Zhe Junwu’s parrot flew away.
It was a green-feathered parrot. When she found it, its wing was injured, and it had fallen from a tree into her hands, so she had raised it.
She had kept it for three years, from the time she was nine until she was twelve. They had been together day and night, yet who could have known that as soon as the drought hit, the parrot would prove heartless? It took flight and never looked back.
She went home crying, though she didn’t blame it. Her family had been out of food for three days, and she hadn’t been able to feed it. Since the creature was hungry, it was only natural for it to fly away—well, even if she couldn’t be as heartless as it was, she was still willing to find an excuse for it.
When she arrived home, a visitor was there—a very tall and sturdy older woman. Her mother pulled her over for the woman to inspect. Zhe Junwu was a little afraid; she clung to her mother’s hand and hid behind her. But her mother pulled her out, saying to the woman with uneasy restlessness, “Look, she is very well-behaved.”
In this context, “well-behaved” meant beautiful.
The sturdy woman smiled as she pulled the girl closer to look. A flash of amazement flickered in her eyes, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she said critically, “She’s too thin.”
“Being too thin makes it hard to do manual labor.”
Zhe Junwu’s mother rubbed her hands together anxiously again. “She might be thin, but she eats very little. She’s obedient and clever with her hands; she can even embroider…”
The sturdy woman said, “Three dou of rice. I can’t give more.”
Three dou of rice it was, then. Her mother pleaded with the woman, “I beg you to find her a good place, as long as she has food to eat. Just… please don’t send her to those entertainment districts.”
The woman patted her chest in assurance. “Don’t you worry. Once she’s with me, I certainly won’t do that kind of dirty business. That would bring a curse upon my life.”
Zhe Junwu understood then: she had been sold.
Not only was the parrot heartless, but her mother was as well.
She lowered her head, her hands tightly clutching the corner of her clothes. Tears fell in steady streams, but she stood there without moving. She knew she couldn’t run away. Many girls in the village had been sold; she knew how this worked.
Her mother saw this and felt a pang of guilt. Holding the three dou of rice, she reached out to pat the girl’s head. Just as her hand extended, Zhe Junwu tilted her head away, refusing the touch.
Her mother sighed. “Don’t hate your mother. There was truly no other way. By selling you, at least you might live.”
Zhe Junwu’s temperament seemed soft, but she had a stubborn streak. Her heart was wounded, and she held her breath in silence until the moment she left, never once looking back at her mother or that home.
The sturdy woman found it amusing. “Your mother selling you is for your own good. If you go to a high-ranking household to be a maid and catch the eye of a noble, you might even have a great destiny ahead of you.”
Zhe Junwu did not answer.
Though she was young, she was not stupid. One must bow when under another’s roof, but she truly had no strength left for flattery, so she simply kept her head down.
The sturdy woman smiled and gave her a steamed bun. “Eat.”
She pulled out a bun for herself as well and said comfortingly, “In this life, unless you’re born into a wealthy family, you’re bound to suffer hunger and cold. Don’t go hating your mother; she’s one of the good ones. She asked me to find a good family to sell you to, and because of that, she didn’t even dare ask me for more.”
“The drought came so suddenly, and who knows how long it will last? By being sold, you have a place to go and might actually survive. They can only rely on the heavens. Now that it hasn’t rained for so long and the fields have dried up, the heavens aren’t giving them a path to live. Your whole family will likely die before you do.”
The woman was shrewd and experienced; with just a few words, half of Zhe Junwu’s resentment dissipated.
She finished the bun and followed the woman into the city. The woman had no money, so she took her to sleep on a haystack at night. There were many other people there, each bringing a few children. Zhe Junwu took one look and knew they had been sold just like her.
Even though it was the third lunar month, it was still very cold. She was woken up by the chill after falling asleep. Just as Zhe Junwu was about to get up to grab some straw to cover herself, she saw a child walking away on tiptoe. Before she could react, an arrow flew through the air, and the small child collapsed directly onto the ground.
Blood splashed onto Zhe Junwu’s face. She sat there in a daze, her mind gone numb. For a moment, she felt as if she were the one who had died. It was the sturdy woman who pulled her to another spot and used the incident to warn her, “You’d better remember this. You’ve been sold. If you try to run away after being sold and your master kills you, no one will even ask a question.”
Zhe Junwu did not speak for three days.
The woman didn’t need her to speak, thinking she was merely frightened. The next day, she gave her an extra bun. After another half-month of traveling, the woman had bought thirteen children in total.
Twelve girls and one boy, all around the same age as her, about eleven or twelve years old. The woman said she didn’t buy children who were too small, as they were hard to sell in her line of business. Among the thirteen children, each was bought for two or three dou of rice. Only the person selling the son had been difficult to deal with, and the woman had given four dou of rice for him.
The boy changed his name to Sidou.
“I have to remember,” he said. “Remember these four dou of rice.”
The sturdy woman didn’t care. “Then remember it.”
After buying thirteen children, the woman stopped. Junwu noticed that everyone she picked was good-looking. She felt a surge of fear. Being good-looking meant there were more places to be sold to. Back in the countryside, she had heard people talk about the girls in those entertainment districts—they picked the pretty ones to sell into those places.
Even though the sturdy woman said she wouldn’t, Junwu couldn’t help but be afraid.
Her heart remained suspended in anxiety. She didn’t speak a word every day, doing whatever she was told. The sturdy woman once even remarked in surprise, “Look at you, getting so sensible.”
Then she added, “Relax, I’m a good person. The place I’ve found for you is truly a good one.”
This “good place” kept the hearts of the thirteen children hanging until the fifth lunar month, when they were finally brought into a small residence.
There were many people inside the residence. When the woman entered, she stuffed a purse into the hands of the person leading the way. “Eunuch He, you must help me by saying some good words.”
Eunuch He squeezed the purse and smiled with satisfaction. “The ones you’ve picked are all good. They should all be selected.”
Zhe Junwu kept her head down the whole time. At this point, she didn’t know what a eunuch was; she only thought this person spoke as if his throat were being pinched, and his clothes were strange.
It was only after the sturdy woman had sold them and left with several purses that Zhe Junwu realized they had been sold into the Palace.
She still didn’t know what the Imperial Palace was, but from that day on, besides being taught rules and etiquette, they were given two steamed buns to eat every day.
With two buns, they could eat their fill and wouldn’t go hungry. Everyone was satisfied. Even if they were beaten for failing to learn the rules, no one complained.
Zhe Junwu was still filled with trepidation, but she no longer worried about an empty stomach. Humans are socialized in this way. By the time they entered the Palace in the ninth lunar month, sitting in a carriage passing through the palace walls, she had completely accepted the fact that she had been sold by her mother and then sold again to become a palace maid.
The high walls blocked out the sky and trees of the outside world. Zhe Junwu felt a sudden darkness as everything around them fell silent. After getting off the carriage and changing clothes in a room, Eunuch He led them to a square courtyard. He inspected them one by one, making his selection.
There were over a hundred people standing in the courtyard, but Eunuch He only chose twenty to be led away. Zhe Junwu was one of them. Those twenty were then sent to another courtyard where several people were already waiting.
Among them were eunuchs and matrons—by now, she knew what eunuchs were. The young palace maids stood in five rows, under the scrutiny of these eunuchs and matrons.
A round-faced eunuch pulled Eunuch He to the side and said with a smile, “Were they really taught the rules while on the road?”
“Naturally. This was the Empress’s order; would I dare tell a lie?” Eunuch He seemed a bit displeased. “Are you going to pick or not?”
The round-faced eunuch replied, “I’m picking, I’m picking. You really are an impatient one.”
He turned around and his eyes landed on Zhe Junwu.
He remarked, “She certainly has a fine face.”
Eunuch He glanced at Zhe Junwu. “She’s honest and clever with her hands, but… she’s a bit too good-looking. She’s the best one here. Do you want her?”
This person hadn’t been intended for the round-faced eunuch.
The round-faced eunuch was from the East Palace, surnamed Li. Hearing this, he nodded. “Eunuch Liu told me to pick someone with good looks.”
Eunuch He was truly surprised this time.
It was known to everyone under heaven that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not like people with good looks. In the East Palace, the eunuchs and maids were all plain-looking. Why was he picking a beautiful one to take back this time? On the other hand, the Seventh Prince liked beautiful palace maids, and Eunuch He had intended to send Zhe Junwu there.
But it didn’t matter. He had specifically had several good-looking ones bought this time. There were others to take her place for the Seventh Prince; the East Palace had to come first.
Eunuch Li gave a meaningful smile and said nothing, maintaining an air of “don’t ask.” But in his heart, he was also uncertain, as he truly didn’t know why either.
Eunuch Liu was the one who served in close attendance to the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince had a confidant who knew his every thought, it was him. In terms of guessing the Crown Prince’s intentions, Eunuch Liu was second to none.
Eunuch Li only regretted that he couldn’t get inside the Crown Prince’s head himself, allowing Eunuch Liu to get ahead of him and win favor.
And so, he led Zhe Junwu toward the East Palace. Watching her follow cautiously without asking a single question, and noting that her walking and saluting followed the rules reasonably well, he nodded outwardly. Inwardly, however, he was still wondering what Eunuch Liu was thinking this time—why did he insist on bringing back such a beauty?
After thinking back and forth without finding any deep meaning, he simply stopped thinking about it. By the time they reached the East Palace, it was near dusk. Rolled bamboo screens hung under the corridors. As he led her along the corridor, his head was blocked by the screens, but because Zhe Junwu was small and short, her entire face was exposed, bathed in the glow of the sunset.
Her face wasn’t sharp or thin; her cheeks had gained some fullness over the past few days. She had a clean, fair, oval face with a widow’s peak on her forehead. Her nose wasn’t particularly high, but even at her young age, combined with her other features, she looked exceptionally elegant and refined.
Such a face stood out starkly in the East Palace. As Eunuch Li led her along, she could feel the strange looks directed at her the entire way.
Eunuch Li was supposed to take her to see a eunuch named Liu, but unfortunately, Eunuch Liu was not there.
A young eunuch said, “Grandpa Li, just after you left, the Crown Prince was sent to Jizhou by His Majesty. Eunuch Liu went with him and likely won’t be back for three or four days.”
Since neither before picking her up nor before leaving for Jizhou had Eunuch Liu said what she was brought back for, Eunuch Li was momentarily at a loss. He grumbled about Eunuch Liu being secretive and as cunning as an old fox, then thought for a moment and said to Zhe Junwu, “I’ll send you to the back courtyard to stay. You follow the other young palace maids and do chores for now.”
Zhe Junwu was sent to the large shared dormitory where the young palace maids lived, and very quickly, she was isolated.
After Eunuch Li dropped her off, he stopped checking on her. Zhe Junwu spent three days there, enduring three days of cold glares and being ignored. Not a single person was willing to speak to her.
She knew she was a newcomer and couldn’t cause trouble. When others told her to do extra work, she did it. Because despite the isolation and the glares, the food she was supposed to receive was never shorted.
Food was enough. Her personality was naturally quiet; if others didn’t talk to her, she didn’t speak. Sweeping the courtyard, carrying water—she did it all. Busy from morning until night, she would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow from exhaustion.
But on the fourth day, she realized that even being this obedient still invited resentment. That day, the sun was more intense than ever before, the heat making everyone restless. Yet, the manager matron ordered her to go sweep the courtyard.
Stepping into the courtyard, the sun was so hot it made one’s skin sting. Zhe Junwu held her broom, not daring to resist, and endured the scorching sun while sweeping leaves.
The sun was truly too fierce; her face ached from the exposure. After a day under the sun, she was sunburned. Not just her skin—she felt as though her flesh was being roasted and could be eaten if someone just added a bit of salt.
There were many fallen leaves in September. She swept all day before the manager matron finally allowed her to go eat. By then, it was already dark. Zhe Junwu went to the kitchen to collect her food; everyone else had finished eating, and the women in the kitchen were already tidying up the dishes. Only two buns were left for her.
Two buns were still a meal. She asked for a bowl of water, and so as not to hinder the women cleaning the kitchen, she found a small corner to crouch in, holding a bun in one hand and water in the other.
At this moment, the marks from the sun on her face were even more obvious, stretching in lines across her face. She looked particularly wretched. One of the kitchen women, seeing her in such a pitiful state, handed her another bun after she finished her meal.
Zhe Junwu took the bun blankly, took a bite while crouching there, and suddenly, tears began to fall.
The bun was clearly the same kind of bun, but she couldn’t handle someone’s kindness toward her at this moment.
She was easily moved.
Thus, when Eunuch Li brought the finally returned Eunuch Liu to see Zhe Junwu, they encountered a pitiful little thing chewing on a bun and crying a mess—the kind of little thing whose mottled face made her look not at all beautiful.
Eunuch Li’s heart skipped a beat. Looking at Eunuch Liu’s darkened face, he thought: This is bad.
Eunuch Liu wanted a beauty, and he had come to collect her in a hurry as soon as he returned. But this little girl currently could not be called beautiful; she was actually a bit ugly.