Eunuch Su, Eunuch Su!

By the time Consort Hui Ming arrived at Qiande Palace with the Seventh Prince, she learned from the eunuchs outside that the Emperor and Empress had already gone to the Western Warm Chamber.

It was already late, so Hui Ming was in no hurry. She asked Nanny Wang to wait outside with the Seventh Prince for a while. She would go in first to see when the Emperor was in a good mood and free before bringing them in.

After settling Nanny Wang and the Seventh Prince, Hui Ming straightened her clothes and entered the Warm Chamber again. It seemed that the Emperor and Empress had just arrived. The Warm Chamber was not as lively as when she had left, but rather orderly and quiet. Through the nanmu screen, she could only hear the Empress's gentle voice saying something.

The Empress was only in her forties and had a dignified and elegant appearance. Although she looked a little tired due to her perennial illness, her every move carried the demeanor of a mother of a nation. She was like a mold of Prince Xin.

Eunuch Su stood by the window beside the Emperor, his head slightly bowed, motionless, as if he was not noticeable at all.

Hui Ming only glanced at him from afar and walked towards Liu An, who was standing at the door. Liu An smiled at her and silently handed her a lacquer plate from her hand.

Hui Ming nodded slightly and took it. During meals, their duties were simpler than usual. The Emperor was used to taking off his thumb ring and bracelet before meals, and they only had to hold the lacquer plate to receive and put it away as usual, and then present it again after he was done.

And because they were palace maids serving the Emperor, only the Empress and the Emperor were the masters in the whole room, and she and Liu An had to serve them separately. The rest of the masters, except for Consort Xian, who brought her own maid, Mei Hua, had to be sensible and did not have these trivial matters.

The Emperor did not even care much about his two adult sons, Prince Xin and Prince Rui, and he treated the two princesses sitting outside as if they were not there. From the moment Hui Ming entered the room, he did not even ask a question. She stood at the door and waited for a long time, finally waiting for the Emperor to call Prince Rui's three or four-year-old son forward to ask him some questions. The child's words were innocent and he was not flustered at all, which made the Emperor laugh.

Hui Ming saw that there was no better time than this, so she winked at the little eunuch she had asked for help outside. After a few breaths, a melodious singing voice rang out from outside the door: "The Seventh Prince has arrived--"

Hearing this singing, the people in the Warm Chamber were obviously stunned for a moment. The Seventh Prince had not appeared in the palace for many years. After they came back to their senses, they all looked up at the door. Even the Emperor at the wooden table put Prince Rui's little son aside and sat down, looking over with a hint of meaning.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the Seventh Prince's performance really made everyone feel that it was not enough to watch. He kept his head down all the way, and when he reached the front of the Emperor, he knelt down with the nanny beside him, but he did not even say hello, looking timid and awkward.

The Emperor was obviously a little disappointed. He leaned back on the pillow and waved his hand casually: "Rise."

Nanny Wang kowtowed and helped the Seventh Prince up, revealing his delicate features and fair skin. This good looks was somewhat useful. The Emperor rarely asked another question: "He still can't speak?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, he can." Nanny Wang said carefully, "It's just that the Prince is timid and has never seen so many people in Jingfang Hall. He is a little scared."

The Emperor nodded noncommittally and squinted at his seventh son. Although he was handsome, his eyes were dull and he just stared at one place without moving. His lips were still slightly moving, as if he was reciting something, but he looked very silly and lacking in spirit. He could not help but lose most of his interest and just waved his hand.

Nanny Wang and Hui Ming at the door both breathed a sigh of relief. After the Seventh Prince retreated, he sat down at the table closest to the door with his head down, quickly turning his prayer beads. Although several concubines and princesses around him tried to talk to him, they sat back uninterestingly after getting no response, as if he was not there. Only then did they completely relax.

After temporarily putting down the little prince, Hui Ming concentrated on the task at hand. The Emperor teased Prince Rui's son again, and Consort Xian also smiled and responded. After a while, Prince Xin and the Empress also brought up their pair of children who were too young to be brought to the palace. After a while, the musicians waiting in the corridor played Qingping Yue from soft to loud, and the Warm Chamber gradually became a happy family reunion.

After about half an hour, the sky began to darken. With an order, the dinner officially began. After Hui Ming and Liu An finished their duties, they stood outside the Duobao partition, going in and out from time to time, carrying out plates of candied fruits and snacks, and then passing in plates of main dishes one by one, which were then presented to the table by the eunuchs serving in front of the masters.

The dinner went on in an orderly manner. Unknowingly, nine of the twelve dishes had been served. It was at this time that Qiu Ya, who had been looking very bad, seemed to be unable to bear it any longer. She took advantage of the gap between serving the dishes, lowered her head and retreated from the corner, whispered something to Aunt Wei, who happened to be standing at the door, and hurried out.

Aunt Wei frowned upon hearing this. She glanced around the Duobao partition and landed on Hui Ming. She motioned her to come closer.

"Qiu Ya has a stomachache and can't hold on any longer. You go in and take her place to serve Consort Xian's table. Be careful and watch how Hong Yun does it, you just follow her." Aunt Wei said concisely, her tone laced with anxiety. Obviously, she did not expect such a thing to happen.

Hui Ming knew that Qiu Ya was not feeling well, but she was surprised that Aunt Wei chose her. But thinking that at this time, there were only her and Liu An in the Imperial Presence Maid's Department, and her seniority was older. In any case, her superior had already given the order, and there was no reason to refuse. So she just lowered her head and agreed. When the next dish was served, she lowered her head and entered, standing beside Consort Xian, Prince Xin, and Prince Rui's table.

At this time, the food served was mostly soup and pots. Hui Ming carefully presented them to the table and made no mistakes. In a blink of an eye, the twelve dishes were all served, and half of the dinner was over. It was time to change to some fruits, snacks, and tea for the masters to chat and stay up late.

However, on Hui Ming's side, in addition to the usual plates and dishes, there was a small porcelain bowl with a plain tire.

Hui Ming was stunned for a moment. Hong Yun had just finished serving the snacks on the Emperor and Empress's table. Seeing this, she turned around and took it from the plate, explaining to Consort Xian as she knelt down: "Your Highness, your bird's nest."

Oh, so in such a banquet, Consort Xian also ordered a bowl of nourishing bird's nest? As expected of a favored consort. Hui Ming suddenly realized and was about to take a step back to make way, when she saw Hong Yun handing the porcelain bowl to her.

Although Hong Yun had already taken the bird's nest in her hand, it was not as convenient as Hui Ming's position. It was not impossible to hand it over to her and then present it.

However, at the moment of reaching out, perhaps it was the intuition she had developed after decades of serving in front of the Emperor, or perhaps it was the nervousness on Hong Yun's face, in short, an inexplicable intuition made Hui Ming hesitate inexplicably, and her hands that were reaching out to Hong Yun also stopped hesitantly.

But it was too late. As if sensing her hesitation, Hong Yun's face turned pale. Then, before Hui Ming could react, she almost forcibly stuffed the bird's nest into her hand.

Hui Ming dodged abruptly, her fingertips brushing against the wall of the porcelain bowl, and the porcelain bowl filled with top-grade blood bird's nest fell to the ground.

Yue Zhou porcelain was famous for its thinness and lightness, so naturally it was not resistant to falling. With a crisp sound, the bird's nest splashed everywhere, and even Consort Xian's skirt was stained with a few dots of scarlet.

The moment the porcelain bowl slipped out of her hand, Hui Ming's fingertips twisted. Her hand was full of slipperiness. She immediately narrowed her eyes and knelt down before Hong Yun could react.

The hot bird's nest and broken porcelain pieces under Hui Ming's knees ached faintly, but Hui Ming could not even care about it at this moment. Apart from the fear after the realization, she glanced at Hong Yun who was kneeling behind her, and there was only a burst of anger.

The side of the bowl that Hong Yun handed her was stained with talcum powder, which was slippery. If she had not stopped just now, the bird's nest would have fallen off after she took it. At that time, because she had already taken it, it would have been her sole responsibility if it had been broken. More importantly, with her current position, if she had taken it and then dropped it, it was very likely that the bird's nest would have fallen on Consort Xian!

It was the same as accidentally breaking something in front of the Emperor, but simply dropping it on the ground and dropping the hot soup on the master were two completely different things. For the former, if the master was in a good mood or had a lenient temperament, she might only be fined a few months' salary. But if the palace maid accidentally scalded the master, she would be beaten half to death!

Not to mention what kind of temperament Consort Xian had, everyone in the palace knew! Hong Yun, no, it should be Aunt Wei. Their move was clearly aimed at her life!

Su Jin, who was standing by the window, was also startled when he saw that it was Hui Ming. He could not help but take a step forward, but at the last moment, he controlled himself and stopped.

No! Su Jin's palms trembled slightly, but he had to use his remaining rationality to warn himself that he absolutely could not plead for mercy in front of so many masters. It's… It's fine. On such a festive day, and no one was hurt, he thought that in front of the Emperor, Consort Xian would not make things difficult for her. At most, she would be punished with a few boards according to the rules… He would go and arrange for the eunuchs in charge of the punishment to go easy on her later, just pretend to do it.

Although Hui Ming did not know that Eunuch Su was already preparing to instruct the eunuchs in charge of punishment to go easy on her, she had been serving in front of the Emperor for decades and knew the palace rules very well. She also understood that this "mistake" would at most result in some physical pain and would not cost her life. Therefore, she was relatively calm.

Although Hui Ming wished she could beat Hong Yun and Aunt Wei to death, she also knew that the talcum powder had already melted into the bird's nest. In front of the masters, if this matter was brought to light, Hong Yun would definitely not admit it. On such a festive day, no master would want to hear the two palace maids arguing with each other. It might even be more troublesome. Because of this, she only respectfully admitted her guilt and said that she had accidentally dropped it.

"Shattered peace is also a good sign." Indeed, as expected, only her clothes were splashed with a few dots. In front of the Emperor, although Consort Xian did not know what she was thinking, she had a kind expression on her face and even said a few auspicious words to the Emperor with a smile.

The Emperor also smiled indifferently and waved his hand. Su Jin's heart relaxed, and he took a step forward, bowed, and was about to take Hui Ming and Hong Yun away to deal with them according to the "rules."

Who knew that Consort Xian, who had just smiled, seemed to have remembered something when she saw Su Jin walking over. She suddenly reached out to stop Su Jin, looked at Hui Ming, and ordered: "Raise your head and let me see."

"Oh, why does this voice sound familiar? So it's you." After seeing Hui Ming's features clearly, Consort Xian paused and a strange smile appeared on her face. She glanced at Su Jin, whose face was tense, and then looked at the Emperor, continuing as if she was just making casual conversation: "I remember now. Speaking of which, this palace maid is not an outsider!"

Hui Ming, who was on the ground, skipped a beat. Her fingers tightly gripped the clothes on the ground, and a bad premonition arose in her heart.

No, it can't be. It's just some rumors. Even if Consort Xian heard about it, she wouldn't say it in front of all the masters… This uneasy premonition made Hui Ming bite her lip tightly, but she still had some hope in her heart, comforting herself in this way.

However, in the blink of an eye, Consort Xian's explanation, which carried a hint of teasing, rang out clearly in the Warm Chamber, shattering the last bit of luck in Hui Ming's heart: "I heard that this palace maid is our Head Eunuch Su's person."

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