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墨書 Inktalez
The girl was initially a bit timid under Jinghao's gaze, but as soon as she heard her ask for her name, she immediately smiled and grew bolder. She climbed right next to her, placed a pillow by her side, and comfortably lay down: "Hello, my name is Huairui, I am from Lin'an. I hope Jinghao sister will guide me in the future."
Upon hearing this, Jinghao smiled and said, "You're too polite. I am from Capital City, but my family is poor, so I chose to enter the palace as a maid. What about you? Why did you come here?"
The two girls started chatting like this. Later, when the thunder ceased, everyone gradually fell asleep. In the darkness, only Jinghao remained awake with her clear, water-like eyes gazing at the canopy above, appearing deep in thought.
Early the next morning, the head maid came to instruct everyone on their tasks. Most of these new palace maids came from poor families and worked effortlessly.
The head maid was an older woman whom everyone called Aunt Hua. She was quite beautiful but had a rather bad temper.
"Is everyone done with their work? Come on, line up properly!"
The group of maids stood in neat rows. Aunt Hua walked to the center and looked at them: "Tomorrow is the Reunion Festival. The Empress Dowager will host a banquet at Chaohua Palace for the Emperor, the concubines of the harem, and several princes from the previous dynasty. You all need to be quick and set everything up properly. Tonight, I will check each of you individually. If anyone does poorly, they will be punished by not being allowed to eat tomorrow!"
Hearing this, the young maids all looked distressed but dared not complain, responding with a chorus of "Yes." Satisfied with their response, Aunt Hua led them to Chaohua Palace.
Chaohua Palace appeared particularly grand; it was known as a place for hosting banquets. The maids were awestruck as they entered such a large palace for the first time.
Seeing their reactions, Aunt Hua allowed them to look around for a moment before saying, "You all see this; this is the imperial palace. Everything here is of the highest quality in the world. As palace maids, you must serve your masters well and be loyal and responsible. If one day you achieve high status, your future will be limitless. However, if you cannot control your words or actions and say or do something inappropriate, not even the King can save you. This palace is a paradise on earth but also a hell; it combines both heaven and hell—it's all about your choices!"
"Alright, get to work now. I've said everything that needs to be said; the rest depends on you!"
The maids began moving around, arranging small tables according to their lengths and widths neatly.
Jinghao and Huairui lifted a table together. After looking around cautiously, Huairui said softly: "Jinghao sister, I heard that some of us in these minor positions will be selected to serve at tonight's banquet. Do you think we might be chosen? If we perform well tonight, perhaps one of the masters from another palace will take us in; then we won't have to do such rough work anymore!"
Upon hearing this, Jinghao glanced at her and replied: "Being chosen is actually unfortunate. We are all newcomers; if we accidentally offend any master, losing our heads wouldn't be enough punishment. How could we even think about being selected to serve beside a master?"
"It is said that, but since we have become palace maids and can serve our masters, isn't that our goal? So, even if it means facing a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, we must charge forward!"
Jinghao glanced at her, merely smiling without saying a word. Huairui saw this and didn't say much either, but thought to herself that if she were chosen to be a maid for some noble lady, it would truly be a life of luxury.
The entire day, the group of palace maids meticulously arranged the hall. Aunt Hua came to inspect and was very pleased with their work. She smiled and said, "I didn't expect you little girls to be so nimble; you are much better than in previous years. Alright, today I will allow you to rest early. After dinner, everyone come out in line; I will select a few people to serve at the family banquet tomorrow. Do you understand?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the girls were overjoyed. Seeing this, Aunt Hua's expression turned serious as she said, "What are you making noise about? This is Chaohua Palace; you cannot be noisy here. Hurry back!"
The group exchanged glances, and Huairui stuck out her tongue at Jinghao. The two smiled at each other and left Chaohua Palace together.
"Jinghao, I think you are steady and calm; you will definitely be selected. Just now when we were working, I noticed Aunt Hua looking at you several times! If I can also be chosen tonight, that would be wonderful; we can go together! With you around, I feel much more at ease!"
Jinghao smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I also saw Aunt Hua looking at you several times; maybe you'll be selected too!"
"Really? Really?" Huairui exclaimed, instantly overjoyed. "Then I must eat an extra bowl of rice to celebrate!"
"You foodie..."
Jinghao chuckled as she looked at her. Huairui linked her arm with hers, unable to contain her laughter.
That evening when Aunt Hua came to select people, unexpectedly, both of them were indeed chosen. Huairui was ecstatic, hugging Jinghao and laughing for a while before becoming dazed, not knowing what she was so happy about.
The next morning, Aunt Hua came to take them away. A total of ten palace maids were selected. They all wore the same attire for the banquet and styled their hair with identical accessories before heading towards Chaohua Palace together.
One dish after another was prepared and served on the table along with fine wines and delicacies.
These palace maids had never seen such things in their lives. As they worked harder than ever, the palace felt like a place where all beautiful things converged, filling them with longing.
Jinghao placed a jug of royal wine on the main table for His Highness. Without needing to guess, she knew who was seated there—the current Prince of Jin, the highest authority behind the scenes of the Exiled Nation, who controlled all court affairs and overshadowed the emperor.
Huirui saw her lost in thought and hurried over to her side, arranging several plates as she said, "Have you heard of the Princess of Jin?"
Jinghao looked up at her and shook her head.
Huirui pouted and said, "Before I entered the palace, I heard those girls talking about her. They said the Princess of Jin went traveling, and the Prince granted her permission. Tsk tsk, what kind of treatment is that? The Prince is practically letting his princess run wild. Not only that, but every time there's a palace banquet, he makes sure to leave a seat next to him for the Princess of Jin, saying it's reserved for her whenever she returns. My aunt just reminded me that the Prince has a strange temper and is unpredictable; serving him requires extra caution, or else..."
She made a gesture as if losing her head. Jinghao's gaze sharpened as she nodded and set down the wine jug. "Don't worry; I will be careful."
Everything proceeded in an orderly manner. After a quarter past noon, some palace ladies began to arrive at Chaohua Palace. As noon approached, the main guests entered one by one.
The three consorts arrived early, followed by several princes, with the Prince of Jin arriving last.
He entered alongside King Qing, one dressed in black and the other in white, successfully drawing everyone's attention.
Jinghao looked at the two of them and saw King Qing Muli in a white robe adorned with large golden clouds embroidered on the cuffs and collar. A golden ribbon was tied around his waist, adding a touch of elegance without losing its preciousness. The Prince of Jin wore black clothing with similar cloud patterns on his cuffs and collar; however, he had a coiling dragon belt around his waist, its golden scales shining brightly—imposing yet dignified—complemented by an eerie black mask. Such attire alone was enough to intimidate everyone in the hall without any need for movement.
The voice of an inner official echoed throughout the vast hall: "The Emperor has arrived with Consort Jin."
Everyone hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects.
Jinghao followed suit as she knelt alongside Huirui, who was nervously fidgeting beside her. Once the Emperor was seated, Huirui secretly lifted her gaze and was stunned into silence at first sight; to her, she had never seen such an extraordinarily handsome man—like someone out of a painting—strikingly handsome and full of vigor, as if he were a dream lover.
She was so mesmerized that she momentarily lost herself until her elbow was nudged. Startled back to reality, she found Jinghao looking at her. When she raised her eyes again, she noticed that all the palace attendants had stepped forward to refill everyone's wine. Regaining her composure, she hurriedly moved forward.
To Jinghao's surprise, she found herself heading toward the upper seat. Huirui watched enviously as she moved slowly; when she turned around, she realized that someone had already filled King Qing's cup beside him while there was an empty spot next to the Prince of Jin waiting for service.
She felt a tremor in her heart and hurriedly gathered her thoughts to approach.
As she poured wine for Jin Wang, her nervousness caused her to accidentally spill some.
Startled, she quickly took a clean cloth to wipe it up, but in doing so, she sensed Jin Wang's gaze on her. Although she knew he was merely looking at her, she couldn't help but feel flustered, and her hands began to shake.
"Go back."
She heard a voice that was cold and devoid of warmth, which frightened her so much that she nearly lost her senses. She hurriedly returned to her position, standing behind Jin Wang.
Jinghao glanced down at her from his elevated position, while Huairui showed a look of terror, indicating that she looked like she was about to be scared to death.
Jinghao gave her a reassuring glance before lowering his gaze and lifting the wine jug to toast the emperor.
Mu Fengyan was joking with Consort Jin beside her. When Jinghao added more wine, he couldn't help but glance at him. Unexpectedly, this glance caught the attention of the young emperor, who teasingly said to her, "What's wrong? Do you think I look particularly handsome today?"
Jinghao was taken aback, showing a look of helplessness. Consort Jin turned to Mu Fengyan and said, "Your Majesty shouldn't tease everyone; you'll scare the palace maids."
As a side note:
Well, Jinghao is actually Yin Luo in disguise. As for what she intends to do, you should be able to guess.
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