Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 275 Just in Time to Borrow Guo Xiurong's Help

Li Mingzhen and Xie Ruxuan are two different people. The former comes from the Zhao County Li Clan, which, along with the Longxi Li Clan, is known as the "Two Lis," a prominent family with a history spanning over a century. The latter, although not from a prominent family, is a descendant of a meritorious official who helped found the Great Zhou Dynasty, and her father held the official position of Privy Councilor, a second-rank official.

Although the Privy Councilor was a military official, the position was held by a civil official. The Great Zhou Dynasty inherited the old system of the previous dynasty and implemented the separation of military and civilian affairs, so the Privy Council was in charge of troop deployment.

The emperor selected a woman from the Xie family to enter the palace in order to maintain a balance between civil and military affairs.

"According to the precedent of the previous dynasty, the rank of the eldest daughter of a powerful family entering the palace should be that of a fourth-rank Jieyu. I wonder what rank the Emperor will bestow upon the daughter of the Xie family, who is from a noble family and is also the daughter of a civil official."

Hua Yan couldn't help but sigh, "Our emperor is truly a man of unfathomable wisdom. He has only been on the throne for half a year, yet the entire court and harem are already under his control. No wonder the lady once said that his intelligence is almost demonic."

Ruizhu, not understanding the meaning, then told Huayan what had happened during the journey from Shenwu Gate to Linde Hall.

The selection of imperial concubines proceeded smoothly. Apart from these two, Yun Yao, the granddaughter of the third branch of the Yun family, was also successfully selected. The other six had no special family backgrounds or talents, but they were quite well-rounded.

Why do I say this? Hua Yan had already made a judgment. Given the emperor's "fairness" nature, daughters of civil and military officials, noble families, and even daughters of low-ranking officials were selected for the imperial concubine selection, in order to show the emperor's boundless grace.

However, there was one special case that Hua Yan hadn't expected: Qu Baolin's cousin was selected. It was probably because Qu Renshao had submitted a memorial directly stating the reason that the Emperor had specially reserved one person for the Qu family (Chapter 261).

Hua Yan rubbed her brow, opened the list that Aunt Mei had presented last night, made some minor modifications, and planned to discuss it with Consort Chun after the finalized list of ranks was sent over tomorrow.

Donggua led the servants to set out the meal in the outer room. Huayan looked out the window at the sky and asked, "What time is it? Why hasn't Her Majesty returned yet?"

Mingyue returned just then and said, "After the palace selection, Your Highness accompanied the Emperor and Empress to escort the Empress Dowager to the Cining Palace. I sent this servant back to tell you that you will be having dinner with the Empress Dowager at the Cining Palace."

Ruizhu interjected, "I heard that a new cook from the common people has entered Cining Palace. It seems that the Duke of Qing met her in Jiangzhou and specially sent her to the palace. The Empress Dowager is very pleased with her and even summoned the Duchess to the palace yesterday."

"Jiangzhou?"

At this critical juncture, the Duke of Qing's mansion sent a cook to the palace. Hua Yan was about to get up to have her meal in the outer room, but upon hearing this, she sat back down. She opened the register, looked at the five circled names, and finally fixed her gaze on a woman surnamed Pei, with a line of small vermilion characters next to her: Daughter of the Prefect of Jiangzhou.

Ruizhu stepped forward, following Huayan's gaze, and asked anxiously, "Is something wrong?"

Hua Yan closed the register. "I'm a little hungry. Let's eat first! We can talk about everything else tomorrow."

Aunt Mei and Mengzhu went to Cining Palace with Consort Chun. Xia'er and Dong'er were not there either. There were no outsiders in the side hall, so Huayan let Donggua, Ruizhu and Mingyue have a meal together.

Before Ruizhu could finish her improper remark, Donggua and Mingyue had already sat down properly.

Ruizhu: "...If Aunt Mei finds out, she will definitely punish us."

Winter Melon wrinkled his nose and said innocently, "It's just a few months' fine, why would you be short of a few taels of silver?"

These women, especially Donggua, are probably wealthier than most ordinary moderately wealthy families.

Mingyue served Huayan a bowl of soup and said with a smile, "It's alright to kneel for a while. When has Aunt Mei ever really been angry with us? Don't forget that last New Year's Eve, Xiao Nianzi drank too much and insisted on recognizing Aunt Mei as his godmother. He even accidentally broke Aunt Mei's jade bracelet, but she wasn't angry at all."

"How could this be! How come you never told me about this before?" Hua Yan couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Xiao Nianzi didn't want anyone to talk about it, and for several days he didn't dare to appear by Aunt Mei's side. He and Xiao Yuanzi pooled some money and asked a familiar palace maid to buy a jade bracelet as an apology. Aunt Mei not only didn't accept it, but also took extra care of the two brothers afterwards."

Donggua said, "They are also unfortunate people. Not only were their fields seized by their relatives, but they were also sold to slave traders and then stabbed to death and forced into the palace as eunuchs. It's pitiful that the two brothers, who were both handsome, can't even be men anymore. Shuer, those brothers are even more miserable than us."

Hua Yan remained silent, then placed a piece of fish on Dong Gua's plate with her chopsticks, saying, "Don't tell anyone about the knife wound you suffered."

The group chatted and laughed as they ate dinner together, until late afternoon.

Hua Yan calculated the time, thinking that Consort Chun should have returned by now. For some reason, she felt uneasy and summoned Ruizhu and Xiaoyuanzi, ordering them to go to the Cining Palace to greet her.

This welcome brought Aunt Mei, who rushed back to Huining Palace and headed straight for the side hall.

Seeing this, Hua Yan's heart sank. She dismissed everyone around her and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

"Something terrible has happened! After leaving Cining Palace, the Emperor took the Empress back to Funing Palace."

Hua Yan quickly understood what Aunt Mei meant. When Consort Chun went out this morning, she wore a Kunfeng pendant on her waist and did not wear the jade cicada on her body.

“If Her Highness is serving the Emperor in the Funing Palace, then… then if…” Aunt Mei’s face was pale, showing her anxiety. “I thought about it a lot on my way back, but I don’t have a suitable reason to send Yu Chan there right now. What should I do?”

Madam Yun once mentioned to Hua Yan that Madam Su had divined for Consort Chun, predicting that her life-or-death ordeal before the age of eighteen would occur during her pregnancy, but that the jade cicada could invisibly prevent pregnancy without harming her body.

(Never mind, it's for the sake of the plot. Who knows, such methods might have actually existed in ancient times, hehe~)

Hua Yan paced back and forth in the room, her mind racing. She immediately summoned Lv Liu and whispered a few instructions in her ear. Lv Liu, knowing the urgency of the situation, hurriedly left the side hall.

Aunt Mei was completely confused, so Hua Yan explained, "Since there's no reason to send it over, let the Emperor leave the Funing Palace."

It just so happens that we can borrow Guo Xiurong's services.

"Just in case, please ask Aunt to take Yu Chan to the Funing Palace. After the Emperor leaves, find an opportunity to send her to the Empress. Once this matter is settled, there is no need to keep this from the Empress any longer."

Aunt Mei calmed down, quickly responded, and went to Consort Chun's bedchamber.

To be honest, this was something Madam Yun intentionally concealed from Consort Chun. No one knows a daughter better than her mother. Consort Chun had been very interested in Yu Chan since the beginning of the Empress's pregnancy. If she had known beforehand, given Consort Chun's temperament, she might have been fine at first, but as time went on, she would probably have abandoned Yu Chan...

Like moths drawn to a flame, they find joy in it.

Consort Chun was not suited to enter the palace, but in life, one is often not in control of one's own destiny.

"With the Empress and Consort Mei present, why did the Emperor choose only the Lady to serve him in bed?" Hua Yan was puzzled and anxious as she waited, so she took a cloak from the wardrobe and left the bedchamber.