With an ample supply of charcoal, life for the master and servant became significantly more comfortable.
Previously, to keep warm and conserve charcoal, Su Muyao had Yun Mo move from the side room to sleep with her.
Before bedtime, warmth-preserving measures were essential.
First, they prepared two separate bedding nests—one for Su Muyao and one for Yun Mo—placing two hot water bottles filled with boiling water between them, and finally laying a thick, heavy cotton quilt horizontally over both.
Additionally, on the floor beside Su Muyao, there was a brazier burning leftover charcoal.
Even so, by the fourth watch of the night, the hot water bottles would lose their warmth, and the charcoal in the brazier would be completely extinguished.
The two would shiver from the cold, huddling together like quails, too afraid to get up even for nighttime needs.
Now, they were much more extravagant.
Since there was no need to conserve charcoal, both the heated kang bed and the incense burner were kept lit.
Every evening, Su Muyao slept on the heated kang by the window, while Yun Mo moved the incense burner from the outer room and slept directly on it.
The warmth from the kang and the burner lasted the entire night, and only by dawn did the room’s temperature gradually drop.
For the time being, both the hot water bottles and the brazier were rendered obsolete.
With the warmth secured, their efficiency improved as well. In less than two days, they had sorted and inventoried all the usable supplies they had gathered, compiling a densely written list filled with small characters.
Su Muyao had a cleanliness obsession and refused to keep items others had used, so the list recorded only brand-new, unopened items.
Household items included:
One box of pig pancreas soap for washing clothes;①
Two sets of tea utensils (one made of Hetian white jade, the other of copper cloisonné enamel);
Four boxes of twelve-piece silk palace flowers;
Five sets of Suzhou silk fans (featuring plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum; seasonal flowers; the Five Sacred Mountains landscapes; pastoral scenery; and Tang and Song poetry);
Six boxes of plain white mermaid silk handkerchiefs, all unembroidered;
Eight boxes of premium tea leaves (two boxes of Maojian, three boxes of Biluochun, one box of Jintan Queshe, one box of Taiping Houkui, and one box of West Lake Longjing Tea);
Nine sets of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, all of ordinary quality;
Ten bottles of floral dew for body care (rose, osmanthus, honeysuckle, mint, sweet olive, bergamot, citron, orchid, clove, and white lotus);②
Apart from these household items, there were even more items for women’s use, including:
One box of crushed jade and South Sea pearls for nail guards;
One box each of sandalwood, cedarwood, soapwood, and soap for oil removal;③
One packet of jasmine powder for brightening;④
One packet of rose nitre for treating spring rashes;⑤
Three boxes of cotton rouge for coloring;⑥
Six boxes of pearl-infused lotion for whitening;⑦
Eight boxes of Jade Face Powder for removing dark spots;⑧
Ten boxes of Eight White Powder for nighttime facial masks;⑨
Sixteen boxes of gold-leaf forehead yellow for embellishment;
One hu of spiral indigo, five hu of copper indigo, and ten hu of green indigo for eyebrow makeup;
Twenty boxes of purple powder, sandalwood powder, and pearl powder for makeup.
Twenty engraved silver-gilt flat hairpins for styling hair.⑩
After reading the list, Su Muyao first instructed Yun Mo to quickly organize the items and store them in the warehouse. Then, she noticed a yellowed piece of paper pressed under the corner of the table.
“What is this?”
Yun Mo let out an “oh” and replied, “Miss, this is a pawn ticket.”
Su Muyao tilted her head and looked at Yun Mo. Had they pawned something?
Yun Mo said, “It’s not ours.”
This pawn ticket was found in another Xiuanxiu candidate's dressing case. The young lady's Xiuanxiu date was November 20th, while this pawn ticket was dated December 3rd. Clearly, that candidate had entrusted someone to pawn these items after entering the palace.
Within the palace, this constituted private communication, which violated palace regulations.
She had originally intended to bring it to ask the young lady how to handle it, but had been too busy and forgotten.
As long as it wasn't theirs, it was fine.
Su Muyao said calmly, "Burn it."
This item would ultimately be a source of trouble if kept here.
Immediately afterward, Su Muyao thought there might be other items that shouldn't exist and asked Yun Mo about them.
Yun Mo slapped her forehead and quickly fetched a box from the next room, placing it on the table. "Look, young lady. Everything inside is unfamiliar to me."
The box didn't contain much: just one book, two small porcelain bottles, a handkerchief, and a palm-sized clay jar.
Su Muyao looked over, took out the book, and couldn't help raising an eyebrow when she saw the cover.
This was… The Plum in the Golden Vase?
A banned book from ancient times. Who knows how those Xiuanxiu candidates managed to bring it into the palace.
She flipped through it casually, set it aside, then took out a small porcelain bottle from the box. At the bottom of the bottle was a faint red seal.
Su Muyao vaguely made out the characters "Hehuan" (Union of Joy).
She opened the stopper and sniffed lightly. A strong scent of musk wafted out, so pungent it made her sneeze. She quickly replaced the stopper, set it aside, and took out the handkerchief.
The handkerchief was a plain, ordinary one with a pair of mandarin ducks embroidered on it—nothing unusual. However, along the rolled edge was a line of tiny, minuscule writing that would go unnoticed without careful inspection.
Squinting, Su Muyao finally deciphered it:
"Tonight at midnight, meet at the usual place. Be extremely careful."
As for what this "usual place" was or what they planned to do upon meeting, only heaven knew.
Su Muyao shook her head, set the handkerchief aside, and picked up the clay jar.
The jar was black and somewhat heavy. Upon opening it, she found black, pill-sized pellets inside—odd and mysterious.
After examining them for a while without figuring out what they were, Su Muyao closed the jar, returned everything to the box, and after a moment's thought, said, "None of these are good things. Smash the porcelain bottles and clay jar into fine powder and scatter it in the soil. As for the contents, pour them out and burn them along with this handkerchief, this book, and that pawn ticket in the fire."
Yun Mo agreed and carried the box out.
After finishing her tasks, Su Muyao looked out the window. Though the sky remained overcast, the heavy snowfall that had lasted for days had finally lightened. She draped herself in a plain white, plum-blossom-patterned fur coat, put on white rabbit-fur hand warmers, and stepped outside.
Since recovering her health, her appetite had returned as well. A daily meal of plain porridge and steamed buns was no longer enough to fill her. After sitting for just a short while, she felt her stomach growling, as if she could devour someone.
Standing on the steps, Su Muyao gazed sorrowfully at the sky. What could she do to fill her stomach?
Just as she was thinking this, a flock of sparrows flew past in formation across the sky.
Su Muyao swallowed hard.
That was all meat!
Su Muyao’s mind stirred as she suddenly recalled a primary school lesson titled “Young Runtu,” which included a passage specifically teaching how to catch birds:
“After a heavy snowfall, clear an open space, prop up a large bamboo sieve with a short stick, scatter chaff grains, and when the birds come to eat, pull the rope tied to the stick from afar—the birds will be trapped under the sieve. There’s everything: rice hens, horned hens, turtledoves, quails…”
Everything indeed…
Su Muyao stroked her chin. The palace walls of the Forbidden City were ten meters high. Rice hens and horned hens were too bulky and clumsy to fly in.
However, turtledoves and quails were small birds that lived in tall trees and could fly dozens to hundreds of meters high. Even the thick palace walls couldn’t stop them.
Quail meat was lean but firm and chewy, best when roasted until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, then sprinkled with cumin and chili. One bite was incredibly fragrant.
As for turtledoves, they made excellent soup. She remembered tasting ginseng turtledove soup once as a child—the flavor was unforgettable. But later, turtledoves were listed as protected animals, and she never had it again.
The more Su Muyao thought about it, the more her mouth watered.
But she was deep within the palace—where could she find a farming bamboo sieve?
Borrow one from Xinzheku?
No, given her status, that would be too strange.
After pondering for a while, Su Muyao suddenly had a flash of inspiration. If she didn’t have a bamboo sieve, she could find a substitute!
Yun Mo had previously collected a stack of copper basins for washing faces. She could just take a few of those—they’d be perfect for catching birds.
Once the idea struck, Su Muyao got to work immediately.
Thanks to Yun Mo’s daily sweeping, only a thin layer of snow had accumulated in the courtyard. Su Muyao cleared the snow with a broom, brought out the copper basins, and lined them up in a row. She then found a few jujube wood mallets to prop up the basins. Just then, Yun Mo returned from the backyard and, seeing this, hurriedly asked, “Miss, are you trying to catch birds for fun?”
Who was playing?
Su Muyao stood up from the ground and explained seriously, “I want to catch a few turtledoves or quails to improve our meals.”
Yun Mo hadn’t considered this method before, but upon reflection, it seemed feasible. Qianxi Sisuo had its own kitchen, and when they moved out, the oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar were left behind—only ingredients were missing, so she couldn’t cook anything nice for her mistress.
If they could really catch a few turtledoves or quails, her culinary skills would finally have a use.
But the bird trap her mistress had set up was too crude.
Yun Mo chuckled, “Miss, the copper basins are too small, and the jujube wood mallets are too thick. They probably won’t trap the birds. I’ll go to the back room and fetch a few clean winnowing baskets.”
Su Muyao was surprised, “We have winnowing baskets?”
Yun Mo explained, “They’re for drying medicinal herbs. The medicine Yuyiaofang prescribed for you—the astragalus and codonopsis—had gotten a bit damp. I was worried they’d lose their potency, so I went to Yuyiaofang to exchange them. The steward said they were temporarily out of those two herbs and gave me a few winnowing baskets to dry them myself.”
Whether it was true or not was hard to say, but in this heavy snow, where could one dry herbs?
Yun Mo had been fuming at the time, but as a young maid, there was little she could do. Adopting the mindset that something was better than nothing, she still took the winnowing baskets, thinking she could use them when spring arrived.
Unexpectedly, they came in handy now.
Yun Mo returned with a winnowing basket and rope, and along the way, he broke a few thin branches from a tree. In a few quick moves, he set up three traps, then crumbled the dried steamed buns into pieces, scattering them bit by bit under the basket.
The rope stretched from the courtyard all the way to the veranda. Su Muyao brought out a soft cushion and sat on the corridor, asking, "Do I pull the rope as soon as a bird goes in? What if it's not a turtledove or quail that enters?"
Yun Mo replied, "Don’t be impatient. Wait until the bird is fully inside and starts pecking at the food before pulling the rope. It doesn’t matter if it’s not a turtledove or quail—if it’s ugly, we’ll let it go. If it’s prettier, we can keep it in a cage and hang it under the veranda for fun."