CH 3

(Rongbi means concubine Rong, I use them alternatively depending on the context)

(Also, I’m an MTL translator so there might be some inconsistencies. I’m trying my best to stick to the original text tho.)

The autumn breeze was rustling, and the coolness of winter invaded muscles and bones.

The light of the rising sun shining over the dilapidated courtyard still couldn't bring warmth to the people inside.

The people locked in it could not get out of this cage, only the birds outside flew into the courtyard wall with their wings flapping, staying on the branches covered with dead leaves and chirping, creating an illusion of freedom.

The main entrance of Jingxi Palace was locked and closed all year round. Unless there was another "newcomer" staying in, it would not open, but the back door would be available for the eunuchs and palace ladies to come and go. Despite not being as good as a chicken, the master of this courtyard is still a phoenix in name. They still need to be served by palace people, but the level of service depends, ironically, on the mood of the servants.

Even if he was a powerful eunuch in the palace, Dehai still didn't have the right to enter from the palace's main door.

The contrast between the magnificence of the buildings in the imperial palace, and the dilapidated palace named Jingxi had never been as striking and clear to him as now. Only the large courtyard and the carved beams and paintings of the front hall held faint traces of the exquisite atmosphere of the palace before it was dilapidated. Nowadays, the flower beds in the front yard no longer had a hundred flowers blooming, only growing weed spreading from the cracks in the stone road. The furniture, the walls, and tiles had long been weathered and faded. The worn-out plaque hung on the door lintel. Clear cracks could be seen on the wooden doors and windows. In addition, the sound of the crazy women crying and laughing from time to time inside made everyone believe that this was a ghost house—it didn't look like a part of the imperial palace at all.

"Father, let’s go this way." Xiao Linzi understood Dehai's mood very well, as even he could not keep his calm when he first saw the palace the day before. As he was talking, he led the other servants to another path leading to the backyard. That was the path the palace people often walked. It was also cleared up especially because of the arrival of the eunuch, so it was relatively clean and without weeds.

Dehai's brow furrowed tighter, he had a bad feeling.

When he arrived in the backyard, looking at the crumbly row of courtyards, the eunuch knew that his premonition had come true. But probably because there were people living here, there were not too many weeds on the ground, and there was no moss and debris on the steps, which looked much neater. It's just that the scream of the madwoman coming from the east made his scalp numb, but fortunately, the sound subsided after a while.

"Is Concubine Chen Taifei the one who lives in the east?" asked Dehai casually. He remembered that when he entered the palace more than 20 years ago, and when the previous Emperor was still on the dragon seat, this Taifei Chen was also extremely favored. He was but a lowly servant at that time and didn't know what happened, only heard that she became crazy and was sent to Jingxi Palace.

"Yes, father." Xiao Linzi quickly replied, then he saw him withdrawing his gaze and immediately pointed to the other side knowingly, "The small courtyard to the west is where Concubine Rong lives."

Walking through the door of the small courtyard, the environment inside was better, but only barely. The weeds were pulled out, the small garden was sparsely covered with a few dead trees, and the rest of the things that should be worn and old are the same, extending from the courtyard gate to the main house and the stone roads in the kitchen are all broken.

Before stepping into the door, the coughing fit of a young woman inside was heard. Dehai whiffed the smell of Chinese medicine and immediately half-covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, only stepping in after some time.

Well, it was even shabbier inside. A round table had a missing leg, and to keep balance it was roughly tied up with a piece of wood -who knew where they managed to find it-. Looking to the right, there was a simple bed surrounded by a patched tent. Under the half-opened tent, a young woman who was pale as if recovering from a serious illness was half-sitting half-lying. Besides the bed was a woman sent to take care of the concubine and attend to her needs.

With an oval face, willow eyebrows, and delicate facial features, even if her face was pale, it couldn't hide her natural beauty. Dehai sighed in secret. It was no wonder that she received the holy favor (meaning that the emperor favored her) as soon as she entered the palace. It's a pity that there was no shortage of beauties in the palace.

The two greeted him immediately when they saw him, Dehai waved his hand, dismissed the woman, and sat down on the round stool that Xiaolinzi carefully wiped, and then initiated the talk with the woman on the bed.

"How does Lady Rongbi feel in her body?"

The eunuch said politely, but Rongbi, who was already an abandoned concubine, really dared to put on airs, and immediately sat up and smiled gratefully to him: "Fortunately, this concubine’s life was not lost. I want to thank Gonggong (aka the head eunuch) for his kindness and willingness to give a helping hand. If this concubine is of any use in the future..."

Dehai was not interested in listening to such vague words of gratitude. He only saved her once and did not plan to do so again, and he didn’t hold any hope for this waste concubine to turn over: "No need for thanks, concubine Rong. Your maidservant is the one truly worthy of thanks."

"You, you mean Suyu?" Shen Rong was taken aback. She woke up from a coma and didn't see anyone for a few days. She thought...

"Your highness thought that she saw you feverish so she left you and run away?” Seeing Shen Rong’s expression, Dehai knew what she was thinking at a glance, but didn’t ridicule her in his heart. After all, everyone would think that way if they were in her shoes, “Then you would be wrong. We wouldn’t have remembered the Jingxi Palace if it wasn’t for her..." Then he casually said a few words about the situation at that time.

It turned out to be like this!

"Where is she? Where is Suyu?" The eunuch said lightly and took a while, but Shen Rong's tears fell all of a sudden. Thirty sticks, the punishment in the palace is really merciless and 10 hits with the rod are already heavy enough, thirty is completely deadly! Suyu, she wouldn't...

As soon as such a thought crossed her mind, Rong Bi immediately got out of bed and went to find her, regardless of the presence of the head eunuch. The panic and sorrow that emerged from the bottom of her heart made Dehai nod his head, feeling that the little girl did not follow the wrong person.

"Don't worry, the lady is not dead, she is currently recuperating from her wounds." Dehai wanted to say more when Xiao Linzi suddenly came to him and whispered to him, the eunuch suddenly showed surprise, "Really? If that’s so, let her come over."

Shen Rong didn't know what they were talking about, she only thought about her little maidservant. She could stay in this cold palace for half a year before she fell ill because unlike other concubines who either died early or went crazy, she had a loyal maidservant who did her best to take care of her. Before entering the cold palace, it didn’t even cross her mind that among the many servants serving in the palace, this little girl who only worked as a sweeping maid in front of the palace would become her last support. So at the thought of losing her, Rongbi became increasingly anxious.

"Gonggong, Suyu, she..."

"Your highness doesn’t need to worry about this matter." Dehai waved his finger to the door to stop Rongbi from getting out of bed. "Isn't she already here?"

A petite figure soon was carried in, with a pale and bloodless face. With a slight smile, Shen Rong's tears became more abundant, and she ran out of bed, rushing over in a hurry.

"You used to take care of me! Now let me take care of you!" She grabbed the hand of the little palace lady and whimpered loudly. The glory is like wind and grace is like smoke (she meant that both are fleeting). She should have understood that the day her father was defeated, the tables turned, and that every affection and favor to her previously was fake. In this solitary cold palace, only this person was willing to stay beside her through thick and thin, "I have only you, only you ......!"

Compared with Concubine Rong’s turbulent mood, Dehai standing on the side was a little surprised. Although the little palace lady was seriously injured and her face was pale, but the peaceful temperament on her body made him admire her. There was nothing extraordinary in her appearance, but her eyes were as clear as jade, without any blemishes, making it easy for people to have a good impression of her... The little girl who was mad and didn't care about anything was nowhere to be found, as if they were two different people.

Ignoring the differences in those impressions, Dehai didn't think about it any further, and soon received gratitude from both master and servant.

"Gonggong saved master’s life this time, this slave will definitely keep it in mind and try to repay the favor!" The little maid's gratitude is very sincere, and Dehai could hear that she would be willing to do any task for him in the future, as long as it didn’t bring harm to Rongbi. But he was the head eunuch, where would he have use of a little maidservant of the cold palace, so he just waved his hand casually in response.

"Your thoughts have been accounted for." Dehai was about to leave and had already started his routine rhetoric. "We did not come to only look at Concubine Rou’s health this time, but also to check the state of the Jingxi Palace..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard a thud. The artificial leg of the prosthetic round table in the room suddenly broke, and the teapot and medicine bowl on it rolled down and broke when it met the ground. Dehai was shocked and took a small step back. It was not over yet. The window mullions behind him fell to the ground because of a sudden gust of strong wind. The cracked wooden windows and the medicine bowls in front of him had dried out a long time ago, so they broke into eight pieces (meaning they cannot be mended).

Everyone was quiet.

"Cough!" The chief eunuch coughed, "It will be winter in a few months. Two days ago, the Qin Tianjian (I’m guessing it means “head supervisor Qin”) also said that there will be heavy snow this year. It is indeed time for Jingxi Palace to be repaired." The two were just saved, so it would be a waste to watch them all freeze to death in the winter.

Sure enough, the two women were happy: "Thank you, gonggong!"

The eunuch entered from the cold palace blankly and came out from the cold palace blankly. The palace people who didn't know the truth couldn't see the situation at all. But the son who has been following him showed a bit of hesitation on his face.

"God, you really want to help those two...no, to repair Jingxi Palace." The little eunuch who changed his words in time avoided Shangfeng's Sen Leng's sight and asked cautiously.

"The repairs are at most asking a few palace people to reinforce the courtyards that are occupied." The eunuch knew exactly what the cold palace meant, "Although the people living in it are all concubines, after all, they are the women of the emperor. His majesty did not say that they should be executed immediately, which means that they have to live. Wouldn't letting them die early be against the holy will?”

The little eunuch scratched his head and felt that it made sense. After all, if the emperor really wanted those women in the harem to die, a cup of poisoned wine or a foot of white silk would do the trick, and it was certainly easier than sending them to the Cold Palace.

In the small courtyard, the old lady who was aloof was bending over a little bit to clean up the mess in the house. She didn't know how to do these things six months ago, but she won't and will soon be in such a place.

While she was cleaning the house, the broken and weathered windows and tables were removed by other palace staff and replaced with more durable ones, and the roof was reinforced with new tiles.

Obviously, they lived in the courtyard for half a year, and they only felt at peace when everything was done and the door was closed again.

"My lady, It’s better to let me do it..."

"You can't even walk properly, so don’t try to act strong !" Shen Rong interrupted the little maid's words forcibly, "You almost lost your life for me, I'll do this, what’s the big deal."

"But, the wind is chilly..."

"I’m getting better, and I'm also the daughter of a military commander, I'm much better than those young ladies. You've heard what the doctor said before, I'll be cured after taking the medicine for two more days." Seeing that the maid was stubborn, Rongbi wrinkled her pretty and thin eyebrows, looking upset, and feigned anger, "Are you the master or am I, you should do what I say!"

"Yes." The little palace lady who had been frowning finally smiled, "The lady is like this now, this servant thinks it’s really good."

Shen Rong was taken aback when she heard the words, and then she understood what Suyu was saying. Since she entered the Jingxi Palace, she just sat in a gloomy daze for a long time, as if tired of living, but now she seemed much livelier.

"No, I won't be like this again." The ghost gate closed and walked around, Shen Rong looked away at the distance, "I still want to live, no, I never thought of dying. This time, thanks to you Suyu , with Dehai’s favor, our life is going to be much better after all..."

Although she ended up in the cold palace, there was a loyal girl by her side, and she was not too bad off thinking about it....

Thinking that she has always been kind to others, since her boudoir to entering the palace, she has never treated her servants harshly and even helped them. As a result, no one besides Suyu followed her, and even the dowry handmaid who grew up with her abandoned her, Shen Rong mocked herself then shook her head.

No, it's all over, don't think about it.

At this moment, the voice of the little palace lady came from nearby: "The lady was always helping others before. After this event, hasn’t my lady realized one thing?"

"What, what is it?" This sudden question made Shen Rong stunned, not quite understanding the meaning of the maidservant.

"The slave maid means that compared to the people you have helped, people who have helped you in the past will actually be more willing to help you again." The little palace lady smiled at her and explained softly, "Isn’t what happened with Dehai a good example? Sometimes it’s not so difficult to get someone’s goodwill. Even in this palace, it’s the same."

Shen Rong was shocked, she stared at her maid, unable to move. When she finally moved again, her mind seemed to have exploded like thunder, only to feel that something that was weighting her down all this time shattered like glass.