Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Five Days of the Palace Maid
Shen Qingqing was smart. After watching Master Wanxia make tea, she was able to do it herself pretty well. Wanxia watched her process and pointed out her mistakes in time.
Wanxia said, "The master is favored, and His Majesty will often reward some precious tea to Zhiyun Palace. When serving tea to the masters, we must use the precious tea and never use it as a substitute for the good ones. The masters have a picky tongue and can easily taste something wrong. In addition, a portion of the most precious tea should be reserved every month in preparation for the emperor to visit Zhiyun Palace one day. The emperor is worth a fortune, and he must not be fooled."
"Disciple will definitely remember Master's teachings!" Shen Qingqing's eyes were fixed, making sure to remember every word of Master Wanxia in mind.
Wanxia continued, "Although there is money to be made in the tea room, one must know the limits and not allow anyone to find fault with him... I have gone off topic, let me talk about tea again. The tea served to the master must have color, fragrance, and taste. A skilled tea master..."
Wanxia's basic knowledge of tea-making was undoubtedly solid. She taught Shen Qingqing how to identify, make and taste tea. An afternoon passed in a flash. When Shen Qingqing left the tea room, she had a belly full of tea that was almost marinated in flavor.
But it did give her some fun.
The more tired she was, the more fulfilled she felt.
In the evening, as night fell, after learning that the Emperor had turned over the sign for Zhiyun Palace, Concubine Du got ready early. She wore a silver silk brocade flower skirt that highlighted her graceful figure, combed her hair into a slanted bun, and pinned it with a jade butterfly hairpin and several complementary hair accessories, and stood in front of Zhiyun Palace.
Whether you look at it from near or far, the lanterns in front of the temple give people a hazy feeling.
It was a chilly spring day, and the nights were windy, so in order not to look bloated, Du Jieyu inevitably felt cold.
The Zhiyun Hall was brightly lit, but the main hall of the Jingyang Palace was already occupied. There was no light at all, and the entire palace was as silent as a giant beast at night.
As third-class palace maids, Shen Qingqing and others were naturally waiting with their heads bowed, but they were at a certain distance from Concubine Du. Everyone in Zhiyun Palace was there, and the ceremony of welcoming the emperor was in full swing.
Dong'er rested in the house because of a sore on her face.
Before coming, Shen Qingqing also applied medicine to Dong'er again, but the time was too short and the wound hadn't even scabbed over, so there was no apparent effect. She could only remind Dong'er not to scratch her face no matter how itchy it was, because itching means flesh is growing, and if scratching it won't heal properly.
Dong'er was frightened, and since she cared a lot about this face, she naturally listened to what was said.
Xia Chan and Wen Xin stood beside Shen Qingqing, but they didn't make any extra movements. They were just tired from the day's work. After standing for a while, they felt their legs were sore and they moved several times.
Du Jieyu looked down at the servants who were waiting in Zhiyun Hall with their heads bowed. She could see everything they did. When she saw Xia Chan and Wen Xin, her face darkened in anger.
[Two daring and evil slaves actually disrespected their master. If the emperor comes, won’t he think that I am not good enough in disciplining them and can’t even discipline two little palace maids? ]
【What if I am offended by this? 】
Her good mood was ruined, and she cursed in a low voice: "Dog slave!"
Upon hearing this, Shanhu made a very subtle move to sweep the palace maids and eunuchs, and apologized to Concubine Du: "Master, please calm down. It is my fault that I did not manage the palace maids well. I will discipline them properly in the future."
She quietly left Du Jieyu and quickly came to Xia Chan and Wen Xin.
At this time, how could Xia Chan and Wen Xin not know that Jieyu was scolding them? They felt terrified and aggrieved. How could they be so bad as to become dogs and slaves?
They knelt down hurriedly, feeling so helpless that tears welled up in their eyes.
Shen Qingqing next to her was in a daze, because just now, Jieyu had said three sentences in a row, explaining the reason for the scolding. Why were Xia Chan and Wen Xin still feeling so aggrieved?
You know, as a typical psychopath who only loves the emperor, it is normal for Du Jieyu to have such a reason to attack.
As slaves, it is common for them to suffer at the hands of their masters, and no one will care about it.
At this time, the best solution is to apologize, rather than biting your lips like Xia Chan and Wen Xin did as if you had suffered a great injustice.
Sure enough, the next sentence of Concubine Jieyu was:
[Well, this undisciplined dog slave makes me look like a bad person, you lowly slave! ]
Du Jieyu's words told everyone that she was furious. Shen Qingqing instinctively wanted to kneel down and kowtow, but everyone else looked as calm as a rock and acted as if it had nothing to do with her. Stunned, she had no choice but to keep her body steady.
But, it's so strange, is Concubine Jieyu's power in Zhiyun Palace not as strong as before? Why doesn't anyone care about Concubine Jieyu?
Shen Qingqing was screaming like a groundhog in her heart, but she couldn't kneel down as she was asked, because it would make her look smart, and the first bird to stick its head out gets shot, which was not a good thing.
Just at this moment, the emperor appeared at the gate of Jingyang Palace. Concubine Du immediately calmed down and prepared to welcome the emperor.
A man in a yellow dragon robe walked to the front of Zhiyun Hall with a string of beads in his hand, and the attendants behind him immediately filled the courtyard.
The emperor, who has been on the throne for two years, is only eighteen or nineteen years old, but he was named the crown prince since he was a child and was trained as the future heir. He learned the art of being an emperor from the previous emperor. Now he is extremely deep and does not show his emotions on his face, making it impossible to guess what he is thinking.
Even Du Jieyu, who had always been favored, did not dare to show the slightest bit of arrogance under his gaze, and sometimes even felt a little scared.
The only regret of this emperor's smooth first half of life was probably that the late emperor died before he could arrange a crown princess for him. After all, the two concubines at that time were both from famous families, and the only thing missing was a crown princess of higher status.
The current emperor was named Ji Chen by the previous emperor. Chen means the location of the North Star, the emperor's residence, and also means the throne and the emperor. This shows the emperor's expectations for him, the eldest son born to the empress.
Ji Chen lived up to the expectations of the previous emperor and grew into an emperor who could stabilize the overall situation. In the two years since he ascended the throne, he balanced the forces of all parties in the court, implemented a series of benevolent policies, reduced taxes and levies, recruited talents through the imperial examination, and trained his own students...
Du Jieyu bowed and called out delicately, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Your Majesty."
The people in Zhiyun Hall followed suit, until the eunuch Qian Quanzhong beside the emperor said with full energy, "Start!", and everyone ended the ceremony in an orderly manner.
"Why aren't you waiting in the room?" Ji Chen asked with concern. Before Concubine Du could act coquettishly at him because of this, his eyes swept over the two palace maids kneeling on the ground, "What's wrong? Did you make Concubine Du angry again?"
The word "again" was used very cleverly. It gave Concubine Du the impression that the emperor was thinking of her and knew that the evil slaves in her palace were bullying her. It also gave the two palace maids kneeling on the ground the impression that the emperor had long known about Concubine Du's daily behavior.
Concubine Du said coquettishly, "Your Majesty, these two palace maids committed insubordination, so I asked Shanhu to punish them a little. They were so frightened, thinking that I had done something to them."
[If the emperor had not come today, these lowly maids who committed treason would have been severely slapped in the face by Shanhu.]
No matter how low Shen Qingqing's awareness was, she realized that something was wrong. She looked up at Du Jieyu in shock and found that she had closed her mouth and wrinkled her nose at the emperor, looking innocent, but she was clearly speaking.
Shen Qingqing's gaze was too shocking. Du Jieyu, who was immersed in the joy of the emperor's coming, lost her usual sharpness. Instead, Ji Chen noticed it and glanced at her.
Shen Qingqing hadn't even seen what the emperor looked like yet, but when she felt this look, she immediately lowered her head, wishing she could bury it.
Ji Chen withdrew his gaze and did not comment on what Du Jieyu said.
In comparison, Xia Chan and Wen Xin were not as smart as Concubine Du - even though they disagreed in their hearts and were not sure of the emperor's attitude, they still downplayed the matter and could not find fault with their words.
Wen Xin cried out in injustice: "I am terrified. I don't know how I made my master angry. If my master wants to beat me or punish me, I am willing to accept it!"
Wen Xin kowtowed vigorously, tears streaming down her face, and she was so anxious that her body was shaking.
Xia Chan also kowtowed, simply to apologize and ask the concubine to calm down.
Du Jieyu pointed at them, unable to believe that they were so bold as to flatter the emperor in front of her. She wanted to tear them apart. She screamed, "Bitch!" and looked at Ji Chen with tears in her eyes, "Please Your Majesty, please help me. These evil slaves are trying to climb over my head!"
Shen Qingqing's hands trembled, purely because as soon as Du Jieyu finished speaking, her sharp and high-pitched voice rang out, so loud that it hurt Shen Qingqing's eardrums.
And those words in his heart were almost entirely curses against Xia Chan and Wen Xin, with a few words mixed in that the emperor should have mercy on her.
If Shen Qingqing didn't know at this time that she had activated the golden finger - the ability to hear Du Jieyu's inner voice, then she would have read so many novels in vain.
Since she could hear Du Jieyu's inner voice, Shen Qingqing still wanted to be promoted even though she knew she was a complete psychopath.
Most of the masters in the palace are daughters of court officials, standard ladies from noble families. But in this era of clear hierarchy, the chance of a lady from noble family being kind to servants is very small.
Moreover, based on the many novels Shen Qingqing had read, no matter how pure a girl was, if she was trapped in the palace and her mind was tied down by the emperor's favor, she would either change her character directly or die of depression.
If that's the case, then why not just find a crazy one? That would be the solution in one step. After all, no matter how drastically a person's personality changes, it won't change much.
Of course, the current Concubine Du is not crazy. She is just a vicious girl with two faces. They are not emperors, so how can they expect her to be likable and cute?
Finally, Zhiyun Palace is a hot spot, and Concubine Du has stable favor, so others can't squeeze in even if they want to.
Everyone was waiting for Ji Chen to speak, but Shen Qingqing was trying to clear her mind because Concubine Du was too noisy.
Ji Chen did not delve into the grievances of the two young maids and made the final decision: "Drive these two maids out of Zhiyun Palace, my beloved concubine, your temper is getting worse."
Du Jieyu snorted, wiped the non-existent tears with a handkerchief, and said shyly: "The emperor loves to make fun of me."
She was barely satisfied with the outcome. However...
[I will never let these two slaves go! ]
Ji Chen entered the Zhiyun Palace with a dull expression. Du Jieyu lifted her skirt and followed him, calling out like a lark: "Your Majesty, wait for me."
Accustomed to Du Jieyu's inconsistency, Shen Qingqing was not surprised. She looked back at the disappointed Xia Chan and Wen Xin and shed tears of sympathy for them.
The emperor's words clearly showed that he was a little displeased with Concubine Du, but the woman immersed in love could not hear anything. She thought he was praising her when he said in front of so many palace maids and eunuchs that her temper was getting worse.
Driving Xia Chan and Wen Xin out of Zhiyun Palace was ostensibly standing on Concubine Du's side, but it was also isolating them, lest Concubine Du start to attack them unscrupulously after the Emperor left. By then, no one would be able to save them.
Shen Qingqing estimated where Xia Chan and Wen Xin went after leaving Zhiyun Palace. The emperor might ask about it.
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