A low ranked eunuch entered Yanxi Hall, making a beeline for Noble Consort Hui’s side. He whispered into her ear one sentence.
“The emperor is laughing.”
Noble Consort Hui nodded, then nodded again to her personal palace maids. One of them brought the eunuch aside and placed some money into his hands.
Li Yu wasn’t the only one who had eyes and ears in the palace. Noble Consort Hui also did. Those who delivered useful information to her were generously rewarded.
Like right now. Although the low ranked eunuch only gave her four words, each word was worth its weight in gold.
Since His Majesty has laughed, his mood tonight should not be bad.Noble Consort Hui sought to hang on to that thread of hope. Probably…
“Your Majesty, has there been any good news?” Concubine Jia asked with a smile.
Noble Consort Hui glanced at her without responding. Then she smiled as well. “Not really.”
In Yanxi Hall, other than herself, there were also Consort Xian, Consort Yi, and Noble Lady Wan present. These imperial concubines assembled themselves by rank, sitting in their designated seats. This wasn’t a nighttime meeting. Rather, they were waiting for Emperor Hongli to choose one of them for the night.
Every night was the same. The servants would send a tray of each imperial concubine’s name tag to Yangxin Palace, each top of the name tag verdant. As the imperial concubines waited, backs straight as a ramrod, they craned their necks to see farther down the exit. In each of their hearts burned an ember of hope.
“His Majesty hasn’t chosen anyone in a while,” said Concubine Jia. Seeing that Noble Consort Hui would not answer, she had changed the topic. She sighed. “Would he also spend tonight alone?”
Everyone was worried that this statement might hold true. Even Noble Consort Hui found the mood heavy.
One must not think Noble Consort Hui’s status as high. Even though in the imperial harem, whatever she said became the truth whether it was in reality¹, and the empress sometimes had to watch her expression when making decisions, Noble Consort Hui had one glaring Achilles’ Heel—she lacked a son.
Beautiful women were like flowers, growing older each year. One day, she too would grow old. And in the imperial harem, what was not in shortage the most was beautiful young women. Young elegant ladies². At that time, would the emperor still flip her name tag? Of course not.
I hope to have a child… Noble Consort Hui could not help but think that to herself.
Once the son you had raised grew up, he would take care of you in return. This was the case for civilians, and even more so in the imperial palace. Otherwise, once the imperial concubines grew old, who would take care of them? Even if the sons weren’t the smartest, they would still be a first-ranked prince³ and back up their aging mothers. If an imperial concubine was lucky, she’d give birth to a clever son, a son that was both talented and virtuous. And the emperor would like him. In such a case, even the position of empress dowager wouldn’t be impossible to grasp in the future.
Noble Consort Hui rubbed her empty abdomen and was unwilling to let anyone know the news she had heard. How she wanted for her words to be the final decision. That way, she could have the emperor choose her name tag. She really wished that Li Yu would just hand her name tag to the emperor. The longer she waited, the more worried she became. Noble Consort Hui rubbed at her fake nails⁴, casually asking, “Has anyone seen Consort Chun?”
Fake nails.
“Your Majesty, Consort Chun caught a cold. She is still unwell and could not come tonight,” Concubine Jia said. She always seemed knowledgeable of most matters.
Noble Consort Hui glanced at her again and lazily said, “One year consists of 365 days. That Consort Chun would be sick for half of that time. She’s like an ill Lady Shi of the West.”
This translation is the property of Sleepchaser at https://sleepchaser.wordpress.com. If you read it anywhere else, it’s stolen.
“Your Majesty is right,” said Noble Lady Ying, attempting form a relationship with Noble Consort Hui. “Consort Chun’s body is weaker than most. She falls ill every two to three days. Yesterday we were talking about going to visit her.”
“Why go?” Noble Consort Hui’s smile did not quite meet her eyes. “The empress will take care of Consort Chun. Why should you and I be concerned?’
Those words startled Noble Lady Ying, and she did not know how to respond. A weak ‘yes’ escaped her lips.
Seeing that Noble Consort Hui had reprimanded her, the rest of the imperial concubines dared not speak more than ever. Each and every one of them wanted someone more powerful to back them up. Each and every one of them wanted the support of Noble Consort Hui. But her moods were spontaneous. They had a hard time figuring out her moods, her likes and dislikes. If they angered her by accident, the rest of their days in the palace would be difficult.
Noble Consort Hui played with her fake nails, and suddenly said, “Where is Noble Lady Yu?
Everyone in the room stayed silent.
Noble Consort Hui lifted her gaze, directed it to a beautiful green-clad woman. “Concubine Yi, I’m asking you. Where is your good friend Noble Lady Yu?”
In the imperial harem, not everyone fought each other. There were also some who forged bonds of friendship like Noble Lady Yu and Concubine Yi. Although they weren’t sisters by blood, they acted like they were. They helped each other and comforted each other.
Concubine Yi quickly schooled her emotions and kept her expression natural. She rose to her feet. “Responding to Your Majesty, Noble Lady Yu is not feeling well and has already reported that she would be absent…”
“Oh?” Noble Consort Hui rested her head on a hand. “Another frail person…”
She only asked this to past time. But now that she had caught Concubine Yi’s nervous expression, this had lit an ember of suspicion.
Before Concubine Yi could come up with an elaboration on Noble Lady Yu’s absence, Concubine Jia smiled. “Looks like recently a bout of sickness⁵ has hit Yangxin Palace. People are getting sick one by one. To prevent this, we should have the imperial physicians prescribe preventative medicine for everyone.”
“Where is Noble Lady Yu?” Noble Consort Hui asked, staring straight at Concubine Yi. “Should we summon an imperial physician to check on her?”
Perhaps aware that Noble Consort Hui had caught sight of her previous nervous actions, Concubine Yi tried her best to seem calm. “This concubine had wanted to send an imperial physician over, but since young, Rong⁶ doesn’t like to eat medicine. She only has a light cough, nothing too serious. After resting for a few days, she will be fine…”
As Concubine Yi had spoken, Noble Consort Hui’s eyes never left her, gaze sharp. Frightening. As if any second now and it would slice her brain in half, to unearth what was hidden inside.
At that moment, the doors opened. The head eunuch Li Yu entered Yanxi Hall.
Noble Consort Hui’s attention shifted to him, and she and the rest of the imperial concubines rose from their seats. Their gazes converged at Li Yu.
Li Yu’s clothes were plain green, free of other colors and patterns. Resting on his arm was a fly whisk⁷. He saluted to the imperial concubines. Then, as their eyes were full of hope watching him, they heard from his mouth the two words they did not want to hear the most. “Please depart.”
A fly whisk.
These two words shattered their hopes. The higher their hopes, the larger their disappointment. Especially so was Noble Consort Hui. She was one of the most disappointed. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why is the emperor spending the night alone again?”
This translation is the property of Sleepchaser at https://sleepchaser.wordpress.com. If you read it anywhere else, it’s stolen.
Li Yu smiled. “Your Majesty, the Noble Consort, the emperor’s work has piled high into a mountain, and as such he needs to utilize the whole night to finish. Today Your Majesties and Your Highnesses need not wait to be called.”
A cold smile slid across Noble Consort Hui’s lips. Once she left for the door, Concubine Yi let out a sigh of relief. The rest of the imperial concubines saluted after the departing figure of Noble Consort Hui. “These imperial concubines will send off Noble Consort Hui!”
Night stretching on, every imperial concubine returned to their palaces to sleep. But as one group went off to bed, another roused from slumber. In the palace maid dormitories, someone slammed a heavy ruler down.
“Ah!”
“It really hurts!”
“Who is it?”
Pitiful cries filled the room. The little palace maids were smacked awake by the ruler. Because there were two girls to a bed, when one of them woke up from the pain, their first thought was to yell at their bed partner. But once they opened their eyes, what came into view was the cold expression of Aunt Fang. Their flames of anger were immediately extinguished. Each palace maid crawled out of bed like a frightened bird. They respectfully said, “Aunt.”
Aunt Fang held a ruler in her right hand. It was coarse and long, like the leg of a chair. She tapped the tip of the ruler on her left palm, sweeping her gaze through the crowd. Finally, it stopped in front of Jixiang. Aunt Fang’s words were cold enough to freeze. “In what position do you sleep?”
Dumbstruck, Jixiang lifted a hand to wipe the drool on her mouth. With a forced smile, she said, “What other way is there to sleep? Just lying down is enough.”
“Who told you to sleep like that? To lie on your back is to yell at the heavens and curse at the gods! The heavens will give you retribution! The palace does not have such servants that do not follow protocol! Everyone get back in bed and resume sleeping!”
Everyone shared a look until Aunt Fang smacked Jixiang with the ruler. “Hurry up!”
They all scrambled into bed⁸. Because of Aunt Fang’s previous words, they no longer dared to lie on their backs. They either slept on their sides or bellies. Yet in the end, Aunt Fang still didn’t let them off, generously granting everyone a smack of her ruler.
“You! Point your legs toward the Gate of Divine Prowess⁹!
“And you, bend your left arm over your waist!
“Those who fail to have a proper sleeping position deserve to be hit!”
The heavy ruler smacked down like the rain, both hands and feet fair game. Some of the younger palace maids were hit until they had to hold back tears. But they dared not cry. They could only bite their lips as if no tomorrow, and then follow Aunt Fang’s orders as best as they could.
It wasn’t until everyone slept on their sides in the same direction, as if they were ceramic dolls that had come out of a kiln, that Aunt Fang finally put away her ruler. They sneaked a glance at her. She coldly said,“Remember this sleeping position. Don’t forget even when you’re sleeping. Go!”
Finished speaking, Aunt Fang left with the two head palace maids she had brought with her.
Once she was gone, the palace maids finally allowed themselves to cry softly. Afraid that Aunt Fang might hear, each of them had tried to muffle their sobs with their hands, the sounds slipping through the gaps between their fingers.
“Yingluo.” Jixiang rolled up her sleeves, eyes misty as she looked at Wei Yingluo. “Aunt hit me so hard that it hurts so much. Help me check out the injuries. Are the backs of my hands already bruised?”
It was dark inside the dormitory, not a single light lit. There was only the dim glow of the moon sneaking through the cloth window panes. Wei Yingluo could not see the back of Jixiang’s hands clearly. Even if they were bruised, what could she do? The hierarchy of the palace was extremely strict. If head palace maids wanted to hit regular palace maids, it was a natural occurrence. There was no room to complain.
“Yingluo.” Jixiang secretly pushed her covers toward Wei Yingluo, like a child who had been hit and was looking for comfort from her family. “Can you hug me to sleep?”
Wei Yingluo touched her face and smiled gently toward her. “Can’t.”
Seeing her smile, Jixiang thought she would agree with her. Who knew she would get a response that was the complete opposite? Surprised, Jixiang asked, “Why?”
Wei Yingluo’s gaze was clear and bright. She decisively said, “Because Aunt Fang will return.
A low ranked eunuch entered Yanxi Hall, making a beeline for Noble Consort Hui’s side. He whispered into her ear one sentence.
“The emperor is laughing.”
Noble Consort Hui nodded, then nodded again to her personal palace maids. One of them brought the eunuch aside and placed some money into his hands.
Li Yu wasn’t the only one who had eyes and ears in the palace. Noble Consort Hui also did. Those who delivered useful information to her were generously rewarded.
Like right now. Although the low ranked eunuch only gave her four words, each word was worth its weight in gold.
Since His Majesty has laughed, his mood tonight should not be bad.Noble Consort Hui sought to hang on to that thread of hope. Probably…
“Your Majesty, has there been any good news?” Concubine Jia asked with a smile.
Noble Consort Hui glanced at her without responding. Then she smiled as well. “Not really.”
In Yanxi Hall, other than herself, there were also Consort Xian, Consort Yi, and Noble Lady Wan present. These imperial concubines assembled themselves by rank, sitting in their designated seats. This wasn’t a nighttime meeting. Rather, they were waiting for Emperor Hongli to choose one of them for the night.
Every night was the same. The servants would send a tray of each imperial concubine’s name tag to Yangxin Palace, each top of the name tag verdant. As the imperial concubines waited, backs straight as a ramrod, they craned their necks to see farther down the exit. In each of their hearts burned an ember of hope.
“His Majesty hasn’t chosen anyone in a while,” said Concubine Jia. Seeing that Noble Consort Hui would not answer, she had changed the topic. She sighed. “Would he also spend tonight alone?”
Everyone was worried that this statement might hold true. Even Noble Consort Hui found the mood heavy.
One must not think Noble Consort Hui’s status as high. Even though in the imperial harem, whatever she said became the truth whether it was in reality¹, and the empress sometimes had to watch her expression when making decisions, Noble Consort Hui had one glaring Achilles’ Heel—she lacked a son.
Beautiful women were like flowers, growing older each year. One day, she too would grow old. And in the imperial harem, what was not in shortage the most was beautiful young women. Young elegant ladies². At that time, would the emperor still flip her name tag? Of course not.
I hope to have a child… Noble Consort Hui could not help but think that to herself.
Once the son you had raised grew up, he would take care of you in return. This was the case for civilians, and even more so in the imperial palace. Otherwise, once the imperial concubines grew old, who would take care of them? Even if the sons weren’t the smartest, they would still be a first-ranked prince³ and back up their aging mothers. If an imperial concubine was lucky, she’d give birth to a clever son, a son that was both talented and virtuous. And the emperor would like him. In such a case, even the position of empress dowager wouldn’t be impossible to grasp in the future.
Noble Consort Hui rubbed her empty abdomen and was unwilling to let anyone know the news she had heard. How she wanted for her words to be the final decision. That way, she could have the emperor choose her name tag. She really wished that Li Yu would just hand her name tag to the emperor. The longer she waited, the more worried she became. Noble Consort Hui rubbed at her fake nails⁴, casually asking, “Has anyone seen Consort Chun?”
Fake nails.
“Your Majesty, Consort Chun caught a cold. She is still unwell and could not come tonight,” Concubine Jia said. She always seemed knowledgeable of most matters.
Noble Consort Hui glanced at her again and lazily said, “One year consists of 365 days. That Consort Chun would be sick for half of that time. She’s like an ill Lady Shi of the West.”
This translation is the property of Sleepchaser at https://sleepchaser.wordpress.com. If you read it anywhere else, it’s stolen.
“Your Majesty is right,” said Noble Lady Ying, attempting form a relationship with Noble Consort Hui. “Consort Chun’s body is weaker than most. She falls ill every two to three days. Yesterday we were talking about going to visit her.”
“Why go?” Noble Consort Hui’s smile did not quite meet her eyes. “The empress will take care of Consort Chun. Why should you and I be concerned?’
Those words startled Noble Lady Ying, and she did not know how to respond. A weak ‘yes’ escaped her lips.
Seeing that Noble Consort Hui had reprimanded her, the rest of the imperial concubines dared not speak more than ever. Each and every one of them wanted someone more powerful to back them up. Each and every one of them wanted the support of Noble Consort Hui. But her moods were spontaneous. They had a hard time figuring out her moods, her likes and dislikes. If they angered her by accident, the rest of their days in the palace would be difficult.
Noble Consort Hui played with her fake nails, and suddenly said, “Where is Noble Lady Yu?
Everyone in the room stayed silent.
Noble Consort Hui lifted her gaze, directed it to a beautiful green-clad woman. “Concubine Yi, I’m asking you. Where is your good friend Noble Lady Yu?”
In the imperial harem, not everyone fought each other. There were also some who forged bonds of friendship like Noble Lady Yu and Concubine Yi. Although they weren’t sisters by blood, they acted like they were. They helped each other and comforted each other.
Concubine Yi quickly schooled her emotions and kept her expression natural. She rose to her feet. “Responding to Your Majesty, Noble Lady Yu is not feeling well and has already reported that she would be absent…”
“Oh?” Noble Consort Hui rested her head on a hand. “Another frail person…”
She only asked this to past time. But now that she had caught Concubine Yi’s nervous expression, this had lit an ember of suspicion.
Before Concubine Yi could come up with an elaboration on Noble Lady Yu’s absence, Concubine Jia smiled. “Looks like recently a bout of sickness⁵ has hit Yangxin Palace. People are getting sick one by one. To prevent this, we should have the imperial physicians prescribe preventative medicine for everyone.”
“Where is Noble Lady Yu?” Noble Consort Hui asked, staring straight at Concubine Yi. “Should we summon an imperial physician to check on her?”
Perhaps aware that Noble Consort Hui had caught sight of her previous nervous actions, Concubine Yi tried her best to seem calm. “This concubine had wanted to send an imperial physician over, but since young, Rong⁶ doesn’t like to eat medicine. She only has a light cough, nothing too serious. After resting for a few days, she will be fine…”
As Concubine Yi had spoken, Noble Consort Hui’s eyes never left her, gaze sharp. Frightening. As if any second now and it would slice her brain in half, to unearth what was hidden inside.
At that moment, the doors opened. The head eunuch Li Yu entered Yanxi Hall.
Noble Consort Hui’s attention shifted to him, and she and the rest of the imperial concubines rose from their seats. Their gazes converged at Li Yu.
Li Yu’s clothes were plain green, free of other colors and patterns. Resting on his arm was a fly whisk⁷. He saluted to the imperial concubines. Then, as their eyes were full of hope watching him, they heard from his mouth the two words they did not want to hear the most. “Please depart.”
A fly whisk.
These two words shattered their hopes. The higher their hopes, the larger their disappointment. Especially so was Noble Consort Hui. She was one of the most disappointed. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why is the emperor spending the night alone again?”
This translation is the property of Sleepchaser at https://sleepchaser.wordpress.com. If you read it anywhere else, it’s stolen.
Li Yu smiled. “Your Majesty, the Noble Consort, the emperor’s work has piled high into a mountain, and as such he needs to utilize the whole night to finish. Today Your Majesties and Your Highnesses need not wait to be called.”
A cold smile slid across Noble Consort Hui’s lips. Once she left for the door, Concubine Yi let out a sigh of relief. The rest of the imperial concubines saluted after the departing figure of Noble Consort Hui. “These imperial concubines will send off Noble Consort Hui!”
Night stretching on, every imperial concubine returned to their palaces to sleep. But as one group went off to bed, another roused from slumber. In the palace maid dormitories, someone slammed a heavy ruler down.
“Ah!”
“It really hurts!”
“Who is it?”
Pitiful cries filled the room. The little palace maids were smacked awake by the ruler. Because there were two girls to a bed, when one of them woke up from the pain, their first thought was to yell at their bed partner. But once they opened their eyes, what came into view was the cold expression of Aunt Fang. Their flames of anger were immediately extinguished. Each palace maid crawled out of bed like a frightened bird. They respectfully said, “Aunt.”
Aunt Fang held a ruler in her right hand. It was coarse and long, like the leg of a chair. She tapped the tip of the ruler on her left palm, sweeping her gaze through the crowd. Finally, it stopped in front of Jixiang. Aunt Fang’s words were cold enough to freeze. “In what position do you sleep?”
Dumbstruck, Jixiang lifted a hand to wipe the drool on her mouth. With a forced smile, she said, “What other way is there to sleep? Just lying down is enough.”
“Who told you to sleep like that? To lie on your back is to yell at the heavens and curse at the gods! The heavens will give you retribution! The palace does not have such servants that do not follow protocol! Everyone get back in bed and resume sleeping!”
Everyone shared a look until Aunt Fang smacked Jixiang with the ruler. “Hurry up!”
They all scrambled into bed⁸. Because of Aunt Fang’s previous words, they no longer dared to lie on their backs. They either slept on their sides or bellies. Yet in the end, Aunt Fang still didn’t let them off, generously granting everyone a smack of her ruler.
“You! Point your legs toward the Gate of Divine Prowess⁹!
“And you, bend your left arm over your waist!
“Those who fail to have a proper sleeping position deserve to be hit!”
The heavy ruler smacked down like the rain, both hands and feet fair game. Some of the younger palace maids were hit until they had to hold back tears. But they dared not cry. They could only bite their lips as if no tomorrow, and then follow Aunt Fang’s orders as best as they could.
It wasn’t until everyone slept on their sides in the same direction, as if they were ceramic dolls that had come out of a kiln, that Aunt Fang finally put away her ruler. They sneaked a glance at her. She coldly said,“Remember this sleeping position. Don’t forget even when you’re sleeping. Go!”
Finished speaking, Aunt Fang left with the two head palace maids she had brought with her.
Once she was gone, the palace maids finally allowed themselves to cry softly. Afraid that Aunt Fang might hear, each of them had tried to muffle their sobs with their hands, the sounds slipping through the gaps between their fingers.
“Yingluo.” Jixiang rolled up her sleeves, eyes misty as she looked at Wei Yingluo. “Aunt hit me so hard that it hurts so much. Help me check out the injuries. Are the backs of my hands already bruised?”
It was dark inside the dormitory, not a single light lit. There was only the dim glow of the moon sneaking through the cloth window panes. Wei Yingluo could not see the back of Jixiang’s hands clearly. Even if they were bruised, what could she do? The hierarchy of the palace was extremely strict. If head palace maids wanted to hit regular palace maids, it was a natural occurrence. There was no room to complain.
“Yingluo.” Jixiang secretly pushed her covers toward Wei Yingluo, like a child who had been hit and was looking for comfort from her family. “Can you hug me to sleep?”
Wei Yingluo touched her face and smiled gently toward her. “Can’t.”
Seeing her smile, Jixiang thought she would agree with her. Who knew she would get a response that was the complete opposite? Surprised, Jixiang asked, “Why?”
Wei Yingluo’s gaze was clear and bright. She decisively said, “Because Aunt Fang will return.
