Chapter 27 (2/2)

But…

I soon discovered I was mistaken.

It took around a dozen days of thoughtful effort to make it to the palace gates.

I changed into a set of clean robes and a.s.sumed the air of a clever, lovely girl to hand over my silver. Originally I planned to behave myself and get a job as a servant girl. But the eunuch in charge practically salivated with greed. His oily hands ran over and over my gold leaves, feeling especially pleased. In the end, he fixed his eyes to stare at me, before circling around a few times to inspect me up and down. His eyes rolled around in circles before he spoke in a shrill and piercing voice.

“Girl, why don’t you wait a few more days. They’re selecting court ladies then, and you have the makings of an imperial concubine.”

—All reproductions of this work not on volaretranslations are stolen copies.

The old man emperor was already confined to bed, who said he’s gonna pick any court ladies. If I entered the palace as a court lady and the emperor died, wouldn’t I be forced into seclusion as a widowed nun?

Pah!

That old lecher sure had a well-deserved reputation with officials like these…even a castrated eunuch was still so obscene.

And thus.

I looked at the aging face leaning my way, and knocked him senseless with a wave of my sleeve. Then I forcefully wrested away the gold leaves in his hands and s.n.a.t.c.hed back the paper money from his robes.

I returned to my inn and gave a small sigh to the reflection in the mirror.

There was something about beautiful women suffering unhappy fates. My eyebrows looked like eyebrows, my eyes looked like eyes…but both were extremely attractive. Who knew what kind of trouble I’d have if I entered the palace like this. It’d be better to ruin my looks.

Thus, I pinched some medicinal powder and casually smeared it over myself. It itched and burned and made my skin feel numb.

I lied on the bed, tossing and turning before I fell asleep. The next day, my face had turned swollen.

I went back to the palace gates again. Before I could see the eunuch in charge…I was laughed away by the guards…

All of them kept saying, if you look like this, we’re afraid you’ll scare the emperor!

—All reproductions of this work not on volaretranslations are stolen copies.

So I can’t be beautiful or ugly.

What do you want me to do?

In a fit of rage, I poisoned them all again. Originally, I wanted to walk off with their money as well. But I happened to see the open palace gates in the distance…and the group of guards patrolling the entrance.

I held myself back, and returned to the inn. In my room I paced back and forth, extremely anxious.

To tell you the truth, it was easy for me to poison people, and I knew a bit about saving them too…but I’d never learned the art of changing my appearance. Disheartened, I sat down and stared at my reflection in the mirror, thinking long and hard for over half the day.

Suddenly, I gave a start, blinking.

From the depths of my robes I took out a few bottles, shaking out a few samples of medicinal powders. After applying them for three days, there was finally some effect.

At last, my face looked a little more ordinary.

It was just that…

The powders I’d dissolved in water to form my mask looked a little unnatural on my face. It always felt a little stiff when I tried to talk or smile…

But these looks finally got me into the imperial palace.

Honestly speaking, the people in the imperial court had really seen much of the world. They didn’t budge at small change, but demanded piles and piles of paper money instead.

This was all to get a few connections up and down the chain of hierarchy… In this way I spent all the money I’d grubbed from Nongyu.

I hid a bitter heart as I gazed at the eunuch in charge, making marks with his brush as he flipped through a record book. He suddenly raised his head and looked back, smiling as he muttered, “You said you know a bit about medicine?”

I lowered my head and obediently replied. “Yes.”

“Perfect. These few days a person of indeterminate position has been arranged to cure His Majesty’s illness. The imperial physicians just happen to be extremely short of hands. How about you go with them?”

Ah…

Hey, a chance!

-o-All reproductions of this work not on volaretranslations are stolen copies.

[1] Jiuzu (九族) －”nine degrees of kindred”, or the “nine generations,” shorthand for a punishment in which one’s great-great-great grandfather to one’s great-great-great grandson, or 4 generations of one’s paternal relations + 3 generations of one’s maternal relations + 2 generations of one’s wife’s relations…were all executed as punishment for a crime. Considering how much ancient Chinese valued family ties/names/ancestors, this was a fearful punishment, usually reserved for the most serious crimes (especially those against the imperial family)!

[2] bode ill for him (凶多吉少) － xiongduo jishao, or “be fraught with grim possibilities”, have “more inauspicious/ominous” things and “less auspicious/lucky” things