“Where could I go? I just walked around, because I felt a little bored!” Shao Wanru shook her head and smiled lightly. Then she just ignored them, turned, and walked inside. When she passed the palace maid standing at the door, she took a special look at her. It turned out that she was the loyal maid who followed Shao Yanru around back then.

Seeing Shao Wanru glancing at her, the palace maid bowed respectfully. She had been standing behind them to the right just now and happened to hear their conversation. There were plenty of maids like her in the palace. But she was unwilling to stay in the palace until she was kicked out of the palace one day. This was Chuxiu Palace where anything was possible. If she could pick a promising master, then she would naturally have a better future. It required insight to choose one from so many beauties as her master in the future.

She stood at the door, trying to select a master who seemed promising. Although the ones who were sent home were all eliminated candidates, they were connected with the remaining young ladies who would inevitably send them off. Standing at the door and watching for so long, she felt that the most promising lady was the lady in the pale pink palace dress because she was very beautiful and such beauty would be selected. So she had deliberately approached Shao Yanru and learned that she was Miss Shao of Duke Xing’s Mansion.

The lady had outstanding appearance and powerful background. Even when the maid was in the palace, she had also heard of the reputation of Miss Shao of Duke Xing’s Mansion. Of course, such a woman had a boundless future.

But when she saw Shao Wanru and heard that she was Fifth Miss Shao, the maid hesitated and didn’t know who she wanted to choose to be her master. Although she wasn’t certain right now, it did not prevent her from treating the two young ladies with great kindness.

After saluting Shao Wanru, she saluted Shao Yanru who was walking behind her respectfully. Both of them seemed very promising. She, a little palace maid, couldn’t afford to offend either of them. Shao Yanru didn’t care about a little palace maid’s fawning. She just glanced at her and followed Shao Wanru into the palace gate.

She didn’t believe her excuse of just walking around. Shao Wanru was not a reckless girl. How could it be possible for her to go out and walk around on the first day when she knew little about the new environment? “Fifth Sister, Fourth Sister went back. There are only three of us sisters in the palace. We should take care of each other because we’re all from Duke Xing’s Mansion. We sisters have to join hands to go through the period.”

Shao Yanru was suggesting that nobody knew what would happen next in the palace. Who would stay or be sent home was still unknown. In the face of the unknown future, the small group of mutual benefit should stick together. Indeed, Shao Yanru believed that no matter what Shao Wanru was up to, she was alone in the palace, and they should stick together against others.

Even if there was a discord between the two, they should at least put on a show of sisterhood now! “Eldest Sister, don’t worry about it. I’m tired. Excuse me!” Shao Wanru said coldly. With that, she stood still and saluted Shao Yanru and Shao Caihuan, and then hurried forward. Shao Yanru was surprised because she hadn’t expected Shao Wanru to be so disrespectful of her.

Shao Caihuan curled up her lips mockingly. “Eldest Sister, I have something to do too. I entered the palace today and I am really tired. Excuse me!” With that, she quickened her pace and moved forward. Shao Yanru was left alone behind.

She was left behind by the two girls. Shao Yanru turned pale and almost lost her temper. She took a deep breath to calm down and looked around. Some girls noticed them and began to gossip about them. She looked at the young ladies graciously, smiled calmly, and walked in as if she hadn’t fought with her sisters and Shao Wanru and Shao Caihuan were really in a hurry.

Shao Caihuan caught up with Shao Wanru in a few steps, and said with a smile, “Fifth Sister, let’s go together!”

“Where is the Eldest Sister?” Shao Wanru said calmly.

“A woman like Eldest Sister is always been dignified and decent. How can she walk as fast as we do?” Shao Caihuan curled her lips and said meaningly. Shao Wanru took the hint.

“Fifth Sister, how is the view outside? I just wanted to go out for a walk, but Fourth Sister was leaving, so there was no time.” Shao Caihuan and Shao Wanru walked side by side and the former asked curiously, “Is it beautiful?”

Shao Wanru thought about it for a while and said, “In fact, I was just around. I didn’t dare to go far. I only saw a few rockeries and a few pavilions nearby. I didn’t dare to go any farther!”

This sounded true. No one was a fool, and everyone knew that they couldn’t walk around in the palace. “Why is your relationship with Miss Zhang so good? When did you meet Miss Zhang? Why didn’t I know about it?” Shao Caihuan changed the subject and then asked about Zhang Qilan.

“We met in Yuhui Nunnery. Miss Zhang also lived in Yuhui Nunnery for a while.” Shao Wanru did not conceal it. Such a thing could be concealed, and there was no need to conceal it. “Oh, it is a fun surprise!” Shao Caihuan smiled kindly, reached out her hand, and felt the sleeve of her shirt. She took out a small protective talisman and handed it to Shao Wanru. “Fifth Sister, it’s the protective talisman I just got. This is for you!”

“Protective talisman, did you just get it?” Shao Wanru took it in surprise. It was a small protective talisman and an exquisite one. The bag on the outside was more delicate than any of those that she had seen before.

She had seen protective talismans of both Yuhui Nunnery and Huaguang Temple, but she had never seen one wrapped in such a delicate bag. This was no longer an ordinary protective talisman. The patterns drawn on it were more exquisite than any protective talisman she had seen before. “Yes, I just got it. I got one for you, and one for myself!” Shao Caihuan looked at the left and right in a low voice.

“Did you get it in the palace?” Shao Wanru asked in surprise. “Yes, I got it in the palace. I got it from a Nanny in-charge here,” Shao Caihuan said more carefully.

“Why does Nanny in-charge in the palace has such a protective talisman? What does it mean?” Shao Wanru suddenly felt a weird feeling. Did the so-called protective talisman mean what she thought it meant?

“Do you know there is a Buddha hall in the palace? I asked the Nanny in-charge to get it from that Buddha hall. Of course, I paid a high price!” Shao Caihuan was quite triumphant. “Take it back and hang it around your neck and put it in your underwear. I heard that the effect is very good!”

That was to say, the Nanny in-charge collected money from the beauties, and then went to get the good-for-nothing protective talisman to fool them! Shao Wanru looked at the protective talisman in her hand speechlessly. “Do other beauties know?”

“It shouldn’t be known to many people. I knew it by accident.” Shao Caihuan shook her head affirmatively. “You should hide it carefully after you go back. Don’t let others see it, especially our eldest sister. She might make a fuss about it!” Shao Yanru’s reputation outside was excellent, but none of the sisters in the house thought she was good.

“Thank you, Third Sister!” Shao Wanru put the protective talisman in her sleeve and thanked her. She was sure that many beauties had bought the so-called protective talismans.

In her last life, she had discovered that the nanny in charge of Chuxiu Palace took bribes from the beauties and secretly helped them with things, which even involved hurting other beauties. This so-called protective talisman is naturally another form of bribe, but she didn’t know if there was any problem with the protective talisman. The Buddha incense on it was quite faint.

It had indeed been offered before the Buddha. But it was only an offering, and Shao Wanru also detected another smell from under the Buddha incense. It was very faint, almost imperceptible. She was not even sure if she had smelled it.

When they were talking, they arrived at their residence, and both were tired. So they didn’t say much and went into the room. Yujie had been waiting inside for a long time. Hearing Shao Wanru’s voice, she walked out of the room early and was relieved to see Shao Wanru standing in front of her alive and well.

She still lived in the room at the end of the row, but Shao Cailing’s room on the other side was vacant. “Smell it. Is there any smell on it?” Shao Wanru took out the protective talisman from her sleeve and handed it to Yujie.

Yujie took it, frowned carefully and thought about it, then nodded affirmatively. “Miss, there is a soothing Buddha scent in it, but there is also another kind of medicine that is too soothing. Too much of it will dull the reaction. Miss, where did you get it?”

“Third Sister gave it to me!” Shao Wanru sat down in the chair and whispered, “Does it just dull the reaction?”

If it was the case, there was nothing to be afraid of. Besides, it would take a long time to take effect. Even if someone discovers other medicinal smells on it, she wouldn’t think there was anything wrong, especially if it was mixed in the same effect of Buddha incense.

“It not only dulls the reaction. If another medicine is used to trigger it, it may even lead to a foul disease!” Yujie sniffed again and said.

“What kind of foul disease?” Shao Wanru was shocked, and her eyes darkened. She had guessed so before but was not as sure as Yujie.

“It should be a skin disease. In severe cases, the skin will ulcerate greatly. I followed Mingqiu Nun when I was young. This is something Mingqiu Nun encountered a few years ago. Miss, do you remember the story that Mingqiu Nun told about how the skin disease ruined a young lady’s face?” Yujie asked rhetorically.

This story could be considered as a personal experience by Yujie, while Shao Wanru had heard it from Mingqiu Nun. Mingqiu Nun had even written it down especially. The reason why she valued it so much was that Mingqiu Nun thought that this medicine was too mysterious and didn’t seem to be a thing of the Central Plains.