Chapter 10 : A Palace of Peril – When Caution Fails (1/2)
Although Fang He had to struggle for survival since childhood in her past life, it didn’t mean she never experienced love.
Even though she was busy, her senior helped her mark attendance and even took notes for her!
Her senior also helped her find good part-time jobs through the student council!
Her senior even had eight-pack abs—warm in winter, and in summer, he had an air-conditioned rental!
After graduation, they went their separate ways due to work, and later, when she checked into a hotel, she met a gentle, divorced uncle with no kids who pampered her like a daughter…
Well, she was just an ordinary person who loved to enjoy life.
She couldn’t resist such temptations.
She had watched plenty of adult films and acted out various scenarios herself, so it was hard for her to feel shy anymore.
But just listening to a film without watching the visuals felt unfair!
In a fit of anger, Fang He… got angry for a moment.
Then, when the time came, she obediently stood outside Zhaoren Hall.
Sigh, in the face of life and death, just having sound to listen to was already a blessing.
***
Fang He and Cuiwei stood outside Zhaoren Hall while Bai Min boiled water in the imperial tea room.
Before long, after the emperor finished his evening meal, the head palace maid led a beautiful concubine with an oval-shaped face into the grand hall.
Fang He’s curiosity was immediately piqued—wasn’t she supposed to witness the legendary “blanket roll beauty” scene?
Why did she walk in just like that?
She had been curious about how a beauty, wrapped up like a rice dumpling, could crawl to the emperor’s feet.
Even with her not-so-limited experience, she couldn’t quite imagine the mechanics of it.
She had wanted to observe carefully how the “dumpling”—no, the beauty—was wrapped.
But now, she didn’t dare show any sign of doubt.
She kept her gaze lowered, standing obediently in place, fully focused on waiting to serve.
She didn’t have to wait long before ambiguous sounds of impact started coming from inside.
Fang He mentally counted the time—wow, so this was the concubine’s first time serving, and they didn’t even bother with much foreplay?
Strangely enough, the occasional moans from the woman inside actually sounded quite…enjoyable.
One-two-three-four, two-two-three-four, switch positions, go again…
Tsk tsk, truly a case of “dignity is hard to earn, but some meals are even harder to stomach.”
It seemed like palace women in this era had their acting skills down to perfection.
“Ah…”
Oh, there it was—she called out.
Female contestant admitted defeat first, her voice turning hoarse.
“Your Majesty, please have mercy…”
Oh-ho, the female contestant had run out of stamina and wanted to withdraw from the battlefield.
Fang He couldn’t tell time by looking at the sky, but judging by the numbness in her heels, she estimated it had been nearly half an hour.
Yet the commotion inside hadn’t stopped.
Fang He’s peripheral vision kept darting to the base of the window, but she didn’t see the legendary eunuch from the Ministry of Rites who was supposed to remind the emperor when time was up.
Well, of course—this was Kangxi in his prime, having just unified the country.
His dominance was unmatched, even more overbearing than some cult leaders.
No one in the Ministry of Rites would dare interrupt.
Outside, Liang Jiugong also stood waiting.
His eyes swept over Cuiwei, whose face was flushed red, embarrassment creeping down her neck, and he shook his head slightly.
Then his gaze shifted to Fang He.
From the side, she wasn’t bad-looking—if her skin was a bit better and her complexion fairer, she could pass.
What stood out was how her expression remained completely unchanged.
If it were anyone else, Liang Jiugong would have mentally praised her steadiness—she had the makings of a proper palace attendant.
But Fang He… remembering her behavior when delivering messages and working in the imperial tea room, he suspected—was this girl really so dense that she didn’t understand what was happening inside?
Xu Momo wouldn’t have taught her such things.
Tsk, tsk… Maybe this girl could get married and still not know how children were made.
Fang He had no idea Liang Jiugong took her for an idiot.
If she knew, she would have loved to show him her extensive collection—enough to give him a heart attack.
Inside, the woman’s voice gradually weakened.
Fang He could already imagine how suffocating it must have been for that concubine, further reinforcing her belief that staying in the palace was a bad idea.
Rumors about Kangxi’s legendary endurance—like taking on eight women in one night—clearly weren’t baseless.
With stamina like this, and subpar technique at that, how could an average person even handle him?
Time passed, the movements inside grew louder, then abruptly stopped.
Shortly after, three crisp claps echoed.
Cuiwei hurried inside with a tray of warm tea, and Fang He immediately realized—oh right, there were palace maids attending to the aftermath inside.
Masters couldn’t shout for assistance, and palace maids couldn’t make noise that might disturb their lords, so they invented a clapping system.
One clap meant summoning water, two claps meant requesting food, and three claps meant tea service.
Ah, so this was what they meant by “applauding for love.”
As Cuiwei entered, Fang He lowered her eyes to hide the amusement flickering in them.
So, in the end, she was the only fool here who had to sit through an audio-only version of the show?
***
To some extent, Cuiwei and Fang He had similar temperaments—both had a bit of a lazy, go-with-the-flow attitude.
Cuiwei had never dreamed of serving the emperor.
She was a practical person.
Brought into the palace as a child under Qin Mama’s care, she had seen far too much of the misery suffered by women in both the imperial court and harem.
The low-ranking concubines and those who fell out of favor often lived worse lives than even the palace maids.
If it hadn’t been for her stepmother—who, as the saying goes, brings a stepfather along—trying to sell her marriage to fund a government position for her stepfather, she wouldn’t have schemed her way into the palace selection in the first place.
Her stepfather got his position, but the silver they saved never made its way to her.
So why should she sacrifice herself for an ungrateful father?
She was better off serving a mistress in the palace—so long as she didn’t make mistakes or stand out too much, life would be far more comfortable than marriage.
That was why, after working night shifts with Fang He a few times and seeing that she was quite steady, Cuiwei quickly opted out.
She had no shortage of silver and soon resumed her role as Mama Cui, leaving Fang He in charge of supervising the younger palace maids during night duty.
Fang He’s night shift companions were Bai Min and a little palace maid named Ran Xia.
Ran Xia’s father was a Zuo Ling (a mid-rank official in the Imperial Household Department).
She was only twelve years old, too young to have ambitions yet.
But Bai Min was different.
She was the niece of the laundering stewardess who had taken silver from Ru Yue and shared the same Nara surname as Fang He—both were Bannermen of the Plain White Banner.
At fourteen, Bai Min was in the prime of youth.
Her beauty rivaled Qiao Wen’s, with large, lively almond-shaped eyes and a soft, round face reminiscent of a lucky moon—a look beloved by elders.
With such good conditions and a position close to the emperor, she was naturally ambitious.
So, during the night shift, when Ran Xia wasn’t paying attention, Bai Min discreetly slipped a light sachet into Fang He’s hand and eagerly volunteered for the night watch.
And she even said it so sweetly: “Sister Fang He has been in the palace longer than us. It’s only right for you to guide us. How could we let you tire yourself out? From now on, Ran Xia and I will serve you.”
Fang He squeezed the sachet and smiled—so light?
It must be banknotes.
At least five taels, right?
This was what they called “just about to nod off, and a pillow comes flying in.”
She was already exhausted from listening to the action-packed scene earlier, her feet ached, and she had no interest in going into the hall to serve.
Earlier, Qiao Cheng had brought in the items she requested while running errands outside the palace, and Wei Disheng had already delivered them.
She needed time to prepare face powders.
So she put on a righteous front and said:
“No need to be so polite—we all serve His Majesty. There’s no distinction of rank among us.”
“But if you two can secure good futures for yourselves, just don’t forget our shared time together when I leave the palace.”
Bai Min loved hearing that.
She beamed, hinting, “Don’t worry, Sister. When the day comes for you to leave the palace, I’ll personally prepare a dowry for you!”
That was to say—if I rise to power, you won’t be left out of the rewards.
Understood?
Fang He understood perfectly.
Ran Xia also got the message and immediately squeezed in, timidly offering to contribute to Fang He’s dowry as well.
One or two—it didn’t make much difference.
Fang He waved her little hand generously.
“Then take turns standing watch with me first. If you learn the rules well, I’ll speak to Qin Mama about assigning you both to serve at the imperial front. Meanwhile, I’ll supervise the imperial tea room.”
Before Qin Mama approved it, Fang He wouldn’t dare rashly send two young palace maids to serve directly at the emperor’s side.
But just the promise was enough to make Bai Min and Ran Xia very satisfied.
Back in the servants’ quarters, they became just as attentive as they were with Cuiwei—rushing to fetch Fang He’s foot-washing water and eagerly tending to her.
Catching Cuiwei’s subtle look, Fang He winked at her.
Being a salted fish… no, a palace mama, really is a sweet deal!
***
Every morning when Fang He woke up, she no longer had to clean the servants’ quarters.
Meals were delivered straight to her, and before bed, she could enjoy a comfortable foot soak.
Life couldn’t get any better.
During her shifts, she rotated Bai Min and Ran Xia for night watch—one at a time in the first half of the night, and both together in the second half, under the pretense of “gaining experience.”