Early the next day at mao hour (5-7 AM).
Dawn broke.
The Eastern Palace, silent all night, revealed its solemn true appearance, with towering upturned eaves dripping with morning dew.
Xiao Fuzi had his hands tucked in his sleeves.
Leaning against a corridor pillar, he was sleeping soundly, occasionally smacking his lips.
A faint light glowed from the side room nearby, accompanied by a soft sound. Xiao Fuzi jolted awake.
Only then realizing he had fallen asleep.
A cold sweat instantly broke out down his back.
The palace rules were strict.
To ensure the safety and needs of the masters at night, night-duty servants must remain alert and vigilant at all times.
Monitoring movements inside and outside, ready to respond to summons.
Yet he had actually fallen asleep!
And had slept through most of the night, so deeply at that!
Xiao Fuzi was drenched in cold sweat.
Turning his head, he saw Xiao Xizi also asleep against a pillar on the other side. He immediately rushed over to wake him.
But as he stepped forward.
Xiao Fuzi’s eyes shifted cunningly. He put his hands behind his back, walked over, and smacked Xiao Xizi on the back of the head!
Xiao Xizi nearly jumped three feet in fright, opening his mouth to yell, but Xiao Fuzi clamped a hand over it.
“Trying to get yourself killed?!”
Xiao Fuzi hissed quietly.
“First night on duty and you sleep on the job? Want me to tell Ying Gugu?”
Xiao Xizi’s small eyes widened in panic.
He glanced around nervously.
Grabbing Xiao Fuzi’s hand with a pitiful expression, he pleaded: “Brother, dear brother, have mercy and spare me this once! I just… I just…”
He stammered, unable to continue.
Though young—both only seventeen this year— they had been sold into the palace as children.
While they hadn’t served any noble masters before, they knew the palace rules all too well.
Mistakes like sleeping during night watch.
They hadn’t made since they were seven or eight.
Especially since yesterday was their first official duty shift—Xiao Xizi had no idea how he’d fallen asleep!
Truthfully, Xiao Fuzi also had no memory of how he’d dozed off—it seemed he’d just lost consciousness while standing.
Strange indeed.
But that didn’t stop him from bluffing Xiao Xizi.
“You slept, that’s all there is to it. No excuses.”
Xiao Xizi grew anxious.
Bowing and clasping his hands repeatedly.
Xiao Fuzi suppressed a laugh. “I’ll keep quiet for you, but this month, our room’s cleaning…”
Xiao Xizi: “I’ll do it!”
“My dirty clothes…”
“I’ll wash them!”
“Smart lad.”
The two young eunuchs reached their agreement.
Meanwhile, the light in the side room went out as Ying Gugu emerged.
“Did His Highness wake during the night?”
Xiao Xizi looked guilty while Xiao Fuzi secretly laughed at his cowardice, answering smartly: “Sister Hansu didn’t call for us last night.”
In the dim light.
Ying Gugu suspected nothing. After giving them some instructions, she turned and entered to assist Kan’er with morning preparations.
Soon, Hansu came out.
Xiao Fuzi smiled tentatively: “Sister, you’ve worked hard.” Ying Gugu just asked if His Highness got up during the night.”
Hansu felt secretly embarrassed.
She brushed it off with a casual reply.
Only when she turned toward the rear annex did Hansu sigh with relief, vowing no one else must ever learn she’d slept like the dead on her first night duty!
Inside the room, Ying Gugu lit the lamps.
Tiao Zhu, newly arrived for her shift, came to the bed and drew the curtains.
There lay the figure with dark hair spread across the brocade pillow, sleeping sweetly in a half-prone position facing outward.
The thin brocade quilt was piled at her waist, with one slender leg and a jade-like arm resting atop it, their whiteness dazzling to the eye.
Her back was slender, shoulders delicate, waist narrow as a wasp’s, and hips curvaceously lifted.
Beneath the half-open collar of her robe, a blush-white expanse was visible, with deep cleavage.
Coupled with that face as tender as a lotus blossom, looking as if one could squeeze water from it, it made Tiao Zhu blush crimson, her heart pounding wildly.
She had known her mistress was beautiful, but never imagined she could be this stunning. It was the first time she had seen someone turn such an ordinary sleeping posture into something so alluring.
Tiao Zhu swallowed hard and cautiously roused her.
Kan’er had only fallen asleep close to the fifth watch. When Tiao Zhu woke her and she sat up, she was still somewhat dazed.
It wasn’t until Ying Gugu helped her dress and exclaimed in surprise, “Mistress, where is your inner garment? I remember you wore one before bed,” that Kan’er jolted fully awake.
Her face flushed, and she tugged uncomfortably at the collar of her sleeping robe.
“It was too tight. It felt constricting at night, so I took it off.”
Xiyu, who was tidying the bed, said, “I don’t know where you put it, Mistress. My eyes are clumsy—I didn’t see it on the bed.”
Kan’er gave a light cough. “I went to the washroom during the night and forgot whether I tossed it into the bucket or the basket.”
This was, of course, a lie.
It was true she had thrown it into the bucket, but not casually.
The Crown Prince had used her inner garment to wipe up that… stuff during the night. How could Kan’er wear it again? Nor could she just leave it lying around.
So, as soon as the Crown Prince left,
Kan’er had taken the small lamp from the bedroom to the washroom and, like a thief, carefully scrubbed the garment clean.
Finally, she tossed it into a bucket of water to conceal the evidence.
However, Ying Gugu didn’t suspect a thing.
For one, no one would imagine the Crown Prince emulating a scent-stealing, jade-thieving rogue, sneaking alone into his concubine’s chambers at night.
For another, Kan’er’s inner garment really was too small.
The intimate garments of palace consorts were usually handled by their personal seamstresses, and the Eastern Palace women were no exception.
But only high-ranking mistresses had their own dedicated seamstresses; those of lower status had their intimate garments managed by the servants attending them.
Ying Gugu had been planning to make Kan’er a few new ones anyway.
Since she didn’t suspect anything, Xiyu naturally didn’t give it a second thought.
Kan’er went to the dressing table.
Picking up a mirror, she examined herself and found that although both sides of her jaw still ached slightly, no marks were visible on her face.
Kan’er breathed a sigh of relief.
But thinking of another matter, she couldn’t help feeling troubled again.
Last night, she had served the Crown Prince in that manner partly because she was accustomed to intimacy with him in such matters.
These were things she had mastered in her previous life.
And partly, she wanted him to remember her more keenly.
Kan’er didn’t know why the Crown Prince had come to her in the dead of night, but since he had, it meant he was thinking of her.
If that was the case, Kan’er wanted him to keep longing for her.
That way, she could Serve in bed as soon as possible.
And avoid the risk of not conceiving Yao Ge’er when the time came.
She and the Crown Prince had no emotional bond yet, so for now, she could only use this method to leave him wanting more.
But Kan’er hadn’t expected that the Crown Prince, who in her previous life would call for water up to four times a night, each session lasting half an hour, or at least once for a solid hour, last night hadn’t even lasted the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea…
Recalling the expression on the Crown Prince’s face when he left during the night,
Kan’er felt her head spinning with confusion.
She couldn’t figure it out.
Had the Crown Prince never been served like that before?
Or had he already found satisfaction with Cao Liangyuan earlier in the night, so by the time he reached her, he wasn’t as invested?
Come to think of it, did this happen in her previous life?
It had been too long, and Kan’er truly couldn’t remember.
Unless there were special circumstances, the Eastern Palace women were required to go to Jiarong Hall by 6:45 a.m. to pay their respects to the Crown Princess.
On Kan’er’s first day paying respects, Ying Gugu and the others dared not delay, swiftly helping their mistress prepare.
Before long, Kan’er went out with Tiao Zhu.
The Eastern and Western Six Courtyards were located behind Jiarong Hall. It took less than a quarter hour to reach Jiarong Hall from the Western Six Courtyards.
It was early, and the sky had yet to brighten fully.
Only a few gardeners and sweepers were on the path. Apart from the rustling of brooms, no one spoke.
Kan’er didn’t converse with Tiao Zhu either.
Master and servant walked unhurriedly toward Jiarong Hall.
As they passed through a moon gate, they suddenly heard two clearly hushed voices from the other side.
“With the current momentum of that one, good news from over there should come soon.”
It turned out to be two rough-handed matrons weeding in a corner of the garden. Thinking no one was around, they huddled together to gossip.
“Who says otherwise?” the square-faced matron chimed in.
“Before, there were only three in total, and she took the lion’s share. Now there are four, yet…” The round-faced matron clicked her tongue. “Yesterday, many thought our lord would visit that certain one’s room, but he still went to her courtyard. Who knows what that certain one thinks—probably didn’t sleep all night.”
The square-faced matron sneered. “What can she think? A lowborn slave, no matter how favored, can’t change her origins. She doesn’t even look at her own status—not fit to hold shoes for the one in Qinfang Ju, yet she dares compete for favor?”
On this side of the moon gate, Tiao Zhu’s face darkened, and she stepped forward to rebuke them.
Kan’er stopped her.
Round-face: “True. If not for the Crown Princess’s face, would our lord ever have placed her in the Back Palace? Look at her chest and those hips—tsk tsk.”
“She’s a wanton slut!” Square-face curled her lip. “Look at how she walks, swaying all over. What decent young lady just of age looks like that? I bet even brothel girls aren’t as brazen as her.”
She glanced around, then leered. “Our lord is like a bodhisattva—how could he fancy that sort? She’s clearly the type who can’t stay faithful. Once her belly’s no longer needed and our lord stops visiting, she’ll probably hook up with someone. I heard the young eunuchs in her courtyard are all quite handsome—”
“Bullshit!” Tiao Zhu exploded.
No personal attendant could remain calm hearing such slander against their mistress!
She darted out, hands on her hips. “You foul-mouthed old hags! Think the Eastern Palace’s corridors are deaf? Taking advantage of our masters’ kindness to spew sewage onto palace brocade! I’ll report you to the Crown Princess! Let’s see how many ounces of black venom your shriveled hides contain!”