Volume One, Chapter Thirteen: The Prison Candlelight

“Ah, don’t be so rigid.”

Seeing Zhang Zhiqiu’s upright and unyielding attitude, the young eunuch still tried to persuade her further.

“What are you two doing?”

The steward of the Imperial Household Department, Chief Eunuch Li, happened to pass by and from a distance noticed the jade pendant in Zhang Zhiqiu’s hand. The two were whispering secretly, which seemed rather suspicious.

Zhang Zhiqiu, upon seeing someone approaching, intended to hand over the jade pendant to the steward and explain the situation. However, the young eunuch snatched the pendant first and handed it to Chief Eunuch Li, nodding respectfully:

“Sir, my name is Hu Rui. Just now, I found a jade pendant in the imperial garden and was about to return it to its owner. Unexpectedly, this palace maid tried to persuade me to keep it for ourselves, which I firmly refused. Then you arrived.”

Zhang Zhiqiu stared at him in disbelief:

“Shameless! You’re lying!”

Chief Eunuch Li’s expression turned displeased. His gaze fixed on Zhang Zhiqiu was full of judgment. He had been entrusted by Lord Wei to find this jade pendant.

“In that case, take her away.”

Two eunuchs stepped out from behind and forced Zhang Zhiqiu to kneel on the ground.

Chief Eunuch Li stroked his chin thoughtfully, feeling that things couldn’t be so simple. He wasn’t a fool to believe just one side of the story.

Hu Rui quickly stepped forward, flattering the chief and slipping him some silver coins. Instantly, Chief Eunuch Li relaxed his brow, waved his hand, and decided not to investigate further, closing the case.

Hu Rui quickly excused himself and vanished like smoke.

Matters involving confiscated goods in the palace could be serious or trivial, but now with Zhang Zhiqiu serving as witness, the object present, and testimony all in place, Chief Eunuch Li had clumsily closed the matter.

“Sir, your jade pendant.”

Having recovered the lost item, Chief Eunuch Li immediately sought out Wei Xuan to claim credit. With a beaming smile, he handed the pendant to Wei Xuan, whose face lit up with joy upon its return.

“Thank you, Chief Eunuch Li. Please inquire who found the pendant; a generous reward will be given.”

Hearing this, Chief Eunuch Li was even more eager to take the credit, vividly recounting how he intercepted the pendant before it could be sold illicitly.

Wei Xuan was deeply grateful and cupped his hands in thanks:

“Thank you very much, Chief Eunuch Li. Proceed with the palace regulations for handling this matter.”

He then took out a silver ingot as a token of gratitude.

“Oh, you’re far too kind,” Chief Eunuch Li accepted the silver with a smile, hastily slipping it into his sleeve and respectfully seeing Wei Xuan off.

“Let me go! I’m innocent!”

The eunuchs escorted Zhang Zhiqiu into the palace dungeon. Upon entering, she was hit by a damp, unpleasant stench. Each cell housed convicted palace maids and eunuchs, all disheveled and sitting in heaps of straw on the floor.

The guards pushed Zhang Zhiqiu roughly inside, then slammed the heavy iron door shut, ignoring her cries.

“Let me out! Let me out!”

Zhang Zhiqiu was overwhelmed with distress and despair as she slid down to the ground. The imprisoned palace personnel in adjacent cells occasionally glanced at her but soon returned to their resigned indifference, treating her as inconsequential.

At that moment, a voice came:

“Save your energy. In a place like this, no one outside will come to get you out.”

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiqiu turned toward the voice and realized she had a cellmate.

A palace maid, with sharp features and a casual demeanor, was sitting cross-legged against the wall, chewing on a blade of grass. One hand rested lazily on her raised knee as she looked at Zhang Zhiqiu as if nothing surprised her.

Wiping her tears, Zhang Zhiqiu replied:

“I’m innocent.”

“Everyone here says that,” the palace maid yawned.

“I really am innocent!”

“Mm, me too,” she answered nonchalantly.

“...”

Zhang Zhiqiu didn’t want to argue further, sensing their conversation would be fruitless, so she fell silent.

She curled up, burying her head in her knees, wondering how she could get out.

Would Hong Ling know she had been locked up?

No, she quickly dismissed the thought. Hong Ling must be having a hard time alone in the Xuan Room Palace. She couldn’t trouble her further.

Suddenly, despair and frustration overwhelmed her.

The palace maid had shifted her skirts and now sat upright beside Zhang Zhiqiu, studying her carefully:

“Are you from Yong Alley? I don’t think I’ve seen you before. What’s your name?”

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiqiu assumed she was also a palace maid from Yong Alley. With tearful eyes, she looked up:

“My name is Zhang Zhiqiu. I’m a palace maid from Yong Alley. Are you too?”

The palace maid didn’t answer directly but said brightly:

“My name’s... Li Yuan. Tell me, how did you end up in here?”

With no one to hear her grievances, Zhang Zhiqiu poured out her story to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan nodded thoughtfully and recited the palace rules from memory:

“Palace maids or eunuchs caught stealing—punishment depends on the value of the stolen item: thirty lashes and seven days of hard labor.”

Zhang Zhiqiu looked at her helplessly. Was this supposed to comfort her?

“But I’m truly innocent.”

She lowered her head in dejection.

Leaning back, Li Yuan turned her gaze to Zhang Zhiqiu, scanning her from head to toe. A faint, almost imperceptible smile curved her lips. Tilting her head, she said:

“If you’d agreed to sell that jade pendant with him, you wouldn’t be suffering this punishment now.”

Zhang Zhiqiu was unconvinced:

“How could I? It wasn’t mine to begin with.”

Li Yuan smiled knowingly, her expression worldly:

“In this palace, it’s all about climbing over others. You have to pick a side. If your interests don’t align with theirs, they’ll use you as a stepping stone whenever convenient.”

Zhang Zhiqiu didn’t fully agree, but only later realized this Li Yuan seemed even younger than herself, yet knew the palace rules so well and spoke with such worldly wisdom.

Curious, Zhang Zhiqiu asked:

“What about you? How did you end up here?”

“Well...” Li Yuan scratched her head, spat out the straw she’d been chewing, and picked up another from the floor, twirling it casually between her fingers.

“I was just caught stealing food from the imperial kitchen because I was too greedy.”

Zhang Zhiqiu doubted:

“Why do you seem so unbothered?”

Li Yuan grinned confidently:

“Of course I’m not worried. Someone will come to bail me out soon.”

Well...

Zhang Zhiqiu didn’t press further. She still had enough worries of her own...