Chapter 11

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Author: Xiao Yao

Chapter 10 – Title – Chapter 12

Although Hui Ming was a newcomer who had just arrived in the Hall of Heavenly Virtue, still she had naturally met the two immediate superiors in charge of the palace maids serving the emperor, it was only because Xu-momo was getting older and behaved in a way like she was enjoying living in retirement all day long and rarely showed herself, while also never interfering with the matters in the Hall of Heavenly Virtue, that’s why Wei-gugu could act so arbitrarily. In addition, Wei-gugu’s position of being a “noble” was promised by His Majesty himself, so Hui Ming couldn’t help but be like the others, and thought that Xu-momo’s status was inferior to Wei-gugu’s, so deliberately avoided to circumvent the edge1. Please read at insidethemirror translations. DO NOT REPOST.

But it wasn’t until that first day when she followed Xu-momo to perform her duty, did Hui Ming and all the other ladies clearly understand—— this was by no means the case.

Not to mention that when His Majesty saw Xu-momo early that morning, after having a look of surprise, he said: “Why have you come to do these errands?”

Xu-momo courteously and respectfully greeted, but didn’t start to attend to him, she just stood aside and replied: “Your Majesty has recovered from a serious illness, and this servant does not feel at ease, so had thought of coming to serve for a few days, to take a good look.”

His Majesty shook his head, and then slowly said: “You are also at an age, so it’s still important to be careful.”

The expression on His Majesty was serious, but the casual and familiar attitude seemed to be towards an old friend whom he had known for many years, making the people around feel frightened.

But Xu-momo didn’t stop, and looking at the clothes presented by the court lady, she solemnly said: “Your Majesty has newly recovered from a serious illness, why still wear such simple and neat clothes? It nevertheless ought to be changed to something festive, to at least make you look like having a bit of spirit”

“Alright.” His Majesty didn’t care about the admonition that was almost close to preaching, and only made an indifferent answer. Ku Kou and Yu Gan on the side hearing these words, did not immediately step down, instead they cast their eyes down towards Wei-gugu.

His Majesty’s clothes and accessories for the day were all personally chosen by Wei-gugu, and now that it was being changed with just a single word from Xu-momo, naturally this was hitting Wei-gugu’s face.

Wei-shi just continued to change His Majesty’s cotton boots, only then did she raise her head and softly said, “Then how about putting on the vermillion robe that was just made for Your Majesty? It’s also comfortable to wear.”

It’s a pity that after having said those few words, His Majesty was also tired, so hearing this he just nodded very lightly as if he really didn’t move at all, to the extent that it made people uncertain whether it was really a nod.

If it was earlier, this attitude would not be a big deal, but with the casual familiarity he had with Xu-momo, in comparison, this would be seen as actually him having indulged in bullishly depending on Wei-shi in the past, so seemed to be treating this matter carelessly.

Wei-gugu’s complexion turned pale, but she still maintained her usual gentle resilience, seeing this the two sisters Ku Kou and Yu Gan did not dare to wait any longer and quickly retreated, with quick and nimble steps they went to retrieve the dragon robe Wei-shi mentioned and presented it again, and Wei-gugu personally took charge in waiting on him to change his clothes.

His Majesty had been accustomed to Wei-gugu serving him over the years, so this work of personally attending had never been left to someone else, with this having always been the case it had made all the palace maids feel both envy and respect, but today with Xu-momo there, although she was only quietly standing on the sidelines watching, inexplicably, she had the bearing of a steward overseeing the maidservants, with her status towering that of Wei-gugu’s.

After His Majesty had changed his clothes, Xu-momo didn’t stay anymore, she took Hui Ming and turned back.

But after this incident, everyone saw with their own eyes, and naturally understood that Xu-momo’s status and capability were higher than that of Wei-gugu, although Hui Ming in the past also used the reputation of Su-gonggong as a support, but in the end the county magistrate was not as good as the one that’s currently present2, and after all, the one in charge of the palace maids serving the emperor was Wei-gugu.

This time for Xu-momo to suddenly appear like this, it became like two countries fighting against each other, so with the unclear situation before them, when they met Hui Ming, who was a close follower of Xu-momo, they were naturally very polite, and would no longer rashly exclude and offend due to Wei-gugu’s indication.

Hui Ming was grateful and felt in esteem, then in her spare time, she couldn’t help but curiously ask: “How long has Momo been serving errands by His Majesty’s side?”

Xu-momo holding a cup of tea narrowed her eyes and thought: “I was first sent to serve His Majesty from the Empress Dowager’s palace, then later I left the palace to marry someone, when I became a widow, and was persecuted by the clan members outside, I simply asked for grace and went back to the palace, adding this, it has been more than forty years.” Please read at insidethemirror translations. DO NOT REPOST.

Hui Ming was secretly shocked by this span of time, His Majesty was only in his fifties, so for more than 40 years, wouldn’t that mean that Xu-momo had been by his side since the beginning when he could just understand things? Also, with the difficulty in leaving the palace and coming back again, His Majesty still remembered in so much so that after returning to the palace, she still became the head in charge of the imperial maids, with such mutual affections, it was not an exaggeration to say that she was both a servant and an elder sister, so it’s no wonder that when they got along early that morning, they looked closely familiar.

After Xu-momo finished speaking, she just quietly sat down and watched Hui Ming replace the string of beads on His Majesty’s ring, she cleaned the jade pieces on the headdress piece by piece, and placed them back one by one accordingly into the gilded box, she did this whole process without making any mistake, so she couldn’t help nod her head: “Although you are new here, you work isn’t bad.”

Thinking of her previous life, that time her heart was filled with worry about Su-gonggong’s “unscrupulous plot”, so most of the tasks winded up being dependent on Qiu Ya’s help and guidance, hearing Xu-momo’s praise Hui Ming couldn’t help blush, and couldn’t help but shake her head while saying a few humble words.

Xu-momo saw that she was whole-heartedly effacing herself, and on the contrary became more satisfied: “You are neither conceited nor rash, this temperament of yours even earlier, I guess is barely worthy of Su Jin.”

Su-gonggong’s full name was Su Jin, and hearing how Xu-momo called Su-gonggong, then thinking of the doubts she had yesterday, Hui Ming couldn’t help asking: “How can Xu-momo know Su-gonggong so well? I heard that he seems to be…”

“Is an official slave.” Xu-momo coldly said these four words that was still faltering to come out of Hui Ming’s mouth, and seeing Hui Ming tacitly acquiesce, she became silent for a while, she looked at the dead branches outside the window and opened her mouth again: “Yes, he is an official slave, so as an official slave, an official position must have been held, it’s just that the Su family’s official position was not originally a common one, but they had the status of being the Duke of Zhen3 in the Capital, Su-gonggong was originally the eldest grandson of the Duke’s Mansion and would often be brought into the palace to kowtow and greet the emperor and Empress, I was waiting by the side at the time, so I have met him a few times.”

Hui Ming eyes widened in shock, she never knew that Su-gonggong had such a background after being in the palace for so long: “Then what…”

Speaking about this, the sound of Xu-momo’s voice also sank: “When Su-gonggong was nine years old, the Duke’s Mansion was convicted, and except for those who were under the age of ten, the whole family was executed, the women were sent to enter the ministry in charge of music and dance at court, while the men entered the inner palace, I happened to be outside the palace at that time, and didn’t know until I got back that in the end the boy from the Su family who entered the palace and was castrated, the boy who survived by relying on himself alone to be able to have come this far was none other than Su-gonggong.”

With only this brief statement Hui Ming’s heart became filled with stones, heavy, but it was unable to reach the bottom.

Imperial Chief Steward, she had originally thought that having such an extraordinary status, that Su-gonggong being this young, but was able to climb to the top as a sixth-grade inner official, and winning the trust of His Majesty was very impressive, but more than this, that within the palace which were full of imperial servants and he was able to overpower who knew how many, he should be proud of having the entire imperial servant’s envy and respect.

But who knew, that Su-gonggong originally was supposed to be the eldest grandson of a Duke’s Mansion, and at this age, he might have been learning the arts and joining the military to assume an official post, or married a wife and had children, a rich and powerful fine silk trousers4, he should have had a wider and more splendid life and future, towards His Majesty’s trust in him, he shouldn’t have been an imperial steward or a eunuch, but should have been regarded favorably in the imperial court, as the pillar of the country.

This wasn’t surprising from the clear aura that Su-gonggong exuded which had a kind of scholarly spirit, because from when he was born, he should have had this foundation as a child, it’s just that… he later entered the inner palace, and fell from being the glorious heir of the Duke’s Mansion to the most sordid pile of dust, being pushed on the ground and breaking his spine, then after climbing up inch by inch again, that foundation had never been eliminated, making him always different from those other people inside the palace.

How many crimes and beatings would the maids and eunuchs who had just entered the palace suffer and endure in order to grow into a well-mannered slave in the eyes of their master? Hui Ming, who was also a palace maid, knew this more clearly, she was also a law-abiding citizen who had been properly selected to enter, but what about Su-gonggong? He entered the palace as an official slave so naturally he would be treated as the most lowly among the servants of the palace, not to mention what various kind of situation he would encounter.

In this way, when Su-gonggong in the previous life made Yuan Bao say that Su-gonggong met her several times when she first entered the palace, was it when Su-gonggong still wasn’t serving the emperor? It could be, but how? Why didn’t she have any impression about it?

“How… were they found guilty?” Hui Ming’s voice was somewhat blocked up.

“It’s a thing of the past, who would still want to speak of it again…” Xu-momo slightly lowered her eyes, apparently not intending to go into details: “I see that you’re very good, there’s nothing for me to teach you, and I’m assuming that due to what happened from now on Wei-shi won’t dare to cause trouble for you anymore, but if something happens, just come and find me.”

Hui Ming upon hearing this saluted and sent Xu-momo off, then recalled what she had said before, this made her anxious for a long time, without the heaviness in the pit of her stomach dispersing, but instead becoming heavier and heavier, it fell with extreme pain.

She was on pins and needles for quite a while, finding it hard to let go for a long time, then as she stood still, Hui Ming gritted her teeth and finally with a sudden burst of energy turned around and went out, going straight to the main hall to where Su-gonggong was at the moment. Please read at insidethemirror translations. DO NOT REPOST.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

1. 避其锋芒: when encountering a person who can’t be beaten, you must first learn to avoid the edge, learn to save your life, and then serve the enemy to win. ↩

2. 县官不如现管: The power of an official in-charge is more effective than the power of a county magistrate; nothing like having a man on the spot to smooth the way ↩

3. 镇国公: Duke who Guards the State ↩

4. 紈絝: refers to the children of wealthy families. ↩

If there are any mistakes, please do not hesitate to point it out.

Chapter 10 – Title – Chapter 12

❀.(*´◡`*)❀. °˖✧°˖✧° ˖✧°˖✧° ❀.(*´◡`*)❀.

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