Lianhua walked along, pondering. This was not what she had imagined from the picture books. The emperor had granted her the title, but she had been promoted to a concubine - a figure in the palace who was half slave and half mistress, the lowest rank of concubine, slightly higher than a slave but not a true mistress.
She was assigned to live in the desolate Canglan Courtyard on the western side of the palace. The name sounded nice, but it was close to the Cold Palace and extremely desolate. Few people ever went there, and the palace was said to be in such a dilapidated state that it was nearly abandoned.
The Palace Bureau assigned her a young palace maid named Xiaoqing to attend to her, supposedly to serve her, but the assigned attendant was merely a teenager who had just entered the palace and knew nothing, so it was unclear who would be taking care of whom.
Lianhua felt she had been shortchanged. She hadn't even seen the sweet or spicy parts yet, but she had already lost out and couldn't take it back. She tried to cheer herself up, thinking that at least her rank had been elevated, which was better than being a palace maid with endless chores every day. She also had her own courtyard to live in, which was still better than before.
Upon arriving at the gate of Canglan Courtyard, she saw a courtyard nestled among tall weeds. The roofs of the buildings were cracked, and it would surely leak during rain. Seeing this, Lianhua felt a chill run down her spine.
"Young mistress... are we going to live here from now on?" Xiaoqing pulled at Lianhua's sleeve in fear. Everyone said the palace was grand and luxurious, but the courtyard before them was worse than her own disaster-stricken home.
Lianhua felt like crying but had no tears. There was no incense or spices, just weeds. Her fantasies were completely shattered, and she regretted it deeply. If she could start over, she would never climb into bed again. The picture books were all lies.
What else could she do? She had to pull weeds, repair the roof, and renovate the courtyard. She had to keep going, no matter what. At least Xiaoqing was from a farming family and knew how to do many tasks.
Two years passed in the blink of an eye, and Lianhua had trained herself into a skilled worker. At first, there was more work than when she was a palace maid—weeding, clearing land, repairing roofs, renovating houses, and so on. The daily tasks seemed endless, but once they were completed, Xiaoqing could maintain them, leaving only the task of filling their stomachs each day.
The once-desolate courtyard was now well-organised, with flowers, plants, melons, and fruits filling the garden. Growing vegetables in the palace was considered beneath one's dignity, as it was seen as something only rustic peasants would do. But one couldn't ignore the demands of the stomach.
Besides, the courtyard was secluded, with few people passing by throughout the year. Lianhua didn't pay much attention to such details. After all, a palace maid's monthly salary was only six taels, and it wasn't easy to support two people in the palace. If she didn't find a way to make ends meet, she might starve to death.
One evening, as a gentle breeze blew—the most comfortable time of early summer—Lianhua, accompanied by Xiaoqing, carried the Qinglu Tea she had painstakingly prepared along the path of the Imperial Garden, as a gift to celebrate Xu Zhaoyi's promotion.
As a lowly palace maid, she was rarely noticed, and strictly speaking, high-ranking concubines would never bother with a gift from a lowly palace maid. But Lianhua still wanted to deliver it. Xu Zhaoyi was the most influential and sought-after concubine in the palace at the time, rumored to be the emperor's most favored consort. Who in the palace wouldn't give her some face? If she could curry favor with her, perhaps others would look upon her more favorably, and the eunuchs of the Palace Bureau wouldn't dare to arbitrarily withhold her salary.
Lianhua was confident in the Qinglu Tea she had carefully prepared. This tea was a family secret recipe passed down through generations, unique in the world. Drinking it not only left a sweet aftertaste but also cleansed the mind in summer and alleviated dryness in winter.
Back when her family was still prosperous, this tea alone could earn a fortune each year. However, after her family fell into decline, Lianhua was sent to the palace for refuge. Despite this, the ancestral secret recipe remained intact, known only to her family. Therefore, Lianhua was certain that Xu Zhaoyi would appreciate this tea.
The tea leaves used to make the tea were discovered by Lianhua while she was strolling through the imperial garden in her spare time. The palace gardens were truly remarkable, gathering rare and exotic plants from all over the world. She would wander from one area to another, and before long, she would have a basket full of delicious finds.
The bitter tea tree used to make Qinglu Tea was also found by Lianhua while she was searching for food in the garden. Others only knew that the leaves were bitter and did not realize that the leaves could be used to make such delicious tea. However, Lianhua's ancestors knew how to remove the bitterness and transform it into sweetness, so the tree became a treasure in Lianhua's eyes.
"My lady, let me carry it for you. It wouldn't be proper for the mistress to carry something while the servant stands idle," Xiaoqing tried to take it several times but couldn't.
"No, no, if you want this tea to taste good, you have to take care of it properly. It can't come into contact with human sweat. Look at you, you're sweating profusely, and your hands are sticky. How can you carry it? Let me do it." Lianhua took this gift-giving very seriously. The future depended on it, so she did everything herself, leaving Xiaoqing with nothing to do.
After reviewing memorials and discussing matters all day, the emperor went for a stroll in the imperial garden to relieve his fatigue. The weather was pleasant, and he exhaled much of the pent-up frustration he had been feeling.
As he passed through a quiet little garden, he heard footsteps ahead and occasional soft, pleasant voices. The emperor stopped the eunuch Zhang Qing, who was about to shout out, and continued walking forward.
Two women came into view. The one wearing a light blue silk gown seemed to be the mistress. She looked somewhat familiar, with chubby cheeks, a delicate nose, and almond-shaped eyes beneath arched eyebrows, with the corners of her eyes slightly upturned, giving her adorable face a touch of allure. A pink peach blossom was pinned in her hair, and she looked lively, holding a small jar tightly in her hand. The other woman, who seemed to be a maid, kept trying to take the jar but was afraid of breaking it if she used too much force, her face filled with distress.