Chapter Twenty: Asking for Peace

  After Lingyin Xiao's departure, the Zhong De Palace returned to its usual bustling and noisy scene.

  After a long time, the crowd of young masters had been waiting for nearly an hour. It was a hot day and everyone felt uncomfortable. The people who were originally chatting idly lost interest, some stood or leaned against the palace wall to cool off, while others asked the palace maid to bring over stools, sitting outside the Zhong De Palace, chatting lazily.

  The door creaked open, and the eunuch who had just arrived with the imperial edict spoke in a shrill voice, "Her Majesty the Empress requests that all of you young masters enter. You have waited for a long time."

  This old man who spoke was someone in front of the empress, and no one dared to offend him. Everyone put on a gentle and quiet appearance, politely bowed to the old man and smiled: "Thank you, sir."

  People in the palace, although there are arrogant and unruly ones, generally still have to respect and follow the order of seniority. Mu Yan is the highest-ranking among this group of young masters, so it's natural that she should enter Zhong De Palace first.

  I followed Mu Yan, pushing through the crowd at the door, and arrived in front of the woman in purple clothes. I saw her glance at Mu Yan with a hint of disdain, which made me feel uncomfortable. So, I deliberately straightened my arms, clasped my hands together, and swung my crutch heavily towards her, aiming directly at her chest. After all, as a girl for over 20 years, I knew exactly where the sensitive areas were. If she happened to be on her period, it would be even more uncomfortable for her.

  She clenched her face in pain, but didn't dare make a sound, and forcibly held it back. You should know that if something were to happen now and reach the Empress's ears, it wouldn't just be me who would suffer. This nameless, low-ranking palace maid like me would at most be fined some silver, beaten with a board, or sent to do hard labor. She was different from me; losing her composure and offending the Empress would affect her entire life and her whole family. I don't know if this counts as being desireless makes one strong.

  I walked past her with a smile, seeing her face turn ugly, and I was overjoyed in my heart.

  Entering the Zhong De Palace, I have to say that the Emperor is really stingy. The Empress, as the mother of the country, can't the decorations in the palace be a bit more simple? The light green gauze curtains occupy half of the room, and the tables and chairs are still made of pear wood, no different from those at Mu Yan's place, except for the embossed peony flower pattern and the bright yellow satin that highlights the Empress's status.

  "Concubine Zhou pays her respects to the Empress, wishing Her Majesty good health!" Mu Yan made a deep curtsy to the woman sitting in the superior seat, and I followed suit, kneeling behind her with my head bowed, not daring to look up at the phoenix throne.

  "Sister is indeed a lovely and charming girl, with good manners and courtesy at times. The emperor and I are delighted with her." These words were spoken by the empress herself, who sat high above.

  "It's an honor for the Emperor and Empress to be pleased, it's a blessing for the concubines. Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress." Murong Yan remained kneeling on the ground, responding with proper etiquette.

  "Ah, no wonder everyone knew about Zhou Zhaoyuan even before she entered the palace! It turns out that apart from her beauty, Zhou Zhaoyuan also has the support of Her Majesty the Empress! No wonder! No wonder!" The speaker was the first lady-in-waiting sitting below the Empress, wearing a palace attire with a subtle floral pattern in rouge color.

  Mu Yan didn't fear this princess who spoke harshly, and bowed down to answer respectfully, "Princess Chen's words are too serious. The Empress is in charge of the harem and treats everyone with equal kindness. I am just a humble concubine, not daring to be called beautiful."

  "Look up and let me take a look!" The queen's tone was quite disdainful.

  "Yes", Muran obeyed, slowly lifting her head and respectfully looking at Her Majesty the Empress.

  "Hum, with such an appearance, aren't you a beauty? Are you ridiculing us as being ugly?" The queen said with a displeased and sarcastic tone.

  "Empress Dowager is elegant and beautiful, with the emperor's favor, which is what everyone envies." Murong Yan's evasive answer seemed to satisfy Empress Dowager, who glanced at her sideways, hummed softly, and smiled without speaking.

  The Empress saw Consort Zhen stop speaking and said, "Sister, please rise."

  At this point, I felt like I had been granted a great amnesty. I realized that I had already stood outside for an hour and now I was kneeling here for half a day. My legs were so sore, they felt numb and tingly. I struggled to get up, went to help Mu Yan up, but she didn't listen, pushed me away, and almost fell over herself. Luckily, she reacted quickly and pulled me back, saving us both from falling flat on our faces.

  However, this scene was seen by Zhen Fei, who habitually rolled her eyes and snorted in disdain. She smiled and said, "Zhou Shaoyuan is really kind-hearted, actually keeping a cripple by her side to serve her. I'm telling you, that cripple..."

  I never expected that one day someone would call me a cripple, and before I could react, I was scolded by Princess Zhen, pointing at my nose, "You ignorant servant, the palace is calling you?"

  She called me, she called me and I responded, wouldn't that be too embarrassing? So I pretended not to hear her and accompanied Mu Yan to her seat.

  Moyan saw that things were not going well, so she secretly pinched me on the waist and at the same time pushed me to the ground. I fell to the ground, crying out in pain.

  "Your Highness, Princess Chen, Manya didn't mean to ignore you. She's been deaf since a severe illness in her childhood. I beg of you, please don't hold it against her and spare her this once."

  I pretended to be deaf, keywords, okay, since you said I'm deaf, I'll pretend to be deaf, just now was too reckless myself, forgot the consequences of offending the master, and it's such a spoiled master, I supported my sore legs, looking at the two who were speaking with a dull and innocent face, when they spoke halfway, looking at me, I still had to make an effort to show several points of fear in my eyebrows, good acting skills.

  That imperial concubine saw me in such a wretched state, not angry but laughing, covering half her face with a handkerchief, and loudly snickering, saying "Alright alright, you're crippled and deaf, truly pitiful enough, the palace won't bother to calculate accounts with such a useless person,"

  The moon helped me up, and the two of us followed Mu Yan from behind. When Mu Yan sat down, we stood behind her back. I raised my eyes and could see that Princess Chen was quite plump in the face, with sharp eyebrows and eyes. But those red lips were shiny and full, somewhat like Angelina Jolie's style.

  The queen sat in the upper seat, wearing a bright yellow palace dress with peony patterns, showing her identity. She looked quite old, but was well maintained, except for the fish tail wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, which showed a few years of age, and otherwise she was no different from others.

  As for De Fei, who sat under Zhen Fei's hand, she wore a tight-fitting sapphire blue palace attire with subtle floral patterns, showcasing her slender figure to perfection, exuding an alluring charm that left one enchanted.

  Across from the Empress Dowager sat Consort Shu, her slender figure draped in a loose-fitting crimson palace gown embroidered with fluttering petals, evoking not a shred of sympathy, only an air of detachment.

  As for others, before I could even size them up, they were pinched hard on the waist by Muyan and snapped back to their senses. I had no choice but to meekly lower my head and stand guard.

  The other young masters, one by one, entered the house, and their situation was similar to that of Mu Yan. They all came to pay respects and ask after the Empress's well-being. However, Zhen Consort did not say anything more to make things difficult for them until the purple-robed imperial concubine who I had previously bumped into heavily entered the house.

  She was the only one who was granted a title, Wu Xiurong. With her temperament, how could she not let others know? As a result, it naturally reached the ears of that Empress Chen as well. How could she tolerate someone even more arrogant than herself? Without waiting for Xiurong to pay her respects, she gave her a severe scolding. But Xiurong was no pushover either, relying on her brother's status, she fearlessly "talked back" to the empress.

  It's not hard to find fault with the master, let alone that woman who is not a gentle soul. Seeing the two of them struggling, my heart suddenly felt a sense of clarity. I really wanted to add fuel to the fire and help her win. A woman as arrogant as this, if one less were to die, I absolutely wouldn't feel any pity.

  It was Xian Fei who opened her mouth to persuade and reconcile, and only then did she call for the two to stop their fierce fight.

  It's really strange, why didn't the empress stop him? She is in charge of the imperial seal and leads the harem, but now she looks like a good old lady who doesn't want to offend anyone, smiling and watching everyone. Strange, really strange.

  It wasn't until Lingyin entered the scene much later that everyone realized her low status, but she didn't lose face despite being raised in a military camp. When she saw the noble ladies, she showed no fear at all, just a sweet smile on her face and a light, cheerful voice that made people happy to look at her. Not only did nobody bully her, but Empress Zhen unexpectedly gave Lingyin a pair of white jade bangles as a gift.

  In the Queen's palace, I don't know how long I stayed, after dinner, when I returned to Lingbo Hall, it was already pitch black outside.

  I'm exhausted from kneeling and standing all day, both physically and mentally drained. I've been lying on Muyan's bed and don't want to leave. Alas, her bed is high and soft, while the one in my house is like a form of torture, it's so hard that it's scary.

  Mu Yan saw me like this and didn't stop me either. She let me be bored there, while she sat alone at the table eating snacks.

  I couldn't tolerate others eating in front of me, so I suddenly jumped up, walked to the table, snatched the pastry from her hand and started eating it.

  "What? You've finally woken up?" She looked at me with a helpless expression and couldn't help but smile.

  "I... I was so choked up by that remark that I couldn't speak, so I raised my cup and took a sip of tea to calm myself down. Then I said, 'Who told you to eat in front of me? Don't you know I haven't even had dinner yet, but instead I'm busy serving you, the master!'"

  "Haha, that's really hard on you, taking such great care of this young master." Muran patted my back, helping me catch my breath.

  "No way, hurry up, I'm almost starving to death. Zhou Muyan, don't be too stingy, hiding all the delicious food." I finished a plate of snacks and handed it back to her.

  She handed him a plate and laughed, "Here you go, of course, eat slowly, our young master is full..."

  "I wonder if there's a share for me?" A bright and cheerful laughter came from the door, and the person claimed to be "Zhen". Could it be the Emperor? I exchanged a glance with Mu Yan, shocked yet excitedly calling out, "Your Majesty?"