The Virtuous Concubine

In this palace, serving the master in bathing is not an easy job. The eunuchs have to carry the hot water from the water room to the bath room one by one like a relay. The preparation of the bath room and the cleanup after bathing are even more tedious. At least three or four palace maids have to work for several hours to take care of everything.

However, these are not a problem for His Royal Highness, who has a noble status and lofty position. He only needs to enjoy the comfortable bathing process without worrying about the trivialities.

The eunuch who was in charge of delivering water at the door finally delivered the last bucket of water and hurried to the water room to return the bucket.

On the way, he complained to the eunuch who was traveling with him: "Your Highness the Crown Prince has been bathing too frequently recently. He usually bathes once a day, but now he bathes three or four times a day. My legs feel like they are filled with lead!"

The young eunuch had spent money to get this leisurely job. He didn't expect that he had to go back and forth seven or eight times to fetch water recently, and he was really exhausted. Now that he is not in Yuqing Palace, he speaks a little more boldly.

Another eunuch who was a little older, after hearing the young eunuch's complaints, showed a lewd smile on his face, leaned in and whispered: "You don't understand, do you? His Royal Highness is now at the age of full blood and vigor, and he just learned about sex a while ago. It's natural that he bathes frequently... Hey, didn't you see when you left just now? Just now, two young and delicate princesses as tender as flower buds entered the bathroom."

The young eunuch scratched his head with a confused look on his face and said, "I see they are wearing palace maids' clothes?"

When the eunuch heard this, he burst into laughter, raised his hand and patted the young eunuch on the back of his head, saying, "You are so stupid and don't understand anything. It's really hard to talk to you."

The young eunuch felt a little wronged after being beaten, and muttered, "I don't understand it anyway, what's so funny about it?"

The chief eunuch smiled and shook his head, lowering his voice and saying, "These two were selected for trial marriage a while ago. You will slowly understand the rules of the palace. As for us, just do your own thing and don't ask too many questions. However, these two maids are really too anxious. If the emperor finds out that they are seducing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and doing something stupid, they will not end well."

The young eunuch nodded as if he understood, and the two of them stopped talking and walked quickly to the bathroom.

At this time, the bathroom was filled with steam and the sound of water splashing could be heard faintly. I wonder what kind of beautiful scenery was inside.

Two palace maids were carefully adjusting the water temperature for the prince, and two palace maids were preparing soap, incense, flowers and other items for bathing.

They cut the pancreas into suitable small pieces with a golden knife and sprinkled the fragrant flowers carefully on the water. For a moment, the bath room was filled with fragrance.

There were also two palace maids with blushing cheeks, standing shyly beside the prince, helping him undress.

Her slender fingers gently fiddled with the prince's belt, but she never dared to look him in the eye, her shyness was evident in her words.

The prince is handsome and they are all young girls, so who wouldn’t be in love?

The prince stood there quietly, not paying attention to the abnormal behavior of the two palace maids. He had been so absent-minded recently, and his mind was not on himself at all.

He seemed unaware of the busyness and shyness of the palace maids around him. He just mechanically cooperated with the movements of undressing. His absent-minded look made the two palace maids very nervous.

Everything was ready, and the bath room gradually became quiet, with steam still lingering. Only the two palace maids who had helped the prince change his clothes were left.

They stood in a corner, their eyes occasionally peeking at the prince who was bathing, their hearts beating like a deer, nervous yet with some inexplicable expectation. The prince was soaking in the bathtub, the warm water wrapped around his graceful body, his eyes were closed, his brows slightly furrowed.

One of the palace maids bit her lower lip and asked bravely, "Your Highness, do you need me to wipe your back?" Her voice was very soft and trembling.

The prince seemed to be awakened from his deep thoughts. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the palace maid. He said in a calm tone, "No need. You can leave now."

A trace of disappointment flashed across the maid's eyes, but she did not dare to disobey, and hurriedly knelt down and saluted: "Yes, Your Highness." Then she pulled her equally nervous companion beside her and hurriedly left the bathroom.

When the two of them walked out of the bathroom and returned to the outer room, the taller maid couldn't help but complain in frustration: "The money I paid for this trip was wasted again!"

When the palace maid next to her heard this, she looked at her with a reproachful look in her eyes: "It's all your fault for having to speak out rashly. If you hadn't said anything, perhaps we two would still have a chance to serve His Highness here, and we wouldn't have to be left alone in Yuqing Palace waiting like this, not knowing when we'll have another chance to get close to His Highness." Her voice was tearful and tears were flashing in her eyes, showing her grievance.

If the master doesn't like these maids who are trying out marriage, their lives will be over! Moreover, she heard that the emperor has already made a preliminary selection of candidates for the crown princess.

If the two of them didn’t work harder, they would have won the Crown Prince’s favor before the Crown Princess entered the palace… She shuddered.

At this time, the footsteps of eunuchs were heard outside. The two looked at each other, hurriedly tidied their appearance, and waited for instructions.

As expected, it was Chen Xin who came in. He flicked his whisk and called the two palace maids over.

His voice was shrill and resounded in this small space, which was a bit scary. However, the palace maid who was speaking was extremely happy, as if she was listening to heavenly music.

The prince actually asked this specifically. Could it be that he cares about me a little?

When this thought came to her mind, the palace maid who had mustered up the courage to speak was so delighted that she didn't even hear what Eunuch Chen said next.

Seeing this, the maidservant next to her quietly tugged at her skirt. She came to her senses and hurriedly stepped forward, knelt and saluted, saying respectfully: "Replying to Eunuch Chen, I was the one who spoke to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Seeing that His Royal Highness seemed tired, I dared to ask His Royal Highness if I needed my maid to wipe his back, but His Royal Highness did not agree, and then asked us to leave."

Eunuch Chen frowned, staring at the maid in front of him with a look of scrutiny: "Humph, you are so bold. If you disturb His Highness, how many heads can you take? Go and get twenty lashes yourself, so that you can remember it."

When the palace maid heard this, she was so frightened that her face turned pale as paper, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She knelt on the ground with a plop, and kowtowed repeatedly to beg for mercy: "Eunuch, please spare my life! I know I was wrong. I really just wanted to serve Your Highness well, and I have no other intentions. Please have mercy on me, Eunuch!" As she spoke, she looked at Eunuch Chen with pleading eyes, tears welling up in her eyes, and soon they burst out and slid down her cheeks.