Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Pei’er had been beaten to death.

The eunuchs dragged her mangled corpse past us. Some of the more timid palace maids had already fainted from fright.

I frowned as I watched them leave, my gaze falling on the dark red bloodstains on the ground.

Soon, someone would clean those stains away.

After tonight, there would no longer be a maid named Pei’er in the palace.

I still remembered the day we entered the palace.

Pei’er had followed behind me, staring curiously at the splendid imperial palace.

Later, we ate and lived together while learning the rules of the palace.

One night, she leaned over the head of my bed and whispered to me.

“Once we finish learning the rules, we’ll be assigned to serve in the palaces of different masters. Are you afraid?”

I asked, “Afraid of what?”

“Afraid… of being assigned to Imperial Consort Shen’s Jade Feather Palace.” Her voice was very soft, filled with fear and unease. “I heard from old palace maids who were released from service that Imperial Consort Shen is vicious and cruel, and that countless eunuchs and maids have died by her hand…”

I said nothing.

She shrank back under her quilt. “I hope I won’t be that unlucky…”

Pei’er’s words came true.

She was assigned to Jade Feather Palace, and now, after only seven days, she had become a cold corpse.

I looked away and left with the other palace maids.

We had been assigned to serve the Old Consort, but the Old Consort liked quiet and sent us back again.

The supervising momo summoned us together.

She looked us over. “You all saw it too. Imperial Consort Shen’s palace is short a servant, so another maid must be sent over.”

Before she even finished speaking, the faces of several maids turned deathly pale.

They could not help taking a step back.

The youngest, Xiaoman, dropped to her knees at once and kept kowtowing to the momo.

“I don’t want to go to Jade Feather Palace! Momo, I beg you. My parents are still waiting outside the palace for me to come home. I don’t want to die!”

She clutched the momo’s skirt, sobbing bitterly.

The momo’s expression changed, and she slapped Xiaoman across the face.

“Watch your tongue! Who told you that going to Jade Feather Palace means certain death? If anyone else hears those words, ten heads would not be enough for you to lose!”

Xiaoman was so frightened that she immediately shut her mouth, weeping quietly with a bloodless face.

The momo grew impatient. “No one is willing to go? Then I’ll choose at random.”

Just as her raised finger was about to land on one of the maids, I stepped forward.

“Momo, I’ll go.”

The maids stared at me in shock.

The momo had not expected it either. She blurted out, “Why?”

“Because…”