The Job Of An Imperial Concubine

15

TJOAIC 15 – TONIC (药)

Zhuang Laoyan dropped the dark-green jade hairpin into her jewelry box, a clear, crisp noise ringing. The tail end of hairpin stuck out of the box, giving off a chill.

“Master,” Tingzhu said, glancing at the jade hairpin, before looking back at Zhuang Laoyan. She saw that her lips carried a smile. “Master, that you wore this hairpin today is…”

“I remember I was bestowed this hairpin after my promotion to Imperial Concubine Zhao.” Zhuang Laoyan let her hair sit loosely on her shoulders. She retrieved the hairpin from the jewelry box, softly caressing the engraving of auspicious clouds running along the lower part of its length. “The hairpin that Imperial Concubine Lin shattered was similar to this one. However, mine only has three clouds. Hers has six.”　　

Upon closer inspection, Tingzhu found that the two hairpins truly were different. If one weren’t carefully looking, one would have just missed it. That said, at this time Tingzhu did not understand why Zhuang Laoyan had said such words. Her gaze fell upon her master. As if she were pondering what Zhuang Laoyan had meant.　　

“I wanted to let her know that having fewer clouds did not make it less noble. That day, when she had caused trouble for me, I wanted her to wonder if she would be the one laughing at the end. I am a petty person.” She picked up an agate¹ jade comb. Slowly brushed the smooth, dark locks on her shoulders. Zhuang Laoyan’s tone was indifferent as she said, “Being fierce at times is better than always staying calm in the face of emergency. “

If she stayed calm in every situation, one would fear that the empress would be the first in line to knock her down. Occasionally revealing a weakness at the very least would show others her shortcomings.　

In the hearts of the imperial concubines, a woman that was a little fierce wasn’t frightening. Instead, the most frightening people were those who always stayed gentle, smooth, and sophisticated. She didn’t mind being thought of as a person intoxicated by success. Not to mention… the feeling of being a person intoxicated by success was extremely satisfying.　　

“But if master acts like so, wouldn’t it upset the other masters?” said Yunxi as she carried a meal box that resembled a lotus leaf, just having caught Zhuang Laoyan’s words. “If that’s the case, it’ll be a disaster.” 

“In the past, the amount of people Consort Yuan had offended wasn’t few. Not to mention people like me, who are easily drunk by success. Who knows how many people are bursting with joy from her downfall?” Zhuang Laoyan smiled lazily. Who wouldn’t want their adversaries to be stupid?

All of a sudden, Yunxi understood. She opened the lid of the meal box. Within sat exquisite dim sum. “Master, these are the new dim sum sent by the head official of Shangshi Bureau². In their words, these dim sum is for master to enjoy. If master likes them, they will send more in the future.” 

Zhuang Laoyan swept her gaze through the items in the meal box. She nodded. “Reward them.” However, she did not express any other opinion.

Yunxi understood what to do. She closed the lid and retrieved a pouch of money. Then she left through the doors.　

Tingzhu glanced at the meal box that had been set aside in a corner. She lowered her head and arranged the jewelry box in front of the mirror.

A few days later, news spread in the imperial harem. Two palace maids had argued in front of the lotus pond and accidentally fell inside. Because no one had been around to see or rescue them, they drowned. The empress was benevolent and compensated the families of the two palace maids.