Chapter three

Tea walked as carefully as she could while trying to maintain her balance. Honestly, she was relieved that the test was nothing too excessive here because she honestly did not want to go back to wherever she just came from. She walked against the line while being so deep in thought without noticing the people that were falling around her. The palace maids and eunuchs were extremely ruthless. Anyone who stumbled more than once was eliminated so before long there were only five people out of the original twenty that passed this test. Tea also passed miraculously. She sighed in relief and was directed to a courtyard for lunch while waiting for the other girls to come back. At lunchtime, she noticed that everyone was eating slowly and unhurriedly so she also copied them. Looking at the appetising, succulent food on her table, she wanted to eat ravenously. However, she did not forget where she was at all.

There were only ten girls that survived the four arts test and when they came for lunch, most of them were also extremely relieved. However, they didn’t know of the etiquette test waiting for them. After lunch, Tea and the other four girls were taken into another room. This time full of different materials etc. The head eunuch there approached them and said: “You have 15 minutes ladies to pick anything amongst this bunch and showcase a talent. It can be anything from dancing to singing to poetry to calligraphy. The choice is yours. Once your fifteen minutes is up, please showcase your talent to me and the rest of the serving maids and we shall tell you of our decision.” Tea clutched her hanky in desperation. She was only six years old. What could she do? She approached the table and looked at the dancing materials. However, she didn’t feel like she had any natural affinity for dancing. She moved around for about five minutes but her body did not react to anything. She was not knowledgeable about poetry or fighting so the only thing she could try and do was sing. She looked around for a golden hairpin in the dancing materials and started to plan.

Fifteen minutes flew by so quickly but Tea felt she had done nothing the entire time. She could only shrug and hope for the best. One by one the other girls showcased their talents and she was dazzled by them. Each and every one of them was so talented that she suddenly doubted herself. Could she really do it? Wouldn’t it be better to just close her eyes and sleep and maybe she could go back home?

“Cha Qian you’re next.” There was no time to change her mind.

She stood in the middle of the room and started swaying. People thought she was going to dance but in reality, she only moved around swaying while looking at the golden hairpin. After about three seconds, she opened her mouth and sweetly sang one of the melodies from her home. The eunuch was so dumbfounded he wanted to clean his ears and listen to what she was singing again. The completely different language added a more dark undertone to her song but it was really moving. She looked so sweet and yet so vicious that the eunuch could not help but shudder in fear. Her voice really was not bad.

Tea finished her song and truly hoped she had done ok. She went back and stood in line while the eunuch was thinking about each of the prince’s personal tastes. Only one prince did not have a consort while the others were already married. Each of them had a concubine though. He then sent one of the maids back to check on the remaining misses and only two had passed from the initial ten. This meant that in total only three were going into the palace while the other five were going to be maids for high ranking concubines in the palace.

“Ok Chi Lian, Mu Lei, An Yue, Li Chang and Gu Chiang, you all go to the maid quarters. There you will be assigned to other concubines in the palace.”

The people, whose names were said, were not happy with the situation but they could only reluctantly go back. The eunuch then looked at the other three ladies left. ‘Cha Qian, the quiet but devastating beauty, Er Lin the gentle and kind lady and Du Xiang that vixen. Where to assign them? I can’t let either of them marry that unwedded prince since he is not favoured. There is absolutely no way l can really make a choice at this moment. It would be better if the princes could come and pick for themselves.’ The eunuch then said: “You three, go back to your quarters to rest and come back in four hours. Make sure to look your best because if none of the princes chooses you then you have to be prepared to go work with the others in the maid house.”

Tea then curtsied and walked back to her room with the help of Mu Xi. She was not really anxious anymore and was actually in a rare good mood so she smiled slightly when walking back. However, on the way there, she heard something that she shouldn’t have. She motioned for her maid to stop so they could hide in the bushes and see just who it was dallying around.

She couldn’t really see from where she was crouching but she could hear “Gege, this time l failed to get in through the selection. What should l do now? I want to marry you but l didn’t get in wuwu…” The man in question comforted the girl saying: “Si’er there is no need to cry! I’m sure if you try next time you will definitely get in!” Si’er pushed the man away and suspiciously asked: “But this is the second time I've tried already! Can’t you just find a way to marry me?” The man helplessly sighed but his eyes sharpened in suspicion: “Si’er why the rush to get married? Don’t tell me you’re pregnant.” Si’er shook her head in denial “There’s no way. I just want to marry the man l love. Is there anything wrong with that?”

Tea was too excited watching this and accidentally moved the leaves in front of her. This scared the two people into leaving the area for fear of being found. Tea also left in fear of being connected to the two people otherwise it would not bode well for her. When they arrived at the room assigned to them, Mu Xi directly stripped Tea of her clothes and pushed her into a bathtub. She then rushed to get water and bathed Tea as fast as she could. Then she pulled out a light purple inner garment and another dark blue second layer and made her quickly wear them. Then on top went a silverly white outer garment with a purple shawl. Rouge was applied and a flower drawn and before Tea knew it she was back again in the same room she had just left.