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  Just as we were about to reach the gate, he suddenly said from behind me: "After entering the palace, don't dress up like you did on tenth brother's birthday." I didn't understand at first, stopped in my tracks, turned around and looked at him. He lowered his head, gazing at the ground, saying slowly: "Such beauty is too dazzling!" It was only then that I gradually understood. For a moment, I couldn't tell whether it was joy or worry, so I just murmured a low "uh-huh" and followed Li Fu as we left.

  After returning to the house, my sister saw that I was pale and thought that I had been scolded by Eighth Brother. She came over and gently stroked my face, sighed, and told Dongyun to help me sleep.

  I lay in bed, unable to fall asleep, thinking about my sister for a while and then thinking about myself. I couldn't stop wondering if my sister knew about Eighth Brother's feelings for her? And at the same time, I felt stupid, because it wasn't hard to see from many things that Eighth Brother had feelings for my sister. For example, when Eighth Brother first saw me, he was shocked; my sister rarely went to pay respects to the legitimate wife, but the legitimate wife never made things difficult for my sister; also, on the surface, my sister didn't receive favor, and the servants would secretly gossip behind her back, but those most self-serving eunuchs and servants didn't dare to slight my sister in the slightest when it came to food, clothing, or daily necessities. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that many things had been right before my eyes all along, I just hadn't given them much thought.

  But what about me? What am I supposed to be? A substitute for my sister? Why did I keep the bangle? Why didn't I return it to him? Was it just because of a moment's weakness?... Hard to fall asleep.

  In early summer, all the flowers have withered, leaving only the deep and shallow greens to distinguish between the seedlings. Although the weather has started to get hot, there is still a cool breeze in the evening.

  I leaned on the bridge railing, gazing at the curved moon rippling in the water, and murmured to myself: "Just welcoming spring's arrival, and now sending it off again." Spring came and went, I had already been in the palace for three years.

  I still remember that during the selection of imperial consorts, it was not personally done by Kangxi as I had thought, but rather, the highest-ranking noble consort, Tunggiya and several other high-ranking imperial consorts would first review and compile a list, which would then be presented to Kangxi for approval before he made his final selection. And during this round, I was left out of the list.

  It was said that after the event, when selecting female officials for each palace, two princesses coincidentally mentioned my name, Empress Hui of the Nara clan, the mother of the eldest prince, and Empress De of the Uya clan, the mother of the fourth and fourteenth princes. The eunuchs in charge were at a loss, so they reported to Noble Consort Tongjia. After some deliberation, she finally assigned me to serve in the Qianqing Palace, where I was responsible for serving tea before the emperor.

  Serving tea seems like a simple task, but anything related to the emperor becomes complicated. I had known that drinking tea was an art form, but I never thought there would be so many rules. From scratch, I learned to distinguish between types of tea leaves, identify water quality, control water temperature, arrange tea utensils, how to test for poison, hand gestures when pouring tea, footsteps when serving tea, and even Kangxi's special preferences - all had to be memorized, without any mistakes allowed. After three whole months of study, my instructor finally nodded in approval.

  On the one hand, my trip to the Qianqing Palace was shrouded in mystery, and the eunuchs and palace maids inside were reluctant to provoke me, treating me with great kindness. On the other hand, I was indeed cautious in my words and deeds, humble in attitude, and soon won over the people around me. Now I have become the leader of the twelve palace maids responsible for serving tea and daily life in the Qianqing Palace.

  Thinking of these three years, I couldn't help but sigh at the moon's reflection in the water, and slowly turned back to my room. Tomorrow is still on duty!

  ――

  In the side hall, I was directing Xiang and Yu Tan to select tea. Suddenly, a small eunuch named Wang Xi rushed in, hastily made a bow, and exclaimed: "The Emperor has finished his morning court!" I smiled and said: "So what if he's finished? Why are you so anxious? Be careful not to be seen by your master again!" He took a deep breath and said: "This time it was Master who sent me over. He told me to remind Sister to be careful in her service, as someone impeached the Crown Prince today at court!" I immediately wiped away my smile and said: "Thank Master for me!" He hastily made another bow and quickly ran off.

  I turned around and said to Yunxiang and Yutan: "Did you both hear that? Today, we must be extra careful and serve with all our might!" The two of them hastily replied in the affirmative.

  I thought to myself that since the Prince's uncle, Songgotu, had been punished for his rebellion and was under house arrest, although the Prince himself had not been implicated at the time, his position was no longer as secure as it once was. Although he was Kangxi's most beloved son, having been personally taught by him from a young age, perhaps it was precisely because of this excessive pampering that, compared to the other princes, the Crown Prince was actually not outstanding in terms of virtue or talent. Furthermore, with all the other princes eyeing his position covetously, the Crown Prince's seat was already precarious.

  Kangxi is now struggling with reason and emotion. On the one hand, he has seen that Yinreng is not a suitable candidate to inherit the throne, but on the other hand, Yinreng is the only child raised by him personally, and his feelings for his wife, Empress Xiaoxianchun, are making Kangxi hesitant between demoting and not demoting. Thinking of this, Kangxi couldn't help but sigh, and today he has to face this pain again.

  Suddenly heard the sound of greeting outside, knowing that Kangxi had returned. Hurriedly told Yunxiang to make tea. The two of them bustled about, I prepared the tea set. Thinking that today Kangxi's mood was not good, afraid he wouldn't want to see bright colors, chose a sky blue glaze chrysanthemum pattern tea set. Thought that according to modern psychology, blue can calm people's minds and make them tranquil.