Counterattack of the Cannon Fodder Chambermaid

Untitled Part 22

After many days of bitter training during which several people were eliminated, Xiao Hua and the rest where finally able to become official low-ranked palace maids and leave the training grounds.

The servants in the Jing Prince Estate were not just called maids, but palace maids. They were divided into different rankings, all the way up to high-ranked palace maids. The low-ranked palace maid and mid-ranked palace maid titles were similar to the common maids and junior maids, whereas the high-ranked palace maid was similar to a senior maid. The aunties in charge were similar to the matrons, but here they were called aunties instead.

The batch of low-ranked palace maids were brought to a place called the sweeper area, where they were settled.

It was worth noting that the four people who lived in the same room during training were still in the same room. It had to be said this was a kind of fate.

Only after staying in the sweeper area for a few days did Xiao Hua's batch of newly-minted low-ranked palace maids realize how grand and vast the Jing Prince Estate was.

The estate was large to the extent that these palace maids working in the sweeper area still didn't have a complete picture.

Especially since they didn't have much freedom to speak of. Normally when they went about their chores there would be a mid-ranked palace maid leading them and watching from the side. When they were off duty they could only stay in their rooms and were not permitted to leave the area.

Waking up before dawn every day, they would eat their breakfast and go off to sweep the walkways of various pavilions. They returned before noon, and in the afternoon someone would take them if there were additional chores to be done. Otherwise, they would be instructed in various rules and regulations of the estate.

Yet this busy schedule couldn't prevent a few of the low palace maids with proactive tendencies to scout out some information. After pooling the gathered information, everyone finally had some understanding of the Jing Prince Estate's structure.

The layout was similar to that of the imperial palace, where the son of heaven 1 was the highest authority. The heart of the estate was gated on all four sides like a walled capital, and the outside was surrounded by a moat fifteen zhang2 long. The layout could be described as that of an imperial city, though that was avoided by calling it an estate.

Jing Prince Estate's main doors were known as the Gates of Ceremony. The eastern doors were the Gates of Benevolence, the western doors the Gates of Righteousness and the northern doors the Gate of Wisdom. Through the Gates of ceremony were the Gates of Ascension, as well as the three forward palace halls known as the Hall of Ascension, the Hall of Origin and the Hall of Deliberation. This was where the Jing Prince would conduct his daily affairs. Behind the Hall of Deliberation was the Hall of Splendor where the Jing Prince rested. Apart from the palace halls in the center, the "imperial city" still had three pavilions to the east and west, a library, a retirement hall, a treasury, a place in charge of meals, a place to offer tribute, the six departments3, and the employees' sleeping quarters. The space the estate occupied was enormous.

The Jing Prince Estate's front and back section was divided by the Hall of Deliberation's passageways. The front section was where the current prince would handle official business and the back was where he would live with his wife and concubines.

Xiao Hua's normal chores as a low-ranked palace maid was to sweep the three western pavilions.

Although they were called pavilions, they were actually far more superior. At least Xiao Hua hadn't seen buildings with such high steps inside the Jinyang Marquis Estate before. Today Xiao Hua's group had swept until the second area. While they had to sweep the outside, the buildings themselves were off limits.