The Emperor's Concubine

13: Victory is not without Defeat

Her palms are starting to sweat profusely, and she's about to wipe them on her dress when a voice in the back of her mind scolds her- probably Jingah's. Instead, she lays her palms facing outwards, swinging her arms about childishly as to air them off. The Palace guard accompanying her shoots her a questioning look and she smiles sheepishly. Her heart is racing and she briefly wonders if she could pretend to faint, just so she can avoid this meeting that she's been craving for weeks now. Stupidly, she suddenly realises that it's her first time going to his bed chambers.

The area is huge. Just the gardens outside, is enough to make her momentarily forget why she's here. It almost seems as if it were made from magic. On the furthest edges of the place, contains rows of the whitest cherry blossoms she had ever seen, their petals like drops of snow. Beneath the delightful evergreen, lay a dazzling, sparkling pond housing dozens upon dozens of floating lotus flowers which lead right up to his room. The light provided by the small lanterns hung on the right side of her provides a wonderful illumination, creating the illusion of twinkling waters, and glowing lotus'. The guard coughs, and she apologises profusely, speeding up to catch up to him.

She expects him to be at the door, boyish grin plsatered on his face, but when the door opens, her heart shatters. It seems as if the young man she had met had suddenly been tossed into the begginings of age. His eyes are tired, the noticeable stubble still on his chin. The Emperor looks up from his desk meeting her gaze.

"Ah, my Bènzhuō (Clumsy) Liánhuā (Lotus)"

He dismisses the guard, and the man bows, leaving the room quietly. Zhu Yuan pats at the space beside him, and she cautiously sits down, making sure to keep space between them.

"You must forgive me, I have been quite busy as of late," She nods, eyes scanning the room. There are books scattered all over his table, and even more stacked on his wooden book case.

"I heard you challeneged me to another game of checkers," she says softly, trying not to disrupt the easy silence of the night. A small smile breaks across his face, and she internally rejoices that she was the one to cause it.

"Of course, of course" he says. " But I propose that we have prizes for the winner,"

"What do you suggest?"

"One night with me" she almost chokes on her own saliva, until she smirks. The chance of him beating her was slim to none. However, the notion is touching. As The Emperor, he need not strike such deals with her in order to spend a flimsy night with his concubine, yet here he was, almost as if asking for her permission.

"And if I win?"

"Whatever it is your beautiful heart desires," She blushes, looking away,

"Let us start then,"

"I wish for a re-match"

Her eye is twitching violently, and from the other side of the table, The Emperor is laughing.

"My, my, Miss Li Hua, are you going back on your word?"

"I am not!" she protests. "There is clearly no way-" lips press against her, and she silences. His heat radiates off of him, warming her up, and she shivers despite the heat between them. She can feel his hands move to grip her shoulders, thumbs rubbing circles into her shoulders, before moving to caress her cheek, tilting her head slightly upwards. Despite the table between them, his lips move fluently with hers, and it draws a small moan from her own mouth. He pauses, drawing back suddenly,

"You'll be the death of me," he mutters to himself. Her face is flush, and for some reason her body feels like it's on fire.
"You should go," he speaks up suddenly. "It must be terribly late. It was selfish of me to keep you at such a late hour" For a moment, she's taken aback. Did he not want her to stay with him?
"Perhaps you can fulfill your promise another night," he adds softly. She nods dumbly bowing before turning to leave.
"What would you have asked for, if you had won?" his voice sounds from behind her, hints of curiosity and smugness behind the words. She doesn't hesitate for a moment before answering,

"I wished to see my family again,"
Silence passes between them and she swears she can just hear him grin as she steps out and into the cool night air.

Jingah greets her in her own room, and the girl is half asleep when she finds her, but as soon as she steps inside the threshold, there's already a thousand questions layed out. She laughs at her maid's eager expressions, but she burshes them off, blushing when asked about whether or not they had kissed. A knock sounds at the door and they both look up, faces frozen in panic. If it was Fang Liu at the doorway, they might as well be in hell. Jingah opens the door.

A guard stands outside the doorway, the same one that had accompanied her to The Emperor.
"For Lady Li Hua," he says gruffly, handing Jingah a cloth bound package. Li Hua watches with close eyes as Jingah blushes, thanking the guard before closing the door.

"You like him," she teases, nudging the girl. The maid sends a scornful look at her before blushing and giggling away. They open the package together and Li Hua gasps in surprise. Inside lies a box and upon opening it, she smiles. Just a letter.

Most women would have asked for jewellery, or a new chamber.
This must be why I like you.
- Zhu Yuan Zhang

Beneath the letter is an attatched scroll and she opens it, grinning to herself.

A permission scroll to visit her family.

"But Miss-"

"Shut up!" the girl hisses, adding more drops in than necessary. The sickly odour fills the air again, and she cringes.

"They're coming!"

"Let us go"

The shadows move quickly, leaving the room without a trace.

"Ah, it looks like The Emperor has sent you another health remedy"

"So it would seem," she says, downing the drink quickly. She coughs violently, the fit, shaking her whole frame.

A/N: Sorry about the boring chapter. It would have been unfair on you guys (I think) if I had left the meeting scene out. However this part is very crucial, unfortunately. Tell me what you guys think is going on?

Oh, and thankyou to all you lovely people who commented/voted. Let me shower you all in my affection!

I'm sorry for not updating as quickly as some people had wished for. I've been getting kinda lazy lately with all these.........NEW STORIES I'm working on with a friend!! We have a shared account called 2Cool_Kids (don't judge the name). And we are currently working on some stories together. Nothing is posted yet, but soon will be. So keep your eyes out for some of our stories!

And as always, COMMENTS/VOTES make me a happy duck.

Also, to ShinRyui: The story loves you too <3

AND welcome to these people:

Firehot78

amyus1982