Chapter 7

    After Minmin successfully bonded with Xiaoying, she learned the secret of the Juhua Palace — that Concubine Jin had not yet offered herself to the Emperor as believed.

    Fueled by her resentment, Xiaoying spilled everything to Minmin about how cruelly she had been treated by Concubine Jin, like the time she was ordered to fetch some aphrodisiac incense. When the Emperor, who was staying overnight at the Juhua Palace, smelled the incense, he reproached Concubine Jin in a soft, stern voice:

    "You’re still a child, yet you’ve already learned to use such dirty tricks."

    He further stated that he would not stay at the Juhua Palace again until Concubine Jin grew older and realized the gravity of her actions.

    Enraged, Concubine Jin blamed Xiaoying, slapping her until her face swelled, scolding her for causing the trouble, although all Xiaoying did was fetch the incense as ordered. How could she have known the Emperor would catch on? How could she know he despised female cunning above all?

    Seated and listening to Minmin's recount, Sisi nodded in understanding. Once she finished, Sisi turned to Xiaoping, who was also listening, and instructed:

    "Fetch me some of that aphrodisiac incense."

    "Yes, miss," Xiaoping complied, swiftly exiting the room.

    "It’s time for me to return to the laundry yard,"

    Minmin said as she stood up from the floor next to Sisi's daybed, having secretly come to relay the information while fetching dirty clothes from Lianhua Palace. But now, she had been away too long and risked arousing suspicion.

    "Minmin, wait!" Sisi called her back before she could leave.

    "Yes, miss?"

    "Show me your hands."

    Hesitant at first, Minmin extended her hands upon Sisi’s insistent gaze. Sisi immediately frowned upon seeing them

    —pale, peeling, and dotted with raw, painful-looking sores.

    "Were your hands like this after just three days in the laundry yard?" Sisi asked softly, stroking Minmin's hands.

    "It’s a small matter for helping my lady. Don’t worry about me."

    "Wait here,"

    Sis said and walked over to a storage cabinet. Returning, she pulled Minmin down to sit beside her on the daybed, took her hands, and began applying a thick, green ointment.

    "Let the medicine absorb before you go."

    "Yes, miss," Minmin smiled gratefully at her mistress while Sisi looked on with a pained expression.

    Her intent to gather information had inadvertently harmed Minmin. No matter how desperate she was for news, she would not let Minmin suffer like this again.

    "What is this?"

    "It’s a laundry barrel."

    Minmin explained to the gathered maids, who looked on in amazement at the wooden barrel with a handle for spinning.

    "How do you use it?" another maid asked, and Minmin demonstrated.

    "First, you put dirty clothes in here. Then close the lid. See this small opening on top? You pour three pitchers of water in there, add some detergent, close the lid, and spin!"

    After Minmin finished explaining, she grabbed the long handles extending from the horizontally-mounted wooden barrel on a sufficiently sturdy wooden frame. As she exerted force, the barrel rotated in the same direction as the handles, producing a loud, swishing, and splashing sound of water and clothes inside.

    "The way the clothes spin in the barrel is similar to beating them with a stick, but we don't have to exert much effort and it spares our hands from wear."

    The laundry staff exclaimed in astonishment and quickly lined up to use the 'washing barrel' in a long procession.

    The next day at the laundry yard, Minmin saw a slender man examining the washing barrel with interest, surrounded by several maids. Approaching to see what was happening, Xiaoying spotted her and called out,

    "Minmin, you're here!"

    The man, with a face as delicate as a woman’s, straightened up and gave a forced smile when he saw Minmin scrutinizing him.

    "Are you Miss Dong Minmin?"

    "Yes, and who might you be?" Minmin asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

    "My name is 'Zhang Xianze.' I come from the Dazhong Royal Research Institute."

    "What is the Royal Research Institute? I’ve never heard of it."

    "The Royal Research Institute is a special institution established by the Emperor. It is a center for the intellectually gifted, assisting the Emperor in designing and inventing the most beneficial innovations and constructions for the people and the country."

    Minmin listened to Zhang Xianze's overly broad explanation with confusion.

    "What do you want?" Minmin asked, cutting to the chase, clearly annoyed.

    "Did you create this washing barrel?"

    Minmin rolled her eyes uncertainly before replying, "No."

    Zhang Xianze looked puzzled and pressed, "Can you tell me who did?"

    "It was someone I know."

    "Who?"

    "Well... a maid."

    "What's her name?"

    "I can’t tell you that!"

    "Why can't you tell me? Is there some secret?" Zhang Xianze persistently questioned the young woman, Minmin sweated.

    "No! It’s just... she doesn’t want it known."

    "Then can you at least tell me which palace she resides in?"

    "The Lianhua Palace."

    "Where is the Lianhua Palace?"

    "Oh, come on! Find it yourself!"

    That evening, Zhang Xianze secretly followed Minmin until she reached the gates of the Lianhua Palace, only then realizing she had been tracked.

    "Why are you following me!"

    "Lianhua Palace is here, huh? It's quite far, really tired me out," Zhang Xianze complained as he fanned his face, while Minmin looked at him with a dissatisfied expression.

    "Can you call the Lady of the Washing Barrel to see me?"

    Since Minmin would not reveal the name of the creator, he had to refer to this mysterious woman as the Lady of the Washing Barrel for now.

    "Do you need to meet her necessarily?"

    "Yes," he replied with a broad smile.

    "Then wait here and do not enter the palace under any circumstances. Do you understand?" she instructed sternly, pointing at him fiercely.

    "Understood, understood," he responded eagerly.

    Minmin hurried to Sisi, who was lying down reading a travel journal in her room. She recounted everything that had happened, then anxiously asked her mistress,

    "What should we do?"

    Sisi pondered for a moment, stood up, and said,

    "Minmin, tell him to meet me at the back door of the palace. Xiaoping, go keep a lookout for me; make sure no one comes near there."

    After speaking, Sisi sat down in front of her vanity and picked up a brush, dipping it into some red powder.

    Zhang Xianze followed Minmin to the back door of the palace. He looked curious but dared not ask too much.

    Soon, a petite lady in a maid's uniform emerged from the door, her round face dotted with bright red freckles, her thick, dark eyebrows contrasting sharply with her small, pinched lips.

    "Miss, my name is Zhang Xianze, from the Royal Research Institute. May I know your name?"

    "You may call me Xiaoxi."

    "Miss Xiaoxi, do you still have the paper with the washing barrel design?"

    "No, I didn’t design it on paper."

    "That's unfortunate! Could you possibly draw it for me?"

    "Master, if you are interested in the washing barrel, you can study it and draw the design from the actual barrel yourself."

    However, Zhang Xianze's expression turned troubled.

    "But there are many other mechanisms I need to ask you about. How about this: tomorrow morning, I will come to take you to the Royal Research Institute with me so you can explain the mechanics of the washing barrel to my colleagues."

    "Master Zhang, I’m sorry I cannot accept your invitation. I have many duties in the palace that I must attend to, and I hope you understand."

    Sisi said that, but it seemed Zhang Xianze did not understand. The next day, he still waited at the front of the palace until the afternoon before reluctantly walking away.

    Several maids in the Lianhua Palace began to wonder who this pretty young man was. Sisi realized that if this continued, they would surely report to Empress Dowager. She had to do something quickly about these nosy maids.