Chapter 24

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Eunuch Su, Eunuch Su!

Author: Xiao Yao

Chapter 23 – Title – Chapter 25

The color of the sky still looked heavy.

Before the watchman’s clapper rang outside the palace, Hui Ming, who was lying on the kang1 in the gallery in front of the hall, already had her eyes wide open.

No, it should be said that since she returned from Su-gonggong’s place yesterday, she really had not been able to sleep all night. Ple ase read at insidethemirror trans lations. DO NOT REPOST.

Hui Ming turned and tossed in bed until the middle of the night, and even if she forced herself to close her eyes, she could barely sleep, Su-gonggong’s family possessions being confiscated and his entire family exterminated, getting castrated and entering the palace, suffering all kinds of hardships, but his hardships never ending, then in the end, he died and turned to ashes in the rebellion of Rui-wang, these thoughts would constantly run through her mind, making her unable to have a peaceful sleep no matter what.

Hui Ming abruptly sat up, then bit her lips and wiped the cold sweat on her forehead, she sat in a daze on the kang for a little while before determinedly making up her mind, she shook her head and threw away those annoying voices that invaded her thoughts, then just quietly changed her clothes and shoes, and got out of bed.

The heavy snow just stopped a few days ago, and at this moment, both the inside and outside of the palace were covered with a thick layer of silver.

This translation is based on my small knowledge of the novel’s original language, please DO NOT REPOST this to any other website and read at insidethemirror translations only. The VIP chapters of the novels that have been translated has been purchased from the original website to support the original author. This translation is being offered for free, if you paid for this in any way then you are being taken

It was now the winter months, and Hui Ming knew that this month the pig trotters, goose feet, and other meat has already been cured in the pantry, the masters would eat mutton dumplings and wontons during this season, and would make the palace servants prepare more meat, especially during the morning meal, sour soup were also prepared every day to keep out the cold.

Hui Ming was swift to pull up her braids, in such weather, for ordinary palace servants to get up early and drink a bowl of nice and warm sour soup was natural and very comfortable, but she remembered that Su-gonggong seemed to suffer from stomach problems, and surely couldn’t stand the stimulation of such sour soup.

She had already made a decision during the night, and seeing that it was still too early, she took her monthly wage, then went to the pantry ahead of time to look for the person in charge, with a smile she implored the one person in the kitchen to prepare an additional steamed egg, although the steward had a look that was full of impatience, but seeing her sincerely asking, he agreed after receiving the money.

Hui Ming had experienced the ups and downs inside the palace for half her life, and had long been accustomed to such cold treatment, she hardly cared about this, but still expressed her gratitude, then just stood there while waiting for the eggs to be steamed, after that she went to Su-gonggong’s residence while it was still hot.

Su-gonggong must have gone to Wan Xi Palace, because there was no one inside the room, Hui Ming called a few times and hearing no one respond, she was not polite, and she pushed the door straight in and put the porcelain bowl with the steamed egg in a conspicuous place not far from the brazier to simmer, ensuring that Su-gonggong or Yuan Bao would be able to see it as soon as they came back, then she took care of the brazier, so as not for it to go out after a while.

Having settled all these things, Hui Ming seeing the time of day hurried back to the Hall of Heavenly Virtue, but despite having gotten up early, she had squandered a bit of time and was somewhat late.

Fortunately, she was different now, there were two great beings, Su-gonggong and Xu-momo, that she could lean back on, Wei-gugu also ignored and did not pay emphatic attention to her, and no one took notice of her somewhat tardiness.

After Hui Ming entered the hall, knowing from the small palace servant that His Majesty having slept at Imperial Concubine Xian’s place last night had not yet returned, also felt relieved, then she went to the back room to find the two sisters Ku Kou and Yu Gan who were on duty today, and asked when they would go to Wan Xi Palace to bring back the clothes and ornaments that His Majesty had changed out off yesterday?

Although Hui Ming nowadays really didn’t care about being alone, but it was undoubtedly clear that she should work together with others, she also wouldn’t go to nearby palaces by herself and let people see that she was being isolated, which would add trouble for her.

Due to the lesson from Bai Hao’s mistake in the past, without Wei-gugu’s instigation, Ku Kou and Yu Gan, the both of them would naturally not refuse, so they just settled on meeting outside the west entry after their morning meal, then seeing Hui Ming agree, they turned around and left.

In response Hui Ming also didn’t delay, after finishing her morning meal, she went and waited at the west gate early, and after another quarter of an hour, she saw the petite Yu Gan rushing over. Ple ase read at insidethemirror trans lations. DO NOT REPOST.

“Your older sister won’t be coming.” Overtime, Hui Ming could already recognize them, as the younger sister, Yu Gan was more immature, and when she laughed the single dimple on the side of her face would become visible.

Yu Gan nodded: “Older Sister still have some errands.”

Hui Ming hearing her reply nodded, knowing that these fellow servants that served the emperor had no intention of chatting and laughing with her, she just closed her mouth and straightened her back then went with Yu Gan to Wan Xi Palace.

She originally thought that except for Lu An, all the maids that served the emperor would keep a distance from her, but she didn’t expect that when they were not even halfway towards Wan Xi Palace, Yu Gan, who was beside her had been secretly glancing at her several times, and a reluctance to say what she wanted was written all over her face.

Although Hui Ming noticed it, she neither revealed it, and when the two of them could already see the corners of Wan Xi Palace from a distance, Yu Gan finally couldn’t help but ask: “Sister Song, in a moment… if Imperial Concubine Xian asks us about something, Sister Song, can you be the one to reply?”

The one to reply? Hui Ming raised her eyebrows, this was not a big matter, it’s just that when working in the palace, the most taboo was not being clear.

Hui Ming didn’t respond, and just asked: “Why? How did you offend the Imperial Concubine?”

Yu Gan bit her lips, and vaguely said: “Older Sister and I were originally supposed to serve in the bedroom… you know, and Imperial Concubine Xian…”

With that said, Hui Ming also suddenly felt that the errand of serving in the bedroom was a bit of a grind, but it was also the easiest to “make progress”, after all, this was personally serving for His Majesty to have a peaceful sleep, so if he was interested, it was common to have one or two benefits, if they were lucky, they could sometimes be bestowed with a reward on the next day, and the carp could leap and transform into a dragon2 and become a proper master.

The two sisters Ku Kou and Yu Gan, were both beautiful palace ladies with elegant faces and graceful figures, beautiful sisters of the same parents were hard to come by, and they were new, so the Palace Office originally sent them to do errands inside the bedroom, it’s just that when His Majesty saw how young they were, he opened his mouth and just kept them by his side for a few years, when they first arrived to serve the emperor, she was thirteen, and now if she remembered correctly, Yu Gan was already fourteen, and Ku Kou should be sixteen? This period would be their best years, if it weren’t for His Majesty’s illness, the two sisters would have already changed to serving inside the sleeping quarters.

Although Imperial Concubine Xian was virtuous and considerate in front of His Majesty, everyone in the palace knew that in private she was harsh and severe when treating the servants, especially with Ku Kou and Yu Gan’s situation, although Concubine Xian couldn’t easily kill those that served the emperor, but their status had a large disparity, and they could often be faulted at every turn, things could also be made difficult for them in every aspect, yet it would be hard for them to avoid it.

Yu Gan begged her to take the initiative to respond, but it was nothing more than the idea of holding oneself without appearing as much as possible, that talking less meant making fewer mistake. The reason why she wasn’t able to remember this matter for a while was because Qiu Ya was previously there, so she rarely went to other palaces for errands, in addition to the six female servants that served inside the bedroom, it was not every day that both these sisters, Ku Kou and Yu Gan, would be on duty, which made it more difficult for them to run to each other.

Having understood this, Hui Ming simply answered, and comforted: “Let’s find the senior palace maid-in-charge, then Imperial Concubine Xian might not take notice of us.”

Yu Gan nodded with a bitter smile on her face, obviously not expecting much.

In reality it was indeed so, after Hui Ming and her looked for the personal palace maid of Imperial Concubine Xian and explained their purpose in coming, the palace maid only told them to wait, then after going back to report, she came out again with a cold attitude and said, “Imperial Concubine has something to ask you, follow me in!”

Yu Gan’s face turned pale when she heard this, it’s just that when the master summoned you there was no reason not to go, so she immediately had to follow behind Hui Ming, with her head lowered as they walked all the way to the receiving pavilion inside the palace.

Imperial Concubine Xian was dressed in a sapphire blue imperial dress, she was leaning against a pillow, and was inclined on the divan, looking at her she did not have the elegant bearing that she had in front of His Majesty, and her expression was filled with disdain for those beneath and contempt that was set up high above.

Hui Ming’s swept a glance out of the corner of her eyes, then lowered them according to the rules, she knelt down with Yu Gan, but Concubine Xian who was on the divan never called them, and from the start did not look at the two of them at all, she just gently scraped the edge of her tea cup.

The origin and prospects of Yu Gan and her sister could not impend on the status of Imperial Concubine Xian in any way, they were merely small maidservants that served inside the sleeping quarters, who did not have the slightest amount of threat but nevertheless she still made things difficult for them, this indicated that this Imperial Concubine Xian’s temperament was narrow-minded by nature.

Hui Ming secretly sighed in her heart, but didn’t dare show it on her face, on the contrary her body leaned even more deferentially.

After waiting for a short amount of time, Imperial Concubine Xian who was on the divan slowly said: “Lift your head, let bengong3 take a look.”

Hearing this, Hui Ming straightened up, and from her position of having her eyes lowered, she showed her face, when she saw her Imperial Concubine Xian looked a little surprised, then with merely a smile yet not a smile casted her eyes toward Yu Gan: “Previously, you two sisters were always inseparable, why did one of you change today?”

Naturally, they were unwilling to come together and let you become upset after seeing them.

Hui Ming was generous, and because she had already promised Yu Gan, she could only correct her expression, take out the upright and honest “Song-gugu” of her previous life, and say in a scrupulous manner: “Ku Kou still had some errands to do, this servant Hui Ming, and Yu Gan came together to fetch His Majesty’s clothes and accessories from yesterday.”

Imperial Concubine Xian looked at her, her features and appearance were passable, but her whole body was rigid and steady, with only a tiny bit of vitality, which did not arouse people’s interest, but Imperial Concubine Xian seeing this was very satisfied, so much so that she deigned to ask: “You don’t look familiar, when did you arrive here?”

Hui Ming kowtowed and concisely said: “Responding to Imperial Concubine, on the tenth month.”

“Not bad, an imperial servant ought to be chosen this way, someone who understands the established rule. Mei Hua, open the chest, reward her!” Imperial Concubine Xian nodded with increasing satisfaction, and then cast a cold glance at the pale faced Yu Gan: “Not like others with ignorant hearts, who only knows how to flatter, just some alluring witch that was sent over?”

Panic tensely spread through Yu Gan’s forehead, and she did not dare move. Although Hui Ming was rewarded, she also did not dare to be negligent, she accepted the gold leaves4 from the senior palace maid called Mei Hua using both hands, and as before according to practice thanked her for her grace, then believing that the matter would stop there, she never thought that Imperial Concubine Xian would unexpectedly be very interested, and ask again: “Who had chosen you, I should also mention this to His Majesty, such talented person is truly loyal and competent, they ought to also be rewarded.”

Hui Ming’s complexion remained as usual: “It’s Su-gonggong, the chief steward that’s serving His Majesty.”

She originally believed that this was an ordinary response, and never thought that when Imperial Concubine Xian heard it, her initial face beaming in smile would stiffen, she lowered her head and carefully looked at her, after a while, she opened her lips and once again smiled towards Hui Ming’s prudence: “Su-gonggong? Indeed good, Mei Hua, go, prepare another reward, ask this…”

Imperial Concubine Xian paused, then looked at her again and said, “What is your name?”

Hui Ming imperceptibly tightened her palms: “This servant is Hui Ming.”

“Hui Ming.” Imperial Concubine Xian slowly repeated her name, before once again leaning and relaxing back on the round pillow, then she squinted her eyes in boredom, and continued: “Ask this Hui Ming to go and bring it back to Su-gonggong. “

Even until they left the gate of Wan Xi Palace, with Hui Ming carrying the crown and court beads His Majesty has used yesterday, along with the reward that Imperial Concubine Xian ordered her to bring to Su-gonggong, she still hadn’t recovered.

The reward Imperial Concubine Xian gave Su-gonggong was a small wooden box, inside should be some plain gold and silver that were commonly rewarded to the people in the palace.

It wasn’t uncommon for the master of the palace to give rewards to palace servants, as the chief steward that’s serving the emperor, Imperial Concubine Xian knowing Su-gonggong was perfectly normal, however Hui Ming couldn’t help but ponder over the look and attitude of Imperial Concubine Xian when she mentioned Su-gonggong, for some reason, she felt that it was somewhat suspicious.

Beside her, Yu Gan didn’t notice her being preoccupied, and seeing that they were already far away from Wan Xi Palace, only then did she dare speak, “Hui Ming, you’re really amazing, you were unexpectedly able to let us quickly leave from the Imperial Concubine’s place, every time I come to Imperial Concubines Xian’s Palace, it only made her irritated, and we would have to kneel until our knees are all blue.”

When Hui Ming heard this, she turned her head and looked at her with pity, but also advised: “You shouldn’t be afraid, Imperial Concubine Xian dislikes those timid and enchanting ones, the more delicate, miserable and pitiful, resembling someone who’s been bullied you are, the more she’ll feel like you’re putting on an act, so she would naturally be more unhappy.” Ple ase read at insidethemirror trans lations. DO NOT REPOST.

Although Yu Gan couldn’t be regarded as young at this moment, but perhaps because her older sister has been protecting her all the time, her disposition was a bit innocent about the affairs of the world, and hearing this she just cried: “I don’t want to be like this either, but I am afraid…”

Despite having something significant in her mind at the moment, Hui Ming couldn’t help but laugh when she saw this: “Afraid of what? You are a maid serving His Majesty, as long as you don’t make a big mistake, even Imperial Concubine Xian cannot punish you, it’s just kneeling upright for a while longer, are we palace maids still afraid of this?”

Perhaps due to having gone through this “shared trial and tribulation”, Yu Gan also forgot that she should stay away from Song Hui Ming at this moment, having heard her say this she just curled her lips and looked downhearted: “I’m not afraid to kneel, just afraid of Imperial Concubine Xian, as soon as I see her, my heart would panic.”

Then there’s nothing to be done, but from Yu Gan’s point of view with her status as a palace maid, Imperial Concubine Xian was indeed a very scary existence. Hui Ming was thinking about this on one side, and on the other heard Yu Gan continue with envy: “You are still amazing, to say nothing about not being punished by protracted kneeling, you were even conferred a reward!”

Hui Ming was unconcerned, and just casually said: “It’s nothing, the reward is merely for Su-gonggong’s face.”

Yu Gan was probably frightened in front of Imperial Concubine Xian just now, but hearing this she suddenly returned to her usual self, nodded and said: “That’s true, the masters have a particular deep trust towards Steward Su, and frequently bestow rewards.”

Hui Ming’s footsteps paused: “Really?”

“Yes.” Yu Gan briskly nodded: “Even when the previous Empress Dowager was still here, she conferred him with a portrait of the Bodhisattva.”

This translation is based on my small knowledge of the novel’s original language, please DO NOT REPOST this to any other website and read at insidethemirror translations only. The VIP chapters of the novels that have been translated has been purchased from the original website to support the original author. This translation is being offered for free, if you paid for this in any way then you are being taken

Hui Ming only smiled and nodded when she heard this, but she nevertheless understood the origin of the suspicion in her mind just now.

Su-gonggong came as an official slave, the son of a criminal, in the eyes of the masters, such a person being able to keep his life and atone as a slave was already a great reward, how can he be made into the chief steward of the imperial palace and be rewarded in being placed in such an important position?

Think about it again, nearly every people in the palace did not know Su-gonggong’s past history, only His Majesty, the princes, and even Imperial Concubine Xian and several masters seemed to be clear about this.

Although she didn’t know the inside story at this moment, Hui Ming was faintly aware that among those involved there must’ve been some great accountability, not to say that this was the reason why Su-gonggong joined Rui-wang when he went to force the emperor to abdicate in chaos during the Ghost Festival in his previous life!

There were layers upon layers of worry in Hui Ming’s mind, and her complexion became heavy, when Yu Gan who was beside her saw this, she thought that she had understood something, she bit her lips and thought for a while, then whispered with some sympathy: “The masters all value Su-gonggong, you can’t offend him, even if you make a big noise, no one would give you justice. Even though you are unwilling, you’re also pretending to comply, right? Look at me, before His Majesty, even if I am unwilling in my heart, don’t I also pretend to be good?”

Since Hui Ming was transferred to serve the emperor at the beginning of last month, she had indeed appeared to be apprehensive, unwilling and having been aggrieved, one could see her resistance, so it was not surprising that Yu Gan had misunderstood, only having heard this, towards Yu Gan’s innocent boldness made her shake her head: “Such nonsense, you dare to carelessly drivel? Did it ever occur to you that if this got out that you will bear the implication!”

Yu Gan curled the corners of her lips, revealing the small dimple on her left cheek: “How are you someone who gossips and meddles, if you don’t tell others, wouldn’t that do?”

Despite this Hui Ming couldn’t help but smile at such a Yu Gan, only she couldn’t help but persuade her with a somewhat older generation’s frame of mind: “One may know a person for a long time without understanding their true nature, gossiping is just a moment’s pleasure, is it worth the trouble?”

Yu Gan just shook her head and shrugged it off: “Although you are one year older than me, and have done errands inside the palace, I have been here longer than you, and I have my own sense of discretion.”

Hui Ming in response didn’t say anymore, the two of them only returned to the Hall of Heavenly Virtue, where Yu Gan sent the emperor’s dragon robe to be cleaned, while Hui Ming one by one went to clean the court beads and gold crown, then stored them away properly.

Before Yu Gan left, she looked around and when she saw no one, carried a somewhat intimate and somewhat fawning attitude to invite her if there was such an errand like this, they would also go together, seeing Hui Ming nod in response, she however felt a bit embarrassed, and thought for a while, then lowered her head and with a strained voice said, “I heard others say that inside the palace, although the eunuchs have been castrated, if they are sharing food, for the most part they would grant whatever you ask for, through that relationship you would be coaxed in the palm of their hands, which is much better than being with those rough men outside. Chief Steward Su…”

Speaking of Su Jin, Yu Gan’s voice became smaller and smaller, and she had a look of fear, although it was not comparable with Imperial Concubine Xian’s, it also wasn’t much worse: “Although Chief Steward Su is a little scary, but you have to cope with it for the time being, maybe after a couple of years, Chief Steward Su would get bored?” Ple ase read at insidethemirror trans lations. DO NOT REPOST.

Hui Ming didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and nodded, just thinking of perfunctorily responding for the time being, then she heard Yu Gan ambiguously continue: “You are flexible, coax Su-gonggong a little, as long as he doesn’t make it difficult for you with regards to that matter, other things can be counted as nothing.”

That…that matter?

Hui Ming’s eyes widened, and her complexion instantly flushed!

This translation is based on my small knowledge of the novel’s original language, please DO NOT REPOST this to any other website and read at insidethemirror translations only. The VIP chapters of the novels that have been translated has been purchased from the original website to support the original author. This translation is being offered for free, if you paid for this in any way then you are being taken advantage of.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

1. 炕: kang (a heatable brick bed) ↩

2. 鲤鱼跃龙门: to gain quick success; to make a significant advance in one’s career ↩

3. 本宮: A pronoun used by the empress or a high-ranking consort when speaking to a person or an audience of lower rank or status: “I, who owns this palace” ↩

4. Gold leaves↩

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

Chapter 23 – Title – Chapter 25

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

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