In the distance near her bed, a woman kneeled on the smooth, colorful glazed brick floor. Her disheveled hair and half-displaced ornaments made it clear she was not an ordinary palace maid. Her eyes were swollen and red, her slender body trembling slightly. She desperately tried to suppress her sobs, but soft sounds escaped. Her gaze constantly darted to Xu Qiu’er’s expression, and when she noticed her brow slightly furrowing, she choked back her voice, which only made her tremble more intensely.
“I do not wish to see you again. Report your resignation and retire on grounds of illness. This is the greatest grace I can bestow!”
Xu Qiu’er’s voice remained lazy yet made the woman look increasingly desperate.
“Your Highness, this servant knows her mistake… Please consider…” She choked, her forehead swollen from kowtowing. Crawling forward on her knees, she tried to get closer to Xu Qiu’er, but a palace maid’s glance stopped her.
“I’m sparing you face because you’re one of the five concubines. Do not disturb my peace; leave!” Xu Qiu’er uttered softly, and the beaded curtain swayed. A young eunuch entered, speaking flatly: “Noble Consort Qing, it’s early morning. Please go.”
Two young eunuchs in blue palace uniforms silently approached, one carrying a bundle, the other reaching to restrain her.
The woman’s eyes reddened, her smeared makeup making her expression grotesque: “Who are you, Xu Qiu’er? I am the Emperor’s concubine. By what right? You’re just a cheap thing who climbed onto the Crown Prince…” Before she could finish, the young eunuchs covered and dragged her away, nearly making her faint. They pulled her out like a corpse.
The lead young eunuch bowed: “Your Highness, this servant will handle the matter.”
Xu Qiu’er closed her eyes silently as he withdrew.
Her brow slightly relaxed, unbothered by the words just spoken. In the inner palace, being cursed to one’s face was considered mild. Those who fall are not necessarily losers, and those standing are not necessarily winners, so she felt neither pleasure nor displeasure. Some people around Consort Ye must be removed, or they would become her future enemies.
