Yan Zigui’s room was the first room in the second row. Inside, three wooden screens divided the space into four small sections. Each section had the same furniture: a wooden bed, a large wooden chest at the foot of the bed, and a dressing table at the head. On the table were a bronze mirror and a small makeup box.
The hallway outside the sections was shared. Under the windows on both sides were square tables with tea sets on them. Along the walls were wooden bars for hanging clothes.
Yan Zigui’s bed was the innermost one on the right. As she walked in, she observed carefully. The room was not full. The two sections on the right seemed empty. The bedding was neatly arranged in the same way, and the teacups on the tables were placed upside down.
Yuqin urged her through the window, “Hurry and change your clothes. The Eastern Palace is waiting.”
Yan Zigui looked at her reflection in the window and felt upset. Everything was happening too fast.
Why did it have to be so fast?
Was the Eastern Palace really missing just one servant?
Although staying at the Yan residence was not very enjoyable, it was still her home. Blood ties mattered. How had she suddenly ended up in the palace as a servant?
As she changed clothes, she muttered to herself, feeling like she had boarded a pirate ship.
The palace uniform was a green round-collared robe with flower patterns. When she first received it, she thought it was ugly. But after seeing Yuqin’s dull brown robe, she felt the green was not so bad.
She guessed that if she were promoted to the sixth rank, she could wear dark blue. That color would look better.
After changing, she divided the pouch Qingluan had given her into three parts. She put one part in the chest and kept two parts on her body.
Although Yuqin had urged her, Yan Zigui finished faster than expected. Yuqin looked her up and down. The clothes and hat were correct, so she told her to follow the young eunuch waiting on the palace road to the Eastern Palace.
“Sister, do all new female officials start work so quickly? Shouldn’t we be trained first?” Yan Zigui asked.
“You are assigned to the Eastern Palace. You are not trained by us. The Eastern Palace will train you,” Yuqin said coldly. “Go quickly.”
“Remember the time when the gates close. If you are not on night duty, you must return within half an hour after sunset. Once the gates are closed, you cannot open them.”
“When on duty, you eat in the Eastern Palace. You eat whatever is served. If you are still hungry, you can give money to a young eunuch to buy snacks from the kitchen. But if you don’t want others to say you are selfish, do it quietly.”
Yan Zigui wanted to ask more, but Yuqin had already finished speaking and left.
Yan Zigui found her attitude strange. Qingluan had said she would arrange things for her. The person arranged should not act like this.
The young eunuch led Yan Zigui to the Eastern Palace. Along the way, palace maids and eunuchs stepped aside and lowered their heads when she passed. After she walked by, they whispered among themselves.
She looked unfamiliar. Was she one of the new female officials?
Why was she starting work so soon? Usually, new female officials first worked as ordinary palace maids to learn the rules. If they performed badly, they could even be demoted.
This person must have an important background.
When she entered the Eastern Palace, Yan Zigui prepared a polite smile. The people receiving her also looked surprised by her arrival. She felt even more confused. Who was pushing her to come here so quickly?
In ordinary families, even buying a maid required two days of training. She had been in the palace for only two days and was already serving as an official.
People said the royal family had strict rules. Was that not true?
Qian Ming was not present. Another female official, Cui Yun, briefly introduced the work environment and then said, “His Highness will finish lessons soon. Ying’er went out with Lady Qian and will not return in time. Today you will comb His Highness’s hair to help him relax.”
Yan Zigui stopped smiling and looked confused. “You want me to comb His Highness’s hair? Now?”
Cui Yun also looked uncomfortable but said, “Even though we are female officials, we still serve others. Lady Yan does not intend to refuse, does she?”
Was that even the question?
She had been in the Eastern Palace for less than an hour, and they wanted her to comb the Crown Prince’s hair? Was the Crown Prince someone whose head anyone could touch?
Her confusion was obvious. Cui Yun coughed lightly. “Anyway, when His Highness returns, you will greet him with me.”
Now Yan Zigui was sure that becoming a female official in the Eastern Palace was not a good position. Someone clearly wanted to make trouble for her.
She looked at the palace walls. Even though she now knew the route, she could not escape. She had no choice but to face it.
It was already unbelievable that she became an official after only two days in the palace. Even more unbelievable was that less than an hour after arriving at the Eastern Palace, she would hold a comb and touch the second most powerful head in the world.
The situation was so absurd that she almost laughed.
Cui Yun felt worried. Although the Crown Prince was kind and rarely punished servants, if Yan Zigui did not know how to do it or pulled his hair painfully, that could not be ignored.
Earlier, Qian Ming’s adoptive mother had sent someone to inform them that a new Seventh Rank Junior Director would arrive—equal in rank to Qian Ming and slightly above them. Qian Ming had said this was a noble young lady who might act arrogant. If they did not reduce her pride now, they would suffer later.
Cui Yun had stayed silent. Being oppressed by a higher rank was common. Whether one or two people, it was the same. Zhang Ying’er agreed and asked Qian Ming what to do.
Qian Ming quickly came up with an idea. Noble young ladies were always served at home. She surely had never served anyone. As soon as Yan Zigui arrived, they would send her to comb the Crown Prince’s hair.
If she served badly and displeased him, then any future cold treatment would be her own fault.
“What if she truly doesn’t know how?” Cui Yun asked worriedly.
“With His Highness’s temper, if he notices she cannot do it, he will dismiss her,” Qian Ming said confidently. “Since she was sent to the Eastern Palace, she must already be trained. If she is not capable, that is the fault of whoever sent her here, not ours.”
Yan Zigui arrived even earlier than expected. Qian Ming quickly hid with Zhang Ying’er, leaving Cui Yun to take Yan Zigui to serve.
“If the Emperor calls His Highness to dine later, you do not need to redo his hair. Just change the crown and outer robe,” Cui Yun finally reminded her. “Be gentle. That should not go wrong.”
At a quarter past five in the afternoon, the Crown Prince finished lessons and returned from Zizhu Hall to his residence. When Yan Zigui bowed with the others, she only saw the red edge of his robe and his black boots.
The maids and eunuchs performed their duties quietly and lightly.
The large hall was completely silent.
Zhou Hui walked behind a screen and stretched out his arms. Servants helped him change clothes. Zhang Cheng ran in and softly reported, “The Emperor is dining at Yulu Hall today.”
Zhou Hui nodded.
If the Emperor was dining with the Noble Consort and the Third Prince, he would not be summoned tonight.
“Serve dinner later. I want to sit quietly for a while.”
Zhou Hui went to the meditation room. A maid lit incense. Yan Zigui smelled familiar white grass incense and felt calmer.
Zhou Hui had already noticed her. He glanced at her. “Is there a new face in the Eastern Palace today?”
Yan Zigui stepped forward and replied, “I am one of the selected female officials. The Noble Consort granted me the rank of Seventh Rank Junior Director. My name is Yan Zigui. I request permission to comb Your Highness’s hair.”
“Yan Zigui?” Zhou Hui softly repeated. “When swallows return, the fragrant grass returns to the southern shore. Rain wets the red begonia flowers.”
“Your name and surname match well.”
Yan Zigui wondered if she should thank him for the compliment.
Behind her, Cui Yun gently pushed her waist and nodded, signaling that the Crown Prince had agreed.
Yan Zigui moved behind Zhou Hui. Since he was sitting, she knelt to comb his hair.
If she were truly a noble young lady from the capital who had never combed a man’s hair, she would be helpless. But Yan Zigui had grown up at Jialan Pass. She often dressed like a boy when going out. To please her grandfather for her own secret goals, she had combed his hair many times.
Realizing the Crown Prince’s head was no different from her grandfather’s, she relaxed. Her movements became smooth and natural.
At Jialan Pass, her grandfather once mentioned that the Crown Prince was in poor health, and the Noble Consort was favored. There were fears about the stability of the throne.
Before, she had not dared to look closely. Now, standing behind him, she could observe openly.
The Crown Prince was truly pale.
Yan Zigui herself had fair skin, but to maintain it at Jialan Pass she had endured much hardship. Her grandmother forced her to soak in herbal baths, apply thick pearl cream on her face and neck before sleep, and drink special herbal tea daily.
Only then could she match the skin tone of noble ladies in the capital.
But the Crown Prince’s skin was even whiter—like white jade. As she looked at the skin on the back of his neck, she thought it was almost too pale.
‘Even a dead person is not this white,’ she thought. He must never have been in the sun.
His head was small, so his face was probably not large. His shoulders were not broad. He did look weak.
His hair was black but not shiny. It was not very thick, and the ends were split. She cleaned the loose hair from the comb and prepared to place it on the wooden tray, but the maid holding the tray stared at her intensely.
What did that mean? Was the Crown Prince not allowed to lose hair?
Zhou Hui stretched out his hand.
Yan Zigui did not understand.
“Give me the hair,” Zhou Hui reminded her.
It felt strange to hand trash to the Crown Prince. She hesitated but placed the fallen hair into his hand.
He dropped it into the incense burner on the table. The burning hair gave off a brief unpleasant smell, which quickly disappeared into the air.