The Second World in Ancient Times

As the morning sun had just shone into the room where we palace maids lived, I was awakened by the sharp voice of the housekeeper aunt: "Si Qing, you followed me today. I have an important task for you." My heart trembled, and I quickly got up, dressed, and followed the aunt quickly.

"Aunt, what is the mission?" I asked cautiously.

My aunt glanced at me and said, "This time, we're going to prepare the food and help decorate the venue for the Queen Mother's birthday banquet. This is your first important mission since entering the palace. If you mess it up, then forget about staying in this palace."

My heart suddenly tightened. The Queen Mother's birthday party? There was no room for error. I clenched my fists and told myself I had to do it right.

We arrived at the warehouse where the banquet items were stored. It was filled with all kinds of exquisite porcelain, silk, flowers, etc. My aunt pointed at these things and said to me, "First, check these porcelains to see if there are any damaged ones, and then sort the silks and satins you will use by color and pattern."

I nodded and began to work. My hands trembled slightly as I picked up a blue and white porcelain bowl, carefully checking it for cracks. A nearby maid saw me like this and laughed, "Hey, Si Qing, why are you so nervous? Don't drop anything."

I ignored her, thinking silently in my heart: "I can't let her influence me. This mission must succeed."

At this time, Wanqing came over and whispered to me, "Siqing, don't be nervous, you can do it. I'll help you." I looked at her gratefully.

While inspecting the porcelain, I discovered that a teacup was missing from a beautiful tea set. I was immediately panicked. What should I do?

"Aunt, there is a teacup missing from this tea set." I reported to my aunt anxiously.

My aunt frowned and said, "Why are you so careless? Go and look for it. There should be a spare in the warehouse. If you can't find it, you can expect to be punished."

I frantically searched the warehouse, beads of sweat forming on my forehead. After searching for a long time, I found nothing. My heart sank. Was I really going to fail this time?

I decided to ask other experienced maids for advice. Seeing an old maid who had worked in the storeroom for many years, I hurried over to her.

"Sister, there is a tea set for the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, but it's missing a teacup, and there's no spare one in the storeroom. What should we do?" I asked anxiously.

The old maid glanced at me and said, "Girl, why are you so impatient? You can go ask the imperial kitchen. Sometimes they have some similar teacups in their collection. Maybe you can find a suitable one."

I thanked the old palace maid and immediately ran to the imperial kitchen.

When I arrived at the imperial kitchen, I found it bustling with activity. I found the eunuch in charge.

"Eunuch, I am a palace maid who prepares items for the Queen Mother's birthday banquet. One of the tea sets is missing a teacup. Do you have something similar here?" I asked anxiously.

The eunuch in charge said impatiently, "We are busy here, how can we have time to take care of your business? Look somewhere else."

I was so anxious that I almost cried: "Father-in-law, please, this is the Queen Mother's birthday party. If something goes wrong, we can't afford it."

Perhaps it was the words "Empress Dowager" that had an effect. The eunuch in charge thought for a moment and said, "Then go look in that cabinet over there. But if you don't find it, don't bother me again."

I quickly searched the cupboard and finally found a similar teacup. Although it was not exactly the same, it was still usable. I breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back to the storeroom.

Back in the warehouse, I continued sorting the silks when Cui'er came over and deliberately bumped into me.

"Si Qing, you'd better be careful. If you dirty these silks, you won't be able to pay for it." Cui'er said sarcastically.

I glared at her and said, "I'll be careful. Don't mess with me."

"Hmph, let me see how you complete this mission. Don't let anything go wrong and implicate all of us." After Cui'er said this, she walked away with a twist of her waist.

I took a deep breath, told myself not to let her distract me, and focused on my work. I arranged the silk neatly by color and pattern.

The next step was to choose flowers. The flowers in the garden were colorful and beautiful, but I knew that I couldn’t just look at their appearance; I also had to consider their meaning.

"This pot of peonies is nice. It symbolizes wealth and is very suitable for the Empress Dowager's birthday." I said to the palace maid next to me.

"But there are some flaws on the petals of this peony. Do you want to look for it again?" the palace maid replied.

I took a closer look and said, "You're right. Let's look for something better."

After some selection, we finally chose the right flowers and prepared to transport them to the banquet venue.

When we arrived at the banquet hall, there were already many palace maids and eunuchs busy at work. Wanqing and I were in charge of arranging the porcelain and flowers.

"Si Qing, how about putting this vase here?" Wan Qing asked.

I looked at it and said, "A little more to the left, yes, it will look more beautiful this way."

We placed each item carefully and adjusted its position from time to time to achieve the best effect.

Just as we were about to finish setting up, a young eunuch accidentally bumped into the table, causing the porcelain on it to shake and a vase to almost fall. I was quick to catch the vase.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you watch when you walk?" I couldn't help but blame the little eunuch.

The young eunuch was so frightened that he knelt down and begged for mercy: "Sister, please forgive me. I didn't mean it."

"Forget it, just be more careful next time." I calmed down and continued to check if there was any damage.

After setting up the venue, I carefully checked every item and every arrangement. I took the list and checked it one by one, not daring to be careless.

"The pattern on this teacup seems a little crooked. Put it back in place." I said to Wanqing.

"Okay." Wanqing came over and adjusted the position of the teacup.

After checking it once, I was still worried, so I checked it again to make sure there were no problems.

As the banquet time approached, my heart became more and more nervous. I walked around the venue to check if there was anything I had forgotten.

At this time, my aunt came over and said, "Si Qing, you did a good job. However, after the banquet starts, you have to be on standby at any time. If the masters need anything, you have to handle it in time."

"Yes, Auntie, I will." I replied respectfully.

Finally, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet began. Guests filed in, and the palace was filled with singing and dancing. I stood in a corner, my eyes fixed on the proceedings.

"This banquet is so beautifully decorated," a concubine praised.

Hearing this, I felt relieved and felt that my efforts were not in vain.

During the banquet, one of the ministers finished his tea. I immediately walked over with the teapot and respectfully refilled the tea for the minister.

"Thank you, young lady," said the minister.

"Your Excellency is too polite. This is what I should do," I replied.

At this time, another palace maid came running over and said to me, "Si Qing, the flowers over there are a little bit withered, you should go and take a look."

I hurried over to check and found that a pot of flowers near the stove had been burned a little. I quickly moved the flower to a suitable location and wiped the petals with a wet cloth, making it look alive again.

During the banquet, the Queen Mother noticed me and asked, "Are you, little maid, in charge of setting up the venue?"

I quickly knelt down and replied, "Your Majesty, it is you, my servant."

The Queen Mother nodded and said, "Well done. I am very satisfied."

I was overjoyed and kowtowed in thanks: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. It is my honor."

With the banquet successfully concluded, my first important task was also successfully completed. I cleaned up the venue with Wanqing and other palace maids.

"Si Qing, you have really made a great contribution this time. Even the Queen Mother praised you." Wanqing said with a smile.

"Yeah, it was really thrilling this time, but it was a close call," I sighed.

I know that the success of this mission is just the beginning. There are more challenges waiting for me in this palace, but I have the confidence to face them.