The beaded curtain rustled softly.
Su Yao looked up to see a beauty dressed in a bright yellow phoenix robe seated gracefully on a rosewood carved chair, idly twirling a golden hairpin between her fingers.
The phoenix on the hairpin held an Eastern pearl in its beak, and Su Yao immediately realized who stood before her.
“This humble girl pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.”
Su Yao struggled to rise and bow, but before her knees could touch the ground, two nannies caught her by the arms.
“I heard the Chief Grand Secretary has been keeping a beauty hidden away. I was curious to see what kind of celestial being she might be.”
The Empress Dowager chuckled softly.
“Lift your head.”
Su Yao obeyed, raising her face. The candlelight fell upon her pale features, accentuating her delicate, painting-like brows and eyes.
The Empress Dowager studied that face, finding it more and more familiar.
It reminded her of a painting she had once seen in Lu Huaijin’s study before she entered the palace.
The person in the painting bore a resemblance to this girl in the eyes and brows.
The Empress Dowager’s gaze swept over Su Yao from head to toe.
Suddenly, she stood up and used her nail guard to gently lift Su Yao’s chin, forcing her to meet her eyes.
In that moment, the Empress Dowager’s eyes held a complex mix of emotions.
Admiration.
Jealousy.
And a deeply concealed hostility.
“You do bear some resemblance to an old acquaintance.”
The Empress Dowager’s leisurely spoken words struck Su Yao’s heart like a heavy blow.
Su Yao’s pupils contracted sharply, a chill rising from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head.
She quickly lowered her head, not daring to breathe too loudly, much less meet the gaze of her superior.
Yet she could clearly feel the Empress Dowager’s eyes slowly scrutinizing her inch by inch, filling her with dread.
Su Yao’s hands instinctively clenched the hem of her dress. She knew that as the daughter of a disgraced official, she should have remained forever imprisoned in the Music Bureau, hidden from the light of day.
It was Lu Huaijin who had used his influence to bring her out.
But if the Empress Dowager recognized her true identity, not only would she herself face unimaginable consequences, but Lu Huaijin would also be implicated.
Her heart raced violently, each beat feeling as if it would burst through her chest.
She did not know what the Empress Dowager would say or do next.
This unknown fear nearly suffocated her.
Fortunately, the Empress Dowager withdrew her hand, leaving only a red mark on Su Yao’s neck from her nail guard.
“Everyone knows the Chief Grand Secretary is a man of integrity. Tell me, has he been bewitched by your face?”
“Your Majesty is wise. This humble girl is but a sparrow under Lord Lu’s care. How could she dare compete with a phoenix?”
The Empress Dowager paused, then sneered. “What a clever tongue.”
She lightly covered her crimson lips and yawned.
“Nanny Chang, I am tired. Take her to the side hall to wait. Since Lord Lu enjoys keeping sparrows, I shall ‘look after’ her properly for him.”
…
As dusk settled, the candles in the side hall were lit one by one, casting Su Yao’s kneeling figure into an even more fragile silhouette.
She did not know how long she had been kneeling, only that her knees had long lost all feeling, the chill of the bluestone floor seeping into her bones.
The beaded curtain rustled again as the Empress Dowager glided in on soft-soled shoes embroidered with golden phoenixes.
She had changed into a moon-white casual gown, with only a pearl-inlaid hairpin adorning her hair.
Though she was the same age as Lu Huaijin, she now looked like a young lady in her late twenties.
Only the sharpness in her eyes could not be concealed.
The Empress Dowager looked down at Su Yao from her elevated position.
“You there, what is your name?”
“Your Majesty, this humble girl is called Su Yao.”
“Su Yao? That is a lovely name.”
Su Yao lowered her eyes and remained silent.
She could only pray that the Empress Dowager, having spent years deep within the palace, might not remember the name of a disgraced official’s daughter.
“How did you come to know Grand Secretary Lu?”
Su Yao’s fingertips trembled slightly.
How should she answer?
Say she was a plaything Lu Huaijin brought out from the Music Bureau?
Or say he was her savior?
Either answer would condemn her to eternal damnation.
Seeing her silence, a sharp glint flashed in the Empress Dowager’s eyes.
She suddenly removed the pearl hairpin from her hair, toying with it in her hand.
“This was a gift from Grand Secretary Lu for my birthday, brought back from the South Sea. He said pearl divers had to descend a hundred fathoms to find pearls of this quality. Do you think it’s beautiful?”
The Empress Dowager extended her hand, offering the hairpin to Su Yao.
Su Yao reached out with trembling hands.
In an instant, the hairpin fell to the ground.
“Clatter…”
One hundred and eight pearls scattered and rolled across the floor.
The Empress Dowager feigned surprise: “Oh dear, this was my favorite hairpin. You careless girl!”
“Your Majesty, spare me.”
“Enough, enough. It was an accident. You shall pick them up for me. One hundred and eight pearls, not a single one missing.”
Su Yao looked at the pearls scattered across the floor.
The pearls were small, like grains of rice. How could she possibly pick them all up?
“What, unwilling? Or do you think, with Lord Lu backing you, you can ignore even my words?”
“This humble woman wouldn’t dare. I am willing.”
The candlelight flickered, stretching Su Yao’s shadow long.
Su Yao knelt and crawled within that constantly shifting shadow, her hands frantically groping across the floor.
Her fingertips were already bleeding, yet she stubbornly searched for each pearl.
The pearls were about the size of fish eggs, now smeared with blood, becoming slippery and even harder to grasp.
She finally found one, but it slipped three times between her fingers before she barely managed to clutch it.
“There, another one.” The Empress Dowager’s voice drifted over leisurely.
Su Yao looked up ahead, gritted her teeth, and inched forward on her knees to retrieve that pearl.
After just a few crawls, her skirt was torn by the rough floor, revealing bruised and swollen knees.
Every inch she moved sent a piercing pain through her knees.
But she could only endure it, cold sweat streaming down.
Her fingertip finally touched a pearl. Just as she was about to pick it up, she suddenly heard the Empress Dowager give a soft laugh.
The Empress Dowager’s embroidered shoe abruptly stepped on the pearl, the golden thread on the sole instantly scratching the back of Su Yao’s hand.
Pain shot through her, making Su Yao tremble all over.
She clenched her teeth, enduring desperately, not daring to make a single sound.
Cold sweat dripped from her temple onto the pearl.
Reflecting the candlelight, making it appear twisted and grotesque.
Su Yao’s vision was already blurry, but how dare she stop?
Before she could recover, the Empress Dowager’s embroidered shoe suddenly ground forcefully over the back of her hand.
The golden thread tore her skin once more, blood dripping down between her fingers.
Su Yao bit her lower lip hard, the taste of blood thick in her mouth.
She still dared not look up, dared not see that familiar contempt in the Empress Dowager’s eyes.
“What, can’t take it anymore? You lowly people are supposed to be the best at enduring hardship, aren’t you?”
Suddenly, a eunuch’s shrill voice came from outside: “Lord Lu requests an audience—!”
“Hah! He arrived quite quickly!” the Empress Dowager murmured to herself.
She immediately turned to Su Yao, still kneeling on the ground, and said viciously, “What are you staring at? Hurry up and pick them!”
Su Yao’s fingers finally touched the last pearl when she heard the gentle chime of the beaded curtain.
The familiar footsteps approached from afar.
Her heart suddenly raced, her fingertips trembling slightly, and the pearl she had just grasped slipped from her fingers once more.
Su Yao watched helplessly as the pearl rolled toward the candlestick, reflecting a corner of Lu Huaijin’s dark official robe.
“Chief Grand Secretary, you’ve arrived just in time.”
The Empress Dowager’s fingertips, painted with rouge, brushed over Su Yao’s hair. “I’ve borrowed your person to handle a small matter. I trust that’s acceptable?”
Lu Huaijin’s dark official robe still carried the dust of the frontier. His gaze swept over Su Yao’s bleeding fingertips, his expression indifferent.
“It is her fortune to be of service to the Empress Dowager.”
The Empress Dowager lifted her chin triumphantly, casting a provocative glance at Su Yao.
She slowly picked up a handkerchief to cover her mouth as she chuckled softly, then deliberately kicked the pearl toward Lu Huaijin’s feet.
Su Yao could only grit her teeth, endure the pain, and crawl toward the pearl.
Her fingertips brushed against the tip of his boot, but she dared not look up.
Seeing Su Yao in such a wretched state, Lu Huaijin felt as though something had caught in his throat.
His Adam’s apple bobbed three times. The words “Don’t pick it up” lingered on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, he forced them back down.
His fingers clenched tightly inside his sleeves, leaving bloody marks, yet his face remained cold and unreadable, revealing nothing of his thoughts.
To reach the final pearl, Su Yao tore open the old scab on her knee.
Blood stained the floor tiles.
A matron stepped forward, snatched the pearl box from her hands, and presented it to the Empress Dowager. Her Majesty glanced at the bloodstained pearls, looking quite pleased.
“The Chief Grand Secretary truly knows how to train people. I find this girl quite clever. Would you lend her to me for a few days?”