Chapter 11.2

Bailing nodded. It was necessary. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to serve her properly.

Yao Huang understood. The palace and wealthy families were all shameless. They weren’t afraid of maids hearing this.

Since it was a custom, Yao Huang didn’t want to be special. She continued to ask Bailing: “Were there any rules about night duty for senior maids in the palace?”

Bailing understood the Princess’s meaning. She knelt down and said: “Princess, rest assured. Whether it’s in the palace or the prince’s household, whether it’s during night duty or at other times, we maids are not allowed to discuss our masters’ affairs privately. Anyone who violates this rule will be punished according to the law.”

Yao Huang: “I understand. Get up.”

Bailing was much more likable than Huamei. Yao Huang secretly gave her a small task. If she heard anyone secretly discussing her and the Prince’s private matters, she was to report it to her immediately.

After Yao Huang and Ah Ji went to the front courtyard, Huamei immediately called Bailing aside and interrogated her: “What did the Princess tell you?”

Bailing was honest. In the Yikun Palace, she was at the bottom of the second-class maids. Besides serving Concubine Du, she also did whatever Huamei and the others told her to do without a word.

She was used to being afraid of Huamei. She lowered her head and said: “There was a strand of hair that wasn’t combed properly. The Princess asked me to fix it.”

Huamei didn’t believe her at all. She warned her: “Don’t forget who your real master is. If you’re not obedient, the Imperial Concubine has plenty of ways to replace you.”

Bailing just kept her head down.

Huamei had no evidence. She snorted coldly and left.

In the front courtyard, perhaps because the Princess liked Honeydew so much, the kitchen had cut another plate of Honeydew fruit slices this morning. Yao Huang ate it with gusto. After finishing it, she asked Zhao Sui with a lingering desire: “If you really don’t like it, can I just eat it all?”

Zhao Sui: “Go ahead. But eating too much Honeydew can cause heatiness. Don’t eat more than two or three a day.”

Yao Huang: “How many were cut to make this plate?”

Zhao Sui: “…”

Yao Huang understood. The noble Prince Hui also ate the fruit slices directly from the kitchen. He didn’t know how many slices one could make.

“I’ll ask the kitchen later.”

After dinner, Zhao Sui returned to his secluded bamboo courtyard. Yao Huang sat in the main hall and ordered someone to summon Gao Niangzi from the kitchen.

Gao Niangzi arrived soon, carrying a delicate fruit basket. Inside were four Honeydew fruits, half green and half red, each as big as an adult’s palm.

Yao Huang took one out, turned it around, and pressed on it. The skin slightly indented.

If it were a peach or apricot, this soft texture would mean it was either ripe or about to rot.

Gao Niangzi explained: “Honeydew is perfect when it’s this soft. If you leave it any longer, it will spoil.”

Yao Huang: “How many are left in the mansion?”

Gao Niangzi: “These four were prepared to be cut for the Prince and Princess today. There are seventeen left in the ice cellar.”

The Emperor had bestowed two baskets. Because there weren’t many guests at the wedding banquet, they only used half a basket.

Yao Huang: “How long can the ones in the ice cellar last?”

Gao Niangzi: “Although they can last for another five or six days, the fruit tastes better when it’s fresh.”

Yao Huang: “Hmm. I’m going back to my parents’ home tomorrow. Prepare two baskets like the one you’re holding, with five in each.”

The Prince didn’t like it. She would get tired of eating it all by herself. It would be perfect to give some to her parents and maternal grandfather’s family to try.

Gao Niangzi received her instructions and reminded her: “This fruit is not easy to cut. Princess, you should send a maid to learn how to cut it. It will be easier to serve it when you return home tomorrow.”

The five senior maids were standing next to Yao Huang. When they heard this, Ah Ji’s eyes lit up. She wanted to learn this skill.

Yao Huang looked at Huamei and smiled: “You often serve the Imperial Concubine. Do you know how to cut Honeydew?”

Huamei immediately said: “These are the kitchen’s tasks. I haven’t learned how to do them.”

Yao Huang: “That’s perfect. You go learn from Gao Niangzi. I’ll take you out tomorrow.”

Huamei didn’t want to cut any fruit, but she was relieved that the Princess was willing to use her.

Ah Ji looked at the Princess eagerly. She wanted to learn too. The Princess had told her to learn and observe. These were all skills she didn’t have before.

Yao Huang smiled: “You guys go and watch the fun too. You and Gao Niangzi can share the cut fruit.”

Ah Ji, Chunyan, and Qiuchan, who had never tasted this kind of tribute fruit, immediately started salivating.

Huamei lifted her chin slightly. Honeydew was nothing. When she was with the Imperial Concubine, she would get a few pieces every year!

Unfortunately, eating and cutting were two different things. This Honeydew fruit was slippery inside after the skin was peeled. If you used too much force, the flesh would be crushed and look ugly. If you used too little force, the fruit would slip out of your hand. It was a test of skill.

Despite Gao Niangzi’s repeated reminders to Huamei to be careful, Huamei accidentally cut her hand. It was just a light cut, but a bead of blood welled up on her left index finger.

Chunyan and Qiuchan nervously stepped back. Bailing kindly went to help.

Ah Ji stared at the Honeydew flesh stained with blood and secretly thought that she wouldn’t eat that piece.

Huamei saw it clearly and angrily said: “I’m hurt. Ah Ji, you cut it.”

Ah Ji was indeed itching to try, but wanting to cut it and being told to cut it were two different things. At least Huamei didn’t have the right to do that.

She mercilessly retorted: “The Princess wants you to learn. If you want to switch, go talk to the Princess.”

Ah Ji had her mother and sister to take care of her in the Yao family. The master, mistress, young master, and young lady also treated her like half a child. She had never been beaten or scolded. But she had seen other maids in other neighborhoods. Ah Ji had seen with her own eyes how some maids were beaten by their masters until their skin was torn. She knew that real maids had to respect their masters. Huamei looked down on the Princess like that. Even if she had cut off her hand, she wouldn’t deserve sympathy. Let alone a shallow cut!

Huamei was about to step forward when she heard Ah Ji “mutter”: “I don’t believe that a maid from the Imperial Concubine’s side would be so clumsy. You must have wanted to shirk your work and deliberately hurt yourself.”

Huamei: “…”

She wasn’t clumsy, and she couldn’t lose face for the Imperial Concubine!

She changed her mind, gritted her teeth, grabbed the slippery fruit, and continued cutting.

The senior maids went to the kitchen. Yao Huang sent someone to invite Steward Guo Shu and instructed him about the matter of turning over the vegetable garden.

The Yao family’s vegetable garden was always turned over and furrowed by Yao Zhenhu and Yao Lin. They would plow in front, and Luo Jinhua would sprinkle the seeds behind them. The few small vegetable gardens didn’t require Yao Huang to help. The whole family would work and chat, which was pure fun.

When the seedlings grew, Yao Huang would pull out some weeds when she felt itchy. She treated it as a game. She truly enjoyed the lush greenery in the vegetable beds and the pleasure of picking vegetables when they were ripe. If she had to do everything from plowing to weeding herself, she would be too lazy to do it.

Therefore, for the half acre of land in the Prince’s Household, Yao Huang only used her brain and mouth. Most of the physical labor was assigned to the mansion’s servants.

Guo Shu learned that the Prince had agreed and immediately agreed. Turning the soil, plowing, and planting were all simple tasks. Only the grape arbor required hiring people from a large household that specialized in growing grapes to buy seedlings.

With money and manpower, the Prince’s Household moved quickly. In the morning, they plowed and furrowed the half acre of land, making the beds. After the hottest part of the afternoon, the grape seedlings were also delivered to the Prince’s Household.

Yao Huang brought Ah Ji to the vegetable garden to supervise. Mainly, she wanted to see how the grape arbor was built. Yao Huang loved to eat grapes, but the Yao family’s small courtyard didn’t have a place to plant grapes. They bought them from outside every year.

Because the vegetable garden was too close to Prince Hui’s secluded bamboo courtyard, all the servants who had been instructed by Guo Shu worked silently. If they had any questions, they would go to the supervisor and talk quietly.

After all the work was done, Guo Shu personally led the servants away, leaving behind a neat vegetable garden.

Yao Huang glanced at the bamboo courtyard and took Ah Ji back to the front by a roundabout route.

The sun was setting in the west. Qing Ai pushed Prince Hui out of the bamboo courtyard. When they reached the mainroad, Qing Ai glanced at the vegetable garden and then at the Prince’s motionless back. He didn’t dare to say anything and went directly south.

The senior maids took turns. Tonight, Yao Huang chose Huamei to be on night duty.

After extinguishing the lights, Yao Huang glanced at the empty wheelchair. After getting into bed, she snuggled up to Prince Hui and chatted casually: “The vegetable garden is planted. Did you go and take a look when you came over?”

Zhao Sui: “No.”

Yao Huang: “Then I’ll accompany you to take a look tomorrow morning? The grape seedlings are almost climbing to the top of the arbor. They’re green and beautiful.”

Zhao Sui still had that indifferent attitude.

Yao Huang was going back to her parents’ home tomorrow. She needed to rest well. She didn’t bother Prince Hui any further. They hugged each other and went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Huamei, who was sleeping on the floor, listened with her ears perked up for a long time. When she was sure that the Prince and Princess didn’t need her to serve them, she thought about Prince Hui’s legs. She also remembered the tall and upright figure of Prince Hui when he went to the Yikun Palace to pay his respects. It was a dream that countless maids dared to dream but didn’t dare to mention.

Now that his legs were disabled, some things were beyond his ability.

If Prince Hui was still healthy, she would definitely be jealous of Yao Huang’s good fortune. Now that Prince Hui was like a Honeydew that was half rotten, Huamei felt at peace.