After leaving the main chamber, Kan’er went straight back to the tea room.
In that short span of time.
All the staff on duty in the tea room had arrived. Everyone was busy with their tasks, occasionally exchanging whispers.
Just as they were chatting, Kan’er entered.
The room abruptly fell silent.
It was as if everyone had been fed a mute potion, their expressions varied.
The Crown Princess had been married into the Eastern Palace for over a year without signs of pregnancy, and now she had transferred this young maid to the front courtyard.
Those who understood knew exactly what was going on.
But what wife in this world could truly willingly send someone to her husband’s bedside?
So, over the past month, while Kan’er seemed to settle in smoothly at the tea room, she had actually been subtly isolated by the others.
Just like now.
No one initiated a conversation with her.
Kan’er was content with the quiet, ignoring the complexity in their eyes as she returned to her spot and used the fire tongs to adjust the charcoal in the brazier.
Half an hour later, the Crown Princess led her attendants to Kunhe Palace.
The tea room staff had nothing to do for the time being.
Kan’er took some leftover tea leaves from a nearby shelf, brewed a cup, and idly passed the time with some needlework.
After sitting for a while, she stood up to stretch her limbs.
Unless necessary, she rarely spoke.
In this regard, she seemed no different from before.
But everyone could still tell that Kan’er had changed.
In the past, she would sit with hunched shoulders and a bowed head, as if she wished she could vanish into the ground at any moment.
She appeared timid and servile.
Now, it was different.
Her back was straight, exuding a natural grace and elegance. Even when bending over her needlework, she seemed serene and gentle.
And there was an occasional calmness in her eyes.
It didn’t look like the gaze of a servant at all.
Instead, it resembled that of the noble ladies in the palace.
“Acting like a mistress before she’s even achieved anything,” Xiahe muttered, sitting on the kang by the window, sipping tea and exchanging meaningful glances with Qiuju across from her, her voice lowered.
Qiuju followed her gaze.
The young girl was stretching by the rear window.
As she extended her arms, her clothes shifted with the movement, tightening and loosening, outlining the curves of her waist, hips, and chest in clear detail.
It was startling to behold.
Qiuju averted her gaze, her face flushed, wondering how the girl had developed such a figure at just fifteen.
“Hey, do you think…” Xiahe tugged at her sleeve, then cupped her hands in front of her chest, mimicking a bouncing motion.
“…Dianxia would like that kind?”
The moment she finished speaking, Qiuju turned pale.
She clamped a hand over Xiahe’s mouth, her voice trembling as she spoke.
“Are you insane?!”
How could they dare speculate about Dianxia’s preferences?
How many heads did they have to spare?!
Xiahe realized she had misspoken.
A cold sweat broke out, and she quickly glanced out the window.
Making sure no one was outside.
She sighed in relief and didn’t dare say another word.
But she couldn’t help wondering to herself.
Why had the Crown Princess taken a liking to Kan’er?
With someone as divine as their Dianxia, even if he were to take a concubine, he ought to be paired with someone refined and ethereal.
Not this kind…
Xiahe shot a glance at Kan’er, curling her lip in disdain.
Half an hour later, the Crown Princess returned.
A second-rank maid, Qingrong, came to hurry along the tea and snacks, explaining that Cao Liangyuan, Jin Chenghui, and Qin Zhaoxun had come to pay their respects to the Crown Princess.
Kan’er was busy tending the fire when Qingrong looked at her.
“Kan’er, you go serve the tea as well.”
Before Kan’er could speak, Xiahe raised her voice first: “What? Have her serve tea? She’s just a water-heater!”
Qingrong frowned.
“This is the Crown Princess’s order. Are you dissatisfied with the Crown Princess?”
The implication was too severe.
Xiahe immediately knelt down: “This servant wouldn’t dare!”
Qingrong ignored her and looked at the others in the tea room.
“As I’m here to deliver orders, that means I’m acting on our mistress’s instructions. None of you are new to palace duties.”
“You should all remember well in your hearts what questions are appropriate to ask and what aren’t. I don’t want to hear such words again in the future!”
The roomful of young palace maids responded in unison.
Qingrong said to Xiahe: “You won’t be serving tea today.”
After saying this, she left with a final remark: “Be quicker with your hands and feet.”
Kan’er emerged from behind the wind stove to fetch the pastries.
Xiahe stood up and glared at her viciously.
“First you took Bailuo’s job, now you’re taking mine. Song Kan’er, you’re really something!”
Bailuo was the person previously in charge of the wind stove.
Kan’er glanced at her but had no time to respond.
The Crown Prince was cold by nature, and the Back Palace of the Eastern Palace currently had only three concubines: Cao Liangyuan, Jin Chenghui, and Qin Zhaoxun.
Zheng Shi’s move was clearly intentional—making her serve Cao Liangyuan and the others, so that even if she gained status in the future, she would never be able to hold her head up before them.
The same had happened in her previous life.
Even after she had received the Crown Prince’s favor, Zheng Shi would use various methods to remind her that once a slave, always a slave.
And out of fear of Zheng Shi, she had indeed behaved as the other wished, always feeling ashamed of her origins.
As a result, for a long time afterward, she lacked confidence when interacting with Cao Liangyuan and others.
However, as she grew older and looked back, she realized that she had been blinded by the notion of her origins back then.
It was true that she came from a servant background.
That couldn’t be changed.
But from the moment she bore a child and became the Crown Prince’s Fengyi, she and Cao Liangyuan and the others shared only one identity.
That was, they were all the Crown Prince’s concubines.
Zheng Shi repeatedly used her origins to control her, but wasn’t she also reminding the Crown Prince that his woman had once been a servant?
Moreover, she was, after all, from Jiarong Hall.
Yet Zheng Shi made her serve Cao Liangyuan and the others to humiliate her, but who was actually being humiliated?
It was also because she had been too young back then and had been worn down harshly in the Back Palace, leaving her with no mind or energy to think in this direction.
Amid her thoughts, the tea and pastries were ready.
Kan’er and several others carried the items to the main room.
In the hall, Cao Liangyuan and the other two had just finished paying their respects.
Zheng Mingzhi had granted them seats, and Kan’er and the others entered to serve tea under the direction of two second-rank palace maids at the door.
“My, no wonder they say Jiarong Hall is a place where outstanding people gather. Look at how even a random tea server can be born with such breathtaking beauty.”
As soon as they entered, a clear, bright woman’s voice rang out.
It was Cao Liangyuan.
She sat in the first seat on the left lower side, with an oval face and downturned eyes, elegant and beautiful in appearance, and poised and generous in demeanor.
She appeared to be a straightforward and open-minded person.
Kan’er placed the teacup on the small table beside Cao Liangyuan and modestly lowered her head, pretending not to know she was being talked about.
“I’m talking about you.”
Cao Liangyuan tapped twice on the small table.
Kan’er raised her eyes as if overwhelmed by the favor and curtsied to Cao Liangyuan.
“Greetings, Liangyuan mistress.”
If Cao Liangyuan’s earlier remark was intentionally made to irritate Zheng Mingzhi after noticing the palace maid’s figure…
Upon clearly seeing the girl’s appearance at that moment, Cao Liangyuan was genuinely dazed for an instant.
Even though she herself was a woman, she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: “Her demeanor is elegant and profound, gentle yet genuine; her skin is delicate and smooth, her figure perfectly proportioned.”
Truly a peerless beauty.
Almost immediately upon seeing her, Cao Liangyuan understood what the Crown Princess was scheming. Her hands abruptly tightened.
That wretched Zheng!
Daring to try and place someone before His Highness!
Cao Liangyuan gritted her silver teeth, then quickly composed herself. Her eyes shifted thoughtfully as she touched her earlobe and looked toward Zheng Mingzhi.
“My, even her voice is so pleasing.”
“When did such a delightful person appear at the Crown Princess’s residence? We didn’t see her yesterday when we visited.”
From across the room, Jin Chenghui chimed in: “Turn around and let us have a look too.”
Jin Chenghui was charmingly pretty with a fair, round face, a delicate nose, vermilion lips, and captivating peach-blossom eyes. Her figure was particularly slender.
Kan’er turned and bowed to her and Qin Zhaoxun.
The two women’s reactions mirrored Cao Liangyuan’s exactly.
It was Qin Zhaoxun who recovered first.
“Indeed a remarkable beauty.”
Qin Zhaoxun was the daughter of Qin Zhe, a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy.
Influenced by her family’s scholarly background, she carried an air of refined elegance, her dignified brows radiating gentle grace.
She was an ethereal beauty of pure elegance.
“The Crown Princess is truly unfair,”
Jin Chenghui exclaimed, pouting as she regained her composure.
“Such a little beauty should have been shared earlier to feast our eyes upon. Instead, she kept her all to herself.”
“Who says otherwise?”
Cao Liangyuan joined in.
“Jiarong Hall’s rules are indeed commendable—their servants know how to keep secrets. If my courtyard had such a stunning beauty, the news would have spread long ago.”
As they say, for a woman to thrive in the inner quarters, she must first learn to speak skillfully and understand the nuances of conversation.
Cao Liangyuan’s seemingly affectionate and flattering remarks appeared to demonstrate her closeness with the Crown Princess.
In reality, they subtly mocked Jiarong Hall for hiding questionable affairs while elevating herself, highlighting her own open and upright conduct.
Unlike the Crown Princess, who preferred to conceal things.
No wonder Granny Pang often said Cao Liangyuan enjoyed speaking with double meanings—within just a few sentences, she had already woven multiple veiled barbs.
According to protocol, palace maids should withdraw after serving tea.
But with the conversation focused on Kan’er, she certainly couldn’t leave under these circumstances.
Kan’er stood there pretending to be shy, feigning ignorance of their discussion.
Zheng Mingzhi pretended not to notice the sarcasm in Jin Chenghui and Cao Liangyuan’s words.
She smiled at Qin Zhaoxun: “You see? Just because I have a new tea-serving maid, they’re already causing a fuss.”
Qin Zhaoxun replied: “The palace maids in the Crown Princess’s residence are as elegant as jade. It’s understandable that these two sisters are eager to admire such beauty.”
“And you? Do you also wish to admire this beauty?”
Zheng Mingzhi asked meaningfully.
Qin Zhaoxun covered the corner of her mouth slightly, her expression neutral.
“Your Highness jests. Whether this concubine wishes to admire her is unimportant. What matters is whom the Crown Princess wishes to have admire her.”
The atmosphere in the room visibly tensed.
Qin Zhaoxun’s chief maid noticed the fading smile in the Crown Princess’s eyes and nearly collapsed from trembling knees.
Kan’er appropriately lowered her head.
Zheng Mingzhi set down her teacup and smiled faintly.
“Qin Zhaoxun’s words are quite intriguing. She’s merely a tea-serving servant. What does it matter whom I wish to have admire her? Weren’t you the ones who started this conversation?”
“Now you shift the topic to me. I’d like to know—whom does Qin Zhaoxun think I wish to have admire this maid?”
Cao Liangyuan and Jin Chenghui watched the unfolding drama with amusement.
Qin Zhaoxun choked back her words.
“This humble one is foolish and spoke out of turn. I beg the Crown Princess for forgiveness.”
Zheng Mingzhi knew they had guessed the reason why that little vixen Kan’er was here, but so what?
This matter concerned the Crown Prince.
No matter how much Cao Liangyuan and the others speculated, they wouldn’t dare say more.
As for that little vixen Kan’er, she wouldn’t make this matter public before the child was born, nor would she grant this lowly maid any rank.
Thinking this,
Zheng Mingzhi didn’t even glance at Kan’er.
She only looked at Qin Zhaoxun: “Look at what you’re saying, when did I ever accuse you of anything? You’re already begging for forgiveness—if others didn’t know better, they’d think this Crown Princess is petty and narrow-minded.”
“Reporting to the Crown Princess!”
Xiao Dongzi, the errand-running eunuch from Jiarong Hall, rushed into the courtyard, announcing loudly before he even reached the doorway.
Zheng Mingzhi frowned.
But before she could scold him, she heard Xiao Dongzi say: “Crown Princess, Hai Gonggong has come to deliver Dianxia’s oral decree!”
Zheng Mingzhi no longer had any attention to spare for Kan’er.
She immediately led Cao Liangyuan and the other two out to greet him.
When the Crown Prince issued a decree, palace staff had to listen to it alongside their masters, so Kan’er and the other servants in the room also followed into the courtyard.
Soon, Hai Shun arrived.
He didn’t waste words.
After paying respects to Zheng Mingzhi, he quickly scanned the courtyard.
Spotting the young maid kneeling there, whose very kneeling posture seemed to exude grace and charm, Hai Shun cleared his throat.
“By Dianxia’s oral decree: Song Shi Kan’er of Jiarong Hall, endowed with innate wisdom and virtuous elegance, has greatly pleased This Solitary One. Henceforth, she is appointed Seventh Rank Zhaoxun and granted residence in the eastern side hall of Yongxu Yuan—”