The Emperor's Concubine

15: Doubts

The Palace is now falling into Winter, the beginnings of the new season evident in the crystal blue skies and chilly temperatures. A light layer of sparkling snow coats The Palace grounds; the beautiful white a nice contrast to the more aggressive colours of summer. The place is a flurry of commotion, maids and eunuchs dashing about. For some reason, there seems to be an increase of guards roaming The Palace grounds as well, their body rigid and tense. Though really, it's no wonder; with the sudden increase of unprecedented attacks from the Tūdì Huāngmò (Land of Desert), there is talk that the Empire will soon be at war with the neighbouring land if the attacks continue. Though the talk of war worries her, with the amulet nestled safely next to her heart, Li Hua feels just a little more calm.

A few of her fellow concubines stand by the pond, chattering animatedly, though their voices are kept hushed. Among them is the young girl she had once befriended.

"Now that she has her own quarters, she's become so self-centred"

"I merely asked to borrow one of her hair pins, and she went crazy!" They suddenly stop as they catch sight of Li Hua.

" Li Hua jie (big sister)!" the girl exclaims. Li Hua smiles, putting down the pile of gifts in her hands before handing the girl a box of rice cakes and instructing her to share them around. The other girls gather around striking up conversation until one girl huffs in annoyance,

"Jie, you're good friends with Yao Mei aren't you? Li Hua nods slowly, "Do you know why she's become so......."

"Mean," another girl pipes in for her.

"Is that who you were talking about before? She has gotten her own quarters?" They all nod. Li Hua frowns. That didn't sound like her friend at all. "I-I don't know, I'll talk to her, maybe she's going through a tough time,"

The girl is currently struggling to balance the pile of remaining gifts she had brought from home when a young maid runs hurriedly past, her small body accidentally coming in contact with her shoulder. The touch sends the pile sprawled against the ground. Cursing, she bends down to pick them up, as the maid scurries back, apologising profusely as she attempts to help. Her face softens when she sees who it is. Leng Yue's maid. The girl looks exhausted, tired eyes looking at her in fear of being beaten.

"I am so sorry, My Lady-"

"No, it's fine," she laughs lightly, a hands reaching out to reassure the poor girl. The maid flinches, eyes brimming with tears. For a moment, she feels disgusted. Disgusted at herself for causing the girl to fear her, when she notices just exactly how thin the girl is. Her clothes though manage to hide most of her scrawny figure, to the trained eye of a fellow woman could clearly tell that the girl was as fragile as a snowflake. She scowls; she would never allow her maid- no, her friend to run about like that. Reaching into the folds of her cloak, she takes out a small box of rice cakes her mother had made for her trip back to The Palace. She hands it to the maid who stares back clueless.

"If you could spare a few minutes helping me carry this stuff to my room," she says pushing the box into her hands. It would be rude for her to say that the girl clearly needed them, so she opts to use it as a reward. The maid blinks a few times, before accepting the gift. Time spent in The Palace walls has taught her that sometimes, things don't need to be spoken. Looks of disgust towards fellow concubines spoke just as loudly as an act order given in the disguise of kindness.

They walk in silence towards Li Hua's new sleeping quarters, courtesy of The Emperor. She snorts in amusement at the intricacy of the place. It seems The Emperor had taken her nickname of Bènzhuō (Clumsy) Liánhuā (Lotus) to a whole new level. Each paper-screened window was supported by a wooden carving of a lotus, with the paper being a soft pink in contrast to the mahogany timber. The maid looks up in question,

"Is something wrong, My Lady?"

"Don't you think it is rather a waste to make a building so pretty?" The girl pauses for a moment before speaking softly,

"I think it's an honour for The Emperor to pay as much attention to you. Most girls don't capture his eye for as long as you have,"

A faint blush spreads across her cheeks- ah; another victim the His Majesty's good looks. A troupe of guards rushes behind them as she speaks, their armour clamouring loudly.

"Why are there so many guards in The Palace grounds all of a sudden?" she asks quickly, changing the subject. The maid looks caught off guard, surprise written clearly on her face,

"You haven't heard?" She doesn't answer. "The Empress' father has passed away....."

It's all she can do as she bursts through the door to a highly amused Empress and less than impressed guards. The woman waves the guards off as they cast suspicious looks at her.

"Welcome back," she greets, coughing into her handkerchief.

"I heard about-uh, I bought back gifts, actually what I mean to say is.....are you okay?" she asks hurriedly, curtseying all at the same time. The Empress laughs, though it doesn't reach her eyes, the laugh is filled with more grief than true joy. Beckoning her over, Li Hua complies, sitting next to her on the stool beside her bed.

"Let me see the gifts," she hands a small box over to her shaking hands. Inside the box lays two small bracelets woven from straw. Various small flowers and beads lay nestled within the weave, each item different in colour.

"It's not much, but in my village, children would often make these for each other to show their friendship-"

"It's beautiful,"

"Really? I haven't made one since I was a little girl, so this is a little sloppy-" Li Hua is suddenly enveloped into a crushing embrace.

"Thankyou," she whispers softly. Even through her cloak, Li Hua can feel the wet hot tears of The Empress soak through the material.

When she leaves, The Empress pushes a sealed letter into her hands,

"Do no open this until you truly need to," she instructs sternly, all traces of her emotional outburst gone. As she walks through the doors, a few maids shuffle past, holding a tray containing a cup of bright purple liquid. The stench of a sickening sweetness permeates the air, and Li Hua immediately stops in her tracks.

"Excuse me," she says hurriedly, stopping the maids. "What is that?" she enquires, pointing to the liquid. The maid carrying the tray stutters,

"Medicine for The Empress,"

"From whom?" she says, eyes narrowing.

"The Emperor....."

The smell is undeniably the same as the flowers she had encountered while back home, the bright and shocking purple unmistakably the same hue. The Emperor could be cold and harsh towards the woman at times, but he would never hurt her.......would he?

A/N: Well if that wasn't the most boring chapter everrrrrr. I really wanted to just skip over this part, but I was worried that you guys would find it confusing-er? I needed to slowly bring in the oncoming war. Anyways! VOTES/COMMENTS ARE MUCHLY LOVED AND MAKE ME SUPER DUPER HAPPY!

And welcome to the new readers!!

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