Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

After the incident of Imperial Prince Youren, talks about food hypersensitivity instantaneously spread.

Many concubines began to drop in unexpectedly at Ziliang’s place with requests of ‘Please examine my body constitution’, so he was currently in a whirl of busyness.

On the other hand, the empress dowager did not like this flow of events.

The emperor overturned the conclusion she had drawn, making her lose face completely.

Because of that, the agitated, shrill shrieks of a woman was heard incessantly from the palace of the empress dowager.

With this, the situation in the Inner Palace became stormy.

One day, the emperor visited Lady Wang’s residence under the pretext of taking a break from work.

“Oh, Your Majesty, it is an honor for you to come here.”

Lady Wang, who went outside by chance, ordered the maid beside her to prepare tea, and she led the Emperor inside.

“What have you been doing just now?”

“It is getting warmer, so I wanted to admire the flowers in the garden.”

They made their way towards the room as they did small talk, and the tea and snacks were then brought in after a while.

“Then please excuse us.”

After arranging them on the table, the maid then bowed and left, taking the emperor’s attending eunuchs with her.

Therefore, only the emperor and Lady Wang were left inside the room.

“…”

The emperor didn’t take the initiative to say anything, and he wordlessly sipped his tea.

During this time, Lady Wang would also refrain from talking to the emperor.

She also silently drank her tea.

She understood that the emperor came to visit because he wanted to relax in a tranquil place.

After a brief period where only the sound of clinking teacups and leaves rustling in the wind could be heard, the emperor mumbled.

“A while ago, there was a court lady who came here to clean.”

Lady Wang’s eyes flickered at the emperor’s sudden words.

Only that girl would come to her mind when a court lady cleaner was mentioned.

“Aah, it must be Yui Mei?”

“Yui Mei, you said?”

When Lady Wang replied with a smile, the emperor’s eyes widened for an instant, and then he muttered.

‘Oh?’ , Lady Wang thought upon seeing the emperor’s reaction.

‘Is there another girl with the name Yui Mei?’

The name Yui Mei was somewhat commonplace, so it was not surprising if others also had this name.

That’s why a girl with the same name must be within the empire, or perhaps, a person near the emperor had this name.

Lady Wang did not show the doubts she carried in her heart on her face, and she continued the conversation.

“She was an energetic and adorable girl, isn’t she? She ate the sweets you give her while brimming with happiness. She is as cute as a small animal, so I always prepare them as thanks for cleaning.”

Lady Wang recalled Yui Mei stuffing her cheeks with manju, and she smiled. The emperor stroked his chin, a mannerism he did when deep in thought.

“That’s true. She was like that when she was here, so I thought she was a mere housekeeper court lady, so I was surprised to learn that she was also a doctor’s assistant.”

Lady Wang was perplexed at these words.

“No, I heard from Yang that Yui Mei is a housekeeper? However, she does seem to be an erudite, seeing that she is knowledgeable about various things, so it would not be surprising if she was indeed an assistant.”

“….I see.”

The emperor had a pensive look upon hearing the words of Lady Wang.

Afterward, the emperor didn’t stay for long, and he left right after they enjoyed their tea.

‘Did he come just to inquire about Yui Mei?’

In the Inner Palace, the emperor expressing his interest was tantamount to being viewed as a prospective concubine.

However, the emperor’s current appearance had a different feel to it.

“Listen, do you know somebody named Yui Mei?”

Lady Wang asked the question that had been bothering her to the maid who was clearing up the tea sets.

“It must be the housekeeping court lady who always comes here.”

The maid replied with those words.

“Not that Yui Mei, I was thinking if there was somebody else.”

“I’m afraid not? I do not have any recollection.”

When Lady Wang kept on pressing for an answer, the puzzled maid shook her head.

Apparently, even a court lady older than her did not know another person named ‘Yui Mei’.

“Yui Mei, huh…”

Lady Wang tried to search in her memories, but she came up with nothing.

Maybe she was making a mountain out of a molehill, but oddly enough, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

After a while, Lady Wang suddenly remembered Lady Zhang, the beauty who lived in this mansion before her.

She was an infamous person within the circle of court ladies, for she had been rapidly promoted from a lower court lady to a beauty after receiving the favor of the emperor.

At that time, Lady Wang had just entered the Inner Palace as a novice court lady, so she knew little about it.

Didn’t she give birth to a daughter before she vanished?

However, she didn’t know the name of that daughter.

The empress dowager declared that she was not the child of the emperor, so her existence became a taboo.

Only very few people knew about it; for example, the people, such as Yang, who had helped her give birth.

‘Originally, she should be living luxuriously as a princess, what a pitiful baby.’

If she were alive, then she should be around the age of Yui Mei.

While thinking of this, Lady Wang recalled the first time she met Yui Mei.

She remembered that Yui Mei had beautiful, mysterious blue-tinged hair under her hood.

However, since that day, she hadn’t removed her hood, so she thought it was such a waste.

‘Now that I think about it, Lady Zhang also had beautiful, wondrous hair.’

She never met her, so she didn’t know its definite shade, though.

However, this common feature bothered a corner of Lady Wang’s heart.

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T/L Thoughts: Start of the a new arc – Volume 4: Cherry Blossom Viewing Banquet. ? More and more people are making the connection!

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