As soon as the imperial decree announcing the selected maidens’ entry into the palace was issued, the entire capital buzzed with excitement.
The matter became the hottest topic in the streets, alleys, teahouses, and restaurants.
Some gambling houses even opened betting pools on which young woman would become the Emperor’s newest favorite consort.
For a time, everyone had their own opinions.
Some believed it would be Bai Ruoli of the Prime Minister’s Residence.
Others insisted it would be Chu Mingrou of the Duke of Chu’s Estate.
The debates became so heated that people in teahouses often argued until their faces turned red.
None of this reached Ye Jinyun’s ears.
She was far too busy preparing the materials needed to maintain the fake birthmark on her face.
Once she entered the palace, things would no longer be so convenient.
The imperial palace maintained strict control over medicines, and with so many eyes watching, if someone discovered her secret and used it against her, she could easily lose her life.
After preparing the ingredients, Ye Jinyun dried them into a fine powder and filled an emptied rouge container to the brim.
This way, whenever she needed it, she only had to scoop out a small amount, mix it with water, and apply it.
The powder’s color closely resembled ordinary rouge, making it difficult for others to notice anything unusual.
Over the past few days, Ye Jinyun had also spent considerable time thinking about her future.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that entrusting her life to an emperor whose thoughts were impossible to predict was far less reassuring than keeping her fate in her own hands.
So she asked the system whether it possessed any kind of undetectable fake-death medicine.
To her surprise, the system actually located one.
The medicine could place a person into a dormant state.
After taking it, the user would fall into a deep sleep with no detectable pulse, appearing completely dead.
However, the effect lasted only one day.
After that, lack of oxygen would automatically force the body to awaken.
Even so, Ye Jinyun found it satisfactory.
If she ever found herself in a desperate situation, she could potentially use it to fake her death and escape disaster.
The ingredients required to create the medicine were extremely difficult to obtain.
Only with Ye Huaibo’s help was she able to gather some of the necessary materials from outside.
As a result, the final product was scarce.
She managed to produce only three pills.
Still, she was more than satisfied.
Ever since learning his sister’s secret, Ye Huaibo had realized that she possessed methods of protecting herself that others knew nothing about.
So whenever she asked him to help acquire certain materials, he agreed without hesitation.
He trusted that if his little sister needed something, there was a good reason for it.
As long as he could help, he would do everything in his power.
Meanwhile, the entire Ye Residence had been busy preparing for the two young ladies’ departure.
All kinds of necessities needed to be packed for their lives in the palace.
Money, of course, was especially important.
There was no need to worry about Ye Jinrong’s situation.
Madam Yang had long since prepared ample funds for her daughter to ensure she could establish herself securely in the palace.
Ye Jinyun’s circumstances were rather different.
The family matriarch had given her five hundred taels of silver.
Her eldest brother had secretly slipped her another one thousand taels.
Beyond that, she had virtually no savings of her own.
Madam Yang regularly deducted portions of her allowance, and the little money she received during holidays and festivals had mostly been spent purchasing ingredients for her birthmark powder.
To put it bluntly, she was practically penniless.
Among all the reborn protagonists she had ever heard of, few were as miserable as she was.
This was nothing like the overpowered, wish-fulfillment lives depicted in novels.
Ye Jinyun couldn’t help feeling resentful.
As she thought about it, she began humming a song from her previous life that seemed particularly fitting for her current situation:
“Iron doors… iron windows… iron chains…
Holding the iron bars, I gaze outside…
How beautiful life beyond them is…”
Qing’er stood nearby and looked helplessly toward the sky.
Miss is singing another one of those strange songs again.
By now, she was completely accustomed to it.
The three days passed quickly.
Before long, it was time to enter the palace.
Early that morning, Ye Jinyun and Ye Jinrong rose from bed.
After bidding farewell to their family members one by one, each boarded her own carriage, accompanied by her personal maid, and set off for the Imperial Palace.
The carriage wheels began to turn.
Ye Jinyun lifted the curtain covering the window and looked back at her family.
Then she spotted her eldest brother standing among the crowd, his gaze fixed on her departing carriage.
She raised her hand and waved goodbye.
Only after the carriage had traveled so far that she could no longer make out the figures behind her did she finally lower her hand.
Looking up at the sky, she stared at the endless expanse of brilliant blue overhead.
In the future, such vast and open skies beyond the palace walls would no longer belong to her.
She slowly lowered the curtain.
A wave of melancholy settled over her heart.
“Miss, don’t be sad.”
Qing’er reached out and held her hand.
“You still have me with you.”
Ye Jinyun looked at her and smiled faintly.
Yes.
She still had Qing’er.
Perhaps, with Qing’er by her side, life inside the palace wouldn’t be quite so unbearable after all.