Two boxes of lotus flower cakes were placed in front of her, and Qunqing’s eyes widened.
She looked at the cakes, then at Lan Yue.
Her cloak was torn and dirty, her skirt was covered with dust and blood, and she looked completely disheveled. She clasped her hands together, looking obedient but a little nervous.
“You… you didn’t fight someone just to steal these, did you?” Lan Yue asked. She suddenly felt a little guilty.
“No,” Qunqing said calmly. “I really bought them. I waited in line.”
Even if someone beat Lan Yue to death, she would never have guessed what Qunqing had been through.
“Fine, then.” Lan Yue did not ask about the third box. “Listen. Go clean yourself up, then stay in your room. Don’t come to the main hall.”
She lowered her voice.
“The Crown Prince has arrived!”
Qunqing looked around.
Extra candles and lamps had been lit that night, making the whole palace bright. It was all because of Li Xuan’s arrival.
Qunqing had no interest in the Crown Prince at all. Being able to stay alone in her room was exactly what she wanted.
She heated some water, took a hot bath, and finally relaxed.
The hot water surrounded her body. Since her rebirth, this was the first time she had been able to properly stretch her arms and legs. Only after relaxing did she realize how badly her whole body hurt.
Three years ago, her body had not suffered so much damage. Although she had always been healthy, she was still quite delicate.
The hand that had held the knife was almost completely worn out. The cuts on her palm stung badly when they touched the hot water.
Qunqing instinctively reached for her handkerchief to wrap the wound, but then remembered that she had left it at the temple. She could only raise her injured hand.
Lu Huating really must have been cursed by fate. Otherwise, how could she have gotten into such trouble after only exchanging a few words with him?
Unexpectedly, in the first year of Emperor Shenglin’s reign, the Prince of Yan’s residence had already fallen to such a state that Lu Huating was being chased and attacked in the streets.
When someone is cornered, even a passing dog can become a lifeline. Qunqing understood this very well.
The main reason she had helped today was Kuang Su.
She never took advantage of two kinds of people: children and fools.
They gave their trust sincerely, and Qunqing had seen too few truly sincere hearts in her life.
If Lu Huating had sent one of his cleverer guards, that person probably would not have risked his life to protect a stranger like her.
It seemed that Lu Huating still had some conscience when it came to strangers. He was not as heartless as she remembered.
There was still some kindness in him, though not much.
Qunqing was lost in thought as she dipped her head into the hot water to wash her hair. Her long black hair floated around her like seaweed.
A moment later, she lifted her head from the water.
It hurt.
She touched her cheek. Perhaps the hot water had made her face warm. Through her skin, she felt a strange sensation, as if spring buds were about to break through the earth.
The bones in her face that Physician Li had adjusted had started aching and itching again. Without medicine, the pain was almost unbearable.
Fortunately, Fangxie had asked Xiaosong to bring her a medicine packet that day. Inside was a medicine called “Frost Dew,” which could reduce inflammation and ease the pain.
When Qunqing opened the packet, a piece of paper fell out.
She did not even have time to unwrap the medicine completely before putting the pill into her mouth.
Only after the cool taste spread through her mouth and the pain slowly faded did she pick up the note and read it carefully.
It must contain very important news. Otherwise, Fangxie would not have gone out of his way to give it to her.
The note said:
“Master sent word. He met a woman among the refugees in Jiangnan who looks like your mother. He is searching for her now. Take care, Sister.”
Qunqing’s mind went blank.
She picked up the note and read the words “looks like your mother” several times.
Her heart began pounding wildly.
Physician Li had been an old friend of her mother. He was always very careful with his words.
When he said that the woman “looks like your mother,” it meant that the woman he had met was most likely Zhu Ying.
Mother was alive.
This was news she had never received in her previous life.
It suddenly appeared before her like a ray of light breaking through a dark cage.
She still had family.
Her family had not completely disappeared.
She might still have the chance to walk through the market arm in arm with her mother, eat her mother’s cooking, sleep beside her, tell her all her secrets, and feel her mother’s loving touch.
All the regrets she had been unable to make up for in her previous life suddenly became things she could still have in the future.
But Physician Li said her mother was among the refugees in Jiangnan.
Jiangnan was so far away.
Her mother had no family or friends with her.
Qunqing had seen what the refugees in the city looked like. The thought of her mother suffering among them made her heart ache.
She did not even dare imagine what her mother looked like now.
If she could leave the palace, she would have already gone to Jiangnan to look for her.
The bathwater had already gone cold, but Qunqing had forgotten to dry herself before putting on her clothes.
Suddenly, the door opened.
Ruochan rushed in and cried out in panic,
“Sister, something terrible happened! His Highness the Crown Prince is summoning you!”
Li Xuan arrived at Qingxuan Pavilion after dark.
Dinner had already been prepared. There were six vegetarian dishes and six meat dishes on the table.
The sweet fragrance of the jade hairpin flowers in the vase filled the room. A flower tucked into Zheng Zhiyi’s hair made her rosy face look even more shy and delicate.
Li Xuan noticed that she had put on makeup that day.
Her eyebrows were dark and carefully shaped, and her lips were bright red.
However, the heavy makeup looked somewhat strange on her.
Li Xuan wore a round-necked robe embroidered with gold thread. He silently accepted three rounds of wine from his young concubine.
Then Zheng Zhiyi suddenly moved closer to him.
“Your Highness, shouldn’t we consummate our marriage?”
Li Xuan could not even finish his drink. He gently pushed her away.
“Another day. I’ve been very busy lately. Let’s wait until after your sixteenth birthday.”
Unexpectedly, Zheng Zhiyi became anxious.
The hair ornaments in her hair shook loudly as she moved.
“You said the same thing last year! Is it because you don’t have the strength, or because you simply don’t want to touch me?”
Li Xuan gave her a warning look.
Zheng Zhiyi felt deeply hurt by his rejection.
She thought about the flowers she had specially brought back from outside the palace. He had not even looked at them properly.
She felt humiliated.
“Are you trying to stay faithful to that slut, Yang Fu? I was the one who married you first! You two have been secretly seeing each other behind my back, and I knew nothing about it!”
Li Xuan slammed his wine cup onto the table.
“Princess Bao’an is still sick. Do I need to remind you how she became sick? You are only a concubine. Don’t go too far with your temper.”
Zheng Zhiyi suddenly knocked over the vase.
Crash!
The loud noise startled Lan Yue.
“Do you still see me as your concubine?” Zheng Zhiyi shouted.
“I was your lawful wife. You promised my grandfather that you would treat me well. But now you’re turning your back on me.”
Her eyes filled with anger and hurt.
“It is obvious that you never liked me. You were only using me.”
Li Xuan was so angry that his face turned pale. After a long silence, he finally said, “When we had dinner at Father’s palace, I thought you had changed. But it seems you haven’t changed at all.”
That meal was the reason Li Xuan had gained the Emperor’s favor.
At the palace banquet, Zheng Zhiyi had seen Emperor Chenming and Empress Ma, whom she had not seen for a long time. They were dressed in magnificent golden robes and wore golden crowns and ornaments, making them look somewhat different from before.
For some reason, Zheng Zhiyi suddenly remembered Qunqing’s advice. But her reaction was not entirely because of that advice.
Emperor Chenming was exhausted from handling state affairs. His hair at the temples had already turned gray, and he looked much older than before.
When Zheng Zhiyi noticed the wrinkles around his eyes, she suddenly thought of her grandfather.
“I miss my grandfather.”
As soon as she said this, tears began streaming down her face.
Zheng Zhiyi’s grandfather had once been a bandit leader. He had joined the Li family in their uprising and later died in battle while fighting for the Li family.
During the difficult years, the Zheng family had helped the Li family. Because of this, the Li family felt deeply indebted to Zheng Zhiyi, their daughter-in-law from a humble background. Both families understood this very well.
Seeing Zheng Zhiyi cry made Emperor Chenming and Empress Ma feel sorry for her.
Emperor Chenming ordered that Consort Zheng be given many valuable rewards, but he did not even look at the gifts sent from Luanyi Pavilion.
Zheng Zhiyi eventually stopped crying, but she also lost the desire to complain.
Empress Ma held her hand and said, “I thought this child would have trouble adjusting to palace life, but she seems much quieter now.”
Emperor Chenming said to Zheng Zhiyi, “The Empress was once a timid woman who rarely left her chambers, yet she still became Empress. As long as you do not show your fear in public, that is enough.”
Empress Ma looked a little embarrassed, but she smiled gently. She then reminded Li Xuan not to neglect his Liangdi just because he was taking care of Princess Bao’an.
Zheng Zhiyi did not understand all the hidden matters between them.
All she knew was that Li Xuan had not visited her for several months. Whenever she tried to speak to him, he answered with cold indifference.
She did not understand what she had done to make him so angry.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Lan Yue quickly brought over a plate of beautiful pink-and-white pastries shaped like half-open lotus flowers.
“Your Highness, Consort Liang remembers that you love Lingxinji’s lotus flower pastries, so she specially bought them for you. Please have one.”
Li Xuan did not want to continue arguing, so he picked up his chopsticks.
But the moment his chopsticks touched the pastry, the delicate lotus-shaped cake broke apart.
Lan Yue was shocked.
Li Xuan tightened his grip on his chopsticks and looked at Zheng Zhiyi.
“Lingxinji? You left the palace?”
“The Consort did not leave the palace,” Lan Yue quickly explained. “She gave her fish-shaped token to a palace maid and asked her to go outside and buy them.”
“You are in charge of a palace, yet you casually gave your fish token to a palace maid?” Li Xuan’s anger grew. “What happened to the palace rules? Didn’t the Bureau of Ceremonies teach you?”
Zheng Zhiyi’s eyes widened. She looked frightened, embarrassed, and angry at the same time.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Li Xuan, you weren’t like this before!”
Li Xuan’s dark eyes looked cold and unfamiliar.
After a long moment, he said quietly, “You had better never mention the past in front of me again.”
“Your Highness, please forgive me!”
Lan Yue quickly knelt down.
“The fish token was given to me by this servant. I didn’t know the rules. Buying the pastries and picking the flowers were all because that maid named Qunqing kept urging me to do it. I couldn’t refuse her, so I ended up doing these things.”
A moment later, Qunqing also knelt beside the table.
Li Xuan’s expression had already returned to calm.
He held his wine cup in one hand and drank slowly and elegantly. No one could tell what decision he was making.
“The pastries were bought by this servant,” Qunqing said.
Her hair was still wet, and water droplets from her temples fell onto her clothes.
“This servant just came from the Yeting Palace and does not know the palace rules well. I did not know that fish tokens could not be lent to others. I only did what Sister Lan Yue told me to do.”
“You!” Lan Yue cried anxiously. “You’re always making excuses!”
Li Xuan lowered his eyes and stared at Qunqing without saying anything.
After a moment, he suddenly waved his sleeve.
A flash of silver appeared before Qunqing’s eyes.
The wine in his cup was suddenly poured over her face.
The strong smell of wine filled her nose. It ran down her eyelashes and cheeks before soaking into her clothes. The cold liquid made her shiver.
Li Xuan had splashed the wine directly onto her face.
Zheng Zhiyi and Lan Yue were both stunned.
The Crown Prince was usually gentle toward his servants. He would never humiliate a palace maid like this unless he truly hated her.
And at that moment, there was obvious disgust in Li Xuan’s eyes as he looked at Qunqing.
This was not the first time he had seen her.
From outside the window, he had clearly seen her flatter powerful people, humiliate Princess Bao’an, and then turn around and flatter Zheng Zhiyi.
“The trouble in the palace was caused by the improper behavior of the maid serving the Consort,” Li Xuan said slowly. “She failed to properly assist her master.”
“I will not punish the Consort. But this maid must receive a severe punishment…”
“What did you say? I was the one who told her to go…” Zheng Zhiyi said in disbelief.
Before she could finish, Lan Yue quickly covered her mouth.
“Liangdi, don’t say anything!”
As for Qunqing, the moment she heard Li Xuan’s words, she completely lost her usual calmness.
She suddenly crawled under Li Xuan’s robe and grabbed his sleeve.
“This servant was wrong! Please, Your Highness, don’t send me out of the palace!”
“This servant finally escaped from the Yeting Palace and came to Qingxuan Pavilion. I only wanted to serve all the noble ladies properly…”
All the palace servants were terrified.
They knew Li Xuan’s temper very well.
When the Crown Prince became angry, the thing he hated most was having palace servants bother him.
Yet Qunqing continued begging him and desperately asked him not to send her away.
Li Xuan’s pale fingers pulled at his robe. Clearly uncomfortable, he forcefully pulled his sleeve away from her.
He glanced at her coldly.
“Then so be it. Leave the palace.”
As soon as he said this, Zheng Zhiyi froze.
Qunqing also became silent.
She was just about to beg for mercy again when Lan Yue grabbed her sleeves with both hands and dragged her away.
“Did you hear His Highness? You stupid girl, why don’t you come with me and pack your things? Don’t stay here and disturb His Highness.”
Qunqing continued crying and begging for mercy as Lan Yue dragged her away. Her voice gradually faded as they left the pavilion.
Such scenes of reward and punishment happened often in the palace. No one found them unusual.
No noble master would care about an ordinary palace maid, especially the Crown Prince, who was focused on ruling the country and eventually taking the throne.
It was already deep into the night.
Outside the pavilion, Lan Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With someone else taking the blame, Liangdi was safe at last.
At the same time, Qunqing also breathed a sigh of relief.
She had actually gotten exactly what she wanted.
She wiped the wine from her face with her fingers. Her dark eyes were unusually calm.
Holding her bundle in one hand and letting Lan Yue pull her with the other, she quietly dropped the blank wax pill into the grass as they passed through the flower garden.
Only after she turned around and saw Yun Que pick up the wax pill did she finally relax.
An Lin, who would receive the letter, would probably be shocked by how quickly she had left the palace.
The only disappointing thing was that the Crown Prince had not sent her out sooner.
The palace gates were already locked.
Even though she had been expelled, she would not truly be able to leave until the next morning.
“Sister Lan Yue, where are you taking me?” Qunqing asked.
She noticed that they were heading toward Cheng’an Gate.
Inside the gate was a small, cramped stable. Palace servants who needed to leave early the next morning often stayed there overnight.
Clearly, Lan Yue did not even want Qunqing to spend her last night at the residence.
“Sister, I just thought of something…” Qunqing refused to leave.
Lan Yue dragged her along like a sack of potatoes.
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“I just remembered that my palace register is still with the Bureau of Palace Affairs. As long as the expulsion seal hasn’t been stamped on it, I am still a palace servant.”
Qunqing spoke quickly.
“If you treat me like this, be careful. I might come back and get revenge someday.”
“Get revenge?” Lan Yue laughed at her.
“Do you think you can avoid being expelled just by delaying things for one night? I know people in the Bureau of Palace Affairs. I’ll have your expulsion seal stamped tonight. Don’t even think about staying here. Leave the palace as soon as the gates open tomorrow!”
The Six Palaces were located within the four palace halls of Dewen, Dexin, Chong’an, and Chongjing.
Under the magnificent roofs, simple gauze lanterns illuminated the tightly closed palace doors.
It was already very late, and most of the female officials had gone to bed.
Lan Yue had not been lying.
She really seemed to know someone there.
After speaking briefly with the official on duty, she forced Siwei, who was still wearing a bathrobe, to get out of bed and open the door.
The Palace Attendant was responsible for keeping the palace keys. Every key was recorded and carefully stored.
Unable to resist Lan Yue’s requests, she took out the key and entered the main hall of the office.
After a while, she came back out empty-handed and whispered something to Lan Yue.
Lan Yue’s voice could be clearly heard in the quiet night.
“Can’t find it? How is that possible?”
Cold sweat appeared on the fingertips hidden inside Qunqing’s blue sleeves.
Siwei went to look for Sibu.
Lan Yue paced back and forth nervously.
She had no idea that Qunqing was even more anxious than she was.
Qunqing was only one step away from leaving the palace.
The most important thing was the palace register kept by the Bureau of Palace Affairs.
Once the character “逐,” meaning “expelled,” was stamped on it, she could exchange the register for a token and safely leave the palace.
Qunqing waited for a long time.
So long that her heart slowly sank.
Then she finally saw a clerk in official robes walking toward them.
He was not carrying any palace registers. He only held a lantern.
The white light from the lantern suddenly shone across Qunqing’s face.
She slightly turned her head.
The clerk saw her face clearly and then turned to Lan Yue.
“Who ordered this palace maid to be expelled?”
“His Highness the Crown Prince ordered it,” Lan Yue replied. “Her behavior was improper, and His Highness was furious. Please, Clerk Xu, stamp the expulsion seal quickly. Someone like her cannot be allowed to remain in the palace.”
“I remember you.”
Xu Sibu looked at Qunqing.
“Were you transferred from the Yeting Palace?”
He shook his head.
“Your palace register is not here. The Yeting Palace has not sent it over yet.”
Qunqing was both surprised and confused.
Lan Yue became anxious.
“That can’t be right. So much time has passed. Wang Siwei just saw the palace registers of the other palace maids, but hers was missing. Shouldn’t they all be together?”
She frowned.
“Did you not look carefully enough? If you’re too tired to search, I’ll go inside and look for it myself.”
Xu Sibu gave her a cold look.
“Do you think the Bureau of Palace Affairs is your home? Can you come and go whenever you want?”
Lan Yue was speechless for a moment.
“I serve His Highness the Crown Prince. If that’s the case, I’ll go to the Imperial Palace and ask about it. If I still can’t find it, you’ll have to go there yourself. After all, this is your responsibility.”
Xu Sibu turned around with his lantern.
“Whoever is responsible can go and find it.”
“The palace officials are already off duty. There is no reason to deal with urgent matters in the middle of the night.”
“Even if the Emperor himself came knocking, I wouldn’t open the door.”
“Come back tomorrow when I’m on duty. Follow the rules, and I’ll search for it again.”
“You!”
Lan Yue was so angry that she nearly jumped.
There were many female officials in the palace who refused to bend the rules.
She took out a gold bead and was about to chase after Xu Sibu, but suddenly stopped.
The faint voices calling their names reached Qunqing’s ears.
Ruochan’s voice grew louder as she came closer. She was carrying a lantern and running out of breath.
“I finally found you, Sister! His Highness has withdrawn his order. You have to hurry back!”
Lan Yue stood there with her eyes wide open as she stared at Qunqing.
What a sudden change of fortune!
Could Qunqing really be someone blessed by the heavens? Whenever she was lucky, even the heavens seemed to be helping her!
Qunqing stared at the palace gates, which were so close that she could almost reach them.
A cool breeze blew against her wet clothes, and only then did she realize how cold she was.
The cold wind reached her forehead, bringing her back to her senses. She quickly looked away from the palace gates.
It would be a lie to say Qunqing wasn’t disappointed when her wish suddenly came true.
But what was done could not be changed. She could only accept it.
Things done on impulse were always full of unexpected problems.
She turned to Ruochan.
“What will happen when we go back? How will they punish me?”
She had to understand what kind of situation she would face next. One wrong step could cause trouble.
“Solitary confinement…” Ruochan noticed Qunqing’s gloomy expression and thought she was frightened.
She took Qunqing’s cold hand.
“Being locked up in the side hall is much better than being thrown out of the palace, isn’t it?”
Confinement was a much lighter punishment than Qunqing had expected.
If she had been sent back to the Yeting Palace, all her efforts would have been wasted. She would have had to continue working there and suffer quietly.
Qunqing finally relaxed.
The three of them returned to the palace together, each thinking about different things.
However, Qunqing remembered that the Crown Prince was not someone who changed his mind easily.
So why had he suddenly shown mercy and decided to spare her?