Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace: Fawning

After saying goodbye to Yanwan, Lan Qi took Ji Tao to her new residence, Chunze Zhai.

"My lady, Imperial Concubine Xian is in great favor. Why would you offend her for a mere concubine? What if she harbors a grudge and complains to the Emperor?" Ji Tao followed behind Lan Qi and asked in confusion, "You've finally gotten into his bed with him. You must firmly hold onto the Emperor's true love..."

Lan Qi stopped, looked back at Ji Tao, and chuckled, "There's no such thing as sincerity in this harem. It's just everyone taking what they need."

"I don't understand." Ji Tao shook her head, expressing her confusion.

"Silly girl, you will understand later." Lan Qi didn't say anything else, just smiled and continued walking forward.

When I reached the corner of the Imperial Garden, I heard a loud noise.

"You slut, you dare to steal things? I will beat you to death."

Lan Qi felt the voice sounded familiar, and couldn't help but look towards the source of the sound.

I saw a eunuch punching and kicking a palace maid. The palace maid curled up on the ground, trembling, her face full of fear and pain.

The palace maid was wearing a coarse linen dress, which was tattered and exposed her scarred skin. Bloodstains were faintly visible, which was shocking.

"My lady, let's go quickly." Ji Tao tugged at Lan Qi's sleeve, urging her.

Lan Qi didn't want to get involved in this mess, but after seeing the face of the palace maid, she was shocked. She looked about 60% similar to Su Lian in Langya Palace.

She got so angry that she shouted at the eunuch, "Stop."

"My lady!" Ji Tao stamped her feet, her face full of anxiety, fearing that Lan Qi would be wronged.

The eunuch heard the voice and immediately stopped what he was doing. He turned around and saw Lan Qi and Ji Tao. He said impatiently, "I was wondering who it was. It turned out to be Concubine Lan. Why are you interfering when I teach a lesson to a servant who stole something?"

Lan Qi winked at Ji Tao, who understood and walked up to the palace maid and helped her up.

Lan Qi sneered and asked, "What on earth did this maid do wrong? Why did the eunuch beat her?"

The palace maid looked at Jinde timidly, lowered her head and dared not speak.

"This lowest-ranking palace maid actually dared to steal my things. Beating her is the least of my worries." Jinde said viciously.

"Don't be afraid. This is Concubine Lan. If you have any difficulties, you can tell our young lady. You must not be wrongly accused by some lowly people." Ji Tao supported the palace maid and said softly.

The maid then raised her head and knelt before Lan Qi with a plop. She said timidly, "My maidservant...my maidservant's name is Yingsi. I am...I am a maidservant who sweeps the floor in the Old Summer Palace."

Yingsi looked up at Jinde, then quickly lowered her head and said with tears in her eyes, "Please, my lady, save this servant. I really didn't steal anything from Eunuch Jinde."

As Yingsi spoke, tears couldn't stop flowing down.

"You slut, you still dare to say no!" Jinde kicked Yingsi again.

Lan Qi watched Yingsi fall to the ground, her heart burning with anger. She looked at Jinde coldly, "How dare you hit someone in front of me?"

Jinde snorted disdainfully and said, "She's just a lowly maid. I can beat her to death, but how can I get my hands dirty with her?"

"As for you? You are just an unfavored concubine, a discarded child of the family. What is there for a servant to be afraid of?"

"You..." Lan Qi was furious. She pointed at Jinde and said angrily, "You have absolutely no respect for the law."

"The law of the king? In this Old Summer Palace, I am the law of the king." Jinde said arrogantly.

As he spoke, Jinde's eyes fell on the kingfisher-inlaid and beaded hairpin worn on Lanqi's head. The hairpin was exquisitely crafted and obviously worth a lot of money. A hint of greed flashed in Jinde's eyes and he reached out to grab it.

"What do you want to do?" Seeing this, Ji Tao hurriedly stepped forward, stood in front of Lan Qi, and glared at Jinde.

"Get out of here!" Jinde pushed Ji Tao away and reached out to grab the hairpin on Lan Qi's head.

"Who is being so rude?" At this moment, a shrill voice was heard.

When Jinde heard the sound, he paused and turned around to see Jinzhong walking towards him with a few young eunuchs.

Upon seeing Jinzhong, Jinde's expression immediately changed. He humbly stepped forward to greet him, his pointed face smiling as he asked, "It's Eunuch Jinzhong. How is Master doing these days?"

Jinde knew that Li Yu was a popular figure around the emperor, and Jinzhong was a popular figure around Li Yu. In order to get Jinzhong to say a few good words in front of Li Yu, he had to please Jinzhong.

Jinzhong glanced at Jinde but ignored him. He walked straight to Lanqi and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your servant greets Lady Lan."

"It's Eunuch Jinzhong. Where are you going?" Lan Qi raised the corners of her lips slightly when she saw Jinzhong.

"I am following the emperor's order to go to Chunze Zhai to deliver some rewards to Lady Lan." Jinzhong said, and asked several young eunuchs behind him to hand over the trays in their hands.

The Emperor’s reward? Jinde was stunned when he heard this.

"The emperor loves the young lady, so he asked me to send some jewelry to the young lady's palace. He also said that he would visit the young lady in Chunze Zhai later." Jinzhong looked at Jinde and said meaningfully.

Jinde then realized that Lanqi had been favored by the emperor.

Jinde was so frightened that his legs went limp. He fell to his knees, kowtowed and begged for mercy, slapping himself furiously. "This slave... This slave deserves death. It was my ignorance of the heavens and the earth that offended you..."

Lan Qi looked at Jinde who was kneeling in front of her. She slowly squatted down, reached out and pinched Jinde's chin, forcing him to look at her.

"Eunuch Jinde, do you still remember how you treated Lan Qi?" Lan Qi's voice was icy cold, like a death warrant from hell.

Jinde looked at Lan Qi's cold eyes, and a sense of fear suddenly rose in his heart. He shook his head desperately.

"Don't worry, I've always been clear about gratitude and resentment. I will repay you double for whatever you did to me before." Lan Qi said, letting go of Jinde's chin and standing up.

"Jinde, as a eunuch, disrespected the emperor, bullied palace maids, and humiliated concubines. He deserves... to be beaten to death..."

"My lady, please spare me, my lady, please spare me..." Jinde was not giving up and wanted to grab the corner of Lanqi's clothes, but was kicked away by Jinzhong.

"Are you worthy enough to touch Lady Lan's clothes?"

After saying this, Jinzhong winked at the eunuchs behind him, and they stepped forward and dragged Jinde away.

Jinde's screams echoed in the imperial garden for a long time.

Lan Qi watched Jinde being dragged away, without a trace of pity on her face, only endless pleasure.

She turned around, glanced at Yingsi, and asked, "Are you willing to follow me?"

Yingsi wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, knelt down, and was about to express her gratitude when Lanqi interrupted her.

"You can follow me, but I have one request. You must wear a veil. When I take you back to the palace, you are not allowed to leave without my permission."

Although Yingsi didn't understand Lan Qi's intention, she felt that she could follow a master and no longer suffer. Yingsi bit her lip and agreed after hesitating for a moment.

Lan Qi nodded with satisfaction, "Ji Tao, take Yingsi down to treat her wound."

Ji Tao responded respectfully, "Yes, my lady."

When Ji Tao turned around, Jin Zhong called her, "Did you get hurt just now?"

Ji Tao blushed instantly at the sudden concern. She smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, eunuch. I'm fine."

Jinzhong nodded, "That's good. I'll apply the medicine on myself later. Scars on such beautiful hands wouldn't look good."

"Hey." After Ji Tao agreed, she walked to Yingsi and said softly, "Miss Yingsi, let me take you away."

Yingsi looked at Lanqi gratefully and said, "Thank you, young master and young lady."

After Ji Tao and Ying Si left, Jin Zhong walked over to Lan Qi and asked in confusion, "This maid who sweeps the floor looks somewhat similar to Su Lian, the maid who serves the Empress. Why did you save her, young lady?"

Lan Qi looked back and smiled, saying, "Maybe she can help us with something in the near future."

Jinzhong nodded, not quite understanding. Seeing that Lan Qi refused to speak clearly, he did not ask. Although he did not understand Lan Qi's intention, as long as it did not hurt his Yan Wan, it was fine.

Under the scorching sun, the two walked towards Chunze Zhai, one in front and the other behind.