Concubine's Greed (Revising)

Seven

"My lady, your eyes why are they so dark?"
I opened my heavy eyes to see Ming standing over me. She held a concerned look on her face, before moving to the window and opening them. The cool morning breeze nearly froze my face, I realized I had been crying all night. I sat up and made eye contact with Lin, who stood in the far corner watching me.

"Put this somewhere safe, Lin"
I held out the letter with care, she gently took it from me and bowed before moving to a different part of my room. My eyes felt like led and it was hard to keep them open, my breathing became shallow.

"Ming I do not feel so well."
I said quietly as I watched her stand in front of me. She connected our foreheads together and compared the temperatures.

"You are right my lady you feel hotter than usual."
She said with a hint of concern in her voice.

"I will tell the Empress dowager that you are to Ill to greet her this morning."
Ming said as she moved away to my bathroom and bringing back a small basin of water and washcloth.

"The Empress will be upset if I don't great her today, it would be rude."
I struggled as I tried to get up but fell back due to dizziness. Ming shook her head and began preparing the washcloth.

"My lady it would be even more rude if you got the Empress dowager sick, now stay here and I will alert the emperor."
She said with a small grin as she got up and left the room with Lin following close behind, leaving me to myself. I sat up slowly and moved out of bed and to my window, the sky was a light soft yellow with splashes of white, the cold breeze seemed to make me feel much better.

"You have raccoon eyes my lady, what were you crying for."
I looked down to see Orochi sitting under the open window. I moved away from the window, as he stealthy climbed in, he began to dust his clothes and close the window. I stared at him confused.

"Why come through the window, why not the door like a normal person?"
I asked with a little bit of humor and curiosity in my voice, he gave me a crooked grin before walking me over to bed.

"The guards in the hallway were not to friendly and decided not to let me in."
He said quietly, I furrowed my brows at him as he tucked me in bed.

"But wh-"
I began but Orochi gave me a sad smile before smiling again and back to normal.

**
"You were crying all night because of a letter, you are quite emotional when it comes to your family."
Orochi seemed to spit the word family from his lips. I ignored it for the time being.

"Of course I love my brother very much."
I responded with a calm smile, remembering our childhood together. Orochi was silent for a moment before placing the cold wet cloth over my forehead.

"It's best you rest my lady, surely the emperor will come visit you later, you two sure have grown closer."
Orochi said with a wink as he walked away from the side of my bed and back to the window. I wanted to respond but my eyes grew too heavy to withstand, as I fell into a deep sleep.

***
A light tapping on my shoulder woke me up quickly, I looked up to see Lin standing over me, she instantly reminded me of Ling. I giggled when remembering how Ling would wake me up much more violently. Lin looked at me with a stone face, unchanging.

I sat up and removed the washcloth from my head, I felt much better and my dizziness had disappeared. Since I am well I should visit the Empress dowager, and pay my respects I thought as I order Lin to prepare my clothing.

***
I walked quickly but gracefully down the palace halls, searching for the Empress dowager or the Emperor himself. I approached double doors with guards standing outside it.

"Excuse me do you know where I can find the Empress dowager?"
I asked politely to the guards, without words they pointed inside the double doors, they slowly opened them for me and I made my way through.

The room looked very similar to the throne room my welcoming party was held in, only the room was slightly smaller and less extravagant. As I walked in a concubine ran into me, I was on the verge of falling until a guard caught me. I stared at the other concubine on the floor to see the short brown haired girl from earlier. She had tears in her eyes as she glared at me.

"Lady Baozhai please wait!"
A servant girl was running after her, Baozhai quickly got up and ran off again. I bowed slightly to the guard and made my way to the other concubines that gathered around a elevated area.

There sitting in the throne was a beyond beautiful woman, her short hair was just as pitch black as emperor Mengyao's. Her almond eyes were the color of the sea, so deep blue and vast.

I approached the back of the crowd of the concubines, most were crying while others looked so downhearted, they were going to bust into tears any moment.

"How irritating, you girls have no flame nor fire in your souls or eyes, have you girls no passion for anything besides bearing children to heighten your own ranks."
The woman on the throne yelled loudly, the women flinched at her harsh and loud words, before resuming crying. The Empress dowager waved her hand to the guards, they quickly came and removed the girls from the room, but I refused to move, leaving me there alone with her.

She looked down at me as if she was only now realizing I was the only one left, she rested her head on her hand and glared down at me silently.

"Who are you?"
She asked finally, I approached her I little more and deeply bowed down to her.

"I am Jiayang Hon Shi, a concubine."
I simply said with my head down. The Empress dowager scoffed.

"I am Hwei-ru your Empress dowager, what else is new."
She asked sarcastically as she continued to glare down at me. I quickly lifted my head and glared right back at her.

"Well, I am a concubine with fire."
I smiled at the Dowager, she looked at me in surprise, before flashing me a crooked grin.

"How dare you glare at me like that, I feel heavily offended I could call the guards to have you beheaded on the spot."
She announced proudly as she began to walk down from the elevated stairs. I stood up tall and stared her in the eyes as she stood in front of me.

"What nothing more to say?"
She asked with a bit of humor in her voice, I simply smiled at her and bowed again.

"A pleasure to meet a powerful woman like your self."
I said and looked her in the eyes, her eyes softened and her smile grew.

"We are going to get along just fine, Jiayang."