His Majesty And I ✔️

How Is He?

Chapter 38

Imperial Concubine Wei
Hougong

“Do you still smell it Dao?”

“No, My Lady. All this servant smells are the roses.”

“Good. I think so too.” Li Lian sighed in relief. After washing twice, she got rid of the smell.

The group of vendors threw rotten food at her, hit her twice on her buttocks before she could manage to escape.

She should have fought back, she should have. That moment when something happened and you wish you had done something differently.

At that time she was still emotional after seeing her mistress. They were accusing her of something she didn’t do, but yet, she couldn't help feeling bad when she thought of how a family could suffer to not have dinner because their mother was not able to sell something since her merchandise was thrown away.

If possible, they could have discussed some sort of compensation on behalf of her mistress, but emotions were high, no one seemed to hear the other and there was just confusion. Some even thought the reason they were there for her was because she was a thief, found stealing.

By the time she escaped, she smelt awful. Nevertheless, she went to look for Yuwen Hong, but did not find him at the shop. Li Lian ended up walking back to the palace alone.

However, the guards would not let her in because she did not have a tag. They did not care for anything else she had to say.

What was nerve-wracking was that they even saw her leave with the emperor. Because of this, she had to stand outside the palace gate looking like a beggar, all dirty and out of her usual air.

If it wasn’t for Zhi Peng, the emperor’s advisor, who was entering the palace and recognised her. She would still be there. He spoke to them for her, presented his Official’s tag and they still had the guts to summon a court lady to present herself and search Li Lian in a private room for any weapons.

It was ridiculous. Li Lian was just done with the day, and she herself looked ridiculous.

Let us not begin to discuss the excitement of the Inner court ladies, seeing her return to Hougong looking rugged. They whispered, entertaining themselves with gossip about her and speculations of what could possibly have happened.

"I told you she wouldn't last."

"The emperor probably changed his mind."

"Anyone would hate being with her."

They talked too much, Li Lian was no longer affected by their running mouths at this point.

Ai excitedly helped Li Lian seat in her welcoming chamber’s elevated zabuton cushion. “My Lady, this servant is delighted about your promotion, now we can always be by your side and not be torn from you by other duties in the midst of serving you.”

When Li Lian arrived at her quarters, she found Dao and Ai waiting for her. Her old quarters were empty of her belongings for they had moved them to the new quarters she was to reside in.

Her new place was close to the Middle Grounds. The higher your ranking, the better you lived well off. Also, higher ranking women were supposed to live nearer to the Middle Grounds because they were  occasionally summoned by the emperor or the elders of the Harem as they have more duties and a lot is expected from them.

The quarters were huge, Dao and Ai had their sleeping rooms as walking-ins attached to her bedroom chamber. The style of the place was more exquisite than the previous. Some features even had silver as part of the decoration.