Chapter 3: The Noble Consort is Extraordinarily Cautious

Ning Wanyin left Mingzhao Hall and sent someone to inform the old lady who had just returned from praying.

When she returned to Xihe Courtyard, it was already dusk.

Pengqin was the first to report, “Miss, Dr. Ge has checked everything. The folding fan and jewelry are clean and free of poison.”

Pengqi followed closely, “This servant has carefully investigated, yesterday Miss Tang was the same as usual, nothing unusual happened. It was just that this morning she woke up from a nightmare, crying and laughing, scaring the maids who were serving her.”

“Since she woke up from that nightmare, she has been like a changed person. After she returned to her courtyard, she sent a maid to deliver a box of very precious tea leaves to Madam.”

Ning Wanyin listened quietly, her delicate face showed no emotion, “Did you check the tea leaves sent to Mother?”

“You had already given instructions, everything sent to Madam’s courtyard must be checked by Dr. Ge first. The tea leaves were also clean after being checked.” Pengqi replied.

Ning Wanyin pondered silently, without speaking.

Pengqin guessed, “Miss, this Miss Tang suddenly changed her personality, could it be that she was possessed by a demon?”

“I haven’t heard of anyone being possessed by a demon and becoming more normal than before.” Ning Wanyin’s thin lips curled up, a hint of caution flashed in her eyes, “Keep a close eye on her, be careful.”

“Yes.”

Lianrui was the last to return and report, “Reporting to Miss, those who were selected this time include…”

…

On the first day of March, the sky was clear.

Ning Wanyin bid farewell to her grandmother and mother, and entered the palace with Tang Miaoling.

Because there were few concubines in the Emperor’s old palace, and this was the first grand selection this year, most of the six palaces, east and west, did not have a mistress, Yonghe Palace was one of them.

The eunuch who led the way brought the two to the gate of Yonghe Palace, where a group of eunuchs and maids were already waiting to greet them. They happened to be assigned to the same place, living in the left and right side halls.

“Welcome, Beauty!” Six palace servants bowed to Tang Miaoling.

Another four palace servants bowed to Ning Wanyin, “Welcome, Noble Consort.”

The palace was strictly hierarchical, with different treatments for different ranks.

“Cousin, we are so lucky to live together.” Tang Miaoling pretended to be surprised, but she was not happy at all in her heart.

With her memories of her previous life, she already knew that the two of them would be in the same palace.

She really wished she could be further away from Ning Wanyin!

She was trembling with fear, but she had to pretend to be overjoyed.

Oh, what kind of human suffering is this.

Ning Wanyin saw through her hypocrisy at a glance, and bowed:

“Sister Tang, I’ll go back to my room first.”

For concubines with higher ranks than herself, one must bow when greeting or taking leave. She had privately studied the palace rules for three years, and she would not ignore this point because of the other person’s attitude.

“Yes, you’ve worked hard all the way here. Go back and rest!” Tang Miaoling quickly nodded, hurriedly leading her own palace servants back to the left side hall where she lived.

She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to hold back her trembling legs if she stayed with Ning Wanyin for a while longer.

The right side hall of Yonghe Palace – Lingxue Pavilion.

Noble Consorts could only bring one maid into the palace, Ning Wanyin brought Lianrui, who had served her since she was young.

The palace servants assigned to serve her were the two maids and two eunuchs who had just greeted her.

“This servant Danli/Luju, greets Noble Consort, please rest well!”

“This servant Xiaogui/Xiaoyuanzi, greets Noble Consort, please rest well!”

Ning Wanyin looked at the four people in front of her and said calmly, “You are all assigned to my palace, it’s fate. I always reward those who are kind to me, and I will never tolerate those who are malicious. I hope you will all serve me well.”

“I will reward those who work hard, but I will not tolerate those who are disloyal.”

“This servant understands!” All four palace servants bowed and kowtowed.

Ning Wanyin knew that these words, which every concubine probably had to say, had no real power. She wouldn’t trust them, but she had to say them anyway.

“Lianrui, give them a reward!” Ning Wanyin instructed.

Lianrui distributed the silver ingots she had prepared to the four palace servants. The Duke’s mansion had prepared one thousand taels of silver for her to win favor, to be used for rewarding people.

All four were delighted to receive the reward. The silver ingots were heavy and substantial.

Everyone hoped to serve a generous master.

Ning Wanyin continued, “Now that I’m in the palace, I naturally need to prepare for sleeping with the Emperor. You also need to be prepared to welcome His Majesty.”

The four had never seen such a proactive master before, and they were all a little stunned. Danli was quick to react and said repeatedly:

“Noble Consort is right!”

Ning Wanyin instructed, “Time is of the essence, we need to start preparing Lingxue Pavilion from now on. His Majesty is precious and noble, Lingxue Pavilion must be spotless.”

The four had no objections, they agreed and said that it was their duty to clean the palace and welcome His Majesty.

But…

Soon they discovered, was this new master too demanding?

Not only was Ning Wanyin’s bedroom spotless, but their servants’ quarters were also cleaned.

The flower garden in the courtyard was even more outrageous.

They said they were clearing weeds, but they dug three feet deep and turned the flower garden over, then replanted the flowers.

The four worked until dark, if it weren’t for the generous reward from the master, they would have wanted to change their jobs.

“Master, the entire Lingxue Pavilion, inside and out, has been cleaned. There are no poisonous plants or insects in the flower garden, and no forbidden items have been buried.”

“There are no strange objects in the servants’ quarters, and no extra silver has been found.”

Lianrui reported one by one.

The four newcomers thought that the master was too demanding, but Lianrui knew very well that the master had once said:

The place where you live, inside and outside the house, every person, every object, every flower, every plant, every brick and tile, must be familiar to you.

Only then can you live peacefully.

“You’ve worked hard.” Ning Wanyin nodded, pondered for a moment, and went over every brick and tile of Lingxue Pavilion in her mind. She paused, her eyebrows slightly raised:

“There is no pond in Lingxue Pavilion, go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and use some silver to buy eight water jars, just say that I like lotus flowers and want to plant them. But everyone in the palace is always suspicious of each other’s actions, so someone will surely not believe that I like lotus flowers.”

“Then pretend to slip up and say that lotus seeds have many seeds, I think it’s a good omen, and I hope to have a son soon.”

Anything a palace concubine does, as long as it’s for the sake of winning favor and having a son, no one will find it strange.

Lianrui suddenly realized, bowed and apologized, “This servant is negligent, I forgot about this. If Lingxue Pavilion catches fire, it would be difficult to get water if it’s far away.”

“You’ve already done a good job.” Ning Wanyin smiled. It’s impossible to be perfect in everything in this world, and she couldn’t guarantee that everything would be foolproof.

She was just trying to be as cautious as possible.

Lianrui quickly took the eunuchs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to move the water jars, with money paving the way, everything was done smoothly.

After everything was done, Lianrui returned to report again.

She had just finished talking about the “things” in Lingxue Pavilion, and then…