Chapter 6: Attendant Miao
Prince Lu stepped forward. “Your Majesty, what do you think? This is a dancer from Shu—doesn’t she seem quite different from those in the capital?”
Qi Yixiu had been smiling the whole time, and now he said, “Third Brother truly has a discerning eye. Such graceful dancing is indeed rare. This woman does have some talent.”
“If Your Majesty likes her, why not keep her? She could help pass the time when things get dull,” Prince Lu said with a grin.
“Since it’s Third Brother’s suggestion, I certainly can’t ignore it. Raise your head—what is your name?” The latter part was directed at the dancer.
She lifted her head, her voice as soft and sweet as her expression. “Replying to Your Majesty, this slave is named Wei Wanyi.”
“Mm, a good name,” Qi Yixiu mused. “There happens to be a vacancy in the seventh-rank position of Attendant in the harem. Why not grant her that rank? What do the two Empress Dowagers think?”
“Of course, that sounds good. I find Attendant Wei quite agreeable,” said Empress Dowager Feng, playing the ever-supportive mother.
“Yes, I think she’s fine as well,” Empress Dowager Li added, not one to bother herself over a mere Attendant.
“I’m thinking,” said Qi Yixiu, “that calling her ‘Wei Attendant’ doesn’t sound very pleasant. Since her dancing is so graceful, let’s give her a title. How about ‘Attendant Miao’—graceful and charming?”
Everyone offered congratulations on the Emperor’s new beauty, and Attendant Miao herself was thoroughly pleased.
With her background, just getting into the palace was a stroke of fortune. Becoming even a minor maid would’ve been considered lucky.
Originally, she expected to serve the Emperor without title or recognition.
But now she’d jumped straight to seventh-rank. Of course she was happy.
And her happiness meant plenty of others were not.
For instance, the group of women who had entered the palace just last year.
Their highest rank so far was Baolin, and now a dancer had outranked them. How could they accept that?
Even within the whole harem, no one looked up to someone like Attendant Miao.
Just listen to her title—it was hardly dignified.
But then again, aside from Consort Yi, she was the first in the harem to be given a personal title.
Even Consort Yi was quietly fuming.
After the banquet ended, sure enough, Attendant Miao served the Emperor that night.
Since she didn’t yet have her own palace quarters, she stayed in the Taiji Hall for three days in a row.
During that time, she didn’t once go to Fengzao Palace to pay respects to the Empress.
Every morning, the concubines gossiped about her. She was the first woman since the Emperor’s ascension to receive such favor.
A mere dancer—was she about to upend the entire palace?
Back at Cuiyun Pavilion, Yao Baolin said, “Look at this—she’s even more favored than Cao Meiren, and she’s pregnant!”
Shen Chuliu knew well that there were no real friends in the harem, so she didn’t open up to Yao Baolin. She just said a few agreeable words before returning to her own room.
“Baolin, why do you think His Majesty likes a dancer?” Zirui asked curiously.
“When a man likes a woman, what more is there to say? He’s the Emperor—no woman in the world is really worthy of him. Whether she’s a dancer or from noble birth, it’s all the same.”
At least, to the Emperor, it was.
“But this is just too much. She came later than everyone else—how can she just...” Zirui huffed.
“Enough. You’re too easily upset. This is the inner palace. What did I tell you before? You came rushing in, and now you can’t stand anything?” Shen Chuliu said, not unkindly. In truth, Zirui was quite sensible and capable outside the palace.
She was, after all, the only maid Shen Chuliu had brought from her family, so she didn’t have the heart to be too harsh with her.
“Silly girl, you have to understand—someone like her, with no foundation, being elevated so high so quickly—it means she’s bound to fall. In this palace, only Consort Yi has a personal title, and that’s because the Emperor truly favors her. Now a mere dancer has one too... Even though we Baolins and Yunu don’t count for much, we’re still daughters from good families. Being crushed beneath her—how can anyone accept that? Think about Empress Dowager Yang.”
Empress Dowager Yang had once been overwhelmingly favored, suffocating even the Empress and the Virtuous Consort of her time.
How could the Emperor not come to despise her?
Qi Yixiu was never a good man to begin with.
Shen Chuliu might be able to stay calm, but not everyone could.
The next day, the newly favored Attendant Miao came to Fengzao Palace to pay respects.
She appeared delicate and frail, wearing a violet gauze dress and a Lingxu bun, gracefully kneeling down. “This concubine pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress, and to all the elder sisters.”
Before the Empress could respond, Consort Shu Feng interjected, “Oh my, Attendant Miao didn’t come to pay respects for three straight days, and today she’s the last to arrive. Really no sense of propriety.”
“Rise,” the Empress said at last, her tone cool.
Attendant Miao flushed. “Yes, it was my mistake. It’s just that His Majesty said...”
“Pfft. What a lowly background—you really show it. You’re here to greet the Empress, and yet all you talk about is what His Majesty said? Are you the only one who’s seen him, then?” Cao Meiren snapped, her pregnancy only adding to her irritability. Seeing Attendant Miao like this was too much for her to tolerate.
“This concubine didn’t mean...” Attendant Miao looked aggrieved.
Shen Chuliu thought to herself—this woman didn’t seem too clever. Why would Prince Lu have brought her here?
Or perhaps... she was just pretending. That was possible too.
“A mere Attendant, yet daring to talk back. Your Majesty, she clearly has no discipline—you shouldn’t let this slide,” said Cao Meiren.
“Attendant Miao, though you’re new to the palace and unfamiliar with the rules, you must learn them well. This is your first offense, so I won’t punish you too harshly. Copy the palace rules ten times,” the Empress said blandly.
“Yes, thank you, Your Majesty. This concubine will copy them carefully and won’t make the same mistake again,” Attendant Miao replied.
Naturally, the other women took the chance to mock her a bit more.
But once the gathering dispersed, what really made their blood boil was that Shen Chuliu and the rest still had to walk behind Attendant Miao.
Shen Chuliu thought, no wonder people covet power. Having power really did make everything better.
“Are you blind?”
Hearing the voice, Shen Chuliu and her group walked a few steps forward and saw Attendant Miao kneeling on the ground, covering her face.
Cao Meiren glared at her. “You bumped right into me—tired of living?”
“This concubine didn’t mean to... Please forgive me, Meiren,” Attendant Miao said through tears.
“Drop the seductress act. Who are you trying to charm? The Emperor’s not here. Since you ran into me, you can kneel here for two hours,” Cao Meiren snapped.
Attendant Miao didn’t dare speak further. She could only kneel.
Shen Chuliu and the others walked around her.
“She’s just an Attendant, and Cao Meiren punished her right outside the Empress’s hall?” Lu Baolin whispered.
Shen Chuliu and Yao Baolin pretended not to hear. It wasn’t worth commenting on.
Their little group was a curious one. They’d walked together for a whole year, yet never truly opened up to each other.
They hadn’t even returned to Cuiyun Pavilion yet when they heard that the Emperor, upon learning of Attendant Miao’s “mistreatment,” had personally summoned her back to Taiji Hall and rewarded her with a pair of palace hairpins.
Shen Chuliu chuckled to herself but said nothing.
In the harem, the Emperor’s favor was both shield and sword.
Attendant Miao, caught between such forces, was bound to meet trouble sooner or later.
However, that night, it wasn’t Attendant Miao who made waves—it was An Yunu, living in the side hall of Fenghua Pavilion, who was suddenly discovered to be pregnant.
Just like that, there were now two women in the palace expecting children.
Qi Yixiu had been smiling the whole time, and now he said, “Third Brother truly has a discerning eye. Such graceful dancing is indeed rare. This woman does have some talent.”
“If Your Majesty likes her, why not keep her? She could help pass the time when things get dull,” Prince Lu said with a grin.
“Since it’s Third Brother’s suggestion, I certainly can’t ignore it. Raise your head—what is your name?” The latter part was directed at the dancer.
She lifted her head, her voice as soft and sweet as her expression. “Replying to Your Majesty, this slave is named Wei Wanyi.”
“Mm, a good name,” Qi Yixiu mused. “There happens to be a vacancy in the seventh-rank position of Attendant in the harem. Why not grant her that rank? What do the two Empress Dowagers think?”
“Of course, that sounds good. I find Attendant Wei quite agreeable,” said Empress Dowager Feng, playing the ever-supportive mother.
“Yes, I think she’s fine as well,” Empress Dowager Li added, not one to bother herself over a mere Attendant.
“I’m thinking,” said Qi Yixiu, “that calling her ‘Wei Attendant’ doesn’t sound very pleasant. Since her dancing is so graceful, let’s give her a title. How about ‘Attendant Miao’—graceful and charming?”
Everyone offered congratulations on the Emperor’s new beauty, and Attendant Miao herself was thoroughly pleased.
With her background, just getting into the palace was a stroke of fortune. Becoming even a minor maid would’ve been considered lucky.
Originally, she expected to serve the Emperor without title or recognition.
But now she’d jumped straight to seventh-rank. Of course she was happy.
And her happiness meant plenty of others were not.
For instance, the group of women who had entered the palace just last year.
Their highest rank so far was Baolin, and now a dancer had outranked them. How could they accept that?
Even within the whole harem, no one looked up to someone like Attendant Miao.
Just listen to her title—it was hardly dignified.
But then again, aside from Consort Yi, she was the first in the harem to be given a personal title.
Even Consort Yi was quietly fuming.
After the banquet ended, sure enough, Attendant Miao served the Emperor that night.
Since she didn’t yet have her own palace quarters, she stayed in the Taiji Hall for three days in a row.
During that time, she didn’t once go to Fengzao Palace to pay respects to the Empress.
Every morning, the concubines gossiped about her. She was the first woman since the Emperor’s ascension to receive such favor.
A mere dancer—was she about to upend the entire palace?
Back at Cuiyun Pavilion, Yao Baolin said, “Look at this—she’s even more favored than Cao Meiren, and she’s pregnant!”
Shen Chuliu knew well that there were no real friends in the harem, so she didn’t open up to Yao Baolin. She just said a few agreeable words before returning to her own room.
“Baolin, why do you think His Majesty likes a dancer?” Zirui asked curiously.
“When a man likes a woman, what more is there to say? He’s the Emperor—no woman in the world is really worthy of him. Whether she’s a dancer or from noble birth, it’s all the same.”
At least, to the Emperor, it was.
“But this is just too much. She came later than everyone else—how can she just...” Zirui huffed.
“Enough. You’re too easily upset. This is the inner palace. What did I tell you before? You came rushing in, and now you can’t stand anything?” Shen Chuliu said, not unkindly. In truth, Zirui was quite sensible and capable outside the palace.
She was, after all, the only maid Shen Chuliu had brought from her family, so she didn’t have the heart to be too harsh with her.
“Silly girl, you have to understand—someone like her, with no foundation, being elevated so high so quickly—it means she’s bound to fall. In this palace, only Consort Yi has a personal title, and that’s because the Emperor truly favors her. Now a mere dancer has one too... Even though we Baolins and Yunu don’t count for much, we’re still daughters from good families. Being crushed beneath her—how can anyone accept that? Think about Empress Dowager Yang.”
Empress Dowager Yang had once been overwhelmingly favored, suffocating even the Empress and the Virtuous Consort of her time.
How could the Emperor not come to despise her?
Qi Yixiu was never a good man to begin with.
Shen Chuliu might be able to stay calm, but not everyone could.
The next day, the newly favored Attendant Miao came to Fengzao Palace to pay respects.
She appeared delicate and frail, wearing a violet gauze dress and a Lingxu bun, gracefully kneeling down. “This concubine pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress, and to all the elder sisters.”
Before the Empress could respond, Consort Shu Feng interjected, “Oh my, Attendant Miao didn’t come to pay respects for three straight days, and today she’s the last to arrive. Really no sense of propriety.”
“Rise,” the Empress said at last, her tone cool.
Attendant Miao flushed. “Yes, it was my mistake. It’s just that His Majesty said...”
“Pfft. What a lowly background—you really show it. You’re here to greet the Empress, and yet all you talk about is what His Majesty said? Are you the only one who’s seen him, then?” Cao Meiren snapped, her pregnancy only adding to her irritability. Seeing Attendant Miao like this was too much for her to tolerate.
“This concubine didn’t mean...” Attendant Miao looked aggrieved.
Shen Chuliu thought to herself—this woman didn’t seem too clever. Why would Prince Lu have brought her here?
Or perhaps... she was just pretending. That was possible too.
“A mere Attendant, yet daring to talk back. Your Majesty, she clearly has no discipline—you shouldn’t let this slide,” said Cao Meiren.
“Attendant Miao, though you’re new to the palace and unfamiliar with the rules, you must learn them well. This is your first offense, so I won’t punish you too harshly. Copy the palace rules ten times,” the Empress said blandly.
“Yes, thank you, Your Majesty. This concubine will copy them carefully and won’t make the same mistake again,” Attendant Miao replied.
Naturally, the other women took the chance to mock her a bit more.
But once the gathering dispersed, what really made their blood boil was that Shen Chuliu and the rest still had to walk behind Attendant Miao.
Shen Chuliu thought, no wonder people covet power. Having power really did make everything better.
“Are you blind?”
Hearing the voice, Shen Chuliu and her group walked a few steps forward and saw Attendant Miao kneeling on the ground, covering her face.
Cao Meiren glared at her. “You bumped right into me—tired of living?”
“This concubine didn’t mean to... Please forgive me, Meiren,” Attendant Miao said through tears.
“Drop the seductress act. Who are you trying to charm? The Emperor’s not here. Since you ran into me, you can kneel here for two hours,” Cao Meiren snapped.
Attendant Miao didn’t dare speak further. She could only kneel.
Shen Chuliu and the others walked around her.
“She’s just an Attendant, and Cao Meiren punished her right outside the Empress’s hall?” Lu Baolin whispered.
Shen Chuliu and Yao Baolin pretended not to hear. It wasn’t worth commenting on.
Their little group was a curious one. They’d walked together for a whole year, yet never truly opened up to each other.
They hadn’t even returned to Cuiyun Pavilion yet when they heard that the Emperor, upon learning of Attendant Miao’s “mistreatment,” had personally summoned her back to Taiji Hall and rewarded her with a pair of palace hairpins.
Shen Chuliu chuckled to herself but said nothing.
In the harem, the Emperor’s favor was both shield and sword.
Attendant Miao, caught between such forces, was bound to meet trouble sooner or later.
However, that night, it wasn’t Attendant Miao who made waves—it was An Yunu, living in the side hall of Fenghua Pavilion, who was suddenly discovered to be pregnant.
Just like that, there were now two women in the palace expecting children.
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