A solitary boat on a stormy night

  Under the scorching sun, Yirui stood at the entrance of a magnificent palace. The golden roof reflected dazzling light, and she felt uneasy as she pushed open the door, wondering what she would see inside. Finally, she plucked up her courage to push open the door. Fortunately, there was no one inside.

  She let out a soft sigh.

  This luxurious hall seemed to have not been cleaned for a long time, cobwebs and dust were everywhere, the gloomy feeling made Yirui very uncomfortable. She turned around wanting to leave, but found her legs as if nailed to the ground, unable to move. She shouted loudly: "Someone come! Someone!" Soon, palace maids and eunuchs rushed in, Qingqiu, Yunyan, and Yunqiu were also inside, their faces were cold and expressionless, one by one they walked past Yirui's face, as if they hadn't seen her, not speaking or paying attention to her. In a moment, they exited the hall and lined up in two rows outside.

  In the blink of an eye, this palace changed from a dilapidated house to a bridal chamber. Yinzhen, dressed in groom's attire, led a bride before her and lifted the red veil off the bride's head in front of her. The bride was actually Yunhui!

  Yirui hadn't yet recovered from her astonishment when someone suddenly grabbed her hand and said in a gloomy tone, "Sister Yirui, are you going to come with me?" Yirui saw that the person speaking was Liu Boqin, his hair disheveled, and the silver hairpin stuck in his chest still dripping blood.

  Yi Rui was both startled and frightened, constantly waving her hands. The people around her saw her like this and burst out laughing.

  Startled awake, I realized it was just a dream.

  Wiping away the sweat that had beaded on her forehead, she realized there was no one else in the house and shouted: "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?"

  It's been a long time, and there's no movement. Yirui turned over and got out of bed, picked up the teacups from under the table and threw them at the window, one, two, three, and when she threw the fourth one, Yunqiu rushed in and said: "What are your orders, madam?" Yirui slowly sat down with the support of the table, her heart still racing, and spoke slowly: "Where did everyone go?" Yunqiu replied: "The servants were just outside the door and didn't hear anything, please forgive us!" Yirui knew she was lying again, but couldn't do anything about it. She stared blankly for a while, only saying one sentence: "Clean up!"

  Yi Rui had Nian Qing come over to help her get dressed. This year, the snow came early (in ancient times, October referred to the tenth month of the lunar calendar, which is roughly equivalent to November in the modern calendar). A few days ago, the first heavy snowfall had already occurred. Yi Rui put on a silver-trimmed fox fur-lined cloak and took some wound-healing ointment that had been prepared by the imperial pharmacy, and went to visit Yun Yan, who had been beaten up a few days ago.

  Yunyan was moved out of her original palace after being punished with a stick, and was placed in a storage room for cleaning supplies in the east wing.

  Yirui and Ningqiu arrived at the door, just like before. Ningqiu said: "The slave is waiting outside! The lady invites you in!" After speaking, she lifted up the old and tattered door curtain. Yirui knew that Ningqiu didn't want to get involved in trouble, so she took over the basket of offerings and entered the house.

  The room wasn't dimly lit, but the courtyard sweeping tools had been left there for a long time, and they were covered in dust. Outside, the snow was falling heavily, and inside, there was no kang or brazier to warm things up, so it was still freezing. Yunyan was lying on her side in the corner of the room, lightly panting. Yirui quickly walked over, squatted down, and took out a bowl of still-warm deer tendon soup from the basket, saying gently: "I saved this for you at noon, drink some! You've been injured so badly, who knows when you'll recover?" Yunyan didn't resist, her eyes closed, and she drank it all in one gulp, saying gratefully: "After I got hurt, I finally know who's the kindest to me!" Yirui said with a hint of self-blame: "Don't mention that, if I hadn't forced you to take me there, you wouldn't have suffered such a great punishment." "No, no, Mistress, it's my fault for being too timid and incompetent, causing you so much trouble...". Yunyan said this, but the pain from her wound started to make her feel uncomfortable again. Yirui took out some ointment to promote healing and wanted to hand it to Yunyan, but then thought better of it and said: "Let me help you apply it!" Yunyan quickly pushed her away: "I'm unworthy, Mistress, how can I let you do this? It's not right for you to lower yourself like this!" Yirui didn't wait for Yunyan to stop her, pulled open the old quilt covering her body, and found a half-new woolen cloak inside that she hadn't seen before. She opened the cloak and clothes, and saw that Yunyan's wound was already showing signs of healing, and there were no stains or urine on her clothes, clearly someone had been coming to apply medicine and take care of her regularly. Yirui didn't say anything, took out some white ointment, and gently applied it to the wound. After the initial pain from the medicine penetrating the skin, Yunyan felt a coolness in her back and said: "Mistress's medicine is really effective, I've been using it for several days now, and I'm much better!"

  After finishing the medicine, Yirui also patted her hands and stood up. With her back to Yunyan, she spat out a sentence: "The last few times you came, you said that if you put yourself in a place where no one would dare to look at you, how did this fur coat come from? And who helped you with the medicine?" Looking at Yirui's profile in the dim light, Yunyan knew that the lady in front of her wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted. She had to say: "It was Gong Qiu and Yun Qiu, they take turns coming to take care of me every day and help me with the medicine." "Gong Qiu?" Yun Qiu was around the same age as Yunyan, so Yirui wasn't surprised, but when she thought of Gong Qiu's expressionless face, she felt a sense of unexpectedness.

  Before the two could say anything else, the door curtain was lifted and a gray shadow rushed in with the wind and snow. It was Ning Qiu, who shouted at Yun Yan: "Do you want to kill me? If I had known this earlier, I would have let you starve to death and die of illness here, waiting for someone to collect your corpse!" Hearing her vicious words, Yi Rui tried to stop her, but before she could speak, Yun Yan pleaded bitterly: "Auntie, Yun Yan didn't intentionally drag you into this. Furen is a kind person, Auntie has always taught us sisters to support each other and help one another. Please help Furen too!" Ning Qiu snorted: "Sisters? Who are sisters with whom? We're just pitiful palace maids relying on each other to leave this prison-like Forbidden City when we turn 25!" Ning Qiu glanced at Yi Rui sideways, saying coldly: "How can a lowly slave like you be considered a sister to the noble Furen? Furen is all-powerful and doesn't need the help of slaves!"

  Yi Rui listened to these unscrupulous and piercing words, and became even clearer about her own position. In the vast Forbidden City, even palace maids could get a thread of true feelings, but she was an object isolated and abandoned by everyone. Standing in this cold room, Yi Rui wanted to escape, hide, and find a warm quilt to hide in.

  Yunyan was still chattering away to try and get Jingqiu's sympathy and support for Yirui, but Jingqiu completely ignored her and turned around to leave the cleaning area.

  Yi Rui smiled bitterly as she gazed at Ning Qiu's back, saying to Yun Yan: "Don't say any more, even I myself think I'm quite pitiful."

  Yunyan exerted herself to prop up her body and said, "Fu Jin, Ning Qiu will help you. She is an old lady who entered the palace in Kangxi 14 years ago... Usually very enthusiastic, but she will be released from the palace next year and does not want to get involved. But I'll go talk to her properly, she will definitely help you."

  Yi Rui smiled and gently bent down, taking off the silver-trimmed fox fur-lined cloak from her body and covering Yun Yan with it. She comforted him, "It's freezing outside, take good care of yourself. Having you is enough for me!"

  "Furen, this will only make Yunyan suffer even more!" Yirui heard a cold voice behind her and didn't know when Qingqiu had entered the room again. Qingqiu picked up the silver-edged marten fur-lined cloak and handed it back to Yirui, while taking out a small porcelain doll from her sleeve and putting it into Yunyan's quilt, saying: "Yunhui put Yunyan here, just to let all the servants see what happens when you offend her. If she sees this valuable cloak, Yunyan will definitely suffer even more." As Qingqiu spoke, her words became increasingly gentle, and in the end, she helped Yunyan tuck in the quilt corner like a mother, murmuring: "Yan'er, you and Autumn have been following your aunt since entering the palace at the age of eight, doing rough work for several years. In recent years, it's not easy to get a master to look after you and arrange for you to serve in various palaces. I thought that having you follow me would be better, but it turns out it's still like this. It's Auntie's fault, she should have taken you with her, but she didn't expect her to be so ruthless. How can Auntie leave the palace at ease?"

  Yi Rui looked at Qing Qiu with a motherly gaze, and suddenly remembered the tears of her mother's heartache when she was scolded by her father as a child. Inside the house, there was a burst of sobbing, and all three people thought of their family members outside the palace, the grievances they suffered inside the palace, and couldn't help but feel a sense of connection. Yun Yan was the first to stop crying, holding Qing Qiu's hand and trying hard to wipe away her tears. A silk handkerchief fell on Qing Qiu's tear-stained cheek, and it was Yi Rui who was using it to gently wipe away Qing Qiu's tears.

  Yunyan's voice, slightly choked with tears but firm, broke the brief silence in the room: "Auntie, don't worry, Fu Jun will take care of me, she definitely will."

  "'Her?' Cong Qiu sneered, 'She can't even take care of herself, let alone...'"

  "As long as Aunt helps me for a year, I guarantee that Yunyan and Autumn will not suffer in the future." Yirui interrupted Congqiu's words, "Yirui was young and had no one to rely on when she first entered the palace, so I hope Aunt can help." Congqiu stood up and walked around Yirui, constantly twisting her handkerchief, but her footsteps were slow. Yirui continued to say loudly: "Aunt doesn't want to help me, it must be because you're afraid of getting into trouble and not being able to leave the palace smoothly next year. I'm not asking Aunt to do anything, Aunt has been in the palace for many years and understands each palace and person well, I just don't want to be like a fool who doesn't know anything and is controlled by others."

  "Ah, you want to know about Yunhui's situation? Alright. Yunhui was originally serving in the Rongfei Palace, but two years ago, she was assigned by Rongfei to serve as a tea palace maid for the Fourth Prince. With her charming appearance, like a seductive fox spirit, the Fourth Prince, who was only eleven at the time, was completely taken in by her. She would often use various excuses to get close to him, and even share his bed or take baths together. The servants all knew about it and would gossip behind her back. But Yunhui was Rongfei's person, so who dared to say anything? Although Deifei is the Fourth Prince's birth mother, she has the Fourteenth Prince by her side and hardly pays attention to the Fourth Prince. In recent months, the Fourth Prince has been even more enamored with Yunhui, not only giving her a private residence but also spending nights in her quarters. If he weren't still unmarried, he probably would have already given Yunhui an official title." Seeing Yirui's increasingly dark expression, Qingqiu comforted her, "Fujin, this is actually quite common in the palace. A year before the selection of the Fujin, the Zongrenfu had already begun selecting a palace maid for each prince to try out, to understand the matters of the bedchamber. At that time, Rongfei had helped put Yunhui's name forward. With this title, Yunhui became even more unscrupulous, truly becoming the mistress of our Hai Dingge."

  Yi Rui said in a puzzled tone: "Since everything is proper and reasonable, why did everyone keep it from me?"

  Qing Qiu explained: "Since Rong Fei had pointed out Yunhui, De Fei didn't notice at first. Later, when she found out that the palace maid being tested was indeed the one Rong Fei had pointed out, she naturally wasn't pleased. Several times, she ordered to take Yunhui away, but was blocked by the Fourth Prince each time. De Fei then issued a strict order, forbidding Yunhui from serving the Fourth Prince again and only allowing her to do some cleaning work."

  Yi Rui has been seeing Yun Huihu's fake fox charm for several days, and she can't help but suspect: "Which..."

  "De Fei usually doesn't care about the Fourth Prince, but she scolded Yunhui specially. The Fourth Prince is not convinced in his heart, and his favor towards Yunhui only becomes more intense. He just pretends to obey De Fei on the surface, and also demands that the servants keep their mouths shut." Cong Qiu paused for a moment, then said with a hint of helplessness: "The Fourth Prince is only thirteen years old, and has just experienced his first love. His temperament is also unstable, so he almost listens to Yunhui's every word." After finishing speaking, she bowed her body and said loudly: "Today, this slave dares to speak so much to the mistress, if it spreads to others' ears, this slave's life will not be preserved, please forgive me, mistress."

  Yi Rui hurriedly helped her up and said: "Don't worry, I know about this matter, it's just between us."

  Ning Qiu did not get up and said: "Ning Qiu has one more thing to ask for, I hope Fu Jin will agree."

  Yi Rui said: "Whatever you say, I will certainly follow."

  "Please, Mistress, do not come to visit Yunyan again in the future." Jingqiu said with her head down, "Every time Mistress visits Yunyan inside the house, I have to stand guard outside. If people find out that Yunyan is being taken care of by Mistress, they will think of ways to torment her. Who knows, even the servants may not be able to take care of her anymore."

  Yi Rui swallowed hard and said, "Alright, I'll listen. You can bring the stuff over, okay?"

  Ning Qiu said: "Thank you, Fugui, for your kindness. However, the imperial pharmacy keeps records of all medicine dispensed. If you take external injury medicine and the other consorts ask about it, I won't be able to answer them."

  Yi Rui said: "It was I who was inconsiderate. I will make amends. How about this, I'll give you some silver and you can go outside the palace to buy medicine and bring it back?"

  "Fu Jin," Cong Qiu said with a bitter smile, "it's not easy for palace maids to leave the palace, let alone bring private items in. In the Forbidden City, having money doesn't necessarily mean you can make ghosts appear and disappear."

  Yi Rui suddenly felt at a loss and could only say: "If there's anything you need help with, feel free to find me."

  Ning Qiu said: "Thank you, Fu Jin!" After saying that, he bowed again and then stood up.

  Outside, the heavy snow continued to fall, and Rui looked up at the small sky above the four walls of the palace, as if it had surrounded her entire world.

  Although Jingqiu followed her side by side, today she also told her some true words

  That feeling of drifting helplessly on a desolate sea still overwhelmed her like a tidal wave.