Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 64

Chapter 64 – Panju Hall

No one expected Yun Si to make the first move, but before Su Jieyu could speak, there was a commotion in the inner hall, and Her Highness the Empress finally arrived, slowly and leisurely.

After the Empress sat down, Yun Si followed the others in standing up and kneeling to salute. The Empress allowed them to rise, and her gaze naturally fell on Yun Si, a smile in her eyes.

“Yesterday His Majesty issued a decree granting you a rank. I was just wondering when I would get to see you. I didn’t expect His Majesty to release you so soon.”

The Empress was indeed a little surprised.

After all, arranging a palace is not a simple matter; when it gets complicated, it takes several days. The Empress was well aware that this title and palace arrangement were definitely not decisions made by His Majesty in a short time.

The Empress discreetly glanced at the only vacant seat in the hall.

Unfortunately, someone tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice.

Yun Si’s eyelids trembled slightly, as if a bit shy from the remark, and she said softly, “His Majesty misses Your Highness. Today, he specially sent this concubine to pay respects to Your Majesty.”

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall couldn’t help but feel a pang of bitterness.
Who couldn’t hear the meaning behind her words?

Afraid she didn’t understand palace rules, His Majesty had especially instructed her to come pay respects—everything about this spoke of how much importance His Majesty placed on her.

The Empress covered her lips and smiled. Who His Majesty truly cared about, she could naturally hear, but she was also quite pleased with Yun Si’s tact. His Majesty’s favor was one thing; Yun Si’s open respect toward her was another.

The Empress said gently,

“His Majesty values you, has granted you the fourth-rank position of Jieyu. After entering the inner palace, if there is anything uncomfortable, just tell me, and you should also get along well with your sisters in the harem.”

Yun Si blinked her apricot eyes. In this entire harem, only Her Highness the Empress could speak of all the women in the inner palace as sisters without any ill will.

No matter what criticisms she had in her heart, Yun Si didn’t show a trace of them. She stood and knelt down again, her face full of respect. “This concubine will remember Your Highness’s teachings.”

The main point of today’s greeting was Yun Si’s rank. Everyone had been eager before arriving, but after learning the truth, the atmosphere turned stiff, and for a moment, no one wanted to speak.

There were many concubines in the palace, but not many high-ranking ones.

Yun Si was already considered high-ranking in the palace. Precisely because of this, everyone was shocked—she had just entered the palace, so how could she have such a high rank?

During the late emperor’s reign, no matter how noble a woman’s family background was, the highest title she could receive upon entering the palace was “Meiren.”

Her Majesty the Empress also noticed what everyone was thinking and quickly ended the greetings.

Only Su Jieyu stayed behind.

No one paid attention, and Yun Si was helped out by Qiu Yuan. She didn’t look at Su Jieyu, nor did she care that Su Jieyu hadn’t answered her question. Su Jieyu was pregnant—truthfully, Yun Si didn’t really want to clash with her.

She had no children of her own. Even if Su Jieyu safely gave birth to a royal heir, Yun Si wouldn’t be the one to feel the most threatened.

To put it bluntly, Su Jieyu’s child would be neither the legitimate heir nor the eldest. Even if there were concerns, they wouldn’t be directed at Su Jieyu.

Outside Kunning Palace, many ceremonial guards and items were arranged.

After the greetings concluded, the concubines left according to their ranks, with every step emphasizing hierarchy and order.

Consort Jing never came to pay respects, and today Rong Zhaoyi had also taken leave. Yun Si glanced up and was surprised to find that the only one ahead of her was Consort De.

She raised her eyebrows in astonishment.

There were few consorts in the palace with a rank of third-grade or above, but there were concubines whose rank was equal to Yun Si’s. However, these concubines had rank without favor, and they had no desire to compete with Yun Si over temporary status.

Those who wanted to compete were not higher in rank than Yun Si.

Thus, the current scene unfolded: Yun Si watched as Consort De boarded her ceremonial carriage, but no one else was in a hurry to leave. Consort De turned to Yun Si unhurriedly, raised her eyes with a smile, and said,

“When Yun Jieyu was in the Yangxin Hall, this palace already felt a certain affinity with you. If Yun Jieyu has time, do remember to visit this palace’s Yihe Palace.”

Yun Si’s heart gave a sudden thump. She looked up at Consort De, whose face still bore a gentle smile, as if her words were entirely casual.

But Yun Si did not dare take it lightly.

What in the harem could ever be simple?
Moreover, for Consort De to invite her to Yihe Palace right outside Kunning Palace—this gesture alone could lead people to overthink.

Drawing her in?

That was the only possibility Yun Si could think of.

Truth be told, if there was anyone in the harem who could pose a threat to the Empress’s position, it would be none other than Consort De. She had a high rank, a noble family background, and the only imperial son under her care. If Yun Si were the Empress, even she would feel wary of Consort De.

Yun Si lowered herself and replied vaguely, “This concubine will remember.”

She didn’t say a word about whether she would go or not. Consort De probably understood her thoughts but said nothing further, and the procession finally departed.

Once she had left, Yun Si was finally able to board her own ceremonial carriage and head to Chu’an Palace.

The grand ceremonial procession departed in full splendor. Seeing this scene, the onlookers couldn’t help but feel conflicted. Someone murmured softly, “Why is the gap between people so great?”

Being born into a good family still couldn’t compare to having a beautiful face.

Inside Kunning Palace, Her Highness the Empress looked at Su Jieyu, whose expression was cold, and quietly sighed in her heart. After everything that had happened, she still couldn’t keep calm.

The Empress spoke gently, as if nothing had happened.

“Your complexion doesn’t look well. Is the child in your belly troubling you again?”

With no one else in the hall and emotions heightened during pregnancy, Su Jieyu couldn’t quite control her feelings. She said through clenched teeth, “This concubine really can’t understand…”

How could His Majesty be so biased?

The Empress frowned. “Watch your words.”

“Whatever rank His Majesty bestows upon her, it’s not something you can control. Not only you, even I can’t control it. What you should do now is safely give birth to the royal heir you’re carrying, not concern yourself with such trivial matters.”

Su Jieyu instinctively retorted, “How can this be a trivial matter?”

Yun Si was now her equal!

The Empress suddenly interrupted her coldly.

“Compared to the royal heir, this is a trivial matter!”

Su Jieyu was suddenly left speechless.

The hall fell silent. Seeing her like this, the Empress sighed and softened her tone, “You should know what you’ve gone through for this pregnancy. The imperial physician said you must not overthink during this time. Have you forgotten that?”

Su Jieyu could hear that Her Majesty was truly thinking of her. She placed a hand over her lower abdomen. Thinking of all the suffering she had endured recently, after a moment, she choked out.

“This concubine understands.”

Her Highness was right. She had sacrificed so much already—she couldn’t let it all be in vain. No matter how much she despised Yun Si, the royal heir had to come first.

After Su Jieyu left, Bai Zhi frowned slightly, a bit dissatisfied.

“Still so disappointing.”

The Empress glanced at her, “Everyone has moments of losing control. If she didn’t care about Yun Si, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Wasn’t it because of Yun Si’s provocation that Su Jieyu had made up her mind to drink folk remedies to conceive?

But the Empress had to admit, she was a little disappointed in Su Jieyu.

A woman’s situation was already difficult enough—why devote all her energy to others? Paying too much attention to another’s every move would only drain her spirit in the end.

Bai Zhi pursed her lips and didn’t mention Su Jieyu again, instead telling the Empress about what happened at the gates of Kunning Palace after the greeting.

“She clearly has bad intentions. Now everyone in the palace knows that Su Jieyu is Your Majesty’s person, and she goes to rope in Yun Jieyu—if that’s not openly challenging Your Majesty, then what is? Yet everyone in the palace acts like they’re blind, thinking she’s some gentle and noncompetitive person.”

Unlike Bai Zhi’s resentment toward Consort De, the Empress was thinking of Yun Si. She lowered her gaze, hiding the emotion in her eyes.

—

The ceremonial procession made its way to Chu’an Palace, and Yun Si finally saw what Chu’an Palace looked like.

After getting off the carriage, Yun Si didn’t let Qiu Yuan continue to support her—at Kunning Palace, that had merely been an act.

Chu’an Palace was not the largest palace in the harem, but it was certainly the most exquisite, and held extraordinary significance. As they passed the main hall, Yun Si lifted her gaze to glance inside. The doors were not closed, and Yun Si clearly saw the furnishings within. She subtly clenched her handkerchief.

She didn’t understand why Tan Yuanchu had arranged for her to be placed in Chu’an Palace, but it was hard not to breed ambition. Even now, passing by the main hall, she couldn’t help but wonder—when could she move into the main hall of Chu’an Palace?

Unfortunately, she had no answer.

Song Fu led her all the way to the Panju Hall. Compared to the main hall of Chu’an Palace, the Panju Hall was much smaller, but it was still much larger than the former Heyi Hall. Stepping over the threshold, there was a quiet courtyard.

Beside the eaved window in the courtyard stood a crabapple tree, beneath which were a stone table and stone stools. From there, a covered corridor led up—on the right was a row of side rooms, where the palace maids lived, and on the left was Yun Si’s bedchamber.

It was worth mentioning that the Panju Hall had a small kitchen. A fourth-rank Jieyu was allowed to establish a small kitchen; otherwise, even if there was a kitchen in the hall, it could not be used.

There were ten attendants assigned to a Jieyu—four eunuchs and six palace maids. As soon as Yun Si arrived, they came forward to pay their respects.

The doors of the Panju Hall were pushed open, and Song Fu respectfully introduced,

“Your servant received the order early to prepare the Panju Hall. This row of wooden shelves was specially brought in under Eunuch Liu’s instruction. The jade ornaments on them were all bestowed by His Majesty. And this screen—your servant heard it was even taken from His Majesty’s private collection.”

Yun Si followed his gaze. Placed in the inner hall was a six-panel screen embroidered with pine green motifs. Paired with the hall’s green jade tiles, it matched quite well.

But Yun Si’s expression suddenly changed, a flash of embarrassment and anger passed through her eyes!

She recognized this screen—and it looked especially familiar.

Last year, on her birthday, she had stopped Tan Yuanchu. Later, they had made passionate love in the Yangxin Hall, and at that time, this very screen with pine green embroidery had been there.

At the height of passion, she had weakly clutched the corner of the screen. The screen was delicate and would easily crease if not handled with care.

Then, Tan Yuanchu had tapped one of the creases with his knuckles, his voice slow and full of satisfaction, his chin resting against her neck as he asked in a hoarse voice,

“Ruined Our screen—shouldn’t there be a punishment?”

Yun Si dared not recall the full scene from back then. Later, Xu Shunfu noticed the screen’s creases, but Tan Yuanchu had refused to replace it. Yun Si had not dared to look Xu Shunfu in the eye, always feeling he had figured something out. Eventually, she had nagged until the screen was replaced, and after that, Yun Si hadn’t seen it again for a long time.

If not for today, she would’ve nearly forgotten about it.

Song Fu and Qiu Yuan noticed her expression and felt surprised and puzzled.

Yun Si’s voice was hoarse, difficult to speak.

She couldn’t help but grit her teeth inwardly. Tan Yuanchu had deliberately ordered someone to place this screen in her bedchamber—what exactly was he trying to do?!

At that very moment in the Imperial Study, Tan Yuanchu was also asking Xu Shunfu,

“Was the screen delivered to her?”

Xu Shunfu replied, “Yesterday, the people from Central Province Hall already placed it in the Panju Hall.”

Tan Yuanchu raised his eyebrows, the corners of his lips curling casually.

“Pass on the decree. Tonight, the Panju Hall will serve in bed.”