Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When we met Aunt Qidai, she was in the courtyard shooting arrows.

She drew the bow to its fullest. A gust of wind lifted her hair-

the arrow split the air with a sharp whistle, and with a smack, it went straight through the bull’s-eye.

“Wonderful!”

Song Weiwei clapped without the slightest restraint, as if she had forgotten palace rules entirely.

Aunt Qidai glanced at her and asked, “What have you come for?”

Song Weiwei took the food box from my hands and trotted over.

“We were lucky that Aunt Qidai saved our lives last night. Otherwise, the two of us would already be wronged souls beneath the blade.”

She smiled with complete sincerity. Head Lady Wang had often praised her for having an innocent, guileless smile. “We made some pastries for you. Please, have a taste.”

Aunt Qidai’s gaze swept over us. She did not refuse. Instead, she sat down openly, picked up a pastry, and took a bite.

“It tastes good.”

That was her comment, and then she obligingly finished the pastry in her hand.

Song Weiwei was overjoyed. She grabbed me and pulled me down to kneel with her. “To earn Aunt Qidai’s favor is our blessing!”

Then she solemnly kowtowed to Aunt Qidai.

“Aunt Qidai, great kindness needs no thanks. If there ever comes a day when you have need of this servant, I will surely give everything I have, even unto death!”

Only then did I understand.

She had come to pledge herself to Aunt Qidai.

If Song Weiwei was kowtowing, then of course I had to kowtow too. Not only that, I had to say something.

“This servant as well.”

Aunt Qidai did not respond. She simply took another pastry from the food box and began eating again.

I couldn’t read her thoughts, so I could only steal another look at her.

In truth, Aunt Qidai was not old at all. On the contrary, she looked about the same age as the Emperor. She was beautiful too, with fair skin and delicate features. She was even prettier than the consorts I had seen that day.

If she were one of the Emperor’s consorts, she would surely hold a very high rank.

The thought startled me. I forced it down just as I heard her say,

“You may both get up.”

“Thank you, Aunt Qidai!”

Song Weiwei still looked delighted.

“The pastries are very good,” Aunt Qidai said as she rose and dusted off her hands. “I’ll keep them.”

Her gaze moved back and forth between us before she said, “I need two apprentices. Move into my courtyard tomorrow.”

Song Weiwei was ecstatic. She did not even ask what an apprentice would be doing, only thanked her over and over.

“Then this servant will go back and pack at once!”

After curtsying in farewell, Song Weiwei dragged me out of the courtyard at a run.

My head was spinning the whole way back, and my heart thundered in my chest.

Even if becoming Aunt Qidai’s apprentice still meant being a servant, the treatment would be worlds apart.

Most importantly, we would no longer have to do this sort of rough work. There was even a good chance that, like Aunt Qidai, we might one day serve the Emperor directly, investigate cases, and offer strategies for the realm.

Song Weiwei was happy too, though for a different reason. What thrilled her was that, as an apprentice, she would have chances to see the Emperor often. Maybe one day, with her beauty, she could soar straight to the top.

Though the reasons for our happiness were different, we were both excited to become Aunt Qidai’s apprentices.

But when we returned to the Shanggong Bureau where we worked, Song Weiwei immediately put on an entirely different expression.

Her eyes reddened. Tears trembled but did not fall, circling in her lashes as though she were sunk in deep sorrow. She looked like a completely different person from the one who had been so jubilant just moments before.

She was beautiful to begin with, and when she knitted her brows ever so slightly and looked ready to cry, she was genuinely pitiful in a way that stirred sympathy.

I watched as she went straight into Head Lady Wang’s room the moment she entered the Shanggong Bureau.

Before long, muffled, suppressed sobs could be heard from inside.

By the next day, I heard people saying that Song Weiwei had caught the eye of Aunt Qidai, who served before the Emperor, and had been chosen as her apprentice. That part was true. But they also said that Song Weiwei had been unwilling, and that because an imperial command could not be defied, she had no choice but to bid Head Lady Wang farewell through tears.

As the palace maids talked, they sighed over how much effort Head Lady Wang had spent cultivating Song Weiwei over the past years, only for all that work to benefit someone else in the end.

That much was true enough. We had entered the palace two years ago, and for those same two years Head Lady Wang had carefully trained Song Weiwei, hoping she would make something of herself and eventually inherit her position.

When I came out carrying my bundle, Song Weiwei was indeed putting on a grand performance at the entrance.

With her bundle on her back, she took three steps and turned back twice. Then, just as she was about to cross the threshold of the bureau, tears burst decisively from her eyes. She ran back, dropped to her knees, threw her arms around Head Lady Wang’s legs, and wailed. Even as she cried, she shouted,

“This servant’s parents treated me like a pig and a dog. All these years, only you, Head Lady Wang, have ever given me warmth. In this servant’s heart, you have long since become my own dear mother!”

Hearing that, Head Lady Wang was heartbroken beyond measure. Tears streamed down her face as she pulled Song Weiwei into her arms, stroked her back, and murmured,

“Good child. You truly are a good child.”

I felt a little helpless.

Song Weiwei’s parents had actually treated her very well. They had not even wanted her to enter the palace in the first place, fearing how dangerous it was inside.

I let out a sigh, thinking that maybe Song Weiwei really might ascend to the position of Empress one day.

After the performance ended, we finally moved into Aunt Qidai’s courtyard.

By then, there was not the slightest trace of sorrow left on Song Weiwei’s face. In its place was boundless ambition.

Aunt Qidai had many rules. So many that I could hardly remember them all.

She had taken us in as apprentices because she wanted to train more capable female officials for the Emperor. The current Emperor valued talent above all else and did not even care about gender. He had never stated it outright, but Aunt Qidai herself was proof enough. Besides, there were rumors that in the previous dynasty there had also been female officials like her. They had held no formal rank, but their treatment had been excellent.

Perhaps Aunt Qidai had taken a liking to the quick-witted spark in Song Weiwei and thought she would make a qualified female official.

As for me…

I had a feeling I was only included as an extra.

But the thought that I might serve the court just as men did made me feel a faint, growing anticipation.

So in my daily life, I did my best to remember everything Aunt Qidai instructed us to do, along with all her rules, and worked hard to learn.

We had never attended school, so Aunt Qidai taught us from the very beginning.

I cherished this opportunity dearly. Sometimes, when Aunt Qidai assigned too much work, I would finish my chores and then run outside into the courtyard in the middle of the night to keep studying.

Secretly, I hoped that one day I could become someone as formidable as Aunt Qidai.