The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

1. The Hapless A’Chou

Translator: Iris Guo

Time: The Great Zhou Dynasty

Day: The first day of the third lunar month, the 32nd year of Jiasheng Reign

Location: The capital

There was a chill in the spring air. Sitting by the well, A’Chou exerted herself to scrub clothes in the big wooden basin, and she murmured to her reflection in the water, “I’ve never seen anyone more unlucky!” Further, staring at a pile of clothes near the basin, A’Chou could not help sighing, “When will I finish these indeed?”

A’Chou was right. She was indeed hapless.

Well, she used to be a rich young lady, a government official’s daughter. However, as a stubborn Imperial Remonstrator, her father offended his superiors. Overnight, her parents were killed. A’Chou, who was four years old at that time, was the only survivor in her family. Afterwards, she was slaved in the Imperial Washhouse. After doing laundry for ten whole years, at the age of 14, A’Chou got a break eventually. Because she did laundry well, she was recommended to work at the Yanxi Palace, where the most beloved Imperial Concubine Zhao lived.

However, A’Chou was least favored by fate, and her good luck did not last long. In two years, A’Chou accidentally offended Imperial Concubine Zhao, and Zhao gave her to Duan Chenghong, an ill-fated man who had a six-grade downgrade to a Sub-Sixth Rank Complier at the Hanlin Academy.

Who was Duan Chenghong, then?

At the beginning of the 32nd year of Jiasheng Reign, when the Great Zhou Dynasty started, a complete shake-up occurred. The Crown Prince Zhong Mingwei, the eldest son of the late Empress Zhenxian who lived at the Orient Palace, was carried away by too much drink and acted impolite in front of the Emperor at the dinner party held on the Lunar New Year’s Eve. The Emperor got furious and locked him up in the Court of the Imperial Clan. A few days later, several high-ranking officials jointly signed a letter to report the evidence of the Prince’s disgraceful conducts over the past years. The Emperor fell into a great rage, and requested a thorough investigation regarding the Prince on the spot. As a result, before the first lunar month ended, the Prince was deposed and exiled directly to NingGuTa, a remote and barren place. Further, Duan Chenghong, the Prince’s future father-in-law who served as Co-Chancellor, got a six-grade downgrade to merely a Sub-Sixth Rank Complier at the Hanlin Academy.

Certainly, the Zhao Family behind Imperial Concubine Zhao strained every nerve to make sure that the Crown Prince was deposed, and Duan Chenghong hated Imperial Concubine Zhao’s guts. Then, Imperial Concubine Zhao sent A’Chou to him intentionally, so of course Duan would consider A’Chou as Zhao’s spy. A’Chou was therefore doomed.

The poor A’Chou had become a thorn in the Duan Family’s flesh. They dared not kill the person sent by Imperial Concubine Zhao, but there were various ways to torture her. Since A’Chou came to the Duan Family, she had never got idle hands. As a 16-year-old girl, she must get up before the dawn to chop wood, cook, clean, and do laundry. Especially, she had to do laundry for at least eight or ten hours every day in the freezing weather. She didn’t even know why there were so many clothes to wash, even more than that in the Imperial Washhouse. A’Chou had complained, but ever since she was required to wash the same cloth for several days in a row, she had stopped complaining.

Well, they were exactly waiting to find fault with her. Why should she let them get anything on her?

Eventually, A’Chou finished the laundry. It was almost midnight, and she felt that her waist was going to break. She hung the clothes on with great effort and prepared to go back to the woodshed. Yes, A’Chou lived in a woodshed. For a dozen of members of the Duan Family, the small quadrangle courtyard was already too small to live in. It was good enough for her, a maid, to stay in the woodshed.

A’Chou massaged her waist and was about to open the door when she heard a hysterical cry from Miss Duan’s room.

“I don’t want to marry that paralytic! I’d rather be dead than to go to NingGuTa! Mother, you… if you push me again, I’ll kill myself in front of you!”