In the secluded Flower House, a figure clad in green was rushing about. The slender young girl struggled to move heavy flowerpots, fine beads of sweat sliding down her fair face. Tears filled her eyes, while her swollen, reddened hands made it clear that she had been bullied terribly.
“What happened to her?” Achu asked curiously when she saw an unfamiliar face—and a young beauty at that.
The Flower House was neither a good nor a bad place. Anyone with even a little ambition would never choose to come here. This job offered no chance to appear before the nobles and earn rewards, and if anything went wrong with the flowers and plants they tended, it was the little palace maids and eunuchs responsible for them who would be punished.
Achu was not short of money, and with Aunt Fang backing her, most of the work at the Flower House was leisurely. It suited Achu’s lazy temperament quite well, so she felt that staying there was not bad at all. But seeing the little palace maid’s aggrieved, timid expression, as well as the deliberate way the servants below were making things difficult for her, Achu knew that she had certainly not come to the Flower House of her own accord.
“This girl is Wei Yingwan. She was originally the First Prince’s personal palace maid.”
Aunt Fang dabbed at her lips with a handkerchief and explained gently, “Because her birth details were considered inauspicious for His Majesty and the First Prince, she was demoted to the Flower House. The people above even sent someone down to say that she was to be ‘properly looked after.’” By the end, there was a meaningful undertone to Aunt Fang’s voice.
As a bystander, Aunt Fang saw things clearly. A gentle and charming beauty in the prime of youth had been sent to this place, where there was not the slightest bit of grease to be gained, to perform heavy labor. What other reason could there be? She had merely displeased some noble person.
Seeing Achu’s innocent, guileless expression, Aunt Fang grew even more worried. The older this child grew, the more extraordinarily beautiful she became. Even Aunt Fang, who had watched her grow up, would find herself lost in every frown and smile of hers.
If Achu had been a daughter from a wealthy and distinguished family, Aunt Fang would not have been so anxious. The family behind her would have been powerful enough to protect her from anything. But Achu was not. That face had been given to a little palace maid whose parents were both dead. It was a calamity, not a blessing. A single word from someone above could cost Achu her life.
Aunt Fang lifted Achu’s face tenderly. “Have you been bored staying in the courtyard these past few days?”
Achu shook her head. Then, her expression brightened as she pulled several handkerchiefs from her sleeve. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, and her whole face practically begged for praise. “Aunt, look at the handkerchiefs I embroidered for you.”
In truth, she had not been idle while staying in the courtyard these past few days. She had worked hard at embroidery because Aunt Fang’s birthday was only a few months away. Achu planned to embroider several more handkerchiefs to practice her skills, then make Aunt Fang a sleeping robe.
She was clever, but simply too lazy. Aside from cultivating flowers and studying medicine, at which she was meticulous, she was careless about everything else. Embroidery in particular had been her least favorite subject when she was young. Whenever embroidery lessons came around, Achu would cry until her eyes were brimming with tears, acting spoiled and pitiful until she softened the heart of the stern Aunt Fang, who had never indulged children. Once that heart softened, it remained so for more than a decade.
Yet as she gradually grew older, Achu had unexpectedly developed an interest in embroidery, which left Aunt Fang utterly perplexed.
Aunt Fang held the plain, unremarkable handkerchief in her hands and felt that there was nothing whatsoever wrong with it. Every stitch seemed to reach straight into her heart. “Look at these stitches. You’ve truly improved by leaps and bounds. My Achu really is clever.”
Her words were filled with delight. After all, in Aunt Fang’s eyes, even if Achu had handed her a rag, it would still have been creative and filial.
Achu was overjoyed inside, but on the surface she merely lifted her head with restrained pride and said, “Of course. Who taught me, after all?” She made Aunt Fang laugh so hard that she could hardly close her mouth.
As for the young beauty who was as delicate and appealing as a flower, Achu did not interfere much because of the instructions from above. She only mentioned that there was no problem with making her do heavy work, but they still had to let her eat her fill. Otherwise, if she fainted, it would only cause trouble for the Flower House.
As the manager in charge of changes to the positions of palace maids and eunuchs, Aunt Fang wielded considerable authority. Otherwise, she would never have been able to protect Achu and keep her safe all these years. This small matter was no more than a gesture of goodwill. After she said a word to the people below, Wei Yingwan’s days became considerably easier than before.
There were no lamps along the narrow path. Only the faint light of the stars and moon barely illuminated everything in the courtyard. The cool night wind rushed past, bringing with it a chill.
On such a peaceful and tranquil night, sobbing could be heard from somewhere nearby. The weeping was very quiet, and it was clear that its owner was trying desperately to restrain her emotions, afraid of disturbing anyone else.
Wei Yingwan came from the Lower Five Banners. Her father had died when she was young, and her mother favored sons over daughters. Other than asking her for money, her mother never contacted her. Life was difficult for her, yet she still sent her monthly allowance home every month.
She had suffered through many hardships, rising from a lowly maid in the Fourth Storage Bureau to a maid in Zhongcui Palace, and then becoming the First Prince’s personal palace maid. Yet overnight, she had been sent to the Flower House and subjected to endless bullying. She did not even understand how she had offended Consort Chun.
She hated the eunuchs who fawned on the powerful and trampled on the weak. She hated the palace maids who bullied her recklessly. Even more, she hated those noble people high above in the palace. With a single word, they could destroy more than a decade of her efforts. But she could not hate them openly, because she was only a palace maid, a slave. If they crushed her to death, then they had crushed her to death. That was simply the fate of someone like her.
Wei Yingwan could not conceal the grief and hatred in her heart, yet she was unwilling to cry in front of the people who bullied her. Thus, she secretly hid in a corner of the Flower House. Her heart was filled with confusion. Could it be that she really had no choice but to resign herself to fate?
At this point, she had not yet experienced very much, and naturally had none of the shrewd independence she would later develop. Faced with an environment where anyone could bully her, how could she not feel despair?
“Wei Yingwan?”
The gentle, melodious voice was filled with uncertainty. Its sudden arrival broke through Wei Yingwan’s immersion in her dejected emotions.
She hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and instinctively lowered her head, shrinking back as she apologized. “I’m sorry, I… I’ll go back right away.” Yet curiosity toward the woman with such a soul-stirring voice overcame her, and she could not help raising her head for a furtive glance.
With that one glance, she felt as though she had been transported into an incomparably magnificent and wondrous dream. The beauty before her was impossible to describe in words, leaving her so stunned and flustered that she no longer knew what day or night it was.
Wei Yingwan had previously been a maid in Zhongcui Palace, so she had naturally seen all the consorts in the palace. There was Consort Chun, with her tranquil beauty; Noble Lady Hai, pure and ethereal; Noble Consort Hui, whose beauty surpassed all the others; and Consort Jia, alluring and enchanting, her every movement graceful and captivating.
The flowers of the imperial harem bloomed in profusion, each with her own distinctive beauty. Of them all, Consort Jia’s appearance was the most outstanding, and she was currently the Emperor’s most favored consort. Yet today, Wei Yingwan realized that she had been nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well. All the spring beauty in the palace could not suppress this young girl’s radiance. Instead, it was rendered dull and colorless by comparison.
Such beauty made Wei Yingwan’s heart flutter despite herself. She instinctively covered her own face, unwilling to let the girl see her in such a wretched state. If she offended this “immortal from Heaven” by sullying her eyes and making her dislike her, Wei Yingwan would have no face left to live in this world.
Achu was amused by Wei Yingwan’s reaction. So she was a little flower cat who cared about her appearance.
Achu had always been fond of delicate, beautiful girls. Now that she had discovered that Wei Yingwan’s personality was adorable as well, she took an even greater liking to her. Pinching one corner of her handkerchief, Achu gently wiped Wei Yingwan’s tear-reddened eyes and said with pity, “You really are a pretty little flower cat.”
Wei Yingwan’s face suddenly flushed bright red, and her heart began to beat abnormally fast. She was young, and her self-control was inadequate. Faced with a woman so tender and graceful, so delicate and dazzling, she simply could not conceal the stirrings of her heart.
Besides… besides, how many people could refuse the girl’s tender, affectionate gaze? Wei Yingwan considered herself an ordinary person.
Wei Yingwan had a very happy time that night. She spoke of many things she had kept bottled up inside, ate delicious pastries, and went treasure hunting on an adventure through the Flower House. For the first time, she even felt that tending flowers was an interesting thing to do.
Wei Yingwan thought that if she stayed in the Flower House for the rest of her life, it would not be such a bad thing after all. They said that a beauty’s embrace was a hero’s grave. Though Wei Yingwan was only a young woman, she had to admit that she had truly fallen.
Life at the Flower House gradually settled into a routine, and the two of them grew closer and closer.
Because Wei Yingwan had grown up watching people’s expressions, she was exceptionally perceptive and considerate in everything she did. Through her sincere treatment of others, she won Achu’s affection in a very short time and became her best companion.
Whenever she had free time, Achu also became Wei Yingwan’s little master, teaching her to read and write, tend flowers, and care for plants. The ordinary days became more interesting with Wei Yingwan around.