Just as YU Yao was pondering these things, YAN BEI CHENG had already taken a bath and dried himself.
She was quick to walk over, but her eyes couldn't dare to wander. She was afraid of getting conjunctivitis and mainly because she felt embarrassed.
She just peeked at him discreetly and then looked away.
She picked up the shirt next to her hand, carefully putting it on the other person.
She was a martial artist in her past life, although she had had a mate, but she had not served men much when they were dressing.
Therefore, her movements while dressing were somewhat awkward.
YAN BEI CHENG furrowed his brow and looked over, his gaze falling on that hand. Perhaps because the light was warm and dim, it made those hands as white as jade, slender and delicate, with soft bones but also prone to causing trouble in all directions.
His eyes dimmed slightly, and his gaze rose to see a head of black hair and a full but graceful figure, with prominent curves.
His interest was piqued by those hands, and he suddenly reached out to lift the woman's chin. When he saw her face, he was slightly taken aback.
Looking at the beautiful figure, he had originally thought it was a beautiful woman, but...
The appearance is very good, but there is a thick and rough scar on the left side of her face, about the length of a thumb.
Even in the dim, yellow light, it was still clearly visible.
It made her originally beautiful appearance lose some of its luster, and could even be considered ugly.
According to the rule, a disfigured concubine is not only unworthy to serve the Emperor, but also cannot serve in the concubine's side. Usually they are sent far away or do rough work in places like laundry bureau.
But the previous owner had disfigured herself while saving the Imperial Consort Zhao, and feeling grateful for the sincerity, the Imperial Consort Zhao did not send her away from the Yao Hua Palace but kept her by her side to serve.
But after seeing the previous owner's memories, YU YAO was indeed aware that the previous owner had intentionally disfigured herself in order to protect herself.
The previous owner was beautiful, which had already aroused the jealousy of the Imperial Consort Zhao. She often suppressed the previous owner, not to mention that she never let her appear when YAN BEI CHENG came to the Yao Hua Palace.
To dispel the Imperial Consort Zhao's jealousy and to live better, the previous owner deliberately disfigured herself while saving the Imperial Consort Zhao.
In this world where strength is supreme, appearance is relatively less important than life.
After the previous owner's appearance was damaged, the Imperial Consort Zhao was indeed less jealous of her. She not only bestowed her with many treasures but also transferred her to serve by her side.
YU YAO felt a bit flustered and nervous when she saw her chin being held by the man in front of her, and she quickly turned her face away.
She didn't expect to collide with the fierce gaze of the Imperial Consort Zhao who had yet to turn away.
The Imperial Consort Zhao glared fiercely at her, and then, she put on a smile and looked at YAN BEI CHENG with a soft and gentle voice: "Your Majesty, this palace maid is clumsy. It would be better if I served you myself."
With that, she moved gracefully towards them.
YAN BEI CHENG immediately released YU YAO's chin and looked at the Imperial Consort Zhao. She didn't refuse, but only nodded slightly.
YU YAO saw the Imperial Consort Zhao coming over and took the chance to retreat.
...
A few days later, the maidservant Jin Si, who was the major maid to Empress Consort Zhao, came to her and said that Empress Consort Zhao thought her disfigured face was an eyesore and that she was not suitable to continue serving in the Yao Hua Palace. She asked her to pack up her things today and go to the laundry bureau.
YU YAO was immediately taken aback, and after a moment of thought, she understood the reason.
I guess it's because of the service I provided to the Emperor that day, which has been held against me by Empress Consort Zhao.
This shows that the merit of saving a life doesn't compare to the Emperor's favor, and indeed, winning the Emperor's favor is the most important thing.
After understanding the reason, she didn't say anything about staying, and didn't go to see Empress Consort Zhao either. She packed her things carefully and left with discretion.
The previous owner didn't have many belongings; besides a few pieces of clothing and some jewelry, there were only some banknotes and several yuan stones originally bestowed by the Imperial Consort Zhao.
Yuan stones are somewhat similar to spiritual stones in the cultivation world, but there is a difference: while spiritual stones contain spiritual energy, yuan stones contain yuan energy.
They can be used for cultivation, or as currency.
However, on the Tianqian Continent, yuan stone veins are scarce and are mostly controlled by noble families and great dynasties.
Generally speaking, people who have yuan stones also keep them for their own cultivation purposes. They are rarely used for trading, so the ones in circulation are still gold and silver.
Besides the banknotes and a few yuan stones that she threw into the system space, she folded up the rest of her belongings into a bag and carried it with her.
This world also has storage rings, but here they are not called storage rings; they are called holding rings.
However, the materials used to make holding rings are incredibly precious, so they naturally cost a lot.
The previous owner, a small palace maid, naturally wouldn't have anything like this.
She carried the bag and left the Yao Hua Palace, and quickly departed from there.
The Yao Hua Palace is located in the sixth palace to the east, while the Laundry Bureau is located in the farthest north of the sixth palace on the west. It would be necessary to go around the Imperial Garden, Taiye Pool, and several other palaces, so it's still quite a distance.
Although the previous owner didn't have much strength, her physique was good, and she had some basic training under her belt. The distance was nothing to her at all.
YU YAO walked west along the red-painted palace wall, heading towards the sixth palace.
She found that the palace complex was incredibly vast, with splendid buildings and towers, red walls and yellow tiles, towering and majestic, magnificent and grand.
The palace passageways were also very well-connected, like a maze.
She twisted and turned through the corridors, not knowing how many turns she had taken.
However, with the previous owner's memories, she wouldn't get lost.
She wandered further and further off the path, not knowing how long it had been before her silhouette finally appeared at the Laundry Bureau.
The aunt at the Laundry Bureau is called Qiu Bai, everyone calls her Aunt Qiu, she is a woman in her late thirties, with a cultivation level of Tian Yuan intermediate.
She's definitely stronger than YU YAO.
Aunt Qiu had already received the message from Jin Si, the major maid to the Imperial Consort Zhao, instructing her to properly accommodate this new palace maid.
This reception wouldn't be anything good.
It was obvious that the newcomer had displeased the Imperial Consort, and there was no intention of allowing her to have a good time.
Aunt Qiu, who had received the order, didn't even give YU YAO a chance to catch her breath on the first day of her arrival at the Laundry Bureau, and immediately assigned her a lot of tasks.
It was all clothing for eunuchs and maids, a pile so large that she had barely finished washing it when someone immediately brought over another heap of clothes.
In short, she had no chance to rest.
She gazed at her hands, which had turned pale from soaking and were slightly swollen, and her expression was rather glum.
Suddenly, she yearned for the magic spells of the cultivation world. Although strength was revered in this Tianqian Continent as well, there were no magic spells, and many things had to be done manually.
Unlike in the cultivation world, where a simple cleaning spell can transform the filthiest clothes into cleanliness with just a pinch of magic.
She looked over at the little palace maid washing clothes next to her and saw that she had far fewer clothes than her. After a moment of realization, she understood that she was being targeted.
She knit her brows and her eyes shifted to Aunt Qiu standing beside her, speaking in a cold tone, "Aunt Qiu, why do I have to wash so much more than the others?"
She pointed to the little palace maid standing beside her.
Aunt Qiu looked at her with a fierce gaze, her brows and eyes hardening, and she sneered coldly, "All new comers are like this. This is the rule of the Laundry Bureau. It's to wear down your temperament. If you're not satisfied, you can go to see the Empress."
YU YAO knit her brows. Seeing the other party dare to say it so openly showed that these rules did indeed exist.
Although she didn't like it in her heart, she didn't say anything else and could only continue to wash clothes in a gloomy manner.
However, she was thinking of ways to change the situation in her heart.
By evening, she was so tired that she couldn't straighten her back.
She was so tired and hungry that she hit her aching back and was about to get up to eat dinner when Aunt Qiu told her that she had come too late, there was none left.
