Don't be a salted fish, the daily life of the concubine in the palace

...

In the laundry room at the backyard of the palace, Zhang Yue was washing clothes for her masters. As she washed, she caressed her hands lovingly.

She was a merchant's daughter, and had never had to worry about food and clothing since she was a child. If her family had not fallen into decline, she would never have become the lowest servant in the palace.

Originally, she could have been content to be a maid, but Shen Wei's glory pierced her heart like a thorn.

Zhang Yue stared at her hands and muttered to herself, "My hands used to be green as scallions... but now they are covered with calluses."

Just as he was distracted, the wooden door of the courtyard slammed open. Madam Liu, who was beside the princess, walked in with two burly guards.

Madam Liu took a sharp look and saw Zhang Yue washing clothes. She said sternly, "Catch her and beat her with twenty sticks."

Before Zhang Yue could react, she was taken to the torture bench by the guards.

bang bang bang-

A stick as thick as a bowl fell on Zhang Yue.

Zhang Yue screamed in pain: "Madame Liu, why did you hit me?"

Madam Liu said coldly, "You said something you shouldn't have said, you deserve to be beaten to death."

Zhang Yue had no way to defend herself as she was hit hard by the stick. She was in so much pain that she broke out in a cold sweat, uttered a cry, and suddenly fainted.

When Zhang Yue woke up again, it was already late at night.

Zhang Yue was lying in the woodshed, covered in blood. Her clothes and torn flesh were stuck to her back. It seemed as if all the bones in her body were about to break, and her face was distorted with pain.

She couldn't help feeling a little sad.

As servants, their lives and deaths are in the hands of their masters, and human lives are worthless.

The door of the woodshed creaked open, and Aunt Liu, dressed in gray, walked in with a bowl of medicine. The moonlight made Aunt Liu's face look pale, like the enchanting White Impermanence.

Zhang Yue was so scared that her whole body was shaking.

Madam Liu sneered, "You're lucky you didn't get beaten to death. So drink this bowl of medicine and be on your way. The fact that Shen took the contraceptive soup will rot in hell with your death."

Nanny Liu wants to feed Zhang Yue poison.

Zhang Yue's desire to survive was overwhelming. She shook her head frantically, thinking about ways to stay alive.

As if she had thought of something, Zhang Yue seemed to grasp the last straw and sobbed, "Madame Liu, please don't kill me. I am willing to serve the prince! I am willing to be a loyal dog of the princess! I will be more obedient than Shen Wei!"

Nanny Liu seemed to be thinking about something.

She put down the poison, stretched out her skinny fingers, and pinched Zhang Yue's white chin.

She has a pretty face and is a beauty.

Madam Liu is currently collecting young and beautiful women to fill the palace's backyard. The princess has leverage over Zhang Yue, and if she can use it, she will be a good dog in the future.

"You are lucky to have a pretty face." Aunt Liu smiled and overturned the poison bowl. "I will give you a side yard to stay in temporarily. You should take good care of your injuries. Good days are still to come."

Zhang Yue burst into tears: "Thank you, Aunt Liu!"

Nanny Liu was very efficient. She asked the guards to carry Zhang Yue to a simple courtyard and sent a doctor to take care of her.

Zhang Yue escaped death and saved her life.

After applying the medicine, Zhang Yue lay on the bed in the courtyard in pain, looking at the frosty moonlight outside the window. Zhang Yue's face became more and more gloomy, and his fingernails dug deeply into his palms.

"Shen Wei, wait for me."

"If you can climb up, I can climb up too."

"Isn't it just a fight for favor? How difficult can it be?"

...

The night fell over Fangfei Garden, and Shen Wei was doing Pamela aerobics.

The Spring Banquet of the palace is approaching. Although Shen Wei is the lowest-ranking concubine, Prince Yan makes an exception and allows her to attend the Spring Banquet.

Shen Wei had inquired about it, and the Spring Banquet of Prince Yan's Mansion in previous years was actually quite good. But there was a Prince Heng who found fault everywhere, mocking Prince Yan's women for dressing like they were attending a funeral, which led to the reputation of the Spring Banquet of Prince Yan's Mansion not being very good.

As a subordinate, Shen Wei is the best at figuring out the leader's thoughts. Prince Yan may want Shen Wei to show up and dampen Prince Heng's enthusiasm.

Shen Wei, the king of involution, never disappoints her leader. She works hard to exercise, maintain her figure, and improve her temperament, striving to shine at the Spring Banquet.

"Master, I've found out about Zhang Yue." Cai Ping, a gossip expert, sneaked into the main house and told Shen Wei about Zhang Yue in detail.

After Shen Wei finished listening, she said while doing exercises: "After beating Zhang Yue with 20 sticks, they suddenly sent her to a remote place to recuperate... It seems that they are preparing to train Zhang Yue as a concubine."

Cai Ping lowered her voice and said, "Master, we must be on guard early."

Shen Wei smiled and took the handkerchief handed to her by Cai Ping to wipe her sweat: "Not everyone can be a favorite concubine."

Zhang Yue was too naive and thought that she could attract King Yan with her beauty alone.

But there are many tricks to being a concubine.

Shen Wei wiped the sweat off her face and sat on a chair drinking mint tea. "The weather is getting warmer. Let Jixiang and Deshun plant lotus leaves in the backyard pond tomorrow. Remove the roses by the wall and plant wormwood to repel mosquitoes and insects."

"When most of the peach blossoms have withered, remove all of them, leaving only the best-growing peach tree, so that peaches can be picked in the summer. In the summer, replace the peach tree with a crape myrtle tree and a bougainvillea. Also, replace the rabbit lanterns outside the moon gate with flower lanterns. Erase the graffiti on the outer wall and paint lotus and lotus leaf pictures instead."

Caiping wrote everything down on paper.

In addition to the flowers, plants and trees in the courtyard, the sheets, bed curtains and curtains in the bedroom should also be changed frequently, and the varieties of flowers on the desk should also be changed frequently.

Shen Wei wants to redecorate Fangfei Garden according to seasonal changes to bring a sense of freshness to boss Yanwang.

Caiping left the room, and Cailian came in with a letter: "Master, your mother has sent a letter."

Shen Wei paused while drinking tea. Mother?

The original owner's memories emerged in her mind - the original owner was born in a poor peasant family, her father died early, and her mother did not remarry, raising four children with great difficulty.

The eldest son joined the army at the border when he was eighteen years old. He disappeared in the war with the Kingdom of Yue and was most likely killed in the battle.

The second daughter, Shen Qiang, married a merchant in the southwestern Shu area five years ago. She was bullied by her mother-in-law and lived a hard life. After her marriage, she never had the chance to come back to visit her mother.

Shen Wei is the third child in the family. In order to pay for her mother's medical treatment, she sold herself to work as a maid in the palace.

There is also a younger son, Shen Xiuming, who is only 17 years old this year. He is a good student and passed the imperial examination at a young age. However, Shen Xiuming is not very successful. He likes to drink and gamble. He also stole the life-saving money for Shen's mother's medical treatment and bought jewelry for the courtesan in the brothel.

Recalling the original owner's background in her mind, Shen Wei sighed silently. The original owner was also a pitiful person. Shen Wei opened the letter sent by Shen's mother and read it.

The letter mentioned that Shen's mother and youngest son would come to Yanjing next month and wanted to visit Shen Wei at the palace.

Shen Wei seemed to be thinking: "I will come to visit my relatives next month..."

In her impression, Shen's mother treated her four children equally and did not favor boys over girls. However, people's hearts are hidden, so Shen Wei decided to investigate first.

If Shen's mother really cared about Shen Wei, Shen Wei could try to help the family.

If Shen's mother attempts to suck Shen Wei's blood to pave the way for her younger son, don't blame Shen Wei for killing her own relatives for the sake of justice.

Ignoring her family for the time being, Shen Wei's current work focus is on the upcoming Spring Banquet.

...

Time flies, and it is late spring in May.

The spring banquet at Prince Yan's Mansion kicked off. The princess made careful preparations and asked the greenhouse to fill the banquet venue with lush flowers in layers.

Before the banquet started, Princess Yan was busy running around, asking the maids and servants to arrange the banquet items.

"Second sister-in-law, are you okay?" A teasing and joking voice came from behind the princess.

The princess's face fell.

The princess got a headache when she heard the sound.

But the princess still tried to adjust her expression, pretending to be happy, turned around and said to the young prince holding the jade fan: "It turns out that Prince Heng has arrived. The banquet has not started yet. Please take a seat and wait."

Every year at the Spring Banquet of Prince Yan's Palace, Prince Heng was always the first to come. He came mainly to find faults and make Prince Yan unhappy.

Prince Heng waved the jade fan in his hand, his handsome eyes smiling, "I got a piece of floating brocade some time ago, and made a new set of clothes for it, and wore it to the banquet."

Prince Heng was handsome, with a pair of slightly upturned phoenix eyes and a charming look. He wore a light silver round-necked, wide-sleeved robe, with a red jade belt with gold patterns tied around his waist, and his noble aura could not be concealed.

He is very good-looking but has a very strange temper.

The princess forced a smile and said, "Please take a seat, Prince Heng."

Prince Heng held the white jade fan and said with a smile, "Don't worry, don't worry. I heard that Prince Yan has three thousand beauties in his harem. I wonder if I can see any of them today..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three concubines of the palace slowly came to the venue of the Spring Banquet.

Prince Heng narrowed his eyes and looked at Liu Ruyan. He smiled and said hello, "Sister-in-law Liu, you still like to wear mourning clothes. I thought the palace held funerals every day."