Silence returned to the room. An Ning looked down at the gong in her hand. It was originally used to warn of fires, but she never expected it to save her life at such a critical moment.
Two days passed peacefully, and then the lively day in the palace arrived.
"Today is the palace election, so you all better be smart."
Eunuch Wu stood at the front, arranging the things that needed to be done in the next few days. An Ning listened to a few sentences but missed a few. Anyway, the general idea was to take good care of those girls.
"Have you remembered everything I just said?"
"Got it. Okay, you may leave now."
At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), the young women entered the palace.
"Ladies, you must be tired from your journey. Please take a short rest."
The head maid invited the large group of people to rest and stroll in the Imperial Garden, where it was quite a lively scene.
"Hey, do you have eyes?" a gorgeously dressed girl suddenly exclaimed, shoving the palace maid behind her to the ground.
"How dare a lowly palace maid touch my specially made clothes? If you damage them, can you afford to compensate me?"
Bai Lan was pushed so hard she landed on her bottom, and for a moment she was furious but couldn't vent her anger; her face turned red with rage.
Anning, who was passing by, saw this scene and secretly rejoiced: Is this what they call karma? Hahahaha!
'No way, we've already bumped into it, wouldn't it be unfair not to stomp on it a couple of times?'
Thinking of this, An Ning walked up to her with a cheeky grin and said:
"Oh, isn't this Bai Lan, the most domineering palace maid of the day? What's wrong? Why are you acting so cowardly now?"
But this one sentence unexpectedly brought trouble upon himself!
"What? You eunuch and she's in a relationship? Trying to stand up for her? Don't you know your place? You're not worthy!"
This young lady was like a mad dog, biting anyone she saw!
The moment the term "pairing up" was uttered, everyone present was stunned. Everyone knew that pairing up was forbidden in the palace, yet this young lady, who had not yet entered into sexual relations, dared to spout such nonsense without any regard for the royal family's reputation. She was utterly foolish.
An Ning frowned, glanced at Bai Lan, and gestured with her eyes: "Let's call a truce for now and unite against the enemy?"
Bai Lan, understanding her meaning immediately, patted her bottom and stood up, coldly saying, "This servant is of lowly status and dares not contradict you, young lady. However, I have knocked over the pastries that the Imperial Concubine wanted. I wonder if you can afford to compensate me?"
Upon hearing "Imperial Consort," the man's expression faltered slightly, but it quickly returned to one of disdain: "Imperial Consort? So what if she's an Imperial Consort? My mother and the Empress are..."
"But what? As the Emperor's personal attendant, I have always been dutiful and dare not utter a single wrong step. Yet you just publicly accused me of having an affair with a palace maid. Aren't you proclaiming to the world that the Emperor is bad at judging people?"
As An Ning spoke, her expression grew increasingly solemn, repeatedly referring to the emperor, which frightened the young woman into standing there, speechless.
"Heh, what a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong." Lanxi had somehow gotten around and glanced at the young lady with disdain.
The young lady glared at her and raised her hand to hit Lanxi: "Of course the Emperor wouldn't dare to provoke you, but as a fellow young lady, what is there that you can't hit?"
"You've gone too far!" An Ning couldn't hold back any longer when she saw how arrogant this person was and was about to step forward to stop him, but someone else made a move first.
"What filthy thing?" A kick flew out from nowhere, knocking the young lady to the ground, where she slid for a meter before stopping.
An Ning raised an eyebrow and couldn't help clapping her hands in approval: Awesome!
Then I looked at the person, who was dressed in a blue dress, with her hair tied up high and a short sword at her waist, looking heroic and dashing.
Anning remembers her, Yan Mufeng from Bingzhou.
"Sister Mufeng, thank goodness you're here."
Lanxi spoke sweetly, taking Yan Mufeng's arm, but her round eyes kept glancing at An Ning.
'What a handsome young eunuch, if only I could take him into my household...'
An Ning had no idea what Lan Xi was thinking about that dangerous little bag of gossip that could cost her her head. But when Lan Xi stared straight at her, An Ning had no choice but to turn around and bow.
"I've met you, young lady."
Lanxi became excited as soon as she saw it.
"Little eunuch, come here."
As she spoke, she stretched out her slender, white hand and beckoned to An Ning.
An Ning coughed lightly: "What are your orders, young lady?"
"Little eunuch, what's your name?"
"Uh, you can just call me Xiao Ningzi, young lady."
Lanxi chuckled and called out softly, "Little Ningzi... how old is Little Ningzi this year?" As she spoke, Lanxi's little hand rested on Anning's arm.
For some reason, Anning always had the illusion that she was being teased.
"Lanxi, what are you doing? You're about to get married, aren't you going to settle down?"
Yan Mufeng probably noticed that the little eunuch's face was turning red, so he spoke up to help.
An Ning looked up and cast a grateful glance at Yan Mufeng.
"Who dares to be so insolent here?" The Imperial Concubine's voice suddenly rang out.
Bai Lan glared at the young lady and said: "You're just waiting to die!"
"Your Majesty, it's all my fault. I bumped into the young ladies in the Imperial Garden and accidentally knocked over the pastries."
After saying that, Bai Lan walked up to the young lady and said in a teasy tone, "Miss, it's all my fault. Did you hurt yourself? If I had known earlier that you suddenly stepped back, I wouldn't have walked behind you. Now that you're about to enter the palace as a noble lady, you probably won't hold a grudge against a lowly servant like me. Oh, by the way, I remember you said that you have the Empress's protection in this palace, so you're sure to be very wealthy and powerful in the future."
After saying this, An Ning almost burst out laughing. It would be quite satisfying if Bai Lan didn't use her wicked schemes on herself. Everyone knows that the Imperial Concubine and the Empress have always been at odds. After hearing this, would the Imperial Concubine still allow this young lady to enter the palace?
"These pastries of mine were carefully prepared by the Imperial Kitchen over a long period of time. I was looking forward to enjoying them with His Majesty at dinner. You wicked hussy, you have such a wicked heart. What? You're already thinking of vying for my favor before you've even entered the palace?"
The young lady was shocked, her face turned pale, and she knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I didn't mean it, Your Majesty, please don't be angry."
The imperial concubine lazily looked into the distance and said, "There are far too many candidates this year. We won't make a difference if you're chosen. Someone, come here."
"exist."
“Take her to where she came from.”
"yes."
Upon hearing this, the young lady burst into tears, her cries shaking the heavens and the earth: "You... what right do you have to punish me? The Emperor has not yet given his word, you have no right to punish me."
The Imperial Concubine sneered, "Her Majesty the Empress is in poor health. I have been assisting in managing the six palaces for many years, and I don't know how many disobedient servants and concubines I have dealt with."
And you, from the moment you entered the palace, you have all been the Emperor's people. Your duty is to serve the Emperor. If you stir up trouble or bewitch him, don't blame me for being ruthless!
An Ning finally understood that the Imperial Concubine had chosen this time to give these young ladies a warning, to let them know who was in charge in the palace now.
Before the Imperial Concubine could finish speaking, Anning heard the girl beside her gag, then whisper:
"Pah! Does anyone really want to sleep with that old man?"
Upon hearing this, An Ning's pupils dilated in shock. She turned to look and saw a portrait that was not unfamiliar. She had seen it at Xi Ren's place. It was Baidar Wuying from Xiliang!
"Young lady, you shouldn't speak so carelessly," An Ning couldn't help but remind her. This girl was too reckless!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com