The following day, they were all told to bathe and get ready to head into the palace. The young ladies were to become maids while the young men were to be palace guards if they did not want to become eunuchs.
Once everyone was ready they all got onto the carriage and were on their way into the palace, once everyone arrived at the palace there was another group waiting for them. The person who selected them bowed to the group that was waiting for them, so they all did the same and none of them dared to lift up their head.
"Follow them, they will bring you all to the palace servants' quarter." the older woman that selected them said to them and walked away from the group. They all follow the people who come to greet them to the palace servant building.
"I am Madam Chang,I am the head maid of the palace. To the right is the men's quarter and to the left is the women's, everyone must be in bed by 10 pm, other than the people who work the night shift. Understood?" Madam Chang said to them
"Understood." they all said in unison
"Everyone go put your things away, have some breakfast, and at lunchtime, we will head to the inner palace." Madman Chang said to them. Madam Chang then ordered the palace workers to help the newcomers to their residences as well as to give them a tour of the court where they would be working.
The men and women ate separately at lunchtime, they all gathered in the middle court to meet with madman Chang. Madman Chang took them to the inner palace to be selected.
"The first place that we are going to is the crown prince's palace, behave properly." Madman Chang said to the group and they all nodded. Mei and her friend stuck close to each other until they got to the crown prince's quarter, they all became quiet as they stood in line.
"Everyone pay your respect to the crown prince." Madman Chang said to them and they all bowed but none of them dared to look up at the crown prince of their country
"All at ease." The prince said to them and they all got up but still didn't dare to look up at him
"Everyone stand tall and hold your heads up, there is no need to be so uptight." the prince said to them and they all straightened up and looked up, he smiled at all of them.
"I am the crown prince, you all can address me as Prince Li." Prince Li said to them but they said nothing
"Now who can read and write?" Prince Li asked them
"That would be Mei and Shu'er, Your Highness." Madam Chang said to him and he nodded
"Please step forward Mei and Shu'er." Madam Chang said and the two nervously stepped forward
"Greetings Your Highness." Mai and Shu'er said to him and he smiled at the two of them
"You both will work in my study, from now on the books and everything in the study will be under your care." Li Cheng said to them and the two nodded as the two stepped to the side
"I'll need two men for my night aid, the two gentlemen in the back." Li Cheng said to them and the two of them came forward, Mei and Shu'er recognized one of the boys as their neighbor who was three houses down but they didn't know the other person.
"Another two maids. You and you." The prince pointed and the two young women stepped forward
"I will assign a task to you both later. That would be all for my selection, you may go." Li Cheng said, dismissing them and the head maid nodded as she motioned for them to withdraw but before they left they bid him farewell.
Once the head maid and the group were out of sight the prince turned towards them with a smile on his face.
"Let's all get along, you all are the only servants in my court. Let's all get to know each other." Li Cheng said to them but they were just commoners, would they dare to get comfortable with the crown prince? But as they were all getting nervous about what to do, Mei stepped forward.
".....I am Mei, Your Highness." Mei said to him and he smiled
"Mei, it is a pleasure to meet you." the prince said to her and she bowed
"The pleasure should be ours to have the honor to be in your grace." Mei said to him and he chuckled
"Oh? Is that so? Then why is no one willing to look at me?" Li Cheng asked her and she smiles
"Can I be so bold?" Mei asked him and he nodded
"We dare not think to be friends the crown prince of our country, we are but your loyal subjects. Your Highness." Mei said to him and he nodded
"Yes, that is the truth but am I also not a human? Being a royal doesn't mean that I don't feel pain, or joy or get sick. I am just a man and I wish that you all would be my loyal subjects and good friends." Li Cheng said to them
"Also isn't there some good in being the friend of the crown prince?" Li Cheng asked them and they all smiled to themselves; thinking of the possible benefits of being his friends
They all remained quiet but all of a sudden one of the young men spoke
"If-If I may, Your Highness." the young man said to him and he smiled
"Yes, you may." Li Cheng said to him and the young man smiled
"My-My name is Yun-boa. I am quite strong since I helped my mother out in the field. I will be in your care from now on." Yun Bao said to him and the prince smile
"Yun-Bao, that's a great name." Li Cheng said
"And I am Shu'Er, your highness. I may not be as smart or literate as Mei but I am a quick learner." Mei's friend said to him and he smiled, the others also joined in their greetings
The six people that the crown prince chose were Mei, Shu'Er, Yun-Bao, Su Yang, Chin Xu, and Lue Yang.
Mei and Shu'er were in charge of the study; cleaning, bringing in new books, and putting them away or airing the old books outside. They would sometimes have the luxury of heading into town to buy some new books if Li Cheng needed or wanted new books. The two of them were also in charge of the inventory inside the crown prince's palace as well; such as firewood, candles, plates, chairs and many other things inside the palace.
Chin Xu and Lue yang were the two that was in charge of the kitchen, making sure that they keep it clean, making the food and making sure that there are ingredients in the kitchen. The two of them also go out of the palace with Shu'er and Mei whenever they go out to run errands.
Yun-Bao was given the task of taking care of the garden whenever he is not on night duties with Su Yang. Su Yang is quite, so he would just sit and watch Yun-Bao whenever he tend to the garden.
As week turn into months, Yun-Bao and Su Yang became closer to the crown prince. The two decided to stay in the palace longer and applied to be trained as the crown prince's guards, Li Cheng favor the two a lot and took them as his best friends.
Mei and Shu'er became good friends with Chin Xu and Lue Yang. The four spent time together in the palace and planned about the life that they would have once they leave the palace and go back to their village. The four promised to visit one another.
But as time went by, the crown prince promoted him and hire people to work under them. Chin Xu and Lue Yang became head of the kitchen; overlooking everything that goes on in the kitchen, Chin Xu was in charge of all the utensil and ingredient in the kitchen while Lue Yang was in charge of the staff and their dishes.
The crown prince expanded his study room, there were now three times the book that he used to have. The two of them were in charge of the study room and keeping it organized so that he can find what he needed but now the two no longer get to go out of the palace as often since Li Cheng had hired more people to help them out in the study room. The two of them were mainly in charge of keeping tabs on inventory inside the palace and the books.
It was peaceful in the palace, all working towards the day that they would get to leave the palace and return home to their family and get married.