Chapter 1536 - 1534: Take Care of Yourself

Chapter 1534

The very night the two of them left the palace, the Empress’s palace blew up.

Sheng Chunhua knew the Emperor had taken the Empress out of the palace, and jealousy surged in her heart. She couldn’t help pulling a bunch of Palace Maids over to gossip and let the news slip out.

"Just think about it!"

"The Empress’s background is already nothing to boast of, and yet after entering the palace she still doesn’t know how to learn proper rules! All day long she just thinks about going out of the palace to run wild!"

"In the past the Emperor never left the palace lightly. Look at him now, running outside the palace every few days. What kind of decorum is that?"

The Palace Maids who served under her and followed her lead all bobbed their heads to flatter her.

"Gugu is absolutely right!"

"When it comes to understanding the rules, in this palace if you claim second place, no one would dare claim first!"

"Back then the Empress Dowager picked you out alone from that crowd of young ladies, and that wasn’t without reason!"

Their over-the-top flattery made Sheng Chunhua feel very pleased, but on the surface she still waved her hand and put on a modest act.

"Don’t talk nonsense, what would it look like if someone heard?"

"I’m just casually pouring my heart out to you all, I don’t dare say more than that!"

"In the end these are our masters’ affairs, how could it ever be our place as Servants to meddle?"

The Little Palace Maids hastily comforted her.

"Gugu mustn’t say that; you’re a Palace Maid, not a Palace Maid, and you were personally selected by the Empress Dowager to enter the palace!"

"Those years when the Empress hadn’t entered the palace yet, weren’t all the Harem Servants’ affairs left for you to worry about!"

"Even the Emperor remembers you!"

"Exactly. In us lowly maids’ eyes, Gugu, you’ve long since become half a mistress of this Harem!"

The Little Palace Maids, not knowing how high the heavens were, actually flattered Sheng Chunhua as if she were already one of the Concubines.

Her heart was blooming with delight and comfort, yet she couldn’t help but forcibly rein herself in.

"Enough, enough, you silly girls. It’s one thing to say this in front of me, but in front of outsiders you must never babble like that!"

The Little Palace Maids giggled as they agreed.

Seeing there was nothing else to do, they each withdrew, leaving Sheng Chunhua alone in the room, smug and full of herself.

With the mistress out of the palace, in this Jiaofang Hall of the Empress, she alone was the biggest.

She first strolled around the front courtyard, then wandered through the back. The vast Jiaofang Hall actually took her more than half a day to finish walking.

When she returned to her room in the evening, she even snuck into the mistress’s inner chamber and lay down on the bed.

Looking at the extremely luxurious Golden Phoebe Bubinga Bed, at the headboard carved with dragons and phoenixes, at the Gold Silk Phoenix Bed Canopy inlaid with gold and jade, she sank completely into endless yearning.

If one day she could lie here openly and justifiably, how wonderful would that be!

She was a lady from a respectable family, the legitimate daughter of an Official family. Even if her background was not considered very high, she was still far better than that rootless herb-gathering girl Lin Siyin, wasn’t she?

Even the Empress Dowager had only come from a County Magistrate’s family; her own status was sufficient, there was no reason it couldn’t be done.

This was also why she had willingly entered the palace to be a Palace Maid back then.

With the Emperor’s side and The Six Palaces all hanging empty, as long as she entered the palace, she would have a great many opportunities.

She was the best-looking and the most talented in her family.

So naturally she had the family’s full support. After all... if by any chance it worked out, then one person’s ascendancy would raise chickens and dogs alike!

Thinking and thinking, she couldn’t help feeling drowsy, and in the main bedchamber of the Empress’s Jiaofang Hall, she fell into a deep sleep.

When Li Deming’s little disciple Xiao Huaizi came looking for her and saw someone lying on the bed, he was so startled he dropped to his knees, almost tumbling over himself.

"Who’s there?"

"Who... who’s lying on the bed?"

The Empress had gone out of the palace—how could there be someone on her bed?

He mustered his courage and stepped closer, only to discover it was Gugu Sheng Chunhua.

He let out a shriek of fright and dropped to his knees again.

Sheng Chunhua woke up, groggy and disoriented. Remembering where she was, she was startled too, and turned her head to look at Xiao Huaizi on the floor.

"You... you saw everything?"

"I... I didn’t mean to!"

"I only came in to check the lamps and candles, and I was just too tired, so I... Eunuch Xiao Huaizi, you must keep this secret for me, or I won’t have a way to live!"

"I beg you! I can give you money and goods—whatever you want, pearls, jadeite, or agate, I’ll give them to you!"

As she spoke, she fumbled all over herself, taking off every piece of jewelry she wore and shoving them in a heap toward the Little Eunuch in front of her.

Xiao Huaizi was scared out of his wits and kept pushing them back.

"D-don’t mess around, this is the Empress’s Jiaofang Hall!"

That one phrase "Jiaofang Hall" snapped Sheng Chunhua completely awake.

She fell off the bed onto the floor and suddenly burst into tears.

"Xiao Huaizi, I really didn’t do it on purpose, I..."

"Alright, stop explaining and hurry out!"

Xiao Huaizi walked out speechlessly, and Sheng Chunhua quickly straightened her clothes and jewelry and followed him.

When they reached the Servants’ quarters of Jiaofang Hall, she cautiously asked:

"You’re from before the Emperor, coming here in the middle of the night—was there something you needed?"

Xiao Huaizi recounted his master’s message word for word.

"My master says you shouldn’t get too full of yourself!"

"Don’t rely on your status and the Empress Dowager’s face to embarrass the Empress!"

"The Emperor has already shown you leniency on the Empress Dowager’s account. If you still refuse to repent and keep making things hard for the Empress, be careful—the Empress Dowager may not be able to protect you either!"

Sheng Chunhua was a bit unconvinced.

"The Emperor wants to send me away? Impossible. The Emperor even spoke to me just yesterday!"

Xiao Huaizi hated that she wouldn’t live up to expectations.

"All those the Empress Dowager originally selected and brought in have already been sent away by the Emperor. If you’d like to leave as well, just keep this up!"

"I won’t say more. I’m leaving; take care of yourself."

With that, he really did get up and leave.

Left alone on the spot, Sheng Chunhua thought for a while, feeling both happy and worried.

She was happy that of the batch the Empress Dowager had brought in, only she remained. Perhaps the Empress Dowager would pressure the Emperor into taking her in.

She was worried because the Empress seemed innocent, but in truth was very sly. She must always be whispering in the Emperor’s ear, complaining about her. Otherwise how could the Emperor possibly be thinking of sending her away?

"Hmph! You act all meek and harmless like a little white rabbit, and I really didn’t take you seriously!"

"Now it seems that the moment you entered the palace you started figuring out how to eliminate your rivals. Heh, playing pure! Aren’t all women in this world the same?"

"I knew it—how could anyone not want to climb up? That’s the dragon bed we’re talking about!"

She was muttering and cursing under her breath.

Outside the palace, Lin Siyin suddenly sneezed several times in a row.

"What’s wrong? Did you catch a chill?"

The two of them were presently at a palace villa of the Imperial Palace.

With a mountain at its back and forests on both sides, it was naturally a bit colder here than in the Capital City.

Lin Siyin shook her head.

"No, I’m not cold!"

"I just keep feeling like someone’s scolding me behind my back!"

Zhao Qichen couldn’t help but give her a sidelong look.

"Who would dare curse you? You’re the Empress!"

Lin Siyin muttered in protest, "It’s precisely because I’m the Empress that people curse me!"

She trimmed the candle wick, then used the fire tongs to poke the blazing charcoal in the brazier, before turning her head to look at Zhao Qichen.

"Tell me about that Palace Maid by my side."