"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Sun Miaoqing, the younger sister of Sun Zhuhe, the Suzhou Textile Commissioner, is hereby granted the title of Changzai (a sixth-rank official), with the title of Cheng, and shall enter the palace on the fifteenth day of the ninth month. This is the imperial decree."
"Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty."
After everyone finished their greetings and stood up, the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree introduced, "This is Aunt Lanruo, who teaches etiquette in the palace."
When Sun Miaoqing watched the show in her previous life, she had only heard of Aunt Fangruo, not Aunt Lanruo.
However, judging from Aunt Lanruo's attire and appearance, she must have some status among the nannies, otherwise she wouldn't have been sent out to instruct the newly promoted palace concubines.
Adhering to the principle that it's better to be polite than to offend, it's best not to offend the palace maids if possible.
Sun Miaoqing bowed respectfully, "Greetings, Aunt Lanruo."
Sure enough, because of her words, the smiles of the imperial eunuch and Aunt Lanruo became much more genuine.
Zhao handed a silver note to the eunuch who was delivering the imperial decree, saying, "You've come all this way, please have a cup of tea."
The eunuch delivering the imperial decree stuffed the silver notes into his sleeve with satisfaction, and then advised, "Aunt Lanruo has a long and distinguished career in the palace. She once had the honor of serving Empress Xiaoyiren. Your Highness should learn from Aunt Lanruo."
Upon hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but look at him with newfound respect.
Empress Xiaoyiren was the current emperor's adoptive mother, and the nannies who served her may have even taken care of the emperor.
Sun Miaoqing couldn't understand why she not only had a title, but also arranged for such a powerful tutor.
She doesn't look like Chun Yuan!
But thinking about it all is useless; she's not after favor. As long as she stays far away and avoids getting involved in anything, she can retire in a decade or so.
Well, although the emperors of the Qing Dynasty treated their own harems harshly, they were always very generous to the harems of their predecessors.
The thought of being able to enjoy a retirement life before she turns thirty makes Sun Miaoqing feel confident and capable.
Aunt Zhang arranged for a maid to take care of Aunt Lanruo's daily life during this period.
When Zhao took her there to settle in, she gave her a large red envelope. When she returned, she heard her sister-in-law having wild thoughts again.
[This Aunt Lanruo is probably of the same generation as Fang Ruo, and most likely a trusted maid of Big Fat Orange. What did I do to make him take notice and send such a powerful figure here?]
Speaking of which, Fang Ruo should have already gone to Zhen Huan's place. Those with special privileges are truly different; they're directly enrolled in VIP courses.
Zhao didn't understand what "cheating" or "VIP" meant, but she did understand what a trusted palace maid was.
She felt even more attached to Aunt Lanruo. The gift she had just given was a little meager, and she would have to find another opportunity to give her a proper gift later.
"Miaoqing".
"My sister-in-law is here."
Sun Miaoqing stepped forward, and Zhao said kindly, "Your status is different now. Your sister-in-law has specially had some new clothes made for you. Try them on to see if they fit."
Sun Miaoqing nodded and turned to walk behind the screen. Zhao's personal maid, Guixiang, did not hand the items to Sun Miaoqing's personal maid, but instead took them inside to help her change her clothes.
A short while later, Sun Miaoqing came out wearing a pink qipao embroidered with peach blossoms.
"Sister-in-law, look! Do I look good in this outfit?"
Zhao glanced at Guixiang first, and after Guixiang nodded, Zhao breathed a sigh of relief.
“It looks good. Miaoqing looks good in anything.”
As she spoke, she took out a string of Buddhist prayer beads from the wooden box that Huixiang was holding. There were fourteen beads in total, which meant that Guanyin Bodhisattva shares the same faith with all sentient beings in the ten directions, three times, and six realms, enabling all sentient beings in the three realms to obtain fourteen kinds of fearlessness.
Zhao said, "This string of Buddhist beads was specially obtained by my mother from Lingyin Temple when she was still alive."
"Among the fourteen beads is a relic, which can turn misfortune into good fortune and bring auspiciousness in times of trouble."
"Now that your sister-in-law is giving this to you, I hope you will be well in the palace."
After saying this, Zhao put the Buddhist beads on Sun Miaoqing's wrist without waiting for her reaction. She smiled with relief when she saw that she had not seen the situation she had been worried about.
She was really worried that some evil spirit had possessed her sister-in-law, but thankfully, it was truly a blessing from heaven.
[Relics?]
[Those are just the bones left over from when the high monk was cremated, but not completely burned!]
"What bones? These are relics!"
"Something that others would beg for."
Sun Miaoqing felt uncomfortable in her whole hand and wanted to take off the prayer beads, but Zhao wouldn't let her.
How did my sister-in-law know what I was thinking?
Zhao replied dismissively, "I raised you myself, how could I not guess what you're thinking?"
"The harem is full of women, and the yin energy is heavy. Only when you wear this can your brother and I feel at ease."
Helpless, Sun Miaoqing could only wait for her to leave before taking it off, and then put it away once she entered the palace.
But Zhao seemed to know what she was thinking.
"Don't even think about taking it off. This thing has a spirit and can protect you."
"Rose and Lily of the Valley, you two are the mistress's personal maids, and you will be entering the palace with her in the future."
“There are some things that Your Highness may not be careful about, so you should stay by her side and remind her of them.”
"Like this string of prayer beads, do you understand?"
Rose and Lily of the Valley said in unison, "We understand."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
