He ate quietly during his meal with the emperor, his skeletal thinness making him all the more pitiable.
The emperor rewarded him with a pile of the finest fabrics, furs, and silver, along with plenty of supplies for his lessons.
He also assigned him four palace servants, even sending Zhou Yunshen a matron who had served in the Hall of Mental Cultivation for over thirty years.
After thanking him for his grace, Zhou Yunshen kept glancing toward the little palace maid.
"Imperial Father, I owe my rescue to a little palace maid. Without her, I fear I would have..."
Leaving his words unfinished and letting others fill in the blanks would make them all the more effective.
"She is unfortunate too, and people have always bullied her. I wish to repay her kindness."
The emperor governed the realm through filial piety and championed Confucian teachings, so Zhou Yunshen's desire to repay kindness pleased him greatly.
"Very well. Then I shall make her a Third Rank Palace Maid. She will serve at your side from now on."
By the time Jiang Shuyue was brought over, father and son had finished their meal.
The palace servants escorted the two of them to Consort De's residence. They had only just reached the entrance to the main hall when they heard Noble Lady Li sobbing.
Consort De's brows were tightly knitted as she rubbed her temples, looking thoroughly displeased.
Jiang Shuyue was puzzled. [System, why is Noble Lady Li crying in someone else's home in the middle of the night? Doesn't she have a home of her own?]
[Silly, she's obviously playing the victim! She's bad-mouthing Zhou Yunshen so Consort De will think poorly of him and dislike him. Given enough time, she'll be able to get Zhou Yunshen back by her side!]
*That