On the pearwood table in Concubine Shu's palace, the empty bamboo basket left by Chen Weiwan leaned against the edge. The dark brown traces of marinade on the bottom shone in the midday sun, resembling an abstract painting. Concubine Liu stared at the greasy circle and suddenly grabbed a gilded teacup and smashed it against the wall. With a crisp clang, shards of blue and white porcelain splattered onto the golden bricks and startled the swallows nesting on the beams. "Chen Weiwan! I will never stand with you!" Her chest heaved violently, and her nails, stained red by the impatiens juice, dug deep into her palms.
"Master, calm down..." Cui'er, the personal maid, stepped forward with a white jade spittoon, but Concubine Liu opened it with a single move, sending the jade spittoon crashing to the ground, shattering in two. Concubine Liu rubbed her aching chest, replaying the scenes of yesterday in her mind—Chen Weiwan's clucking whistle, the palace maids and eunuchs stifling laughter, her own awkward appearance as she spun around looking for bugs. Every moment pierced her heart like a needle, and her fingertips trembled with anger.
At this moment, the eunuch's shrill voice came from outside the palace, the tail tone dragging longer than the palace wall: "His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince has an order, Concubine Liu, please accept it——"
Concubine Liu froze, her head, adorned with jewels, buzzing. She hurriedly adjusted her gold-embroidered silk skirt, but as she stood, she tripped over the hem and nearly fell. Li Quan, the eunuch announcing the decree, stepped through the threshold with a stern face. The bright yellow imperial edict rustled as it unfolded, and the ambergris in the incense burner suddenly became pungent.
"By the providence of Heaven, the Seventh Prince decrees," Li Quan paused deliberately, glancing at the pale-faced Concubine Liu. "I have heard that Concubine Liu is proficient in the art of crowing cocks, with a clear, melodious voice. I have therefore transferred her to the Imperial Kitchen, specifically to be responsible for announcing dawn at 3:30 AM daily. I decree this."
"Puff!" The eunuch standing by couldn't help but lower his head and cover his mouth with a whisk, his shoulders shaking like leaves in the autumn wind. Concubine Liu suddenly looked up, her rouge-red cheeks instantly fading to white paper: "Eunuch...did you pronounce it wrong? What...what is the cock-crowing technique?"
Li Quan rolled his eyes and tapped the imperial edict with his whisk. "Your Excellency heard correctly. His Highness specifically mentioned that you displayed your unique 'clucking' skill in the Concubine Shu's Palace yesterday, a rare talent for heralding the dawn in the Dasheng Dynasty."
Concubine Liu's vision went dark, and she stumbled back half a step. The red gold and kingfisher hairpins inlaid with jade jingled and clanged, making her dizzy. She had clearly been tricked by Shen Weiwan with the whistle, so how could she be considered "proficient in the art of cockcrow"? If she really went to the imperial kitchen, wouldn't she be laughed at by the entire palace for the rest of her life?
Shen Weiwan had slipped behind a palace pillar at some point and emerged carrying freshly braised tea eggs. The bamboo basket swung in her hands, making the eggs gurgle and roll. "Congratulations, sister!" She slammed the basket onto the ground, and the aroma of the braised eggs instantly filled the air. "The mushroom chicken soup in the imperial kitchen is delicious. Remember to save me a bowl of the oily one~"
Concubine Liu turned her head suddenly and saw the silver bell swaying beside Shen Weiwan's temples. She was so angry that she trembled all over: "You...you instigated the Seventh Prince!"
"What are you talking about, sister?" Shen Weiwan tilted her head, the sunlight shining through the window lattice onto her cunning smile. "Your Highness really values talent!" She leaned close to Concubine Liu's ear and lowered her voice, "I heard that the imperial kitchen has 300 reed chickens. From now on, sister will be the 'chicken commander', which is much more impressive than managing a few palace maids here~"
The surrounding maids and eunuchs could no longer hold back and lowered their heads, some biting their lips, some pinching their thighs, their faces turning blue from trying to hold back laughter. Concubine Liu looked at Shen Weiwan's sparkling eyes, then at Li Quan's serious face, and suddenly burst into tears, her jewelry scattered all over the floor. "I won't go! I'm a fifth-rank noble, how can I go to the imperial kitchen to tend chickens! How can I face anyone if this gets out?"
Li Quan shook his whisk expressionlessly and said, "If you disobey my order, you are defying the imperial authority. According to the law..."
"I beg Your Highness to show mercy!" Concubine Liu didn't care about her manners. She crawled on her knees and grabbed the hem of Xiao Yu's clothes. Her nails almost scratched the dark patterns on his black uniform.
Xiao Yu had already stood at the palace gate, his black jade belt gleaming coldly in the sunlight. He looked down at the weeping Concubine Liu, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Concubine Liu, do you not wish to go to the imperial kitchen?"
"Your Highness, please forgive me!" Concubine Liu kowtowed like crazy, the pearl pendants in her hair tinkling against the gold bricks. "I will never dare to do that again! I will never dare to make things difficult for the Seventh Imperial Concubine again!"
Shen Weiwan stepped forward at the right time, picked up a shiny tea egg from the bamboo basket, and waved it in front of Liu Guiren: "Don't worry, sister, the chickens in the imperial kitchen are very docile, just like this egg." She even peeled the eggshell to reveal the marinade lines on the egg white, "Look, how cute~"
Xiao Yu suppressed the upward curve of his lips and said with a stern face: "Since the nobleman does not want to go to the imperial kitchen, then..."
Concubine Liu suddenly looked up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
"Then let's go to the laundry department," Xiao Yu said calmly. "The sounds of pounding clothes there are endless, perhaps more suitable for you to display your 'musical talent'."
The color drained from Concubine Liu's face instantly. The laundry department was a place only for the lowest-ranking palace maids. Spending the entire day in cold water pounding clothes was even more humiliating than working in the imperial kitchen! She looked desperately at Shen Weiwan's gloating smile, then at Xiao Yu's icy eyes, and finally cried out, "I'll go! I'll report to the imperial kitchen right now!"
Chen Weiwan immediately smiled brightly and stuffed the whole basket of tea eggs into Concubine Liu's arms: "Sister, you are so understanding!" The bamboo basket was too heavy, and Concubine Liu stumbled, and the eggs rolled all over the ground. "Eat them if you're hungry on the way. Just consider it your 'coming-of-office gift' from your sister~"
Concubine Liu looked at the greasy bamboo basket in her arms, then at the tea eggs rolling around on the floor, wanting to cry but no tears. The virtuous concubines around her couldn't contain themselves any longer, leaning against the carved pillars and laughing so hard that the peony flower on her hair tilted to one side. "This trick of the Seventh Imperial Concubine... is truly unprecedented and will never be repeated!"
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