Scared out of her drowsiness by that Seventh-Rank Maidservant’s roar, Shen Ying listened to them talking about Volume Five, Volume Six, and some author named Caiwei Sanren. Driven by curiosity, she asked a few questions.
“We are talking about this book, Strategies of the Boudoir. Can it be that you don’t even know it?” That Seventh-Rank Maidservant waved the storybook in her hands.
Virtually no one in the capital was ignorant of this book. Seeing Shen Ying’s utterly clueless look, it was now the others’ turn to be curious.
“You yourselves said there are several volumes—I just don’t usually care much for reading these.” Shen Ying forcefully made a defense for herself.
Shen Ying was telling the truth; she genuinely did not care to read novels, picking them up only to pass the time. Except for a few vague plot points and the names of the novel and its main characters, she remembered nothing at all, belonging to the type of reader who forgot everything upon finishing a book.
As for the novels here—namely the storybooks in their hands—Shen Ying rummaged through her memories, finding no impression whatsoever.
She figured the original owner had probably never read it either, or else there wouldn’t be not even a shred of memory.
“Jin Dou, the original owner never read it, right?”
Jin Dou gave a response, and Shen Ying instantly felt relieved—she had guessed as much.
Regarding this storybook that was exceedingly famous in everyone’s mouth, she had indeed never read it.
“You truly haven’t read it?” Maidservant Wang still found it somewhat hard to believe.
The way she looked at Shen Ying was almost like looking at a rare specimen; she likely had never expected that someone had actually never read this storybook.
Shen Ying felt there was nothing strange about it. “Some people love reading it, some don’t—what is there to be amazed about?” Although Shen Ying’s words made sense, everyone still found it incredible upon hearing it.
Maidservant Wang still felt it was a pity for Shen Ying not to read it. “Seventh-Rank Maidservant Shen, I feel you really can take a look—it’s truly wonderful.”
Glancing at the storybook in her hand, Maidservant Wang gritted her teeth and said, “I can lend it to you to read.”
She genuinely felt that for such a wonderful storybook, it was quite a pity for Shen Ying not to read it.
Shen Ying happened to be feeling bored, so she thanked Maidservant Wang and took the first volume. She thought if she could get into it, she would borrow the next few volumes to read; if she couldn’t, then forget it—she would give a polite rejection when the time came, so it wouldn’t turn out too awkward.
She had no deep grudges with these Seventh-Rank Maidservants. Even if someone had minor bickerings or arguments on ordinary days, they could still play Pai Gow and Leaves together afterward.
Shen Ying borrowed the first volume back, and with one read, she stayed up through the entire night. She could only marvel that this author, Caiwei Sanren, was a rare genius. Shen Ying slept for merely an hour, then went with dark circles under her eyes the next day to find Maidservant Wang to borrow the second volume.
“See, see! I told you it was good—now you know, right?”
Shen Ying nodded non-stop. She knew—she knew all too well!
After staying up through several late nights, she finally finished reading all the volumes serialized so far. Shen Ying felt a profound emptiness in her heart; there was unexpectedly no next volume, which dealt quite a heavy blow to her.
Watching Shen Ying like this, Maidservant Wang expressed deep empathy.
Then she brought up another matter: “Tonight, an Mid-Autumn banquet will be hosted in the palace; His Majesty has invited the court officials into the palace.”
“Oh.” Shen Ying held no interest in those matters.
Maidservant Wang felt somewhat listless as well, resting her chin on her hand as she said, “If it were before entering the palace, I could still accompany my parents to attend the banquet. Now, I fear there is no share for us.”
Although there were only Seventh-Rank Maidservants in the inner palace, a moment’s thought revealed that His Majesty would certainly not allow them over. Having entered the palace, it was unexpectedly worse than before they were married.
Although she felt some complaints in her heart, she dared not speak them aloud, fearing it would implicate her family.
They knew His Majesty could not possibly have been kind-hearted enough to select noble ladies into the palace; even while residing in the inner palace, they had caught wind of a bit of news. The miserable plight of the few women selected into the palace ultimately intimidated those court officials, making them dare not raise the matter of imperial selection again.
They dared not even write memorials advising the Emperor to expand his offspring, fearing His Majesty might come up with other malicious tricks to pit them.
“By the way, why hasn’t the little Crown Prince come to find you lately?”
Only then did Shen Ying recall that the little Crown Prince had indeed not come for a long time. Having read the storybooks day and night for the past few days, she had nearly forgotten about the little prince.
Maidservant Wang suddenly grabbed Shen Ying’s hand, stuffing a pouch into it, her eyes looking at Shen Ying with pleading intensity: “Good Sister, can I trouble you to help me with a favor?”
Her gaze was far too burning, giving Shen Ying a fright. She tried to draw her hand back, but Maidservant Wang held it tightly.
“Tell me first, and I will consider it.” Shen Ying dared not agree rashly.
Maidservant Wang broke into a smile immediately. “This favor isn’t hard—not hard at all! Sister Shen, if His Highness the Crown Prince takes you out of the palace again, could you please check the West Market for me? If the next volume comes out, you must buy it back for me!”
Hearing that it was this kind of favor, Shen Ying relaxed considerably.
However, she did not agree immediately either. “This… I can’t be too certain. After all, His Highness the Crown Prince has his own matters to attend to as well. See, he isn’t coming lately—he might have just felt a bit curious about me.”
She looked identical to the little Crown Prince’s mother, and even her name was the same; it was understandable for the little Crown Prince to like her, but she ultimately was not his mother. Perhaps the little Crown Prince had already come to clearly realize this point, which was why he no longer came.
Strictly speaking, this favor of Maidservant Wang’s still presented some difficulty; without the little Crown Prince leading the way, she lacked the ability to leave the palace.
“This… if the little Crown Prince helps, it won’t be a problem; but if he doesn’t help me, I won’t be able to help you either.”
“It doesn’t matter, Sister Shen. I can tell that the little Crown Prince treats you differently from others. Take the silver first; if there really is an opportunity, you must help me!”
“If such a day truly comes, I will check for you. If not…”
Before Shen Ying could finish her words, Maidservant Wang dashed off.
The Mid-Autumn imperial banquet was no secret, spreading quickly through Mingxiu Hall.
The other Seventh-Rank Maidservants exchanged tacit glances with Shen Ying. Although His Highness the Crown Prince had not come to find her these past few days, judging from his past experience of taking her out of the palace, it was extremely likely that Shen Ying would attend this imperial banquet.
As for them, with their low status in the palace, they feared they couldn’t even manage to land a bottom seat.
Jiang Wei let out a heavy sigh, inwardly lamenting without end. She could have originally squeezed into this imperial banquet, but never expected to miss out just like this.
Some gathered around to ask Shen Ying, “Did His Highness the Crown Prince really not say anything about letting Sister Shen attend the imperial banquet?”
Shen Ying shook her head, the lingering effect of finishing the storybooks still present.
If she hadn’t transmigrated when reading such a novel, she would certainly have rewarded the author to make them keep writing by all means, but she lacked that ability right now.
Being unable to see the ending was indeed very painful.
“Jin Dou, did something happen to this author that prevented her from writing further?”
“Jin Dou, do you know where Caiwei Sanren is? Will I still be able to see the ending she writes in my lifetime?”
“Jin Dou, you’re so incredible that you could bring me here—how about you just tell me the ending?”
Jin Dou covered its ears, its face looking extremely pained; to it, Shen Ying’s nagging felt like a tormenting sound echoing in its ears.
Seeing Shen Ying looking listless, the others looked at each other, assuming she was troubled over the little Crown Prince not coming to find her, and thus ceased speaking.
The little Crown Prince, who was being missed, had also been quite troubled these past few days.
The day after returning from going out of the palace, he had originally intended to go find Shen Ying, but unexpectedly was called over by the eunuch at his father’s side, spending several hours in court.
Considering his young age, his father still had someone bring a small stool for him to sit on. The little Crown Prince sat in court for several hours like this, and just as he was about to fall asleep, a brawl broke out for some unknown reason.
The fighting was rather fierce and noisy, chasing away all his sleepiness.
The little Crown Prince turned his head to glance at his Imperial Father, seeing him also with eyes closed, leaning to one side with his hand supporting his forehead, looking as if he were asleep.
Only when the scene descended into complete chaos did Imperial Father open his eyes and speak up to stop it.
The little Crown Prince saw it with crystal clarity—had Imperial Father not spoken up, that person would have been beaten to death.
After court adjourned, the little Crown Prince was called over again to be questioned about his views on those issues in court just now. He wracked his brain to offer a few responses, but judging from Imperial Father’s expression, it was hard to tell whether he was happy or unhappy.
Afterward, he attended lessons with Grand Tutor Chang.
He had thought he could finally go play with Mother after class, but unexpectedly Imperial Father tasked him with learning how to arrange the Mid-Autumn imperial banquet, even having Dafu teach him hand-in-hand.
These past few days, the little Crown Prince had been impossibly busy. He wanted to see Shen Ying, yet could never find an opportunity; upon returning to the Eastern Palace, he fell asleep the moment his eyes closed, able only to touch the longevity lock on his body every day to miss his mother.
When the Mid-Autumn imperial banquet finally arrived, the little Crown Prince wanted to bring Shen Ying over, but was rejected by Imperial Father on the grounds that Shen Ying’s rank was too low.
The little Crown Prince instantly grew unhappy, sitting beside Pei Lin during the imperial banquet with his brows knit together.
Pei Lin said nothing, merely ordering several mooncakes to be rewarded to those Seventh-Rank Maidservants; beyond that, there was nothing else, nor did he inquire about Shen Ying’s situation.
After drinking a few cups of wine, Pei Lin departed. The group of ministers relaxed as well—with His Majesty absent, everyone could feel more at ease, gathering in twos and threes with those they shared good relationships with.
Recalling the events from a few days ago, County Commander Duanmin ultimately went to seek out Pei Lin.
If no one was manipulating that Seventh-Rank Maidservant Shen from behind, and her elder brother could walk out of his shadow through her, that would naturally be for the best. But if someone was intentionally scheming, that woman naturally could not be kept.
When she arrived, Dafu was guarding outside the hall.
“Greetings, County Commander.”
“Where is Royal Brother? I have a few words I wish to say to him.”
“County Commander, His Majesty’s headache has flared up, and he is resting inside the hall right now. If it is not an urgent matter, it is better not to disturb His Majesty.”
Regarding Pei Lin’s headache, County Commander Duanmin naturally knew about it, but thinking of that Seventh-Rank Maidservant Shen, she was ultimately uneasy.
Reasoning that Dafu was her elder brother’s personal eunuch, he was bound to know something.
“Eunuch Fu, do you know the situation regarding that Seventh-Rank Maidservant Shen Ying?”
“I know a bit.”
“Then Royal Brother, he…”
“His Majesty has already investigated it.”
Upon hearing this, County Commander Duanmin relaxed considerably in her heart, knowing that her elder brother certainly had a firm grasp on the matter.
“Let Royal Brother rest well; I shall not disturb him then.”
After seeing off County Commander Duanmin, an eunuch brought over the brewed medicine. Dafu accepted it and personally carried it inside.