chapter 29

“Did you hear?” A palace maid stealthily approached Linglong’s ear. “Her Majesty the empress is really fond of Yingluo. General Manager Wu specially instructed Granny Zhang to transfer Yingluo to Changchun Palace!”

Her fingers trembled. A bead of blood from the needle’s prick. Linglong wiped away the red, leaving behind not a trace.

“She truly is fortunate to be able to wait on Her Majesty the empress.” The palace maid sighed. “Linglong, I really pity you.”

Linglong smiled in a faint manner. “Why do I need to be pitied?”

“Your appearance and skill in embroidery don’t lose against hers. But Granny Zhang just has to be biased like that! If the one sending the birthday banquet gift had been you, the person being transferred to Changchun Palace would not be Wei Yingluo!” Noticing Linglong’s countenance growing unsightly, the palace maid quickly changed topics to console her. “But it’s also good that she’s gone. Without her around, you can bask in the limelight!”

Who would desire to be in limelight in this run-down embroidery workshop?!

Yet, Linglong still could keep her elegant demeanor. However, her embroidery became more and more disorderly.

“Granny, you take care of me too well.”

“Your silly elder sister was the apprentice I was proud of. To give her face, I have to take care of you well.”

After Linglong had sneaked a peek at that scene, it kept appearing before her eyes.

How could this be just considered taking care of her well?!

The best resources and the best opportunities had all been given to Wei Yingluo! Everyone else did not even have a sliver of a chance to stick out!

“If Granny Zhang was willing to treat me in such a way, I would also have obtained the empress’ recognition. I would also have those two bolts of precious silk and the pair of hairpins! Ouch!” Once again, she pricked her finger tip. She stuck it in her mouth. Looked at the embroidery frame before her. Looked at the mess embroidered on its surface. Anger filled her heart. She picked up the pair of scissors by her side. Snip!

“Linglong!”

Linglong’s hand shook, slicing a long gash from left to right on the cloth attached to the embroidery frame. The embroidery was the image she was most skilled at: a cat in many shades of color. The gash cut across the cat’s neck, beheading it. And that image suddenly turned ominous. The eyes of the cat seemed to stare at her.

In an instant Linglong, flipped the embroidery frame face down on the table. She rose to her feet to greet Granny Zhang. “Granny, I’m here. Why have you looked for me?”

“It’s not me who wants to see you. It’s General Manager Wu.”

Linglong’s eyes shone. She wondered if she was having a lucky break. Was it finally her turn to have a master recognize her for her worth?

“By Her Majesty the empress’ order, General Manager Wu must find the thief who stole the peacock feather thread.” Who would have thought that Granny Zhang’s next words would be the following? “Starting from you, all of you will report what you saw one by one. Whatever General Manager Wu asks, you must answer. Understood?”

With each word more that she spoke, Linglong’s face grew paler.

So much so that even her legs felt limp and painful.

As if a headless cat had grabbed her legs, a pair of cloudy cat eyes staring at her.

Not everyone needed to be interrogated. At the very least, Wei Yingluo wouldn’t be.

As a matter of fact, once General Manager Wu had arrived, the first person he interrogated was her.

“These eyes of mine have never been wrong about a person before.” He kindly said, “Ever since I’ve laid eyes on you, I knew you were absolutely not simple. Sooner or later, you would leave this little embroidery workshop.”

“This is all thanks to the support of your honored self.” Just like during her first meeting with General Manager Wu, Wei Yingluo seemed very respectful. Hands hanging by her side, she bowed. “That day, if it weren’t for your honored self upholding justice, how would I still be here? I will never forget this grace. In the future, if your honored self can use me in any way, may General Manager Wu do so.”

“Haha. You’re too polite. You’re too polite. We’re just helping each other!” General Manager Wu burst into laughter.

How could there be any benefits in the palace that were completely uncalled for? They would treat you well today because they wanted benefits in the future.

General Manager Wu was very optimistic about Wei Yingluo, and did not intend to use the goodwill that she owed him just yet. He gently instructed her a few words, and even spoke in a roundabout way about the things the empress liked. In the end, he patted her shoulder. “Once you arrive at Her Majesty, the empress’ side, you must serve her well. Don’t think that she looks kind and compassionate and slack off in your duties. Just because Her Majesty the empress is merciful doesn’t mean the people by her side are.”

Wei Yingluo’s heart trembled. She nodded. “Yingluo knows. Many thanks for General Manager Wu’s advice.”

The higher ranked a person was, the more cautious their speech and actions. Every word they spoke had been thought of carefully before leaving their lips.

Every word had its profound meaning.

“Alright. Yingluo will think of this more later.” Wei Yingluo looked at the sky and smiled. “Today there’s still many important things to do.”

In the dining hall of the palace maids, a bowl of longevity noodles¹ was placed in front of Jixiang.

Snow-white noodles curled within the broth. Crimson minced pork sat on top, as well as green vegetables.

“Even the gods hunger for longevity noodles, more delicious than immortality peaches². Like a strand of fate, countless years are represented within. A dragon’s 3,000-feet whisker³. Even cranes will sing and celebrate for 800 years⁴. Longevity noodles represent a good and long life. Fates and fortune for you and your family. One bowl of longevity noodles to represent our well-wishes.” Wei Yingluo winked at Jixiang who sat across from her at the table. “May you have a long life and peace year after year.”

“Big Sis Yingluo…” Truly a huge surprise. It took her a long time to break free from her shock. She was so moved that she stuttered. “H-how did you know that t-today’s my birthday?”

“On the first day we entered the palace, didn’t the supervising eunuch say it back then as he verified the list of names?” Wei Yingluo smiled.

“He only said it once. You actually remembered?” Jixiang stared at her in adoration. “Your memory is great.”

“Yes, my memory is good,” said Wei Yingluo with a smile.

How could she have such a good memory? It’s just that she saw Jixiang depressed recently and asked the supervision eunuch.

Even the longevity noodles had been hard to obtain.

The masters naturally could eat whatever they pleased. But if the palace maids wanted to specially eat additional things, they needed to bribe the imperial chefs. Wei Yingluo basically entered the palace empty handed. And she did not have much money. She could only exchange with her labor. After a few days without sleep, she made a few embroidered works for the imperial chef to for that bowl of longevity noodles.

“Hurry and eat. If you wait any longer, it’ll get cold.” Wei Yingluo handed her a pair of chopsticks. “You have to eat the noodles whole. Don’t tear them. This way, you will have a long life.”

“Okay!” Jixiang received the pair of chopsticks, grabbed a strand of noodle, and placed it in her mouth. Then she slurped it up, tears flowing down her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” Wei Yingluo stared blankly. “Is it not good?”

She used another pair of chopsticks to touch the soup and taste it herself. Once she placed it in her mouth… Delicious. It was worth the sets of embroideries she made. So why did it make Jixiang cry?

“Big Sis Yingluo, you treat me so well,” said Jixiang, choking through sobs. “The only person in the palace who truly cares about me is you. Once you go to Changchun Palace, no one will care about me.”

“It’s not like I won’t return after going there.” Wei Yingluo’s heart softened. She hugged her as she said, “Even if I can’t come here, it’s not like you can’t visit me, right?”

“I… can really visit you?” Jixiang looked at her with expectation and worry. “Would that give a lot of trouble for you? I’m dumb, but I know not everyone can visit Changchun Palace…”

“How would that trouble me?” Wei Yingluo placed into her hands the handkerchief she had prepared long ago. “Take it. This is my birthday present for you. From now on, if you miss me, then come to Changchun Palace. If you aren’t allowed inside, have someone send this handkerchief inside. Once I see it, I’ll know you miss me and immediately take a leave of absence to see you. Okay?”

Jixiang’s heart warmed immensely from those words. Salty tears once again flowed down her cheeks and into her soup. But when it entered her mouth, it only tasted like honey.

“Wei Yingluo! Wei Yingluo!” said a palace maid by the door. “Are you here?”

“Yes. What is it?” replied Wei Yingluo as she looked back.

“Someone from Changchun Palace has arrived. Hurry and follow me there,” said that palace maid.

“Big Sis Yingluo, hurry and go.” Once Jixiang had heard the palace maid’s words, she was even more urgent than Wei Yingluo and pushed her by the shoulders. “I’ll stay here to eat the noodles. The bowl of noodles and ingredients will keep me full for a while.”

“Mm, I’m leaving now.” Wei Yingluo glanced at her apologetically, before following the other palace maid out.

After she had left, Jixiang didn’t rush to eat the noodles. Rather, she stared at the handkerchief in her hands, cherishing it.

Embroidered onto the handkerchief was a blond dog. The dog Jixiang had as a pet back home. She had a hard time living in the palace, and it was the same case in her hometown. Her parents were biased toward boys. When her younger brother ate rice, she could only drink soup. And sometimes, she wouldn’t even have soup to drink, hungry to the point of crying. It had been her grandmother who couldn’t bear to see such a sight and brought Jixiang to her side. And with much difficulty, feed her.

Her parents did not support her grandmother’s livelihood. Rather, it was the family’s pet, an old blond dog, that did. Although it wasn’t attractive to the eye, it was skilled in hunting. It would often catch sparrows and voles, bringing it back to them. Otherwise, she and her grandmother would have died long ago.

She seldom spoke of her long-winded past to others, because no one liked to hear it.

Only Wei Yingluo listened. And she even remembered.

“Thank you.” Jixiang pressed the handkerchief to her chest. She said to herself, “Thank you, Big Sis Yingluo. To have entered the palace and have met you are some of the best things to happen to me… It’d be enough for me to live until fifty. The rest of my life can be given to you. May you have a long life and be safe and sound year after year.”

A sigh broke Jixiang’s train of thought. She looked back. In a flash, her expression darkened.

Who knew when Linglong had arrived and sat by her side? It was uncertain what Linglong had experienced prior, but her face was as pale as paper. Panic was evident on it.

Jixiang picked up her bowl of longevity noodles and was about to leave, when Linglong grabbed her.

“Jixiang, how did you become such a person?” Linglong dispiritedly said, “You weren’t like this when you were young.”

The two were neighbors from the same village. However, Linglong’s financial situation at home was many degrees better than Jixiang’s. Sometimes, she would give Jixiang the pastries she couldn’t finish. Because Jixiang was greedy for the food Linglong didn’t eat, she listened to whatever she said when they were young. If she told Jixiang to climb a tree, she would. If she told Jixiang to bark like a dog, she would.

“In the past, we were on good terms. But once we arrived at the palace, you grew distant from me.” Another sighed escaped from her lips. “Is it because of Wei Yingluo?”

“Hmph. So you also know?!” Jixiang didn’t beat behind the bush and said in a flash, “She never provoked you, yet you always talk badly about her behind her back!”

Linglong’s countenance froze. In order to hide her cold expression, she lifted her arm, covering her face with her sleeve, pretending to be wiping at tears. “You only blame me for picking on her. But why don’t you ever think about how hard I work? My embroidery isn’t that much different than hers, yet Granny Zhang is so biased toward her. So I’m not allowed to feel upset?”

“Your skill in embroidery cannot catch up to hers. You’re only especially good at embroidering cats. Everything else isn’t good. How can you compare to Big Sis Yingluo, who embroiders everything well and knows every technique of embroidering?” Jixiang glanced at her, baffled. As if it were expected and right, she said, “If you want Granny Zhang to respect you, you need to work harder and not only embroider cats. Try different things… Oh my, don’t tell me you only embroider cats because you can’t beat Big Sis Yingluo in anything else?”

Linglong’s action of wiping her tears stilled. A chill spread from her body.

“…Alright.” A long while later, she gradually dropped her arm. Pretending to be pitiful, she said, “I will embroider different things from now on.”

Jixiang wasn’t someone who held grudges. After seeing her childhood friend’s pitiful appearance, her heart softened. And she no longer felt like yelling at her. “It’s fine. As long as you don’t target Big Sis Yingluo from now on, we can still be friends.”

“Alright. I swear I will.” Linglong thrust three fingers toward the sky. “If I have even a bit of ill intention toward Wei Yingluo and you, then I will commit su*cide by slamming my head into the wall. May I not have a peaceful death!”

Jixiang grabbed her raised hand and pulled it back down. She complained in a soft voice, “Don’t say this! It’s violating a taboo!”

“Then are we good now?” Linglong looked at her in expectation.

She had already acted to this point. So what could Jixiang do? After groaning for a long time, she nodded in the end.

“Good Jixiang!” Linglong reached out to pull her into an embrace, her chin resting on Jixiang’s shoulder. But in her eyes shone an ominous glint. On her lips a sweet smile. “Speaking of which, today is your birthday. I’ve prepared a present for you…”