Eunuch Su, Eunuch Su!

In a blur of confusion, Hui Ming stood dazed outside the palace walls of Qian De Palace, her heart filled with questions.

How did she get here? What was she doing?

Oh, right, Hui Ming suddenly remembered. The Rui Prince had rebelled, and she heard that many palace servants in Qian De Palace had lost their lives because of it. She wanted to ask around and see who had died. Were there any familiar female officials? Also, there were rumors that Eunuch Su had…

She had to go and see.

As soon as she understood this, in the blink of an eye, Hui Ming saw the old eunuch who usually swept the outer courtyard of Qian De Palace. Right, she wanted to ask him. Hui Ming took a few steps forward, but before she could speak, the wrinkled old eunuch seemed to know her intentions. Shaking his head and sighing in a singsong voice, he said, "Dead, all dead…"

Hui Ming stood frozen, hearing her own voice float out, "What about Head Eunuch Su, Eunuch Su?"

"Head Eunuch Su?" The old eunuch's cloudy eyes flashed with impatience. "Dead! Also dead!"

Also dead!

The dream ended there. Hui Ming struggled for a bit, then suddenly sat up as if she had finally struggled out of icy water.

Her chest was still pounding. Hui Ming gasped slightly and turned to look at the still dark sky outside. Only then did she realize that her palms were covered in cold sweat.

Liu An, who was beside her, also turned over, sensing her movement, and mumbled sleepily, "Auntie?"

"It's okay, just a bad dream." Hui Ming shook her head gently, her voice still a little hoarse.

She had been having this dream for several days. Hui Ming clutched her chest, her mind slowly returning to the present.

It was strange. When she had first learned of Eunuch Su's death in her past life, she was only shocked and dazed for half a day. Apart from feeling a little empty, she had spent the next twenty years guarding the little prince, living an ordinary life without any obvious reaction.

Even when she first came back and learned that Eunuch Su was still alive, although she was grateful and wanted to repay his kindness, she didn't think about it day and night to the point of being disturbed by nightmares.

It was only after she sent the steamed egg with hibiscus a few days ago and listened to Eunuch Su's long speech and detailed instructions that she had been awakened by such nightmares again and again. It had been several days, and she really didn't know why.

Could it be that she was thinking about it during the day and dreaming about it at night? Hui Ming thought, it wasn't impossible. These days, she was indeed thinking almost all the time about how to get Eunuch Su out of the predicament two years later, so that he could live a long life.

She turned slightly and leaned against the head of the kang. She took a sip of water from a bowl on the small table by the kang. Although it was in a rattan-wrapped porcelain pot, it had already become ice cold after a night. After a few sips, Hui Ming felt instantly awake from the coldness. She clutched the thick cotton quilt tightly, calmed down, and leaned against the pillow, thinking that it had been several days since she had a proper conversation with Eunuch Su.

It should be four… five days? Hui Ming counted on her fingers. Not only Eunuch Su, but even Yuan Bao hadn't come to see her much in the past few days. When he came to deliver the silver charcoal yesterday, she happened to be out, and Liu An received it.

This wouldn't do. At this rate, how could she get close to Eunuch Su and ask about such a big matter involving Prince Rui? After so many days, she should be more attentive and visit him again! It just so happened that she hadn't seen him for a few days, and she didn't know if Eunuch Su's stomach ailment had improved, and whether he was drinking coix seed powder and Poria cocos powder every day.

Thinking of this, Hui Ming lay down again. Hearing that it was almost time, she simply took advantage of the darkness outside and got up. She took out a few silver ingots that Consort Xian had rewarded her with from the wooden chest at the end of the bed. She quickly got dressed and, as she had done last time, went to the kitchen and asked for a bowl of rice porridge with a layer of oil on top. Before leaving, she saw that there were finely chopped shredded cucumber and vegetables in the kitchen. Although simple, they looked very refreshing, so she shamelessly asked for a plate and packed them together in a food box to send to Eunuch Su's room.

It was still early, and there was no one in Eunuch Su's room. Even the door was tightly locked. Hui Ming was a little surprised. It was originally a temporary resting place behind Qian De Palace, and there were no valuables inside. When she came before, the door was usually unlocked, especially after she started sending meals to Eunuch Su. Yuan Bao even specifically mentioned to her that if no one was there, she could just go in and not wait outside in the cold.

Why was it locked today?

Did Yuan Bao forget? Hui Ming paused, stamping her feet in the cold wind outside and waiting for a while. Seeing that Yuan Bao and Eunuch Su were late, she was afraid that the hot porridge would soon turn cold in such weather. After thinking about it, she had to turn around and carry the food box back to her room. She quickly placed it by the brazier to keep it warm, and then immediately turned around and went back to work.

It was the time when the snow was slowly melting. Although the paths around Qian De Palace had already been cleaned by the rough servants every day, it was inevitable that some of the melting snow would seep out, especially near the inverted rooms and corridors where the masters would not set foot. There was even more dirt and mud on the ground bricks.

The palace servants in the palace didn't want the snow to stain their shoes, so they all took a few more steps on the clean corridors. However, Hui Ming was in a hurry and didn't have time for that. She just lifted her skirt and stepped directly into the snow on the ground bricks.

After running around in the snow, most of her shoes were wet. Fortunately, because she had lifted her skirt, the hem of her skirt was still clean. She smoothed it down and covered her shoes, so it didn't look too bad. However, her socks were wet and wrapped around her feet, and she had to endure the uncomfortable feeling.

Hui Ming frowned slightly, but she didn't have time to care about that at the moment. She just received instructions from Aunt Wei with the other female officials on duty today. As usual, she prepared the emperor's ornaments for the day, held the lacquer tray, and waited respectfully outside the curtain of the bedchamber. Not long after, following an order, they went forward one by one.

Hui Ming was very familiar with such daily tasks and could almost do them with her eyes closed. Therefore, at this moment, most of her attention was focused on Eunuch Su, who was standing beside her.

According to the emperor's habit, close service was always done by the female officials in front of the emperor, and the eunuchs never intervened. Therefore, Eunuch Su just stood at the door with his head bowed and eyes downcast, as if he had no interest in anything happening in the hall.

Hui Ming stared at him for a while, but today, Eunuch Su didn't seem to be as sharp as usual. Until Hui Ming finished serving, carried the lacquer tray, and retreated, Eunuch Su didn't even spare her a glance. He just stood there as if rooted to the spot!

Hui Ming pursed her lips slightly and retreated with an inexplicable sense of dejection.

Although Hui Ming also worked in Qian De Palace, compared to Eunuch Su's closeness to the emperor, she only served when the emperor changed clothes and did not go to the emperor's side when she had no errands. After the emperor had breakfast and went to Yang Qian Palace to deal with government affairs, Eunuch Su also accompanied him. The whole morning passed, and Hui Ming couldn't find the opportunity to meet Eunuch Su when he was free. She had to warm up the rice porridge she had asked for early in the morning and drink it herself.

As a result, it wasn't until noon, when the emperor was taking his midday nap, that Hui Ming, who had been paying attention all day, finally found some free time. At the west side door of Qian De Palace, she saw Eunuch Su in a black cloak, walking hurriedly with Yuan Bao, as if they were about to leave.

"Eunuch Su!" Hui Ming called out from afar with a smile on her face and went up to them.

Su Jin's footsteps paused. Under the cover of his cloak, the hand holding the Ruyi knot in his sleeve was already trembling slightly, but his expression was as gloomy as the weather, without a ripple.

"Where is the Eunuch going?" Hui Ming asked with a smile, her tone light and her face showing a hint of concern. "I wanted to bring you a bowl of well-cooked rice porridge this morning, but the door was locked. I didn't see it open until almost the third hour. You are so busy with your errands, have you had breakfast?"

Su Jin raised his head stiffly, his eyes sweeping greedily across Hui Ming's face. He hadn't spoken to her for six days, and at this moment, facing Hui Ming's concern, he wanted to look at her properly, but the shame and timidity in his heart made him afraid to look at her.

Su Jin lowered his head again. At this time, he knew that he should have said something cold to make her知难而退and ignore him from then on. However…

"Going to Yongshou Palace." He forced himself to speak, and then his lips twitched slightly. He couldn't utter a single hurtful word.

Hui Ming didn't notice anything wrong. Seeing that Eunuch Su was silent, she asked with some confusion, "What does the Eunuch want to say?" She paused for a moment and then said with some embarrassment, "Am I delaying your errands?"

"No, not at all…" Su Jin clenched his fists again, almost using all his strength. In the end, he just followed her words and turned his head away, "I still have some important errands. If you need anything, just tell Yuan Bao."

After saying that in a hurry, Su Jin turned around and left almost in a panic, leaving only Yuan Bao standing there, smiling awkwardly at Hui Ming and calling her Aunt Hui.

Only then did Hui Ming realize that something was wrong. She asked in confusion, "What's wrong with the Eunuch? By the way, why was the door to the inverted room locked today? It made me go there for nothing."

"My fault, my fault. It was all my fault for forgetting." Yuan Bao scratched the back of his head with his head down, his eyes dodging and his face full of embarrassment.

Hui Ming was stunned. She was all too familiar with such an expression. When she had offended Aunt Wei before, Qiu Ya, Yun Hua, and even Ku Kou Yu Gan all looked at her with such an embarrassed expression, as if they wished she would stay far away.

Thinking about what had happened in the past few days, Hui Ming seemed to understand something.

In addition to his duties as the head eunuch in front of the emperor, Eunuch Su had been given the additional responsibility of presiding over the memorial ceremonies for the late emperor and empress. He was busy from morning till night every day. Even if he didn't deliberately avoid her, as long as he didn't deliberately make time for her as he used to, it would be extremely difficult for them to meet in private.

It was precisely because of this that although Hui Ming had felt that Eunuch Su had been busier these days, she hadn't realized that he was deliberately distancing himself from her.

It wasn't until now, seeing Yuan Bao's evasiveness, that she suddenly understood -

Eunuch Su had already found her troublesome and had explained it to Yuan Bao, wanting to keep a respectful distance from her?

That was right. Eunuch Su was originally a righteous gentleman. In her previous life, it was she who had been sentimental and treated him coldly. Eunuch Su was magnanimous and didn't care. However, this time, she had been so attentive that Eunuch Su was afraid of misunderstanding her and naturally wanted to keep a distance. This result was only natural.

"Since that's the case, I won't delay you any longer. I'll go and bother Eunuch Su again when he's free." Hui Ming still smiled generously and spoke to Yuan Bao calmly.

Hui Ming told herself this in her heart. It's okay, it should have been like this. She was being too hasty. She would be more careful in the future and find other ways to get close to Eunuch Su slowly.

Although she said so, although she had already thought it through clearly in her heart, however—

Hui Ming reached out and touched her chest. For some reason, she felt a little aggrieved.

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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