She Is Not That Kind of Person
Su Zhenzhen had been here for a long time.
She didn't have anyone she was particularly close to.
There was only this little eunuch. She had once tried to give him half a roasted sweet potato. Even though he hadn't accepted it, Su Zhenzhen was currently in desperate need of a person to lean on.
The little eunuch heartlessly yanked his sleeve back. He looked at the sticky, unidentified substance on the fabric, his expression darkening with gloom.
Su Zhenzhen had cried until her eyes were red and swollen. Although she wasn't exactly clean, her face was truly like a lotus emerging from clear water—utterly pitiable and lovely.
Why did a little eunuch smell so good?
Could this be the so-called scent of love?
"The water in the well is too cold today. Wait until the weather gets warmer before you jump in."
She was different; there was no telling when she might be shoved into a well and drowned by someone else.
After Su Zhenzhen finished speaking with her head bowed, she turned around to go to work.
Work was exhausting; she didn't even have time to talk to the handsome youth anymore.
Lu Hexu stood there, knitting his brows as he stared at the palace maid's retreating figure.
She was thin and frail, shrouded in a thin layer of morning mist.
The sun was about to rise, and Lu Hexu hated the sunlight.
He returned to his sleeping quarters. The curtains were drawn inside the hall, but a single glazed lamp remained lit.
He stripped off his soiled outer robe and tossed it aside, then kicked off his long boots and walked barefoot across the carpet.
A list of hidden agents lay on the imperial desk.
Lu Hexu’s eyes were somber as he suddenly recalled the palace maid’s red, swollen eyes from crying.
Feeling irritable, he reached out and unrolled the list of hidden agents. It was covered in cinnabar markings; most of the agents had been crossed out with an "X." The deep red cinnabar looked like flowing blood.
"This one," Lu Hexu said, his cinnabar brush landing on Su Zhenzhen’s small portrait. He drew a circle around it and told the hidden guard, "Keep her for now."
The hidden guard bowed his head and vanished into the darkness.
-
Su Zhenzhen had been waiting for the sword hanging over her head to fall, and she waited all the way until the Lantern Festival.
She sat under the eaves, stroking her neck with a dazed expression.
How was she still alive?
Today was the Lantern Festival, and the palace had become lively again. The lingering haze seemed to have been swallowed by time. The maids in the lower rooms began to move about energetically again. It was said that beautiful lanterns had been hung in many places, and there were riddle-guessing games.
The Palace Catering Bureau sent over an extra bowl of tangyuan as a treat for the maids.
As Su Zhenzhen ate the sticky sesame-filled rice balls, she couldn't help but sigh.
Though she didn't know why she wasn't dead yet, a miserable life was still better than a good death. Every extra day lived was a day earned.
With a bowl of tangyuan in her stomach, Su Zhenzhen stood up to go for a walk to aid her digestion.
She first did a lap around the courtyard, then remembered it was March. She should be able to find plenty of wild vegetables in the abandoned palace nearby.
The salary for a manual labor maid wasn't high, and the two daily meals were only meant to keep one full; no one cared about nutritional balance.
Su Zhenzhen checked her own pulse; her body was quite weak. She picked up a basket and left the lower rooms, heading toward the nearby secluded palace.
On the way, Su Zhenzhen ran into that little eunuch.
The little eunuch was carrying a rabbit lantern. His frame was incredibly thin and fragile, as if a gust of wind could blow him away.
Su Zhenzhen hurried a few steps to get behind him, intending to give him a scare, but the little eunuch turned around before she could.
Seeing it was her, the little eunuch narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Are you free right now? Let's go dig for wild vegetables together!" Su Zhenzhen invited him with warm sincerity.
Lu Hexu looked down and saw the small, sharpened sickle in the bamboo basket. The corners of his lips curled into an extremely faint and mocking smile.
"Alright."
The little eunuch followed Su Zhenzhen to the nearby palace.
This was a derelict hall. In the spring, when the birds flew and the grass grew, the weeds reached all the way to Su Zhenzhen’s waist.
There was no one else here, so naturally, no lamps were lit. Fortunately, the little eunuch held a rabbit lantern, which just barely illuminated a small area.
Su Zhenzhen led him to a patch of open ground where the tender sprouts of wild Malantou were just beginning to poke through the soil.
Su Zhenzhen started scratching at the dirt to dig them up.
"By the way, my name is Su Zhenzhen. The 'Zhen' as in 'lush foliage.' What's yours?"
With no one around, Lu Hexu glanced at their surroundings. This was indeed a good place to strike, much smarter than those previous hidden agents.
"Mu Dan," Lu Hexu said, giving a name at random.
The next moment, the hand he used to hold the rabbit lantern was suddenly seized.
The woman pulled him with one hand while holding that sharp little sickle in the other.
The light from the lantern licked across the blade, flashing with a sharp, cold glint.
Lu Hexu’s eyes, hidden in the shadows, instantly darkened, yet a flicker of excited heat erupted within them.
"Your name is so beautiful."
[Mu Dan sounds like 'peony.' To die under a peony flower is a romantic way to go.]
[Oops, my hand slipped.]
Lu Hexu jerked his hand back so sharply that the rabbit lantern in his grip nearly went out.
Su Zhenzhen thought to herself that this little eunuch had probably been beaten too much; he seemed to have a bit of a stress response where he’d react whenever someone touched him.
Just like that little cat with the limp.
How pitiful.
This man-eating palace.
But she didn't eat people, so what was he afraid of? At most, she’d take a little lick (not really).
"Wait until I finish digging these vegetables. We can go back, stir-fry them, and eat," Su Zhenzhen said, before returning to her industrious digging. After a while, she found some wild herbs and started digging those up too. Halfway through, she found a bamboo grove and started digging for bamboo shoots. She kept digging until three in the morning, nearly time for her shift to start.
Oh dear! She had gotten carried away.
Su Zhenzhen turned around and found the little eunuch had been following her the whole time, carrying the rabbit lantern. He looked so well-behaved.
It was just that his complexion looked a bit poor.
Probably because his health wasn't good and he couldn't handle staying up late.
Su Zhenzhen was an expert at staying up late. During the day, she would advise her patients not to stay up, to drink less milk tea, and eat less barbecue, but at night, she’d be up late drinking milk tea and eating barbecue herself.
"Why didn't you remind me? It's already this late. Let's hurry back."
Su Zhenzhen picked up the battered basket full of things. After a thought, she picked out the two largest bamboo shoots and gave them to the little eunuch.
"These are for you. I have to go sweep the floors, so I don't have time to cook them for you. If you're free, come find me at the lower rooms." With that, Su Zhenzhen hurriedly ran back to the lower rooms with her bamboo basket, changed her clothes, and went to sweep.
Fortunately, she could sneak a little break during her work. She just wondered if that little eunuch, having stayed up all night, would be punished for a lack of energy during his daytime duties.
-
"Your Majesty, these are the memorials presented today."
Wei Heng, the Scribe Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, brought the memorials sent by the Grand Secretariat before the Sovereign.
He looked to be in his early thirties, with an ordinary, placid face. Although he was a eunuch, he possessed a scholarly air that other eunuchs lacked.
This Sovereign had always slept little and eaten less, as if he were a deity living off celestial dew.
Lu Hexu sat with his knees pulled up, curled into the massive, black-lacquered gold-inlaid throne.
The dragon robe he wore appeared exceptionally broad on him. He rested his chin on one hand, his head tilted to the side, his eyelids drooping.
Wei Heng instinctively paused.
Was he sleepy?
Lu Hexu didn't like to sleep. Whenever he slept, he would dream.
In his dreams, there was always a well, like a bottomless abyss sucking at his soul.
Wei Heng retreated cautiously. Just as he reached the palace doors, the little ancestor woke up.
A pale face, crimson lips, and the sound of finger bones tapping against the imperial desk. "Come back."
Wei Heng turned and walked back.
As expected, the Emperor could never sleep for long.
Lu Hexu summoned Wei Heng back and pointed to the memorials atop the imperial desk.
Wei Heng stepped forward and began to handle them on his behalf.
Lu Hexu continued to lean his head on his hand, staring blankly into space.
When the palace attendants brought lunch, Lu Hexu took one look and simply waved them away.
Wei Heng sighed and signaled for the attendants to take the meal back.
-
When Su Zhenzhen returned from her day’s work, the lower servants' quarters were buzzing with excitement.
Word had spread that a new group of beauties was about to enter the palace. Everyone was hoping to catch a lady’s eye so they could be chosen to serve her, finally leaving these bottom-tier servant quarters behind.
This was the young Emperor’s first selection of consorts. Although his reputation preceded him, there were still those who were unafraid to risk their lives for a chance at such wealth and glory.
After all, fortune favors the bold; who was to say they wouldn't be the lucky ones?
Of course, some were forced into it.
Imperial commands were difficult to defy. If one didn't want their entire family to perish, they had to enter the palace.
Because the Emperor didn’t yet have a single person in his harem, the Empress Dowager was handling the entire affair.
This Emperor was mentally ill, and mental illness can be hereditary!
Su Zhenzhen sighed helplessly. As a mere palace maid, she naturally couldn't influence the Empress Dowager. She wasn't even sure if she herself would live to see the sun tomorrow.
The next day, Su Zhenzhen went to work as usual. She checked the weather; sure enough, there was no sun, only an overcast sky.
March was the season of the late spring chill. Su Zhenzhen had been here for several months now. Aside from that young eunuch she hadn't seen for a few days, she had also befriended a few other maids. One of them, whom she was quite close to, was named Wang Yin.
Apparently, Wang Yin had an older sister named Wang Jin.
Maids who ended up in the lower quarters usually came from very ordinary backgrounds, and Wang Yin was no exception.
Those who could become head maids or serve by a noble's side were all people with family connections.
"Sister, I heard the beauties have already entered the palace. Which beauty do you want to serve the most?"
"I have no money." Su Zhenzhen shook her head at Wang Yin. In her heart, she began to curse Shen Yanci, that blood-sucking capitalist who made people work without any extra pay. Could she even support herself as a manual labor maid? Hah! She was going to die of malnutrition and workplace exhaustion!
Muttering under her breath, Su Zhenzhen hurried out to start her shift.
It was still early, and the sky wasn't fully bright yet. As Su Zhenzhen walked along the palace path, she suddenly saw an old eunuch approaching. Judging by his clothes, he looked like a minor manager or something of the sort.
As Su Zhenzhen passed him, the old eunuch glanced at her and suddenly lowered his voice to call out, "Su Zhenzhen?"
Su Zhenzhen froze. The old eunuch took the opportunity to stuff a slip of paper into her hand.
Su Zhenzhen was incredibly nervous. Clutching the paper, she began to break out in a cold sweat.
Judging by this clandestine method of contact, this old eunuch was likely her superior in whatever spy network she belonged to.
Since she had zero experience being an undercover agent, Su Zhenzhen instinctively started looking around in all directions.
There was no one.
At this hour, the only things awake were her and the roosters.
And this old eunuch.
Su Zhenzhen checked one more time to be sure no one was around, then pressed herself against the palace wall to unfold the note.
It told her to go to a certain location for a meeting; he likely had instructions for her.
Su Zhenzhen rubbed the paper against the palace wall until the writing was blurred and illegible. Then, as she passed the service room of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, she tossed it into the well.
All day, Su Zhenzhen was a bit distracted. As the time for the meeting with the old eunuch drew closer, Su Zhenzhen, who had laid down early after returning, fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up, she felt completely refreshed.
She finished washing up and went to work.
On the way, she ran into the old eunuch again.
The old eunuch had spent the night blowing in the cold wind. His old face was incredibly dry, looking like withered tree bark.
Su Zhenzhen instinctively touched her own smooth, delicate face.
Being young was wonderful. Even after sweeping floors outside every day in this freezing weather, she could still maintain such supple skin and beauty.
"Why didn't you come?" the old eunuch asked with a dark expression.
Su Zhenzhen lowered her head and said sheepishly, "This servant... cannot read."
According to the rules, a low-ranking labor maid like her wasn't expected to be literate in the first place.
The old eunuch was speechless.
He nearly fainted from frustration.
Judging from their exchange the previous day, the old eunuch didn't seem to know her personally, so he naturally wouldn't know whether she was literate or not.
"Useless trash!" the old eunuch hissed, exasperated by her perceived incompetence.
Su Zhenzhen acted out a look of shame and indignation.
The old eunuch flicked his sleeves and left, likely off to find other undercover agents who weren't "useless."
Su Zhenzhen hummed a song as she went to work.
After a day of working like an ox, Su Zhenzhen's spirits were actually quite good because she had already mastered the skill of slacking off and taking secret naps without being caught.
On her way back that evening, she passed the Xiao Nan Palace and discovered wild Bupleurum growing inside.
Spring had arrived, and everything was growing; it was the perfect time for foraging.
This was good stuff.
Xiao Nan Palace was also a deserted palace. Inside, there were not only medicinal herbs but also wild vegetables and some wild fruit trees that had just begun to sprout.
Su Zhenzhen hadn't brought any tools, so she snapped off a tree branch and squatted on the ground to dig.
She was the type of person who easily got lost in things she enjoyed. By the time Su Zhenzhen realized what was happening, the sky had already turned pitch black.
Clutching the Bupleurum, she stepped out of Xiao Nan Palace and found someone standing by the entrance.
"Mu Dan!"
After a day of work, who wouldn't want to look at a beautiful youth to relieve their fatigue?
Ever since she met this beautiful boy, she hadn't even felt the need to write her suicide note anymore.
Indeed, people need something to look forward to.
Like a cat lover returning home after a long day to see their kitten, Su Zhenzhen rushed straight toward Mu Dan.
Here I come, little baby!
Although she couldn't kiss him, hug him, or hold him high, Su Zhenzhen was perfectly satisfied just being able to see Mu Dan’s beautiful young face.
Wait a minute.
"Why is your face so red?" Su Zhenzhen reached out to grab his wrist.
Lu Hexu frowned.
(He has a fever.)
This maid knows medicine.
Lu Hexu paused, stopping himself from shaking her off.
(His wrist is so slender. If I take the chance to give it a little squeeze, he won't notice, right?)
(No, no, no. She's not that kind of person.)
(Would it really hurt to give it one little squeeze?)
(No, no, no. She's not that kind of person.)
Lu Hexu was speechless.
He pulled his hand away.
Su Zhenzhen didn't actually dare to touch him.
She was the type of girl who talked big on the internet but chickened out faster than anyone when faced with a real-life crush.
A look of regret appeared on Su Zhenzhen's face, the warmth of the youth still lingering on her fingertips. "It's a good thing I dug up this Bupleurum. I'll boil it for you to eat; it can bring down a fever."
For bottom-tier people like her and Mu Dan, getting sick was a major problem. Usually, they just had to rely on their immune systems to pull through. If they couldn't, they were destined to be moved out to wait for death.
The young eunuch looked down at her slightly.
In truth, their heights were about the same. Boys generally developed later than girls.
However, since he lacked "that part," she wondered if Mu Dan could still grow taller. Even if he couldn't, this face was enough.
"Give it to me to eat?" Mu Dan’s gaze shifted downward, landing on the Bupleurum in Su Zhenzhen's arms. His expression changed abruptly, a smile spreading across his face that chased away his usual gloom. "Alright."
Is she finally going to make her move?
Su Zhenzhen happily led the handsome youth back home.
Well, not "home," but back to the servants' quarters.
Because she returned late, everyone was already asleep, which was perfect since Su Zhenzhen didn't have to explain why she had brought a little eunuch back with her.
There was a small kitchen in the quarters where the palace maids would occasionally ask someone to buy ingredients for them to cook, supplementing their nutrition.
Su Zhenzhen had spent a little silver to buy a small coal stove, which she usually used to brew medicinal tonics.
After cleaning the Bupleurum, she added a bit of licorice. Soon, a bowl of fever-reducing Bupleurum decoction was ready.
"Drink it while it's hot."
Su Zhenzhen handed the bowl to Mu Dan.
The little eunuch sat on the low stool she had prepared for him, his frame looking even more frail and thin.
A dim lantern hung under the eaves. He tilted his head slightly to look at her, his face as pale as paper, while his eyes were tinged with a slight redness—a sign of the ongoing fever.
Lu Hexu unhurriedly raised his hand, taking the bowl of medicine and bringing it to his nose for a light sniff.
Would a hidden plant be stupid enough to use poison in a medicinal soup?
She did seem quite stupid.
Lu Hexu took a sip; it was relatively tasteless.
"Be good and drink it while it's hot so you can recover quickly." Su Zhenzhen crouched down beside Lu Hexu, staring blankly at his breathtaking face.
Lu Hexu glanced at her and slowly finished the medicine.
As he sat there, he felt a strange discomfort stir within his body.
Was the medicine taking effect? What kind of poison could it be? He had ingested many poisons throughout his life; ordinary ones had no effect on him.
Lu Hexu waited for a while, only to find himself beginning to break into a sweat.
He reached out and tugged at his clothes, pulling the collar open to reveal a loose gap.
The woman suddenly leaned in closer to look at him. "The medicine seems to be working a bit slowly."
Lu Hexu narrowed his eyes.
And?
He watched as the woman moved even closer, her hands twitching beneath her sleeves. Her gaze fell blatantly upon his neck, not bothering to hide her intentions at all.
Oh? She thought the medicine was too slow, so she wanted to strangle him?
Su Zhenzhen glanced at the little eunuch, who had his eyes half-closed as if he were falling asleep, and she secretly swallowed hard.
Sitting on the stool, he was much lower than her. From her perspective, she could see his fair, slender neck, as elegant as a swan's.
The woman's hand, carrying the scent of herbs, reached toward his neck.
Lu Hexu's body tensed instantly, and he opened his eyes with a sense of excitement.
[Wait, is that just a speck of dust? No, it's a mole.]
[The mole on his neck is so sexy.]
[I really want to take a bite.]
