The curtain of night descended, with scattered stars hanging upon it.
Palace maid uniforms had their own regulations, and the Flower House maids’ clothing was usually in pale green or pale pink. Achu could only put extra effort into her jewelry.
She chose an exquisitely embroidered pink palace gown and wrapped something soft and fluffy around her neck. Aunt Fang styled her hair in a beautiful, clever arrangement, then placed the pink floral pearl hairpin Jinzhong had given her in her hair. After lightly pursing her red lips, Achu looked at her reflection in the mirror with a touch of embarrassment.
“My Achu has safely grown another year,” Aunt Fang said. Her eyes filled with astonishment. It took her a long while to recover before she finally smiled warmly and offered her heartfelt blessing. “From now on, I only hope that my Achu will be happy, cheerful, and joyful forever, with a life filled with happiness and fulfillment.”
“I will,” Achu said sweetly, her dimples appearing. “But Auntie has to stay by my side forever and ever, too.”
Today was Achu’s seventeenth birthday, and it was also the liveliest day she had ever had.
Her quarters were piled high with countless gifts from every corner of the land, all sent by people who had been on good terms with her over the years. It was enough to show just how broad Achu’s circle of friends was.
At the small banquet, Achu chatted and laughed with everyone, the smile never leaving her lips. After they had played around for a while, it was time to eat the longevity noodles.
Achu pressed her palms together before the bowl of longevity noodles and closed her eyes, beginning her yearly birthday wish. Silently, she prayed to Heaven: “I hope that everyone I love and everyone who loves me will be safe, blessed, and healthy. I also hope that my Ama and E’ma[1]Traditional parental forms of address associated with Manchu and Qing-era households. Ama means “Father,” while E’ma is used here for “Mother,” similar to the more familiar Qing-period form … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3729181_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3729181_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); will have no worries in their next lives and be reborn into a wealthy family.”
In truth, she did not know who she was or where she had come from. She only remembered opening her eyes to see a kind Ama and E’ma before her. It was as though she had drunk half a bowl of Granny Meng’s soup[2]Known as Meng Po Tang in Chinese folklore, this is the Soup of Forgetfulness offered by Meng Po, an elderly figure of the underworld. Souls traditionally drink it before reincarnation, causing them … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3729181_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3729181_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, leaving her with only a hazy idea of her previous life. It had been a world where men and women were equal, where there were towering buildings—everything that could not be achieved here had been resolved in that world. That was also why, in this life, she had been born with a love of freedom and equality.
Unfortunately, her fate had been full of twists and hardships. In the end, she had entered the imperial palace and become a caged bird, bound and restrained. When she was eight, her hometown suffered a year of disaster. While her family was traveling to the capital to seek refuge with relatives, her parents were unfortunately infected with an epidemic along the way. They had only had time to entrust someone with sending her into the palace before they suddenly passed away.
Later, it was Aunt Fang who found someone to arrange her parents’ funeral affairs. She taught Achu to read and write and instructed her in the palace rules, exhausting herself and doing everything she could to help Achu survive in the palace. It was precisely because of this that Achu had never blamed Heaven or resented others.
Achu thought that whether in her former life or this one, she must have lived very happily, surrounded by family who loved her dearly. Thus, she hoped that both her family from her previous life and her family in this life would be well—that they would live their entire lives free of illness and calamity, safe, peaceful, and joyful.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they gradually dispersed. Some of them had duties the next day and could not stay up late.
Achu, meanwhile, carried a small oil lamp and sat beneath the corridor.
Elsewhere—
“His Majesty~” Lady Shen whined coquettishly. Wearing only her sleeping clothes, she used every means at her disposal to seduce the man lying on the bed.
The man in yellow had a handsome, clear-cut face. His expression was indifferent as he turned the pages of the book in his hand and said coldly, “Get on your knees.”
Lady Shen’s expression stiffened. Reluctantly, she knelt on the floor, yet she still refused to give up, casting watery, seductive glances at the man on the bed.
The man’s expression did not change. He did not even lower his gaze toward her.
No one would have imagined that Noble Lady Shen, who was so extravagantly favored in public, attended His Majesty in this manner. She looked just like a bedside cabinet, not even qualified to climb onto the imperial bed.
Still, it was not entirely without reason that His Majesty humiliated her so.
Lady Shen’s original name was Suochuolun A’Ruo. She had once been the most trusted maid of Consort Xian, who had later been demoted to commoner status. Back then, Noble Lady Yi had conceived a dead fetus, and the child in her womb showed signs of poisoning. The Empress discovered that it had been poisoned by mercury.
After further investigation, it was found that the charcoal burned in Noble Lady Yi’s quarters contained cinnabar[3]A cinnabar is a red mineral composed primarily of mercury sulfide, historically used as a pigment and in certain traditional preparations. Heating or burning cinnabar can release toxic mercury … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3729181_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3729181_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, which itself contained mercury.
Upon learning this, the Empress of that time ordered every consort’s palace to be searched. In the end, Sulian, the Empress’s personal maid, found a box of cinnabar beneath Consort Xian Ruyi’s dressing table and brought three young eunuchs as witnesses. But what truly sealed Ruyi’s fate was the testimony of A’Ruo, Consort Xian’s personal maid.
According to A’Ruo, Ruyi had become a ruthless and unscrupulous woman consumed by ambition. She had even blamed the Second Prince’s asthma on Ruyi, claiming that his illness was caused by Ruyi cursing him every day. Because Ruyi had adopted First Prince Yonghuang, she had developed ambitions to seize the throne, hoping to replace the heir born of the principal wife with the eldest son and make him Crown Prince.
Because the matter implicated so many people, the Empress Dowager proposed demoting Ruyi to commoner status and imprisoning her in the Cold Palace.
Hongli believed the action had been too hasty, but he was nevertheless persuaded by the Empress Dowager. As for A’Ruo, the true culprit, Hongli was furious with her. Not only did he put on the appearance of favoring her in public, provoking everyone in the harem to target her, but in private he also refused to allow her anywhere near the bed. Every night, she had to kneel while attending him.
It had to be said that this plan was exceptionally vicious. Day and night, it reminded and tormented A’Ruo: so what if she had managed to climb up? Once a servant of Consort Xian, she would be a servant for the rest of her life.
To maintain the illusion, Hongli gave Noble Lady Shen all the dignity she could want in public. Other than Li Yu, His Majesty’s personal eunuch, no one knew what happened inside the room.
At that moment, Jinzhong glanced at the increasingly dark sky outside, his expression anxious. The time of his rendezvous was nearly here, but his Master, Li Yu, and Jinbao had still not finished their business and returned. His Majesty could not be left unattended, and Jinzhong could not leave. If the central figure was absent, the other young eunuchs would be unable to handle matters. Should anything go wrong, he could lose his head.
Winter had arrived, and the weather was growing colder. Achu was physically delicate, and Jinzhong was worried that she might foolishly wait there for him. If she caught a chill, it would be disastrous. Eunuchs and palace maids had no right to see an imperial physician. If they fell ill, at most they could be forced to drink a few bowls of medicinal soup and leave the rest to fate.
Jinzhong was so anxious that he broke into a sweat despite the freezing weather.
Fortunately, after Jinzhong had waited in agonizing anticipation, Li Yu and Jinbao finally appeared.
Jinzhong reported His Majesty’s affairs for the day to Li Yu and completed the handover. Then he hurried toward the place where he and Achu had arranged to meet.
“That boy Jinzhong,” Li Yu said. “Is he rushing off to relieve himself? He didn’t even notice that he dropped his token.”
He picked up the token Jinzhong had just dropped. Losing one was no small matter—it was proof of identity for moving about the palace. Li Yu turned to Jinbao and said, “Follow Jinzhong and give him the token. Tell him not to be so careless in the future. I’ll let it go this time, but next time I won’t be so lenient.”
Jinbao accepted it and bowed. “Yes.”
Beneath a secluded corner of the corridor, Achu leaned against the railing, drowsy with sleep.
She gazed at the moon through bleary eyes, yawned, and muttered, “Why hasn’t he come yet? If he’s any later, curfew will begin.”
In the silent night came the sound of footsteps—thump, thump, thump, thump—as though whoever was approaching was in a great hurry.
Achu’s eyes lit up, and she instantly became fully awake. After spending so long together, she had long since memorized the sound of his footsteps.
“Jinzhong!” Achu lifted her skirts and ran toward him as lightly as a butterfly dancing through the air.
Achu was dressed exceptionally beautifully that day. Her pink-and-white gauze robe was embroidered with flowers in just the right places, lending her a graceful and gentle beauty. Her hair was arranged in an exquisite style, adorned only with a few scattered pink floral ornaments. Two hairpins strung with dangling beads were inserted at an angle among her locks. Her face was as lovely as peach blossoms, yet also like snow gleaming beneath a clearing sky. Her eyes held the limpid ripples of spring water, and her slender waist seemed too delicate to withstand even the slightest breeze. Her beauty was soft as jade and flowers, and the smile at the corners of her lips brought it to its fullest bloom. She was truly like a luminous pearl wrapped in a halo, like fine jade glowing with radiance—so beautiful that no one dared look directly at her.
Especially as she ran toward Jinzhong beneath the moonlight, she seemed like the moon hanging high in the heavens, fallen into the mortal world, bringing with her a beauty and shock that took one’s breath away.
At that fleeting glimpse, Jinbao could hear only the pounding of his own heart. His usually unruffled face held a rare look of panic and confusion.
This… this was Xiaozhubao?
For some unknown reason, Jinbao did not leave. Instead, he took a step back and disappeared into the darkness.
Jinzhong caught the moon running toward him. When he truly embraced her, a deep satisfaction settled in his heart, as though everything had finally fallen into place. Then he looked down at the girl in his arms with concern.
“Aren’t you cold? Why are you wearing so little?”
Achu was not cold at all. She was so happy that day she could hardly contain herself. She held Jinzhong’s face and kissed him.
“I’ve been waiting for you for so long. You have to make it up to me. Kiss me.”
She was so adorable—how was she so good at acting spoiled? Jinzhong and Jinbao thought the same thing at the same time.
The two of them lingered together affectionately for quite a while. One day apart felt like three autumns, and they had already spent so, so many autumns apart. Naturally, Achu was reluctant to let him go. Deep in the sweet stage of love, she was exceptionally clingy.
Suddenly, she felt something cold against her face. Achu instinctively reached out to catch it.
“It’s snowing.”
A small, snow-white flake landed in her palm.
Gradually, more and more snowflakes began to fall, dancing through the sky.
Achu could not help laughing. She glanced at the snow settling on her own head, then at the flecks of snow caught in Jinzhong’s braid.
“Like this, we count as growing old together in another way.”
Jinzhong froze. Then he murmured uncertainly, “Growing old together? You… and me?”
Achu grabbed him by the collar. Her gentle gaze slowly turned fierce.
“If it isn’t you, then who? You bastard. Are you planning to abandon me after having your way with me?”
Jinzhong could not conceal his inferiority. He turned his head aside and said with difficulty, “You still have a chance, Achu… I’m a eunuch. I’m a servant… I…”
The longer they were together, the more Jinzhong came to understand how wonderful Achu was. He had once been a sinister and ruthless man who would stop at nothing for his ambitions. He could debase himself without hesitation, bowing and scraping like a dog to curry favor with others. But Achu was different. She had been gentle and broad-minded from birth. In her eyes, everything in the world was beautiful. Her soul was pure and free, warm and completely out of place in this deep imperial palace.
He loved her. Perhaps the old Jinzhong, driven by the love in his heart, would have used every scheme at his disposal—even if it meant dying, he would have made Achu remember him and secured a place in her heart. But after being warmed by Achu day after day and night after night, he thought that before Achu, he wanted to stand upright and be a man.
“You’re asking to die!”
For the first time, Achu felt as though she was about to be dumped. Furious and embarrassed, she seized his ear and twisted it a full three hundred and sixty degrees, completely interrupting Jinzhong’s sorrowful self-pity, which had been filled with his idealized image of Achu.
“If you say something like that again, I’ll never speak to you again.”
Jinzhong, who was normally so awe-inspiring outside, immediately begged for mercy and tried to appease her.
“I was wrong, I was wrong. Achu, don’t let yourself get worked up and make yourself ill.”
Did Achu love Jinzhong? She liked him—perhaps eighty percent—but it was far from love. In Achu’s eyes, as long as a romantic relationship was happy, that was enough. As for everything else, let the floods swallow the sky for all she cared. But one thing was important: she did like Jinzhong. At first, it was because he was a handsome eunuch. Later, it was because of his genuine feelings for her.
People were not made of grass or wood; how could they be without feeling? Achu did not consider herself heartless, and she could not trample on another person’s sincerity. But she did not like Jinzhong constantly retreating from their relationship out of inferiority. Feelings could not withstand endless erosion. She had already walked ninety-nine steps. The final step had to be taken by Jinzhong himself.
Achu released his ear and looked at him solemnly.
“You’re always the one giving me the chance to choose. This time, it’s my turn.”
“This is the only chance you’ll get. In my entire life, I’ll only say this once.”
“We’ve known each other for only a few short months, but to me, you are the person who has treated me best without asking for anything in return, apart from Auntie. You always think that you aren’t worthy of me, that I deserve someone better. Because I’m beautiful, you think that whether I leave the palace to marry or enter the inner palace, I would be making the best choice. But how do you know that either of those is what I want?”
“Auntie says you can’t give me everything a woman should have, but I don’t need those things. Having children and grandchildren filling the halls may be a blessing for other women, but to me, it would be a passage through the gates of death. Giving birth has always been a near-death experience. I’m selfish. I love jewelry and ornaments, storybooks and pastries, and everything beautiful in this world. I want to live to a hundred, to live without worries. Everyone has to die eventually. Since that is so, why not live according to our own hearts?”
These words might have been rebellious and contrary to convention, but they were Achu’s true thoughts. She spoke earnestly about what she believed, never realizing what sort of storm her words would bring to the two of them.
“In short, I don’t want to leave the palace and marry, and I don’t want to enter the inner palace either.”
Achu reached out her hand to Jinzhong. Her tone was firm and left no room for argument.
“You choose. If you choose me, then you have to walk forward with me seriously. Don’t say things like you don’t want to hold me back anymore. For the rest of our lives, as long as you don’t let go of my hand, I will never leave your side. But if you want to give up now, then we’ll treat everything that happened between us as nothing more than a dream. From this day on, we’ll part and go our separate—mmph…”
Jinzhong hurriedly covered her mouth and clasped her hand. His eyes reddened.
“Don’t say things like that. My heart hurts when I hear them. I choose you. I choose you.”
Achu rolled her eyes at him.
“Since you know how awful it feels, let’s see if you dare do it again.”
Jinzhong immediately begged for forgiveness, fawning over Achu and trying every possible way to please her. Before long, he had coaxed her into smiling brightly again.
The two of them remained sweetly entwined, leaving Jinbao alone in the corner, staring dazedly at the girl whose smiling face looked like a painting beneath the moonlight. For the first time, he felt a fierce jealousy toward Jinzhong, along with an intense longing.
If only that gentle and unwavering choice had been a choice of him.
Everyone longed for another person’s one-of-a-kind favor. Unfortunately, he had not been blessed with such good fortune.
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