maidservant

Chapter 58 Yao'er died at the age of fifteen, Yun Jin brought up her inner thoughts

As luck would have it, within two days, news arrived that Yao'er had hanged herself. This maiden, still a slave in the harem, had died alive.

When the Empress heard this news, she was instantly enraged, her face frosty. As the head of the harem, the Empress held palace rules and regulations in the highest regard. Now that such a disregard for human life had occurred, she immediately ordered Concubine Hui to come over immediately.

Concubine Hui hurried over, and although she tried to appear calm, she could not hide a hint of panic.

At first, facing the Queen's questioning, Concubine Hui was evasive and claimed that Yao'er was willing to marry, trying to completely shift the blame.

How could the queen be fooled by her few words?

After repeated questioning, Concubine Hui was unable to justify herself and had to change her story to say that Yao'er was disobedient and had talked back to her, so she was punished.

"When a palace maid makes a mistake, there are naturally palace rules and regulations, and the teaching nanny will deal with it according to the rules. How can you, as the dignified Concubine Hui, act so recklessly and ignore the palace rules?!"

The Queen slammed the table, and the sound echoed in the room.

This slap shocked everyone to their knees, not daring to breathe. Perhaps due to excessive excitement, the queen immediately began to cough violently, her face flushed, and her breathing became rapid.

"Oh, Your Majesty, please calm down and don't get yourself sick from anger. I was just confused for a moment. This is the first time I've made such a mistake, and I won't dare to do it again." Concubine Hui tried to evade the question with a few words, but the Queen was not going to listen.

Despite repeated questioning, Concubine Hui seemed determined and refused to reveal the real reason behind it.

The Queen thought to herself that it seemed that Concubine Hui was determined to keep it secret until the end.

She gently rubbed her temples, her face showing fatigue, and said slowly: "I am very tired today, Concubine Hui will stay and take care of me."

She said she was very tired and asked Concubine Hui to stay and take care of her.

Then, the Queen changed the subject and gave another order:

"I lost a bracelet the other day. I think that Yao'er stole it. Even though she's dead now, I can't let this matter go."

He then ordered the seal-off of Concubine Hui's Xianyi Palace and ordered a search and interrogation.

As soon as the order was given, everyone immediately took action. Within half a day, the interrogation results were out.

Aunt Zhuang relied on her extraordinary ability to gather information and figured out the whole story clearly.

"I heard that Concubine Yang somehow offended Concubine Hui, so Concubine Hui ordered Yao'er to poison Concubine Yang. Yao'er was kind-hearted and didn't want to do such a heinous thing, so she angered Concubine Hui, and that's when the disaster happened."

"Poisoned?!" "Poisoned?!" Lin Yu and Yun Shan were both shocked when they heard this and exclaimed in unison.

"It seems that there is something unknown going on in those two palaces."

"Ah."

"The Empress is truly a model of a motherly ruler. She is intelligent, wise, fair, and strict. Only by unraveling the truth can we uncover it."

Lin Yu muttered to herself, her tone full of sincere admiration, but then she changed the subject and sighed softly.

"It's such a pity that such a good person's health is deteriorating."

Yunshan speculated and continued to ask Aunt Zhuang, "What about Concubine Hui?!"

"The Empress restrained her, saying that this was a serious matter and that she would report it to His Majesty and await His Majesty's decision."

The next day, the emperor's decree was issued, only ordering Hui Fei to be confined to her house for three months, and no other more severe punishment was imposed.

The emperor must have been concerned about the fact that the empress dowager was now bedridden and seriously ill. He was afraid that the empress dowager would be worried and add to her troubles after knowing about Concubine Hui, so he did not delve into the grudges between Concubine Yang and Concubine Hui.

The tragic death of the little palace maid Yao'er was like a fallen leaf blown away by the wind, gradually forgotten by everyone.

"Poor guy." Yun Jin couldn't help but shake his head with regret.

"We are lucky to be following the Empress." Yunshan also said, "The Empress promised me a while ago that I can leave the palace in the future."

"Really? That's great. Congratulations in advance!" Yun Jin's face showed a look of surprise, and she was happy for Yun Shan.

"Palace maids can leave the palace at the age of 25 if they have no faults. Yunjin, what are your plans?" Yunshan walked up to Yunjin and leaned forward to ask her. "I'm not leaving. I'm not getting married."

Seeing that Yunshan was puzzled, Yunjin put down the work in his hands, sat down, and slowly talked to her.

"I don't believe in the love between husband and wife."

"I grew up in poverty. My grandfather was a gambler. Whenever he got into debt, people would surround our house. I never dared to go out on my own."

"My mother had to work extra hours every day to pay off the debts. But every time she paid it off, Grandpa would owe her again."

"Over the years, my mother's health has deteriorated, her hands and feet are not as strong as before, and she earns less."

"But my grandfather is addicted to gambling. He sold me into slavery just to get some silver and some temporary happiness."

Tears were swirling in her eyes, and she tilted her head back to prevent them from falling.

"My mother held my hand tightly and knelt down to beg my grandfather, saying that she could still do a lot of work and begged him not to sell me."

Yun Jin shook her head, gasped for breath, and wiped away two tears.

Yunshan hurriedly wiped away her tears and hugged her.

"Fortunately, I met the Empress. She was only ten years old at that time. She bought me by the Yilan Bridge in Nanzhou."

"Later, I saved up my monthly salary, hoping that one day I could give my mother a good life."

"I send my monthly salary home every few months, hoping Grandpa can buy some good medicine for Mom. But I'm afraid that money goes into the casino."

"Later, I used half of the money to buy medicine and sent it back home."

"Nanzhou is a long way away, and since I came to Kyoto with the Empress, it has been inconvenient to send money. But I thought that before coming to Nanzhou, the Empress advanced me a year's salary, and I left it all to my mother, so that they could live a good life."

"But not long after, my mother became seriously ill. By then, you had already entered the Marquis's Mansion. You know this."

Yunshan nodded, "Her Majesty has granted you half a month's leave. Her Majesty is so kind."

Yun Jin sniffed, her voice suddenly trembling. "But when I arrived home after a few days of traveling, my house was completely empty. Even the chicken and duck pens in the yard were overgrown with weeds."

"My mother was lying alone on the couch, and the mattress was damp, wet, and covered in dirt."

"I called out 'Aniang, Aniang', but she didn't understand me. She just told me to wait a little longer and she would pay me back!"

Yun Jin gritted his teeth.

"Only two days later, my mother passed away. I gave all the money I had except for the travel expenses to my father, just to ask him to give my mother a good send-off."

"That was a full thirty taels that the Empress gave me! It should have been enough to pay off his gambling debts and give my mother a proper burial."

"But who would have thought! In less than half a month, he had already used his money to marry a new bride! My mother didn't even have a proper coffin; she was buried with just a straw mat!"

After saying all these things in one breath, Yun Jin seemed to have lost all her strength and fell into Yun Shan's arms crying bitterly.

Yunshan's tears fell on the clothes of the two men, and she was speechless for a long time.

　Sighing for Brocade

　　My father gambles and the family is poor, making a living; my mother works hard and becomes ill, suffering from sleeplessness.

　　He sold himself to an official and left his family, saving money to return home and bury his virtuous mother.

　　Unexpectedly, Ci'en was abandoned by her father, but she used the funeral money to marry Xinjuan.

　　I will spend the rest of my life alone and lonely, and will not be someone else's wife or concubine.

　　(End of this chapter)