Consort of a Thousand Faces

Chapter 38.1: whoever hung the bell on the tiger’s neck must untie it

Su Xi-er supported Old Maidservant Liu back to her room before making her way to the wooden cabin at the southwest side.

She had just taken a few steps forward when she heard Hong Li calling her from behind. When she turned around, she saw that there were two white steamed buns in Hong Li’s hands.

“You only drank a few mouthfuls of congee. When you work tonight, you’re going to faint halfway through.” Hong Li proceeded to stuff the steamed buns into her hands.

Su Xi-er handed a steamed bun back to Hong Li. “I’ll just eat one.”

“What did you tell Old Maidservant Liu? She actually dared to defy Prince Hao’s edict, and let you support her back to her room.” Hong Li’s face was full of puzzlement. She had originally followed Su Xi-er, but when she saw that the latter was talking to Old Maidservant Liu, she didn’t move forward.

“Just inconsequential words. You should go back and rest since you still have to get up early to work tomorrow.” Su Xi-er then swiftly walked towards the southwest side.

Hong Li didn’t follow. No matter what she said, it will eventually benefit us in the future.

Su Xi-er had already finished eating the steamed bun by the time she arrived at the southwest side. She first pulled up a bucket of well water and washed her hands before she walked towards the wooden cabin.

There weren’t many chamber pots tonight. Strange. When I first came to the Palace Side Quarters, I had to scrub numerous chamber pots every day. Why is the number getting increasingly smaller these days?

After moving all the chamber pots onto the bamboo board, she counted twenty of them in all. She would only need two hours to scrub all of them clean.

The weight of twenty chamber pots was much lighter than the seventy to eighty of the past.

Not long after, Su Xi-er was dragging the bamboo board to the side of the well.

She collected a few buckets of well water and poured them onto the chamber pots. When she was scrubbing the second one, a clear and mellow man’s voice entered her ears. It was Situ Li.

“I came to take a look if you are still working with all your might like last night.”

“Third Imperial Prince, you must be jesting. The number of chamber pots has been decreasing recently. Even if this servant wanted to work with all my might, I wouldn’t be able to do so.”

Situ Li moved forward and was only a metre away from her. “Regarding Ruo Yuan’s matter, Prince Hao had already gone to investigate. Hence, I didn’t interfere.”

Su Xi-er indifferently replied, “She was called over by Eunuch Zhang from the Imperial Household Department to carry out labour. Nothing happened to her.” She then continued to scrub the chamber pots.

“Who said that nothing happened to her?” Situ Li suddenly asked.

This sentence surprised Su Xi-er. She immediately raised her head. “The Imperial Household Department is specifically in charge of dispatching servants from the various palaces. Why would something happen to Ruo Yuan while she is there?”

“Indeed, she was originally fine, but something just happened. Prince Hao ordered for Ruo Yuan to be transferred to the Laundry Service Bureau. All the heavy manual work is to be carried out by her.”

In the Palace Side Quarters, Ruo Yuan chops the wood and carry heavy items. Although she has much work, there is minimal danger involved since no one will target her.

But it’s different for the Laundry Service Bureau. Dirty clothes get sent in unceasingly, resulting in times when one can’t even sleep for a few nights in a row. If they accidentally spoil expensive clothes when washing and are blamed, even their heads wouldn’t be enough.

Su Xi-er muttered to herself, “She’s just an ordinary palace maid. Why did Prince Hao transfer her to the Laundry Service Bureau? Besides…” Situ Li helped her say the following words.

“The task of deploying palace maids has always been managed solely by the Imperial Household Department. This time, Prince Hao’s hand has even reached trivial matters. Su Xi-er, why did Prince Hao do this? Do you not know?”

All of a sudden, Pei Qianhao’s words from today flashed across her mind. “You don’t believe this prince. Why did you seek the Third Imperial Prince’s assistance with a request that had already been accepted by this prince? The things I’m interested in, this prince will destroy all of them.”

Everything Prince Hao is doing is targeting me.

When she was ruminating, Situ Li continued speaking calmly.

“Whoever hung the bell on the tiger’s neck must untie it, whoever started the trouble should end it. Rather than confronting him head-on, why don’t you make him lose interest in you.”