Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 82

Chapter 82:  Menstruation

Qiu Yuan couldn’t give Yun Si an answer.
The night was deep and still, and the woman on the bed tossed and turned, only barely falling asleep when the sky was about to pale at dawn.

The next day, before Yun Si could think about anything else, her whole spirit had wilted.

Lying on the bed, Yun Si whimpered in pain, her body like a puddle of mud sprawled on the couch.
Qiu Yuan frowned in distress. “Is Mistress still feeling very unwell?”

Yun Si gave a muffled “mm” in reply.

When it rains, it pours, she had only recently fallen into the water, and the imperial physician had said her body had not yet recovered.
Now, right on time, her menstruation had arrived.
And this time, the pain was so severe she felt as if half her life was gone, wishing she could just roll around in bed.

The imperial physician came once, and after he left, a bowl of medicine was sent in.
Not only that, bowl after bowl of ginger soup was brought, until the entire hall was filled with the pungent spicy scent, laced with the faint bitterness of medicine.

All the ice basins in Song Ya Pavilion were removed.

When Tan Yuanchu received the news, he quickly came to Song Ya Pavilion.
He frowned, reached out to touch the woman’s forehead, she was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, her whole demeanor listless, curled up in a corner of the bed.
She looked up at him once, but the pain was so great she didn’t even want to speak.

It was August, yet she had a warm compress pressed to her belly.

When he touched it, the heat made him pull his hand back instantly.
Lowering his gaze, he saw the skin of her abdomen flushed red, pitiful to behold.

Tan Yuanchu’s brows furrowed quickly.

“Why is it hurting so badly?”

Usually, when she had her menstruation, she was only more lethargic than normal, never to the point of trembling all over from pain.

Qiu Yuan said, “The imperial physician said that because Mistress fell into the water some days ago, she caught a chill, and has yet to recover. On top of that, ice basins have been kept in the hall all along, so Mistress’s menstrual symptoms are particularly severe this time.”

It wasn’t as though Yun Si had never used ice before, but this time the pain was unusually intense.

In the end, it was still the aftereffects of that fall into the water.

Tan Yuanchu touched her abdomen again, his brows knitting even tighter, and asked in a low voice, “Is it hot?”

Yun Si, limp and soft, buried herself in Tan Yuanchu’s arms, her voice muffled and unclear.

“It hurts… Stay with your concubine…”

Tan Yuanchu naturally would not refuse.
He lay down with her, and though no ice basins were placed in the hall and Yun Si felt cold all over, he was warm enough to break a light sweat.
He even took off his outer robe, and only when a breeze drifted in through the pillar windows did he feel a hint of coolness.

Hearing the news, the other concubines came to Song Ya Pavilion to visit.
Noise sounded from outside, and Yun Si, who had finally begun to feel a trace of sleepiness, suddenly awoke in alarm.
Her dark brows knitted slightly, and Tan Yuanchu’s gaze turned cold.

“Send them away.”

After Xu Shunfu acknowledged the order and withdrew, the outer room soon returned to quiet.

Tan Yuanchu gently patted the woman’s back, speaking in a low voice, “It’s fine now, sleep.”

Yun Si mumbled a vague response.
Sweat beaded on her forehead, yet she kept saying she was cold.
Qiu Yuan came in to replace her with a fresh warm compress, and after much fussing, she finally drifted off again.

Lowering his head, Tan Yuanchu looked at the section of his sleeve gripped tightly in her hand.
She held it so firmly, as if afraid he might leave.

The look in Tan Yuanchu’s eyes grew gradually darker.
He reached out to gently wipe the cold sweat from her forehead, his voice very soft, “When did you become so clingy?”

The hall was devoid of others, unusually quiet, broken only by the woman’s occasional heavy breathing.
Tan Yuanchu watched her in silence, her brows were faintly furrowed, her slumber still uneasy.

Someone lifted a hand and slowly smoothed the deep crease between her brows.

—

Tan Yuanchu remained in Song Ya Pavilion the entire time, and when the other consorts heard the news, none of them felt entirely at ease.

Unable to enter Song Ya Pavilion, the gathered concubines who had come upon hearing the rumor ended up lingering in a nearby pavilion not far away.
They had originally planned to wait for the Emperor to come out, but as they waited, it dragged on until evening.

An Cairen toyed with a lotus leaf and, seeing the sky grow darker and darker, could no longer hold back.

“Yun Jieyy is far too domineering.”

When the imperial consorts had their menstruation, they would always send someone to the Office of Attendance to have their green plaques removed, lest they clash with the Emperor’s schedule.

And Yun Jieyu?

She completely ignored such rules, keeping the Emperor in Song Ya Pavilion for the entire day.

Lu Pin was also in the pavilion.
Hearing this, she moved a little farther away from An Cairen to avoid being dragged down by her.
She glanced at the other concubines still waiting nearby, seeing clearly that they were unwilling to give up, she shook her head.

“It’s getting late, I’ll head back first.”

From the looks of it, they would never get to see the Emperor at all, so she might as well go back and rest.

Once she left, the concubines in the pavilion looked at one another.
Some of them began to feel the urge to leave as well.
“Consort De is under house arrest, Consort Jing doesn’t involve herself, so in this temporary palace, Yun Jieyu is the highest in favor. Naturally, no one can do anything to her.”

Someone sighed, having to admit the truth.
If they kept waiting and word reached Yun Jieyu, they would only end up offending her.

One by one, the concubines gradually dispersed in twos and threes.

Seeing this, An Cairen frowned deeply, and in the end, she was the only one left in the pavilion.

Lowering her voice in resentment, she muttered,
“One after another, they’re all unhappy about Yun Jieyu’s favor, yet not a single one dares to fight for it. They’re afraid of causing trouble yet still want the Emperor’s favor, how can there be such an easy thing in the world!”

Seeing that everyone had left, Gui Chun tugged at her mistress’s sleeve, hesitantly whispering,
“Mistress, they’ve all gone. Why don’t we head back too?”

An Cairen shook off her hand, lifted her chin, and gave a cold snort.
“They may be timid and overcautious, but I’m not afraid.”

Gui Chun wanted to persuade her again, but An Cairen frowned and muttered under her breath,
“What are you afraid of? This isn’t Song Ya Pavilion’s territory. Can’t I just sit here and enjoy the moon?”

Gui Chun was left speechless.

She thought her mistress truly wasn’t afraid of offending Yun Jieyy, but it turned out there was still some fear hidden in her words, she only dared linger because this was not Song Ya Pavilion’s domain.

Seeing she couldn’t convince her, Gui Chun could only swallow her words.

As the night deepened, the hum of mosquitoes arose around the pavilion.
An Cairen, irritated by their bites, looked toward Song Ya Pavilion, there was no movement at all.

Finally realizing she would never get to see him, An Cairen’s eyes widened.
“She’s on her menstruation, so could the Emperor really be spending the night in Song Ya Pavilion?”

After waiting another quarter of an hour, An Cairen’s stomach had been growling nonstop.
The buzzing of mosquitoes around them was loud, and she got bitten again, painful and itchy, so she quickly stood up.

“Forget it, let’s go back. What a lousy place, why are there so many mosquitoes!”

Gui Chun, seeing her finally give up, let out a sigh of relief and hurried to help her prepare to leave.

They had been waiting in the pavilion all day and had no lanterns, so they walked on under the moonlight.
They had just stepped down from the pavilion and taken only a few steps when, out of the corner of her eye, An Cairen spotted something and suddenly grabbed Gui Chun.

Gui Chun, puzzled, was about to speak, but An Cairen covered her mouth.

Hiding their bodies behind the pine and cypress trees, Gui Chun followed her gaze—
and saw that Liu-shi, who was supposed to be confined to her courtyard, was actually sneaking around by the lakeside.
She was looking all around her, clearly guilty and nervous.

Gui Chun immediately realized something was wrong.
She held her breath, raised a hand to cover her nose and mouth, and didn’t dare make a sound.

She glanced back at her mistress, only to find her looking excited, as though she had just discovered a great secret, which made Gui Chun feel a bit weary.

A secret.

Especially a secret involving someone of high rank, one careless move could cost a life.

Someone was waiting for Liu-shi at the lakeside.
They were too far away for An Cairen An to hear what was being said, but in the moonlight she could see Madam Liu crying the whole time, as if pleading for something.
Then, just as Liu-shi turned away, the person who had been speaking with her suddenly reached out a hand.

Splash—

A heavy sound of something hitting the water rang out.
An Cairen jumped in fright, almost crying out, but fortunately she still had some sense left and clapped her hand over her mouth.

Even so, a flicker of terror crossed her eyes.

Murder!

Liu-shi kept struggling, but the person on shore never left, quietly waiting until the water’s surface became still again.

An Cairen didn’t dare reveal herself.

She didn’t know how long had passed, but her legs had gone numb from crouching before the person on shore finally turned and left.
By then, the water was already calm, if anyone passed by now, they would never imagine that someone had just fallen into the lake.

After a long while, Gui Chun called out to her mistress, and An Caieen finally snapped out of it.
She grabbed Guichun’s arm and said in horror,

“Did you see that?”

Gui Chun nodded, her face heavy and uneasy.

An Cairen kept muttering something, when suddenly she frowned. “So it really was her.”

Earlier, though the moonlight was faint, it had still been enough for them to clearly see who had pushed Liu-shi into the water.

Gui Qiu, from the palace of Consort De.

Thinking back to what had just happened, An Cairen couldn’t help but shiver.
Who knew how many cruel and heartless things this Gui Qiu had done before, to be able to push Liu-shi into the water without the slightest hesitation?

She had even stayed on the shore to make sure Liu-shi wouldn’t come back up before calmly turning and leaving.

Gui Chun whispered, “Mistress, let’s hurry back. Let’s just pretend we never saw this. Otherwise, if… if it’s discovered that we know about it, this servant is afraid…”

She didn’t finish saying what she feared, but she did glance toward the lake.

An Cairen glared at her and said irritably, “Why are you so timid?!”

Gui Cgun was speechless.
In the harem, self-preservation was the best policy, only her mistress was foolish enough to want to get involved in such matters.

An Cairen glanced again toward the lakeside, but in the end, afraid that Gui Qiu might return, she didn’t dare linger and left the place with Gui Chun.

—

Tonight was anything but peaceful, but Yun Si had gone to bed early and knew nothing about it.

Liu-shi had been demoted to a commoner, and for the moment, her disappearance caused no stir in the temporary palace, not even anyone noticing.

Yun Si had been feeling unwell and lay in bed for three days straight, never even managing to go to the hot springs she’d been longing for.
When Tan Yuanchu first arrived, she found her with her eyes drooping, looking listless.

Tan Yuanchu raised an eyebrow, “Still feeling unwell?”

Yun Si made a faint sound of acknowledgment.

It had already been three days. She wasn’t really feeling unwell anymore, at most still a little sluggish, but with things weighing on her mind, she couldn’t summon any energy.

Tan Yuanchu gave her a once-over.
The room wasn’t filled with hot steam, and she was no longer clutching a hand warmer all day. Her face even showed a hint of color again.
Knowing she was gradually recovering, Tan Yuan finally felt at ease.

Qiu Yuan exposed Yun Si’s thoughts,

“Your Majesty, ever since Mistress came to the temporary palace, she’s been wanting to soak in the hot springs. She still hasn’t been able to go, and she’s been secretly annoyed about it.”

Tan Yuanchu cast her a glance.
“If you want to go, then go. Who’s stopping you?”

Yun Si grumbled gloomily, “It’s easy for you to say. In my current situation, going to soak in the hot springs would just be causing trouble for others, wouldn’t it?”

Tan Yuanxhu reached out, his knuckles tapping lightly against her forehead, speaking offhandedly.
“The hot springs are fed by running water, it won’t be a problem.”

Yun Si tilted her head and asked hesitantly,
“Really?”

When Tan Yuanchu nodded, Yun Si’s apricot eyes lit up at once. She got down from the bed and called for Qiu Yuan to help her dress and do her hair, looking as if she’d suddenly come back to life.

Leaning against the soft couch, Tan Yuanchu watched the woman’s lively, graceful manner as her gaze darted about. His brows lifted slightly, and a trace of an almost imperceptible smile flickered in his eyes.