Chapter 285 – Chu Xiu Palace
Sure enough, when Huamo took out those pieces of cloth from inside, the old maidservant in charge of the sewing house immediately indicated that the few pieces on the top were extremely beautiful and suitable for young ladies.
Thus, the other old maidservants immediately began to take Wei Yuewu’s size and recorded the numbers. After everything was ready, they left with the cloth!
Jin Ling had been paying attention to the movements of these old maidservants. After they left, she immediately reported, “Miss, they chose the cloth sent by Concubine Dong!”
Wei Yuewu nodded silently, her long eyelashes fluttering a few times to hide the stern look in her eyes.
There was indeed something unusual with Concubine Dong’s cloth. Was it because of the flowers?
The day of entering the Palace arrived. Early in the morning, the Palace sent carriages to each mansion to pick up the designated young ladies. Two carriages were parked in front of the gate of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
Wei Qiufu and Wei Yuewu had taken a bath and changed their clothes early in the morning. They bid farewell to the Madam Dowager and got on the imperial carriages. The two carriages drove slowly one after the other and entered the gate of the imperial palace.
When they entered the gate, there were already two soft sedans waiting for them. They each got on a sedan, and eunuchs carried them to the inner part of the Palace. Jin Ling followed beside Wei Yuewu’s sedan.
After quite a while, the sedan finally stopped at the Empress’ Feng Yi Palace.
Wei Yuewu got off the sedan and saw that Wei Qiufu had already gotten off. However, she did not go forward. Instead, she retreated to the side and waited there. Her heart skipped a beat and she also obediently retreated to the side.
There were layers upon layers of stone steps at the palace gate. There were eunuchs and palace maids beside them, but no one came to summon them in. Wei Yuewu looked around and saw that Zhao Ruo’e had also come, but she also waited at the side. It seemed that they were waiting for the other young ladies.
Wei Yuewu also stood quietly at the side. Not long after, several other young ladies arrived one after another on soft sedans. Then, they got off the sedans and all stood calmly at the side. Each of them looked dignified and solemn. No one dared to talk.
After waiting for a while, it seemed that all the young ladies had arrived. A eunuch came over to summon them inside. Wei Yuewu followed the crowd and walked up the steps.
Walking all the three sections of steps was not easy, and the young ladies were a little breathless. When they got to the top, everyone took a brief rest before walking into the hall of Feng Yi Palace one by one in order.
Not only was Empress Tu sitting in the hall, but there was also Zhaoyi Tu beside her. On both sides were the Third Princess and the Fourth Princess.
Seeing Wei Qiufu enter, the Fourth Princess coldly snorted.
Empress Tu raised her head and glanced at her. In the end, the Fourth Princess did not say anything and only glanced coldly at Wei Qiufu.
Everyone knelt down and bowed to Empress Tu.
“As you were!” Empress Tu said with a faint smile.
Everyone stood up, but all of them lowered their heads, not daring to look around casually.
“You will be staying with the Third Princess during the next ten days of fasting and praying. For the time being, you will be living at Chu Xiu Palace. Every morning, you will accompany the Third Princess to pray. As for the rest of the time, if you want to take a look around the Palace, then feel free. You are all young girls, and I won’t be too strict with you.”
Empress Tu smiled very amiably, she looked every inch a paradigm of dignity and gentleness.
The few of them knelt down again to thank Empress Tu, “Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!”
“There is no need to stand on ceremony!” Empress Tu smiled and turned to the Third Princess, “Caidie, are you going to take them to the residence by yourself, or do you need me to ask the palace maid to take them there?”
“Mother Empress, let me do it myself. I don’t dare to trouble your people!” The Third Princess’ gentle voice came from the high platform.
“That’s fine too. You young girls have a lot to talk, so I am leaving it to you. Cailuan, are you going with your Third Elder Sister to take a look?” Empress Tu suggested with a smile.
The Fourth Princess had never liked the Third Princess, so she naturally had no interest in the Third Princess’ matters. At this moment, she weakly said, “I’m not going. I still have things to do!”
“Cailuan…” Empress Tu’s face darkened slightly.
“Elder Sister, the Fourth Princess is still young. She is definitely unwilling to be restrained. Just let the Fourth Princess play on her own. Otherwise, she will say that you and I are restraining her so that she can’t play!” Zhaoyi Tu teased with a smile on her face.
“Cailuan is not a kid anymore. She is about to pray for the prosperity of the country…” Empress Tu looked at the Fourth Princess with a smile and sighed.
“Elder Sister, why are you in such a hurry? The Fourth Princess was endowed by nature with unusual intelligence. She is just a little playful. When she grows up a little, she will immediately change and mature!” Zhaoyi Tu was an excellent speaker. After hearing her words, the Fourth Princess smiled and nodded repeatedly.
“Mother Empress, take your time. You are all busy with Third Elder Sister’s matter now. I can’t help much. If Third Elder Sister needs my help, I will definitely go there immediately!”
“Alright! Then you can go back first!” Empress Tu said helplessly.
“Thank you, Mother Empress, thank you, Your Highness!” The Fourth Princess was in a good mood. After bowing to Empress Tu and Zhaoyi Tu, she walked off the high platform.
Wei Yuewu and the other girls looked at their own noses and held their breaths, not moving a little bit.
“Mother Empress, then I will take them away with me!” The Third Princess also stood up and bowed to Empress Tu.
Empress Tu smiled and nodded. She waved her hand and said, “You can leave now!”
The Third Princess also walked down the high platform. Wei Yuewu and the others consciously bowed to Empress Tu and then followed behind the Third Princess.
After leaving Feng Yi Palace, the Third Princess got on her carriage, whereas Wei Yuewu and the others got on their soft sedans. They headed towards Chu Xiu Palace.
After they reached the gate of Chu Xiu Palace, they got off one by one.
The gate of Chu Xiu Palace was wide open, and a few senior nurses in charge stood at the gate. When they saw the Third Princess getting off the carriage, they all bowed respectfully.
“As you were!” The Third Princess waved her hand and pointed at the gate. “This is Chu Xiu Palace. You guys take your luggage into your rooms first. I’ll send someone over in the afternoon to lead you to my place to have a gathering.”
“Yes!” Wei Yuewu and the others answered in unison.
After the Third Princess got on the carriage and left, the few of them finally relaxed.
“Sixth Miss Wei!” Zhao Ruo’e gave Wei Yuewu a friendly nod.
“Miss Zhao!” Wei Yuewu smiled back.
“Let’s go in together. Chu Xiu Palace is still empty. When the nation-wide selection starts, this place will be filled with people!” Zhao Ruo’e had been accompanying the Third Princess to study in the Palace, so she wasn’t too reserved now. She pointed at the large palace and said with a smile.
“Miss Zhao, during the nation-wide selection, will all the candidates live here?” Wei Qiufu asked from the side. Apparently, she did not know much about the nation-wide selection either.
“That’s for sure. Where else can they live? The Crown Prince Mansion is close to this place, and each time a nation-wide selection is held, the candidates will live in this palace. Every room will be filled with candidates!” Because of the incident in the Plum Blossom Nunnery, Zhao Ruo’e was unhappy with Wei Qiufu, so she didn’t sound friendly when speaking to Wei Qiufu.
“Young ladies, these are the rooms where you will live. Which one do you want?” An old palace maid brought over a few tokens and asked with a smile.
Several young ladies who were familiar with the situation in the Palace immediately picked their rooms. As for the others who were not clear about the situation, they randomly picked a token and then were led by a young palace maid to their respective room.
Although they lived in Chu Xiu Palace, they were not real palace maids, so there was no need for them to share rooms.
The room selected by Wei Yuewu was at the corner. It could be considered a quiet place. However, it was now in winter, and such a quiet place was also very cold both inside and outside the room.
Wei Yuewu and Jin Ling followed the palace maid into the room. Everything inside the room was new. Although the room was not big, it was divided into two parts by a screen. The outer part could be considered a reception room, and the inner part was a bedroom.
After Wei Yuewu and Jin Ling were both in the room the palace maid left.
Jin Ling pushed open the window at the back and looked outside. Then, she said unhappily, “Miss, it is a bit cold here!”
This window was facing the north and cold wind kept blowing in. It was truly not a good place to live in during winter.
“It doesn’t matter. We only have to live here for ten days!” Wei Yuewu sat down by the bed and said with a faint smile.
“But you are in poor health. Living in such a cold place will hurt your body.” Jin Ling was truly worried for Wei Yuewu. She had been serving Wei Yuewu for a period of time. She knew that Wei Yuewu’s body was frail and needed more care than most young ladies. What was more, she had suffered a series of incidents recently.
“No need!” Wei Yuewu shook her head. She didn’t want to be noticed by others in the Palace. Who knew what the masters in the Palace would think if she asked to change her room immediately after entering the Palace? She only wanted to be an unknown Sixth Miss Wei!
“But Miss, your body…” Jin Ling was still worried and wanted to say something, but Wei Yuewu waved her hand to stop her.
“Jin Ling, we are now in the imperial palace. We all know that there are the Emperor, Empress, and imperial concubines of various palaces in the imperial palace. We must be respectful to any one of them. We must not forget that they are the masters of this place!” Wei Yuewu warned.
“Yes, Miss!” Jin Ling said helplessly.
The clothes they brought were carried here in the soft sedan. By the time, the young palace maid who led them to the room had brought in the clothes and placed them on the table in the outer room. Then, she respectfully retreated.
The palace maids all knew that the young ladies who entered the Palace today were all daughters of great aristocratic families. Their statuses were much nobler than those candidates in the nation-wide selection. It was a great blessing to be picked by the Empress to accompany the Third Princess to pray.
Jin Ling took the package into the inner room. She opened the package and started to sort out the dresses of Wei Yuewu.
“Miss, I wonder if Miss Zhao used that piece of cloth to make dresses for herself?”
Although she didn’t say which cloth, Wei Yuewu knew that she was talking about the cloth sent by Concubine Dong. She smiled thoughtfully and said, “She did!”
It was such an outstanding piece of cloth, and the flower pattern looked so unique. How could Zhao Ruo’e, who was eager to make her name, not use it? Wei Yuewu knew it from her proud look just now.
Was the flower pattern on the cloth an annoyance to any master in the Palace? Concubine Dong did not seem like a person who would work for nothing. Who was that person? What kind of relationship did that person have with her?
Just as Wei Yuewu was thinking, there was a sudden knock on the slightly closed door. They had just entered the room. Which young lady would be so eager to come and chat with her? Jin Ling was a little confused and looked at Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu nodded and walked to the outer room. Jin Ling took a few quick steps ahead of her. She reached out and opened the door…
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