Li Shutiao scurried back to her room, closing both doors behind her. Her first action was to rush to the mirror, examining her face intently. She pinched her left cheek a few times, then squeezed the right one, until both cheeks were slightly flushed from the manipulation. Only then did she put down the mirror with a thoughtful expression.
After a moment, it felt like fireworks exploded in her mind: those seemingly messy, colorful tributes actually worked!
Her skin had truly become much smoother! Even her pores were invisible now, with fair skin glowing with rosy pink hues, looking both healthy and radiant.
She wondered what ingredients those things were made of, but since they dared to present them for royal use, they probably wouldn’t cause skin damage.
So… roughly speaking, this trip actually turned out to be profitable for her?
Thinking this, Li Shutiao smiled even more happily. She stood up, hopping and spinning in several circles before finally calming her joyful mood. She washed up, changed clothes, and curled up in her comfortable little bed like a lazy kitten.
She had pleasant dreams all night, and when she woke the next morning, there was a happy smile on her lips, her mental state better than ever before.
Sitting up in bed, she stretched and touched the blankets, contemplating whether to sleep a bit more or get up to read.
…After hesitating for barely half a minute, she cheerfully decided to sleep some more!
After all, being able to sleep in was one of the happiest things in the world, something even delicious food couldn’t compare to!
She lay back down completely relaxed, pulling the blanket up above her abdomen, closing her eyes and adjusting her position before starting to select what to fantasize about before sleep…
“Hey, have you heard? Da Age was poisoned yesterday!” Suddenly, a mysteriously hushed voice sounded outside Li Shutiao’s door.
The voice was deliberately suppressed, mostly breathy and slightly muffled, but probably because it was close to Li Shutiao’s door, every word clearly reached her ears.
Li Shutiao quickly opened her eyes, propping herself up in bed, leaning slightly forward into a position of attentively listening to gossip.
She didn’t dare move, afraid she might startle the people outside – what if they stopped talking?
She’d end up transforming into a frantic groundhog scurrying everywhere!
Li Shutiao even held her breath seriously.
Then she heard another voice outside: “I heard, such a big matter, how could it be kept secret?”
“They say it was someone from Yanxi Palace.”
“Seems like it was an Old Mama.”
“And she was the closest person to Nala Concubine.”
“Her closest person? How could she attack Da Age?”
“Maybe she was bribed?”
“But I heard it was a Gong Nv who did it?”
The voices seemed to come from four or five different people.
Li Shutiao wasn’t quite sure, secretly taking a quiet breath before continuing to listen stealthily.
“So that’s why the Emperor was in such a hurry yesterday – to handle this matter?”
“More than that, I heard even the two ancestral elders were alarmed.”
“What happened to Da Age afterwards?”
“He should be fine, right? Otherwise how could the Emperor return so quickly?”
“It’s said that Da Age was poisoned with the Idiot Drug, a very slow-acting poison that requires continuous consumption over several years to take effect.”
“Think about it—Da Age is now five years old and will enter the Imperial Study next year. If no one ever discovers the poisoning, he would become increasingly foolish in his studies until he eventually turns completely idiotic. Whose face do you think would be lost then?”
“……”
At these words, the others fell silent.
Li Shutiao silently responded in her heart: Who else’s? The entire imperial family’s, of course.
But having heard this, she now understood the situation. Her clever little brain quickly retrieved and recalled the book’s description of this episode.
Huifei, currently known as Nala Concubine, had been rather ostentatious in her conduct during her early favored years, offending many people. Only after losing a son did she learn restraint—unfortunately, it was already too late.
—Upon learning that the Emperor intended to promote Nala Concubine to pin status, the enemies lurking in the shadows grew restless and plotted to target the child.
As for these dirty dealings, Nala Concubine herself actually had some awareness. The Old Mama who acted against Da Age was actually following her instructions—appearing to be bribed by others while actually playing a double-agent strategy.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been “coincidental” that Nala Concubine caught the Old Mama red-handed during her first attempt against Da Age.
Moreover, despite the Emperor’s efforts to suppress the news, it ultimately reached the two senior ancestors in the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility…
Therefore, there could only be one truth—
Nala Concubine intentionally escalated the situation to eliminate all the hidden enemies in one sweep!
……
Recollection complete.
Li Shutiao redirected her attention to the people at the door.
After patiently listening a while longer, she found they kept repeating the same lamentations and gradually lost interest.
She thought she had stumbled upon some fresh gossip, but it turned out to be stale news she’d known long ago.
Not interesting at all—she’d rather go back to sleep!
Clutching her blanket, Li Shutiao decisively lay down again.
After lying there a moment, she noticed something odd—why were the voices outside growing louder?
She sat up again, squinting toward the door, and unsurprisingly saw several blurred shadows pacing back and forth outside her room.
So these people were deliberately speaking within her earshot?
What were they trying to achieve? Surely they didn’t hate her so much they wouldn’t let her sleep?
Their scheme was quite misguided… After transmigrating, Li Shutiao’s sleep quality had reached astonishing levels. Nothing in this world could disturb her sleep except fresh gossip or duty assignments!
With this thought, Li Shutiao didn’t even bother with her usual pre-sleep fantasies. She lay down again, closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and within five minutes, her breathing became steady and rhythmic again, her sleeping face utterly peaceful.
The people outside continued talking for a while but saw no movement from inside.
They exchanged glances. “Is she awake or not?”
“We didn’t see her come out for breakfast—she’s probably still asleep.”
They looked at each other uncertainly. “What should we do now?”
“Wait?”
“That would be too obvious…”
“Maybe we should come back this afternoon?”
“……”
“Alright, it’s settled then. We’ll come together again this afternoon.”
“Mm!”
—Thanks to Song Fuwen, a rumor was quietly spreading among the palace maids that Li Shutiao was the candidate Guo Luoluo Little Master intended to present to the Emperor!
The position of Tea-Serving Maid was merely a stepping stone.
Once this news spread, many palace maids grew increasingly envious and resentful toward Li Shutiao.
Yet, there was also a small group who, aware of their limited competitive strength, had long abandoned such fantasies and begun planning other “backup routes.”
…Li Shutiao was seen by them as the easiest “backup route” to latch onto.
Li Shutiao slept until the sun was high in the sky. After waking up, she drowsily began washing up, then carefully selected a mint-green Gongzhuang and sat at her dressing table to groom herself.
It was a long while before she pushed the door open, her first priority being to find something to eat.
Rummaging through the small kitchen, she found only a small bowl of plain congee, a few pickled vegetables, and three pieces of pastry.
Feeling rather aggrieved, she barely filled her stomach and calculated that she still had about four hours before her shift started. She wondered if there was enough time to run to Houweifang and scrounge a meal from Qingyao…
Before yesterday, she had been afraid that someone from Qianqing Palace might discover her relationship with Qingyao and cause trouble for her, so she had endured for over a month without visiting Qingyao even once.
But now, even the Emperor knew that she and Qingyao were close friends—meaning their relationship was openly acknowledged as that of intimate confidantes!
Then…would it really be a problem if she went to the Enclosure Room now?
Li Shutiao bit her silver spoon, frowning and pondering for a long time—so long that the congee began digesting in her stomach, and waves of hunger struck—before she finally made up her mind.
A young girl like her simply couldn’t go hungry!
With this justification, she tossed the silver spoon aside, cheerfully washed the used dishes, and strode briskly toward the Enclosure Room with a light and expectant heart.
—Leaving a courtyard full of palace maids, who had learned she was awake and come specifically to lie in wait for her, disappointed and empty-handed.
Li Shutiao stayed in Houweifang until just half an hour before her shift, reluctantly returning to the Tea Room.
When she arrived, the previous shift of palace attendants had already left. The Imperial Study was quiet, and the two Xiao Taijian assigned to inspect the tea in the adjacent room were nowhere to be seen.
Li Shutiao surmised that the Emperor was likely not in the Imperial Study at the moment.
She felt an inexplicable sense of relief, turned around, pushed open the Tea Room door, and began her daily tasks—cleaning.
Washing tea sets, changing water, wiping shelves, cleaning the tea table, sweeping the floor…
By the time she finished this routine, Song Fuwen arrived belatedly.
Seeing her come in, Li Shutiao obediently moved to the corner, sat on her exclusive little stool, and pulled out the travelogue she had hidden yesterday, intending to continue learning to recognize traditional characters.
Unexpectedly, Song Fuwen, breaking from her usual demeanor, walked over to her. As she approached, she fished something out of her sleeve, a gentle smile playing on her lips, her expression soft and kind.
Li Shutiao immediately felt a chill run down her spine.
Her mind raced with the thought: The weasel is paying respects to the chicken…
By then, Song Fuwen had already reached Li Shutiao’s side.
She retrieved an exquisitely crafted small square wooden box from her sleeve, roughly the size of an adult man’s palm. Opening the box, she revealed several creamy-white pastries lying quietly inside.
The barrage of thoughts in Li Shutiao’s mind instantly shifted: Oh no, she’s trying to poison me…
Song Fuwen placed the small box on the low table in front of Li Shutiao and said gently, “Shutiao, I heard you’ve been sleeping all day today and even skipped both breakfast and dinner. How can that be acceptable? If you don’t eat, you’ll ruin your health. How will you serve the Emperor in the future?”
“I was truly worried, so before my shift, I specially asked someone to bring you a few pastries from the Imperial Kitchen. Eat them quickly so you’ll have energy to work later.”
Li Shutiao: “…”
She sniffed the air and caught a faint, sweet, and elegant fragrance, likely emanating from the pastries, which were only about the size of a coin.
After a moment of silent contemplation, she lifted her clear, moist eyes and looked earnestly at Song Fuwen. “Do you genuinely believe that just a few small pastries like these can fill someone up?”
Song Fuwen had imagined many possible reactions from the other party—wariness, resentment, restraint, compliance, aloofness…
She even recalled the scene from Li Shutiao’s first day in the Tea Room, when she had specially brought her a few pastries, only to have them slapped away.
Song Fuwen had expected her to retaliate in kind and had mentally prepared herself for the pastries being ruthlessly knocked aside.
But she never anticipated that Li Shutiao would respond like this.
Her smile involuntarily stiffened at the corners of her lips. Her mind, as if rusted over, turned sluggishly, and for a moment, she couldn’t find the words to explain.
Meanwhile, Li Shutiao, seated on the small stool, made a new move. She lowered her head, poked at the creamy-white pastries with her finger, and after a moment of apparent hesitation, snapped the lid of the wooden box shut with a “thud.” Standing up, she shoved the box back into Song Fuwen’s palm with exaggerated force, as if in a fit of pique.
Then, in a fierce tone, she declared, “I won’t eat your food!”
“Because I’ve already eaten my fill at Qingyao’s place!”
Song Fuwen: “…”
Someone outside the door, eavesdropping intently: “…”