After bringing the little wretch back from the kitchen and having a young palace maid apply medicine to her, Eunuch Liu pulled Eunuch Li aside for a scolding.
Eunuch Liu was thirty years old this year. He had begun serving His Highness the Crown Prince when the prince was just five, and now ten years had passed. Over this decade, he had not only made himself indispensable to his master—knowing whether to hand over clothes or tea with just a slight gesture from the prince—but had also firmly established his authority over all the servants around the Crown Prince, securing the top position among them.
No matter how much people in the Donggong cursed him in secret for monopolizing power and wished him a bad end, they still feared him. At that moment, he glared coldly, growing angrier as he thought of Zhe Junwu’s face, covered with sunburn marks.
He scolded, “Why did I want a beauty? Huh? Was it just to have her do menial work? Can’t you use your brain to think?”
Eunuch Li hung his head lower and lower under the scolding, but he felt deeply wronged. It was true that Eunuch Liu had ordered him to bring the girl back, but after bringing such a person, Eunuch Liu had given no instructions and had immediately followed the Crown Prince to Jizhou for four days. What was he supposed to do?
If Zhe Junwu had an ordinary or even ugly face, it would have been fine. But she was simply too beautiful, and the Crown Prince disliked beauties. If anything went wrong, who would take the blame?
Eunuch Liu certainly wouldn’t. That was why he had thought it over and over before taking her to the utility courtyard to do menial work—a place the Crown Prince would absolutely never set foot in. It was the safest option!
But he didn’t dare say any of this. What could he say? That he had personally delivered someone, only for her to be bullied right away? He was ashamed of himself and harbored a grudge against the matron in charge of the utility courtyard. Seething with anger, he planned to teach her a lesson as soon as he returned.
Eunuch Li muttered gloomily, “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have taken her to the utility courtyard.”
After venting his anger, Eunuch Liu finally calmed down a little. Seizing the moment when his expression softened slightly, Eunuch Li asked, “But with her looks… is it really alright?”
This question provoked another fierce glare from Eunuch Liu, making Eunuch Li shrink back, too afraid to ask further. Yet Eunuch Liu’s worries were stirred up once again.
Truth be told, he had also been uneasy about bringing back such a beauty. But he had no choice. Over the past year, the Crown Prince had already cursed “ugly things” several times.
The Crown Prince was the third son of the current Emperor, born to the Empress. At just fifteen years old, he had already begun handling state affairs. He was handsome, excelled in his studies, and was skilled in managing political matters, earning praise from the ministers. However, such a Crown Heir had one flaw—he despised good-looking people.
The reason for this flaw was widely known. Sixteen years ago, the current Emperor took a liking to an exceptionally handsome man, shaved his head, and brought him into the palace as a monk, visiting daily to “listen to sutras.” But this monk was so beautiful that not only the Emperor but even the Empress Dowager grew fond of “listening to sutras.”
What was originally a scandalous affair within the palace was kept under wraps until the Empress exposed it. She did so not because she couldn’t bear to watch, but because she also wanted to “listen to sutras,” yet the Empress Dowager and the Emperor forbade her.
The incident caused an uproar. The ministers petitioned for the monk’s execution, and the Emperor had no choice but to comply. At that time, the Empress happened to be one month pregnant.
This child came at an inopportune time and had been secretly pointed at since birth. It wasn’t until the child turned five and grew to resemble the Emperor more and more that he was finally accepted by His Majesty and enfeoffed as Crown Prince.
Because of this, His Highness the Crown Prince detested beautiful people—a reason so utterly justified that Eunuch Liu had never found it odd.
But recently, as His Highness began cursing him and a young eunuch serving closely as “ugly things,” Eunuch Liu’s heart churned like stormy seas, cold sweat breaking out in waves down his back.
Having risen to the position of chief eunuch, he was already a shrewd old fox. From these three words, he pondered deeply for a long time and suddenly recalled something.
Something everyone had overlooked.
Although His Highness loathed beautiful people, he still demanded aesthetic excellence in other furnishings and decorations within his chambers. For instance, vases had to be porcelain-white and exquisite—even slightly flawed ones were unacceptable. As for writing materials, even the paper for calligraphy had to be luxurious indigo paper; coarser paper was not permitted.
The more Eunuch Liu thought about it, the more terrified he became, because over all these years, the “ugly people” selected from the Imperial Household Department had been personally brought back by him.
He tossed and turned for several sleepless nights before finally deciding to bring back a budding beauty to test the waters.
Yes, literally—though she had to be beautiful, she also had to be a “budding beauty.” Eunuch Liu boldly speculated that the reason His Highness despised beautiful people was precisely because they could “bring chaos to the palace.”
If she was still a budding beauty, there would be no such concern, at least reducing his aversion somewhat.
Thus, taking advantage of the severe drought in Yunzhou, where commoners were selling their children and the nobility generously purchased maids and servants to shelter them from hardship, the palace followed custom by making a gesture. Her Majesty the Empress ordered the procurement of some palace maids and eunuchs from Yunzhou. They were taught the rules on the journey back so they could be put to work immediately upon arrival, assigned to various posts.
As the Donggong happened to be short-handed, Eunuch Liu seized this opportunity to bring someone back and gauge the Crown Prince’s reaction. Unexpectedly, on that day, he was too busy accompanying His Highness to Changle Palace to see Her Majesty the Empress and had no time to spare. He instructed Eunuch Li to handle it instead, then hurried off to Jizhou with His Highness before Eunuch Li even returned.
Upon coming back, well—there was no need to test His Highness’s attitude anymore. Better to focus on nursing the injuries first.
After scolding Eunuch Li, Eunuch Liu went in to see Zhe Junwu. Seeing her face much improved after applying the ointment, he sighed in relief. Then he felt quite satisfied—at least, looking past her patchy sunspots, he found her entire face unobjectionable.
Some people’s beauty is aggressive; some are liked by men but not women, and vice versa. But in Eunuch Liu’s experience, Zhe Junwu’s face was undoubtedly appealing to both men and women, and her beauty was gentle.
You could tell she was beautiful, but her beauty was light and subtle, a faint, delicate allure—like her name, the clear mist among bamboo, beautiful. As you walked through it, it would wrap around you, lingering and guiding, bringing a sense of comfort.
Eunuch Liu felt that Eunuch Li had finally done something decent. Smiling, he led Zhe Junwu away. “I’ll take you to the West Garden. From now on, you’ll serve there.”
The Western Garden was where the Crown Prince resided. Over the past few days, Zhe Junwu had heard people talk about the Western Garden, and whenever it was mentioned, everyone’s eyes were filled with envy. When she learned she could go there, she felt no joy—only fear.
If a mere service courtyard could leave her face in such a state, who knew what awaited her in the Western Garden?
Moreover, after these four days, she had come to realize she was special. And this senior eunuch before her, who had brought her back precisely because of that, was an enigma—she had no idea what his intentions were.
She felt like a fish on a chopping block, already sliced open and unable to move.
This feeling reminded her of the child who had tried to flee and was shot dead with an arrow. She knew that even if she were tied up now, if she dared to move even slightly, she would meet the same fate.
So, as usual, she dared not move or speak, only lowering her head as she followed Eunuch Liu.
She had been moved to many places over the past few days, and now she was being moved again. After much thought, she finally mustered the courage to ask, “Eunuch, I still have two sets of spare clothes in the service courtyard. Should I take them with me?”
Eunuch Liu replied, “No need. Once you go to the Western Garden, you’ll wear different clothes.”
Every place had its own attire, and wearing the wrong clothes would earn you a beating.
Eunuch Liu was remarkably patient with her. “The Western Garden is where His Highness resides. The courtyard in the southwestern corner is where you’ll live from now on. There are over a dozen palace maids there—four senior maids, four second-rank maids, and the rest are junior maids who assist the senior ones. When you arrive, you’ll start as a junior maid. Learn the rules from everyone, work diligently, don’t fear hardship, but don’t let others bully you either.”
His gentle guidance felt like that of an elder, and Zhe Junwu finally relaxed a little under his reassurance. When they entered the Western Garden, Eunuch Liu first brought her before the four senior maids to explain her purpose—though judging by their expressions, Zhe Junwu felt they had already heard about it.
“Her Majesty the Empress wishes for each area to take in someone. I thought you were short-handed here, so I brought her for you to make use of.”
The names of the four senior maids were easy to remember: each was named after one of the four seasons, followed by the character “Yin.”
Unlike the indifferent maids from the service courtyard or the harsh and critical head matron, these four were warm and welcoming. After Eunuch Liu left, they affectionately called her “little sister” and told her to ask for anything she needed.
For a moment, Zhe Junwu became the center of attention, and she was somewhat overwhelmed. But this time, she dared not let her guard down. She simply shook her head honestly and said, “I lack nothing. Thank you, elder sisters.”
Chunyin asked her, “What skills do you have?”
Zhe Junwu thought for a moment and gave a safe answer: “I can do needlework.”
Chunyin then assigned her to make socks.
“It’s wonderful that you can do needlework. We’ve always been too busy in previous years.”
While most of the Crown Prince’s clothing could be entrusted to the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau, items like socks and undergarments were made by the maids of the Donggong.
Zhe Junwu diligently set to work making socks. The wounds on her face had not yet healed, and Eunuch Liu was in no hurry to take her out. Since they were in the Western Garden, he couldn’t visit frequently, so Zhe Junwu didn’t see him for two full days.
During these two days, Chunyin was the closest to her, teaching her how to match embroidery thread colors. At eighteen, she was at a charming age, yet she wore no rouge or powder.
“I wouldn’t dare, I’m just afraid His Highness won’t like it.” She whispered, “That’s why when you were brought in, we were all very curious.”
From her words, Zhe Junwu pondered the meaning and roughly understood that the Crown Prince did not favor “beauty.”
Her heart filled with dread. She wanted to ask something but didn’t dare. Chunyin changed the subject, smiling as she said, “On this trip to Jizhou, His Highness even brought back a green-feathered parrot, quite arrogant. I’ll take you to see it someday.”
Zhe Junwu had no mind for idle chatter. She forced a smile, went back to hug her quilt in fear, shivering through the night. The next morning, while still pondering what to do, she was called out by Eunuch Liu.
Eunuch Liu looked at her face, seeing no trace of sunburn, and nodded. “Later, you’ll go with Xiao Sheng to mop the floor of His Highness’s study.”
Zhe Junwu nodded nervously. She knew this meant Eunuch Liu intended to “use” her.
And whether she would live or die depended on what His Highness would say later.