Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Three Days of the Palace Maid
Shen Qingqing had slept all day and was not too sleepy lying in bed, so she began to think about what happened during the day.
There is no way Concubine Hui will get off this ship, so she can only hope that Concubine Hui has no use for her. Besides, her undercover informant is Cuihuan, so apart from Cuihuan, she can just pretend to be stupid and fool anyone who comes to her for help.
If Cuihuan questioned her, she would say that she was not sure whether those people were the Empress's confidants, and she only trusted Sister Cuihuan. Then, Cuihuan would not be able to blame her.
As for Concubine Du, the vacancy of a second-class palace maid should have been known by some means, so it is not possible that even Dong'er knew about it while she was completely unaware.
The position of the Concubine was not high. There were only a dozen servants in the West Wing Hall. Among them, there were four third-class palace maids, who mainly did rough work in the outer hall. There were two second-class palace maids, who served in the inner hall, usually serving tea, taking meals, and combing hair and putting on makeup. There were two first-class palace maids, that is, senior palace maids, who served their master, ready to come at any time and wait for orders.
Shanhu, the senior maid, was assigned to Du Jieyu by the palace. She was in charge of all the maids in Du Jieyu's palace. Daimao, another senior maid, was brought by Du Jieyu from her home. She was lively and more to Du Jieyu's liking. She was in charge of Du Jieyu's storehouse. Du Jieyu was rich and generous, and she often rewarded Daimao with things. Daimao also often showed off in front of the maids and listened to their flattery.
The positions of Coral and Hawksbill are stable and unlikely to change. As for the remaining two second-class palace maids, Sunset and Morning Dew, although they are both old people in the palace, they are under 25 years old and it is not time for them to be released from the palace yet.
Wanxia is the palace maid following behind Shanhu today. After Shanhu left, she stared at Xia Chan and Dong'er to receive their punishment.
Dong'er said it so confidently, so one of Wanxia and Chaolu will definitely leave, and the vacant spot will be chosen from among the four of them, or the Shanggong Bureau will send another palace maid.
Of course, Shen Qingqing and the others wanted to be promoted themselves, or to be replaced by someone they were close to, such as Xia Chan to Wen Xin, and Shen Qingqing to Dong'er. Yes, although Shen Qingqing and Dong'er had a mediocre relationship, they were forced to be tied together in the face of the alliance between Xia Chan and Wen Xin.
No one wants a newcomer to suddenly appear and overshadow them.
Shen Qingqing planned silently for herself. A second-class palace maid needed to have some skills to gain a foothold, and it was not possible to get promoted solely through intrigue. If that were the case, the harem would be in chaos.
For example, Wanxia is good at applying makeup, matching clothes, and making tea. Under her hands, Du Jieyu's already bright facial features will become even more eye-catching.
For example, Chaolu is good at combing and pinning hair, knows more than a dozen kinds of hairstyles, can also make perfume, and knows some pharmacology...
Shen Qingqing asked herself that she was not as good as her two sisters, but loving beauty was her nature in both lives. She liked to put on makeup in her previous life, and she loved rouge and powder in this life. The expenditure on rouge and powder accounted for one-third of her monthly salary.
Because her family was a merchant family and her in-laws were scholars, she had been educated since childhood and knew most words and had no problem with math. Reading account books was something she had mastered since she was young.
However, this one conflicted with Daimao, and she had no intention of competing for power with Daimao at the risk of her life.
They are master and servant who grew up together. How can she compare to the affection between them?
As for spices and pharmacology, Shen Qingqing knew nothing about them. She didn't like the smell of fragrance, and couldn't tell the difference between the two. As for the latter, she had rarely been sick since she was a child and had rarely seen a doctor. None of her family worked in this field, so naturally she knew nothing about it.
Brewing tea is limited to throwing the tea into hot water and drinking it.
But overall, Shen Qingqing would rather take over Wanxia's job. Bah, I hope Sister Wanxia can have a good future. She has a solid foundation in makeup, and she is not bad at matching clothes. She can learn how to make tea.
She had a gold hairpin in her hand, and last month's salary was about to be paid. With the money, there must be some way out.
While Shen Qingqing was daydreaming endlessly, time slipped away quietly. The door creaked, and Dong'er and Wenxin came back.
They washed quietly, then blew out the last candle and went to bed.
Dong'er slept next to Shen Qingqing, and Xia Chan was the farthest away from her, near the door. Xia Chan's bed was in a good position, and the few rays of sunlight during the day just happened to shine on her.
Shen Qingqing was leaning against the wall, looking much colder.
A quarter of an hour later, when Shen Qingqing thought everyone was asleep, she heard Dong'er sobbing softly. Shen Qingqing's body froze, not knowing how to comfort her. Dong'er took a desperate gamble, but it happened to pave the way for her.
Dong'er and Wenxin had been punished, so it was impossible for them to be promoted to second-class palace maids. Xia Chan was left with a bad impression and her future became uncertain. In comparison, she actually had a huge advantage.
The quilts on Xia Chan and Wen Xin's side moved, making some noise.
It turns out that no one slept.
The next day.
Shen Qingqing's headache was completely gone, and she was refreshed and ready to go on duty. She had just put on the gray third-class palace maid's clothes when Dong'er got up. She was pale and looked listless, and Shen Qingqing could see the scars on Dong'er's face.
Maybe because he cleaned up last night, the blood on his face disappeared, but now the wound was completely exposed. There were three deep and shallow scratches, and the deepest one had a small hole in the middle. It made people worry whether it could heal completely.
Why.
When Dong'er met Shen Qingqing's gaze, he came fully to himself. He put his hands on his cheeks, and his expression became more sad.
Tsk.
But today the chores were heavy and numerous, and half of Xia Chan and Shen Qingqing's work was assigned to Dong'er and Wen Xin, leaving her no time to feel sad.
After Shen Qingqing finished her work, she went back to the room, took the golden hairpin and left Jingyang Palace.
Since she often went to the palace to buy things, she had many connections and soon exchanged the solid gold hairpin for a box of healing medicine.
The eunuch who sold it to her boasted, "Sister, this medicine of mine comes from the Imperial Hospital. The ladies in the harem use nothing more than this. It can heal acne scars, wounds, and sunburns, and it works amazingly fast. If sister hadn't given me so much, I wouldn't have left it to you."
Shen Qingqing smelled the ointment and it did have a refreshing medicinal smell, not unpleasant at all.
"Okay, if it works, I'll come back to you next time. If it doesn't work, you have to return the hairpin to me."
The young eunuch smiled and said, "I will never lie to you, sister! I am only on duty here, where can I go?"
Shen Qingqing thought so too, nodded, and returned to Jingyang Palace with the medicine.
When they found Dong'er, they saw Xia Chan helping Wenxin with work, and Dong'er was all alone. Wenxin was deeply moved, and looked at Xia Chan as if she was looking at her own sister. But no matter whether Wenxin was moved or not, or what she thought in her heart, now their chance only lay with Xia Chan, and it was not too much for Wenxin to open up to her or get closer to her.
"Dong'er, here." Shen Qingqing called Dong'er to come to her.
Dong'er was surprised, shook her hands, and ran to Shen Qingqing: "What's wrong?"
Shen Qingqing saw Xia Chan spying on them, so she pulled Dong'er to the corner of the corridor and explained her purpose: "I just happened to have an ointment that can heal external injuries. Do you want to use it?"
If Dong'er was ungrateful and refused outright, Shen Qingqing would definitely turn around and leave, leaving behind her lost gold hairpin.
Dong'er felt bitter in her heart. She warned herself that it would be a waste if she didn't use it, so she looked up and said, "Use it!"
Dong'er's figure is much smaller than Shen Qingqing's, which is why Shen Qingqing helped her with work when Dong'er was sick. Humans always have sympathy for weak things, even though Dong'er's small body hides a bull that is so straight and scary, but also strong.
When she looked up, Shen Qingqing saw dust falling beside Dong'er's wound and said, "Wait."
He trotted to find clean water, wet his handkerchief, and then quickly came back.
She first used a handkerchief to carefully avoid the wound and wiped Dong'er's face, blew away the dust on the wound, then took out the medicine box and began to apply medicine.
Dong'er's eyes fell on the patterns carved on the wooden box, and the wounds on her face that had been coated with ointment felt cool and visibly soothed.
Shen Qingqing looked at it carefully, and after making sure that she had not missed any area, she withdrew her hand, carefully closed the medicine box, and muttered, "This medicine is precious, so I won't give it to you. From now on, you can come to me twice a day, and I will apply the medicine on your wound until it heals." She had to tell Dong'er what she had done for him, to prevent this heartless man from being ungrateful.
"Can it be okay?" Dong'er muttered, pinching her sleeves and taking a deep breath, "...Is it really expensive?"
Shen Qingqing emphasized: "Of course!"
If she hadn't seen how pitiful the little girl was about to be disfigured, and that if she couldn't be cured she would completely lose her chance to serve the noble, and in the end she would only become a disfigured old woman, not getting any respect from the new palace maids who faced the old people in the palace, she wouldn't have cared.
Dong'er whispered, "I don't owe you anything. The master is indeed leaving a second-class maid, but she is not leaving because of something bad. Sister Wanxia's brother has made great contributions and asked the emperor to let Sister Wanxia leave the palace early. Although the concubine is unwilling, she has no choice. Sister Wanxia likes money. You can take the monthly salary and ask Sister Wanxia for advice. Sister Wanxia will not be stingy with her skills."
"After learning the skills, this second-class maid will be more confident. As for how I know, you can assume that I have some information channels."
She was going to tell Shen Qingqing about this, it was just a matter of sooner or later. But if it was two days late, she didn't know how much Shen Qingqing could learn.
There is always a way out. Shen Qingqing was delighted, but then said in embarrassment: "I am really short of money. I don't have any spare money. My lovely Miss Dong'er, can you lend me some first? I will pay you back as soon as last month's monthly salary is paid."
Shen Qingqing spent money lavishly, but only when she got into trouble did she realize what it felt like to be penniless.
If the hairpin was gone... Oh, if the hairpin was still there, how could she have the chance to get Dong'er's gratitude? Besides, the hairpin was given by Cuihuan on behalf of Concubine Hui. Although it was unmarked, it was better to sell it as soon as possible.
Dong'er thought, the word cute is too intimate, she pouted: "I'll lend it to you."
As if she saw a bright future as a second-class palace maid, Shen Qingqing happily held Dong'er's hand and said, "Dong'er, you are so kind."
Dong'er said silently in his heart: Now that I have borrowed money, don't say in your heart that I am stupid.
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