仆役 · Jiāoyǒu · Friends Palace
Friends
Your wider network — who shows up, and what that costs.
What it covers
The broad circle: colleagues, acquaintances, the people who would take your call but would not come to your house. Also, in the classical framing, the people who work for or with you.
Its old name (仆役) is feudal and we do not translate it literally. What it actually measures is the quality and cost of your wider network.
How to read it
Opposite Siblings, and best read as a pair — the wide circle against the small one. Strength here with weakness there describes someone who knows everyone and confides in no one.
A 忌 in this palace is the classical marker for a network that drains rather than supports: obligations that accumulate, help given that does not come back. Not betrayal — just a poor exchange rate.
A common misreading
A "weak" Friends palace does not mean people dislike you. It usually describes someone selective, whose energy goes into a few relationships rather than many — which the same reader would call a strength if it were phrased differently.
Read your Friends palace against your Siblings palace — wide circle versus close circle.
