Palace maid Shuoning

(Up)

Zhou Zhengyin's heart pounded wildly, and he stood there dumbfounded. Looking at her straight back and smelling the crisp fragrance of the azalea, his eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

It's not a hallucination.

Upon entering the room, the stench of urine and mold filled the air once more. Jiang Shuoning frowned.

In the darkness, Eunuch Xin muttered in his sleep, "I drank too much water again today..." He groped his way out of bed, slipped on his shoes, brushed past Zhou Zhengyin, and went out the door.

The candle slowly lit up.

Jiang Shuoning turned around. Zhou Zhengyin stood three steps away, his disheveled hair still obscuring his face, and he looked even thinner. The sores on his hands, hanging by his sides, hadn't healed; in fact, they had worsened.

"It's good that no one died from the disease." Her voice was cold.

For some reason, Zhou Zhengyin suddenly took two steps forward, his body acting before his brain, and knelt down at her feet.

He looked at the cloud pattern on her skirt, and at her clean shoes. The fragrance of Du Ruoxiang surrounded her, as if it could dispel the lingering stench on him.

Jiang Shuoning looked down at him, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.

"You've learned to kneel, very good!" She took out an oil paper packet from her sleeve and placed it on the table: "This is a reward for you."

Zhou Zhengyin raised his head and stared intently at the oil-stained paper package.

He smelled the aroma of meat. It had been so long since he'd eaten meat. So long that he'd almost forgotten what it tasted like. The last time he'd had it was when Granny Yu was still alive.

It has been a year since Granny Keyu passed away.

He's been suffering from typhoid fever these past few days, and has been obediently taking the medicine she gave him. It was only because of the half-eaten steamed bun that Eunuch Xin had secretly hidden that he's managed to survive until now.

He moved his knees to the table. Trembling, he picked up the oil paper package and slowly opened it, revealing two plump chicken legs, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

He swallowed hard, about to stand up.

"Eat while kneeling."

Jiang Shuoning's voice wasn't loud, but it made him freeze in place.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Zhou Zhengyin's eyes filled with tears. He knelt down again, his hands trembling as he picked up a chicken leg and took a bite.

The aroma of meat melted in his bitter mouth. He couldn't bear to swallow, chewing each bite slowly, as if the longer he chewed, the longer the flavor would linger.

Jiang Shuoning's gaze involuntarily fell on his face. His hair obscured his features, making it impossible to see his eyebrows and eyes, only his lips, thin and well-defined, glistening with oil. His Adam's apple was prominent, bobbing slightly up and down. The collar of his thermal shirt was open, revealing his two collarbones, sharp and defined.

She glanced again at his kneeling figure, his upper body long and slender, his legs folded gracefully behind him.

She looked away, her fingertips twitching slightly inside her sleeve.

It's barely usable.

Not ugly.

Zhou Zhengyin ate only one chicken leg and wrapped the other one again in oil paper.

"Why aren't you eating?" Jiang Shuoning asked.

He shook his head.

"Want to save it for tomorrow?"

He nodded.

Her voice suddenly turned cold: "Eat!"

He jumped in fright, quickly grabbed another chicken leg, and took a big bite. Tears finally fell, sliding down his cheeks to the corners of his mouth, salty, mixed with the aroma of meat.

Kneel down, and you'll get medicine. Kneel down, and you'll get less beatings. Kneel down, and you'll get meat to eat.

She had just praised herself, saying, "I'm very good."

He should be happy. At least he feels he has value.

But for some reason, I felt a tightness in my chest.

Jiang Shuoning noticed tears welling up on his thin chin, dripping down his cheeks, and frowned slightly: "Feeling wronged?"

Zhou Zhengyin shook his head in a panic.

"You have to swallow your grievances." Jiang Shuoning raised his chin, his cold gaze sweeping over his eyes. "Grievance, pity, and sadness—these three things are the least valuable in the deep palace. Your dignity is the same. You're living worse than a dog now, what right do you have to talk about grievances? Eating your fill is the most important thing. Only when you're full can you stand up. The lower you kneel, the higher and farther you can stand in the future."

She suddenly bent down, grabbed his chin, and forced him to look into her eyes.

Those clear, dark eyes were wet, filled with grievance, sadness, and something she herself couldn't quite explain.

She scoffed, her warm breath mingling with the fragrance of Du Ruoxiang as she brushed against his face: "Cry? Crying is worthless. Remember! If you want to eat meat, your knees have to buckle. Buckle like a dog. Survive first. Only by living can you have a future. Understand?"

He nodded. Tears rolled down her cheeks, landing on the back of her hand, burning her fingers and causing her to recoil.

She released her grip. Two red marks appeared on his chin.

"If you want to eat meat every day, then listen to me. If you listen, you'll get meat to eat."

Zhou Zhengyin didn't quite understand what "obedience" meant. His jaw throbbed slightly, yet she still warmed it. He nodded obediently.

Jiang Shuoning stopped looking at him and walked away.

Zhou Zhengyin reached out and touched the spot she had pinched. Something seemed to be welling up in that empty corner of his heart.

She said that if you were obedient, you would get to eat meat.

Does this mean she will come again?

He felt an unprecedented sense of anticipation.

(under)

The 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the day before Lunar New Year's Eve.

Since the night of the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, Jiang Shuoning has come twice, once to deliver medicine and once to deliver food. Both times it was late at night; he would leave as soon as he dropped things off, without saying a word more than necessary.

A strange feeling gradually arose in Zhou Zhengyin's heart. It was like being in a dark, sunless well for too long, and suddenly looking up to see a ray of light at the well's opening.

The light wasn't warm. In fact, it was quite cold.

But he still wanted to look at it.

As the year draws to a close, all the palaces are being cleaned and swept, and Changmen Palace is no exception.

"Our Changmen Palace reeks of filth, excrement, and mold all year round. Although it's located in a remote corner of the Imperial City, it's still palace grounds. If this stench spreads elsewhere, you'll be in deep trouble!"

Eunuch Qiao stood in the courtyard, his gaze sharp as needles. Zhou Zhengyin came out of the house carrying a bucket of swill.

He looks better these past few days and has more energy for work.

As Xiao Shunzi saw him pass by, he quietly stuck out his foot. Zhou Zhengyin stumbled, and half a bucket of swill spilled out, splashing right onto the blue hem of Eunuch Qiao's robe.

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.

Zhou Zhengyin's face turned deathly pale. He knelt down with a thud, his forehead pressed against the blue bricks, banging his head against the ground repeatedly.

Eunuch Qiao looked down at his soaked clothes, his face as black as ink. He pulled a whip from his sleeve and walked over step by step. Eunuch Xin stood beside him, sweating profusely.

"You beast!"

A voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate, neither too loud nor too soft, like casual conversation:

"The area outside Changmen Palace is quite clean today."

Eunuch Qiao paused, quickly tucking the whip back into his sleeve. He turned around, a smile plastered on his face.

The newcomer was dressed in a deep blue robe, slightly plump, with a shrewd expression. He was Feng Xi, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, a fourth-rank official, in his early fifties.

"What wind blew Eunuch Feng to this unlucky place?" Eunuch Qiao's back was bent so low he almost folded in half.

Everyone bowed in greeting.

Feng Xi didn't respond. He stood in the courtyard, his gaze slowly sweeping over the stain before finally landing on Eunuch Qiao's face, where he smiled.

"It's almost New Year's, even Changmen Palace has been tidied up. From a distance, we thought we'd entered some kind of livestock shed."

Eunuch Qiao's expression changed slightly, and he was about to speak.

Feng Xi raised his hand and waved it, his tone neither warm nor cold.

"Her Majesty the Empress was just saying yesterday that the palace is clean everywhere, but there are some corners she's too lazy to look at. Eunuch Qiao, tell me, is Her Majesty just too lazy to look, or is it because looking at them makes her uncomfortable?"

Sweat beaded on Eunuch Qiao's forehead, and he knelt down with a thud.

Feng Xi then looked down at the stain on the ground and sighed as if casually:

"Never mind, it's the New Year. It's just this smell... Uncle Qiao, you don't think it's bad, but to us, it smells like something has been rotting here for too long."

He paused, as if he had just noticed Zhou Zhengyin kneeling beside him, and his gaze fell indifferently upon him.

"This is... a mute slave?"

Eunuch Qiao smiled obsequiously, "Yes, yes, it was this blind fool who dirtied Changmen Palace."

"Can't you see clearly?" Feng Xi smiled. "So what if you can see clearly? There are plenty of people with eyes in this palace, but not everyone can see the way clearly."

"Let them teach them a lesson. We'll watch."