Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace: Fawning

Ji Tao silently pulled her hand out of Chunchan's and rubbed her aching wrist.

She secretly looked up at Lan Qi. She always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Ji Tao was a maidservant who came with Niuhuru as a dowry, and she grew up with Lan Qi.

In the past, Lan Qi loved being lively and hustle and bustle. Although she was a noble princess, she always liked to sneak out of the house to go to the theater to watch plays. Unfortunately, her liveliness and activity disappeared completely with the emperor's edict.

Before entering the palace, Lan Qi was named Lan Guiren and sent directly to live in the Old Summer Palace.

After being a concubine for three years, Lan Qi is only eighteen years old now, but she has never been favored by the emperor.

The Old Summer Palace could not compare to the imperial palace. Most of the servants here were bullies who relied on their superiors for power. They did not treat the unfavored concubines as human beings at all. Therefore, Lan Qi and Ji Tao were often neglected and often had no food to eat.

Without a husband to rely on and unable to return to the Nianhulu Mansion, Lan Qi had no choice but to swallow her anger. Years of bullying gradually smoothed out her edges. The talkative and cheerful Lan Qi had changed since she moved into the Old Summer Palace. Now the most thing Lan Qi did was to sit there blankly with a blank look in her eyes, as if she had lost her soul.

Even the voice that was usually the softest now sounded a bit colder.

Ji Tao knew that Lan Qi longed for freedom.

However, as the legitimate daughter of the Niohuru family, she was destined to be imprisoned in the huge cage of the Forbidden City.

"Gululu——"

Just then, Lan Qi's stomach rumbled at an inopportune time.

Ji Tao came back to her senses, reached out and gently helped Lan Qi up, and said softly: "My lady, you must be hungry. It's all my fault. I will help you lie down and rest for a while."

After helping Lan Qi lie down, she continued, "Please wait a moment, my lady. I will bring you some food."

After saying that, Ji Tao turned around and walked out.

Lan Qi leaned on the soft pillow, her eyes fixed on the beams.

After a while, Ji Tao came back with a bowl of white porridge, but the porridge was so clear that you could see the bottom, with only a few grains of rice floating pitifully on the surface.

Lan Qi took the bowl, took a sip and put it down, frowning slightly.

Seeing this, Ji Tao knelt down quickly and said tearfully, "Please forgive me, my lady. It is my fault that I can only find these coarse grains. I am sorry for the injustice."

Lan Qi looked at Ji Tao, feeling mixed emotions. She waved to Ji Tao and said, "Get up. Don't kneel down so easily in the future. This is not the imperial palace."

Although Lan Qi's voice sounded a little weak, it was still majestic.

After hearing this, Ji Tao stood up and stood beside Lan Qi, but she still kept her head down and did not dare to look directly at Lan Qi.

Lan Qi looked at the watery soup in her hand, a trace of heartache flashing in her eyes.

She was thinking, how tormented it must be for a princess who was so doted on by her family to live like this here. No wonder she was so depressed that she tried to commit suicide.

The spring cicada is not Lanqi, and has experienced all kinds of hardships.

There are even harder days than this.

Lan Qi knew the pain of hunger, so she picked up the bowl and drank the porridge in one gulp.

Ji Tao looked at Lan Qi in surprise and murmured, "Young... Young Master?"

Lan Qi put down the bowl, took her hand, gently patted the back of her hand, and said, "You must have suffered a lot following me all these years."

Ji Tao could no longer hold back her tears, and they burst out. "I am not suffering, but I feel sorry for you, my lady. You used to be a princess of the Nianhulu clan, but since you entered the Old Summer Palace, you haven't had a good day. Those servants in the Old Summer Palace, relying on your power, think that you are kind and easy to bully, so they often deduct our allowances and speak rudely to us. I..."

As a result, before Ji Tao could finish her words, she was interrupted by a arrogant voice.

"Hey, this servant pays his respects to Lady Lan."

Lan Qi followed the sound and saw three men in eunuch uniforms swaggering in. Although they were bowing, the contemptuous expressions and smiles on their faces told Lan Qi that they were there to cause trouble.

Lan Qi leaned on the bed, holding Ji Tao's hand and looking at them vigilantly.

"What are you doing here?" Seeing this, Ji Tao quickly pulled the quilt over Lan Qi, protected her behind her, and glared at the three of them.

When Lan Qi was still a cicada, she followed Yan Wan to the Old Summer Palace.

So she had an impression of the young eunuch in front of her.

His name seemed to be Jinde, and he was the apprentice of Li Yu, the chief eunuch of the Yangxin Palace. He was usually arrogant and domineering. Relying on Li Yu's support, he often exploited the people in the Old Summer Palace.

Lan Qi sneered. Why did Li Yu only accept such low-class people as his disciples? Jinzhong was one, and so was Jinde. If you didn't know, you would think they were taught by the former chief eunuch Wang Qin.

"What for? Of course, I'm here to collect a debt..."

Jinde spoke gently, pushing Ji Tao away and walking straight to Lan Qi, looking down at her. "Lady Lan, I'm so sorry to bother you at this time, but as the saying goes, debts must be repaid..."

Jinde looked Lan Qi up and down and sneered, "When you fell into the water today, I sent someone to rescue you. Even the injuries you sustained were treated by the imperial physician. Your Excellency will not refuse this favor, will you?"

He lowered his head and smoothed his sleeves as he spoke, "Lady Lan, please hand over the valuables yourself, so as to avoid the servants from taking action and damaging the relationship."

Just as Jinde was about to attack, Ji Tao knelt down in front of him with a thud. She tugged at the belt he was wearing and refused to let go, crying, "Please, sir, please let my young mistress go. You know our situation. We don't have any extra jewelry or money. How about letting this servant pay off the debt? I can do the laundry, the cooking, and anything else."

"I'm talking to my master, why are you, a servant, butting in?" After saying that, Jinde raised his hand and slapped Ji Tao viciously in the face.

Ji Tao's fair face turned red in an instant, bright red blood flowed from the corner of her mouth, and she fell at Jinde's feet.

Jinde raised his foot and kicked Ji Tao hard several times.

Lan Qi was frightened, but she suddenly found the strength to get up from the couch and pushed Jinde away. She squatted down and hugged Ji Tao in her arms.

"Don't be afraid, I will protect you."

Ji Tao leaned in Lan Qi's arms and cried.

Lan Qi looked coldly at Jinde, who was being supported by two eunuchs. "How dare you! Even if I'm down and out, I'm still the Emperor's nobleman. How dare you be so disrespectful? Aren't you afraid that the Emperor will find out and punish you?"

"Hahaha..." Jinde pushed away the two eunuchs' hands, stood firm, and laughed loudly towards the sky. "Your Excellency? You look so destitute now, and you still think you are a royal family? I tell you, in the Old Summer Palace, I am the emperor."

"That's right, that's right. If the emperor still remembered you, why would he throw you into this cold palace-like Yuanmingyuan and ignore you?" The other two eunuchs also echoed, their tone full of sarcasm.

Lan Qi looked at the three successful servants in front of her and was furious, but she knew that now was not the time to lose her temper.

She took off the gold bracelet in her hand, threw it to Jinde, and yelled, "Get out!"

Jinde picked up the gold bracelet on the ground, put it in his mouth and bit it a few times.

After confirming that it was genuine, he carefully hid the gold bracelet in his arms and said, "If you had taken it out earlier, everything would have been fine. I won't disturb your rest."

After saying this, he waved his hand and retreated with the eunuchs.

The room returned to silence, with only Ji Tao's slight sobbing being heard.

"My lady, are you hurt?" Ji Tao held Lan Qi's hand, wanting to check if Lan Qi was hurt by them.

Seeing that Lan Qi was fine, Ji Tao finally felt relieved and blamed herself, "I'm sorry, my lady. It's all my fault. I failed to protect you well and caused you to lose the last piece of jewelry you brought out of the mansion."

Lan Qi waved her hand and said comfortingly, "It's okay, it's just a personal possession."

Ji Tao propped herself up and knelt in front of Lan Qi again.

Lan Qi frowned. Why did this girl kneel down so easily? She stretched out her slender white fingers and gently stroked the injured corner of Ji Tao's mouth. She asked in confusion: "Why are you trying so hard to protect me? Aren't you afraid of being beaten to death by them?"

Ji Tao shook her head desperately to show her loyalty to Lan Qi.

"It was you who gave me a second life. I will never forget your kindness in giving me a meal and taking me in. Not to mention this little wound on my body, even if I were asked to die in your place, I would be willing to do so."

"What's with the death thing? It's unlucky. Don't say it again."

"As long as you treat me sincerely, I will never treat you unfairly in the future."

Looking at Ji Tao, Lan Qi thought of A Ruo, who was also a maid who came with Ruyi as a dowry, but sold out her master for fame and fortune, just like Ji Tao now. She just didn't know if one day in the future she would betray Lan Qi like A Ruo.

Therefore, even though Ji Tao is a maid born in the family, Chunchan, who has just been reborn as Lan Qi, cannot trust her 100% at present.

After hearing this, Ji Tao nodded seriously.

She reached out and helped Lan Qi sit down on the stool, but the huanghuali armchair was missing a corner, and when Lan Qi sat on it, she almost fell because of her unstable center of gravity.

Fortunately, Ji Tao was quick-witted and quick-handed. After steadying Lan Qi, he squatted down and gently massaged Lan Qi's legs.

Ji Tao's eyes were red, and she looked at Lan Qi with a trace of heartache. She said angrily: "Those dogs and slaves of the power group are really worthless. Not only did they treat you harshly and steal your things, but the most hateful thing is that they didn't help you when you fell into the water just now..."

"It's fine that the Emperor didn't come, but even the Empress Dowager has forgotten you. My lady, why don't we find the Commander-in-Chief and ask him to beg the Empress Dowager..."

Lan Qi remained silent, but was thinking about how to return to the palace.

She vaguely remembered that in her previous life, not long after Yan Wan was conferred the title of concubine, the emperor brought the empress dowager and all the concubines to the Old Summer Palace to escape the summer heat.

If she had the chance to get close to the emperor and make him happy, she might have a chance to return to the palace.

Lan Qi reached out and stroked the back of Ji Tao's hand. "Ji Tao, I want to go back to the Forbidden City. If you don't want to, I can let you go."

Hearing this, Ji Tao immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Wherever my lady goes, I will go. Please don't chase me away."

Lan Qi helped Ji Tao up and explained, "I didn't abandon you. I just felt that the Imperial Palace was a place where people were eaten without leaving any bones. You are still young and can still live the life you want."

Ji Tao shook her head, rejecting Lan Qi's kindness. She rubbed her moist eyes and said firmly, "Wherever the young lady goes, I will go."

Seeing Ji Tao's insistence, Lan Qi agreed.

She is short of people at the moment, and Ji Tao is willing to stay, maybe she can help.