As Princess Shengping’s most loyal—and foolish—servant, Rongyao had no choice but to obey when the princess ordered her to seduce the eunuch Qi Shen.
At first, she did not know what seduction meant, nor what would happen after she succeeded in seducing the imposing Chief Eunuch Qi Shen.
Later, lying facedown on the bed, she cried for a very, very long time, nearly dying before she finally understood what seduction meant.
Once the breach had been opened, there was a first time, then a second, a third, and countless more...
On the great bed, gauzy curtains swayed, and from time to time came muffled, barely restrained sounds.
A hand, pale and smooth as jade, reached out from within. Flushed pink against its whiteness, it clenched the bed curtains tightly—only to be swiftly covered by another, much larger hand.
The bed and its curtains trembled for a long while, not settling until the moon hung high at the center of the sky.
From behind the curtains came the sounds of a woman sobbing and weeping, and a man’s low, restrained breaths, rising and falling.
An hour later, the tall and handsome Chief Eunuch Qi Shen emerged from behind the bed curtains. His robes were perfectly neat; not a single layer had been removed. His expression was dark, and his black, vicious eyes were too intimidating to meet. Taking out a spotless white handkerchief, he wiped his lips and face, then unhurriedly began wiping each of his fingers.
“I have granted your request and killed Liu Shuangyu.”
Rongyao’s sobs stopped. After a long while, a soft reply came from within.
“Thank you.”
Liu Shuangyu had murdered her mother. Even though poison had left Rongyao simple-minded, she knew that Qi Shen was powerful enough to avenge her.
And Qi Shen had not disappointed her.
The gloom between Qi Shen’s brows deepened. His hand tightened faintly around the handkerchief as he wiped his fingers.
“I will be leaving the capital for five days. Take care of yourself. When I return, I will ask the princess to give you to me.”
“You must remember this: even though I am a eunuch and lack that thing, I can still serve you as I did today and make you feel good.”
With that, Qi Shen folded away the handkerchief and tucked it into his robes before turning and striding out.
Only after the door shut did the bed curtains part, revealing a beauty with flushed cheeks, tear-filled eyes, and disheveled clothing.
Rongyao stared blankly at the closed door, then lifted a hand to wipe the tears from her face.
She had to get dressed quickly. Soon, she still had to wash the princess’s feet. If she arrived late, the princess would surely punish her by starving her for two days.
She was most afraid of being hungry.
Yet although she hurried over and was not late, the princess still flew into a rage. The princess’s birth mother, Noble Consort Chen, even had Rongyao bound, accusing her of poisoning the princess.
How could she have poisoned the princess? She herself had once been poisoned; she knew how much it hurt. How could she poison the kind-hearted princess?
Rongyao kowtowed until her forehead split open as she tried to explain, but no one listened. Even the kind-hearted princess showed her no kindness now.
“The evidence is conclusive! Guards! Drag this foolish servant who poisoned her mistress outside and beat her to death!”
And so Rongyao was dragged away and struck again and again. During it all, she saw Grand Princess Shengping, no longer kind-hearted; Noble Consort Chen, who had falsely accused her of poisoning; and the reigning Emperor, who had come especially to visit the grand princess.
Even the Emperor, who was said to hold the whole realm in his heart, merely gave her a cold glance. He showed no mercy to a foolish servant like her.
Every one of them was cold.
In the narrow, enclosed passageway came the dull thuds of paddles striking flesh, each blow louder than the last.
Rongyao’s body was covered in blood, her skin split and torn. Her pleading gradually faded until there was no sound at all.
After forty strokes, the simple-minded palace maid who had been accused of poisoning her mistress was dead.
Everyone said that foolish palace maid had deserved to die. She was nothing more than a lowly maid, and a simple-minded fool at that. In the depths of the imperial palace, if not for Princess Shengping’s kindness in protecting her, she would have died long ago. Yet she had repaid that kindness by poisoning the princess!
Someone as foolish and wicked as her was better off dead.
Little Fool Rongyao was beaten to death—wrongfully, cruelly beaten to death. After her death, her soul left her body but lingered on, unable to disperse, drifting through the palace.
Covering her ears, she heard many secrets. Among them were the secrets shared by Grand Princess Shengping, who had caused her unjust death, and Noble Consort Chen.
Noble Consort Chen said, “That little fool is finally dead. Only now can I rest easy. If your imperial father ever discovers that the woman from back then was not me, but Little Fool Rongyao’s mother, neither you nor I will survive.”
Princess Shengping said, “...For all her stupidity, she is actually Father’s daughter. Though she was lucky enough to be born into the right family, she has no destiny to be a princess. One’s fate must be fought for and seized. Look at me—even though I am not a real princess, I fought to gain a princess’s life for myself. And doesn’t the real princess still wash my feet every day?”
...
Noble Consort Chen and Princess Shengping spoke of so very much. Rongyao drifted between them and listened for a long, long time.
Even as foolish as she was, she understood what they meant.
Princess Shengping was not supposed to be a princess.
She was the true princess.
Noble Consort Chen had killed her mother and taken her place.
She was unwilling. She was furious. She hated herself for being stupid, for being foolish, for washing her enemies’ feet day after day!
She wanted revenge, but she was already dead—a lonely ghost, able only to drift about, unable to do anything at all. All she could do was follow them, follow them, keep following them...
Fortunately, not long afterward, Princess Shengping fell ill.
Very ill.
After an unknown number of days had passed, Princess Shengping died. Noble Consort Chen died too. Someone had avenged her.
It was Qi Shen!
After her death, Qi Shen became more and more formidable. He rose from a eunuch in the Imperial Stables Bureau to become the emperor’s Chief Eunuch and personal secretary.
He killed Noble Consort Chen!
He killed the princess!
He was truly amazing!
He was the real good person!
Unfortunately, good people did not live long. In the end, the new emperor sentenced him to death by dismemberment.
He had suffered even more terribly than she had.
When Qi Shen was executed, snow began to fall from the sky. Great goose-feather flakes fell for half an hour, yet they could not cover the bright red bloodstains. Rongyao curled up in a corner beside the crimson palace walls, her soul trembling. Her eyes were scarlet as blood, and she was like a wisp of smoke, about to be scattered by the wind.
At last, after the death of Chief Eunuch Qi Shen, who had once held power over the entire court, Rongyao’s soul finally dispersed.
...
Third year of Xuande, in the rear courtyard of the Zhu residence, which had recently moved from Huangzhou to the capital.
Miss Zhu Rongyao sat blankly on the inner side of the bed, clutching the bedding without making a sound.
Suddenly, the door was pushed open.
A breathtakingly beautiful noblewoman in a goose-yellow silk gown hurried across the threshold.
Her face was full of anxious concern. With her affectionate phoenix eyes faintly red at the corners, her lovely jade-like features and slender figure, she hurried to the bedside and gathered her five- or six-year-old daughter into her arms.
“Yaoyao, you’re finally awake. Let Mother have a look—are you feeling better?”
Cui Huaiyin lovingly pressed her forehead to her daughter’s. Then she let out a long breath, and a relieved smile appeared on her face.
“The fever has finally gone down. That physician did know how to prescribe medicine. At least he didn’t let Yaoyao...”
Before Cui Huaiyin could finish speaking, her daughter suddenly threw herself into her arms, clinging to her tightly as she called out in a soft, childish voice, “Mother.”
Cui Huaiyin froze for a moment. Looking down at her round, chubby daughter nestled against her, her face filled with affection and tenderness. She gently patted the little girl’s plump back and asked warmly, “Why has Yaoyao become so clingy after falling ill? Didn’t you say just a few days ago that you wanted to sleep in a separate room from Mother?”
Little Rongyao’s tears came pouring down. She burrowed deeper into her mother’s embrace, hugging her and trying to press her entire body against her.
Mother’s arms were so warm. This had to be real—not a dream.
She had returned. This was the Zhu household of her childhood.
Her mother was alive. Fake Father Zhu Wangbei was still keeping up his pretense; he had not yet revealed his true colors, nor his intention to sell her off and kill her.
She was still little. She had not yet been poisoned into becoming a fool—someone who could only be deceived and manipulated, who had to ponder over everything for ages.
This time, she would never again become a fool who washed her enemies’ feet every day!
She would protect her mother, her maternal grandfather, her maternal grandmother, her three uncles, and Qi Shen…
Cui Huaiyin continued patting her daughter’s back to soothe her. Once the child had calmed down a little, she cautiously asked, “Did Yaoyao have a nightmare?”
Rongyao lifted her tear-filled eyes to her mother’s face. Grasping her hand with her tiny fingers, she urgently asked in her childish voice, “Zhu Wangbei isn’t Yaoyao’s father, is he?”
Cui Huaiyin pinched her daughter’s rosy, pudgy little cheek and gave a soft laugh. “You really have been muddled by your illness. If your father isn’t your father, then who is? Don’t talk nonsense. If your father hears you, he’ll surely punish you.”
Rongyao tilted her little head, frowning at her mother. So even Mother did not know the truth? But what had happened back then that made Mother believe Zhu Wangbei was her father?
“Madam, Concubine Liu has sent over some food again. Would Madam and Young Miss like to try it while it’s still hot?” Aunt Chenxiang, her mother’s attendant, approached with a lunch box in hand, smiling brightly.
Rongyao’s tiny body stiffened. She stared fixedly at the lunch box in Aunt Chenxiang’s hands.
At this time… the food sent by Concubine Liu…
Aunt Chenxiang was still introducing the dishes Concubine Liu had sent. “Today there are steamed lotus root slices with sticky rice, Young Miss’s favorite, as well as fresh bamboo shoot and sea bass soup and fried white jade tofu, both of which Madam enjoys.”
Rongyao’s pupils suddenly contracted.
In her previous life, it had been the poisoned dishes in this very lunch box that killed her mother and turned her into a fool!
The poison took effect less than half an hour after they ate. Everyone in Qiyin Courtyard—her mother, Aunt Chenxiang, and Aunt Daoxiang included—had been poisoned! Within three days, they had all passed away, one after another.
Because she had been ill and had eaten only one bite, the poison had not run deep enough to kill her. Yet after a grave illness, she had become a fool.
“Doesn’t Yaoyao love Concubine Liu’s steamed lotus root best? Shall Mother feed you some?” Her mother held a slice of steamed lotus root toward her and asked gently.
Rongyao’s body trembled faintly. She was about to knock it away with one slap, but then something occurred to her, and her raised little hand stopped short.
She was smart now. She could not do things without thinking them through.
Rongyao’s bright eyes flickered. Tugging gently at her mother’s arm, she said in a soft, sweet voice with solemn earnestness, “Yaoyao remembers that Grandmother loves sweet lotus root slices best. Shall we send this dish to Grandmother?”
