HMIME Chapter 7: Does your palace recruit male maids?

It was probably around eight or nine o’clock in the morning. Bai Lu was not used to the life of not being able to check the time anytime and anywhere. He touched the bed next to him. There was no warmth at all. Chu Ya must have left long ago.

After being poked yesterday, he didn’t feel anything. Now that he woke up from sleep, the soreness in his waist and the dull pain in his back came out strongly. Bai Lu frowned and took a breath of air, slowly moved out of bed.

He glanced at the bronze mirror beside the bed intentionally or unintentionally, and immediately cursed: “What a freaking lunatic!”

The bronze mirror clearly reflected the dark red marks all over his neck, even some bite marks. Against his fair skin, they appeared vivid, almost terrifying. Pressing his fingers against them, he winced; they still hurt a little.

Was this guy planning to devour him alive in bed?

Bai Lu couldn’t help but touch the surface of the bronze mirror. It was exceptionally smooth, not inferior to modern mirrors. How was it polished like this? Did they have such technology in ancient times?

Someone outside seemed to have heard the movement inside and entered cautiously. Separated by a twelve-fold screen, they respectfully asked, “Young Master, are you awake? Do you need a meal? The soup prescribed by His Majesty has been brewed.”

Bai Lu turned to look, seeing a faint figure behind the screen. It was probably a eunuch or a servant.

Bai Lu scratched his hair irritably, “I don’t want to eat. Please help me find some clothes. I want to go out.”

The people outside nodded in agreement, but after half a stick of incense, two maids in red came in carrying a set of exquisitely crafted dark blue clothes.

Bai Lu looked at them, realizing they weren’t the same ones from yesterday, but they were equally attractive. Bai Lu felt an inexplicable jealousy. Life was unfair; how many pretty girls had Chu Ya been surrounded by these past two years? Did he have a harem of three thousand? Damn! Unfair!

The two maids placed the clothes on the table. After bowing to Bai Lu, they approached to help him change out of his pale yellow inner robe.

Bai Lu took a step back in horror, as if he had met a gangster, and looked at them in horror, “Wait a minute, what are you going to do?”

The maid said respectfully: “Change your clothes for the young master.”

“I have hands and feet, I can wear them myself…”

The maids looked at each other, puzzled. “Young Master, what did we do wrong?”

“Huh? I didn’t say…”

Bai Lu was even more at a loss than they were. Although he had a bad temper and was prone to swearing, he was not very good at communicating with girls. He was habitually nervous and felt that he was being rough. He was afraid of saying something bad and scare them away.

Bai Lu chose his words carefully. “What I mean is, I can dress myself; you don’t have to trouble yourselves… Ah, could it be that doing this will deduct your wages?”

The maids were confused. “Wages?”
“Well…it’s the monthly payment, that’s what you call it here, right? You guys are so hardworking and uncomplaining, how much do you pay every month?”

“replying to the young master, I will receive eight taels of silver per month.”

Bai Lu thought for a while, “How about converting it into RMB?”

The maid became even more confused, “My lord, please forgive me, but I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

“Yeah… let me put it this way. How much is a vegetarian dumpling here?”

The maids didn’t understand why he suddenly asked this, but they still answered honestly, “Young Master, it’s two wen each.”

“Two wen…” Bai Lu calculated in his mind. He casually found an excuse, “Actually, let me ask you this, I’m not from around here. Can you tell me how money works here?”

The maids were honest and didn’t suspect anything. One of them explained, “Young Master, it goes like this: one wen is a copper coin, ten wen is a piece, one yuan silver is ten pieces, and one liang silver is ten yuan.”

Bai Lu wasn’t very good at math, and his head was spinning a bit. After a few minutes of hard mental calculations, he finally got around this.

According to the purchasing power he just asked about, one wen was roughly equivalent to one yuan in modern times, ten wen was ten yuan, one yuan silver was one hundred yuan, and one liang silver was one thousand yuan. The maids’ income was quite substantial, well into the realm of a comfortable life; they were like civil servants.

Bai Lu even envied them somewhat. “Do your palaces recruit male palace maids? The kind who work hard and work quickly!”

The maids were a bit puzzled, not understanding why this esteemed young master, recently favored by His Majesty, suddenly had the notion of becoming their colleague.

One of them cautiously replied, “Young Master, according to Lady-in-Waiting’s words, there are no plans to recruit new maids this year. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs seems to lack a few eunuchs.”

Bai Lu: “…I’ll take my leave!”

The two maids bowed in confusion and then withdrew.

Bai Lu stood by the bed, struggling to change the cumbersome clothes. He pulled up the collar to cover the marks on his neck. He took a ribbon and simply tied his hair back with his fingers. He fiddled with the soft strands of hair on his forehead.

Bai Lu tidied himself up but didn’t immediately leave. He searched his chamber but couldn’t find the clothes he wore when he first entered the palace, nor the sachet containing the poison. It must have been put away by someone.

The sachet containing poison was essentially a bomb that could explode at any time. If it were discovered and traced back to him, the consequences would be disastrous.

Furthermore, Bai Lu, despite inhabiting Lin Xiaoan’s body, hadn’t inherited the original occupant’s memories. So, he wasn’t sure of Lin Xiaoan’s true identity. However, one thing was certain: Lin Xiaoan was definitely not just a simple musician.

Bai Lu was worried. Now there were wolves in front of him and tigers in the back. If he stayed in the palace, he would have to face the uncertain Chu Ya and live in fear. If he went back to Wangyue Tower, he might be returning to the assassin’s den. Wouldn’t that be more dangerous?

He doesn’t want to stay with Chu Ya now, but he doesn’t hate him so much that he wants to be an assassin and kill him.

The only way out was to run away. He was a grown man. Although his grades were not very good and his mind was not bright, he still had no problem making a living in the peaceful and prosperous times.

Bai Lu endured the pain in his body and stood at the door of the room. He leaned against the door panel and peeked out secretly. He saw seven or eight guards standing in the courtyard, each with sharp eyes, tall and mighty, with a long black knife at their waist.

Bai Lu calmly withdrew his gaze and left the door.

He can guarantee that as soon as he goes out, these Chu Ya’s ‘loyal fans’ will immediately report to their beloved Majesty, and maybe even send someone to follow him.

Bai Lu gave up on the main entrance and turned to the window instead, using his hands and feet to climb up.

Although Lin Xiao’an’s body was weak, the memories from his previous life were still there, and those techniques were still useful. So Bai Lu managed to climb onto the window ledge smoothly, but unfortunately, when he jumped down, he made a mistake. Bai Lu’s left foot stepped on the wide hem of his robe and fell down… landing on his backside.

boom!

“Damn……”

Bai Lu lay on the ground, his face turned blue in pain.

His ass is really in trouble. It was poked yesterday and fell again today. It hurts both outside and inside.

While Bai Lu angrily pulled the grass on the ground, he scolded the eighteenth generation of Chu Ya’s ancestors over and over in his heart. After venting his anger, he slowly climbed up while holding on to the wall, and took a hidden path forward.

The roads inside the palace were intricate, with palaces, pavilions, and halls densely packed, and it was unclear how many houses there were. The high walls and gray tiles made one’s eyes dizzy.

In costume dramas, it is said that the rebellious prince in the palace can sneak out to play by climbing over the wall, but that is all fake. Bai Lu raised his head and looked at the seven or eight-meter-high red wall, thinking to himself, how long would it take to climb out of it?

Moreover, it seemed that the emperor of this era was particularly ostentatious. A palace actually had eight layers of gates, heavily guarded, so even a fly couldn’t fly out.

Although Bai Lu’s last name was Bai, he wasn’t a fool. He wouldn’t rashly do something uncertain, nor would he hand Chu Ya a reason to punish him. He decided to stroll around the palace during the day, memorizing the routes. Escape would have to wait until nightfall.