Chapter 265 - 114: Confrontation
With each autumn rain, the weather grew colder. When Song Yunzhao pushed open her window that morning, a light rain was pitter-pattering on the eaves. From afar, the courtyard seemed to be shrouded in a misty veil. A gust of autumn wind made her shiver.
Xiangxue hurried over with an outer robe. "My Lady, don’t stand by the window. The wind is quite chilly right now."
Song Yunzhao nodded and walked back inside, saying, "The weather turned cold so suddenly. Have the autumn clothes from the Clothing Bureau been delivered yet?"
"Not yet." Xiangxue touched her mistress’s hand and found it a bit cold, so she turned and brought over a hand warmer.
Song Yunzhao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "It’s not even winter yet. There’s no need for this."
"Your hands are too cold. It’s better to warm them up. It doesn’t matter what season it is—if it makes you comfortable, then it’s useful."
Song Yunzhao reached out and took it. She had to admit, it did feel much warmer in her grasp, and the chill in her fingertips began to fade.
Shizhu walked under the covered walkway holding an umbrella. She handed it to a little palace maid before entering the hall herself, clutching a large bundle.
Upon seeing her, Xiangxue asked, "What are you carrying?"
"My Lady’s autumn clothes. Nanny Yu took me to the Clothing Bureau to collect them. The weather turned cold so quickly, it’s a good thing we went early. There were quite a few people there to pick up autumn clothes." Shizhu handed the bundle to Xiangxue, then curtsied to her mistress and said with a smile, "I’ll go change my clothes and then come back to serve you."
Song Yunzhao noticed her shoes were soaked through. "Go on, quickly," she urged. "After you’ve changed, don’t come back right away. Have the tea room prepare some ginger soup for you to warm up."
Wangyou Palace did not have its own private kitchen, only a tea room where water was boiled and tea was prepared. Occasionally, it was also used to warm up small snacks and pastries for Song Yunzhao.
Shizhu smiled, agreed, and then turned to leave.
Meanwhile, Xiangxue took out the autumn clothes and inspected them carefully, checking the patterns, styles, and stitches one by one. The work from the Clothing Bureau was acceptable but uninspired; not particularly impressive, but with no discernible flaws. She commented, "Later, Shizhu and I can make a couple of brighter outfits for you, My Lady."
Their own needlework was quite good, but being on duty on weekdays, they rarely had time to make such large garments. Autumn clothes were far more complex than summer ones.
Song Yunzhao grew pensive. She looked at Xiangxue and said, "Now that I’ve been promoted to Concubine, shouldn’t we be adding more staff to Wangyou Palace?"
Xiangxue was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "Yes, we should be."
Song Yunzhao raised an eyebrow slightly. "Hasn’t the Palace Justice Department sent anyone over?"
Xiangxue’s expression soured. "It is this servant’s failure. Please punish me, My Lady."
Song Yunzhao hadn’t thought of it herself, so she didn’t blame Xiangxue. She was just surprised that the Palace Justice Department was also feigning ignorance. ’Now this is interesting,’ she thought.
She looked at Xiangxue and said, "Make a trip to the Palace Justice Department and tell them to assign us new staff according to the regulations."
Xiangxue immediately agreed. "I’ll go right now. By rights, the Palace Justice Department should select a group of candidates for you to review and choose from."
"Have Nanny Yu go and use her judgment. Tell her to pick a few who are skilled at needlework." Song Yunzhao felt she had already started a considerable feud with the Fashion Bureau. ’I can’t count on them for sewing,’ she thought, ’so I’ll have to choose my own people to do it.’
Xiangxue went to find Nanny Yu, and the two of them headed for the Palace Justice Department.
Song Yunzhao found it all very troublesome. The longer she lived in the palace, the more she felt constrained by the Six Departments.
Relatively speaking, the Palace Justice Department was a court institution meant to serve the concubines. But things were not that simple. The relationship between the harem and the Palace Justice Department was one of mutual checks and balances.
This subtle relationship was difficult to describe in words. The six Chief Palace Ladies of the Six Departments under the Palace Justice Department were not a monolith. For example, the Clothing Bureau, which was under the Fashion Bureau, was already on bad terms with her.
The Clothing Bureau dared to act this way because they had the backing of Cui Shangfu, who was close to Princess Consort Wan.
However, now that she was in favor, Cui Shangfu didn’t dare to make things difficult for her openly. That was why the autumn clothes they sent were merely adequate and conformed to regulations, giving her no reason to find fault with the Fashion Bureau. But it also meant she wouldn’t receive more beautiful or thoughtfully crafted garments.
’Is the Fashion Bureau waiting for me to back down?’
’In their dreams!’
She decided to cultivate her own talent. Though it would be time-consuming, once trained, they would be her own people—a worthwhile investment.
In the harem, having your own territory and your own network of connections was crucial.
Without any real leverage on Cui Shangfu, she couldn’t just go and complain to the Emperor. When it came to accusations, you had to strike a decisive blow.
An hour later, Nanny Yu returned, looking grim. Song Yunzhao looked up at her.
"My Lady, the Palace Justice Department says there are no suitable Palace Attendants available for selection right now. The last group of palace maids was just chosen by Huayang Palace."