Eunuch Su, Eunuch Su!

Because Hui Ming, though new, was quite adept at her duties, Nanny Xu no longer felt the need to exert herself. After all, she had already taken Hui Ming before the Emperor a few days prior. This served to show others Hui Ming's importance to His Majesty and ensured that no one would dare to make things difficult for her. Nanny Xu resumed her previous habit of staying out of sight, leaving Hui Ming to her own devices.

It wasn't until three days later that Hui Ming saw Nanny Xu again. Early that morning, Nanny Xu stood outside the Qianqing Palace, accompanied by a short palace maid and Aunt Wei.

Seeing their two superiors standing at the door, seemingly with something to say, the palace maids on duty dared not brave the cold wind outside. They all bowed their heads, standing respectfully at the bottom of the steps. Hui Ming, who had just arrived, was taken aback. Just as she was about to join the line, Nanny Xu coughed lightly and said directly, "Hui Ming, come here."

To stand behind the Head Palace Maid, one had to be a trusted confidante. Take Aunt Wei for example. After Bai Hao was sent away, the palace maid behind her was replaced by Hong Yun, who was originally only second in line. However, Nanny Xu had always been stern. Although some ambitious palace maids had tried to curry favor with her, Nanny Xu remained indifferent. She would rather spend money to tip the lower-ranking palace servants or even the rough laborers than take in any of the palace maids. She preferred to be a lone wolf.

Knowing that this was Nanny Xu giving her face, Hui Ming naturally wouldn't refuse. She immediately stepped forward and, under the complex and envious gazes of her colleagues below, carefully supported Nanny Xu's right arm.

Hui Ming's actions were partly for show, but more importantly, she knew that Nanny Xu's body wasn't as strong as it appeared. She had learned from Yuan Bao a few days ago that Nanny Xu seemed to have suffered outside the palace and had developed severe rheumatism in her legs. Especially in such cold and damp weather, the pain would be even worse.

However, Nanny Xu was stubborn. Despite her decades of relationship and seniority with the Emperor, she was unwilling to appear frail or limping in front of him. Whenever she appeared in front of people, she would always maintain a straight back and impeccable posture. This was also the reason why Nanny Xu, despite being the Head Palace Maid of Qianqing Palace, rarely showed her face, leading people to mistakenly believe that she was intentionally avoiding Aunt Wei.

Sure enough, as soon as Hui Ming supported Nanny Xu, she clearly felt Nanny Xu's right arm exert force, almost completely shifting the weight of her right leg onto her right arm.

Such weather was too much for Nanny Xu to bear. If it weren't for the unbearable pain in her legs, with Nanny Xu's personality, she would never show such weakness, even to her. Hui Ming's heart ached. While her hand steadied, she silently remembered Nanny Xu's kindness, thinking that if the opportunity arose, she would definitely repay her.

Fortunately, the palace servants didn't arrive too late. Not long after Hui Ming helped Nanny Xu stand firm, all twelve palace maids on duty for the day had lined up neatly at the bottom of the steps, except for the sleeping quarters maids who couldn't leave. Seeing this, Nanny Xu called the little palace maid beside her to step forward and said in a serious tone, "This is Liu An. Today is her first day at Qianqing Palace. She will be working with Hui Ming on ornaments from now on. Everyone, please greet her."

Liu An was a short palace maid with round eyes and a clever look on her face. She immediately bowed her head and stepped forward, kowtowing to Nanny Xu and Aunt Wei in turn. Then, she turned around and bowed deeply to everyone. "Greetings, elder sisters. Liu An is still ignorant. Please guide me well in the future."

To be honest, Liu An's greetings were much more presentable than Hui Ming's own timid ones back then, not to mention that they were in front of the two superiors. Naturally, everyone returned the greetings politely, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

Nanny Xu nodded slightly and instructed, "Follow Hui Ming on duty these few days and learn carefully. When you've learned enough, you can take turns on duty."

Liu An respectfully agreed, then looked up at Hui Ming with a smile that was three parts friendly and three parts ingratiating. Seeing Hui Ming nod in agreement, she turned and stood at the very end of the line.

Seeing this, Nanny Xu let go of Hui Ming and took a step forward, her expression becoming even more serious. "You should all know why Bai Hao was sent back to the side palace. The Emperor's presence is not a place for you to joke around. This time, it was Aunt Wei who was kind. If there's a next time, you'll be thrown directly into the Punishment Department to learn your lesson! Do you understand?"

Nanny Xu's words were harsh, and everyone's hearts trembled upon hearing them. They all hurriedly bowed in agreement. It wasn't until they stood up again that the bolder ones dared to sneak a glance at Aunt Wei's expression, to see how she would react to being implicated in such a reprimand.

Aunt Wei didn't get angry. After hearing such words, she acted as if Bai Hao, who had just been named and criticized, wasn't her confidante at all, and that Bai Hao's mistakes had nothing to do with her. She only took over the conversation with a gentle expression, "Since you all understand, it's getting late. Go inside and warm yourselves up, and be attentive to your duties."

Hui Ming secretly admired Aunt Wei's composure. She responded like everyone else and was about to escort Nanny Xu back, but Nanny Xu sternly reminded her that duty came first. Only then did Hui Ming lead Liu An, who was waiting by the side, into the back room where the Emperor's clothes and ornaments were kept.

It was time for the Emperor to get up. Besides Hui Ming who was preparing the ornaments, the two sisters, Ku Kou and Yu Gan, who were in charge of the Emperor's clothes, were also busy packing the Emperor's clothes for the day. They turned their heads and saw Hui Ming and Liu An, both smiling awkwardly. They only nodded perfunctorily at Liu An's greeting and silently prepared the lacquer trays before hurrying out.

Hui Ming was already used to this. Seeing this, she only glanced at Liu An with some worry. Since Liu An was brought here by Nanny Xu and assigned to her, it would be difficult for her to get along with the other palace maids in the Qianqing Palace. Hui Ming was thinking about how to explain the situation in the Qianqing Palace to her, but Liu An didn't seem to care about Ku Kou and Yu Gan's aloofness. She still smiled and listened to Hui Ming's instructions.

It had to be said that the palace maids who could work for the Emperor were all quite capable. Although Liu An was young, she was a fast learner and very clever. Moreover, she could recognize many simple characters, which was rare. On her first day, she was able to help Hui Ming go through the ornaments in the Qianqing Palace one by one according to the account book. Originally, Hui Ming planned to take her to the inner treasury of the Palace Affairs Office to return the damaged or old items that the Emperor didn't like, and to take the opportunity to introduce her to some people. However, in the Palace Affairs Office, Liu An seemed to be even more familiar with the place than Hui Ming. She could talk to many people.

Seeing Hui Ming's confusion, Liu An smiled and explained, "Eunuch Liu from the Palace Affairs Office is a distant uncle of mine. I used to work in the Palace Affairs Office." After saying that, she looked at Hui Ming's expression and carefully suggested, "If Auntie trusts me, you can leave all these errands to me in the future. I will be careful and won't make any mistakes!"

Hui Ming was stunned by the address and immediately shook her head. "We work together, and I'm not that much older than you. You don't have to be so polite. Just call me Hui Ming."

"That won't do." Liu An immediately shook her head and said earnestly, "Eunuch Su personally sent Eunuch Yuan Bao to choose me from the Palace Affairs Office. My uncle specifically told me to listen to Auntie's words. How can I be so disrespectful?"

Hearing this, Hui Ming stopped in her tracks. "You, you were chosen by Eunuch Su?"

Seeing the change in her expression, Liu An seemed a little uneasy, and her expression became even more cautious. "Yes, but did Liu An say something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing." Seeing the worry on Liu An's face, Hui Ming quickly comforted her with a smile. However, after she came back to her senses, her heart was filled with complicated emotions. She didn't expect Eunuch Su to be so thoughtful of her.

However, how could she ever repay such kindness?

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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