TCCRMMAICSTA Chapter 32

Yu Wanwan headed straight for the Department of Internal Affairs, proudly carrying the Empress’s decree. Naturally, she was walking with her head held high! As soon as she entered, Chief Steward Li of the Department greeted her with a big smile.

 

“Eunuch Yu, you’ve arrived! The Empress’s requested maids are all ready. Come with me, I’ll show you.”

 

Yu Wanwan straightened her back and nodded arrogantly. “Hmm, just make sure there are no mistakes.”

 

【The past two days have been too good. No more grovelling—straight to heavy punches.】

 

【The goal isn’t that big: beautiful women and the world. Once I leave the palace, I’ll give all the pretty sisters a home.】

 

Muttering to herself, Yu Wanwan followed Chief Li into the courtyard of the Department of Internal Affairs. A dozen or so palace maids stood in a neat line, waiting for her to choose from. Chief Li even thoughtfully prepared a set of chairs and a table with tea and sunflower seeds for her.

 

“Eunuch Yu, take your time selecting. Be sure to pick someone who will please the Empress.”

 

Chief Li thought to himself: Who knows what kind of dogshit luck Yu Wanfu stepped into, to be favored so much by the Empress these days. Even the task of choosing palace maids was entrusted to him. With the Emperor doting on the Empress, especially after the whole fake death incident with Qin Qingqing—something the Emperor didn’t even hold a grudge over—and then assigning Qin Qingqing to work with Yu Wanfu, his status has risen straight to the top.

 

He couldn’t afford to offend Yu Wanfu, but he did wonder: Where exactly did Yu Wanfu step in that dogshit? He needed to find that spot and step in it too, to win favour with the nobles.

 

Yu Wanwan lazily sat down in the chair, casting a sweeping glance over the row of palace maids before her. The new maids had just come of age, all of them fresh as budding flowers. Their faces were still green with innocence, full of longing for the palace, having yet to taste its brutal reality. But… one maid in particular caught Yu Wanwan’s eye.

 

This girl was tall and strikingly beautiful, standing with impeccable posture, like a refined young lady. The ones sent into the palace to be maids were either children from poor families or those who had committed crimes and were demoted to the palace. Seeing this one stand there as proud as a rooster, Yu Wanwan already guessed most of her story.

 

Sure enough, Chief Li noticed her staring at the girl and spoke up: “Eunuch Yu, this is Jiang Pan, daughter of a wealthy merchant from Linzhou City.”

 

“The Jiang family was caught manipulating their taxes, and the entire household was sent to prison. The women of the Jiang family—some were exiled, and some were sent to the palace as lowly servants.”

 

Yu Wanwan raised an eyebrow. “Oh… tax evasion, huh? Well, no one can say they didn’t deserve that!”

 

Jiang Pan’s face remained full of pride. “I am the daughter of a wealthy family. I’m skilled in the four arts: zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.”

 

She meant to say that she had a noble aura and was different from the other lowly maids. If you selected her to serve the Empress, she would surely rise to become a favoured consort and would reward you in the future. So, you better be smart about it.

 

Yu Wanwan let out a cold laugh upon hearing this. Indeed, a few consorts might choose maids based on looks, so that if they fell out of favour or got pregnant, their maids could step in and keep the Emperor in their palace. But that was a rare occurrence; no woman would willingly send her man to another woman’s bed. If she had to choose, she would pick a bimbo—someone easy to control. A clever maid would only climb over her mistress to gain power.

 

Clearly, the Empress didn’t need a maid like that. Picking a self-important maid who was constantly dreaming of climbing into the Emperor’s bed would only bring trouble to the Empress. The Empress had just regained her favour, and Yu Wanwan wouldn’t make a foolish move.

 

She blinked and asked, “Is that so?”

 

Jiang Pan confidently replied, “Of course it’s true.”

 

Yu Wanwan countered, “Oh really? I don’t believe it!”

 

She elegantly rolled her eyes at Jiang Pan. “A daughter of a wealthy family? You’re not even a little bread roll!”

 

“Put away that proud peacock posture of yours and do a few push-ups for me.”

 

“Huh?” Jiang Pan looked confused.

 

“Push-ups? What’s that?”

 

Chief Li was also bewildered. When selecting maids, the focus was usually on looks and cleverness; what was the point of push-ups? He forced a smile and asked, “Eunuch Yu, what exactly is a push-up?”

 

Yu Wanwan shot him a glance. “You can demonstrate for her. Get on the ground, hands on the floor, feet shoulder-width apart.”

 

Though puzzled, Chief Li followed her instructions. Yu Wanwan nodded in satisfaction. “Good, now lower your hips a bit and push yourself up.”

 

Chief Li did as he was told but after just one push-up, he fell flat on his face.

 

Yu Wanwan turned to the row of palace maids and said, “Got it? The one who can do the most push-ups will be the winner.”

 

Hearing this, the maids immediately imitated Chief Li’s movements and began doing push-ups.

 

The sounds of “thud” echoed as several palace maids fell to the ground, and their postures were just like Chief Li’s.

 

Yu Wanwan’s mouth twitched. “I asked you to do push-ups, not to mimic Chief Li and fall flat on your faces.”

 

A few maids shyly replied, “We thought we had to do exactly what Chief Li did.”

 

“…….”

 

Yu Wanwan waved her hand. “You’re all eliminated. With comprehension skills like that, you’ll drive the Empress mad if you’re by her side.”

 

She continued scanning the remaining maids. Jiang Pan managed to hold her position, but her butt was nearly reaching the sky. If it weren’t for her legs still on the ground, Yu Wanwan would’ve thought she was trying to launch herself into the air.

 

In contrast, the maid beside Jiang Pan maintained a perfect push-up form, her arms shaking yet gritting her teeth to hold on. Yu Wanwan nodded in satisfaction. “Good, standard!”

 

Hearing this, Jiang Pan rolled her eyes and pretended to stumble, deliberately bumping into the maids next to her.

 

The ones already at their limits fell like dominoes as she collided with them, leaving only Jiang Pan upright.

 

Yu Wanwan didn’t even spare a glance at Jiang Pan and directly announced, “Left one and left two win.”

 

She chose the two who had just been knocked down by Jiang Pan.

 

Jiang Pan scrambled up from the ground, exclaiming, “I clearly won! Why did you choose them?”

 

Yu Wanwan shot her a look. “You… are somewhat clever, but not enough. I chose them because I wanted to. Can you do anything about it?”

 

“Y-you…” Jiang Pan was momentarily speechless, but she didn’t push the issue further.

 

She thought to herself that losing this round didn’t matter; in the next talent competition, these foolish, lowly maids would surely be no match for her.

 

Yu Wanwan settled back into her chair. “Alright, next up is sunflower seed peeling. Whoever peels the most wins.”

 

As she spoke, she handed the plate of sunflower seeds that Chief Li had prepared for her to the maids. Everyone immediately began peeling the seeds, the cracking sounds mingling with murmurs of commentary.

 

“Hmm, these seeds are fragrant and crispy.”

 

“Some of these are a bit moldy, phew phew phew.”

 

As Yu Wanwan walked around observing them, she casually snatched two peeled seeds from in front of them to munch on.

 

When she reached Jiang Pan, her hand paused in mid-air.

 

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