Unlimited Save System for Palace Intrigue

Chapter 46: Moving into Chuxiu Palace

Chapter 46: Moving into Chuxiu Palace Once they arrived in the room, Ruyi noticed that their luggage had already been placed on the table. They each took their own bags, chose a bed they liked, and settled in. Since everyone was truly exhausted today, they didn’t say much. Ruyi lay down on her bed and closed her eyes to rest. She had been so busy with the selection process that she hadn’t had a chance to examine her save system closely, but this time, the system’s restoration progress had advanced significantly. The extra save slot had already been created when the selection process began. Ruyi examined the save system closely and discovered something she hadn’t noticed before. It turned out that loading a save wasn’t limited to dying; even if Ruyi hadn’t died, she could choose to return to the previous save point. This meant she could now go back to the second save slot. However, she could only return to the previous save point; to go back to the first one, she’d still have to die. It seemed that as the save system continued to be repaired, more save slots would surely be added. She could return to the previous save slot while still alive. In the event of death, she could choose to return to any save slot. That sounds pretty good—at least she wouldn’t have to die every time just to reload. Ruyi felt a bit more secure in this world. Since she was truly exhausted, Ruyi drifted off to sleep. “Fourth Sister, wake up—it’s time to eat. After we finish eating and bathe, we can rest,” Li Rumeng said. “Are you all up already? I didn’t expect to fall asleep the moment I lay down—I guess I really was exhausted. Where are we going to eat?” Ruyi asked. “We’ll eat in the outer hall. The Chuxiu Palace has several side halls, so we won’t be crammed together with a large crowd—just the six of us from this wing. Elder Sister and I have already been out once, but we didn’t want to disturb you while you were resting,” ” Li Rushi said. Ruyi quickly washed up and got dressed, then followed her two older sisters out. After all, it wouldn’t be good to keep the other court ladies waiting too long. There were only about 24 court ladies in the hall—not many—seated at three tables. The spread on the table looked quite plentiful. However, compared to the meals back home, they fell a bit short. Of course, at this point, their status in the palace was still merely that of court ladies, so their treatment naturally wouldn’t be too lavish—though it was actually quite decent. The food prepared by the imperial chefs wasn’t half bad either. “All the court ladies are present. Please take your seats and begin your meal. We will assemble early tomorrow morning; someone will come shortly to inform you of the assembly time. Do not be late, or you will be punished.” The matron finished speaking and left, presumably to inform the other court ladies elsewhere. “No talking while eating or sleeping”—as all the court ladies were well-bred young ladies, they ate with great refinement, and no one spoke. After the meal, the group did not leave; several palace maids cleared the tables and served the court ladies tea. Later, a palace maid arrived to inform the candidates of the assembly time for the following morning and delivered their standard-issue attire. The palace issued two sets of standard attire to each candidate; naturally, this attire remained the same for every selection process. Consequently, many had prepared two sets of their own, meaning they now possessed several sets in total. After all, no one could be certain if someone in the harem might try to frame them, so it was always wise to be well-prepared. Even in Ruyi’s storage space, there were several sets of these standard outfits, though she had also prepared other garments. Although they usually wore the standard attire, during the palace selection, the candidates were free to express themselves—as long as they didn’t go too far. To highlight her own unique qualities, Ruyi had made some preparations. However, since all the court ladies were quite attractive, standing out would be difficult. She would have to see how the others dressed; since she had prepared a variety of outfits, she could adapt on the spot. They were to assemble in the courtyard at 8:00 a. m. the next morning, which meant they needed to be up by a little past 7:00. With no alarm clocks in ancient times and no maids to wake them now, Ruyi was genuinely afraid she might oversleep. Fortunately, her two older sisters were there with her; even if she did oversleep, they would wake her up, so Ruyi felt a little more at ease. After the palace maid finished speaking, the court ladies gradually dispersed, and the three Ruyi sisters returned to their room. “Fourth Sister, hurry up and grab your clothes—we’re going to bathe. We need to go now; otherwise, once the place gets crowded, we’ll be waiting forever,” Li Rumeng said. Hearing her eldest sister’s words, Ruyi realized she was right. With so many court ladies present, even if Chuxiu Palace had prepared as many bathing rooms as possible, it likely wouldn’t be enough. If they went too late, they’d have to wait a long time. So Ruyi quickly gathered her clothes and followed her two sisters to the bathing area. They weren’t familiar with the palace at all, but fortunately, as they were considered half-mistresses, palace maids were there to guide them. When they arrived, some court ladies were already there, but luckily there were still empty spots, so they didn’t have to wait. They had arrived relatively early. When the later-arriving candidates saw there were no empty spots left, they would likely regret not coming sooner. After all, with over two hundred candidates, it would take some time for everyone to finish bathing—especially since young ladies from prominent families in ancient times were naturally quite slow when it came to bathing. These young ladies from prominent families had never done anything for themselves; they’d always been attended to, and they were still a bit out of their element now that they were in the palace. Although there were indeed palace maids to assist them, there were so few maids and so many candidates that they simply couldn’t keep up. It wasn’t like back home, where each of them had four or five maids at their disposal. Of course, no one was foolish enough to make a scene. After all, this was the imperial palace, not their own homes. Besides, it was only for a month; they could endure it. It wasn’t that there were no attendants at all—it was just that there were relatively few, with several candidates sharing a single palace maid. Since only one palace maid was assigned to a room full of court ladies, the ladies had to handle many tasks themselves. If they didn’t do them themselves and waited for the maid to do everything, they likely wouldn’t have enough time. Ruyi, however, didn’t feel out of place at all; she could take care of herself just as well as if she had no attendants. Aside from combing her hair—which she couldn’t do well on her own—Ruyi could handle everything else. It wasn’t that Ruyi was lazy; it was just that ancient hairstyles were so complicated, unlike in modern times when Ruyi simply tied her hair into a ponytail. Soaking in the hot water, Ruyi felt every cell in her body rejoicing. With the sweltering heat today, her whole body had felt sticky, but after the bath, she felt refreshed and incredibly comfortable. After finishing her bath and getting dressed, Ruyi saw that her two older sisters hadn’t finished yet, so she waited for them at the door, planning to return together later.