The Virtuous Concubine

Mayanzhu really felt that she was wronged!

She actually didn't want to enter the palace, because she couldn't bear the hardship of serving others. And her sister was actually nice to her. Although she was cold to her, she never did anything bad to her. She would give her embroidery and delicious food from time to time.

Although her mother always said that it was her sister's practice, and that she didn't want it and was sending it away, it was hard for Mayanzhu to have any real resentment towards her sister who made beautiful sachets and fan pendants for her and delicious snacks for her.

She had also been tortured by jealousy for a long time. Why was her elder sister more beautiful? Why did her elder sister always get the attention of her father and grandfather when she spoke and did things? Why did Aunt Hongyu appreciate her elder sister more?

These problems made her toss and turn, but after Aunt Hongyu's comfort and her own gradual suffering, she realized that her sister was really a very hard-working person.

She is good at embroidery and cooks delicious dishes because she has been embroidering and cooking all the time. I haven't put in so much effort and I just do things according to my mood. How can I surpass my sister?

Thinking about it now, she even felt a little ashamed for her previous words that she wanted to sacrifice her sister to save herself. No wonder her sister was not very enthusiastic about her and was always indifferent. Moreover, her mother always disliked her sister, which made it even more difficult for her to get close to her sister.

After all, my father and grandfather both like my sister more. It would not be worth it if I lost my mother who only loved me because of being close to my sister.

Later, her elder sister entered the palace and soon went to the Qianqing Palace, where she became a well-known maid serving tea to the emperor. Before she could digest this little bit of jealousy and regret, her elder sister became a concubine.

Moreover, she was initially given a title as a noble lady, a palace concubine pregnant with a dragon.

Of course she envied him, but she knew that this was earned by her sister's hard work after sacrificing herself for her. So she just felt a little jealous when she thought about it. What was a concubine like? Wearing gold and silver?

She also wore gold and silver, especially after her sister became the emperor's concubine and was quite favored, the family became better and better. Not only in terms of food, clothing, and housing, but also when she went out to play with her sisters, people who used to look up to her and show respect also started to be polite to her.

While she was happy, her heart also felt a little tight as if it was being pricked by needles - it was her sister again.

Until one day, her mother touched her hair and asked her to start learning court etiquette to prepare to enter the palace. The sour tightness turned into a tightly pulled trance again.

Can I be like my sister?

According to my mother, if I live the worst, my elder sister will take care of me, so I won't suffer too much. If I live the best, I will definitely rise to the top and be more favored by the emperor than my elder sister.

Mayanzhu huddled in her mother's arms, a little hesitant: "But..."

But my elder sister is more beautiful, gentler, smarter, and more talented as a worker. Why did I win the emperor's favor?

Her pride prevented her from saying such words.

Her mother patted her, just like she did when she was a child, to let her relax. Her mother's words also made her feel a little moved - her mother said, sister will help you, help you get favored, help you get pregnant, protect you from harm, don't be afraid of anything, because you are blood sisters.

There is an unbreakable bond between the two of you, and you have many similarities. Since the emperor likes her, it means he will like you too.

These tiny and dense words were like hooks, which made her heart beat faster. She even had many bright and brilliant dreams.

However, everything was shattered when she was escorted out of the palace by the eunuch with a look of disdain.

She didn't even get to see what the concubines in the harem looked like, and was eliminated amid the indifference and contempt of a group of maids and female officials.

Mayanzhu did not cry on the way, sitting in the swaying oil-paper carriage, not knowing what was going on. It was not until she arrived at the door of her house and saw her grandfather with a frown on his face, her father furious, and her mother who was embarrassed, nervous and ashamed that she began to cry.

She wished she could die in the palace, rather than have to explain these things to her parents.

Seeing her crying, Ecan and Weiwu didn't know what to say. They just looked at her stiffly and turned to go back into the house. Her mother also ignored her and just threw her handkerchief and went back.

Banyue and Banmeng supported her and stumbled back to her room. When she sat down and saw Aunt Hongyu's loving eyes, she couldn't help crying loudly and told her what happened in the palace while sobbing.

First, the two candidates next to her kept saying that she smelled like mutton fat, but she had never used ointment made from mutton fat, so she was very unconvinced and felt that the two girls just wanted to frame her and make her lose the election.

She remembered her mother's instructions that as long as it wasn't a big deal, she had to endure it. She also knew that this was the palace, with strict rules, and it wasn't a place where she could just act coquettishly and get away with it. So at first she didn't do anything, at most she just glared at the two girls.

But unexpectedly, when she was getting ready to go to bed at night, the two girls began to say in a sarcastic tone that she was an inferior person and could not use the best body lotion and could only use the cheapest sheep oil, like a barbarian from the grassland.

She also said that her family was in the kitchen, and her sister also liked to use cooking to tie the emperor down. Maybe she also had one or two special skills, and was ready to go in and make the emperor crazy. The sheep fat smell on her body was probably because she had been near the stove for too long and couldn't be washed off!

One thing after another, Mayanzhu, who was originally a hot-tempered person, could not stand it any longer, so she grabbed one of the girls' sleeves and asked her to clean her stinky mouth. Unexpectedly, the girl's temper was even worse, and she started pushing and shoving.

During the scuffle, the girl who was watching the fight nearby was pushed to the ground and hit her head... Blood was all over her face.

Before anyone could react, Nanny Liu brought a group of people over to see what was going on.

The three men were driven out of the palace that night and returned home.

Mayanzhu cried so hard in Aunt Hongyu's arms that she almost fainted. She didn't know what she had done wrong, as if entering the palace was a mistake.

She could have been exempted from the selection and married directly, marrying a man who would coax her and love her, instead of entering the palace and eager to compete for her sister's favor.

But she was also very curious about what kind of life path Malu had taken. She might not like it, but when she thought about the path Malu took, she couldn't walk it herself, and her heart felt like it was being bitten by ants.

Aunt Hongyu left only after she cried herself tired and fell asleep. When she left, she asked Banyue Banmeng to get some eggs and cold water for the young lady to apply on her face. When no one was around, she took away the hair oil on the dressing table and put another bottle of the same one on it.

After returning, Aunt Hongyu sighed deeply and poured the oil into the brazier little by little. The flames suddenly rose high, jumping in the air and illuminating Aunt Hongyu's melancholy face.