not dare to hide the young master's embroidery.
It's all for Shi Qiang's own good, so she's willing to indulge Hong Xing a little in such a small matter.
*
Chu Qi and another eunuch finished cleaning the front yard in the morning and walked back with the cleaning tools. They had to go back to drink water and take a nap to get refreshed before they could clean another place in the afternoon.
As for lunch? There was none.
When the previous emperor was in power, his policies for governing the country were relatively good, and the people were able to have enough food and clothing.
Now Emperor Yanqing is in power, treacherous ministers are in power, and the people are exploiting them everywhere. The people are almost starving to death.
Moreover, the grain that the people worked so hard to grow throughout the year was also pocketed by officials.
After being exploited by officials at all levels, grain taxes were sent to the national treasury, and only seven out of ten of the remaining taxes were saved. In addition, the emperor would squander the money on building palaces.
As a result, the palace maids and eunuchs under the emperor had a hard time. Their three meals a day were reduced to two meals a day, and each meal was tasteless and served with pickles.
In the past, the emperor would occasionally reward the eunuchs and palace maids with meat three or four days a month. But now, let alone meat, even being able to eat coarse grain steamed buns is considered a blessing from heaven.
Sometimes, we even eat thin porridge in the morning and evening.
In ancient times, it was expensive to boil water, and there were no slaves to rely on. The drinking water was usually drawn from the well, and there was no cooking to sterilize it. Chu Qi drank a bowl of well water, which barely filled his stomach, and lay down on the bunk to catch up on his sleep.
I thought I would be able to eat my fill once I entered the palace, but it turned out that I could only avoid starving to death.
But it’s better than not being able to eat out.
Chu Qi lay flat on her back, resting her arm on one hand, thinking about Shi Qiang.
If you want to get in touch with Shi Qiang, you must have some real power.
However, he must not try to curry favor with the young eunuch chief in order to climb up the ladder as he did before.
Chu Qi couldn't do that kind of thing of flattering the master. Just thinking about the original owner's memories made her feel nauseous, let alone putting it into practice.
Therefore, real power has to be obtained elsewhere.
The Yan Kingdom was not like other dynasties. There was no imperial examination system here, and the bureaucracy was completely hereditary. Everyone was determined to have a certain rank at birth, and there was no ladder for farmers to climb up.
It is extremely difficult for ordinary people to obtain rights.
…She thought about it over and over again, but still had no idea.
Having not washed her hair for a long time, her scalp felt a little itchy. Chu Qi scratched her head and simply closed her eyes, letting herself fall into a light sleep.
The new eunuchs used to live in a large dormitory bed, but now that five of them have died, there are five left, all squeezed into one room. Chu Qi's sleeping space has become much more spacious, and at least he can sleep with his arms and legs spread out.
In the afternoon, Chu Qi woke up and, led by the eunuch consul, went to the west side of Chuxiu Palace to clean up.
Although the cleaning areas are different in the morning and afternoon, generally speaking, they are still within the scope of Chuxiu Palace and are not allowed to cross the boundary.
The eunuchs and palace maids working in this area would have to be extremely lucky to be appreciated by some nobles and transferred to work in other places.
In the original plot, the original owner was fortunate enough to be noticed by a future favorite concubine who happened to pass by here, and luckily saved her life, which led to her being promoted by her.
Soon afterward, the woman won the emperor's favor and became his favorite concubine for a long time. During this period, the original owner used her title as the favorite concubine to bully others, but the favorite concubine turned a blind eye and did not punish the original owner.
Newly-arrived ladies-in-waiting who had been promised a title only had to pay their respects to the empress early in the morning on their first day in the palace. They would not be eligible to go there after that unless they were favored by the emperor or promoted to a concubine.
Therefore, after Shi Qiang went to pay her respects to the empress on the first day, she was like being sent to the cold palace, staying in Chuxiu Palace day after day. Her only chance of turning things around was to be called by the emperor.
However, the emperor had no impression of Shi Qiang at all, and it was the queen's idea that led to his choosing Shi Qiang that day. How could he have chosen her when he flipped the cards?
The reason why the Queen chose Shi Zhao was not because she really valued her. On the contrary, she was attracted by Shi Zhao's pretty appearance. She was ordinary among the beauties in the harem and would not amaze the Emperor.
In this way, Shi Qiang not only occupied a quota of promised concubines, but also did not compete for favor and cause trouble for the empress. It was the best of both worlds.
The whole morning was spent embroidering and daydreaming. In the afternoon, Hong Xing was afraid that it would be bad for the young lady's health to stay in the house all day, so she persuaded her to go out for a walk.
Shi Qian thought it made sense, so she went out after taking a nap.
The afternoon sun was shining brightly, with bits of sunlight shining through the elm trees, casting shadows. Chu Qi held the broom and struggled to sweep away a bunch of leaves that were stuck together.
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