Chapter 7 The Little Beauty Who Climbs the Social Ladder: If Heaven Acts...
If the weather is kind, the sunlight at the end of spring and the beginning of summer should be the most pleasant.
The weather was fine and sunny, the sky was clear and the breeze felt gentle and warm.
This is the perfect time to enjoy the scenery, and the Imperial Garden in the palace is a truly exceptional place.
The garden is full of rare and exotic plants and herbs, which are carefully tended by palace servants. If you walk in and take a closer look, you will find the grasses fresh and the petals falling in abundance.
However, today, Eunuch Chen will obviously not be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery in the Imperial Garden.
Seeing that Emperor Xuanpei had not entered the garden, Eunuch Chen dared not say much, but simply stayed close to the emperor's side, serving him carefully.
When he saw the Koi Terrace not far away halfway through his journey, Eunuch Chen lowered his head slightly and couldn't help but think of the corpse that had been pulled out of Taiye Pond a couple of days ago.
Within a few days, the palace maid's background had been fully revealed. She was originally a palace maid serving Consort Lü, named Fangling, and was said to be extremely beautiful.
The palace servants from the Imperial Household Department, after carefully examining the body, secretly reported to Eunuch Chen that the young palace maid had been defiled.
Even if the body is swollen from being soaked, some wounds can't be hidden no matter what.
Fangling, who had drowned, was covered in bruises and bruises, with a broken hand, her ankles lacerated from being tightly bound, and her back blistered and whitish... She had truly been abused in life.
It is unclear whether he "accidentally" fell into Taiye Pond in a daze, or whether he made a mistake and committed suicide by drowning.
Although it's obvious to everyone that Fangling died under mysterious circumstances... in the end, she was just a palace maid.
If the master serving him was too lazy to bother with the matter, he would simply say that the man accidentally drowned, and send him away wrapped in a straw mat.
But if it involves the princes and grandsons of the emperor in the palace... Thinking of the Empress who swiftly and decisively suppressed the matter, Eunuch Chen sighed slightly.
"Delu" (德禄).
Eunuch Chen's heart skipped a beat. He immediately became extremely alert and respectfully replied with a smile, "Your Majesty."
Emperor Xuanpei seemed oblivious to Eunuch Chen's distraction, and asked as he walked unhurriedly, "How is the construction of Prince Rui's residence progressing?"
"Your Majesty, the palace servants of the Palace Attendants and the officials of the Ministry of Works have not dared to neglect their duties and have been carefully repairing the work day and night. It should be completed in another half month."
Despite the ease with which Eunuch Chen spoke, he couldn't help but inwardly exclaim how strange the Prince Rui's mansion had become after repeated repairs.
Prince Rui was the Empress's second son. Because he was born weak, the Empress inevitably doted on him.
Even when Prince Rui, this "troublemaker," caused trouble, the Crown Prince was always there to clean up the mess.
The Empress Dowager doted on her young son, so the matter of Prince Rui leaving the palace to establish his own residence was repeatedly delayed. Later, she asked His Majesty to keep him in the palace for a few more years, which His Majesty agreed to. He even ordered people to build Prince Rui's residence in the capital.
However, it seems that the newly built Prince Rui's Mansion has offended some deity, as trouble keeps happening to it.
Some time ago, an old tree fell and damaged the eaves, so we had to send someone to repair it again.
While Eunuch Chen was pondering to himself, his attention was entirely focused on Emperor Xuanpei.
Seeing that the emperor did not speak again, Eunuch Chen dared not say anything more.
In the silence, Eunuch Chen subconsciously softened his breathing, but suddenly he heard a noise coming from not far away.
"Ouch—!"
Without realizing what she stepped on, Ah Zhu, carrying a food box, fell to the ground with a rather undignified thud.
"hiss--"
The fall was quite severe, and Ah Zhu, grimacing, took two deep breaths.
Ignoring the pain from her fall, A-Zhu knelt on the ground, hurriedly opened the food box, and took out the food inside to examine it carefully.
Seeing that the food was safe and sound in its place, A-Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When Steward Sun said it wasn't a punishment for A-Zhu, he wasn't wrong. A-Zhu didn't kneel for very long; it was more like a habitual admonition.
After a night of tossing and turning, getting caught in the rain and wind, and being dragged over to kneel, Ah Zhu developed a fever on and off for several days.
This time, the Imperial Palace specially invited a female physician to examine A-Zhu's pulse and prescribe medicine.
Not only did Granny Yang have people specially prepare medicine and deliver meals and medicine three times a day, but even Steward Sun personally went to the North Courtyard to see A-Zhu.
She even personally wiped the sweat from A-Zhu's face, who was still half asleep and wrapped in the blanket, sweating profusely... Needless to say, this series of methods, a mix of "slaps" and "sweet dates," completely subdued A-Zhu.
Even when she was sent to the Cold Palace to deliver meals, a task that felt more like a punishment, A-Zhu took it very seriously, afraid that she might do something wrong.
As she breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down, she accidentally pressed on her bottom, which she had just fallen on, and almost jumped up in pain.
"Whoosh—"
While humming softly, Ah Zhu, in a rather unseemly manner, secretly reached out and rubbed her sore bottom before putting the food back in the food box. As she looked down, her expression suddenly changed. She hurriedly reached for her waist, but it was empty!
She didn't know where she had landed when she fell, but besides the pain, one of A-Zhu's legs was numb. She couldn't stand up, so she just knelt on the ground, crawling around and groping for something.
Found it!
The purse, which looked like a sachet, was thrown not far away; its blue background and white satin were quite eye-catching.
With only her sachet in her eyes, A-Zhu crawled over using both hands and feet.
Holding her sachet, she carefully patted off the dust, opened it to take a look, and then put it close to her body and hid it away.
After all that work, Ah Zhu was about to get up when she looked up and was surprised to see several figures standing not far away.
!!
Before she could even see the person clearly, only catching a glimpse of the brocade's sheen from afar, Ah Zhu immediately lowered her head and knelt on the ground to greet them.
"This servant greets Your Excellency."
"Greetings to the distinguished person, may the distinguished person have good fortune and blessings."
A-Zhu, who is usually very energetic, was timid at this moment, so timid that she couldn't even look up to see who was there.
From the moment the young palace maids in the Yeting Palace stepped through the palace gates, the first impression they were instilled with was fear.
To Azhu, the nobles in the palace were more like a gloomy and terrifying shadow.
Rather than relying on divine favor or the stroke of luck of being favored by a noble person, Ah Zhu believed more in the proper duties after being selected for the palace.
Moreover, she had just been thoroughly manipulated by Manager Sun not long ago.
With only half a month left until the palace selection, Ah Zhu dared not make any mistakes.
As usual, Ah Zhu would use the excuse of doing errands to sneak into the Imperial Garden to enjoy the scenery and feast his eyes.
This time, however, Ah Zhu didn't even go to the Imperial Garden. Instead, she obediently took a shortcut, but unexpectedly bumped into a nobleman from the palace.
Although I didn't know who this person was, and I didn't see any palace servants clearing the way or many attendants...
Ah Zhu was so frightened that she didn't dare to lift her head, while the "noblemen" openly looked her over.
Chen Gonggong saw the person the moment Azhu fell.
It's no exaggeration to say that the moment Eunuch Chen saw Ah Zhu, his eyes lit up.
The white is clear and moist, the bright and beautiful is gorgeous; the two combine to catch the eye without warning.
Even though her subsequent series of comical actions were truly unruly and unseemly, they made her... full of life, vibrant and beautiful, like a claw outstretched hand that was about to grab one's attention.
Only when A-Zhu knelt there, trembling as she paid her respects, did Eunuch Chen finally look away, blinking as if he were about to do so.
In the instant he came to his senses, Eunuch Chen subconsciously looked at Emperor Xuanpei.
However, before Eunuch Chen could even see what kind of expression His Majesty had, Emperor Xuanpei had already turned and left.
Eunuch Chen was taken aback, then quickly stepped forward to catch up.
After taking a couple of steps, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the little palace maid who was still kneeling there.
With a thought, Eunuch Chen took two quick steps, a smile playing on his lips, and said softly, "Your Majesty..."
This time, Emperor Xuanpei glanced at Eunuch Chen, but only uttered a few words indifferently.
"Stupid and unbecoming."
That's improper.
Upon hearing these four words, Eunuch Chen clicked his tongue slightly.
Speaking of which, Eunuch Chen has indeed witnessed quite a few of the various tricks and schemes employed by the women in the palace over the years to gain the emperor's favor.
But very few people can leave such a deep impression on Eunuch Chen as they did today.
It's a pity that such an ingenious method... is used by their emperor who values rules the most.
***
In just a short while, Ah Zhu successfully left a deep impression of being "stupid and clumsy" and only dared to get up after all the people in front of him had left.
Sweating profusely from the pain, A-Zhu comforted herself: "Thank goodness, thank goodness, she's clever and greeted the noble person in time, so she didn't offend them..." While trying to cheer herself up, A-Zhu struggled to get up, carrying the food box, and limped towards the Cold Palace.
......
The task of delivering meals to the Cold Palace was not difficult; all you had to do was place the meals at the door one by one and then respectfully call out a greeting.
After delivering the food, Ah Zhu, whose body was numb with pain, couldn't help but sneak into a sealed-off palace room to check on her injuries.
"Creak—"
The chain locking the door was rusted, leaving enough room for Ah Zhu to squeeze through.
Before she could even squeeze inside and see what the palace interior looked like, she heard a rebuke—
"presumptuous!"
!!
Oh no, how did I run into a benefactor again?
A-Zhu, who was wailing inwardly, knelt down in the direction from which the sound came from with a 'thump'.
Kneeling, A-Zhu repeatedly kowtowed and admitted his mistake: "Please forgive me, Your Excellency."
"This servant did not mean to offend or disturb Your Excellency, it's just that..."
A-Zhu kowtowed hastily, admitting his mistake.
But as she kept stumbling, her movements gradually came to a stop... This, this, wasn't this palace sealed off?
Who, who is speaking?
In broad daylight, Ah Zhu, who had been stiff, suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
【“Beep—”】
[“Activated reward, access to the hidden realm”]
Please stay overnight, please be careful.
A note from the author:
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