Book 1:
Yehe-Nara Meiying
Enter the opulent world of the Qing Dynasty's Forbidden City alongside Meiying, the eldest daughter of the prestigious Yehe-Nara clan. Raised in luxury and privilege, Meiying soon finds herself entangled in the complex web...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Five years later in 1735 on the thirteenth day of the ninth lunar month, many things had changed. Meiying gave birth ten months after her entrance to the manor, a young prince named Yonghuang. Hongli was ecstatic at his first male child since the First Princess passed away a few years ago, much to the grief of both Madam Fuca and him. The First Prince was a bright and happy child, adored by the servants in the Manor. Elder sisters Qingying, Hailan, Suyun, and Wanyin often would visit him and bring presents, to the child's delight. The others, however, especially Princess Consort and Concubine Yue, were very upset. But a couple of years later, Second Prince Yonglian was born to Fuca Langhua, an answer to her prayers after hoping for a son. A year after that came Second Princess, Jingyi to Concubine Mei and Third Princess, Jingse to Madam Fuca. Recently, Su Lüyun gave birth to the Third Prince, Yongzhang, and was still recovering from the trauma.
Meiying came to love the Fourth Prince in her own way over the months she was pregnant with Yonghuang. He was very attentive and caring, keeping her company when she couldn't get out of bed when she was faint. They talked about many different matters: politics (which was unheard of for a man, especially a prince to do with women), literature, books, art, and music. He was amused at her love for The Art of War by Sun Tzu, but admitted even life itself was a battlefield for many people.
Today, the concubines were doing the morning courtesy of greeting Madam Fuca in the main hall, familiar to all those that married into the manor. This was where they entered to give their respects to their husband and his wife.
"Greetings to Madam." Everyone curtsied to the main wife in front of their seats to show obedience to the hierarchy.
"Everyone sit," Langhua commanded gently, forgoing the pleasantries.
"Thank you, Madam," They curtsied again before taking a seat. To one side sat Qingying, with Meiying next to her, and Su Luyun and Hailan further down the line. On the other side sat Gao Xiyue, Jin Yuyan, Huang Qixing, and Chen Wanyin.
"Decree to promote Sister Xiyue to Second Madam came out," Madam Fuca announced.
"Congratulations, Madam Yue," the other concubines said together as the new Second Madam sat proudly in her chair, a smirk plastered on her face.
