First-rank palace maid Su Jixiang

Chapter 205 Past events

The New Year will soon arrive after the General’s Mansion is opened.

The streets and alleys of Mangcheng are filled with the atmosphere of the New Year, and people's mental outlook has become joyous. Every household begins to busy themselves with things needed for the New Year, buying what needs to be bought and cleaning what needs to be done.

This small general's mansion is no exception.

The windows had been repainted with new window paper by Wei Dong, making them look extra bright. The courtyard was also cleaned inside and outside, and Wei Zhong bought four brand new lanterns and hung two on each of the front and back doors.

Not to mention, once the red lanterns are hung up, the New Year atmosphere is immediately created.

That day, Qu Wanning and Hua Rui came to Su Jixiang's place together, and the three of them got together to cut paper-cuts.

Although it was said that there were three people cutting the hair, in fact, only Qu Wanning was busy, while the other two were one helping and the other watching.

One has to say that Qu Wanning has very deft hands. With just a few scissors on the folded red paper, the rough shape of a window paper-cut appears. Then, with a few more carvings with a paper knife, the hollow pattern is carved out. Then, the folded red paper is unfolded, and one gorgeous and exquisite window paper-cut appears in front of everyone.

Qu Wanning was responsible for cutting, Hua Rui was responsible for pasting, and Su Jixiang was responsible for watching.

She is good at cooking, but she is not good at cutting paper-cuts. This is a craft! According to modern people, this is already an intangible cultural heritage...

"How come you are so skillful?" When Qu Wanning made another fairy-shaped window paper-cut, Su Jixiang was already full of admiration. This window paper-cut would be a work of art in modern times. The fairy's clothes were flowing, and they were carved out little by little with scissors and carving knives. The facial features were also three-dimensional and beautiful. The whole shape was ethereal, and it was a fairy holding a flower basket standing in front of him.

"Hey, I was really bored during my first few years in the palace." Qu Wanning laughed, "At that time, I was still living in Yingpin's Qianquan Palace. There was a maid in charge of sweeping the east wing of my room. She was an old lady in the palace, and I learned from her. When I was bored, I would take out paper and cut. That's when I practiced."

Hua Rui was a little surprised, but she soon felt relieved.

Qu Wanning was a concubine in the palace back then. Now she can talk about her past so frankly, which shows that not only has she let go of what happened during that period, but Xie Yingfeng also loves Qu Wanning very much, which is why she can face those past events so calmly.

"Are you talking about Aunt Lianqiao?" Huarui asked with a smile.

"Do you know her?" Qu Wanning looked at Hua Rui.

"Yes." Hua Rui smiled, "She taught me how to make tea. She knows so many things. If she hadn't been implicated back then, she would have been someone close to the Queen."

"Ah? I also know Aunt Lian Qiao." Su Jixiang laughed immediately. "She came to the cold palace to recuperate for a while, and was transferred away after she recovered. I didn't know you were her new master at that time. She only told me that her new master treated her very well and told me not to worry about her."

The maidservants around the queen must be of much higher rank than the maids who cleaned behind Qu Wanning back then.

After all, Qu Wanning had not been named a concubine at that time. When she first entered the palace, she was just a small concubine. She didn't even have her own main palace. She was assigned to live in the east wing of Yingpin's Qianquan Palace. The cleaning maids there should be slightly better than the lowest-ranking maids, and they could be considered low-ranking maids.

"Even you are very familiar with her?" Qu Wanning really didn't know that Lian Qiao and Su Jixiang knew each other.

"They said she had offended the Empress, but we didn't dare to ask what the specific incident was." Hua Rui said, "At that time, Aunt Lian Qiao was the most approachable maidservant around the Empress. The other maidservants wouldn't even give us little maids a straight face."

"I heard that it was because she broke a bowl when the deposed emperor went to the queen's place, which startled the deposed emperor, who left in anger. The queen was furious and punished her. She was beaten with twenty boards, almost crippling her. She was originally going to be sent to the cold palace to fend for herself, but later she recovered and because of her good popularity, the queen felt a little regretful, so she was transferred out." Qu Wanning said, "She stayed with Concubine Ying. I forgot that you were in the cold palace at the time."

Qu Wanning looked at Su Jixiang and asked, "Did you take care of her when she was in the cold palace?"

"Need I say more? I still have some tricks up my sleeve in the cold palace." Su Jixiang said with a smile.

Isn't she the maid in the cold palace? When she traveled through time, she was tormented by the old maids in the cold palace every day. Gradually, she was beaten back by Su Jixiang...

Su Jixiang's kindness is never used on those who bully the weak.

When she first met Lian Qiao, Lian Qiao had been beaten and covered in blood and was thrown into the cold palace. The maids in charge didn't care about her and left her to fend for herself in the yard. Su Jixiang couldn't bear it anymore, so she asked the young eunuch who had a good relationship with her to help carry the person into the house. She also used the money to buy medicine and cured Lian Qiao's body.

The relationship between her and Lian Qiao is really good.

But before Lian Qiao was transferred, she was told that there were many people in the palace and that everything had to be kept secret. Although they were both maids, they were both working in the palace and could be implicated in any event. Even if they had a good relationship, they had to pretend that they were not familiar with each other in public, so that even if something happened to one person, it would not implicate the other person.

Friendship is in the heart, not on the surface.

"Come to think of it, I should thank her." Su Jixiang said with a smile, "If she hadn't gotten the news and sent it to me, I would have been badly cheated by that swindler Concubine Chen. It was also because of her connections that helped me contact the Queen, so that the Queen arrived in time to rescue me. Later, I went to the Imperial Kitchen because of her help in finding connections."

Qu Wanning and Hua Rui were both surprised when they heard this.

They both knew what Concubine Chen had planned. The maids in the harem knew Su Jixiang because Concubine Chen transferred Su Jixiang out of the cold palace. Originally, she wanted to take advantage of the fact that Concubine Chen was pregnant and could not serve the deposed emperor, so she wanted Su Jixiang to consolidate her favor.

As a result, Su Jixiang would rather die and be disfigured than do it, which angered Concubine Chen. Originally, Su Jixiang was going to be beheaded, but because the Queen arrived and rescued Su Jixiang, from then on Su Jixiang was arranged to work in the imperial kitchen and became famous among the palace maids in the harem.

Many people said behind Su Jixiang's back that he was a fool.