Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 876: Chapter 787: Unwilling to Be a Slave (Part 7)

Although Bai Ruoyun invited Nangong Shuangshuang and Luo Yueying to dine together, Nangong Shuangshuang was not someone without discretion. During the meal, aside from picking up two pieces of meat for Luo Yueying, she did not touch the meat dishes on the table again and only ate the two plates of vegetarian dishes in front of her.

Bai Ruoyun’s dishes, according to the usual servings, included four dishes: two meat and two vegetarian, plus a soup. It was considered a rare treat in the palace. Bai Ruoyun, accustomed to ample sustenance, did not particularly enjoy eating meat, and after eating a few bites of lean meat, she put down her chopsticks.

Once Bai Ruoyun was full, the two plates of meat dishes were left for the others below. Having stayed with Bai Ruoyun for a long time, Qiushuang and Qiuyi were not lacking in sustenance and could not eat much of the meat dishes, but Nangong Shuangshuang, who was still growing, loved meat very much.

Although Luo Yueying hadn’t eaten meat for about ten days, she was not particularly eager to eat it. She generally preferred vegetarian food, but the palace cooks prepared dishes for Aunt with exceptional skill, so she ate a few more bites. The aim was to nourish her body with meat; at this point, she couldn’t do much to help her daughter, but at least she could take care of herself and not cause trouble for her daughter.

After the meal, palace maids came to clear the dishes, and this was considered a good task. The leftover food from Aunt’s meals was ultimately taken by these palace maids who cleaned up. In the Violence Room, these two dish-collecting palace maids disliked Nangong Shuangshuang and Luo Yueying the most.

Because with the addition of Nangong Shuangshuang and her mother, there were fewer leftovers for them to acquire. These leftovers, besides being eaten themselves, could be used by the two of them to bribe other palace maids into doing more of their work, allowing them to ease their workload. With two more mouths to feed, they were understandably displeased.

When the two palace maids came in to tidy up the table, they cast a covert glance at Nangong Shuangshuang and Luo Yueying. Noticing this, Luo Yueying paid no mind, while Nangong Shuangshuang couldn’t be bothered to argue with them. People like them were fixated on others’ leftovers, showing little promise and not worth vexing over.

These past two days, Nangong Shuangshuang had been busy treating Bai Ruoyun’s health. Bai Ruoyun had entered the palace as a little palace maid, having endured a period when everyone bullied her. The rules of the palace did not allow for verbal abuse, as it would involve the use of coarse words, which was prohibited.

Thus, if a little palace maid made a mistake, she would be beaten directly. Of course, no one was allowed to strike the face, but elsewhere could be hit at will. Little palace maids learning rules with Aunt were often seen with old bruises unhealed and new ones added.

But even after a beating, they still had to work. During the scorching summer, tasks under the sun were unavoidable because Chief Palace Maids and Aunts certainly wouldn’t do such exhausting and harsh work. The same applied in the cold winter; regardless of how cold it was, whether dressed thinly or not, one still had to carry on working.

Hot weather was bearable, but Bai Ruoyun particularly feared winter because it was easy to get sick. Once ill, no doctor or medicine was available, which often led to deaths. Yearly, not a few slaves died from the cold of winter, and each time she saw slaves being carried away, Bai Ruoyun feared she might be next.

With many masters in the palace, encountering anyone meant kneeling. Among the older people in the palace, no knees were spared from ailments; the biggest fear for slaves was being punished to kneel in winter, the cold penetrating the knees and leaving a lifelong condition, possibly leading to crippled legs.

Bai Ruoyun’s knees inevitably retained some ailments; on overcast and rainy days, they ached. Especially in winter, the pain felt like needles piercing her, making walking laborious.

These days the weather was somewhat gloomy, so Nangong Shuangshuang used massage and salt compresses to ease Bai Ruoyun’s discomfort. After treatment from Nangong Shuangshuang, Bai Ruoyun’s knees felt considerably better, only slightly sore during rain with none of the previous tormenting pain.

Bai Ruoyun was very pleased, and her attitude towards Nangong Shuangshuang improved significantly. At first, when she had just entered the Violence Room, Nangong Shuangshuang and Luo Yueying had suffered under Bai Ruoyun’s whip. Now, not only was there no whip, but Bai Ruoyun even refrained from raising her voice.

The day after Nangong Shuangshuang cured Bai Ruoyun, Bai Ruoyun took her to another place, not far indeed, just to the other side of the Violence Room, a place where the eunuchs worked. Upon seeing Bai Ruoyun leading her here, Nangong Shuangshuang immediately knew what Bai Ruoyun intended for her to do.

In her past life, Nangong Shuangshuang had also pleased Bai Ruoyun later using her medical skills, at which time Bai Ruoyun had asked Nangong Shuangshuang to treat someone, the Director Eunuch of the Violence Room, Xiao Chun.

Nangong Shuangshuang also knew that Xiao Chun was Bai Ruoyun’s food-sharing partner. In fact, this kind of relationship between palace maids and eunuchs was common in the palace.

Life in the palace was lonely and arduous, and sometimes, for emotional solace, one could only confide in palace maids or eunuchs. Over time, emotional bonds formed between palace maids and eunuchs, or even between maids and maids, eunuchs and eunuchs, leading them to share food.

The most common of these was still between palace maids and eunuchs, especially those eunuchs whose manners were normal and retained a masculine demeanor, making them particularly popular.

The palace maids had only two paths: either continue serving in the palace until they died of old age or leave the harem at twenty-five.

But for a twenty-five-year-old woman, once out of the harem, what then? Reaching such an age, the best outcome was to marry as a secondary wife, yet a more common result was being drained of resources and dying miserably.

However, not leaving the palace didn’t promise a good deal either; palace maids in the harem faced peril constantly, risking their lives with each small mistake. Exiting the palace at least offered a chance for a better outcome, but within, unless one ascended to the level of a Steward Aunt or Chief Eunuch, there was no favorable conclusion.

Yet, there were only so many positions for Stewards in the harem, so among the vast number of palace maids and eunuchs, very few could reach that level without support or backing.

Just like Bai Ruoyun, her backing was Lady Lianpin. Lianpin, being quite beautiful, was favored by the Emperor. During the time Bai Ruoyun served near Lianpin, she wasn’t considered a trusted aide; if she had been, Lianpin wouldn’t have dispatched her to a place like the Violence Room.

However, Bai Ruoyun had once helped Lianpin with something, and in return, Lianpin granted her the position of Steward Aunt in the Violence Room, along with occasional protection, allowing Bai Ruoyun to establish a firm footing there.

Xiao Chun’s backing was even more formidable: the Emperor himself. Few in the palace knew this because Xiao Chun’s placement in the Violence Room was not a promotion but a demotion. Xiao Chun had served by the side when the current Emperor was still the Crown Prince.

The current Empress Dowager and the Emperor were not biological mother and son; outwardly, they seemed peaceful, but secretly there was always a struggle. In one incident, when the current Emperor was still the Crown Prince, he lost against the Empress Dowager and nearly jeopardized his position as heir. Xiao Chun willingly took the blame, allowing the Crown Prince to escape unscathed.