At the break of dawn, Yuyao woke up, recalling the enchanting night before, feeling quite satisfied with her inner thoughts.
Who doesn't have some demands? After all, Emperor Jing is the most respected man in the world. He is also very attractive to look at and has excellent sexual abilities.
The only thing that bothered her was that the cucumber was communal, which made her feel a bit disdainful.
Fortunately, she had no intention of taking it seriously, treating it like hiring a prostitute. Hiring a prostitute would cost money, but this one wouldn't, and there would be additional benefits.
No matter how you look at it, it's not a loss.
She glanced at the hourglass and found it was already a quarter past the first watch of the day, which startled her greatly.
Just as she was about to get up from bed, she saw the man next to her still sound asleep. She hesitated, unsure if she should wake him up.
In ancient times, emperors usually got up at 3 a.m., washed themselves, arranged their appearance, and prepared for a new day.
As a palace maid, she is expected to wake up even earlier. By now, her rising is already somewhat late.
She wasn't sure about Emperor Jing's temperament and wasn't certain if the man had morning irritation. After thinking for a while, she didn't call him.
Since it's not very late, if the time really is too late, someone outside will come and urge us.
She doesn't need to touch this bad luck.
She crept down from the tail of the bed, and she dare not cross over Emperor Jing's body, crossing the dragon body was disrespectful to the emperor, unless she didn't care about her life.
Ah, that damned feudal system.
Fortunately, she was last night carried into the bed by Emperor Jing.
According to the normal procedure of empress's service, she should crawl from the foot of the emperor.
Thinking about the future where she would also have to crawl up to the emperor from his feet for the night, she looked utterly despairing.
Just as she was thinking about all these mess, the person had already gotten off the bed, walked on the plush carpet with her feet, and just put on her clothes when Emperor Jing woke up.
He opened his eyes dazedly and saw her for a moment, then rubbed his eyes and spoke in a low and hoarse voice, "What time is it? Why are you up so early?"
With a touch of laziness from just waking up.
Yuyao stopped her movements and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Majesty, this is precisely the eleventh minutes past the first watch."
"Is it already past the first watch?"
Hearing this, Emperor Jing stretched lazily and then got out of bed.
Luxi, who was stationed at the door, heard the noise inside and quietly pushed open the door and walked in.
Following her were a line of maids serving Emperor Jing in the Great Harmony Hall. They all entered one by one.
The maids carried copper basins, towels, mouthwash, and dragon robes, entering the hall in an orderly manner.
"Your Majesty."
Luxi respectfully addressed, followed by directing the maids to attend to His Majesty's grooming.
Yuyao naturally retreated to the side. Although she was a servant, Emperor Jing did not assign her specific duties, and she felt embarrassed not knowing what to do at this time.
A maid handed Emperor Jing a slightly warm towel, which he took and casually wiped his face with.
Another maid offered him mouthwash. After rinsing his mouth, Emperor Jing felt significantly more awake.
Luxi carefully carried the dragon robe and walked forward respectfully, saying, "Your Majesty, please change into your clothes."
Emperor Jing slightly raised his arm, letting Luxi and the maids dress him in the dragon robe.
He looked over at the woman standing there with lowered head and compliant demeanor, recalling the enchanting night before, and a hint of tenderness flashed in his beautiful peach-colored eyes.
"Luxi, arrange a courtyard for her to live in the Great Harmony Hall."
He suddenly gave a low command.
Luxi heard the command and naturally looked towards Yuyao, recalling what had happened last night, without any surprise, she returned her gaze and respectfully said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Hearing Emperor Jing's words, she hurriedly knelt down and bowed, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
This was something Emperor Jing had already told her last night, so she was not surprised by it this time.
Emperor Jing waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to bow, and walked over to touch her face, speaking softly, "You rest well today. Don't come to serve me. I will have someone call you in the evening."
No tasks were assigned to her, and there was no hint of whether she would be given a title.
It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with her; rather, it was currently a period of mourning, and it wasn't appropriate to grant her a title.
Yuyao naturally understood this as well, bowing slightly and saying, "Yes."
Emperor Jing glanced at her, having everything in order, and then went to attend the court.
She had her breakfast in the Great Harmony Hall, which was quite abundant. After eating, Luxi led her to see the courtyard.
The courtyard was next to the side hall of the Great Harmony Hall, just a few steps away. It was where the concubines served as emperor's bedmates, and the rear hall was the emperor's palace.
Arranging her to live next to the palace where the concubines serve as emperor's bedmates, it was unclear whether it was Emperor Jing's intention or Luxi's own guesswork.
As far as she knew, the maids serving in the Great Harmony Hall did not have separate rooms; they were usually accommodated in pairs or small groups.
It would be even more special to have a separate courtyard, which looked quite unusual from the perspective of other palace maids.
The courtyard was surrounded by verdant bamboos, a few peonies blooming in anticipation, with their floral fragrance floating and refreshing the mind, starkly contrasting with the solemnity of the mourning period.
A path paved with soft stone, winding and meandering, led through the serene environment. The furniture and decorations inside were also exquisitely made, with all the basics in place.
Yuyao followed Luxi around the courtyard, feeling very satisfied with the place.
"Miss Yuyao, this courtyard is exclusively yours. If you have any dissatisfaction with anything, please inform the servant."
She nodded slightly, "I am very satisfied, thank you, Grandfather for taking the trouble."
Luxi smiled and said, "This was the emperor's idea. As a loyal servant, I simply carried out his command."
He suddenly remembered something and could not help but remind her: "Miss Yuyao, you must be very careful in this palace. After all, your situation is special."
She understood the deep meaning in Luxi's words and her eyes revealed gratitude, "Thank you, Grandfather for the reminder. I will be careful."
Luxi smiled and said a few more words before turning to leave.
Yuyao sat in the courtyard, thinking about last night's service, and instinctively wanted to swallow a dragon and phoenix pill.
But then, thinking of the mourning period, she realized that taking the medicine would mean she was pregnant.
Once her belly grew bigger, the imperial doctor would be able to determine the specific month by feeling her pulse.
Once the others make a slight calculation, they will know the time she conceived. Once it spreads out, her reputation will be damaged. Moreover, others may think the child is unlucky.
It would not be good for her or the child.
Thinking about this, she abandoned the idea of immediately taking the dragon and phoenix pill.
Even if she wanted to take it, she would wait until after the mourning period.
After sitting in the courtyard for a while, she turned back to the room to rest.
The entire rear palace was filled with a sense of mourning, with weeping and wailing echoing everywhere.
The concubines were dressed in mourning clothes, with sorrowful faces. They followed in turn to cry before the spirits, bidding farewell to the deceased emperor.
Princess Li was dressed in plain clothes, kneeling on one side of the hall, her face expressing great grief. However, in the depths of her eyes, there was not a single trace of grief. Instead, there was a hint of irritation.
At this moment, Liu Concubine moved carefully over, "My lady, my maiden is bold to inform you of something."
She spoke in a low voice, afraid of disturbing the spirits in the hall.
Princess Li looked sideways at Liu Concubine and spoke in a low voice, "What is it?"
Liu Concubine glanced left and right, seeing no one paying attention here, she lowered her voice and said, "Have you heard about what happened last night? I heard that last night the Nei Empress refused to die with the emperor, knocked over the eunuch carrying out the punishment and ran away."
Upon hearing this, Princess Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her lips curled into a faint cold smile. "Oh? Is that true? I haven't paid attention to Empress Yu."
In her heart, she thought to herself, who is Empress Yu? I don't have the slightest impression of her.
Why should she be concerned about the emperor's harem? She won't compete with her for men.
It seems she truly doesn't know who that is.
"It is said that the Nei Empress ran into the Great Harmony Hall and has been missing ever since."
Liu Concubine lowered her voice, her eyes flashing with caution and jealousy, "My lady, the emperor loves beautiful women and has been without a concubine for a long time. Do you think that Empress Yu will be. . .?"
Princess Li raised her hand gently to cut off Liu Concubine's words, her expression one of scorn. "Hmph, you've said the emperor likes beautiful women. Can he possibly look at an old woman? Besides, it's the mourning period; the emperor wouldn't do such out-of-bounds things."
She genuinely didn't care about Empress Yu. If she was a beautiful woman, she wouldn't have been obscure in the emperor's harem.
Moreover, the emperor had not held a imperial examination for a long time before his passing. Even if the last batch of candidates entered the palace, they would be at least in their twenties.
There are plenty of beautiful women in their sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth years in the palace. Who would be willing to sleep with an old woman when they have so many young beauties to choose from?
The emperor is very picky, so how could he be so indiscriminate like that?
Even if the emperor bears the hardship of mourning, there are still concubines serving in the Great Harmony Hall, right?
How could it be Empress Yu's turn?
Princess Li genuinely didn't care about this and even showed some impatience, "Don't tell me about all these trivial matters in the future. Go away, don't let anyone see you."
"Yes, my lady."
Liu Concubine, seeing that Princess Li was uninterested, dared not say more and quickly moved away quietly.
