Chapter 2

After the head matron left, a long silence fell over the room.

Wang Xiu went on reading quietly.

Shen Chunrong hung her head, gazing mournfully at the two potatoes she had roasted into charcoal.

While she considered whether eating them would kill her, I edged cautiously over.

I opened my palm. In it lay an osmanthus sweet wrapped in oiled paper.

Whenever I was unhappy as a child, Mother had coaxed me out of it with osmanthus sweets.

Sure enough, Shen Chunrong’s eyes brightened at the sight.

Her almond-shaped eyes went round, just like the little rabbit my eldest sister had given me when I was small.

Relieved, I was about to leave when she suddenly clapped a hand hard on my shoulder.

“Qin Yao, right?”

“Don’t worry. From now on, I’ve got your back in this palace.”

I smiled, my eyes crinkling.

“Thank you, Sister Shen. You’re so kind.”

Shen Chunrong lifted her head proudly.

Wang Xiu lowered her book and murmured,

“Childish.”

The instant she finished speaking, all three of our stomachs growled at once.

We stared at one another. I don’t know who laughed first.

The laughter grew louder and louder until it brought the night maid over. Only then did we clap our hands over our mouths.

But our eyes still gave our laughter away.

“Yesterday, when the matron was telling us where all the consorts live, I secretly memorized the location of the imperial kitchens.”

“Shall we?”

Shen Chunrong looked at Wang Xiu and me with shining eyes.

I was so used to being spineless that I hesitated.

“Wouldn’t that be wrong?”

Wang Xiu seized both our hands.

“Let’s just do it!”

Perhaps the imperial harem wasn’t as dreadful as the storybooks made it out to be.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

I moved out of little Jinxiu Palace and into Shaohua Palace.

Shaohua Palace belonged to the Noble Consort. She was said to be arrogant, tyrannical, and utterly indifferent to human life.

At the height of her arrogance, a newly arrived palace candidate had accidentally soiled her skirt. She had promptly sentenced the girl to a brutal beating known as a “yard of red.”

They said the maple leaves at Shaohua Palace had been exceptionally red that year.

I was terrified.

Given the Noble Consort’s standing, someone of my low rank should never have been assigned to live with her.

Unfortunately, all the other palaces were full.

Wang Xiu was frail, and Shen Chunrong had no brains.

After much thought, the head matron decided that my cautious nature made me the best choice.

I was on the verge of tears.

Couldn’t she see that I had no brains either?