Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

Aunty Yang let Yui Mei have a day-off the day after her change of residence was approved. Yui Mei hurriedly cleared the things inside the storage room. She was busily working on her own since early morning, but some of the court ladies were laughing mockingly, while some stared at her with pitying eyes.

‘Say whatever you want.’

Her experience of working in a place with a high proportion of women in her previous life was not just for show. 

Just as she told Mei Na, she did not have any plans of stooping down to their level. Besides, in this situation, there was no difference between those who were mocking her and those who sympathize; they were all observers from a distance. It was a given for those who thought she was stupid; however, even among those who sympathize, there were people who felt reassured while looking at someone who was more unfortunate than they were.

True allies were not easily seen from their outward appearance.

‘Those who are off-duty are understandable, but those rubberneckers should just hurry off and do their jobs.’

Yui Mei decided to just let them be. She cleaned the room after it was emptied. She removed the cobwebs and dust, and she also wiped the walls and floor. After the room became immaculate, she then moved her wooden bed and blankets, and she was done.

She got an old carpet from another room. She beat it to shake the dust out, then she took it outside to be sunned while she was cleaning. The room became more like a chamber when she placed a cushion on top of the carpet. By the way, the cushion was handmade by Yui Mei. Yesterday, a court lady sneakily gave her a large piece of beautiful cloth, saying that it might help make the storeroom more pleasant. She was one of the court ladies Yui Mei gave water to when they had to stay in bed.

‘You reap what you sow, huh.’

This was a great example of the phrase ‘compassion is not for the benefit of others’.*

Yui Mei borrowed the sewing kit from Aunty Yang yesterday, and she worked on the cloth after her job. She cut the cloth into an appropriate size, and sewed a pouch. She stuffed it with small strips of worn out cloth, until it had the shape of a cushion. She turned the remaining cloth into a wall decoration, and the ambiance of the room brightened. While she was at it, she also made a rug and placed it on the front door, and she treated that area as a genkan (T/N: the traditional Japanese entryway). It was normal to wear shoes inside the house in this region. Since she was a former Japanese person, she wanted to remove her shoes before entering the room.

Anyway, Yui Mei quickly removed her shoes, then sprawled on the carpet and hugged her cushion. She enjoyed this luxurious feeling of rolling around.

“Hehehehe, it’s a solo room, a solo room!!”

She did not think that she would be able to obtain her own room within a short period of time. She felt fortunate, indeed. In her previous life, she lived in the school dormitory. She had no choice but to live with a large group of people, so she understood how stressful it was not to have one’s privacy. Yui Mei blissfully sighed.

“Ah Mei, are you done?”

Mei Na’s voice resounded as she knocked on the door. Apparently, she came to check on Yui Mei.

“Yes, I’m done, please come in,” Yui Mei called out.

The door opened, and Mei Na stood there holding a tray. Her eyes widened in disbelief after looking at the change in the storage room.

“Aye, you remodeled the whole storage room, huh.”

“Ah, please remove your shoes on the rag over there.”

Yui Mei instructed Mei Na as she entered the room, so she stopped and obediently removed her shoes and placed them on the mat in front of the door.

“Yui Mei, did you come from the South? I remember those court ladies from over there doing it this way, too.”

“No, but it has always been my dream to do this.”

Yui Mei laughed when Mei Na pointed it out, and she replied while hugging the cushion.

In the mansions of the elite, shoes were covered when inside the home instead of taking it off; however, if it were not properly done, it would still become dirty. In the end, it was still best to remove the shoes completely.

“But all the same, I think this way is nice. One can relax since the floor won’t get dirtied. Next time I’ll try this too.”

Mei Na sat before Yui Mei as she was speaking, and she took the parcel on the tray. There were some manju inside when she opened it.

“You must be hungry, since you’ve been busy working like a mule all day. It’s still warm, so eat up.”

“Yahoo, thanks for the food!”

The sweetness of the manju permeated Yui Mei’s tired body. Mei Na also brought some tea, so she gratefully drank it.

“… Hehehe, with this I can eat some sweets brazenly at night.”

Yui Mei grinned from ear to ear, while Mei Na had a wryly smiled.

“Mei’s group were gloating since they knew that you transferred to a stock room, but I think their eyes will fall out in bitterness if they were to see this room.”

Yui Mei imagined Mei biting her handkerchief in mortification. It matched her perfectly, so Yui Mei snickered.

———–

T/N: *情けは人のためならず- Basically, it was a Japanese phrase saying that you should be kind to be everyone since you reap what you sow; what goes around, comes around.  It’s another version of the golden rule. Compassion given to others would ultimately benefit yourself.

 Genkan – Traditional Japanese entryway. People remove their shoes here before entering the house.

Happy New Year, everyone!! ? I sincerely wish you all happiness this 2021. Thank you for reading our novels, please take care of us this year, too! This is an early chapter since I won’t be online later. Hope you enjoy it! ?

Hi everyone, Hanazakura here, thanks for reading, I’m grateful to you guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. We reached our 10th chapter milestone, hurray! Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace will now have a set schedule!  We will be releasing a chapter three times a week from now on. It will be every Mon, Wed and Fri, at 8:00 GMT. 

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