Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

Chapter 129: Winter Is Coming

Winter was fast approaching once the autumn season ended.

Ugh so cold!

Yui Mei shivered when the cold north wind blew suddenly.

It was cold, but it was not that drafty, and her clothes were made from cotton, unlike the linen that she wore in the borderlands, so this winter was more pleasant compared to the ones she spent there.

It was only here at the Hundred Blossom Palace that she obtained cotton for the first time in her life; back in the borderlands, she couldnt get cotton so she made do with pelts as protective wear against the winter cold. These were handmade, of course.

In urban places where a lot of people gathered, ready-made clothes were frequently sold, but in the other villages, all clothes were handmade, including winter wear.

Therefore, most of the people in the Hundred Blossom Palace were busy preparing cotton winter wear for their families back in the villages, or else were happily receiving them from their natal home.

Yui Mei watched the court ladies who either give or receive cotton clothes from their families, and she felt a pang of envy, thinking having a family is so nice. Regardless, instead of dwelling on that, she knew she should be grateful to her sincere acquaintance who gave her the cotton.

When Libin brought the cotton cloth to Yui Mei, he told her to use it. It certainly wasnt because he thought that is this girl going to spend the winter in pelts?, because she grew up in the borderlands.

By the way, she already knew she couldnt wear those pelts in the capital, so she recycled all of them. 

One of those recycled pieces dangled on the level of her waist.

It was a pouch with a heated stone inside.

Haa~, so warm. Arent I such a bright girl for coming up with this?

Yui Mei was singing her own praises as she rubbed her cheeks with the fur pouch that had been warmed by the heated stone inside it.

If I make a fur pouch for the heated stone, wont it be super warm? that was her idea, and she was right.

She put a button to secure the stone inside, and inserted it in her loincloth so that it would be at her waist, warming her entire body.

It was just a scrap of cloth left from after she finished making various things out of the original pelt, but she was happy that it turned into something useful.

The highlight of the pouch was the tiny triangle ears and the nose and mouth that she embroidered to make it look like a wolf.

And so, this winter was the warmest for Yui Mei thanks to the clothes that she wore, although the cold wind chilled her bare neck and it was quite unbearable.

Moreover, it took a lot of time and effort sweeping all the fallen leaves that had been tossed around by the north wind, and finally, she was done with her cleaning duty.

Haa~ cleaning duty is so hard during winter, huh.

The water used for cleaning was freezing, and it couldnt be helped that the fallen leaves were all piled up together, at any rate.

She could only pray for the leaves to finish falling.

Oh well, its also fun looking forward to roasting sweet potatoes with the fallen leaves!

Yui Mei grinned broadly on her own.

Today, she also brought the sweet potato that Mei Na secretly gave her.

She headed towards a vacant place so that she could burn the fallen leaves at once.

By the way, there were vacant lots for burning fallen leaves throughout the Hundred Blossom Palace. 

Aside from the vast area,  they had to manually collect all the garbage because there were no convenient garbage trucks like those in her past life, so they wouldnt be able to make it unless they set a designated place for each cleaning block.

Yui Mei finally reached one of those places while carrying the fallen leaves on her arms.

Oh?

A woman was already there.

The people who usually used this place were either housekeepers like Yui Mei, or else the person-in-charge for throwing trash in each palace.

Right now, Yui Mei was in the middle of the garden, far from any of the palaces and residences, so it was highly unlikely that she would bump into anyone else.

However, there was actually somebody else here, and she didnt seem like she was a cleaner or a person in charge of garbage disposal.

She didnt look like she was a court lady, after all.

The lady wasnt dressed in the uniform of the court ladies, nor was she wearing the garb of palace maids. She wasnt donned in the outfits of a concubine, either.

Oh, this is a court courtesan, I guess.

That was Yui Meis observation based on her appearance, coiffure, and air.

T/N: Hi! Sorry for the very late post! Been busy over the weekend ? I posted it together with todays release to make up for the missed chap. Thank you! ?  In Ancient China, j n (), or prostitutes (I used harlot here) referred to women who took singing and dancing as their career. Although most of them would often sell extra service (bedwarming), this did not apply to all.