Palace maid Shuoning

(Up)

Yihua Palace, back gate.

"Not leaving?" Bao Zhong glanced at Zhou Zhengyin sideways, dusted off his sleeves, and said in a nonchalant voice, "Why don't you go back and personally feed that spring pancake to Consort Rong?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengyin finally withdrew his gaze from the palace wall.

Looking down, I saw the pile of soil I had dug out at the base of the wall outside. I quickly squatted down and used both hands to fill it back in, patting it down firmly. Then I pulled up a few clumps of grass to cover it.

Only then did she stand up and bow to Bao Zhong: "Thank you, thank you, Grandfather Bao Zhong, for helping me."

Bao Zhong ignored him and turned to leave.

The narrow palace path is sandwiched between two red walls, with only a sliver of dark blue sky visible overhead.

As he walked away, without turning his head, he tossed out a question: "Do you know what's the most valuable thing in the palace?"

Zhou Zhengyin jogged a couple of steps to catch up, then honestly shook his head: "I...I don't know."

Bao Zhong kept walking: "Fate."

Zhou Zhengyin was taken aback.

"Other people's lives are worthless. Your own life is worthless too."

Bao Zhong's voice carried a hint of sarcasm:

"Only a life that can be traded is valuable. What are you going to trade for your life tonight? Just a few spring pancakes?"

Zhou Zhengyin opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

Bao Zhong suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, his eyes suddenly sharp:

"If Feng Xi catches you tonight, I'll die, she'll die. Do you think it's worth it to trade two people for your mere passion?"

Zhou Zhengyin trembled, his face turning pale: "I...I didn't think that much..."

"Of course you didn't think about it," Baozhong interrupted him. "If you had, you wouldn't have come. You would have just hidden behind the side gate, heard her voice hoarse, felt a surge of emotion, and taken the plunge, risking your life."

He paused, staring into Zhou Zhengyin's eyes:

"But have you thought about it? If you die, Consort Rong will not only want to eat spring pancakes tomorrow, but she will also make other demands, and she will still have to find a way to deal with them. Your life will have been wasted."

Zhou Zhengyin's lips trembled, and his eyes slowly reddened, but he still whispered:

"At that moment, you were the only person on my mind. You and Shuoning are both good people. Because you had brought me medicine to Changmen Palace before."

Bao Zhong seemed to have heard a joke; the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but there was no laughter in his eyes.

"Does delivering medicine make someone a good person? In this palace, no one does good deeds anonymously, and those who do are not necessarily good people."

Bao Zhong raised his hand and straightened his collar, his tone returning to its usual nonchalant indifference:

"I'm telling you this to warn you. Your life or death is none of my business, but if you implicate Shuoning..."

He paused for a moment, then didn't continue.

Zhou Zhengyin lowered his head, his voice muffled: "I won't implicate her."

"You've already dragged this into this tonight," Bao Zhong scoffed. "I'm staying up all night, standing here talking nonsense with you, just cleaning up your mess. Do you think I wanted to?"

Zhou Zhengyin raised his head, his eyes red-rimmed, but he looked at him earnestly:

"I will gradually learn the rules of the palace. As long as you and Shuoning are willing to teach me, I will not let you down."

Baozhong looked at him; his eyes were red and clear, without a trace of grievance or resentment, just a simple, honest "I will learn."

Bao Zhong remained silent for a while, then suddenly turned his face away and muttered something under his breath.

"Alright." He turned around. "Don't come to Yihua Palace again, and don't go to the Imperial Household Department. If you need anything, go to Eunuch Qiao; he'll pass on the message. If not, don't pass it on. You'd better never get into trouble."

"Eunuch Qiao?" Zhou Zhengyin asked.

Bao Zhong had already taken a few steps when his voice drifted over from ahead, cold and indifferent:

"If you want to survive in this palace, you have to learn how to use people. You can decide for yourself what to use in exchange for what."

Shuoning and I got to where we are today not by being good people, but by knowing when to be ruthless and when to be patient. If you can't learn that, don't wade into this mess.

Zhou Zhengyin stood there, watching his figure disappear at the end of the palace road, repeating the same sentence over and over again.

"I'll learn as long as you and Shuoning are willing to teach me."

(under)

Consort Rong sat at the round sandalwood table, calmly gazing at the thin layer of spring pancakes on the plate, along with the side dishes and a bowl of soup that accompanied them.

"Sent from the Imperial Kitchen?"

Jiang Shuoning placed the rolled-up spring pancake into a porcelain dish, falsely claiming:

"I went to the gate to ask. The guard was kind and ran to the imperial kitchen for me."

She paused, then lowered her voice: "...I finally made it."

Consort Rong did not respond, but lowered her eyes to look at the spring rolls on the plate: "I don't want to eat anymore. You eat them for me."

Jiang Shuoning was suddenly taken aback.

"You protected your master today. Consider it a reward from me."

Consort Rong did not look at her, her expression remaining calm and composed.

Jiang Shuoning hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "Protecting my master is my duty. I dare not accept any reward."

Rongfei's lips curled up slightly, a smile that sent chills down one's spine.

"Eat up. You're the only one in this palace who can still stand and serve me. If you don't eat well, you won't make it through these three months."

Jiang Shuo remained lying on the ground, not moving immediately.

Consort Rong is behaving very strangely tonight.

Believe it? Impossible.

Suihe came directly to Yihua Palace after leaving the flower room, without carrying anything with her.

Even if she did write a letter, the messenger wouldn't be able to enter Yihua Palace so quickly.

The guards were all new faces; I didn't recognize any of them, and no one would deliver a message for a dead palace maid.

The things Fengchun said in the room might not reach Consort Rong's ears.

If even a lowly eunuch could see things clearly, how could Consort Rong not see through it?

On the surface, Consort Rong was rewarding people with spring pancakes, but in reality, she was using the spring pancakes to subtly allude to the lotus blossoms.

She ate the spring pancake only to see how I would react.

Consort Rong has no evidence yet, but she has already become suspicious.

Thinking of this, Jiang Shuoning kowtowed and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."

After speaking, she straightened up and reached for the spring roll. The aroma of the spring roll, mixed with the scent of the side dishes, filled her mouth.

But her tongue felt numb, and she couldn't taste any flavor. Only one sentence kept replaying in her mind.

Consort Rong is looking at her face.

After a moment of silence, Consort Rong spoke: "Eat everything. You must keep watch tonight; I cannot let you go hungry."

Jiang Shuoning lowered his head and ate bite by bite.

The spring pancakes had cooled down completely, the dough had hardened, and it took some effort to bite into them. After chewing them, they were dry and stuck to the tongue, making it hard to swallow.

She forced herself to swallow, and the wound on her neck twitched, causing a sharp, intermittent pain.

She endured it and didn't stop.

One, two, three, four... Consort Rong didn't say stop, and she didn't stop either.

My cheeks were bulging, and the dough became stickier and stickier as I chewed it. When I swallowed it, it fell down my esophagus into my stomach, pressing down heavily and making my stomach feel uncomfortable.

She suddenly remembered the image of Zhou Zhengyin kneeling at her feet eating meat.

He stuffed food into his mouth, his cheeks bulging, tears streaming down his face.

He couldn't swallow it then.

She is now too.

But she didn't cry. She just swallowed bite by bite until her stomach felt bloated and her eyes stung, but she didn't stop.

Consort Rong watched as her swollen cheeks gradually flattened, a faint smile appearing on her lips:

"Tomorrow, I will still eat spring pancakes."