Zhou Ming took advantage of the night to sneak into the city.

As he ran, he pulled out the fabric stuffed inside his clothes, and his previously bloated figure rapidly thinned down.

Coupled with his sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked face, he looked exactly like a street thief.

In his previous life, Zhou Ming wasn't exactly handsome, but compared to the appearance he had in this life, he was far superior.

In this life, Zhou Ming's parents died early, and there were no shortage of sordid affairs within the large mansion of the Marquis of Yongning.

He grew up eating sporadically, suffering from long-term malnutrition, and grew into a lanky, stick-thin frame.

As for his face, there was nothing to be done about it; he figured his parents, whom he had never met, must have been quite unattractive, passing down such an undistinguished appearance.

Reaching the base of the city wall, Zhou Ming found a hidden patch of grass, dug a hole to bury the fabric, and then crawled into the city through a dog hole at the base of the wall.

Yuyang Commandery had a curfew at night, and once night fell, almost no one dared to move about.

If discovered by the night patrols, the punishment would be a beating at best, and at worst, he would be treated as a criminal, thrown into prison, and exiled to the border.

Zhou Ming hugged the shadows of the low houses, sneaking along carefully.

After about an hour, he finally reached the base of the wall behind the Marquis of Yongning's estate.

Wiping the cold sweat from his face, Zhou Ming crawled through another dog hole; fortunately, his frame was thin enough that he didn't get stuck.

Returning to the Marquis of Yongning's estate, he passed through an alleyway to reach his dwelling.

As a servant to Empress Su Mingyue, he was a second-class servant of the Marquis of Yongning's estate and had his own separate room.

Although the room was small, only fitting a bed and a table, this was a privilege many third-class servants would never attain in their lifetimes.

Zhou Ming could become a second-class servant entirely thanks to his late father.

His predecessor's father was originally a servant to the Marquis of Yongning's wife and had died taking an arrow for her, while his mother had died in childbirth.

Out of gratitude for this kindness, the wife promoted him to a second-class servant when he was very young and assigned him to be a servant beside Empress Su Mingyue.

Empress Su Mingyue was sixteen years old, the same age as Zhou Ming.

Strictly speaking, the two had grown up together, but one was the master and the other the servant; the difference in status was like the chasm between heaven and earth.

Back in his room, Zhou Ming dared not delay, quickly washed his face, and went to sleep in his clothes.

Early the next morning, Zhou Ming rose, tidied himself up carefully, and went to wait outside the courtyard where Empress Su Mingyue resided.

The Marquis of Yongning's estate was large and wealthy, but the family line was not particularly flourishing.

The Marquis of Yongning had one wife and two concubines and had fathered one son and two daughters; the Eldest Young Master was twenty years old but had been spoiled rotten by the entire family, turning into a complete playboy.

The Second Miss, Su Mingzhu, was still young.

Among the entire second generation of the Marquis of Yongning's estate, only Empress Su Mingyue was capable of supporting the household, but unfortunately, as a woman, she had no right to inherit the family business.

Empress Su Mingyue lived in a three-section courtyard called Begonia Court.

Male servants and guards like Zhou Ming could only move about the outer courtyard; the inner courtyard was a Forbidden Ground that must never be stepped into.

Zhou Ming didn't wait long before there was movement in the inner courtyard.

First, several maidservants filed out carrying copper basins, towels, fragrant ointment, and other items, followed by a group of matrons surrounding someone as they walked out.

Zhou Ming quickly lowered his head, stood with his hands at his sides, and waited quietly.

The sound of jade pendants approached from afar, and a faint, subtle fragrance—resembling orchids yet not quite—wafted over first.

Empress Su Mingyue walked out from the moon gate of the inner courtyard, surrounded by the crowd.

She was dressed in a goose-yellow silk jacket, with dense, intertwined lotus patterns embroidered on the cuffs and collar edges.

She wore a moon-white silk skirt, and a mutton-fat jade ring hung at her waist, swaying gently with her steps without making a single sound.

The morning light slanted onto her profile, casting her silhouette in a soft halo.

Her eyebrows were not thick, but they were shaped with great character, slanting towards her temples and carrying a natural air of heroism.

Her eyes were phoenix eyes, with the corners slightly upturned; when she looked at someone, even if it was just a casual glance, it made people feel as if she were scrutinizing something.

Her nose was straight, her lips a very pale cherry red, and the corners of her mouth were naturally pursed downwards, giving her an air of authority without needing to be angry.

This face, while beautiful, exuded an untimely sharpness.

If she were to wear a martial outfit and hold a long spear, she would surely possess a natural, heroic spirit.

Yet, being wrapped in layers of fine silks and satins was like forcing an unsheathed sword back into its scabbard, leaving one feeling that something was out of place.

"Hmm? Zhou Ming, is your injury healed?"

Empress Su Mingyue stopped, her gaze landing on Zhou Ming; her voice was crisp, yet devoid of any unnecessary inflection.

"Thank you for your grace, Eldest Miss; this servant is already recovered," Zhou Ming replied with his head bowed, mimicking the tone of his predecessor.

She gave a hum, didn't look at him again, and said indifferently, "It is good that you have recovered; follow me."

Having said this, she passed by Zhou Ming and continued forward, surrounded by the crowd of maids and matrons.

Zhou Ming followed at the end of the procession, silently recalling everything in the original owner's memory regarding this Eldest Miss.

In the Marquis of Yongning's estate, this single sentence from Empress Su Mingyue could be considered an immense favor.

This Eldest Miss spoke very little on a daily basis and treated the servants with reasonable leniency, yet she naturally possessed a sense of detachment, like a crane standing among chickens, never lowering her head to look at the chicken feed at her feet.

The group marched grandly through half of the Marquis of Yongning's estate, heading towards the main courtyard's inner residence.

This was Empress Su Mingyue's unshakeable daily morning routine: paying respects to the wife of the Marquis of Yongning and learning how to manage the inner household and needlework.

This was the upbringing a young lady of the Marquis of Yongning's estate should have, and the skills she was required to master.

However, in Zhou Ming's memory, what Empress Su Mingyue loved most was not embroidery needles, but blades and swords.

Since she was young, she had loved practicing swordplay and spear techniques.

When she was little, her temperament was too wild to be like a young lady of the Marquis's household, and she often pestered the Martial Master in the estate to teach her spear and sword techniques.

At that time, she was still young, so no one took it seriously, and Zhou Ming had also been dragged along to be her sparring partner.

Each time he ended up beaten black and blue, only to be looked down upon by her afterwards: "A man who can't even beat a woman, truly useless."

In truth, it wasn't that he couldn't beat her; it was that he dared not.

But those days were ultimately in the past.

As she grew older, the rules of the Marquis of Yongning's estate tightened around her like iron chains.

At the wife's command, her swords, spears, and staves were confiscated from her courtyard, replaced with embroidery frames and scriptures.

From that moment on, Empress Su Mingyue never touched that long spear she loved so much again.

Empress Su Mingyue entered the inner residence with the wife, and male servants like Zhou Ming naturally could not follow.

However, the Marquis of Yongning's estate did not leave them idle; next to the inner residence, there was a courtyard for guards and servants to rest, which contained a Martial Arts Training Ground and a study.

The Marquis of Yongning's estate did not support idlers; the guards had monthly assessments, and those who failed would be demoted or even expelled from the estate and sent to the privately recruited guard camp to be retrained.

Although servants like Zhou Ming did not have strict assessments, in order to cater to their masters, they had to be somewhat proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy, and painting to martial arts.