Wu Caiwei patted her hand reassuringly, signaling she was alright.
Wei Ling's objective was not met, so she couldn't leave so easily. She exchanged a look with the嬷嬷 behind her, who immediately rushed into the main house to search.
Wu Caiwei quickly broke free from Lin Ziyou's embrace and followed the leading嬷嬷 into the room. If she guessed correctly, the hairpin must be in her possession, as she had unconsciously touched her chest just now.
Everyone began to search the room in a perfunctory manner. Wu Caiwei stayed closely by the leading嬷嬷, making it impossible for her to act. The palace maids beside her, privy to the plan, intentionally or unintentionally tried to block Wu Caiwei's path to stop her so they could proceed as planned. To their surprise, Wu Caiwei was exceptionally agile and couldn't be blocked.
Growing anxious, two palace maids tried to grab her. Wu Caiwei, slippery as a loach, could not be caught. Unable to bear it any longer, she overturned everything in the room, including the bedding on the bed.
Hearing the commotion, Lin Ziyou rushed into the house. Seeing the mess, she hurried to Wei Ling and said indignantly, "My father's official position is not as high as your father's, but no matter what, we are now considered equals. You are not searching; you are simply smashing the place! I'm going to tell the嬷嬷."
As she spoke, she moved to leave. When no one emerged from inside after such a long time, it was clear the plan had not been executed. Wei Ling, feeling annoyed, ordered the people behind her, "Quick, stop her!"
Two palace maids immediately stepped forward and held her by the arms. Lin Ziyou struggled for a moment and, seeing she couldn't leave today, loudly exclaimed, "What do you mean by this? Are you resorting to torture?"
Seeing that things were getting out of hand and that such a loud commotion would surely alert the managing嬷嬷, Wei Ling quickly signaled everyone to stop, including the searching嬷嬷.
However, it was too late. Soon, several managing嬷嬷 entered. Upon seeing the scene, the leading嬷嬷's expression turned extremely grim: "I need to remind all the young ladies that you are not yet masters of the palace. Please be mindful of your reputation. If this reaches the Emperor's ears, I believe you all understand the consequences without me needing to spell them out."
At her words, everyone present quickly lowered their heads. After all, they were all here for the selection, and being expelled from the palace for this would be a great disgrace, affecting their future marriages as well.
They couldn't afford to gamble, so they could only obediently accept the嬷嬷's criticism.
In truth, for these嬷嬷, it was just a routine matter. Although their words were harsh, if anything truly went wrong, they would be the first to bear the brunt.
Today, Wei Ling's group was causing trouble. If it had been another group, they would have already sent her for punishment and reported it to the Empress.
Seeing their contrite attitude, the leading managing嬷嬷 nodded with satisfaction and said sternly, "With the selection of consorts imminent, I trust none of you will falter at this crucial moment or gain a bad reputation. Otherwise, I cannot escape responsibility, and none of you will escape unscathed."
After she finished speaking, she left, assuming they wouldn't dare to do anything outrageous again.
Indeed, things turned out as she expected. Although Wei Ling was reluctant, she remembered she had more important matters to attend to and could only stomp her foot in frustration, letting them off for now.
When only the two of them were left in the courtyard, Lin Ziyou slumped onto a stool, utterly dejected. Even before entering the palace, she had encountered so many troubles. If things were like this now, would they be even worse once they entered? Was this how she would have to live her life from now on?
Suddenly, all her beautiful expectations of entering the palace were shattered, and she even began to feel resistant.
At this time, Wu Caiwei did not stay to comfort her. Instead, she quickly tidied up the room. It was already dark, and they needed to rest soon.
After finishing her work, Wu Caiwei wiped the sweat from her brow and walked out. She saw Lin Ziyou still sitting there, silently shedding tears. Wu Caiwei walked over to her, gave her a big hug, and comforted her, "Miss, don't be sad. We will be able to leave this place in a few days."
"Really?" Lin Ziyou asked, a hint of disbelief in her voice. Although she didn't think Dong'er had the ability to help her escape, a person needed hope to live. Without hope, there was no motivation to continue.
"Of course. I said I would protect you. Don't think about anything tonight, rest well, and starting tomorrow, listen to my instructions." Wu Caiwei already had a general plan in mind.
Lin Ziyou nodded weakly and, with Wu Caiwei's support, slowly walked back to her bedroom. Lying on the bed, her tears continued to fall uncontrollably.
The next morning, Wu Caiwei looked at Lin Ziyou's swollen eyes, which resembled steamed buns, and shook her head helplessly. She went to the kitchen and spoke kindly to the staff to obtain two cooked eggs, which she carefully used to soothe Lin Ziyou's eyes.
Not long after breakfast, Wu Caiwei asked Lin Ziyou to feign heart palpitations. Although Lin Ziyou didn't understand why, she cooperated enthusiastically out of trust.
Soon, the嬷嬷 brought an imperial physician. The physician was a young man who seemed to have only recently joined the Imperial Hospital, as they wouldn't be able to summon highly skilled imperial physicians for mere prospective consorts.
The young man, accustomed to navigating the palace, kept his head down when meeting anyone. He went through the motions of placing a handkerchief on Lin Ziyou's wrist to feel her pulse.
To his surprise, apart from a slightly faster heartbeat, she showed no other symptoms, yet she kept complaining of chest pain. In the end, he could only prescribe some standard tonics beneficial for the heart.
Wu Caiwei quickly accompanied him to the Imperial Hospital to fetch the medicine. Upon her return, she saw Lin Ziyou, still somewhat shaken after all this time.
"How did I perform just now? Did he see through it?" Lin Ziyou asked as soon as she saw Wu Caiwei.
"Those who can be imperial physicians are not simple. Even if they know you are faking, they won't say so. You can rest assured, Miss," Wu Caiwei said, not without basis. The methods used by concubines in the palace were endless. Sometimes, they would feign illness to gain the Emperor's sympathy, and these imperial physicians, to avoid trouble, would often pretend not to see through it.
"I suddenly feel like you're so amazing, someone I can rely on." Lin Ziyou looked at Wu Caiwei with sparkling eyes, genuinely feeling that Dong'er was becoming more and more capable.
"Do you know where we are? This is the place that trains people the most in the world. If you're not shrewd and don't gather information from all sides, we, master and servant, might not even know how we died," Wu Caiwei decided to address her own transformation directly, making Lin Ziyou believe that her changes were due to entering the palace.