Chapter Sixteen
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 welcomed spring's arrival, 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 Emperor Kangxi who personally made the selection, but rather the highest-ranking imperial noble consort, Consort Tong, and several other high-ranking imperial consorts would first review the candidates and draw up a list to be presented to the emperor. Only after Emperor Kangxi had reviewed and approved the list would he make his final selection. And during this round of selection, I was not included on 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 actions, humble in attitude, and soon the people around me accepted 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!
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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 he's finished with the morning court! What's your hurry? 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 presented a memorial to the Crown Prince today!" After hearing this, I quickly composed myself and said: "Thank Master for me!" He hastily made another bow and rushed out.
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 position 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 of the Hesheri clan, make 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 one's mind and make it peaceful.
Holding the tea tray, she slowly walked into the house, looking around at the chairs where people were seated, but it was a quiet scene. Without glancing sideways, she approached the table, gently placed the teacups down, then bowed her head and slowly backed out.
Out of the curtain, he finally let out the breath he had been holding. He asked in a low voice to the eunuch beside him, "Who's inside?" The little eunuch replied in a suppressed tone, "Fourth Master, Eighth Master, Ninth Master, Thirteenth Master, Fourteenth Master." I thought to myself that it was unprecedented for all of them to be present, apparently Kangxi wanted to ask about their thoughts. Hurriedly, he went down and instructed Yuxiang and Yutan to prepare tea.
The tea is already prepared! As soon as you left, Wang Xi came to say that the princes had arrived, so I hurriedly prepared it in advance." I nodded my head in approval and walked over to take a look. Just then, Yutan continued to speak quickly: "Remembering all the rules! The fourth prince likes Taiping Houkui, the eighth prince likes Ri Zhuxue, the ninth prince likes Mingqian Longjing, the tenth prince is random, the thirteenth prince likes..." I hurriedly laughed and waved my hand: "Enough, enough! Knowing that you remember is fine!" Yuxiang smiled and said: "No wonder the people in the palace say that the young lady is meticulous! In the past, those who served tea before the emperor only needed to remember the emperor's preferences, but now the young lady actually wants us to memorize the princes' as well." As I arranged the teacups, I thought to myself that I had my own reasons, it was just that I absolutely couldn't say them out loud.
Yingxiang carried the tea tray behind me, and just as we reached the outside of the silk curtain, I heard Kangxi ask: "What do you think about the memorial from the Ministry of Rites today?" I couldn't help but stop in my tracks, thinking to myself, The Crown Prince has been misbehaving a lot lately, what's he done this time? The eunuch who lifted the curtain looked at me in surprise when he saw me stop. I quickly stepped forward.
He slowly walked to the side of the Fourth Prince, gently placing the Fourth Prince's tea on the table. He then turned around and went to the Eighth Prince's desk, lowering his head to put down the tea. Only then did he hear the Fourth Prince respond in a slow voice: "According to my observations, Second Brother has always been very lenient towards people of lower status. However, there are those who do not know how to restrain themselves and secretly embezzle money behind Second Brother's back, using his name as cover." Kangxi listened intently, nodding his head slowly. I also thought to myself that it seemed this was about the Crown Prince privately intercepting the tributes meant for Kangxi. Although this incident had made Kangxi extremely angry in history, in the end he did not punish the Crown Prince and instead dealt with the other people involved. It seems that this time, Kangxi's emotions would still prevail.
I was serving tea to Ninth Brother, and Fourth Brother's words had just fallen. Tenth Brother then said: "A slave dare to have such great audacity, if no one supports him from behind, would he dare to intercept the tribute meant for Imperial Father?" I sighed in my heart, this old Tenth is always unable to hold back.
He walked to the table beside Tenth Brother, turned around and picked up the tea that Yún Xiāng was holding on the tea tray for Tenth Brother. Just as he was about to put it down on the table, he heard Tenth Brother continue to say: "Fourth Brother's words are indeed strange. However, Fourth Brother has always been close with Second Brother, and perhaps in this matter, Fourth Brother also..." Before he could finish speaking, a loud cry of surprise rang out, and he hastily jumped up from his chair.
I accidentally spilled the hot tea on his arm while serving it. A small eunuch immediately came over to help wipe it clean and check if he was scalded. I quickly knelt down and said, "This servant deserves death! This servant deserves death!" Meanwhile, I thought to myself, offending the crown prince is nothing, anyway, he will be deposed sooner or later, but offending the fourth prince would have dire consequences. Although I already knew that the outcome could not be changed, at least I absolutely could not bear to watch this process unfold before my eyes. Silently sighing, every bit of prevention counts.
The tenth brother saw me, with a fire that couldn't be released, and was afraid of making a big deal out of it, I would suffer, so he said: "It's nothing serious!" The chief eunuch Li Dequan, who stood beside Kangxi, came over to scold: "You're still here, get back!" Kangxi seemed to have been quietly pondering the whole time, not paying attention to this commotion.
I got up and withdrew, when I reached the outside of the curtain, I heard Kangxi say: "I'm a bit tired today, you all go back!" I thought it seemed to have attracted attention. So I returned to the tea house with peace of mind.
Just back for a short while, Yun Xiang came in with a tray, her face surprised and said: "What's wrong with you today? You scared me to death!" I sat silently with my head down. Thinking that firstly, as the benevolent Emperor Kangxi, he would be lenient towards his subordinates unless it was a serious mistake. Secondly, since I had burned the tenth prince, he would definitely plead for mercy on my behalf. So although I was also very nervous, I thought that at most I would just be dragged out and beaten with a stick, there wouldn't be any danger to my life. Moreover, at that moment, I didn't have time to think about the consequences, I just wanted to solve the immediate problem first.
Just sitting in silence, Wang Xi came in, walked up close, and said with a bow: "Sister, my master is calling for you!" Yun Xiang and Yu Tan heard this and were somewhat flustered, standing up. I didn't pay attention to them, stood up and followed Wang Xi out of the side hall.
Wang Xi led the way for a while, and in front of him, Li Dequan was standing under a tree. As they approached, Wang Xi retreated, and I made a bow, standing there silently. After a moment, Li Dequan cleared his throat and said, "I've always thought you were a cautious person, but today you're so reckless?" I replied, "Please punish me!" He sighed and said, "Next month's silver will be deducted in full." I quickly knelt down and said, "Thank you, Lord Li!" He ignored me and turned to leave, muttering under his breath, "The palace can't accommodate so many kind-hearted people!"
After he left, I still stood there quietly, a thread of sorrow mixed with fear slowly pouring out from my heart, flowing through my body inch by inch, slowly devouring my strength. I felt like I couldn't stand at all, stumbled two steps, and finally sat down on the ground. My hands clasped my head and bowed to my legs, biting my lower lip tightly, tears swirling in my eye sockets, but were ultimately forced back by me.
I was sitting with my head down, deep in thought, when I suddenly heard a voice above me say: "What are you doing sitting here?" The voice was that of the Tenth Brother. Not wanting to pay attention to him, I remained silent and continued to sit with my head bowed. He squatted down beside me and said: "Hey! I haven't even scolded you for burning me yet, and you're already putting on airs!" I still didn't respond to him. After a brief moment of silence, he suddenly felt something was amiss and quickly reached out to lift my head up. His face showed surprise as he loudly asked: "How did your lips get bitten until they bled? Has Li Dequan been punishing you?"
As I raised my head, I unexpectedly saw that beside me were not only the Tenth Brother but also the Fourth Brother, Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother, Thirteenth Brother and Fourteenth Brother all standing by, who were also startled. In a flurry, I hastily wiped my lips with one hand while jumping up with the other, and then hurriedly asked for their pardon.
The tenth brother saw me busy asking for peace and not responding to his words, angrily said: "I'll go find Li Dequan to ask him clearly." After finishing, he took a step and was about to leave. I hurriedly whispered: "Come back!" He stopped in his tracks and said: "Then you tell me yourself."
I looked at him, feeling a mix of emotions in my heart. I was annoyed by his recklessness, but also moved by it. After staring at him for a moment, I finally glared at him and said, "You're fined one month's worth of silver." The tenth brother slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Is it worth getting so angry over just one month's worth of silver?" I pouted and said, "Why not? You don't care about that silver, but I was counting on it. Besides, I've never been fined before, and it's a matter of face!" He laughed and said, "Alright, alright! Don't be angry. Later, if you want something nice, I'll buy it for you." I smiled after hearing this and didn't say anything else.
I stood there, and several brothers didn't say a word. The fourth brother and the eighth brother had that eternal coldness and elegance on their faces. The ninth brother looked at me with a gloomy face, while the thirteenth looked at me and smiled, winking at me, then made a puzzled expression. I smiled back. But the fourteenth brother furrowed his brow, looking elsewhere with a somber gaze.
I took a look around and saw that no one wanted to talk, so I smiled and said: "If the masters have nothing else to say, I'll take my leave." The Fourth Prince said lightly: "Go ahead!" I bowed and bid farewell, then left.
