Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Embroidered Shoes

In the palace, Tan Yuanchu opened the lid of the food box. Inside, there was a cold plum juice to relieve the summer heat, along with refreshing side dishes and pastries. He ignored Yun Si and tasted everything. The pastries weren’t too sweet. He seemed to forget his original purpose and asked naturally, “What kind of pastry is this?”

Yun Si lowered her eyes, “It’s lotus root powder and osmanthus pastry. We grind the lotus root into powder and mix it with osmanthus.”

Tan Yuanchu nodded slowly, tasting two pieces of pastry. Suddenly, he caught sight of an oil stain on the woman’s sleeve out of the corner of his eye. He paused for a moment and then looked away as if nothing had happened.

When a concubine sends pastries, anyone who has seen the kitchen can claim to have made it themselves. But when it came to Yun Si, that statement wouldn’t be false in the slightest.

Tan Yuanchu reevaluated the food in front of him. Suddenly, he asked out of the blue, “Are you hungry?”

Yun Si was taken aback. She had been on guard duty all night and only slept for an hour before getting up to prepare food for her mistress. After that, she had been busy nonstop and hadn’t even had a sip of water.

But as a servant, she couldn’t say she was hungry in front of her master.

Yun Si lowered her head, not answering yet. Tan Yuanchu seemed to have lost interest, guessing what her answer would be.

Tan Yuanchu’s eyes narrowed slightly. She seemed to be good at ruining the mood.

His interest gradually waned, and the pastry in his mouth seemed to lose its flavor. The next moment, the woman’s soft voice drifted into his ear, “I’m hungry.”
Tan Yuanchu’s movements suddenly paused. She was looking down, and Tan Yuanchu couldn’t read her emotions.

He just felt that he needed to retract his previous words.

It was rare to see her being obedient, so Tan Yuanchu asked again, “Did your mistress send you today, or did you want to come?”

He asked intentionally.

Yun Si also picked up on the underlying meaning of his question. The seemingly casual question put Yun Si in a dilemma.

She nervously swallowed her saliva. The path ahead of her was clear.

The Emperor was giving her a chance to choose.

She had a feeling that if he asked her this way, he wouldn’t ask her a third time.

The palace was equipped with ice basins, and the cold air wafted over Yun Si’s exposed skin, making her feel a bit uneasy. In an instant, his question brought her back to the previous night.

He held the eight-boned oil-paper umbrella, and she knelt at his feet. He asked her casually if she had been resting well lately.

The sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella made her mind restless.

Now, the fragrance in the palace also made her breathing a bit rapid. Yun Si slowly bent her long, slender neck, her voice very soft and delicate, as if she was still in the same situation as the previous day, worried about disturbing Lu Cairen, “It was my mistress who sent me.”

The atmosphere in the palace cooled down a bit. Yun Si kept her head down, seemingly unaware of anything, her voice trembling slightly as she finished her sentence, “And I also wanted to come myself.”

Tan Yuanchu’s slightly furrowed brows relaxed a bit after she was honest. His gaze still lingered on her face, and like yesterday, his eyes were deep. This time, he said again, “Come here.”

He sat on the dragon chair, and she stood by his feet, the two of them were already very close. Tan Yuanchu’s tone was light, but Yun Si detected a hint of subtle restlessness that flashed and then quickly disappeared.

The palace was silent for a long time. This time, Tan Yuanchu was very patient and didn’t seem to want to rush her.
Yun Si pursed her lips and remained silent for a while before slowly reaching out her hand towards the person in front of her.

Just as she was about to stretch out her hand, someone grasped her hand. Suddenly, her body swayed, and she fell into the person’s arms.

A faint but unmistakable scent of cedarwood wafted over. Yun Si realized belatedly that it was the Emperor’s scent. She wanted to calmly look up, but she found she couldn’t.

The person didn’t give her any time to react. He leaned down and pressed towards her. She was forced to tilt her neck, and her spine seemed to tremble slightly, like raindrops on moss, her fingertips tracing the pillar, and an involuntary itchiness seeped out from her bones. Yun Si weakly clung to the person in front of her, and a shallow coolness was imprinted on her lips.

Yun Si seemed very clear-headed, yet she felt dazed.

The person restraining her leaned down, pressing his lips to hers, without any tenderness, or rather, he wanted more. He forcefully pried open her lips with his tongue, and she accepted it without resistance.

The palace was scented with incense, and the smoke wafted gently. Tan Yuanchu initially just wanted to get closer to her, but the closer he got, the more he smelled a secret scent on her.

Just like yesterday, in the dimly lit palace, the secret candlelight reflected on the woman’s cheek.

Their secret and unspoken touch was mutually understood.

Losing control seemed like it was supposed to happen.

He stood so high, others’ flattery, pandering, or even walking on thin ice, infatuated fantasies, he could see everything clearly, and felt a sense of disinterest. But with her, not only once did he feel disappointed, yet his interest was piqued bit by bit. Another unexpected incident wouldn’t be surprising.

Tan Yuanchu was a man who followed his heart’s desires, so he kissed her, without any carelessness, but rather with a fierce kiss. The woman in his arms was very obedient, she closed her eyes, a bit flustered and unfamiliar, her two arms weakly clinging to his neck.

Tan Yuanchu imperceptibly paused for a moment, and then he bit her lip, his hands tightly grasping her slender waist. Her posture was forced to change, she straddled him, her green skirt gathered between her legs, revealing her smooth and fair legs.

She couldn’t bear the weight and bent down, leaning on the imperial desk, the stacked memorials were squeezed out of space, teetering on the edge. With a rustling sound, something fell to the ground. Yun Si caught a glimpse of the fallen objects – memorials and her embroidered shoes.

Outside the imperial study, Xu Shunfu looked up at the sky, involuntarily calculating the time in his heart. Had Yun Si been inside for a quarter of an hour or two? Or half an hour? After a moment, Xu Shunfu thought, should he prepare a change of clothes for Yun Si?

After waiting for a while longer, Xu Shunfu couldn’t help but wipe away sweat. If Yun Si didn’t come out soon, would the palace have one more master?

Xu Shunfu’s random thoughts hadn’t faded away when he suddenly heard the door behind him being pushed open from the inside. Xu Shunfu immediately regained his composure, turned around, and Yun Si’s face, which seemed to glow with a rosy complexion, came into view. The next moment, Xu Shunfu immediately lowered his head, shocked and not daring to look closely.

Just one glance, and Xu Shunfu could tell that something must have happened inside the hall. The peach-like blush on her cheeks, the spring in her eyes, and the charm that couldn’t be described – it was as if lotus flowers were reflected on her face, making people blush and their hearts beat faster.

Yun Si held a food box in her hand, and Xu Shunfu tentatively asked, “Is the Girl going back to Heyi Hall?”
Yun Si lowered her head and nodded, “After completing the master’s instructions, this servant will naturally return to report.”

Xu Shunfu sighed inwardly but got the answer he needed. He smiled and didn’t say anything more. Since Yun Si was returning to the Heyi Hall, her status was still that of a servant, not a mistress.

But Xu Shunfu didn’t dare to be disrespectful. After all, there weren’t many mistresses in the harem who could make the Emperor wait for half a day on an empty stomach.

On the way back to the Heyi Hall, Yun Si’s face didn’t show any joy. She discreetly touched the back of her neck, seeming to still feel the scent of the fragrance balm.

The fragrance balm only added a scent, nothing more. But Yun Si had a hidden intention. She bet that the scene from yesterday wasn’t just her memory, and the Emperor’s memory wasn’t that bad.

People had flaws.
What they couldn’t have, they wanted. Compared to being open and above board, subtle ambiguity would only be more tantalizing.

The development of the situation was as she had expected, but it was different from what she had imagined. The Emperor was colder than she had thought. He did things without rules, following his whims. What was most fatal was that even if he had feelings for her, he wouldn’t suddenly develop more patience for her.

Yun Si could only change her strategy. She openly acknowledged her feelings and made the ambiguous atmosphere between them clear.

Yun Si closed her eyes, biting her lip in frustration. After a short walk, the flush on her face had already faded.

She was clear that her goal wouldn’t be achieved in the short term. The disparity in their statuses meant that even if the Emperor had feelings for her, it was just a game. Especially after she had made her feelings clear, the Emperor’s interest in her would only stay at this level.

Yun Si took a deep breath, and her almond-shaped eyes gradually became clear. Since progress with the Emperor would stagnate, she would shift her focus to Lu Cairen.

She hurried back to the Heyi Hall via a shortcut, and Xiao Rongzi was waiting for her at the door.

Yun Si lowered her eyes and approached, “What’s going on?”

Xiao Rongzi didn’t answer but looked at her complexion and asked, “Sister, are you okay?”

Yun Si was taken aback, but she quickly composed herself and smiled at Xiao Rongzi, “I’m fine.”

As she spoke, she walked into the palace. However, when she saw the two people kneeling not far away, she was suddenly taken aback and looked at Xiao Rongzi with an inquiring gaze.

Xiao Rongzi didn’t know whether to believe her or not and glanced at her discreetly, swallowing his concern. He also looked at the two kneeling people and whispered, “Song Rong and Qiu Ling just had a dispute and accidentally broke a blue porcelain vase in the palace. The mistress punished them to kneel for two hours.”

Accidentally?

Qiu Ling was a servant trained in the palace, and the probability of her breaking something was very low. Yun Si picked up on the implied meaning in Xiao Rongzi’s words.

Yun Si asked, “Who broke it?”

Xiao Rongzi glanced at Song Rong.

Indeed, Yun Si wasn’t surprised. She was just puzzled, “Why did they have a dispute?”

Song Rong had been following the mistress into the palace and had been bullying other palace maids for a long time, taking advantage of her close relationship with the mistress. But why did Qiu Ling dare to argue with Song Rong in front of the mistress?

After hearing Xiao Rongzi’s explanation, Yun Si understood what had happened. Apparently, when she was in the imperial kitchen, the mistress had scolded Song Rong. When she went to the Emperor’s presence, someone had to serve inside, and it was natural that Song Rong would try to block others from standing out, just like before.

After serving the mistress during her afternoon rest, Song Rong spoke sarcastically to Qiu Ling, who seemed to think that Song Rong was no longer as favored by the mistress as before. Qiu Ling couldn’t help but retort a few times, and the two of them started arguing, waking up the mistress who was resting in the palace.

At the end of the day, no one wanted to be just a servant outside the palace. Song Rong had blocked others’ paths to advancement, which naturally caused discontent. The blue porcelain vase was broken by Song Rong, but she shifted the blame to Qiu Ling. In the end, the mistress punished both of them to kneel and also docked Qiu Ling’s monthly allowance for a month.

But a month’s allowance couldn’t compensate for the blue porcelain vase. It seemed that the mistress understood the nature of the people below her. However, for various reasons, she didn’t expose Song Rong’s lies.

Yun Si shook her head inwardly, thinking that Qiu Ling had lost her composure a bit. Song Rong had followed the mistress into the palace, and people had different levels of closeness. Before the mistress completely lost hope in Song Rong, Song Rong was naturally closer to the mistress than others.

Qiu Ling’s argument with Song Rong was, in a way, a slap in the mistress’s face. The mistress naturally wouldn’t side with her.

When she reached the palace door, Yun Si composed herself and knocked softly, “Mistress, your servant is back.”