Before Yun Jiao could speak, Sun Changzai swayed in gracefully.
Sun Changzai waited a moment, and when she saw that Yun Jiao didn’t rise to greet her, she sat down without the slightest embarrassment: “I missed you so much that I came in on my own. You won’t blame me, will you?”
But Yun Jiao looked around instead: “Does Sun Changzai have a sister working as a palace maid in my room?”
Sun Changzai: “Of course not.”
Yun Jiao looked puzzled: “Then you said you missed your sister terribly. Who is this sister of yours?”
It couldn’t be her!
Sun Changzai choked, a hint of grievance appearing on her face:
“So it seems only I consider myself as close as sisters with Consort Xi.”
These words carried weight.
In the rear palace, superficial courtesy was essential. Since they all served His Majesty, they maintained a semblance of closeness when meeting to avoid becoming sources of discord in the harem. Much like in modern workplaces—where those with strong skills, powerful backing, or indifference to their jobs could act freely—most people maintained harmonious but shallow relationships with colleagues to avoid awkwardness.
According to social conventions, Sun Changzai felt there was nothing wrong with calling her “sister.”
Unfortunately, with Yun Jiao who had never worked a day in her life, social conventions only turned into social disasters.
Yun Jiao: “There was still a chance before entering the palace, but it’s difficult now.”
Sun Changzai was startled: “Is it because of rivalry for favor and rank that Consort Xi holds a grudge against me?”
“No,” Yun Jiao sighed with regret: “To become sworn sisters, you’d have to acknowledge my father as your sworn father. After entering the palace, it’s inconvenient to meet with men from outside.”
…
Sun Changzai’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Yun Jiao remained completely unruffled.
When others acted shameless, she went mad—they all had bright futures ahead.
Xue Ya and Gong Mei, who were listening nearby, thought that with things having reached this point, Sun Changzai would surely storm off in anger. Yet she didn’t. Instead, she collected herself and forcefully changed the subject: “Living in the same palace is fate. I came with the intention of befriending Consort Xi, especially since we’ve met once before—at the Duke’s birthday banquet. I exchanged a few words with you then. You might not remember, but I just recalled this connection. We should look out for each other from now on.”
All of the above was completely fabricated.
Sun Changzai’s father held a high official position. If not for Yun Jiao sharing Xianfu Palace with her and having gained imperial favor, these two daughters of officials would never have crossed paths in their lives. Before coming, Sun Changzai had thought long and hard but couldn’t recall ever meeting Yun Jiao before. She finally settled on the safest option—the Duke’s sixtieth birthday banquet, where all officials in the capital attended with their families.
Yun Jiao: “Sun Changzai must be mistaken.”
Sun Changzai expressed surprise: “How could that be? I suppose my appearance is too ordinary to leave an impression on you.”
“The Duke didn’t invite my father to his sixtieth birthday banquet. My father cried in our residence for three days about not bullying the middle-aged poor. I remember it quite clearly.”
All capital officials sent congratulations.
(Parenthesis: except for those insignificant minor officials.)
Sun Changzai’s smile froze, and she stammered to find comforting words: “Lack of career success in middle age must mean the timing isn’t right yet. Your esteemed father needn’t dwell on it.”
Though she said this, inwardly she thought Consort Xi’s family background was truly inferior—not even qualified to attend the Duke’s birthday banquet. It was just her daughter’s good fortune to have been the first to serve the Emperor after entering the palace… Compared to Consort Xi’s useless father, her own father was much more capable.
“It’s also fortunate that my father, having drifted through half his life, still has you, Sun Changzai, wanting to acknowledge him as your sworn father.”
Yun Jiao gazed at her with heartfelt appreciation.
Sun Changzai: “…”
She desperately wanted to flee, but couldn’t: “I beg Consort Xi not to mention this matter again.”
Sun Changzai had entered the palace during the last imperial selection. After serving the Emperor twice, he seemed to have forgotten about her in the palace. Even when he visited Xianfu Palace, it was to see Li Pin. Not to mention that Li Pin hadn’t enjoyed her former glory in the past six months, Sun Changzai didn’t dare intercept the favor meant for the principal consort.
But Yun Jiao was different.
She came from a poor family with no background, and her performance during the morning greetings today showed she wasn’t particularly clever either.
Sun Changzai thought to herself – if she swallowed her pride and came to the west side hall every day to try her luck, what if she happened to encounter the Emperor visiting Consort Xi? As long as she could appear before the Emperor, even if she couldn’t completely win him over, she could at least make him remember her existence.
Yun Jiao looked at her: “Does Sun Changzai have any other matters?”
“Can’t I stay here if I have nothing to do?”
After all, Sun Changzai was the daughter of an official and lacked experience in being shameless. Her face flushed red as soon as she spoke. To her surprise, Yun Jiao simply nodded and had Xue Ya bring over needlework, placing it in her hands: “If you have nothing to do, find something to do. Don’t idle about.”
Sun Changzai felt both embarrassed and angry: “I’m not your palace maid.”
“The west side hall doesn’t keep idle people. If you like staying here, help me with some embroidery work.”
Sun Changzai was still upset, but if doing some embroidery for her could bring the chance to see the Emperor’s face, then it was worth it. She couldn’t bear to give up. Hesitating and conflicted, her hands began embroidering. No one in the west side hall spoke to her, so she could only focus intensely on her embroidery.
She embroidered until nightfall.
When Sun Changzai returned, she was so exhausted she could barely lift her ten fingers.
After seeing her off, Gong Mei looked indignant: “Mistress, that Sun Changzai is really too thick-skinned…”
In the harem’s competition for favor, the most sophisticated methods involved creating novel things to attract the Emperor. Someone like Sun Changzai who shamelessly came to another’s palace to “mooch favor” was truly low-class. Those with worse tempers would have driven her away.
Only Yun Jiao didn’t mind.
Not only did she not mind, she was quite pleased: “Take Sun Changzai’s embroidery and exchange it for some silver.”
The consorts’ clothing was provided by the Imperial Household Department. In theory, whatever patterns they wanted should be done for them, but the needlework office also judged people by their status. If an unfavored low-ranking consort had requests? They could wait endlessly – if asked, they’d say they had to prioritize those above first. Who did you think you were?
Doing it yourself, having palace maids do it, or paying silver to buy it were more common choices.
Yun Jiao exchanged Sun Changzai’s embroidery for solid silver, hiding it in a secret compartment of her chest. It had to be said that Sun Changzai, being from a noble family, had first-class embroidery skills. The patterns she embroidered were quite uncommon in the palace and turned out to be quite valuable.
Both Xue Ya and Gong Mei thought that after suffering such humiliation, Sun Changzai wouldn’t come again.
Yet the next day, she came again.
Since she had come, she might as well embroider. This continued for a week, without the Emperor entering the harem again.
Xie Zhihang was busy with two matters.
First was managing this summer’s Yellow River flooding problem, and second was recovering underpaid taxes and grains from various regions, carefully considering where to allocate them. Despite his busy schedule, he hadn’t forgotten to keep an eye on Xianfu Palace. After all, he didn’t trust the Yun family.
And the task of sending people to monitor naturally fell to Yinglu.
Yinglu was deeply moved – despite handling numerous affairs of state, the Emperor still remembered Consort Xi. He must really love her.
This task wasn’t difficult—the western side hall of Xianfu Palace was full of holes and flaws, just like a sieve: “Since Consort Xi was assigned to Xianfu Palace, she hasn’t made any attempts to win over or discipline the palace servants, seemingly trusting everyone completely.”
Xie Zhihang said casually, “Is there anything else?”
“Sun Changzai goes to the western side palace every day and sits there for most of the day.”
Xie Zhihang’s expression turned serious.
Although she wasn’t particularly favored, Sun Changzai’s background was quite respectable—her father was the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, responsible for adjudicating legal cases, a proper third-rank official. What ulterior motives could the Yun family have by associating so closely with her?
“Sun Changzai has embroidered many pieces and gifted them to Consort Xi.”
“What happened to those embroideries?”
“Your Majesty, Consort Xi sold them all.”
Xie Zhihang pondered thoughtfully, “Buy those embroideries back for me to see. Don’t alert anyone.”