In the twenty-third year of Kangxi, on the twenty-eighth day of the eleventh month, at zi hour, the imperial carriage arrived at Nanyuan Wharf deep in the night.
Kangxi, in order not to make a big commotion and disturb the people, specially had an edict conveyed in advance, instructing the court officials and the concubines of the inner palace not to come out to receive the imperial return, and he also chose to return to the capital in the dead of night.
Because the capital had a curfew, in the deep night there was no one in the capital except the imperial guards on patrol, and the imperial carriage returned to the Forbidden City very easily.
When Cao Yue’s carriage entered through Shenwu Gate, Cao Yue lifted the curtain open a slit, looked at the empty square before Taihe Hall in the distance and the palace walls standing in the darkness, which she could not see clearly, and took a deep breath.
From this moment on, the imperial palace would be the battlefield of the second half of her life.
After two ke, the carriage stopped. Cao Yue supported herself on An Ping’s hand and got down from the carriage, and then saw Kangxi not far ahead, who had also just gotten down from his carriage, smiling as he walked toward her: “There are still less than an hour until dawn. You should first go back to Jingren Palace and rest for a while. I still have a lot to do, and when I have time, I will go see you.”
Under the illumination of the palace lanterns, Cao Yue pressed her lips together. Though there was reluctance in her eyes, in the end she still sensibly nodded: “Then this concubine will return first.”
Kangxi reached out to help Cao Yue draw the greatcloak around her front, his thumb brushing across her cheek: “You have only just arrived, and there are many things you are unfamiliar with. I will order Wei Zhu to go to Jingren Palace to assist you in handling things. If there is anything, tell him. Remember that?”
Cao Yue nodded again. Watching Kangxi get onto the imperial guard of honor, the manager eunuch of Jingren Palace then led the servants of Jingren Palace forward to kneel and pay respects: “This servant, the manager eunuch of Jingren Palace, An Shun, pays respect to Lady Zhaobin. May Lady Zhaobin be blessed with great fortune and peace.”
Cao Yue lowered her eyes and glanced at An Shun, but because An Shun had his forehead pressed to the ground, she could not see his face clearly: “Get up. Return to Jingren Palace first, and talk about the other matters after we get back.”
“Yes.”
An Shun hurriedly crawled up from the ground, patted his sleeves, and eagerly stepped forward, stretching out an arm as if to support Cao Yue: “It is dark, this servant will support Your Ladyship.”
Cao Yue did not refuse either. She turned her head and gave An Ping a look, and An Ping then stepped back two paces, allowing An Shun to replace her position.
Jingren Palace and Yongshou Palace stood side by side, both on either side of Qianqing Palace. Their geographical positions went without saying, only Jingren Palace was not as large as Yongshou Palace.
On the way back, when An Shun saw Cao Yue lifting the curtain and sweeping her gaze around, An Shun rolled his eyes and started taking the initiative to explain: “Jingren Palace is not far from Chengqian Palace, right in front of Chengqian Palace. In the future, when Your Ladyship goes to Chengqian Palace to pay respects to Noble Consort, it will be more convenient. As for the east side of Jingren Palace, that is Yanxi Palace, where Noble Consort Rong is staying…”
All along the way An Shun’s mouth never stopped. Only when the warming sedan entered Jingren Palace, and Cao Yue got down from the warming sedan, did An Shun grin and slap his own mouth: “Look at this servant’s mouth, it still talks too much. I forgot that Your Ladyship has traveled by carriage and boat all the way and should first rest. This servant has already ordered hot water to be prepared. Does Your Ladyship want to bathe and rest first?”
Though he said that, An Shun’s side glance had been paying attention to Cao Yue’s expression the whole time. Seeing that Cao Yue showed not a trace of impatience, he knew that his flattering had been effective.
On top of that, at the square earlier, the Emperor had spoken to Lady Zhaobin in a warm and gentle manner, caring and attentive. At a glance it was obvious that he especially favored Lady Zhaobin. It was not in vain that he had emptied out all his savings just to come serve in Jingren Palace.
Cao Yue swept a glance at An Ning and said nothing. An Ning took a purse from her sleeve and stuffed it into An Shun’s hand: “Manager An’s arrangements are very proper, so let it be like this for now. Your Ladyship is tired. After she has rested, she will receive the people of Jingren Palace.”
An Shun felt the heavy purse in his hand and grinned broadly: “Yes, yes, yes, this servant will take Your Ladyship to the main hall right away. As for those cages and boxes, shall this servant first have people carry them to the storeroom?”
“Excellent.” Cao Yue finally spoke. “Your arrangements are very appropriate. Let it be this way.”
After speaking, she had An Shun lead her to the main hall, and then used washing up as an excuse to shut him outside the door.
An Shun glanced at the tightly closed vermilion palace door, raised his hand and smoothed the air over his chest. Good heavens, Lady Zhaobin really was as beautiful as the rumors said, like a fairy, and her voice was also pleasant. It was just that aside from being gentle toward the Emperor, she was cold and distant at other times.
After catching his breath, he looked up at the group of palace maids and eunuchs on the moon terrace, and An Shun hurriedly waved his hand to send them off to do their own work. He himself stood guard outside personally, in case his master suddenly sent for someone.
Cao Yue entered the main hall and did not rush to go to the bath chamber behind the sleeping quarters to bathe. Instead, she wandered casually around the five rooms of the main hall. Her flower-pot-bottom shoes sometimes stepped on the hard blue bricks, making crisp sounds, and sometimes stepped on the thick wool carpet, making muffled sounds.
After An Ping checked some of the dirty things in the hall, her face also became especially ugly: “A lot of the things in the hall have been soaked in medicine. Either they are the kind that make women unable to bear children, or they can make women weaken day by day, until…” their fragrance fades and their jade body perishes.
Since she was skilled in fragrance blending, she must also have some knowledge of medical principles, especially regarding these sinister medicines, and she understood them even more.
Who knew how long had passed. Cao Yue looked at the pair of extremely valuable porcelain vases set before her and gave a cold laugh: “The moment I entered the palace, they gave me such a big gift. It really makes me flattered beyond measure. However, although these things are underhanded, there is no problem with them for the short term, so there is no need to deal with them for now.”
Cao Yue had stood until she was tired, so she sat down at the main seat in the main hall and said with a light smile: “Just now, while following behind the warming sedan, what did you see?”
An Ning stepped forward and knelt at Cao Yue’s feet, slowly massaging Cao Yue’s legs and feet. An Ping’s gaze was dark: “There were a few servants probing for information from the shadows. They may have been sent by the various palaces. This servant did not see where the others went back to, only one of them went into Chengqian Palace.”
Thinking of the position of Chengqian Palace that An Shun had mentioned, An Ping accurately reported the name Chengqian Palace.
Cao Yue’s slender fingertips tapped the armrest of the throne, and she said in understanding, “Looks like some people are very impatient.”
She was going to appear in the harem sooner or later, but they could not even wait for this little bit of time and still had to send people to investigate. In the middle of the night like this, what could they possibly see?
“Oh right, did An Shun also say just now that everything in Jingren Palace was handled by the Empress Dowager?”
An Ning thought for a moment and nodded in confirmation: “Yes, you remembered correctly.”
At that, Cao Yue smiled in amusement: “If that is the case, then this account, this palace will first remember it on the head of the Empress Dowager.”
Since everything in Jingren Palace had passed through her hands, then the dirty things in this hall, even if she had not arranged them, she would certainly know about them.
Since the Empress Dowager was not clean in this matter, then she would first return the favor and make some appetizers for the Empress Dowager, and properly repay her for this round.
An Ning and An Ping had long been thoroughly familiar with Cao Yue’s temperament, so when they heard Cao Yue say this, neither of them even raised an eyebrow. An Ning even looked a little excited: “Then Your Ladyship, what are you planning to do?”
Cao Yue glanced at An Ning and said meaningfully: “It is said that the palace has an unwritten rule. If the Emperor has gone a long time without entering the harem, then when he does enter the harem, he will definitely go first to the palace of the person with the highest rank, so as to preserve that person’s face.”
And Kangxi had been on southern inspection for more than two months, and the Empress Dowager’s health was not very good. Even if Kangxi was busy today, no matter what, he would have to make time to go to Chengqian Palace to comfort the Empress Dowager.
An Ning’s eyes lit up, and she looked up and exchanged a glance with An Ping: “This servant knows what to do.”
An Ping hesitated for a moment. She was not as excited as An Ning: “But Your Ladyship, if we do this, wouldn’t that mean that just after entering the palace, we will offend the Empress Dowager?”
After all, no one else knew about these dirty things in Jingren Palace, and if they did this, it would be openly slapping the Empress Dowager’s face.
Cao Yue closed her eyes, which were slightly sore, and said heavily, “So what? Just relying on the filthy things all over this hall, this palace will not let her off easily.”
Besides, if this matter succeeded, it would also be a good time for her to establish her authority in the harem. In the future, when others wanted to make any crooked schemes, they would have to weigh it carefully.
After careful thought, An Ping felt that doing this had more advantages than disadvantages, so she did not continue persuading, and together with An Ning she served Cao Yue in bathing and changing clothes.
After a round of washing up, it was already past half of yin hour. Cao Yue lay on the bed that had already been fitted with fresh bedding, and she had no trace of sleepiness at all: “That An Shun today did things quite diligently and thoroughly.”
An Ning spread out the bedding under the footrest: “Does Your Ladyship want to use him?”
“Mm.” Thinking of the long list of names that Cao Yin had privately given her in Jiangning, Cao Yue sighed with emotion, “This palace has just entered the palace, and everyone in the entire palace is watching this palace. The people Big Brother gave me definitely cannot be used. An Shun is the manager eunuch of Jingren Palace. If he is useful, this palace will save a lot of trouble.”
Cao Yin had once served for many years as an imperial guard at court. He definitely had connections in the palace, but most of those connections were in the Imperial Household Department and among the guards, not in the Palace Service Department, and not in the harem. If she wanted to make use of these people, she would surely have to spend a lot of effort.
And after so many years, even Cao Yin himself could not guarantee whether there were any among those people who had betrayed their master, so she was even less able to trust those people casually.
An Ning burrowed into the quilt, and when her feet touched the warm foot-warmer, she instantly felt much more comfortable: “Since Your Ladyship values An Shun, then on ordinary days this servant and An Ping will pay more attention to him.”
Having been tired for an entire day, An Ning fell asleep as she spoke.
Cao Yue let out a silent sigh, and also closed her eyes to rest. Since she could not sleep, it was good to nourish her spirit.
Time passed little by little. After mao hour, palace lanterns gradually lit up in the various palaces, and outside Chengqian Palace, quite a few concubines also gradually gathered, waiting for the hour to arrive so they could go pay respects to the Empress Dowager.
At this time, the Noble Consort and the Four Consorts had not yet arrived, and those who came first were all the lower-ranking concubines and lesser concubines below the rank of concubine.
When Concubine An Li Shi brought the lower-ranking concubines from Qixiang Palace over, she saw that Concubine Duan and the others had already arrived.
She looked around and saw that the faces in the crowd were all familiar ones, and could not help but let out a yelp: “Has Lady Zhaobin not come yet? On the very first day of paying respects to the Empress Dowager, and she is already so lax?”
One of the servants sent to probe for information had been sent by her. After that servant returned, he had described Lady Zhaobin in front of her as plain and ordinary. Concubine An could not restrain her curiosity, so she came very early, just wanting to see with her own eyes what kind of plain and ordinary appearance Lady Zhaobin had.
Who knew that even she, the first among the concubines, had already arrived, while Lady Zhaobin living in Jingren Palace had not shown up, not even a shadow of her was seen.
Consort Xi Hesheli shook her handkerchief and turned her head to look twice toward the direction of Jingren Palace on the south side of East Main Street. She giggled and said, “In the end, she is of bannerman servant origin. It is not strange that she does not know the rules.”
Before Cao Yue had even formally made her appearance, Consort Xi had already slapped the label of not knowing the rules onto Cao Yue’s head.
After she finished speaking, Consort Xi was about to say something more, who knew that when she saw Consort De not far away walking over while supporting a palace maid’s hand, the smile on her face instantly froze.
Consort De walked slowly and unhurriedly to in front of Consort Xi. Looking at Consort Xi crouching down in greeting, she did not tell her to rise, and only stared at Consort Xi as she asked, “What was Younger Sister Xi just saying?”