Chapter 1 Chapter 1 A Day in the Palace
If time-travel books were classified into different levels, palace fighting stories would probably be one of the types that time travelers least want to travel through.
After all, there is no such thing as a peaceful life in the harem. Competing for favor, taking sides, poisoning and framing are the main themes. One wrong move will result in being sent to the cold palace. A bunch of smart people have been together for decades, outlasting the emperor and avoiding the open and secret attacks, and only then can a few of them be promoted to concubines and empresses dowagers. Only then can it be considered perfect.
But what does this have to do with Shen Qingqing?
As a time traveler, she didn't even get the status of a concubine as in the book. Instead, she became a third-class palace maid who was trampled upon by everyone.
What is the concept of a third-class maid? Probably above the second-class maid and the first-class maid. The second-class maid does light work, the first-class maid serves the master closely, and the heavy work is naturally left to the third-class maid.
They are like the bottom of the food chain. Normally no one cares about them, but a small tremor can take their lives.
Shen Qingqing is such a pitiful little girl, but ants have their own role to play - she now lives in a back room of a four-person dormitory with poor lighting. There are not many pieces of furniture, and the horizontal bed is integrated into the room, which can just fit four people. Shen Qingqing's position is against the wall, and the wall exudes the smell of years of decay. It feels very cool to the touch. At this time, she curled up her legs against the wall, tucked the quilt tightly around her body, and her body was hot and cold. She was sick, but she was holding a bowl of hot soup in her hand.
It was obvious that a third-class palace maid could not afford to hire a female doctor to prescribe medicine, unless someone wanted to use her for their own benefit.
The person next to her was wearing a blue palace maid's uniform. Her straight nose gave her an irresistible and sharp aura. Shen Qingqing recognized her. She was Cuihuan, a second-class palace maid of Concubine Hui, the head of Jingyang Palace. Shen Qingqing had met her several times when she was cleaning the house, but they were not close.
Shen Qingqing's master was Concubine Du, who lived in the west side hall of Jingyang Palace. Concubine Du's family background was higher than Concubine Hui's, so even though Concubine Hui's position was higher than Concubine Du's and she was the main lady, Concubine Du did not show much respect to Concubine Hui.
In addition, Du Jieyu was very arrogant, and even calling people "sister" sounded sarcastic.
Over time, the people in Concubine Hui's palace began to dislike the people in Concubine Du's palace. As for Concubine Hui and Concubine Du, because of Concubine Hui's calm temperament, her attitude towards Concubine Du was indifferent. Besides, Concubine Du did not favor her much, so Concubine Hui never provoked her, and they barely maintained a level of neither good nor bad.
But the attitude of the Empress and the masters does not represent the attitude of the servants in the two palaces. The servants also have their own way of survival. In their hearts, the status of the servants in the main hall is naturally higher than that of the servants in the side halls. But the people in the West Side Hall do not think so. Concubine Du is favored, so why can't they compare to the servants of Concubine Hui?
On weekdays, someone you see often may give half a head of respect, making it hard for people to find fault with him, but when he turns around, he may spit at you harshly. It is hard to tell who is more powerful.
Shen Qingqing was a third-class palace maid. Although she was on duty in the West Side Hall, she was not favored by Concubine Du. When she suddenly fell ill and asked for leave, Concubine Du would not care about her and hire a female doctor for her. It is possible that the news did not even reach Concubine Du's ears.
If a palace maid of low status fell ill, in the best case scenario she would pay herself to find a female doctor for treatment, but if she had no money or was reluctant to spend the extra money, she would have to endure it on her own.
Shen Qingqing had no money at all. As soon as she received her monthly allowance, she would buy beautiful jewelry, get the rouge and powder she had longed for, and find time to reward herself with special treatment. It could be said that she did whatever it took to please herself.
The current situation is extremely difficult.
At this time, while the other three people in the room were on duty and would not be back for a while, Cuihuan from Concubine Hui's palace quietly called a female doctor to treat Shen Qingqing.
She was like a timely rain, moistening Shen Qingqing's dry situation.
The female doctor prepared medicine for Shen Qingqing and left, closing the door behind her. Cuihuan, who had been silent, finally said, "All this is the grace of the queen. When the queen heard that you were sick, the concubine didn't take it seriously. She frowned on the spot and quickly asked me to quietly invite a female doctor for you. Qingqing, what do you think?"
Cuihuan's eyes swept across Shen Qingqing's haggard but beautiful eyes. Seeing that she was so moved that her eyes were red, she couldn't help but smile quietly, feeling confident that she could win her over.
Shen Qingqing sniffed, her body switching back and forth between hot and cold and giving her goose bumps. She was organizing her words.
Concubine Hui's timely assistance was nothing more than an attempt to bribe her. Of course, her intention was not to let her, a third-class palace maid, switch jobs to the main palace as a third-class palace maid, but to obtain an undercover agent, a chess piece to be placed next to Concubine Du.
Shen Qingqing didn't have deep feelings for Concubine Du. A few months ago, she was punished by Concubine Du to kneel down because she bought rouge to dress herself up. She was laughed at by the whole Jingyang Palace and still had some hatred in her heart. Concubine Du herself had a bad temper. She would lose her temper and throw things every other day. The maids who served her had a hard time. Maybe only Concubine Du herself thought that her temperament was cute and spoiled.
Any normal person would complain about serving such a master.
As for turning against Concubine Du, Shen Qingqing didn't even need anyone to urge her.
As for joining Concubine Hui, I can only say that I didn't realize that Concubine Hui was still scheming, and she wasn't so quiet and indifferent. This was a good thing for Shen Qingqing. As is the custom in palace fighting stories, naive people can be used as cannon fodder or scapegoats at any time, and it's unknown when they will be vindicated.
Shen Qingqing blinked, and two big tears fell: "Sister Cuihuan, I never thought that Concubine Hui still remembered me. She sent a female doctor and a sister to care for me, saving half of my life. She even met with me alone to prevent Qingqing from falling into an unjust situation. If that's the case, how can Qingqing be the kind of person who is ungrateful?"
Cuihuan's eyebrows moved and she looked at her with a smile.
Shen Qingqing continued, "If the queen needs me in the future, Sister Cuihuan, just tell me. Although Qingqing is a little stupid, she is still loyal and can be used."
"No way." Cuihuan took out a gold hairpin from her sleeve and inserted it into Shen Qingqing's hair. She looked at it for a moment and nodded with satisfaction, "The Queen will know your loyalty."
Cuihuan likes Shen Qingqing very much, she has selected this person after observing him for several months. She is very greedy and spends money lavishly. She also has an old grudge with Concubine Du and has never received any favor from Concubine Du. Although betraying her old master is despicable, it is so natural for Shen Qingqing.
Cuihuan did not stay any longer. Firstly, she was afraid that someone would notice something. Secondly, Shen Qingqing was still sick. What if she got sick from the disease?
After Cuihuan left, Shen Qingqing pinched her nose and drank the medicine in one breath. Then she took off the golden hairpin on her head and admired it. She couldn't help but sigh that Concubine Hui was worthy of being the queen and was really generous.
With this golden hairpin, she could go to the imperial kitchen and get money to cook special meals for the palace servants there.
She just got sick yesterday and she feels like she’s become thinner due to hunger.
Shen Qingqing came here through time travel, but she was reborn. For some reason, she had memories of her past life yesterday. Her brain contained too many things, so she fell ill.
Otherwise, with her daily exercise (the work of a third-class palace maid was heavy and numerous), and her regular bedtime routine (there was no condition for people to stay up late), she would have maintained a strong body by never starving herself and would not have gotten sick once throughout the year.
Because Du Jieyu's name was very familiar, she probably traveled to a palace fighting novel that she had read. However, she had read too many novels, and palace fighting novels accounted for a large proportion of them. In addition, her memory was not good, so she could still revisit the novels she had read with gusto after a few years.
After a lifetime, naturally you will remember nothing.
Although I don’t know the heroine or the plot, there are always some routines to follow in palace fighting novels.
For example, the arrogant and rebellious new concubine is always the first to fall. For example, the scheming and ruthless concubine of a lower rank is the pawn of a certain concubine, and her actions will always be discovered in the middle period. For example, the villain who hides until the end has a good reputation in the palace before the matter is exposed, but in the end he gambles everything and still loses...
The most obvious characteristic of the protagonist of a fictional palace fighting novel is that everything goes smoothly for her. No matter whether her character is naive or scheming, or whether she is not a good person, she can always get what she wants at the right time. For example, after giving birth to a royal heir, she has become the mistress of a palace and can personally raise the princes and princesses. The first child is either a prince or twins. The mother is honored because of the son, and the son also makes her honored.
Needless to say, the position of crown prince was easy to obtain.
This is also a major feature of discovering who the real protagonist is. The protagonist must have the last laugh and will not stop until he becomes the queen mother.
However, in general, the main content of a palace fighting story can be concluded when the emperor loves the heroine alone. If the story ends with the emperor's death, wouldn't the heroine, who has no deep hatred for the emperor, be very sad? This is neither sweet nor satisfying.
So what stage of the palace fighting story is Shen Qingqing in now?
First of all, this is definitely not the end of palace fighting stories, because the current emperor has only been on the throne for two years. The empress dowager was not favored when the previous emperor was alive. There was a favorite concubine of her time, but she only had one daughter and posed no threat to the then crown prince. When the previous emperor passed away, she volunteered to be buried with him for love. She was a very true and kind person.
Because of this, her daughter was named Princess Yongfu by the current emperor and enjoyed a noble status.
Shen Qingqing is more inclined to believe that the current emperor is the male protagonist of the palace fighting novel. The reason is that the emperor is handsome, and everyone who has seen him is more or less attracted to him. Concubine Du is so in love with him that she cannot extricate herself.
Shen Qingqing was a third-class maid, and even though the emperor had turned over the cards of Concubine Du quite often, she could not get close to him because of her low rank, and could not get to the front row. She only saw his back twice from a distance. But the emperor's back was so majestic, as if he could reveal his wasp waist, monkey back, eight-pack abs, mermaid line and hips by taking off his clothes.
Ah, Du Jieyu eats really well.
There are no ugly people in the palace, only ordinary beauties, average beauties and top beauties.
Du Jieyu could be considered an average beauty. If she didn't look at people with her nose so often, she would be beautiful enough to please people.
In comparison, Concubine Hui can only be regarded as an ordinary beauty. Because of her seniority in the Eastern Palace, she was able to take the position of the head of the first palace when the emperor first ascended the throne. Concubine Du entered the palace during the emperor's first selection of concubines. She has two years of seniority now. She was first named a talented person, and was named a beauty after her first night with the emperor. A few months after entering the palace, the Du family made contributions in the court, so she was specially named a noble lady by the emperor. She remained in the position of a noble lady for more than a year, and was promoted to Concubine Du during the grand ceremony of conferring titles on the six palaces during the Chinese New Year this year.
It is not difficult to see that the emperor was still stingy and cautious in conferring titles and rewards, and no concubine had ever jumped several levels at once. And it was even more difficult for a noble concubine to rise.
For example, Concubine Hui was originally called Concubine Lin. She was given the title as a token of her respect when the six palaces were conferred titles.
Concubine Hui's family background is not outstanding, her appearance is not outstanding, she is not favored, and her personality is indifferent. She has no conflicts of interest with others. Also, because of her decent position, not everyone can step on her. Therefore, she does not attract attention in the palace, but she has the dignity she deserves.
After thinking a lot, Shen Qingqing crawled into bed to keep away the sweat.
She thought in a daze:
I have traveled through time, but God doesn't even let me be a concubine. Do I look like a hardworking person? !
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