Chapter 10.
Sorry for the wait, but here is chapter 10! :)
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Recap: In the previous chapter, Yì Rán finally entered the palace and she learned the rules and duties from Jǐng Er, Empress Dowager's lady-in-waiting. Empress Dowager told Jǐng Er that she took Yì Rán as her servant because she did not want to see someone with the same face as her suffer and die by Empress' cruel ways. It seemed that her wishes were genuine as she allowed leniency on Yì Rán and chatted with her like a mother and daughter. When both First Prince and Second Prince coincidentally visited Empress Dowager on the same day, Second Prince had a gift for Empress Dowager and the latter asked her new servant to fetch it.
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So, if I turn left there, I will reach the Empress' palace. If I turn right, it is the Jade Garden, but if I turn right and left before I walk straight, it is the Autumn Leaves Pavilion. If I walk straight, it is the Imperial Jade Kitchen.
As days went by, the little girl began learning the pathways of the palace, the shortcuts, the longways and the sheltered ways. It was unusual for the Empress Dowager to send a new servant out to collect her necessities or supplies, but seeing how her eyes beamed the moment she was let to explore the palace, the mother of the Emperor allowed her to collect her palace's supplies which at the same time, allowed her to memorise the pathways in this huge palace. Of course she could not memorise all of it, she could only remember the ones she had and could pass by.
She was rarely able to leave the inner palace, it was this such moment when she needed to collect Empress Dowager's medicinal herbs that she was able to leave the inner palace.
She walked around the snaked pathways of the palace and left the gates of the inner palace, to the even more heavily-guarded part of the palace, the premises of the Emperor's palace. Then she turned left, further away from the Heaven's Son's palace and reached the sheltered pathways, walking along it to enter the Department of Medicine.
Some of the physicians had heard about the little girl who was taken in by the Empress Dowager, but not all had the chance to see her. Now, it was definitely their luck as the person who was frequently-gossiped about entered the Department of Justice premises itself.
"Your Highness Empress Dowager?"
"No, it is the servant who looked like Her Highness!"
She returned the Imperial Physicians' excitement with a forced smile, for she felt uncomfortable being surrounded by men who were awed by her similarity to the Empress Dowager.
"Your servant is here to collect Empress Dowager's medicinal herbs...um..."
"Her Highness' herbs? You should find Physician Lǐ. Now he is the one in charge of taking care of Her Highness. He should be inside that room." One of the younger physicians pointed towards the enclosed wooden doors right beside a potted plant. Before leaving, Yì Rán bowed in their directions. She strolled slowly towards the enclosed doors and stopped before it, hearing a faint sound of conversation coming from inside.
"Excuse me, Physician Lǐ, your servant from Empress Dowager's palace is here to collect Her Highness' medicinal herbs," she raised her voice slightly then noticed the conversation inside died down. Few moments later, the doors were opened from the inside and she saw an old man dressed in Imperial Physician robes standing right in front of him and another younger one wearing weirdly colourful robes sitting on a cushion before the low table in the room.
"You must be the new servant," Physician Lǐ said while turning around, never batting an eyelash at the girl who seemed anxious about entering the room. However, she ended up daring herself to enter the dark chamber and saw the man in colourful robes staring so intently at her that it made her conscious and uncomfortable.
"Here. All of these, brew it for two hours. One pack in the morning when Her Highness just wakes up and another one in the evening before Her Highness sleeps. Tell it to Her Highness' Palace's kitchen and the servants there should know what to do." The old man threw several packs of medicinal herbs onto the little girl and she had a hard time carrying everything in her hands.
"Come back again few days later before they are finished," he continued. He walked straight to the doors and had his hands both on the doors, a signal for Yì Rán to leave immediately. She dipped her knees slightly before taking small little steps quickly out of the dark room and vanished at the corner. When the doors were closed, the physician went back onto the cushion right across the man dressed colourfully.
"Why does our Astronomer Wèi have such looks on his eyes when looking at that girl? Have you not seen a female before?" The physician laughed slightly as he poured a cup of tea, then pushed it to the man in front of him. Astronomer Wèi was snapped out of his thoughts and smiled as his hands reached out for the hot cup of tea in front of him and sipped a little bit of it.
"Stop pulling my leg, uncle. I just..."
"Just what?"
"That girl seemed to carry an indescribable aura with her."
"What do you mean?"
"I am not sure either, but..."
"But?"
"She gave me a sad feeling. A really, really sad one. As if her soul is asking for me to save her."
"You are thinking too much. Maybe it is because it is your first time seeing someone who resembled Her Highness so much."
"Maybe..."
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The peach blossoms had dropped almost all their petals, leaving only the branches and the soft young leaves slowly inching out from their roots. The sun had began pouring all its rays onto the earth, the heat had only started to become unbearable but it had yet to reach the peak.
It was her favourite activity, to invite all the Imperial Family members to a feast to welcome the new season and part with the previous one. It was just an event usually done within the inner palace, at the Jade Garden. Several pavilions had been built just for this activity of hers, she was the most celebrated Empress Dowager after all.
Food flowed freely from the Imperial Jade Kitchen brought in on trays by palace servants. Tables and seats were set neatly in the pavilions, music instruments had already been placed at the side in preparation for music performances.
The biggest centre pavilion had the most exquisite decorations, fragrance incenses were burned on the corners of the platform, translucent curtains were drawn to let the sunshine breathe in.
In that pavilion, she sat on the left seat of the two seats on the platform. The right side was left vacant, a practice of respect even though the Heaven's Son was absent. Empress Dowager was able to observe her grandchildren and the concubines enjoying the music and dance performances. Standing behind her were her servants and eunuchs, all their eyes were as alert as eagles. The little girl was allowed to stand among her servants, she made sure to fully utilise her rare opportunity to see all the Imperial Family members present. She saw the Empress sitting on the front row of the left platform of the pavilion, her eyes were as fierce as that of a phoenix. Next to her was another woman who had a gentle gaze in her eyes. Her eyes carried so much gentleness, they seemed to be able to heal a wounded soul.
Opposite to the Empress, sitting on the right platform was First Prince himself, while next to him and in front of the gentle woman was Second Prince.
"Consort Yú, what do you think of the performance?" The Dowager asked in between her sips of tea, her eyes never leaving the group of dancers twirling in the centre.
"Replying to Mother Dowager, the performance is great, the dancers are talented indeed," she replied with a genuine red smile plastered over her slim jaws. Her eyes were filled with delight as she enjoyed the performance.
"No matter how great a dance performance is, it cannot be compared to Sister's magnificent dance, can it?" Empress placed her pair of chopsticks on the plate and chewed the piece of thin meat before swallowing and asking Consort Yú.
"You are flattering me, Sister." Consort Yú returned a wider smile than before, clearly she felt a tinge of joy when her dancing skills were brought up. She was after all the famed daughter of Minister Yú, Yú Yuè, who danced like a light crane flying gracefully in the sky.
The servant-in-charge of carrying trays of food in and out of the pavilion for the Dowager fidgeted slightly in her position as she watched the noble lady enjoying her meal, soon to finish it. Then she bent over slightly to Yì Rán, whispering under her breath;
"Sister, I need to go to the back. Can you please take care of Her Highness' next few dishes?"
"Sure! Go ahead!"
Not too long later, indeed she was ordered to carry the dirty dishes on the Dowager's table away to the kitchen when the next set of servants carrying the next course were already waiting down the stairs. Placing her hands on both sides of the tray, she gripped the tray tightly and followed other servants in their small little steps in the direction of the kitchen.
"Hey, Y...Yì Rán!" She heard her name being called and thus stopped in her tracks, turning around and saw a face more than familiar to her, it was a face she definitely recognised.
"Your Highness First Prince." She dipped her knees into a curtsy while still holding the tray of dirty dishes.
"Rise, quick rise," First Prince said hurriedly as he stretched out his arms to help her up, but in the end retracted them back. It was broad daylight in a open space in the palace. It was definitely inappropriate for him to do so, not to mention the new palace rule, or taboo that was newly implemented not too long after he was born. After all, that had happened and no one wanted to repeat the dark history.
"Being Empress Dowager's servant, how is it?"
"Your servant is slowly learning. It is all thanks to Your Highness for this opportunity."
"Good then. I was afraid that this was against your will."
"Where is Her Highness Empress Dowager's servant?!"
"Oh, go, go, before they scold you." First Prince gestured his hands, asking Yì Rán to leave immediately. The little girl dipped into another curtsy before taking a thousand little steps quickly in the direction of the voice shouting for her. First Prince turned around on his heels and walked quickly back to the pavilion, passing through a huge cherry blossom tree which flowers had fallen off completely. Second Prince's silhouette slowly emerged from behind the tree, his eyes could not stop alternating between the servant and the prince.
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Okay I'm really sorry for the long update, but well I was really busy to the point that I didn't even have time to keep my laundry....I woke up at 6am to go to school, stayed in school to do projects till 11pm then I went home. When I went home, I still have homework to do and thanks to that I could only sleep at 2am...I was really zombified for those few days LOL and I slept in class....Now I have a few days of break though since my sister is getting married :D But I have to do projects and study too so...
Anyways tell me what do you think about this chapter! I can't wait to see all your comments! And please do check out Love In The Palace at TAPAS.IO! :)
Thank you and see you in the next chapter!