The Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 19

With the New Year's Eve banquet fast approaching, the weather has been perfect, with several sunny days in a row. (Updates are coming soon! Just search "Lewen" on Baidu!) The snow that had accumulated a while ago has melted, and now it drips steadily from the gleaming glazed tile eaves.

Taking advantage of the rare good weather during the last few days of the year, Zhuiyi led a group of palace maids, both young and old, to clean the entire Cining Palace. Bedding, clothes, and her books and other belongings were all aired out for several days. Today, even the heavy items in the cabinets were taken out and aired.

The palace maids were busy cleaning the courtyard, and the eunuchs were helping to move things and tidy up the flower pots and other odds and ends in the huge courtyard.

Liu Qingtang lounged leisurely in a recliner, basking in the sun. Separated from the bustling scene in front of her by a wall covered in green vines, the sounds reaching her didn't seem noisy. The faint voices and laughter sounded quite interesting to her. It was like the feeling she had before entering the palace, when she heard the bustling streets—real and full of life.

Perhaps it was because she had been so stubborn in her pursuit of being a dutiful Empress Dowager all these years, always maintaining a dignified and solemn demeanor. Over time, Cixi Palace became increasingly quiet, and all the palace maids and eunuchs in the courtyard spoke softly and quietly. It seemed to have become an unwritten rule that everyone who entered Cixi Palace had to speak little and keep their voices low.

In fact, Liu Qingtang didn't care about any of this. She just realized that things had already turned out this way by the time she arrived, so she became too lazy to say anything more.

Zhuiyi, carrying a pot of freshly brewed tea, walked in from outside the green vine wall and said with a smile, "Master, it's a bit noisy up front. How about I have someone move it to the back garden for you? There are two winter plum trees there that are in bloom, and they smell wonderful."

Liu Qingtang waved her hand, "No need, I'll just lie here for a while, it won't be too noisy. You don't need to restrain them, it's almost New Year's, let them relax a bit, they're just young girls."

"Pfft~ Master, you talk as if you're so old. You're only twenty-one after the New Year~ You're still as young as a flower bud." Tao Ye walked in, her big, smiling eyes looking particularly charming.

Liu Qingtang shook her head and chuckled. She wasn't twenty; in her previous life, she was already thirty. But she couldn't say that, so Liu Qingtang changed the subject and asked, "Taoye, you're back, does that mean everything's taken care of?"

"Oh~ the New Year's banquet preparations for tomorrow are almost complete, it's the same as every year. There's nothing new in the palace, it's just the same as last year. It'll be quite lively, but Your Highness will have to work hard again tomorrow, with several banquets in rotation, eating from morning till midnight~"

Zhuiyi poured a cup of tea and handed it to Liu Qingtang. "Most of the dishes at that banquet were greasy. If they were left out for too long in this winter, they would quickly become covered with a layer of oil. They are not edible. Master, let's prepare some snacks for you as usual."

Liu Qingtang felt annoyed just thinking about these few days every year. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and there will be a plum blossom appreciation banquet for noble ladies and officials from morning to noon, followed by a lunch banquet to reward officials until evening. After the banquet in the evening, she will have a family banquet with the royal family at Zhongsui Pavilion and will have to stay up until midnight.

"Sigh, tomorrow will be another tiring day. I'd better rest a bit while I still have time." Liu Qingtang sighed, stroking the cup in her hand. "I'm fine here, you guys go ahead with your own things."

After Liu Qingtang finished speaking, she seemed to remember something and added, "When Qin Shu comes back, have him come to my place directly."

"Yes, Master, we know even if you don't tell us~" Tao Ye said with a smile, winking and making Zhui Yi unable to resist tapping her forehead, shaking her head helplessly and pulling her away.

Liu Qingtang placed the tea she had just sipped on the small table, tapped her toes on the ground, and the rocking chair began to sway gently. She covered her eyes with one hand, peering through her fingers at the blue sky and white clouds. The clean, clear blue and soft white were soothing, calming even her slightly agitated mood caused by the thought of tomorrow's banquets.

After gazing at the sky for a while, Liu Qingtang looked at the green vine wall beside her—honeysuckle vines. In April and May, this place would be covered in honeysuckle blossoms, which would be truly beautiful, with a strong fragrance that she could smell even from inside the house. It was a lucky omen of gold and silver; these flowers were quite abundant in the palace, growing along many palace paths.

The palace maids liked to steep these flowers in water to drink, and also used them for bathing, washing their faces, and making sachets and pillows. The embroiderers also made these for her every year. As Liu Qingtang lay there thinking, she thought of the needlework that a young lady should know, and couldn't help but reach out to look at the few red dots on her fingertips.

A few days ago, she didn't know what she was thinking, but she saw Qin Shu coming from behind every day with his hands tucked into his sleeves. His hands were still a little red and swollen even after using medicine, so she wanted to make him a pair of sleeves.

Actually, she could have simply sent someone to the women's workshop to instruct them to make it and send it over. Otherwise, she had many skilled palace maids with excellent needlework skills who could have done it too. But she didn't know what came over her at that time; she just suddenly wanted to make one for him by hand.

Her maids, Zhuiyi and Taoye, were very skilled at needlework, making her undergarments, casual clothes, shoes, hairbands, pillowcases, sleeve covers, and sachets every year. However, Liu Qingtang herself knew absolutely nothing about needlework. Her mother passed away when she was only one or two years old, and her father, deeply devoted to her mother, never remarried. There was no mistress in the Liu household, and her father, a strong man, didn't know how to raise a daughter. So, only a few nannies could teach her, but they couldn't control her temperament at all. Liu Qingtang grew up very freely; she knew practically nothing, except for calligraphy and painting, which she had practiced since childhood out of interest.

She didn't know how to make it, so she had to ask Zhuiyi to teach her. When she told Zhuiyi this, she was so surprised that she dropped the teacup in her hand, and she still had an incredulous expression when Zhuiyi taught her how to make the sleeves.

Seeing her expression, Liu Qingtang also felt somewhat uncomfortable. She never felt she should learn those things to please a man who would become her husband, so she had never cared about it since childhood. Later, after entering the palace, she only met her nominal husband, the sickly late emperor, who died after only a few meetings, so she had even less reason to learn those things.

Now she's taking the initiative to learn this, just to make sleeves for Qin Shu... The more Liu Qingtang thought about it, the more awkward she felt, and she even hesitated. But then she suddenly remembered how Qin Shu had clung to a hand warmer that had been cold for a long time, and she silently continued learning.

However, she probably really had no talent for this. The needle and thread that danced in the hands of Zhuiyi and Taoye became extremely unruly in hers, causing her to prick her hands several times. Now, her thumbs, index fingers, and middle fingers are covered with small red spots from needle pricks, and her hands ache slightly when she pinches anything.

Fortunately, the sleeves were finished before her patience ran out. Although they were quite different from those made by Zhuiyi and the others, they were still handmade by her, and Qin Shu shouldn't have complained about them. Liu Qingtang inexplicably felt a little embarrassed to give them away, so the sleeves had been lying on her bed for two days.

Every night before going to sleep, she would stare at the rather unattractive arm sleeves and think. Several times she wanted to call Qin Shu over and throw the arm sleeves at him, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. In the end, she could only throw the arm sleeves under her pillow and not look at them anymore.

Even if Qin Shu had been loyal to her and died for her in his past life, she didn't have to do this. She could give him anything—money, power, and everything else. Now that she thinks about it, giving those things was actually the simplest thing to do.

At first, she was smugly pleased with Qin Shu's foolishness, thinking he was practically offering himself up to her. But now, thinking back, Huo realized that she herself was almost falling for him, and yet she was still gloating over it.

If she weren't interested in Qin Shu, why would she care if his hands and feet were cold, if he had enough things, or if he was upset by something she said? But if she was, she wasn't like the characters in the stories who became sentimental and easily moved to tears, or who would often lose themselves in thought about him. She certainly didn't have the kind of anxiety and insecurity described in the books.

Feelings are such strange things; they come so suddenly, and she hasn't even figured out what they are yet.

Liu Qingtang frowned as she thought about the problems that had been troubling her these past few days.

Just then, a figure wearing a dark blue robe walked out from behind the green vine wall.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager. Your servant has returned."

Seeing Qin Shu return, Liu Qingtang, who had been lost in thought, perked up and sat up from her rocking chair, beckoning to him. "How did it go? Did you give all the instructions?"

"Yes, the construction office said that the Second Prince's new residence outside the palace will be ready in less than half a month."

Because she planned to replace the current Grand Eunuch Ning of Cixi Palace after the New Year, Liu Qingtang recently began to involve Qin Shu in these matters. Just like in his previous life, he would be involved both openly and secretly, mainly responsible for conveying her decrees, doing things on her behalf that she couldn't do herself, and managing some private affairs. After all, the palace wouldn't always be so peaceful; in two years, her nephew, the young emperor, would be entering the harem, and that would be quite a spectacle.

Recalling the chaotic harem of her past life, Liu Qingtang smiled lazily. This time, she intended to be a kind and gentle Empress Dowager, not to get involved in cleaning up her nephew's harem and end up getting nowhere. She'd rather spend more time with the man before her; she didn't have the time to deal with the young emperor. Thinking this, Liu Qingtang looked up at Qin Shu.

He was dressed in a navy blue robe that he had just changed into for the new year, paired with a black brocade crown, with a rope knot hanging down the back of his head. He stood under the green vine wall in short boots, and Liu Qingtang found him pleasing to the eye no matter how she looked at him.

There's a line in the storybook that she still has to admit: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." That's exactly how she sees Qin Shu. Before, she thought he was gloomy and dull, but now he seems shy and insecure. Even the ruthless methods he used to handle things in her past life now seem decisive.

So it's not surprising that she likes this person. Liking someone is liking someone, and in that case, they should be closer. Liu Qingtang tapped the armrest of the rocking chair and clicked her tongue.

Qin Shu stood there, appearing calm on the surface, but inwardly he was filled with anxiety. Sensing that the Empress Dowager's gaze remained fixed on him, he began to frantically recall whether he had said anything that displeased her, or whether she was dissatisfied with his actions.

"Qin Shu, come here."

Upon hearing this, Qin Shu understood that the Empress Dowager simply wanted to see his troubled expression again. A feeling of helplessness mixed with tenderness suddenly filled his heart, so he replied softly, "Yes."

Author's Note: A truly lazy person threw a landmine.

Season 12 threw a landmine

Ling threw a landmine

Ada threw a landmine

[Thanks for the grenade throw~ You're all my little apples~ You're the fire that ignites my life~]