It's redundant to ask this question.
But Xiao Wuzi was too kind-hearted, and he was just a young eunuch who had just entered the palace! Just like her.
You shouldn't do anything that deliberately mocks others.
"Hasn't the weather started to get colder recently?" Hong Xing stopped in front of Chu Qi, trying to hold back her tears. "I took my mistress's allotment of charcoal for this month."
"It's so little, is it enough?"
Chu Qi spoke with concern while holding the broom.
To put it bluntly, cleaning was just a so-so job. Normally, it depended on one's own initiative to clean. The eunuch in charge would only check once or twice a day. Sometimes he was lazy and wouldn't even check at all. Therefore, no one would notice if she was lazy or took a nap.
Eunuch An has always emphasized that sweeping and cleaning is a difficult job. In fact, the difficulty lies in the fact that if you don’t have a backer, you have to work harder and may be bullied.
Less than a week after she came in, she was noticed by Eunuch An and was brought under his wing. No blind eunuch dared to make things difficult for her, and she lived a very easy life.
Perhaps it was because Chu Qi's concern was too obvious that Hong Xing's grievances were completely aroused. She didn't want to complain in front of the young master, so Chu Qi became the outlet for her to vent her grievances.
"It's not enough," Hong Xing sniffed, and the tears that she had managed to hold back came out again, dripping down her cheeks.
"They are going too far! The amount of charcoal that my lady was allocated was small to begin with, and they even specially replaced the red radish charcoal with ordinary firewood charcoal. Even with this little bit, they pushed and shoved me to not take it."
She was still a teenage girl, who would be only in middle school in modern times, but in this cannibalistic ancient times she had already experienced the wind, frost and rain.
Chu Qi rummaged through her sleeves and pulled out a white handkerchief. The handkerchief had no decorations at all. She had taken it from Eunuch An. She handed it to Hong Xing:
"Miss Hong Xing, please wipe your tears quickly, don't get yourself sick from anger."
"Ah, no, thank you." Hong Xing was stunned, then shook her head slightly and wiped her tears with her handkerchief.
After shedding tears, the depression in her heart dissipated a little. Hong Xing realized that she was not very close to the young eunuch in front of her, and she felt embarrassed to keep complaining.
"I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going back now. You should work hard. Be careful not to be caught by the consul eunuch for slacking off."
Hong Xing was about to leave with the pitiful amount of ordinary black charcoal.
"Miss, be careful with your step." Chu Qi said in a gentle voice.
Hong Xing nodded and slowly returned to the Yanghe Hall, the western side hall of Chuxiu Palace. She put the charcoal on the ground. The feeling of depression came up again and she raised her hand and wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.
At that time, Da Ying was embroidering a handkerchief with a picture of mandarin ducks playing in the water. When she heard the noise, she turned around and saw her personal maid with red eyes and a pitiful look on her face.
"What's the matter? Who bullied you?" Shi Yingda put down the work in his hands and asked hurriedly.
As soon as these words came out, Hong Xing couldn't help crying again:
"My lady, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has deducted your monthly allowance. The 20 catties of red radish charcoal that you were supposed to receive were replaced with the cheapest charcoal for burning wood, which is only about three catties."
The ranks of concubines in the harem are Empress, Imperial Noble Consort, Noble Consort, Consort, Zhaoyi, Imperial Concubine, Talented Lady, Honored Lady, Noble Lady, and Maid.
When winter comes, the monthly allowances for concubines in each palace will be different according to their respective ranks.
Starting from the Empress, the monthly allowance of red radish and carbonara was 110 kilograms, the Imperial Noble Consort 100 kilograms, the Noble Consort 90 kilograms, and so on, decreasing accordingly.
By the time the agreement was reached, I only had a pitiful 20 kilograms. If I used it sparingly every day, there wouldn't be much left at the end of the month.
And even with such a small amount of money, the Imperial Household Department actually withheld some of it.
"In addition to withholding charcoal, the money given to the young lady was also reduced. I only got 3 taels of silver." Hong Xing cried in grievance.
As the national treasury had been empty in recent years, the monthly allowance for concubines in the harem had been reduced again and again, and they were originally promised only 5 taels of silver per month.
Another 2 taels of silver were swallowed up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Even if they wanted to use the money to bribe the government on a normal day, it would not be enough.
Listening to Hong Xing's angry words, Shi Da Ying remained silent.
She took out a clean light green lotus embroidered handkerchief in silence and wiped the small pearls that Hong Xing couldn't restrain. After a while, she spoke in a humble manner:
"I haven't waited a month for the Emperor to come... If you turn over the cards, the harem will flatter the powerful and flatter the weak. I had a premonition of this happening. You don't have to be too angry. It's not good for your health if you get angry."
The person who should have been feeling the most uncomfortable was the one who comforted Hong Xing.
Hong Xing lowered her head and said, "I'm just feeling sorry for the young lady."
"There are too many unfair things. Relax your mind."
Shi Dan agreed to hug Hong Xing and let her lean on his shoulder.
Another young palace maid who served Shi Qiang, although young, was also a seasoned veteran.
When she foresaw that her master was out of favor, her attitude towards her became casual, and except for her daily work, she was rarely seen at other times.
Three days ago, Lao Youtiao officially left for another palace and no longer worked in Chuxiu Palace.
The fact that Shi Qiang had lost one of her personal maids was not a big deal to the Imperial Household Department, and no one wanted to add another one for her.
The matter was left unresolved, and now the only loyal maidservant left serving Shi Qiang is Hong Xing.
Precisely because she was the only loyal maid, this friendship became even more precious, and Shi Qiang treated Hong Xing as a true sister.
Although she didn't do anything too extravagant out of courtesy, she would always give Hong Xing some extra of her food on weekdays.
*
Because of the emperor's forgetfulness, the concubine of Chuxiu Palace was also forgotten by the women in the harem.
Even the other concubines who lived in Chuxiu Palace, because they had been favored, disdained to associate with Shi Ying and deliberately ignored her existence.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
