"What?" Zhuang Yunlan looked at Song Miaorong with some surprise, following her lead in asking.
Her main curiosity wasn't so much about what the Crown Princess had said, but rather how Song Miaorong had come to know about it.
Zhuang Yunlan had always thought that Zhaoyi of the Crown Prince was quite tight-lipped. Since the matter was something the Crown Princess had discussed with her privately, unless the Crown Princess had authorized it, Zhaoyi of the Crown Prince would never have told anyone.
Not even Song Miaorong, and likely not even Jieyu Chu—Zhaoyi of the Crown Prince probably wouldn't have said a word.
Could it really be that some disaster had struck somewhere, and the Crown Princess had dropped a hint to Zhaoyi of the Crown Prince, wanting to see if the concubines in the Eastern Palace were willing to contribute silver to aid in disaster relief?
Zhuang Yunlan couldn't help but straighten up and look at Song Miaorong.
Song Miaorong, with a mix of mystery and excitement, leaned in and whispered, "The Crown Princess might be planning to ask the Empress for a favor on behalf of Zhaoyi, to allow her to meet with her family."
"Ah?" Zhuang Yunlan was taken aback.
According to the palace regulations of the Jing Dynasty, only the principal consorts in the Emperor's harem were granted the privilege of meeting their families once a year. In the Eastern Palace, the only one who enjoyed such an honor was the Crown Princess.
Zhuang Yunlan asked, "Did Shen Zhao Yi tell you this?"
Song Miaorong picked up a piece of milk skin pastry and ate it, shaking her head. "How could that be? Zhaoyi would never tell me this. It was one of her second-rank palace maids—apparently from the same hometown as Zhaoyi—who somehow found out about it and wanted to ask Zhaoyi's major palace maid to plead on her behalf, to allow her to send some silver home during this opportunity. Coincidentally, my palace maid overheard it. But, I don't think Zhaoyi is likely to agree."
Zhuang Yunlan also felt it was unlikely.
"Your pastries here are quite delicious," Song Miaorong said after finishing the milk skin pastry, continuing, "I suspect that the Crown Princess might feel she didn't have a say in Jieyu Chu's entry into the Inner Anle Hall and is worried that Zhaoyi might hold a grudge against her for it. She probably intends to grant Zhaoyi a favor as a gesture. I wonder if the Empress will agree. Sister Zhuang…"
Song Miaorong picked up another milk skin pastry, but her mood visibly darkened. She said, "Do you think we'll ever have the chance to see our families again? I miss my parents a lot."
They had spent a year learning etiquette, and after their conferment, they had been in the Eastern Palace for several months. It had indeed been a long time since they left home.
Zhuang Yunlan also felt somewhat lost.
It was certainly impossible during their time in the Eastern Palace, but what about after the Crown Prince ascends the throne?
Due to the Taizu Emperor's humble origins, the concubine system of the Jing Dynasty was established rather hastily.
The civil and military officials who, like the Taizu Emperor, rose from nothing and followed him in conquering the realm were quite adept at seizing power, but they clearly hadn't mastered the skill of delineating the hierarchical ranks of the Emperor's concubines.
They considered referencing the Previous Dynasty, but unfortunately, the Previous Dynasty was ruled by foreign tribes, and titles like "Great Consort" or "Second Consort" were simply unusable.
Looking further back, titles such as "Four Consorts, Nine Concubines, and Eighty-One Imperial Wives" were so complex that they were headache-inducing at first glance, and no one had the time to study them.
In the end, these officials, amidst their busy schedules, managed to carve out some time to scratch their heads and piece together a system, finally determining over a dozen concubine titles for the Emperor. Below the Empress, the ranks were: Imperial Noble Consort, Noble Consort, Consort, Concubine, Zhaoyi, Jieyu, Guiren, Meiren, Cairen, Xuanshi, and Shunü.
Even the ranking system for the emperor's concubines had been simplified to such an extent. When it came to the concubines of the Eastern Palace, specialized ranks for the Crown Prince's consorts like Liangdi and Chenghui were even less researched. They simply referenced the imperial consort system and established a simplified version, which in order was: Crown Princess, Crown Prince Cifei, Crown Prince Pin, Zhaoyi of the Crown Prince, Crown Prince's Jieyu, Cairen of the Crown Prince, and Crown Prince Xuanshi.
Zhuang Yunlan's rank was second to last, meaning even special favors wouldn’t reach her. If she wanted to see her family, the earliest she could hope for would be after the Crown Prince ascended the throne, and even then, she would need to be granted a principal position—specifically, the rank of Concubine.
According to convention, after the Crown Prince ascended the throne, Shen Zhao Yi would likely be granted the rank of Consort, or at the very least, Concubine. However, concubines like Zhuang Yunlan wouldn’t be so fortunate.
Before, she could still deceive herself, comforting herself with the thought that it was just a matter of not being able to return home. From university to work, opportunities to go home had always been scarce.
But after Song Miaorong asked that question, Zhuang Yunlan realized she could no longer continue lying to herself.
This wasn’t like her work in her previous life.
From the moment she was forced onto the Flower and Bird Envoy’s carriage, she might never see her family again in this lifetime.
What could she do?
Beg the Crown Prince to grant her the rank of Concubine after his ascension? Zhuang Yunlan didn’t even dare to think about it.
Build a good relationship with the Crown Princess and ask her for a favor? But the Crown Princess was pregnant, and her pregnancy was particularly difficult. If she got too close and something went wrong, she might even lose her life.
With no solution in sight, both Zhuang Yunlan and Song Miaorong fell silent.
The two sighed and continued eating.
After Song Miaorong got up and left, Haitang and the others began trying to cheer up their mistress.
It was then that Zhuang Yunlan realized that serving in the palace involved far more than just pouring tea and water. Palace maids and inner officials truly possessed a wide range of skills.
Take Shuanglu, for example.
When Zhuang Yunlan was learning etiquette at Qionghua Palace, the female officials had taught it.
Their expectation for these prospective concubines of the Eastern Palace was to lose gracefully.
In other words, to allow the Crown Prince to experience the joy of a well-matched game before winning narrowly and happily.
But Zhuang Yunlan had only learned it passably, and after entering the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince had never played it with her.
Not only did she not know the Crown Prince’s skill level at Shuanglu, she didn’t even know if he played it at all.
However, Shaoyao’s skill at Shuanglu genuinely allowed Zhuang Yunlan to experience the kind of joy His Highness the Crown Prince would ideally enjoy.
After playing ten rounds, Zhuang Yunlan won them all, and she never once felt that Shaoyao was unskilled. Instead, each time, she felt she was on the verge of losing before the situation turned around, allowing her to win narrowly and fully savor the joy of victory.
By the sixth win, Zhuang Yunlan even thought she had met her match, believing she was only slightly better than Shaoyao and had a bit more luck.
But after ten rounds of winning in the same way, Zhuang Yunlan finally understood—she was the unskilled one.
Yet she didn’t feel the slightest displeasure; in fact, her earlier sadness had dissipated considerably.
As the saying goes, comparing oneself to others can be infuriating, but the reverse also holds true.
Before, Zhuang Yunlan had felt pitiful, but now she realized that everyone around her was equally pitiable.
At least when she was sad, someone tried to comfort her. But these palace maids and inner officials only had the role of comforting others. If they were unlucky enough to serve a master who didn’t treat them as human beings, they would have no one to cry to when beaten or scolded, and no one would speak a word on their behalf.
Zhuang Yunlan did not have the courage to issue revolutionary declarations to these fellow sufferers. Words about equality for all—if she uttered them now, she would immediately become a corpse in the mass graves, without even waiting until tomorrow.
Zhuang Yunlan could only express her feelings toward them with money.
After distributing the money, Zhuang Yunlan chatted with a few palace maids.
She learned where they were from and how they had entered the palace.
It was… truly a case of each having their own tragic story.
But the palace maids could not say they were unfortunate.
On the contrary, they had to smile and express how lucky they were to have entered the imperial palace, to serve the noble Guiren of the royal family, and to work for the imperial household—what a blessed thing it was.
Zhuang Yunlan: … If given a choice, most people probably would not choose this kind of "blessing."
She patted the palace maids who were smiling with upturned lips, silently expressing her understanding and sympathy for these unfortunate comrades. The palace maids, in turn, thanked their mistress for her kindness with sincere gazes.
After this emotional exchange, Zhuang Yunlan felt that the people in the Western Side Hall seemed to treat her even better.