Whether exiled or resold, herbs and food were far more valuable than gold or silver—there was no point in risking them for minor gains.
After leaving the treasury, Shen Ruyi decided to check the kitchen. If things reached the worst-case scenario, food would be more practical than gold.
As expected, the main kitchen was empty. She cautiously checked a corner before entering her space.
With a mix of conscious control and manual operations, she finally cleared a small area inside her little space.
She collected everything she could carry: refined rice, flour, cornmeal, meat, chicken, eggs, pots, pans…
She also found a few small charcoal stoves, probably for cooking desserts or small meals for the masters. She took one and placed it along the narrow path between two fields outside.
Next, she gathered firewood and charcoal from the woodshed until there was absolutely no more room.
This time, her space was packed to the brim, leaving only a spot just big enough for her to stand—her emergency hiding spot.
From the front courtyard came the sound of cheering.
Listening closely, Shen Ruyi realized the attacks had stopped.
The dark night sky was starting to show streaks of dawn. She just had to wait.
Shen Ruyi returned to the back garden where the lowly maids lived, found a spot, and closed her eyes to rest.
“Ruyi, why are you asleep here? Why didn’t you knock when you came back?” Qing Tao, her roommate, shook her awake.
“I couldn’t sleep inside. Out here, I could get some rest. I didn’t want to disturb you if you were already asleep,” Shen Ruyi replied.
Maybe this was the last chance to show care before separation; she didn’t want to remain the quiet, unspoken Second Maid, so she decided to say a few more words.
“We didn’t dare sleep all night either. Only when there was no noise did we come out. We don’t even know how things are outside,” Qing Tao said.
The other maids were silent. No one responded. Everyone was tense, not awkward.
No overseer came to order them, and they just sat in silence until full daylight.
After some time, a commotion arose from the front courtyard, mixed with screams.
The sound quickly moved toward the back courtyard. The female members of the household began to scream and cry louder.
Shen Ruyi and the other lowly maids realized what had happened: Wu’an Marquis had chosen the wrong side!
Wu’an Marquis Mansion had been seized!
The women and maids of the mansion were thrown into dark, low-ceilinged, foul-smelling prison cells.
Shen Ruyi never thought she’d experience imprisonment firsthand.
The cell, only slightly bigger than the maids’ quarters, squeezed in dozens of people. Turning over was a luxury.
Her cell was slightly better—filled with young lowly maids who still cared about appearances, even in prison.
In the neighboring cell were older, rougher maids who made noise and occasionally threw punches while the guards were distracted.
Fortunately, the cell next to Shen Ruyi’s only had younger maids, so all they did was quietly cry.
Sometimes, the chaos from the rougher neighboring cell affected a few maids next to Shen Ruyi.
One young maid without hair tied back had her face scratched by a neighbor fighting over a steamed bun. She didn’t dare cry out.
Feudal prison cells didn’t have the luxury of being unable to starve. By the end of the first day, Shen Ruyi had eaten only a dry bun.
At first, everyone had refused it, which allowed her to take one.
Later, as hunger set in and she was pushed further back in the crowd, she could no longer compete with the physically stronger maids.
The cell was crowded and dirty. Some older maids would relieve themselves where they stood after eating.
Luckily, Shen Ruyi’s short height kept her from seeing the worst, and her secret space allowed her to drink some spring water, just enough to survive.
She didn’t drink too much, though—there was no toilet, and excessive drinking would reveal her advantage.
The male members of Wu’an Marquis Mansion were likely detained elsewhere; all the women were locked up in these cells.
In the better cells were the matriarch, the wife of the Marquis, and the concubines. Their treatment was far superior: fewer people, and the jailers spoke politely.
Each received a black bun, one per person, counted carefully.
Meanwhile, crowded cells with more maids had fewer rations, and fights broke out at every meal.
Even imprisonment has class distinctions. The real beneficiaries stand to gain, yet they are treated better than the rest, Shen Ruyi thought, impressed with her own ability to complain in such a cramped, stifling environment.
“Old Madam Wu’an, Madam, the edict has arrived!”
In the dim cell, after surviving days with barely a bun a day, a sharp voice made everyone tense.
“What are you waiting for? Kneel and receive the edict!” the jailer barked, kneeling first.
Everyone knelt. Shen Ruyi’s feet were pressed by those behind her; she dared not move.
“By the mandate of Heaven, the emperor decrees… Wu’an Marquis stripped of title. All male descendants over five years old to be executed. For five generations, no participation in civil or military exams. Female members and male children under five of the Guo family to be exiled to Yongzhou. Other women and maids to be married off to border soldiers… By imperial command.”
Even the matriarch and Madame Wu’an hadn’t expected such a harsh outcome.
Maid or concubine, Shen Ruyi now realized, she too would be married off to a man she hadn’t even met.
The eunuch presenting the edict smiled at the stunned ladies:
“Old Madam Wu’an, Madam Wu’an, kneel and thank the emperor!”
Even if grief and resentment filled their hearts, they had to kowtow.
As always, survival was better than death.