Chapter Text
A mere week after the prince was born, Jinshi and Gaoshun once again found themselves on their way to visit the Crystal Pavilion. Checking on the health of concubines (and now, their children) was only routine, after all.
Speaking of routines, the duo were slated to pass by that fateful gate once again. Not wanting to linger for too long and alert his advisor, Jinshi gave the southern gate nothing but a passing glance.
To his surprise, his string had moved, and no longer led out of the gate. In fact, it seemed to go to the northeast. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, and Gaoshun nearly walked straight into him.
“Master Jinshi?”
Against all better judgement, the young master’s imagination went wild with what could’ve led his soulmate, who had seemingly resided in the same place her entire life, to make such a drastic change.
What had happened? Had his soulmate moved away from the capital, towards the coast? What if she was married off? Or kidnapped? The possibilities raced through his mind as his ears drowned out Gaoshun’s second or third attempt to get his master’s attention.
One possibility came to the forefront of his mind, one that brought dread and hope both.
Could his soulmate be within the walls of the Rear Palace? If she was a concubine, this could be a problem. After all, concubines were all married to the emperor, and he may not be willing to let go of such a prize. Even if he obliged his ‘favourite’, there’s simply no telling what the repercussions would be if her family or clan had married her off for political gain. Then again, when was the last time the emperor brought in a new concubine? If his memory served him right, it was quite some time ago, certainly before his last passing of the gate…
There, of course, were other options. If his soulmate was a lady-in-waiting or a high ranking servant, then she’d mostly likely be from a well-do family, and asking for her hand in marriage wouldn’t be the most difficult or unreasonable. Of course, there was the issue of his false identity and status as a ‘eunuch’, but he supposed his soulmate could simply marry the emperor’s ‘sickly brother’ in private…
Then there was a third option. The Rear Palace was the home and workplace of hundreds of servant girls from various backgrounds and education. His soulmate being of the lower class was troublesome on its own, and while stories of nobles and officers finding beautiful women at garden parties to take as their wives weren’t all too uncommon… What of the prince?
He mentally kicked himself for not paying closer attention to the latest wave of servant girls and court ladies brought into the palace due to the recent birth of two imperial children. Perhaps if he took her age and place of origin into account, he could finally discover the identity of his elusive soulmate…
“Master Jinshi.” Gaoshun’s words finally reached the self-proclaimed eunuch. His expression was one not of stoicism or even annoyance, but rather, concern. It was in times like these where the older man’s experience as a father shone, Jinshi supposed.
“Did something happen?” Though Gaoshun’s voice remained unchanged and his face fell back to its usual neutral expression, Jinshi had been around the man for long enough to notice his slightly furrowed brow. He felt bad for worrying his advisor so.
“No… It’s nothing.” Jinshi tried to regain his composure, his gaze following the red string on the pathway ahead of him as it rounded a corner and disappeared. It moved just a little bit, almost as if waving in the fall wind. He’d always presumed that meant his soulmate was on the move or doing something labour-intensive.
“Is there something there?”
Crap. Gaoshun definitely noticed him staring.
“No, no. It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
Jinshi put the idea of ever meeting his soulmate to the back of his mind. She probably travelled to the coast for work or family, that’s all, and Jinshi would do well to remember his station and status - He didn’t have the luxury of pursuing what others called love. Under the guise of adjusting the bottom of his robe, he gave the string around his ankle a little tug by jolting his knee backwards. Though he could not feel it, being able to see the string was a comfort. His soulmate is still alive and out there, somewhere, and he hoped that his little gesture sent her the same message.
“I just need to keep my head down. Two years, Maomao. Two years…” The freckled girl mumbled to herself, carrying a rather large load of laundry belonging to various low-ranking concubines. Her work for the day was almost over, and the sky had turned a pleasant blend of orange and red.
Working as a servant girl wasn’t the worst. It was certainly safer within the palace walls than it was in the back streets of the Pleasure District, and she was well fed and clothed. The manual labour wasn’t all too intensive as there was an abundance of scrawny and malnourished women like herself, and the company of other girls close to her age was quite nice.
While distracted by the grumbling in her stomach as their evening meal steadily approached, Maomao suddenly felt a strong tugging feeling around her ankle. With all the grace of a cat falling from a shelf it certainly shouldn’t have been trying to get to, she landed face-first in the dirt, with her very own laundry basket full of unwashed clothing falling atop her head. Thankfully, it wasn’t very heavy.
"Maomao?! Are you okay?!"
Speaking of the company…
Xiaolan helped her new friend up from the dirt, gathering the clothing that Maomao had been carrying back into the basket while the taller girl dusted herself off. She was lucky that it was the dry fall season, and it wasn’t remotely humid enough for the dirt to stick to her.
“Thanks, Xiaolan.” Maomao gave Xiaolan a little thankful bow as the latter handed the basket back.
“Did you trip on something? You fell so suddenly, but…” Xiaolan looked behind them, and Maomao followed her gaze. The ground that she’d fallen over on was as flat and obstacle-free as ever, and the other servant girls around them were too far away and engaged with their work to have tripped her over, on accident or otherwise.
Maomao sighed. Judging by the sudden pressure around her ankle, she already knew who the culprit was in the back of her mind. Well, not their name or face, but the very concept of a person she had yet to meet.
“I think my soulmate was playing a prank on me.”
In that very moment, Xiaolan’s eyes grew as wide as saucers as she leaned in closer to Maomao. In the older girl’s eyes, Xiaolan was exuding some sort of enthusiastic, girly aura. It was truly blinding to look at.
“You have a soulmate?!”
Soulmates were pretty common to have, but the very mention of romance caught the attention of every serving girl and maid within earshot. Maomao suddenly found herself surrounded by a crowd of women, each with their own questions, assumptions, and unsolicited advice.
So much for finishing her work on time.
The next morning, Jinshi received a report with details pertaining to about a dozen serving girls who had been reprimanded and given write-ups by the Matron of the Serving Women for arriving to dinner late. Their excuse? Talks of soulmates and romance, which had apparently devolved and spiralled for so long that they all fell behind on their laundry duty.
With it came a list of names for his records, in case any incidents occurred within the Rear Palace whilst these girls were unaccounted for, or their tardiness became a regular occurrence. Amongst the list of names, one stood out to him for some inexplicable reason, even before he’d read the characters themselves.
“Maomao… What an interesting name.”