chapter 7

“Time’s up!”

Finished embroidering or not, the palace maids stopped their hands. Like students of the Imperial Examinations searching for their names on the pass list, they looked toward Granny Zhang, hearts filled with expectation and anxiety.

Originally, it should be Granny Zhang who examined their work. But now, Wu Shulai was present, and she decisively gave this task to him. Mustering respect, she said, “Please judge their work, General Manger Wu.”

“How could I do this for you? It’s better if you’re the one who evaluates,” Wu Shulai said with a smile.

“To have General Manager Wu judge their work is these palace maids’ blessing.”

“Alright.” General Manager Wu rubbed his chin, another smile tugging on his lips. “Since I’m currently not busy, I’ll help.”

Granny Zhang turned to face the palace maids. “Hurry up and thank General Manager Wu.”

“Many thanks, General Manager Wu!”

Wu Shulai waved his hand lightly, and the voices faded to silence. Then he clasped his hands behind his back, beginning his trek in evaluating each of the palace maids’ work.

While he technically agreed to judge every work, in reality he just nodded or shook his head depending on whether he liked what he saw or not. Finally, he reached Jinxiu. And he said two sentences. “Oh, this is quite exquisite. Not bad.”

Despite only receiving seven words, Jinxiu felt waves of happiness crashing into her form. Unlike the others judged before her, she at least received some words. Jinxiu couldn’t help but smile. She wanted to use this opportunity to speak to Wu Shulai, but before she could, he made a sound of surprise and quickly left her bench. He stopped right in front of Linglong.

“This is…” Wu Shulai’s face was painted in shock.

Jinxiu glanced over at them, the threads of jealousy growing and twisting around her heart. It’s just a wild cat. What’s so special about it?

Linglong had embroidered a cat sticking its head out of a bush with scarcely any leaves or flowers. A very cute sight. The cat’s fur had alternating stripes of red and white, and the brightness and the shadows were interwoven, especially so for the fur. Just a look, and it seemed like the cat would come alive any second.

If only its stitches were compared with those of Jinxiu’s embroidery, an image of a beautiful woman deep in slumber¹, then the two works were about the same grade. But Linglong flipped her embroidery around and smiled. “Informing General Manager Wu, this is double-sided stitching.”

sleeping beauty

Hǎitáng chūn shuì tú, a painting of a beautiful woman deep in slumber. The type of image Jinxiu had embroidered.

On the back was also the image of a cat.

Like the image in the front, this cat peeked its head out of a bush. Even it’s silly look was the same. Not to mention the pattern and coloring of its fur.

“Good, good,” said General Manager Wu, handing the embroidery to Granny Zhang. “What do you think?”

Granny Zhang squinted as she observed it. She had worked in the embroidery workshop for many years. As such, her eye for the craft was different from Wu Shulai’s. She found that the end of the stitchings lacked refinement. Some parts of the embroidery used the wrong color of string for the image they were trying to illustrate. Because of this, it was apparent that Linglong had rushed in the end. However, Granny Zhang did not voice those concerns. She only smiled. “Since General Manager Wu thinks it’s good, then it must be so.”

From the look on her face, it was clear that Jinxiu was unhappy. She only received praise from one person whereas Linglong received praise from two. General Manager Wu and Granny Zhang. Even so, Linglong’s embroidery, at its base, was just two cats stitched back to back. In what way could Linglong’s work compete with hers?

Wu Shulai had not stayed by Linglong’s side for long. Because his status was high, he had seen a lot of exquisite things. Therefore, even though he praised Linglong’s work, it wasn’t as if he truly thought it a treasure. In fact, he was merely sorting through the trash for something salvageable. And this double-sided embroidery should be the best this group could offer…

But he was wrong.

Wu Shulai stopped by Jixiang. Stared at the embroidery in her hands. For a long time, he stayed silent.

His silence caused Jixiang a lot of stress. As time passed by, Jixiang’s breathing became harder and more jagged. Even her knees started to grow weak. At any moment, she would kneel from fear.

“This peony is so realistic. Both the shape and spirit are so realistic. Good, good, good!” praised General Manager Wu. He even used the word “good” three times. Then like a hammer striking down, he decisively said, “This old man² has lived in the palace for many years. Rarely do I see such extraordinary embroidery! This is the best! This is the best!”

After the first two instances of “good,” Jinxiu’s face had already changed color. When she heard the third “good,” she straight up sneered. “Why doesn’t the General Manager look at Wei Yingluo’s work next? I’ve noticed that she’s the slowest among us. Her embroidery must be the best!”

A frown slid across Wu Shulai’s lips. Noticing his change in expression, Granny Zhang immediately reprimanded her. “Who told you to speak?”

Paling, Jinxiu dropped her head.

“It’s fine,” said Wu Shulai, his voice soft. “Who is Wei Yingluo?”

Everyone turned to stare at the person in question.

Expressionless, Wu Shulai slowly approached Wei Yingluo’s side. Noticing that her embroidery was flipped over, he said, “Let me see what you’ve done.”

“Yes.” Wei Yingluo flipped her embroidery back. A picture of a fowl, brightly-colored and brilliant, entered everyone’s gaze.

Originally, Jixiang had stitched half a golden koi. In the short span of half an incense stick, Wei Yingluo had transformed it into a brilliant golden fowl³, its gaze directed at the sun. Its wings were spread behind its back, as if it were about to take flight. Each feather was dyed in golden sunlight, and the embroidery gave off a rich and noble impression. The fowl’s comb was crimson, and especially so was a speck on it that was red as blood. It was the finishing touch⁴ that brought the fowl alive.

In Wei Yingluo’s hands that red speck was a success. But such a success came from Jixiang’s blunder.

Only a few people in the workshop knew why the fowl’s comb was bright as blood. The reason was this: real blood had seeped into the threads. Wei Yingluo had ingeniously transformed the blood that Jixiang had rubbed into her embroidery into a touch of red on the comb of the fowl.

Other people did not know this, and only admired the skill of the needle and the meaning of the image. Even the picky Granny Zhang couldn’t help but praise the embroidery after seeing it. “So delicate. The needlework is good too. This year’s new palace maids are quite talented!”

Jinxiu was full of dissatisfaction. She had purposely led Wu Shulai to Wei Yingluo, but instead of getting her in trouble, Jinxiu introduced her to a benefactor. The moment she tried to speak, to complain to the General Manager, the nearby Linglong tugged at her.

She glared at Linglong. “What are you do—”

Another palace maid not too far away blurted, “General Manager, Wei Yingluo helped someone cheat!”

Once these words left her lips, the whole workshop went silent.

Mountains had varying heights, water had varying depths, and people would always fight for the top spot. Palace maids were like this. Elegant ladies also.

“Daughter of Assistant Minister Nalan Yongshou. Nalan Chunxue, sixteen years of age!”

In Yanhui Loft of the Imperial Garden, the selection continued.

“Now that it’s mentioned, that little palace maid… What was her name again?” Nalan Chunxue paused in her steps, occupying herself with her thoughts. “Now isn’t the time to think about things like this. Nalan Chunxue, it’s your turn.”

She bottled up all her distracting thoughts and lowered her head as she followed the line forward. Once she stood before Hongli, she saluted. “This official’s daughter, Nalan Chunxue, greets the Emperor.”

It seemed that the ruckus earlier had spoiled his mood. Hongli’s expression was colder than ever, patience wearing thin. He stared at Nalan Chunxue, not a word leaving his lips. In the time in which he was silent, everyone present felt as if a dark cloud had crushed them from above. Everyone was too scared to even breathe.

“What is going on with your ears?” Hongli suddenly said, swift as lightning.

The fear skyrocketed. The way he asked this question was akin to how he had asked Wuya Qingdai, “What is going on with your shoe?”

After that, Wuya Qingdai had fallen into disaster. The stone tiles on the ground were still stained with her blood, two long and twisting streaks. The servants had rushed to clean it with water, in fear that come a particularly strong sunshine, the remnants would attract insects.

Nalan Chunxue naturally felt something was amiss. To say she wasn’t afraid would be a lie. However, she was different from most people. The more strange the atmosphere was, the more calm she became.

“Replying to Your Majesty,” Nalan Chunxue’s demeanor and posture were graceful and noble, and she did not move from her spot in the slightest. She said, “The father of this official’s daughter has always said we must wear three earrings on each ear and wear flower pot shoes⁵ on each foot. These are long-standing traditions of our ancestors. If we follow the Han women in piercing our ears only once, we will be neglecting our roots.”

flower pot shoe

Flower pot shoes.

Each batch of elegant ladies numbered five girls, and there were still four girls by the door. As those words left her lips, three of them unconsciously lowered their heads, reaching out a hand to touch their earlobes. Sure enough, there was only one earring per ear.

Of those five people, only Nalan Chunxue stood with every ear pierced thrice, showcasing three precious earrings for each. Red, blue, and white existed in harmony, and with just a glance, it set her apart from the others.

Previously, someone had asked her why she dressed up like so. Nalan Chunxue had smiled without giving an answer. As it turned out, it wasn’t that she wouldn’t respond. Rather, she wanted to give her answer in front of a certain person during a certain occasion.

“Well said!” said Hongli, ecstatic. He slapped the table. “The Qing dynasty has ruled for many years. Manchuria’s old customs have gradually declined. We have made the people learn the Han’s language⁶ and etiquette, but that didn’t mean they should forget themselves!”

Then he nodded to the head eunuch.

Understanding his intention, the head eunuch loudly announced, “Leave the nameplate!”

Nalan Chunxue saluted. Her attitude was like before, elegant and graceful, without the slightest inkling of arrogance or impatience. A calm and gentle person.

“Daughter of Lu Shilong, minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments⁷. Lu Wanwan, sixteen years of age!”

With such a great specimen like Nalan Chunxue before her, it made Lu Wanwan seem like only the daughter of a small official.

Too timid and nervous, she forgot the proper way to walk in that moment. As her left leg moved forward, so did her left arm, and so forth, all the way to the front where the emperor sat. Before she could lift her head to show her beautiful features, Hongli burst into laughter.

“We still have much work to do.” Hongli rose to his feet. “We’ll leave first.”

“Your Majesty!” Empress Fucha rushed through her words. “Then what should we do about the selection?”

Hongli stretched his back. He absentmindedly passed Lu Wanwan on his way to the exit. “Empress, you can make the decisions from here on out. We trust your judgement!”

Finished speaking, he left without looking back. Those who remained at Yanhui Loft shared a look.

Noble Consort Hui lazily lifted a hand to her side, grabbed the hand of a maidservant, and used it to support herself to her feet. “Since His Majesty has left, there’s nothing left to see. This one will retire first.”

She did not wait for the empress to respond, and took her sweet time to leave.

A sigh escaped from Empress Fucha’s lips. Summoning a positive expression, she observed Lu Wanwan.

Her temperament was that of the Mother of the World⁸. Especially her gaze, gentle as a mother watching her children. Under such a gaze, Lu Wanwan let out a sigh, the nervousness and anxiety gradually waning.

Lu Wanwan’s change in expression was not missed by Nalan Chunxue. She couldn’t help but say to herself, “She’s not my opponent…”

It’s true that Lu Wanwan’s beauty ranked first among the group of elegant ladies. However, she did not know how to play to her own advantages, letting her opportunities slip through her fingers like grains of sand. She was timid and reminiscent of a silk flower⁹, always searching for a large tree that could shelter her from the wind and rain.

But Lu Wanwan failed to think about her current location. This was the imperial harem.

Relying too much on a single person was tantamount to placing one’s life in their hands.

“If she’s not my opponent… Then who is?” Nalan Chunxue said to herself, a green-clad figure suddenly appearing before her thoughts.

The green uniform of a new palace maid.

“Why am I thinking about her?” Before she realized it, a laugh escaped her lips. “I’m an elegant lady who passed the selection. She’s just a humble palace maid. She doesn’t have the same qualifications as me, so how will she have the opportunity to compete with me?”