Like Pearl and Jade

Chapter 1

The cold moon was frosty and the entire city was silent.

It was the night curfew and no one was on the streets except the Imperial City patrols. Because the weather was not good, there was no moon or star light coming from the sky. The dark streets were only illuminated by the lanterns the patrol guards held and by the lanterns at the mansion gates of the noble and influential families.

The patrol captain exhaled a breath of cold air and looked at his fellows behind him who were pale due to the cold. He said in a low voice, "Brothers, be alert."

Recently, the Holy One had been ill, and his emotions unstable. Many members in the palace had been punished. He did not want any trouble with the guards to occur at this time.

As he was thinking this, he saw a troop of guards in brocade robes on tall horses charging out from the direction of the imperial palace gates. This troop saw them but didn't stop, throwing him a token before disappearing into the night.

He held the cold token, looked closer, and inhaled in shock.

Wasn't this the token of the Holy One's personal guard? Hurriedly leaving the palace in the middle of the night ...

His expression changed. He did not dare to think about it, but his hand instinctively tightened around the blade at his waist.

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"Clang!" Eleven o'clock. The bell broke the quiet of the night.

In the small eastern yard in the inner courtyard of the Ningping Count Residence, the servant girls on night duty were woken up by the bell. They had no time to put up their hair as they put on their outer robes and hurriedly walked into the inner chamber.

"Miss." Bao Lu was the first to enter the room. Seeing movement inside the silk veil, she almost ran to the bed, and said gently, "Miss is awake?"

The servant girls coming in behind Bao Lu started to light up lamps and put away brightly-colored items in the room. Their movements were quick and no sense of panic came through.

"Bao Lu, what happened?" Under an embroidered brocade blanket, a young girl of ten years slowly sat up. She heard the echoes from the bell and some bewilderment appeared on her face.

Bao Lu saw this and knew that Miss had guessed something had happened. She turned to take the dress that Mu Xiang handed over to change Miss' clothing. Out of worry the night was too cold, she also added a mantle.

Soon, servant girls came over with heated shoes and socks. Because she was so young, the servant girl Qiu Luo put her hair up in a simple knot with two silver hair decorations and nothing else.

Gu Ru Jiu sat on a stool covered with brocade and allowed the senior servant girls to take care of her attire. It was a pity for the complete set of hair decorations that Mother had ordered for her a few days ago. She would not be able to use them in the next year.

A knell at this time, and so many knells in a row. Other than the death of the emperor, who else qualified for such ceremony?

When she prepared to go to the main room with a hand stove in hand to see her mother, the brightly-colored items in her small courtyard had mostly been put away. She looked regretfully at the position where red lanterns had hung. While there was no time to put up lanterns of another color, the red lanterns had been taken down so it looked empty.

When she saw this, she thought of her elder sister that had gotten married a few days ago. She pursed her lips and showed two faint dimples.

The senior servant girls saw this, and knew that Miss hadn't wanted Eldest Miss to marry. However, as servant girls, they could not persuade her.