chapter 1

I was the most capable palace maid in the service of Noble Consort Xu Wen.

There was a simple reason for that: I could hear her thoughts.

When you knew everything your mistress was thinking, it was only natural that you would prosper at her side.

Take that very moment. The chief eunuch had come with word that the old emperor wished her to attend him in bed that night.

Xu Wen wore a sweet smile, but inside she was cursing him furiously.

*That old corpse! Have you dealt with the floods south of the river? Have you put down the bandits in the north? Every day, all you think about is crawling into my bed. Disgusting!*

I immediately stepped forward to find her an excuse.

“Chief Eunuch Jiang, you may not be aware that Her Highness has been feeling terribly unwell of late. Her head often aches in the middle of the night. She has little appetite during the day, craves sour food, and vomits after only a few bites.”

I shot Xu Wen a look. She understood at once and pressed a hand to her chest, coughing softly.

Chief Eunuch Jiang considered my words and followed the path I had laid for him.

“Has a physician examined Her Highness? Perhaps she is with child.”

I stepped forward to pour him tea.

“This servant would never dare be negligent. I summoned Imperial Physician Cheng long ago, but unfortunately, that was not the cause. His Majesty visits Qixia Palace so often that we had hoped Her Highness might at last be blessed with good news.”

That was when I heard a shocking secret in Xu Wen’s mind.

*As if I could ever conceive. That decrepit bastard has someone feed me sterilizing medicine every day. Anyone in this palace may bear a child, but never the elder sister of a powerful minister!*

Xu Wen was the elder sister of Xu Kunyu, the dynasty’s first-rank military marquis.

Xu Kunyu had made his name as a young general. After the old marquis died, he inherited the title on the strength of his victory in reclaiming six cities in the southwest.

At the same time, Xu Wen had risen in a single leap from consort to Noble Consort.

And I had risen with her.

Once, I had known only how to pour tea and carry water. Now that I lived at the heart of a whirlpool of power, I had no choice but to struggle until I became clever enough to survive it.

Chief Eunuch Jiang had served the emperor for many years. If even Xu Wen could sense the emperor’s fear of the Xu family, naturally he knew it too.

So he took it upon himself to decline the summons for us.

“In that case, this servant will report to His Majesty and ask that Her Highness be allowed to recuperate in Qixia Palace for the next few days. Please take good care of yourself, Your Highness.”

At Xu Wen’s instruction, I escorted him all the way out through the palace gates before returning.

The moment I came inside, I sent a young eunuch to fetch Imperial Physician Cheng and make sure our stories matched, lest the emperor question him and expose the lie.

By the time the physician had come and gone and the bustle was over, dusk was already near.

Xu Wen reached toward me from across the room, and I heard her thoughts again.

*What a clever girl. Come here and let me hold your hand.*

When she had first entered the palace, I had been nothing more than a quiet, wooden little maid trailing behind the senior attendant.

I feared that no one would ever grow close to me, yet I also feared anyone who truly tried.

The senior attendant had taught us that servants were merely objects kept beside their masters.

If you worked well, you became a gilded mirror: something your mistress used morning and night and liked to keep within sight.

If you worked poorly, you were worth less than a copper chamber pot. The moment your mistress tired of looking at you, you would be sent to the Hard-Labor Bureau.

But Xu Wen had been different from every other woman in the palace from the day she arrived.

The Xu family had few descendants. Before her marriage, her household had consisted only of an aging grandfather and the younger brother born of the same mother.

She was the treasured daughter of a military family, and her brother was a hero among men. Raised in affection, she could draw a bow and ride a towering horse besides.

There was nothing she desired inside these four square walls. Those without wants or hopes were the freest of all, and so she had never schemed. From the beginning, she had been happy to draw close to everyone.

Yet for a long time, I never understood what she meant when she held out her hand to me.

I thought she wanted some object.

So I had offered her tea, pastries, and handkerchiefs. Never once had I dared place my own hand in hers.

I remembered that I was merely one of her possessions. In her precious palm, I knew I could not compare with tea, pastries, or even a handkerchief.

Everything began to change when I tried to protect her.