Early the next morning, before Shen Ying was even awake, she heard clamorous noises coming from outside, followed closely by the sound of knocking on the door. Shen Ying climbed up in a daze, vaguely catching the commotion outside.
“What is it?”
Xuerong walked over and explained the situation to her.
It turned out that news of her going out of the palace with the Crown Prince yesterday had leaked out after all.
Early this morning, those Seventh-Rank Maidservants ultimately could no longer sit still and came over to find her. No one wanted to waste their lives away like this forever; all of them were at an age as exquisite as flowers and the moon, so naturally, they had to plan for themselves.
Perhaps they could use Shen Ying to draw the Crown Prince’s attention to themselves, and then naturally get to see His Majesty.
Having a method was better than having none—they did not wish to grow old and die in the palace like this for the rest of their lives. Back when they were young ladies at home, whenever they were bored, at least they could go out for a walk; now staying in the palace, they had strolled through the Imperial Garden over and over until they could navigate it with their eyes closed.
When His Majesty’s decree for the imperial selection first reached their households, how overjoyed they felt in their hearts back then was precisely how disappointed they felt now.
They had not been without suspicion that perhaps His Majesty had grown annoyed from being nagged by their fathers or other family members in court, and thus intentionally came up with such a wicked trick.
Otherwise, what was the meaning of bringing them into the palace and putting on such a show?
“This servant has temporarily stopped those Seventh-Rank Maidservants outside. If My Lady wishes to see them, this servant will let them in. If not, this servant will ask them to return.”
“Wait a moment before deciding.”
Shen Ying quickly finished washing up. The moment she stepped out of her room, she was greeted head-on by calls of “Sister Shen” and “Sister Ying”—an enthusiasm that left Shen Ying somewhat unable to cope.
“What are you all… doing?”
They weren’t particularly familiar with each other, right? At least not to this extent.
Those Seventh-Rank Maidservants naturally knew it was not quite appropriate for them to swarm over at this time, but seeing others taking action, they thought they could not be left behind either. In short, they would build a good relationship with Shen Ying first, leaving other matters for later.
Even if Shen Ying ate the meat, they could at least follow along and drink a couple of mouthfuls of broth.
Each calculated in her heart, thinking it better to first pry from Shen Ying why the Crown Prince treated her with special regard before doing anything else.
Naturally, they did not come empty-handed. Although His Majesty did not allow them to bring servants to attend on them, they had brought plenty of items over, which happened to serve as gifts for Shen Ying right now to demonstrate their sincerity.
“There is no need. Please take them back.”
Shen Ying looked at the brocade boxes on the table containing pearl hairpins, jewelry, or jade bangles. Sweeping her gaze across them, she pushed them all back.
One should not accept rewards without desert. She was not very familiar with these people, so naturally, she would not accept their things casually.
At first, she genuinely did not know what these people intended by coming, but at this point, it was impossible not to realize.
She said, “In truth, I really didn’t do anything. If you are willing to believe it, then believe it; if you aren’t, there is nothing I can do either.”
“Sister Shen is being too distant. I merely treat you as my own sister to share my inner thoughts, so there is really no need to be so detached.”
Shen Ying let out an awkward smile. From the very beginning, she had been telling the truth, but it seemed no one believed her at all. Everyone felt she must have done something to win the Crown Prince’s favor.
Yet how could she explain? Was she supposed to say she had a useless, trashy system that made the little Crown Prince’s birth mother look identical to her, causing the little Crown Prince to mistake her for his mother, which was why he treated her well?
She wasn’t stupid—how could such a thing be spoken aloud?
Hearing Shen Ying call it a trashy system in her heart, Jin Dou still let out two huffs of dissatisfaction.
Shen Ying let out a sigh. “If you don’t believe me, forget it. Since you don’t believe me, I have nothing more to say.”
The Seventh-Rank Maidservants exchanged glances, ultimately rising to take their leave. Some carried away their items, while others left their things behind, though Shen Ying reminded them to take their belongings with them as well.
She would not accept them; even the things she bought yesterday with the little Crown Prince had all been left in the Eastern Palace.
Once everyone had departed, Shen Ying took a deep breath, walked over to the couch, and lay down. But the moment she turned her head, she suddenly came face to face with a person outside the window, which gave her a fright.
“It’s me, it’s me!”
“What are you acting all sneaky for?” Shen Ying breathed a sigh of relief upon recognizing that it was Jiang Wei.
Jiang Wei was squatting outside the window, doing who knows what, revealing only a single head in a rather sneaky manner.
“Well, I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.”
“What questions?” Shen Ying looked at Jiang Wei with a face full of guard.
Jiang Wei lowered her head again and pulled out an oiled paper packet, handing it to Shen Ying. “This is for you.”
“What is this?”
“Food.”
Taking it in her hand, Shen Ying indeed smelled the scent of food. However, because Jiang Wei was acting overly sneaky, for a moment, she actually felt a bit hesitant to eat the item in her hands.
“Eat it, eat it—it’s not poisonous! This is my favorite food from the Imperial Kitchen. For this single bite, I splashed a lot of silver to get it from the Imperial Kitchen.”
Other people’s silver went toward bribing the eunuchs around His Majesty; her silver went toward bribing the eunuchs and palace maids in the Imperial Kitchen.
Unfortunately, His Majesty had always been frugal, and imperial banquets held were few and far between. Jiang Wei had attended a few times, and each time she was thoroughly won over by the food from the Imperial Kitchen.
Differing from past practices, back when the late Emperor was around, whenever imperial banquets were hosted, the food served was cold, naturally lacking any good flavor. Most people merely drank wine, taking an occasional bite of food.
Many would eat something beforehand to line their stomachs before attending the banquet. But after His Majesty ascended the throne, things became different; at the few imperial banquets held, everything served was piping hot.
The skills of the imperial chefs in the Imperial Kitchen were truly no idle boast.
Her silver was not spent in vain at all.
Looking at Jiang Wei’s eager gaze, Shen Ying opened the oiled paper packet to take a look—inside was a roast chicken. Just smelling the aroma was enough to make one’s mouth water.
She tore off a piece of meat and put it into her mouth, feeling that Jiang Wei’s words were indeed not exaggerated—this was remarkably delicious.
“Why didn’t you come through the main door?”
Shen Ying still did not understand—if Jiang Wei had something to ask her, why leave the main door unused and squat by the window in such a sneaky manner? Even recalling it now, she felt Jiang Wei’s appearance with only her head showing just now was rather terrifying.
“Sorry, sorry, haha! I just have a few questions I want to ask you. It was too lively earlier, so it wasn’t very convenient.”
Looking at Jiang Wei, Shen Ying simply felt the roast chicken in her hand was no longer as fragrant. She let out a sigh. “I told the absolute truth—I didn’t use any tricks.”
The one using tricks was not her, but Jin Dou.
“I believe you, I believe you!” Jiang Wei nodded repeatedly.
She responded far too quickly, leaving Shen Ying somewhat suspicious that she was merely being perfunctory.
Jiang Wei pressed her hands together in a prayer motion, clinging to the windowsill as she looked at her with pleading eyes. “Shen Ying, I really, truly have just a few questions. For the sake of this delicious roast chicken, just answer me, okay? At worst, next time I eat, I’ll share half with you.”
Shen Ying tore off another piece of meat and put it into her mouth; calling it mind-numbingly delicious was no overstatement.
For the sake of the roast chicken, Shen Ying said, “Ask away.”
Jiang Wei immediately broke into a smile, inquiring what she and the little Crown Prince had gone out to do yesterday.
This was hardly a secret, so Shen Ying recounted the story of her going shopping and watching the polo match with the little Crown Prince.
Jiang Wei nodded, immediately whipping out a charcoal pen to write on a sheet of paper.
Shen Ying poked her head out, asking curiously, “What are you doing?”
Jiang Wei had not expected Shen Ying to poke her head out to look at her, hurriedly stashing away the items in her hands at a speed so fast that Shen Ying could not even see clearly what she had written.
“Thanks a bunch! All my questions have been answered.” Jiang Wei rolled up the paper, thanked Shen Ying, and dashed off.
Coming mysteriously, leaving just as mysteriously.
For a time, Shen Ying did not even know what to say.
After taking a few more bites of the roast chicken, she wanted to go out for a walk, only for people to enthusiastically gather around calling her “Sister” the moment she stepped out, making her stand out like a big celebrity.
Although Shen Ying was no stranger to facing cameras in the past, the current situation was different—she had no desire to become any focal point, wanting only to die in peace.
Hanging herself and jumping into water had both been tried.
Poisoning—tsk, she couldn’t find poison.
“Host, I advise you to give up. I feel your ideas are thoroughly unreliable,” Jin Dou spoke up for a rare change.
“Shut up, it’s all your fault! If nothing else works, I’ll dig a hole and bury myself in it—suffocating myself to death should be fine, right?”
Jin Dou suddenly fell silent, casting a strange glance at Shen Ying, and did not speak further afterward.
The room remained warm and stuffy. Surprisingly, the little Crown Prince did not come over to find her today either.
No, to be precise, for two consecutive days afterward, the little Crown Prince did not come over. She could hardly take the initiative to go to the Eastern Palace to find the little Crown Prince, so naturally she could not take a proper bath at night. Shen Ying could only use hot water to wipe herself down, or else she wouldn’t even be able to sleep.
Seeing that the little Crown Prince no longer came, Shen Ying’s side suddenly grew quiet again. Those Seventh-Rank Maidservants felt Shen Ying was ultimately no different from them previously; the only thing better about her was that the little Crown Prince was quite generous toward Shen Ying, having given her quite a few items when they returned earlier.
Shen Ying could only marvel at how pragmatic these people truly were.
Covering her mouth to let out a yawn, having genuinely nothing to do, she waved her round fan while watching them play Pai Gow. After watching for half a day, she still failed to understand how it was played, getting so sleepy from watching.
Jiang Wei remained cooped up in her room as always, a sight everyone had grown accustomed to.
A few other Seventh-Rank Maidservants were busy embroidering, leaving only one Seventh-Rank Maidservant who finished flipping through the storybook in her hands and let out a long sigh toward the sky.
“Caiwei Sanren, I hate you!”
The sound of a teacup hitting the floor echoed from Jiang Wei’s room. The palace maid attending to her hurriedly went inside to check, only to accidentally bump into the teacup, breaking it on the floor.
The servant helped Jiang Wei clean up those shattered pieces.
No one cared about such a trivial matter.
However, the Seventh-Rank Maidservant who had lamented just now slammed the book in her hands shut heavily. “Why? Why? I waited for four months—why has Volume Six still not been released?”
Another Seventh-Rank Maidservant rested her chin on her hand and chimed in, “I had someone make inquiries. Supposedly, this Caiwei Sanren went into secluded writing two months ago, declaring that without writing the grand finale, she swore not to emerge.”
“You’ve only just finished Volume Five? I finished reading it long ago,” yet another Seventh-Rank Maidservant said.
“Ever since I entered the palace, I have read those five volumes of storybooks five times—five times! Picking apart every detail in the book over and over again!”
That Maidservant Wang extended five fingers, her face full of stifled frustration.