Palace maid Shuoning

(Up)

Even after the Emperor left, Jiang Shuoning remained prostrate on the ground, refusing to get up.

Consort Rong sat upright on the couch, gazing at her bent back. A section of her slender nape was exposed, and the scar still had a trace, like a faint crescent moon mark.

"Alright, get up." Consort Rong finally spoke. "You don't need to make such a solemn oath, nor do you need to prove to me that you have no feelings for the Emperor."

Jiang Shuoning stiffened, slowly raised his head, looked at Consort Rong, and his eyes welled up with tears:

"Your Majesty, the oath I just swore was absolutely true and not an act."

Consort Rong smiled knowingly:

"Shuoning, I understand your thoughts. If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have written to the Emperor and personally protected you. I'm just afraid you haven't seen things clearly yet. Although you have no feelings for the Emperor, it doesn't mean the Emperor doesn't have those feelings."

"Your Majesty..." Jiang Shuoning hurriedly knelt down in front of her, his eyes brimming with tears, about to speak.

Consort Rong raised her hand to interrupt her: "Shuoning, if you want to sever the Emperor's affections, simply making a poisonous oath is not enough."

She raised her hand and straightened the slightly crooked silver hairpin in Jiang Shuoning's hair, her phoenix eyes softening slightly.

"I can see that Baozhong has feelings for you, but he is, after all, a eunuch. When the opportunity arises, I will arrange for you to marry a bodyguard. Only in this way can the Emperor's thoughts be truly put to rest."

Jiang Shuoning lowered his eyes, his hands tightly gripping the hem of his clothes, then slowly loosened them.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief; Consort Rong was finally starting to believe her. As for the betrothal to the guard, that was a matter for later; she would agree to it for now.

She nodded: "This servant will follow Your Highness's arrangements."

Consort Rong's lips curled into a smile as her fingertips gently traced the long scar on the side of her neck:

"Go to the Imperial Hospital and get some ointment. It should be completely gone by next month."

Jiang Shuoning kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty." After saying this, he slowly stood up, bowed his head, and left the hall.

The door closed, and the room became quiet.

Consort Rong sat on the couch, watching the direction she had left in. The gentleness in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by a faint sense of loneliness.

She remembered Bao Zhong's willingness to do things for Jiang Shuoning, and how these two people had secretly and openly helped her while she was under house arrest.

A palace maid and a eunuch are more reliable than her sisters in the deep palace and the man who once made promises to her.

She suddenly felt a pang of sadness, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. When she first entered the palace, she had also believed that the Emperor had some genuine feelings for her.

But after that child died, she stopped hoping for more. She only cared about maintaining the superficial favor and keeping her maternal family in power; she couldn't be bothered with anything else.

The sunlight outside the window was just right. She looked down at her glass of plum drink, which had gone cold, picked it up and took a sip. The sweet and sour taste had all dissipated, leaving only a faint astringency.

Jiang Shuoning walked towards the Imperial Hospital, the sunlight bathing the ground. His steps were lighter than usual, and the weight on his heart finally lifted.

Just then, Eunuch Zhu walked towards them. Jiang Shuoning didn't stop walking, but he recognized him.

In the case of Xiao Shunzi, Suihe's coral earrings were sold through his hands, and later Baozhong made him change his testimony.

He was caught in the crossfire of that incident, but he was also the one who survived.

"Eunuch Zhu," Jiang Shuoning called out to him.

As if lost in thought, Eunuch Zhu paused for a moment before stopping, a hint of resistance flashing in his eyes: "Miss Shuoning."

Seeing his preoccupied expression, Jiang Shuoning glanced back and asked, "Is Eunuch heading to Changmen Palace?"

Eunuch Zhu seemed unwilling to elaborate, only giving a perfunctory reply: "Yes."

After saying that, he hurriedly brushed past her, several letters suddenly falling from his sleeve.

He quickly squatted down to pick it up, and Jiang Shuoning also bent down to pick up a letter. When he handed it back to him, his eyes inadvertently swept over the name on the envelope—Xin Damao.

It was Eunuch Xin from Changmen Palace.

Eunuch Zhu took the letter and tucked it into his sleeve: "Thank you."

After saying that, he turned to leave, but Jiang Shuoning called him back and followed him at a leisurely pace.

"I just remembered that I needed to go to the flower shop."

Eunuch Zhu did not respond and continued walking forward. The sunlight cast their shadows on the blue bricks, like two paths, each with its own thoughts, temporarily merging together.

(under)

Jiang Shuoning walked beside him, speaking in a casual, unhurried tone:

"Eunuch Zhu, you have been delivering letters to the palaces for many years. You must have seen the joy of the recipients and the disappointment of those who wait in vain for a reply."

Actually, once we're in the palace, all we can hope for is the occasional letter from home saying "all is well," and that will be enough to get by for a while.

She smiled, her gaze falling on the palace path ahead:

"I have been in the palace for twelve years and have never received a letter from home. I suppose they have long forgotten about me. Every time I see someone else holding a letter, I feel a little envious."

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Zhu sighed deeply: "Actually, life is a bit easier without letters from home."

Jiang Shuoning glanced at him sideways and smiled, "Eunuch Zhu, there's no need to comfort me. Who wouldn't want to receive a letter from home?"

"Shuoning, you don't understand. Every family has its own troubles. A letter you receive might not be a greeting; it could be a death sentence."

Jiang Shuoning suddenly stopped, glanced at the letter in his sleeve, and raised an eyebrow:

"Is Eunuch Zhu speaking on behalf of someone else, or is he grieving for someone else? I noticed that one of the letters that fell down was from Eunuch Xin of Changmen Palace. Could it be that something happened to Eunuch Xin's family?"

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Zhu immediately strode forward, but Jiang Shuoning reached out to stop him.

"Miss Shuoning, I'm in a hurry to deliver a letter, I don't have time to chat with you."

Jiang Shuoning then pulled a hairpin from her hair and stuffed it into his hand: "Consider this hairpin as a gift for buying some good wine and meat for Father-in-law."

Eunuch Zhu lowered his gaze to the hairpin in his hand, clenched it tightly, then looked up at her with a complex expression: "What does Miss Shuoning want to know?"

Jiang Shuoning turned around and continued walking forward, his voice unhurried: "Then let's listen to Eunuch Xin's family letter."

Watching her retreating figure, Eunuch Zhu hesitated for a moment, then tucked the hairpin into his robes, followed her, and sighed as he looked ahead.

"What I said just now was on behalf of Old Xin. It really proves the saying, 'Hardship always targets the poor, and a rope always breaks at its weakest point!'"

Jiang Shuoning frowned slightly, but did not interrupt and continued to listen to him.

Eunuch Zhu's face was bitter, as if he were dredging up old stories from the depths of his being:

"I've known Lao Xin in the palace for many years. He entered the palace at the age of fifteen and worked his way up from a lowly eunuch who did chores to the Imperial Household Department, and then to serving tea to the Emperor. You don't know him; he's truly hardworking and ruthless to himself."

After finishing his own duties, he would go to the laundry department if they needed staff, he would go to the Imperial Horse Stables if they needed staff, and he would never refuse to help the Imperial Wardrobe. He would take on any extra work that no one in the palace wanted to do, just to earn a few more copper coins.

He paused for a moment, pressed the corners of his mouth down, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"These three years at Changmen Palace were the most relaxed days for him. He no longer had to travel around, but he also didn't accumulate anything."

Jiang Shuoning glanced at him sideways: "Is he working so hard because his family needs money?"

Eunuch Zhu sighed softly:

"He was the eldest son in his family, with three younger brothers and a younger sister. His mother died in childbirth when she gave birth to their youngest daughter, and his father abandoned them and ran away. The youngest child was only a month old. He raised all four children by himself, acting as both father and mother, even though he was just a child himself at the time."

Later, he heard from someone that becoming a eunuch in the palace could earn him a lot of money, so he became a eunuch to support his younger siblings. He worked hard in the palace for twenty years, sending all his earnings back home. But none of his younger brothers were any good.

The second son, feeling ashamed that he had become a eunuch, associated with local thugs and eventually died in the streets. The third son failed the imperial examinations for five years, and in despair, jumped into a lake. The fourth son, burdened with debt, was beaten to death by his creditors. Now only the youngest sister remains.

He paused, as if trying to catch his breath:

"My younger sister married a farmer and had a son who was born mentally challenged. To treat the child, the family sold everything they owned, including their fields, but it was all in vain. For the past two months, she has been sending letters to the palace. I heard that the child fell from a tree and broke both his legs, and he needs money to treat them."

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind blew from the end of the palace road, causing the undelivered letters on his sleeve to rustle.

After a moment of silence, Eunuch Zhu lowered his head and pressed his lips down again, as if he were holding that bitter sip in Old Xin's mouth, unable to swallow it or spit it out.

"Should we send this letter or not? If we send it, he doesn't have the money. If we don't send it, his sister is still waiting."

Eunuch Zhu raised his head, glanced at Jiang Shuoning, and his gaze was deep.

"That's why I say, the letters you receive aren't necessarily greetings; they could also be death threats."

Jiang Shuoning didn't reply, but simply walked quietly beside him, her pace a little slower than before.

She recalled that she had not received a single letter from home in the twelve years she had been in the palace, and she did not know whether this was a blessing or another kind of misfortune.