boyutpedia Chapter 86 *The Legend of Zhen Huan* Borjigit Clan 2
Chapter 86 *The Legend of Zhen Huan* Borjigit Clan 2
Yuxi brought two maids into the palace according to their rank, one named Qiqige and the other Qimuge. Qiqige was the one who was fluent in both Mongolian and Chinese. Her mother was Han Chinese. In addition to being fluent in Chinese, she was also quite strong, knew some martial arts, was reliable and thoughtful, and served as her personal protector. Qimuge, on the other hand, was knowledgeable about food and medicine. However, well, she was a "Mongolian doctor," and those who know, know.
The head maid of Zhongcui Palace, named Qin Guanyu, was already waiting at the palace gate with all the palace maids and eunuchs. She led Yuxi to sit down in the main hall, served her tea, and then led everyone to kneel down before Yuxi. After that, she introduced herself to everyone.
Besides Aunt Guanyu, the head eunuch of Zhongcui Palace was named Guan Shanhai. This was not mentioned in the TV series. Yuxi only realized when she recalled that the head eunuch of every palace in the series had the character "Hai" in his name. It was all given by the same chief eunuch.
Yu Xi, being a Noble Lady, was entitled to four maids and four eunuchs at her side. Anzhuo, a gift from the Empress, naturally occupied a first-class maid position. Another first-class maid was Qiqige, while Qimuge was considered a second-class maid. Yu Xi used her spiritual power to scan the maids and eunuchs below, selecting a maid named Xing'er, bestowing upon her the name Chunxing, and placing her in the last second-class maid position. She then chose three eunuchs: Xiao Lizi, Xiao Pingzi, and Xiao Anzi.
After the rewards were given, the others were dismissed. Qiqige, representing Yuxi, spoke to the chosen people with a mix of kindness and severity, and then gave them another round of rewards. They were all assigned tasks, and only Anzhuo and Qiqige accompanied them on outings. Qimuge stayed in the palace to manage her money and dowry, while Chunxing managed her clothing. Xiao Lizi and Xiao Pingzi usually accompanied her on outings, running errands and such, while Xiao Anzi stayed in the courtyard to help the others.
Qin Guanyu and Guan Shanhai were in charge of all the servants in Zhongcui Palace. They had to report to Yuxi on everything. Once Yuxi was promoted to the rank of Consort, they would be directly under her command.
With all the arrangements made, Yuxi's dowry was inspected and sent to Zhongcui Palace. Qiqige and Qimuge led people to register and store it. Accompanied by Anzhuo and Aunt Guanyu, she toured Zhongcui Palace.
Zhongcui Palace is one of the six eastern palaces in the inner court of the Forbidden City. It is located in the southwest corner of the six eastern palace area and is not far from the Empress's Jingren Palace and the Emperor's Qianqing Palace. In the future, she will be able to save a lot of walking when paying her respects.
Zhongcui Palace is a two-courtyard complex. The main gate, named Zhongcui Gate, faces south. The main hall in the front courtyard is Zhongcui Palace itself, a five-bay structure with a hipped roof covered in yellow glazed tiles. It has a front porch, and five mythical beasts adorn the eaves. The eaves are decorated with single-tiered, single-bracketed, five-tiered bracket sets, and painted in the Suzhou style. The central bay has a door, while the side bays have lattice windows with crackled glaze and brocade-like patterns. The interior was originally a fully-fledged structure, but a ceiling was later added, and the floor was paved with square bricks.
In front of the main hall are three side halls on the east and west sides, each with a front porch and a door in the central bay. The roofs are made of yellow glazed tiles and decorated with Suzhou-style painted decorations under the eaves. In the rear courtyard, there is a main hall with five rooms, also made of yellow glazed tiles and a gable roof. The door is in the central bay and decorated with Suzhou-style painted decorations under the eaves. There are side rooms on both sides. In the southwest corner of the rear courtyard, there is a well with a pavilion on top of it.
The east and west side halls and the main hall in the back courtyard will be used to house the young mistresses, while the eunuchs of Zhongcui Palace will live in the side rooms in the front courtyard, and the palace maids will live in the side rooms on both sides of the back courtyard.
Two peace trees were planted on the left and right sides of the backyard. Liu Yuxi asked Guan Shanhai to arrange for some ordinary red and yellow flowers to be placed in the front and back yards, as bright colors can make people feel happy.
After all her things were stored away, she remembered that she wondered if she could set up a small kitchen in the yard. She would have to apply for it when she had the chance. Having a small kitchen would be much more convenient, at least she could heat up her meals in the winter.
After that, it was just a matter of waiting for the others to enter the palace. During this time, Yu Xi had been using her mental power to scan every place in the palace that she could go. In this world, her mental power's detection range had expanded to a diameter of 100 meters, so she could also detect the situation inside the various palaces from outside.
After she had almost grown tired of strolling through the Imperial Garden, Zhen Huan and the others finally entered the palace. Once they were all settled in their respective palaces, it was time for their group to have a joint audience with the Empress. What a memorable scene! I must go to bed early tonight, and be waiting outside the Empress's Jingren Palace early tomorrow.
The next morning, after getting up, Yu Xi quickly washed and dressed with the help of An Zhuo and the others. She then arrived at Jingren Palace with An Zhuo, Qi Qige, Xiao Li Zi, and Xiao Ping Zi. After being informed, she was led to the outer hall to wait.
Sure enough, after all the other newly arrived concubines had arrived and nodded to each other, Shen Meizhuang and Zhen Huan headed straight for the lead position, intending to walk in front of Yuxi. Yuxi looked at the two of them and asked Andrew in Mongolian, "What? Are these two of them of higher rank than me?"
Android replied: "Of course not, these two are Consort Shen and Consort Wan! Your Highness is the highest-ranking person here, followed by Consort Fucha, and then Consort Shen and Consort Wan."
Hearing Android's voice, everyone seemed to wake up with a start. Right, how dare a mere concubine stand in the lead position? Even if the headmistress hadn't said anything, she shouldn't have made such a mistake. How could they not have realized something was wrong?
For a moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang. Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang exchanged a glance, both of them noticing each other's panic. They could only apologize and then walk behind Yu Xi and Consort Fucha.
Soon, all the concubines except Consort Hua arrived. They stood in the middle of the hall, answering the Empress's questions. Then Consort Hua arrived late, arm in arm with Songzhi, saying as she walked, "I'm not too late, am I?"
From the moment she entered the hall, Yu Xi had been projecting her spiritual energy outwards, precisely to observe the expressions of all the concubines more directly. After Consort Hua and Consort Qi exchanged a few words, the Empress said, "Alright, you can talk later. Don't delay the auspicious time!"
As Jiang Fuhai's shouts rang out, "All ladies, pay your respects to Her Majesty the Empress!" Yu Xi and the others followed the pre-trained procedure to pay their respects to the Empress. However, when they tried to greet Consort Hua, they were ignored.
Consort Hua and the Empress discussed jewelry. The Empress, who had always appeared tolerant and forgiving, didn't hold a grudge against Consort Hua, but she did speak up for Consort Qi. When Yu Xi and the others were almost too uncomfortable to stand, the Empress finally stepped in to play the good girl and reminded Consort Hua to have the ladies rise. Consort Hua smiled and said, "I was so busy talking to Her Majesty the Empress that I forgot you were still maintaining your proper etiquette. Please rise!"
Now Yu Xi finally understood what it meant to lie through one's teeth. The room was only so big, and there were eight people squatting right in front of her—had she forgotten? And witnessing the verbal sparring between the Empress, Consort Hua, and Consort Qi firsthand… Yu Xi thought it was better that she couldn't speak Mandarin! Her brain couldn't keep up! It was too tiring!