The Emperor hadn't rewarded her very handsomely—he had only given Second-Class Female Attendant Bu two hair sticks and a bead necklace. The gifts were nothing special, and Lanqi suspected that these gifts had been picked out by the Imperial Household Department rather than the Emperor himself.
However, the gifts weren't important—it was the Emperor's affections that mattered the most. Even a bowl of soup or a plate of vegetables from the Emperor's private kitchen could make any concubine throw themselves onto the ground in thanks.
Second-Class Female Attendant Bu was overjoyed at the gifts. She admired the hair sticks and bead necklace for hours on end, refusing to let go of them. Lanqi took out an exquisite rosewood jewelry box and lined it with a silk handkerchief before presenting it to Second-Class Female Attendant Bu. In a rather amused tone, she said, "Mistress, put them in here, quickly! If you continue touching them like this, the sweat on your hands might stain the jewelry. The next time His Majesty sees you, he'll wonder why the hairpins have changed color!"
Second-Class Female Attendant Bu burst into laughter and shoved Lanqi lightly. "If you're going to tease me like Panxia does, who am I supposed to rely on in this palace?"
At that moment, Panxia entered the room. When she heard her name, she scoffed loudly and complained, "Mistress, is Lanqi making up stories about me now? You've spoilt her too much!"
The three of them laughed as they chatted together for the rest of the afternoon. Outside the hall, Aunt Wang's face clouded over as she listened to the sound of their giggles.
Next to her, Jingyan added oil to fire and said, "Lanqi is so good at licking our mistress's boots that our mistress won't even bother with the rest of us. Haven't you realized that the mistress has been less afraid of you these days? Lanqi definitely put her up to it."
This struck a raw nerve in Aunt Wang. Just now, she had been thoroughly humiliated when Head Eunuch Li ignored her completely—conversely, he had told Lanqi to take good care of Second-Class Female Attendant Bu! This had hurt Aunt Wang's pride tremendously.
When she heard Jingyan's words, Aunt Wang gritted her teeth and said, "I'll make her regret this one day! Just you wait!"
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Second-Class Female Attendant Bu was promoted to First-Class Female Attendant Bu. The Emperor excused her from going to thank him at the Palace of Heavenly Purity, so she went to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility instead.
Because the Grand Empress Dowager adored the little princess, she felt compelled to be nicer to First-Class Female Attendant Bu. She piled her with many gifts, and generously allowed her to visit her daughter at the Princes' Palace.
First-Class Female Attendant Bu had once told Lanqi in private that she would give up all the gifts, and even her titles, if it meant she could visit the princess.
To her shock, the kindly Grand Empress Dowager had fulfilled her wish so soon.
Lanqi was off-duty that day, so she accompanied First-Class Female Attendant Bu to visit the princess at the Princes' Palace. The princess was healthy and adorable, and she reminded Lanqi greatly of her baby sister back home. When Lanqi entered the palace last year, her sister had just been born. Suddenly, she felt a little homesick.
However, she couldn't dwell in her homesickness for long. Right after they made their way out of the Princes' Palace, First-Class Female Attendant Bu burst into tears again, and Lanqi had to comfort her. "Mistress, we're celebrating the Lunar New Year now. It won't do for you to cry in public like this."
Feeling slightly afraid, First-Class Female Attendant Bu stopped crying immediately. While they were returning to the Palace of Accumulated Purity, however, they saw a chariot coming their way. The maids and eunuchs who were walking alongside the chariot spotted the two of them and whispered something to their mistress. The chariot stopped in its tracks.
The blue satin curtain lifted, revealing a beautiful woman whose face was as fair as a lotus. Lanqi recalled seeing her face during the Lunar New Year feast, and quickly whispered to her mistress, "It's First-Class Female Attendant Dong."
First-Class Female Attendant Bu immediately went forward to greet her with Lanqi in tow. Respectfully, she said, "Greetings to you, Older Sister."
Both ladies were of the same rank. Although First-Class Female Attendant Dong was from a booi aha family, which made her family background pale in comparison to First-Class Female Attendant Bu, she had been in the palace for a longer period of time. She had just lost a daughter last year, and had fallen ill from grief. Because of that, she stayed in her palace most of the time, refusing to venture outdoors.
First-Class Female Attendant Bu was younger, so it made sense for her to address the other woman as 'Older Sister'.
First-Class Female Attendant Dong returned her greetings politely. She got down from the chariot to speak to her. Because her body had always been frail, the Emperor had granted her permission to use the chariot rather than walk around the palace grounds. Although she had been keeping a low profile, the Emperor was evidently still very fond of her.
When she heard that they had just returned from the Princes' Palace, First-Class Female Attendant Dong sighed. Her eyes flickered with grief as she said, "You're very blessed. The last time I saw my daughter, she had already taken her last breath."
A lump formed in Lanqi's throat. She looked up slightly and noticed how beautiful First-Class Female Attendant Dong looked—in fact, she was even more beautiful than Noble Lady Rong. Although both of them had once been maids in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Noble Lady Rong had been leading a more blessed life than her.
Noble Lady Rong had lost three sons consecutively, but she had taken it much better than First-Class Female Attendant Dong, who had only lost one daughter.
After making some small talk, they went their separate ways.
First-Class Female Attendant Bu seemed to have been affected by the other woman's grief. When they returned to the Palace of Accumulated Purity, she burst into noisy tears again. Although Aunt Wang usually annoyed her to no end, Lanqi finally found a use for her. She went to Aunt Wang and mentioned First-Class Female Attendant Dong. As expected, Aunt Wang bustled up to their mistress and started nagging away again. "Mistress, learn from Noble Lady Rong instead of her! Whether you manage to survive in the Forbidden City is completely up to you!"