Chapter 6
Passing a storeroom, I heard furtive rustling inside.
Driven by curiosity, I kicked open the door.
A plump maid was secretly eating water-chestnut cakes.
The moment she saw me, she knelt and kowtowed frantically.
“This servant is guilty! I abandoned my post to steal food!”
Judging by her face and figure, she was a repeat offender. But everyone made mistakes, didn’t they?
I helped her up.
“It is nothing if I catch you shirking. But what if a consort or maid from another palace finds you?”
“I know reducing your food will be difficult at first. But look at your waist now, then imagine yourself a month from now—slender as a willow, small enough to encircle with two hands.”
“And look at your face. Ordinary while plump, perhaps, but once thin you could rival an immortal maiden.”
“How can you ruin your future by stealing food? It breaks my heart!” My words were so sincere that I squeezed out several crocodile tears.
The maid was completely taken in. Full of remorse, she abandoned half a plate of cakes, gripped her broom, and marched outside with determination.
Once she was gone, I furtively shut the door, cackled like a villain, and pounced on the cakes.
A miscalculation. A terrible miscalculation.
That evening, I was caught stealing the cakes.
The Empress flew into a rage and scolded me for neglecting my health.
I had only just collapsed from stress, yet I was eating something so rich and sweet.
She confined me for a month. Before my punishment began, I begged the matron delivering the decree to carry a message back.
“Could Xiao Pei and Xiao Ying handle the Household Department and bureau during this servant’s month of confinement?”
The Empress readily agreed.
The next day, Xiao Ying and Xiao Pei reported for duty in tears.
On the day my confinement ended, something momentous happened.
The Emperor made an exception and appointed a palace maid as First Attendant Shu.
Apparently, while serving in the imperial garden, she happened to meet the Emperor, who composed a verse in three steps: “A graceful lady is a gentleman’s good mate.”
First Attendant Shu was slender and willow-like, and moved into the Palace of Fulfilled Wishes.
She attended the Emperor for many nights in succession.
One day, her palace summoned me.
Utterly puzzled, I straightened my clothes and set off.
Inside, I glanced at the legendary attendant. Her willow waist seemed boneless.
She truly looked celestial—fair enough to rival an immortal maiden.
“Chief Ah Shuang, dispense with ceremony. You are my great benefactor. Without your guidance that day, I could never have risen so high.”
I rubbed my eyes and stared. Shock! Wasn’t she the plump maid who had been stealing cakes?
She had grown this thin in one month?
First Attendant Shu prepared a table laden with delicate pastries from her private kitchen.
I devoured them while she stared, dumbfounded.
“When you reduced the maids’ food, I did not understand. Only after becoming an attendant did enlightenment strike. While the Empress and Noble Consort fight like two tigers, you looked ahead and quietly cultivated your own power. What foresight!”
“Had you not taken the blame for me that day, my bones might already be cold. I lacked the power to help you then, but now I offer what little strength I possess!”
Busy eating, I barely heard her and nodded repeatedly.
“What is Chief Ah Shuang’s next plan?”
Me: ?
What had she said? I hadn’t listened. Fine—I would bluff.
“Favor matters in the harem, but affection based on beauty cannot last. Win a person through virtue, and feeling will flow on without end.”
I rubbed my nose guiltily. Hopefully that sounded right. Thank goodness I was a level-ten veteran of palace dramas.
First Attendant Shu nodded, half understanding.
As I left, I looked back. She was personally clearing my dishes, reminding me of how Mother had always cleaned up after me as a child.
“First Attendant Shu, you will be a good mother.”
I left her deep in thought.