Chapter 1.1 The only person you can trust is yourself.
At dusk, Yuezhi entered the west wing hall, and seeing that no one was outside, she locked the door from the inside.
She crawled under the bed, moved the loose bricks, and saw the glittering gold and silver inside, and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
Carefully place the silver from your pocket inside, cover it with the brick, and restore it to its original state.
A month ago, she was just a lowly embroiderer in the palace embroidery workshop. Fortunately, she was recognized as the Crown Prince's wet nurse as his godmother, which gave her the opportunity to enter the Eastern Palace to serve the Crown Prince. Later, she was personally selected by the Crown Prince to become his close attendant maid.
Now that the monthly allowance has doubled and the rewards are generous, he has accumulated a considerable amount of gold and silver in less than a month.
Serving the Crown Prince is fine anywhere; one can stay in a private room in the side hall, have no need to ask others for food or supplies, and have little work to do each day without being tired.
There was only one thing: besides her and her godmother Zhang Mama, who served the Crown Prince personally, there were also two palace maids, Xiuyu and Caiying, who were personally bestowed upon him by the Empress.
In the palace, it always comes down to who has the strongest backing. Since Zhang Mama couldn't contend with the Empress, she naturally didn't dare to disobey Xiuyu and Caiying. From time to time, she was asked by them to embroider handkerchiefs and towels.
Fortunately, Yuezhi was clever. She embroidered a handkerchief for a month, and even though the two men were dissatisfied, they had to admit that she was impressed by the exquisite embroidery. They managed to keep to themselves.
Overall, she is very satisfied with her current life.
Yuezhi took out her embroidery basket and, before the sun went down, sewed a few more little trinkets to cheer up the Crown Prince.
The side door was pushed open, and she assumed it was her godmother who lived next door returning. She didn't think much of it, but then she heard footsteps running towards her door.
"Yuezhi, the Crown Prince is crying. Go and comfort him." It was Xiuyu's voice, her tone anxious yet reluctant.
Yuezhi was puzzled. Although the Crown Prince was young, he was precocious and had always been sensible and well-behaved. Why would he cry for no reason?
She opened the door and hesitated, "But I'm embroidering a handkerchief. Didn't you say that if I didn't finish it for you by tomorrow, you'd teach me a lesson..."
"Take your time embroidering the handkerchief. You have to help me with this today." Xiu Yu frowned and pulled her outside.
When Yuezhi arrived at the entrance of the Crown Prince's bedroom, she saw Caiying standing under the corridor. She glanced at the two of them as if watching a spectacle, but her gaze lingered more on Xiuyu.
It seems that Xiuyu also went to Caiying for help, but Caiying not only refused, but also stood here waiting to see the joke.
Unable to fathom the scheming between the two women, Yuezhi was pushed into the Crown Prince's palace by Xiuyu, and the door behind her was closed.
"Sister Xiuyu, it's not my turn to be on night duty today," Yuezhi pleaded against the door.
Xiu Yu said in a low voice, "Enough nonsense. Serving the Crown Prince is your duty. Do you dare to bargain? If you say another word and anger the Crown Prince, you'll regret it!"
Yuezhi had no choice but to leave the door and go into the inner room.
Inside the bedchamber, candles burned brightly, and incense smoke rose gently from the incense burner. Low sobs came from the large bed, drawing Yue Zhiduan deeper inside, where she closed the inner door.
Walking to the bedside, I lifted the sheer curtain, as clear as a cicada's wing, and saw a small mound bulging under the covers.
She bent down and gently stroked the small hill. "Your Highness, what's wrong?"
As soon as the voice faded, Pei Heng, who had been curled up, sat up, threw off the blanket, and saw that it was Yue Zhi who had come. He rushed over and hugged her, crying even harder.
Pei Heng was made crown prince at the age of eight. The emperor originally promised the empress to keep him by his side for another two years to educate him, but the empress said, "The crown prince should have more experience and get rid of his childishness as soon as possible," and ordered him to move into the East Palace.
Even today, Pei Heng is still only a nine-year-old child.
Yuezhi was six years older than Pei Heng. She not only respected Pei Heng as the Crown Prince, but also regarded him as the child her godmother had raised with great care and concern.
She gently hugged his back, soothing his breathing, and waited until he had cried enough before taking out a handkerchief to wipe his tear-streaked face.
"You were perfectly fine during the day, why are you suddenly crying so hard? Did His Majesty scold you again?"
Pei Heng shook his head. "It's not Father Emperor."
He sniffled, his face flushed from crying, and murmured softly, "It was Xiuyu, she touched me..."
Yuezhi was puzzled. "She serves you closely, so it's inevitable that she might accidentally touch or brush against something. Perhaps she was just tickling you?"
Hearing this, Pei Heng glared at her angrily, "Do you believe her or me? She did it on purpose. She touched my leg and tried to take off my underwear. It's disrespectful and insubordinate. It's not fun at all."
Yuezhi listened, her eyes filled with confusion.
Judging from this, is Xiuyu trying to take over the job from the little eunuch?
The monthly allowance for palace maids who attend to the emperor is about the same as that for eunuchs who attend to the emperor. Xiu Yu is also good at being lazy and shirking her duties. Doing this will not only fail to earn her a reward but also anger the crown prince. What is she after?
Yuezhi couldn't figure it out, so she didn't delve into it further. She took out a palm-sized cloth fish from her waist and handed it to him.
"I have already memorized the poem that Your Highness taught me yesterday. If Your Highness teaches me another one today, I will thank you for it."
Pei Heng was still a child at heart; he couldn't take his eyes off new things. He saw that the cloth fish was a koi embroidered with gold thread on a red background, with half a black bead attached to its eye. It was beautiful and exquisite, and he was immediately delighted.
He tried to bargain with her, saying, "You only know how to memorize by rote, which is too slow. If you want to learn it in one night, one cloth fish won't be enough."
Yuezhi smiled slightly, bent down and buried her head under the covers, gesturing for him to come in and look.
Pei Heng crawled inside and was astonished to see that the koi's eyes were glowing in the darkness, and a ring of small black stones was sewn into the edge of the koi, which was also emitting a faint light.
The exquisite cloth fish now resembled a golden treasure, making Pei Heng's eyes light up, and he readily agreed.
"I'll write it down for you right now, and I'll make sure you memorize it before you go to sleep."
Pei Heng excitedly went to find pen and ink, while Yue Zhi put away the cloth fish. Seeing that he had forgotten his earlier unhappiness, she also became happy.
Her godmother had taught her that most of the things Xiuyu and Caiying did were at the behest of the Empress. Even if they occasionally made mistakes on their own, it was best to keep quiet. Otherwise, if they complained to the Empress and the Emperor, she and her godmother would be the ones who suffered.
Today, Xiuyu angered the Crown Prince, but the matter seemed like a trivial matter. She couldn't understand it and dared not make any rash moves.
Pei Hengmo returned with a poem and brought out the low couch that he had left for Granny Zhang in the past, asking her to sit down.
The two sat by the bed, one tall and one short, watching over the candlelight, reciting the meaning of sentences and pointing out words to recite poems.
Two hours later, Yuezhi successfully recited the poem in its entirety. Pei Heng was so sleepy that he could barely keep his eyes open, and he fell asleep holding the newly acquired cloth fish in his hand.
I slept well all night.
*
In the morning, Yuezhi tidied up the two beds and was about to call the eunuch in to change Pei Heng's clothes when Pei Heng stopped her.
He got out of bed and took a package from the wardrobe. The cloth bag was only about the size of two fists, and it didn't look like much. He handed it to Yuezhi, and it wasn't heavy either.
"Here's a reward for you, take it and play with it."
The Crown Prince must have bestowed something good upon her, Yuezhi thought to herself with delight. She accepted the gift with both hands, knelt down to express her gratitude, and said, "This servant thanks the Crown Prince for his gift."
Upon leaving the bedchamber, Xiuyu and Caiying were nowhere to be seen; they were probably either sleeping in or had gone to the Empress's palace.
She didn't want to see them anyway, so she hurried back to the west wing, and only opened the cloth bag after locking the door—
Inside was a bag full of perfectly round pearls!
Each one is as big as a longan, with a white and lustrous color; they are all top-quality products, and a single one can sell for several taels of silver.
Yuezhi couldn't stop laughing. The dolls, sachets, and knee pads she made for the Crown Prince were far less valuable than that. It was only because the Crown Prince was kind-hearted and virtuous that he rewarded her with so many treasures.
In the past, when she received gifts such as jade pendants or cloth, she would secretly ask her fellow villagers in the palace to smuggle them out of the palace to sell and exchange them for gold and silver that were easy to hide.
It seems that the hole under the bricks is almost full, and she needs to find another way to hide the gold, silver, and pearls.
Just then, the side door outside was pushed open.
Yuezhi quickly hid the pearl under her pillow and peeked through the crack in the door. The person who came in was Granny Zhang.
Her face lit up with joy, and she went out to greet her, "Godmother!"
Granny Zhang walked very slowly, supporting her knees. Yuezhi saw the bitterness on her face, so she quickly closed the side door and helped Granny Zhang walk slowly.
"Where did Godmother go? She didn't come back last night, and her knees are hurting so badly again today?"
Zhang Mama shook her head silently, and only after entering the room did she say, "Yesterday, Her Majesty the Empress summoned me and found a pretext to make me kneel all night. I'm afraid I can't stay in the Eastern Palace any longer."
"How could this be?" Yuezhi exclaimed in shock and agitation, "You haven't done anything wrong, why would the Empress want to expel you? If the Crown Prince knew, he would definitely plead for you and let you stay."
"Silly child." Granny Zhang patted her head.
"The Crown Prince is the Empress's lifeblood. Since the Crown Prince moved into the East Palace, in the past year, the old servants around the Crown Prince have either been transferred away or sent out of the palace, and the new servants arranged for him have all been personally selected by the Empress."
“Now I am the only old servant left by the Crown Prince’s side. Among the new servants, apart from a few eunuchs, you are the only one who was not planted by the Empress… I’m afraid that after I am driven away, you will be next.”
"Ah?" Yuezhi suddenly felt a little sad.
The masters in the palace are never easy to serve.
The emperor was tyrannical and aloof; the empress was a cold-hearted and ruthless bodhisattva; the imperial concubine and the concubine Li were lively and generous, but they could not tolerate even the most outstanding palace maids. No matter how good a person was, they would wear them down to a lifeless state.
The princes and princesses were either spoiled and unruly or aloof and eccentric. Only the crown prince was kind-hearted and good-tempered. Even when he was unhappy with Xiuyu and Caiying, he rarely punished them.
Leaving the East Palace, returning to the embroidery room meant endless toil day and night, and going to other masters' quarters was even more nerve-wracking. Yuezhi dared not imagine how miserable her life would become.
She looked at Granny Zhang; her own fate was still unknown, but her godmother was truly about to be driven away.
Yuezhi held back her tears as she applied medicine to Zhang Mama's knees, helped her lie down on the bed to rest, and then went back to her own room to get three gold ingots.
"Godmother, I have nothing to offer you in return, and I don't know if I will have the chance to do so again. Please accept this small token of my appreciation. Having money to rely on will give you peace of mind, no matter where you go in the future."
She stuffed the gold into Zhang Mama's hand, and Zhang Mama, unable to resist her, accepted it with red eyes.
"The moment your godmother saw you, she knew you were a good child. There aren't many good people in the palace. From now on, your godmother won't be able to protect you, so you have to protect yourself."
"Mmm." Yuezhi couldn't help but wipe away her tears.
Granny Zhang also wiped away her tears, holding Yuezhi's hand, "Good child, don't cry. No one can predict what will happen in the future. No matter if life is bitter or sweet, you must live on and endure until you are twenty years old to ask for permission to leave the palace. Then we can meet again."
"Yes, I will definitely live well."
Yuezhi wiped away her tears, found a needle and thread, and sewed the gold ingot into Zhang Mama's shoe to ensure that she could take the item with her and that it wouldn't be stolen by others.
Two days later, the Empress indeed issued an edict, angrily rebuking Zhang Mama for her vulgar and reckless behavior, ordering her to be beaten with twenty strokes and expelled from the palace.
To avoid being criticized, Yuezhi did not go to see her godmother off. Instead, she asked a fellow villager to bring her some medicine and a letter, hoping that she would be well outside the palace.
*
My godmother was a person of the highest rank in the Eastern Palace, second only to the Crown Prince. From the palace maids to the eunuchs, everyone respected her for her hard work and praised her for her generosity and kindness.
After her godmother left, everything in the Eastern Palace remained as usual, and no one mentioned her again, as if she had never been there at all.
In just a few days, Yuezhi witnessed the coldness and warmth of human nature.
She was grateful for the Crown Prince's favor, which prevented her from being bullied after losing her backing, but in front of Xiuyu and Caiying, she was truly inferior.
It wasn't her turn to be on night duty, but the two of them forced her out of the house and stuffed her into the Crown Prince's bedroom.
Yuezhi looked aggrieved, but she was happy inside because she had pleased the Crown Prince. As a result, she had a low couch in the inner room to sleep on night duty, unlike the two of them who could only sleep on stools in the outer room.
Especially after Xiuyu was kicked out by the Crown Prince while crying last time, these days whenever it was Xiuyu's turn to be on night duty, she could only sleep under the corridor, which was cold and hard, and she suffered terribly.
With the Crown Prince around, Yuezhi felt that there was still hope for the future.
As usual, Pei Hengmo came to teach her writing. He wrote diligently, while Yuezhi ground ink for him.
Seeing that he was writing much slower today and looked a little down, Yuezhi asked with concern, "Is this article difficult to memorize? Otherwise, Your Highness can teach me little by little."
“It’s not difficult.” Pei Heng sighed, put down his pen, and turned around, his small figure sitting in the chair with a sorrowful look in his eyes. “You didn’t even tell me about Granny Zhang’s matter?”
Yuezhi felt a pang of sadness.
The Empress drove away her godmother and forbade anyone to tell the Crown Prince. Whenever asked, she only said that Zhang Mama had gone home to visit her family.
She could have told the Crown Prince the truth, but she was afraid. She was afraid of displeasing the Empress and being punished with a beating and sent to hard labor. Her godmother was the Crown Prince's wet nurse and could leave the palace unharmed, but she had no credit for saving her life.
Seeing Pei Heng's slightly reproachful expression, Yue Zhi's eyes immediately reddened. "This servant has no one to rely on in the palace. If the Empress is unhappy, she will drive this servant away."
Upon hearing this, Pei Heng's eyes welled up with tears, and he hugged her tightly.
“I won’t let them drive you away… You’re the only person I can trust left.”
His voice was low and soft, which made Yuezhi's nose tingle. She bent down and hugged him, and the two of them cried together.
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