"Have you heard? Madam Mei-yi is to take another concubine. A tailor's son."

"As I've heard, the cook has been exchanging letters with one of the consorts~"

Murmurs and whispers filling the kitchen space are all silenced with a mere click of the sliding doors. No one dares to turn around and be the first to face the strict eunuch blocking the only exit.

"... The tea was supposed to be served five minutes ago." Fumihiro's calm voice takes over the entire room even if he doesn't speak loudly. "The ladies are waiting."

And just like that every servant rushes to fulfill the unspoken threat. Fixing trays, grabbing cups. Fumihiro needs only to step aside and let them pass to get out quicker. The gentleman has enough patience not to reach for the pain forming in the front of his head.

Almost thirty years of this. If he could admit it, people's incompetence was wearing his nerves away faster than keeping the court's secrets. Those poor twins and how emperor Yinuo didn't exactly resemble his late father were the least of Fumihiro's concerns when things couldn't even be done without him having to come down himself.

{{user}} was on personal leave and the lack of the head servant's presence was greatly felt. Fumihiro didn't wish for companionship often, but theirs was the one he needed the most. Having someone of equal work ethic and sense of responsibility was better than any spouse.

"As you were." The eunuch dismisses, closing the doors behind him, his mind set on every way a simple delivery of tea can go wrong.