[Tsk, tsk, tsk… the main hall of a palace!]
[It seems that the original owner risking her life to save the First Princess wasn’t entirely a blessing…]
After clarifying her current situation, Fu Lingxi grumbled inwardly with great dissatisfaction.
That “dog emperor” was far too cold-blooded! He had granted her the main hall of a palace to live in, yet he hadn’t even assigned her a Palace-managing Matron. He definitely harbored ill intentions. According to the rules, a consort living in the main hall of a palace should be assigned a Managing Matron as a matter of course.
Naturally, if one were to go strictly by the allocation for a Secondary 4th Grade Commissioned Concubine, the Internal Affairs Bureau hadn’t technically made a mistake. According to their regulations, the attendants under a Commissioned Concubine included: three first-class palace maids, four second-class maids, six third-class maids, six labor matrons, one Palace-managing Eunuch, and six young attendants.
Normally, one would also add a Palace-managing Matron who could be assigned to the main hall of a palace…
Adding them all up, there were at least twenty-seven attendants to look after a single Commissioned Concubine master! While it seemed like a lot of people, in reality, palace servants were never truly enough. This wasn’t the modern era; this was a genuine ancient world. The hallmark of antiquity was extremely low productivity. Every single task had to be performed by human labor!
Simply for a consort to eat a meal or take a bath, five or six people had to be assigned to the task: those waiting for orders, those delivering food, those running errands, those boiling water, those carrying water, those maintaining the palace environment, and those guarding the inner gates…
Every inner gate of a palace had to have young eunuchs or palace maids on duty at all times. Otherwise, how a consort might be framed or killed would remain an eternal mystery!
Moreover, Yikun Palace was at least located in the West Six Palaces!
[At least This Seat wasn’t assigned to the Cold Palace area in the East Six Palaces! Good, very good~]
Fu Lingxi comforted herself. Although she had been forcibly dragged out by the Emperor to serve as a high-profile target, she was, at the very least, a beneficiary.
In the original novel, because Empress Dowager Que lived in the Ci’an Palace, which was the primary palace of the East Six Palaces, she was secretly loathed by the Emperor. As a result, he defaulted to assigning all the consorts and mistresses he disliked to the East Six Palaces…
For this reason, Fu Lingxi breathed a secret sigh of relief, and her mood improved considerably. With a curve in her eyes, she asked straightforwardly:
“Tell me, among the candidates who entered the palace this time, who else was assigned to the main hall of a palace?”
Three women make a drama. This selection had chosen eighteen newcomers to enter the harem! And don’t forget, there were already twelve veterans…
“In response to Master, aside from you being a Concubine master, the rest are all Ladies or Attendants.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Hearing this, Fu Lingxi raised her head in surprise. She arched her smiling brows and looked at the three girls with a shallow, puzzled smile.
[My God, does This Seat have to be set up as a target this high?!]
Seeing her new mistress’s charming smile, Su Ran suddenly felt a slight chill of caution, and the rest of her words halted for a moment.
“Master, aside from you being a Concubine master, next is Candidate Li, who was promoted to Jin Jieyu and moved to the rear hall of Zhonghua Palace; Candidate Zhou was promoted to Jing Jieyu and moved to the rear hall of Changchun Palace—”
The chirpy Xu Duo was clearly the youngest of the three. She was the only one who hadn’t noticed the subtle dissatisfaction in her new mistress’s expression. She happily counted on her fingers, reporting freely:
“Candidate Lu was titled Qin Ronghua, Candidate Han was titled Han Guiji, Candidate Ruan and Candidate Wei were titled Commissioned Ladies, while Candidate Liu, Candidate Pang, and Candidate Feng were titled Noble People…”
Emperor Taiyong did not value women; the harem currently had only one high-ranking consort, Noble Consort Qi. The other high positions were all vacant. Therefore, even those at the Concubine rank were barely qualified to live in the main hall of a palace, let alone the lower-ranked Ladies and Attendants.
Thus, the importance of the “rear hall” became apparent.
According to the original owner’s memories, the most noble-born among this batch of candidates were precisely Jin Jieyu and Jing Jieyu. The former was the biological niece of the Empress Dowager—the Emperor’s direct cousin. The latter was the legitimate granddaughter of a Vassal King; her grandfather, the Vassal King of Andong, was currently in high favor with the Emperor…
Fu Lingxi nodded in understanding. She watched Xu Duo’s “performance” with a faint smile while listening intently. After habitually playing with her fingers for a few seconds, she slightly knitted her elegant brows, and her breath hitched.
Instinctively, her gaze shifted to her left palm.
Her vision suddenly became mystical, as if piercing through the surface of her skin and muscle. Abruptly, a crystal body slightly larger than a mung bean and transparent as glass appeared—
[The Spiritual Core Crystal!]
[Great! This Seat’s Golden Finger is still there!]
[Does this mean This Seat still has a chance to cultivate and seek immortality again?]
“…Candidate Wu and Candidate Gong were titled Beauties, Candidate Sun was titled a Talented Lady, Candidate Qian was titled a Lady of Treasure, Candidate Cao and Candidate Tong were titled Attendants, and Candidate Geng and Candidate Gao were titled Chosen Maids!”
After introducing the other seventeen Ladies and Attendants in one breath, Xu Duo looked at her new mistress with bright eyes. She didn’t dare be disrespectful with her gaze, letting it fall near her mistress’s chin while waiting for orders. After all, having risen to the rank of a first-class palace maid, palace etiquette was ingrained in her instincts; she wouldn’t easily offend her master or make a mistake that would lead to a lecture.
“Not bad, there shall be a reward!”
Fu Lingxi had been sensitive since childhood. After interacting for this short while, she could roughly see the individual thoughts and strengths of the three. She gave her orders clearly:
“From now on, the task of gathering information for Yikun Palace will be Xu Duo’s responsibility.”
“Understood!” Hearing this, Xu Duo immediately bowed respectfully and answered with excitement, “Your servant guarantees the mission will be accomplished!”
“Mhm~”
Fu Lingxi stared at the familiar, beautiful bone structure in the bronze mirror—delicate features, bright eyes, white teeth, and a movingly fragile appearance. Her deep purple palace attire made her look even more vivid and graceful. In an excellent mood, she continued her orders:
“Su Ran did a good job with this makeup. From now on, the matter of applying makeup will be your responsibility. You will also be my personal attendant and manage Yikun Palace’s money box.”
“Yes, your servant accepts the command.”
“Zi Luan’s hairstyle is very well done. From now on, you will be responsible for my hair. Work with Su Ran to coordinate my makeup, clothing, and accessories. Additionally, you will oversee the meals at Yikun Palace.”
As she spoke, Fu Lingxi’s gaze remained locked on their faces. Aside from Xu Duo, who showed a transparent look of joy, Su Ran and Zi Luan maintained solemn expressions.
She was quite satisfied with the first-class maids assigned by the Internal Affairs Bureau and proceeded to entrust them with heavy responsibilities:
“You are all first-class palace maids. There are other affairs in the palace that the three of you can coordinate and distribute among yourselves; I won’t interfere too much. In Yikun Palace, I have only one requirement: loyalty.”
“Understood~”
“Your servant will certainly be loyal and devoted!”
“Your servant shall strictly follow Master’s wishes.”
Understanding their mistress’s requirement, the three women reacted differently but answered in unison.
“Good, good, good~ I shall see.”
[Loyalty or its lack is seen over time; this matter cannot be rushed.]
Seeing her three first-class maids take the initiative to show their loyalty naturally satisfied Fu Lingxi, causing her to break into a radiant smile. “Alright, let us move palaces first.”
“Yes, Master.”
By rights, Fu Lingxi was the highest-ranked Concubine in this selection. Since Her Ladyship Concubine Yi hadn’t moved yet, the other Ladies and Attendants shouldn’t have moved ahead of her according to protocol.
However, Concubine Yi had remained unconscious after falling into the water. Even after the imperial decrees from the two Empresses Dowager had assigned ranks to all the candidates, she still hadn’t woken up…
They couldn’t just let everyone wait indefinitely!
Furthermore, Jin Jieyu and Jing Jieyu, who both hailed from high-status families, were not lacking in pride. After waiting for only half an hour and sending someone to make a perfunctory inquiry at Concubine Yi’s quarters, they confirmed that the time of her awakening was uncertain. The two of them immediately took the lead in moving palaces!
The lower-ranked Ladies below them were a bit more restrained; they waited for another half an hour. Following protocol, they sent first-class maids to check and found that Concubine Yi was still unable to wake. They too could wait no longer and moved palaces one by one.
Now, only a few Attendants remained honestly in Chuxiu Palace. Because Emperor Taiyong had so few consorts, even the low-ranking Attendants were assigned to good locations.
Leaning on Su Ran’s arm, Fu Lingxi walked out of Chuxiu Palace while listening to her detail these events. She gave a light laugh and shook her head, whispering:
“It doesn’t matter. In this harem, it is often those who are honest and keep to their duties who live the longest. We just need to manage our own palace. This kind of pointless competitive spirit is better left behind.”
“Yes.”
Seeing that their mistress truly wasn’t angry or annoyed, Su Ran and the others answered in unison with a lightened tone.
However, while Fu Lingxi was not seeking a fight, it was clear that someone else was dissatisfied.
Suddenly, a group of people emerged from a cluster of flowers to the side, blocking their path.
“Oh my~”