“Patriarch Tan, do you want to talk with this Prince at the entrance of your residence? Are you not going to invite this Prince in to take a sit?” Xie Yun’s face was smiling, but his tone was made him feel unapproachable.
Tan Zhuang smiled in apology. “The Tan Residence hasn’t seen an important person like yourself for a long time, Commandery Prince Xie. Please forgive this peasant; come inside.” He stretched out his hand to invite Commandery Prince Xie in.
Xie Yun nodded and walked into the Tan Residence, while Tan Ge and Cui-er followed behind.
When they entered the main hall, Xie Yun sat on the upper seat. A maidservant boiled some tea and gingerly served it to him.
Xie Yun accepted the tea and took a small sip before setting it back down without a word.
The tea is stale, and the flavour is gone. To use autumn tea from two years ago to welcome a member of the nobility… it appears that the Tan Residence is really on the brink of collapse.
Of course, Tan Zhuang was well aware of this. But there’s nothing I can do about that. This is already the best tea in our residence.
“Commandery Prince Xie, did you come to the Tan Residence today because you have something important to tell this peasant?”
Xie Yun nodded and pointed at Tan Ge, who was walking towards the backyard. “The Eldest Young Miss of the Tan Residence was known as one of the top three beauties in Beimin.”
“Ah, that was many years ago.” Tan Zhuang sighed.
“Patriarch Tan, you went to a lot of trouble three years ago to send Eldest Young Miss Tan into the Beauty Palace. Now that the Beauty Palace has been dissolved, the Eldest Young Miss has been left destitute. You must help her find a way out of her predicament.”
Xie Yun stopped here.
Tan Zhuang immediately understood and knelt down on one knee. He cupped his hands together before asking, “Commandery Prince Xie, this peasant is incapable. I am unable to come up with a way out for my humble daughter. Do you have any ideas?”
“Of course. The Eldest Young Miss Tan can enter the imperial palace as a palace maid. This Prince will recommend her for a position in the Imperial Library.” Xie Yun maintained his smiling countenance as he slowly proposed.
Working at the Imperial Library! In Beimin, a palace maid of the Imperial Library can be considered a one with a rank, and would be known as a court lady.
Tan Zhuang immediately knelt to express her gratitude. “Many thanks for your wisdom, Commandery Prince Xie.”
Xie Yun raised his hand to signal for him to get up. “This Prince can see that Eldest Young Miss Tan doesn’t want to enter the imperial palace. Patriarch Tan, you must teach her well. This Prince will soon send a horse carriage to bring her into the palace.” Xie Yun then got up and walked out of the hall.
Tan Zhuang was unable to contain his joy and went straight to the backyard. My second daughter is occupying Tan Ge’s room, but I will ask her to move out right now. The hope and future of the Tan Residence have fallen on Tan Ge’s shoulders again.
After Xie Yun left the Tan Residence, a guard from the Commandery Prince Residence walked up and reported, “Commandery Prince, Prince Hao went to the army barracks.”
“After being away for so long, it’s normal for Prince Hao to check on the troops. This Prince will be entering the palace.” After that, Xie Yun boarded the horse carriage.
He wanted to enter the imperial palace to see the supervisor of the Imperial Library, Grand Tutor Kong. The Imperial Library lacks a palace maid to organise books, but they only need one. It’s fortunate that I was able to find out that Pei Qianhao plans to have Su Xi-er enter the Imperial Library.
The ancestors of the Tan Residence were scholars, so Tan Ge would be more favoured if she were to apply to the same position. It’s better for Su Xi-er to remain in the Palace Side Quarters for now.
Ironically, Su Xi-er didn’t know that Commandery Prince Xie had already locked on to her. She had never even met Commandery Prince Xie, so her knowledge of him was all secondhand.
Su Xi-er took a broom and was about to sweep the palace paths with Hong Li and three other maidservants. The five of them were assigned to clean this entire stretch of palace path in the Palace Side Quarters, and while the other three didn’t dare to gossip about Prince Hao, the same did not apply to Commandery Prince Xie, who was described as an amazing and gentle person.
When Hong Li heard their conversation, she pouted. “What’s so good about him? If Commandery Prince Xie was so great, he wouldn’t have punished He Xiangyu for offending him, and you wouldn’t have had to take the blame for her. It’s his fault that you suffered so many beatings from the plank.”
Then, Hong Li smiled. “However, those planks also made you lucky. You woke up like a different person after the punishment.”
Su Xi-er faintly smiled when she heard that. No one knows that the punishment had taken Su Xi-er’s life and allowed me to enter her body.
