As autumn deepened and the north wind whispered, Tian Nüshi gazed absently at the ground covered in withered yellow leaves.
Her trusted maid A-Jiu, having copied the previous month’s account books, noticed her troubled expression and sighed. “That Shen Hui is still young. Why trouble yourself over her, Nüshi? The Aunt Duan she follows has long been sent by you to the Beast House. Though she once managed the mansion’s roster on the princess consort’s orders, she was unpopular and unlikely to achieve much.”
“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘uproot the grass and destroy the roots’?” Tian Nüshi withdrew her gaze and neatly arranged the ledger. “Duan is highly capable. I framed her, so she surely bears a grudge. Leaving her alive would only give her a chance to seek revenge against me.”
“But Shen Hui is, after all, Madam Xu’s niece,” A-Jiu worried.
The nüshi had treated her well, and she didn’t want her to continue forming cliques and attacking dissenters, risking the princess consort’s displeasure.
“Precisely because her aunt is Madam Xu, I cannot tolerate her.” Tian Nüshi seemed to recall something, her brow turning icy. “I have no backing, and the princess consort is suspicious and cautious, unwilling to fully trust me. If I don’t plan ahead, Shen Hui will eventually climb over my head.”
The infighting among palace nüguan was fierce, with too few official positions. Except for high-ranking nüguan who might receive imperial favor to leave the palace, vacating their posts, most could only grow old and die within the Lateral Courts.
If one was unlucky, with a long-lived and healthy nüguan above them, waiting ten years might not guarantee a single promotion.
Moreover, the Lateral Courts were no different from the outside world—those with connections advanced faster. She had witnessed it herself: a young palace maid who entered the palace with her, illiterate and barely educated, rose to the eighth rank at the tender age of fifteen in just two years, all because her elder sister was a senior maid serving the Guifei.
So how could she afford to be soft-hearted?
Eliminate as many as possible.
“Give the reward to Xiao Li. Don’t shortchange her.” Tian Nüshi counted out five taels of silver and handed them to her maid A-Jiu, her expression dark.
A-Jiu had no choice but to nod.
Outside the door, Xiao Li smiled upon receiving the silver and immediately sneaked off to the South Garden in the rear courtyard, completely oblivious to the little tail, Liu’er, not far away.
The rear courtyard of Chu Wangfu was divided into the North and South Gardens.
In the South Garden, Consort Cui resided in the main hall. In her earlier years, when she still enjoyed favor, she loved to compete with Consort Zheng, who lived in the main hall of the North Garden. She had begged Prince Chu to expand her courtyard, adding a koi pond in front and a flower trellis in the back. Rippling water and blooming flowers vied for beauty, and even after autumn arrived, with potted flowers replaced, the scene remained a lively spectacle of vibrant colors.
Recently, however, Consort Cui had no heart for admiring flowers or feeding fish. Her adopted son, the Second Young Master’s, marriage prospects had hit a snag, and her frequent outbursts of anger made life miserable for the servants attending her.
That day, after a group of maids had cleared away several piles of shattered porcelain, they bowed their heads silently and withdrew, afraid of provoking Consort Cui’s temper again.
“Please calm your anger, Consort.” Consort Cui’s personal maid, Aunt Wei, lifted the beaded curtain and approached, cautiously soothing her. “The marriage of a royal grandson requires an imperial decree from the palace; it cannot be decided solely by the princess consort’s word. There is still room for negotiation in this matter.”
“Out of respect for the Eldest Princess, how could Her Majesty the Empress refuse the princess consort’s request?” Consort Cui massaged her temples, feeling a faint headache. “It’s also Princess Jinkang’s cowardice. Seeing that the Empress wouldn’t agree to bestow her daughter in marriage to the Second Prince, she actually began to back down—ambitious yet hesitant, how laughable.”
"Forgive this old servant for speaking out of turn, but this matter not succeeding is actually beneficial to you. Although Imperial Princess Jinkang's Imperial Son-in-Law comes from a prominent clan, he has only held idle official posts to this day. Their daughter marrying the Second Prince would be reaching above their station. But if you were to select a daughter from the Cui family for the Second Prince, he would have no shortage of support. Moreover, your uncle, the Marquis of Xiping, has more than one granddaughter." Aunt Wei used a small silver hairpin to scoop out some cool mint ointment, rubbed it on her fingers, and went to gently massage Consort Cui's brow bone.
In the Marquis of Xiping's residence, the old lady was still alive, so the family had not divided. The eldest son, the Marquis of Xiping, was close with his two younger brothers and treated his niece, Consort Cui, quite well.
"Yes, Grandmother also advised me to follow the princess consort's wishes and choose from within our own family." Consort Cui still seemed somewhat dissatisfied. "She told me to be more compliant, so that when the time comes, we can change the candidate. For example, my third cousin's daughter is quite good. So what if she's born of a concubine? I am too, and the imperial family doesn't care about such things when arranging marriages. But my third cousin is a provincial official, and who knows how many years it will take for him to be promoted to the capital."
Aside from Imperial Princess Jinkang's daughter, what she valued most was the granddaughter of the powerful Chancellor Liu. That young lady's father was a censor, her mother came from the imperial clan—nothing could be more perfect.
Who would have thought the Liu family would be so stubborn, bluntly refusing. For this, the great prince had reprimanded her for overstepping her authority and punished her with house arrest.
"What does being a provincial official matter? Good days are approaching for the residence. Once the great prince grants titles to the Cui family, you can ask for a favor to help your cousin along. If he wants to come to the capital, he'll come." Aunt Wei was skilled with words, coaxing Consort Cui until her anger gradually subsided.
Consort Cui waved a hand. "It seems that's the only way. I have no appetite for lunch and wish to rest for a while. You may go."
Hearing this, Aunt Wei hurriedly withdrew respectfully. When Consort Cui had been angry, she had smashed a teacup, splashing tea all over Aunt Wei, leaving her damp and chilled.
"Aunt, has the side consort calmed down?" In the servants' quarters, a young maidservant brought fresh clothes.
Aunt Wei gave a faint "hmm" in response.
She had been talking and persuading all morning and was now famished. She sent the young maidservant to quickly serve the meal.
"Such fine greens cooked like this, and the steamed egg custard is mediocre too. The soup is too salty and doesn't even have my favorite pepper. When you went to order, how dare you not clearly state my requirements?" Having endured frustration, she was in a foul mood and glared at the maidservant.
"How would this servant dare? It must be the kitchen staff trying to fool you." After pleading repeatedly, the maidservant exclaimed, "Aunt, look! There's a bug in this dish."
Aunt Wei slapped the table and snorted coldly. "Nanny Zhang has been managing the kitchen for so long, yet she's not doing a very good job. Let's go."
In the Servants' Kitchen, the lingering aroma of meat had not yet dissipated. Shen Hui, holding a large bowl of slippery chicken slices mixed with rice, sighed contentedly. She picked up some pickled cucumbers from a jar with her chopsticks to accompany the meal—crisp and refreshing.
Just as she was about to serve herself another bowl of rice, she suddenly heard an angry shout. Startled, she quickly finished serving, immediately picked up her bowl, pulled Shen Wei along, and hid in a corner to eat.
"Who made my meal today? The kitchen is busy, and some carelessness can be overlooked, but with this filthy thing appearing, it means you deliberately turned a blind eye." Aunt Wei threw down the food box.
"This servant remembers who served the dishes when I fetched your meal. It was Shen Wei, and also Cook Wu." The young maidservant who had followed her into the kitchen tried to grab someone, heading straight for Shen Wei.
Shen Hui was taken aback. She first blocked Shen Wei, then prepared to inquire indirectly, but saw Cook Wu leaping out with a rolling pin in hand, roaring like thunder.
"Young maidservant, you can't just spout nonsense." Before Cook Wu entered the wangfu, her previous master was a street performer who had taught her a few tricks. Coupled with her barbarian bloodline, her features were deep-set, and she was broad-shouldered and sturdy. She brandished her rolling pin with such force it whistled through the air. "Your Granny Wu here may not be particular, but would I fail to see such a big butterfly? You old shrew bringing this little bastard here to extort us—do you think everyone in our kitchen is easy to bully? Pah!"
Cook Wu bellowed "Out of my way!" and, scooping the young maidservant around the waist, hoisted her up and carried her off, depositing her back beside Aunt Wei in one fluid, seamless motion.
The poor young maidservant felt the world spin around her. Before she could even process what was happening, she was back at the starting point, staring blankly at Aunt Wei.
"What is this disgraceful behavior? The people from your Servants' Kitchen may not understand the rules as well as the servants from the inner courtyard, but you are all still part of the wangfu. To resort to physical force like this is truly… mmmph!" Before Aunt Wei could finish, Cook Wu's large hand shot out, firmly covering her mouth.
"Aunt Wei, please calm down," Cook Wu said with a grin.
This series of actions left Shen Hui utterly dumbfounded.
Physical harem intrigue?
Aunt Wei, now restrained by Cook Wu, was far from calming down—she was practically on the verge of passing out. She rammed her stomach against Cook Wu, struggling to break free. "Enough, enough, I said enough! You, quickly explain why there's a bug in here."
Aunt Wei was indeed cunning, but having long resided in the inner courtyard, scheming for Consort Cui and occasionally engaging in verbal sparring with the servants of other consorts and concubines, even when tempers truly flared, it was always a battle of words. She had never encountered someone like Cook Wu before.
In the corner, Shen Hui had already had her fill of the drama and could no longer focus on her meal.
"Aunt Wei is about to shatter into pieces," she couldn't help but chuckle, whispering quietly into Shen Wei's ear. "So there's a second way to deal with false accusations. Has Cook Wu always been like this?"
For a moment, she almost doubted whether she had transmigrated into a one-woman-multiple-babies birth novel or into Water Margin, about to witness Cook Wu uprooting a willow tree or Cook Wu pummeling Aunt Wei.
"Cook Wu may be slovenly, but she's not a bad person," Shen Wei said, puzzled. "Sister, why are you so sure she's being framed?"
Just as Shen Hui was about to explain, the young maidservant pounced again.
"Wait, it's not just Cook Wu. There's also Shen Wei, who served the dish. The two of you had better confess honestly. Otherwise, our Aunt Wei will have no choice but to report this matter to Tian Nüshi and have her investigate the accounts of your Servants' Kitchen." The young maidservant, borrowing authority from the tiger, invoked Tian Nüshi's name and pointed at Shen Wei.
Something's off…
Having studied under Aunt Duan for many days, Shen Hui's cleverness and insight had improved further. She immediately sensed the young maidservant's relentless pursuit.
"Does that maidservant often come to the kitchen?" she asked Shen Wei.
"Probably not. The young maidservant who usually fetches meals for Aunt Wei isn't her," Shen Wei frowned.
Aunt Wei was Consort Cui's dowry maid. The young maidservants who served her were no ordinary laborers. The one today usually only ran errands and boiled tea.
"Shen Wei?" Aunt Wei didn't recognize Shen Wei. After some thought, she finally remembered who she was and said sarcastically, "So it's Miss Shen Wei. My apologies. Your aunt is Madam Xu, the Third Young Master's wet nurse. You must look down on an old woman like me."
The Third Young Master was the adopted son of the Princess Consort of Chu. His birth mother, Consort Zhao, had always followed the Princess Consort of Chu's lead and did not belong to Consort Cui's faction.
Thus, Aunt Wei naturally had no pleasant expression for anyone associated with Madam Xu.
The fire had reached her sister, and there seemed to be someone behind the incident stirring up trouble. Shen Hui could no longer stand by and watch.
"Aunt Wei, in my opinion, that bug was likely placed there by someone else afterward," she slowly stepped forward, speaking with confidence. "The kitchen doesn’t grow flowers. Even in spring, butterflies are rarely seen, let alone in this season."
"That’s right, she’s absolutely right!" Cook Wu planted her hands on her hips, pointed at Aunt Wei again, and stomped her foot with a strong sense of rhythm.
After speaking, Shen Hui looked directly at the young maidservant hiding behind Aunt Wei. "Also, since you were able to identify Cook Wu and Miss Shen Wei, it means you witnessed the entire process of them serving the dishes. Yet at the time, you didn’t point out the bug."
The young maidservant was much shorter than Shen Hui and had already lost the upper hand in presence. She glared at her and muttered, "Hmph, who knows if it didn’t fall into the pot while they were cooking? Besides, you’re Shen Wei’s sister, of course you’d protect your own sister."
"You don’t often come to the kitchen, and you’ve never been to the Beast House. I also didn’t call her ‘Shen Wei, my sister’ just now. How can you be so certain I’m her sister?" Shen Hui’s gaze gradually turned cold.