The Forbidden City, Chu Xiu Palace.

Maiden Zifu hurriedly walked into the East Annex Hall behind the main hall, her face filled with joy as she spoke to Shen Han, who was sitting by the kang:

“Miss, a messenger from Qianqing Palace has arrived. His Majesty summons you to accompany him to Zhaoren Hall this afternoon.”

Shen Han replied, “I see. What time is it now?”

Qingjin, standing nearby, checked the water clock: “It’s almost noon.”

“Alright, prepare the water for washing.”

“Yes.”

Normally, when a carriage from Qianqing Palace came to pick up a concubine, it was to ensure they were prepared ahead of time.

Shen Han touched her loose hair thoughtfully. “Ah, I have to wash my hair again. What a hassle.”

Qingjin stepped forward to tidy up the dessert plates on the table and helped Shen Han remove her clothes and hairpins.

Zifu hurried off to fetch hot water.

Chu Xiu Palace had two sections: the East Annex housed a princess, while the main hall, Lijing Pavilion in the rear, accommodated three new princesses and their attendants.

Originally, Shen Han squeezed into Lijing Pavilion, but after gaining favor, she received better treatment and moved to the East Annex.

Across from them, in the West Annex, lived Nala, a princess from the Nara clan, selected by the Imperial Household Department just like Shen Han.

However, she was chosen as a beautiful woman in the tenth year of Kangxi’s reign, the only one favored by the Emperor among that group, becoming the main consort of the harem, while the others became maids.

So Nala’s treatment was quite high, allowing her to live in the West Annex.

Although Chu Xiu Palace housed six minor consorts, because they were all consort mothers, they were not qualified to have small kitchens, so they had to go out of Chu Xiu Palace on weekdays to get hot water from the row of stores in the north.

There was only one internal food room, which had a water room specifically for the empress and servants of the Western Six Palaces.

Zifu did not want to attract attention, so she left the palace gate through the east side.

Just as she arrived at the food room, the sharp-eyed manager of the eunuchs greeted her, and when he heard that she wanted hot water for washing, he immediately realized that Wuyah had been summoned to bed again.

This Uyghur is really powerful. There have been so many new masters in the back of Chu Xiu Palace, and only she has seen the new pet posture, and she has accompanied many times after the favor has been received for a short time.

Although the eunuchs had the intention of flattering, Zifu dared not to take it.

The hot water needed for the mistress to bathe was a lot, and she couldn’t carry it back herself. It was indeed the kitchen’s job to send it.

But in the palace, nothing was ever certain. Since the eunuch had offered to send it without her asking, Zifu had to be grateful.

Zifu slightly bowed to the managing eunuch and said, “Thank you, brother, for your trouble.”

The managing eunuch quickly reached out to support her, saying, “Oh, don’t be so formal, sister! This is our duty to serve the Lady.”

After exchanging a few polite words, neither dared to delay the important task.

The managing eunuch ordered a few servant eunuchs to load the hot water onto a cart, saying, “We can’t delay the lady’s task. Let them follow you back.”

Zifu thanked the eunuchs, and the group hurried back to Chuxiu Palace with the hot water.

The back hall of Chuxiu Palace was quite small. With so many people coming in to unload the cart and carry the water, it naturally attracted attention.

Two maidservants of Lady Nara in the west side hall watched Zifu and Qingqin going in and out, unable to hide their jealousy.

“How long has Lady Wuyah been here? And she’s already so favored, summoned to the emperor’s chambers frequently. Even her servants are more prestigious than us.”

“Hmph, it’s only because she’s good-looking. Let’s see how long they can stay in favor.”

Lady Nara overheard them and sternly rebuked, “Enough, what kind of behavior is this? Do you think you can talk about the master like that? Stop it right now.”

Seeing Lady Nara’s displeased face, the two maidservants quickly knelt down to apologize.

The leading maid, Xiujin, glanced at her master’s face and cautiously explained:

“Your servant is just feeling wronged for you, Lady Nara. You entered the palace earlier, so why should this young girl overshadow you…”

“Enough.”

Lady Nara, unmoved by Xiujin’s flattery, said coldly:

“It doesn’t matter how long or short they’ve been here. Once someone becomes a master, they are a master, and it’s not your place to comment.

There are many ears in this palace, and walls have ears. If you don’t learn to be careful with your words, I can’t keep you here. I’ll have to send you back to the Internal Affairs Office.”

Xiujin was shocked.

She had been transferred here recently after the previous maid fell ill.

Eager to gain favor, she had spoken out of turn against Lady Wuyah, misjudging her master’s thoughts.

If she were sent back, her life would be over!

Xiujin quickly kowtowed and pleaded, “Please, Lady Nara, have mercy! It was my loose tongue and lack of discipline! I won’t do it again! Please forgive me!”

As she spoke, she began to slap her own face, hoping to gain her master’s forgiveness.

The other maid, Xiuyun, also quickly knelt down, not daring to make a sound.

Though Lady Nara was angry, she did not want to make a big scene and cause trouble.

Seeing that Xiujin knew she was wrong, she let it go:

“Alright, it’s good that you know your mistake. Get up now, or someone might hear and cause more trouble.”

Lady Nara saw that Xiujin’s cheeks were red and pointed to the cabinet nearby. “I remember there’s some ointment left in the cabinet. Apply some on your face, and for the next couple of days, stay inside to serve. Let Xiuyun handle the outside tasks for now.”

Xiujin, feeling as if she’d been granted a great reprieve, quickly kowtowed to thank her master before daring to stand up.

She gently opened the cabinet, applied the ointment, then knelt by Lady Nara’s feet to kowtow again.

Seeing Lady Nara wave her off, she quietly retreated to the door, standing there without daring to make a sound.

Xiuyun, on the other hand, also stood silently, afraid to make a noise. The room became eerily quiet…

Lady Nara, annoyed by the commotion outside, shut the slightly open window.

With nothing else to do, she picked up the half-embroidered dragon-patterned pouch on the table and continued stitching absentmindedly, her thoughts drifting to the newcomers in the back hall.

Lady Nara had been in the palace for four years now.

In the early years, she was too young to be favored and wasn’t in a hurry.

In the past two years, she had grown into a young lady and was fortunate to be selected during a break in the usual selection process.

The palace was in need of fresh faces, which made her stand out.

A few days ago, when she first gained the emperor’s favor, she was overjoyed and full of ambition.

But before she could get used to the emperor’s attention, her excitement was dampened.

The emperor had recently selected several new girls from the Internal Affairs Office.

The Internal Affairs Office usually selected palace maids, with only a few exceptional ones becoming concubines.

Although the backgrounds of these maids were not as prestigious as the selected girls from the Eight Banners, their future prospects were not necessarily worse.

For instance, the mother of the First Prince, Lady Ulanara, was from a household servant background.

However, truly distinguished families among the household servants were rare, and few of the girls stood out.

After the Kangxi Emperor’s tenth year, no more maids from the Internal Affairs Office had been selected to become concubines.

Gradually, people almost forgot this was a possibility, assuming the selections were only for palace maids.

Who would have thought the emperor would choose from this pool again?

And this time, there were indeed a few girls with commendable qualities that caught the emperor’s eye.

Thinking of Lady Wuyah’s beauty, Lady Nara felt a pang of bitterness.

Lost in thought, she suddenly felt a prick of pain. Looking down, she saw that her embroidery was a mess.

Lady Nara wiped the blood from her fingertip with a handkerchief…

She couldn’t afford to lose her composure.

Besides Lady Wuyah, the other newcomers were just young, inexperienced girls.

The emperor might not remember them in a few years.

There weren’t many favored in the palace now. She still had a chance.

The East Wing was bustling with activity.

Bathing in the palace was a major undertaking.

As the lowest-ranked concubine, Shen Han only had two personal maids, Zifu and Qingqin, to attend to her.

The five servant eunuchs from the kitchen were not allowed to enter the concubine’s rooms.

The servant eunuchs helped carry the large wooden tubs filled with water into the main hall and then quickly left.

The rest of the work fell to Zifu and Qingqin.

The two maids used small wooden buckets to transfer the hot water into the large wooden bathtub behind the screen.

They then gradually mixed in cool water until the temperature was just right.

Finally, they helped Shen Han step onto a bathing stool and into the tub.

By the time the bath was over, more than half an hour had passed.

The most time-consuming part, however, was drying her hair.

Qingqin used a stack of dry cloths to gently absorb the water from Shen Han’s hair, starting from the roots.

Each cloth was used only once to ensure quick drying.

Meanwhile, Zifu moved a heated towel rack and a warming brazier closer, draping Shen Han’s long hair over the rack.

One maid dried the hair from below using the brazier, while the other held the ends to prevent them from slipping off.

This process took another half an hour to dry Shen Han’s hair completely.

Both maids were exhausted, their arms aching, while Shen Han’s back and waist were sore from sitting.

Zifu moved the towel rack and brazier back to their places, massaging her sore arms and sighing, “It’s fortunate that the Lady is favored and received charcoal from the Internal Affairs Office. Otherwise, using just dry cloths would have been much more laborious.”

Qingqin helped Shen Han stand up and begin dressing, saying, “Indeed, with this charcoal, the room is much warmer now.”

Back in Lijing Pavilion, the nights were so cold that everyone had to huddle together on one bed to sleep.

Even during the day, they had to stay in one room to keep warm.

That was truly a miserable time.

According to the rules, they were supposed to receive charcoal until May, but the Internal Affairs Office claimed there was a shortage and openly withheld it.

Those who were not favored and had no connections had no choice but to endure the cold.

The young concubines received very little charcoal in their rations.

It was barely enough for heating in winter, let alone saving any.

Now, with it only being early April, the palace rooms were still very chilly.

Without charcoal, they could easily fall ill from the cold.

Thinking about the hardships they endured at Lijing Pavilion made Shen Han shudder.

With this in mind, the earlier ordeal of bathing didn’t seem so bothersome anymore.

Shen Han perked up and rummaged through her makeup box, picking out a gold hairpin inlaid with turquoise shaped like a begonia.

She handed it to Qingqin. “Use this one.”

This was a recent gift from the emperor.

The turquoise was delicate, and the begonia design was fresh and appealing.

Shen Han had liked it at first sight.

At this time in the Qing Dynasty, hairstyles were still simple.

Typically, hair was either wrapped in a bun on top of the head or covered with a hood, or adorned with a hairpin, so the jewelry didn’t need to be too elaborate.

Qingqin took the hairpin and placed it in the center of Shen Han’s bun, then added two small pearl flowers on either side to avoid it looking too sparse.

Zifu brought out a round-collared cloak from the wardrobe, made of soft yellow satin embroidered with trailing floral patterns.

“Look at this, Lady. This spring outfit from the sewing room is the best one, in my opinion,” Zifu said, holding up the garment.

Shen Han turned her head and was immediately captivated—the dress was indeed beautifully made!

Most of the materials allotted in the palace were in dark or bright colors, which made the wearer look older.

This one, however, was a rare light color, a special gift from the emperor who knew her preferences.

Shen Han had even had Zifu use silver to bribe the sewing room staff to ensure the dress was made to her specifications, and the result exceeded her expectations.

The current style of the qipao (banner dress) was primarily with straight, narrow sleeves and a simple, wide, and straight cut that could look quite unflattering.

Thanks to modern Qing dynasty dramas, Shen Han had seen countless variations of qipao designs.

Though she wasn’t an expert, she had a good sense of what would look appealing.

The sewing room, skilled under imperial orders, had surpassed her vision with their craftsmanship.

Zifu pointed to the green cuffs embroidered with butterflies, saying, “Lady, you truly have a knack for this. This is the first time I’ve seen such a beautiful qipao. The cuffs are really unique.”

Lady Shen’s fair skin and delicate hands made the green and dark blue cuffs look even more stunning.

Shen Han twirled in front of the mirror, admiring herself.

Her beautiful face was indeed a lethal weapon—absolutely adorable!

With the new rabbit fur collar and cloak, along with her hand warmers, she felt like a character from a palace drama.

It was a dream come true!

Once she was perfectly dressed, the carriage arrived to take her.

The steward lady, smiling broadly, helped Shen Han into the carriage, with Zifu attending beside it, while Qingqin stayed behind to clean up the room.

The sky was almost completely dark, and the surroundings were quiet.

The creaking of the carriage wheels was particularly distinct in the narrow, deep palace paths.

The carriage stopped at Longfu Gate—Qianqing Palace was the emperor’s residence, and only the emperor and certain high-ranking individuals were permitted to use carriages within.

Zifu helped Shen Han down from the carriage.

The carriage eunuch exchanged words with the gate eunuch and left the small eunuch to take care of the carriage.

The group then quickly made their way past Longfu Gate, along the palace paths of Hongde Hall and Jiaotai Hall, arriving at Zhaoren Hall just as the hour of You began.

The carriage eunuch handed over to the Zhaoren Hall eunuch, completing his task.

Zhaoren Hall was an annex of Qianqing Palace and Emperor Xuan Ye’s sleeping quarters.

He preferred the spacious and bright Zhaoren Hall for resting after handling state affairs.

The eunuch at the gate announced their arrival, and the maid and mistress followed the guide eunuch into the hall.

Inside Zhaoren Hall, lights were bright, and eunuchs were stationed in various spots, all standing silently with heads bowed.

At the main hall entrance, Zifu helped Shen Han step over the high threshold, removed her cloak and fur collar, and then retreated to wait by the door.

The warmth inside the hall was welcoming.

Shen Han lightly dabbed at her neck, which was slightly damp from the journey, and took a deep breath before walking towards the east warm pavilion.