Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

Yui Mei went to Yang to get the things she would need as the errand girl on her way to put the cleaning tools back to where they were stored. She then headed to the Quianqing Gate with Libin.

This so-called Quianqing Gate was the border gate that separated the Inner Palace, where the harem was, from the Outer Court (or Outer Palace), where the various rites, ceremonies, and court councils were held.

Court ladies working in the Inner Palace rarely pass through this gate. Granted that they were allowed to go out of the Inner Palace on some kind of errand or duty, they would still not pass through here, because it was considered to be the main gate of the Inner Palace. They would have to go through the rear entrance.

When Yui Mei and the other girls entered the Inner Palace for the first time, they were taken to the rear gate located at the eastern side. 

There was only one time when Yui Mei passed through the Quianqing Gate, and that was when she accompanied the crown prince.

Yui Mei and Libin finally reached their destination.

“Wait for me here, it’ll just take a while.”

Libin stopped Yui Mei from taking another step, then he went to a tiny building that looked like a storage house just beside the gate to the Outer Court.

Yui Mei obediently waited for a while.

“Thanks for waiting.”

When he emerged from the storehouse, he was no longer donned in his eunuch garb. He was wearing the uniform of a soldier.

‘Erm…’

“Lord Li Yong?”

Yui Mei hesitated at first, confused on how to call him, but she eventually decided to use this name.

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s good that you picked up quickly.”

Li Yong assented before briskly striding off.

“…So that’s how it is.”

‘This is the place where he does his ‘transformation’, huh.’

There was nothing wrong with eunuchs and guards entering the storehouse.

Yui Mei wondered whether there was a hidden room inside where no one else could enter.

She chased after Li Yong while filled with these thoughts as they headed outside the Quianqing Gate.

Still, it was plausible that Li Yong would be able to move more easily at their destination if his identity was that of an imperial guard.

“Who will we visit?”

Li Yong raised a brow when he heard Yui Mei asking about the person they were about to meet.

“You don’t know?”

“Yes, Aunty Yang didn’t explain the details. She just told me it’s an old friend of hers.”

Yui Mei honestly replied what she knew. Li Yong’s expression turned complicated.

“So she left out the other stuff, huh. Well, it’s no wonder she’d do that.”

He then heaved a sigh after saying those words.

‘Eh, is he someone with a particular background story or something?’

Oh well, if he didn’t have that, then Aunty Yang probably didn’t have to go through the pains of entrusting this errand to Yui Mei, who wasn’t even a doctor, and she wouldn’t rely on this guy that was leading a double life, which was already a suspicious move from her as it is.

Yui Mei contemplated this.

“We’re meeting my superior.”

“Oh, so he’s an imperial guard too, I guess.”

Yui Mei nodded her head in understanding.

“Alright, hurry up and move along now, let’s go to the Outer City.”

“…Outer City?”

Yui Mei’s eyes widened in disbelief at the words she just heard.

Before explaining the particulars of the place called ‘Outer City’, it was necessary to describe the entirety of the imperial palace. 

The palace where the emperor lived was divided into two sections — the Inner Court (Palace) and the Outer Court.

The boundaries were inhabited by the people that were needed to run the palace, and it was called the Inner City.

It was connected to the Inner Court, and government officials and the ladies-in-waiting possessed houses here.

Li Yong looked like a young master from a well off family, so his family house was probably in the Inner City, too. 

The southern part of the Inner City was called the Outer City, and it was where the people who worked for the Imperial Palace and the Inner City lived.

It was the castle town, so to speak, and there were shops and inns here, so it was also considered to be the most bustling place in the entire area.

Since the person they would visit was Yang’s friend, Yui Mei assumed that he was living in the Inner City.

‘No, maybe we’re going to catch that guy, given that we have to go to the Outer City.’

Yui Mei’s mind was swirling with all the possibilities as she considered what kind of person they were going to meet, and before she noticed, they had already left the Outer Court and were walking on the path that was surrounded by fences, still within the Inner City. She didn’t think that they would also pass through the Zhengyang gate, which was the main gate of the imperial palace.

The Outer City was situated beyond this gate.

“So, in what pub can we catch him…”

Li Yong was a bit worried as he stood still.

‘Eh? Pub?’

Yui Mei was astonished once again.

––––––

T/N: Oof, what an anticlimax!!! I was expecting more from the grand reveal of Li Yong’s dual nature uwuwuwuwu.. Oh well, we get to see a new setting now, at least…

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