“Is every concubine present?”, the male consort, sitting in a bathtub, with his long hair completely covering his back, asked his senior maid, calmly.
“Yes, Your Highness. There is no one absent.”, the maid answered smiling while carefully washing the dark brown hair, with the consort’s favorite fragrance.
“I see. I shall not make them wait anymore, then.”, the male consort smirked slightly before stepping out of the bathtub to dress up for the harem meeting.
The senior maid helped her master diligently and she didn’t disappoint.
The male consort wasn’t dressed extravagantly but simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Therefore the head of the harem stood out, in the hall full of colorful dressed women.
“May peace and grace be with your highness, Noble Consort Yi.”, all the concubines saluted the higher ranked above them.
Some had indifferent or calm faces and others had slightly angry faces.
“You may rise.”, Yaozu dismissed the lower-ranked concubines, smiling mischievously.
“I didn’t hold a meeting sooner, because I wanted to make a few changes, as the new head of the harem.”, Yaozu looked at royal consort Hui before continuing, “And inform you about it.”, The noble consort’s eyes wandered around the hall, analysing every face present with a soft smile.
Every woman has a significantly calm face, except for two.
The male consort smiled widely when no one uttered a word, listening to higher ranked.
“Well, for instance, I had raised the salary of our timid sister.”, Yaozu glanced at his gugu, who clapped her hands at the signal.
A young girl, dressed in a refined white hanfu, similar to the noble consort’s clothes, entered the hall gracefully, followed by her maid.
The lady knelt in front of the noble consort before she took her seat, close to the head of the harem.
The concubines’s eyes widen with surprise at the the unfamiliar face.
However even if few people saw her face, they immediately recognised who the white-dressed lady was.
“As you all may know, this is royal talented lady Shun.”, Yaozu smiled,enjoying quietly the show.
The concubines could only nod their heads towards the unexpected member with restrained smiles.
“This is royal consort Hui.”, Yaozu gestured towards a woman dressed in a purple refined hanfu, as he started introducing the members of the harem.
“Concubine Ling.”, the noble consort looked at the mentioned person, nodding slightly at a woman dressed in a blue simple hanfu.
“Noble lady Juan.”, Yaozu mentioned towards a lady dressed in a light green hanfu.
Noble lady Juan has a restrained smile plastered across her face, seemingly displeased with the appearance of a new competition.
“Noble Lady Mei and Noble Lady Xun.”, the male consort nodded toward two women dressed in a violet and pale blue hanfus.
“Noble lady Xiao, Beauty Yan and first attendant Jia.”, the noble consort mentioned towards the three women dressed in red, yellow, and pink hanfus.
The concubine dressed in a white hanfu nodded at each of them, analyzing them carefully.
“Your Highness, may I ask if his majesty is aware of the change?”, suddenly the royal consort spoke with a restrained smile.
Yaozu smiled sweetly at the royal consort and squinted his eyes slightly before answering.
“Why would his majesty,involve himself in harem affairs?”
Royal consort didn’t dare to comment any more on the matter.
“Also, the palace of heavenly grace doesn’t have a head anymore, thus I would like concubine Ling to help our new sisters and be the head of the palace.”
The concubine was surprised but not displeased at all by the noble consort’s order.
“I thank your highness’ grace.”, the concubine knelt before Yaozu, to show gratitude.
“You may rise.”, Yaozu smirked slightly, without being noticed by the women present, “Speaking of grace…His majesty the emperor must be disappointed, seeing he has no heirs yet.”
All the concubines had frustrated and distressed faces and their lips shut tightly, having no words.
Yaozu gave a weary smile, after only receiving a dull expression.
“Now that his majesty has begun visiting the harem more often, I will have juezi tang sent to everyone. Hoping for the royal family to become prosperous.”
All the concubines rose from their seats and knelt before the head of the harem gracefully.
“We thank his highness benevolence.”
********
“Your Highness…Is it really necessary to give medicine to all the concubines?”, the senior maid had a worried tone in her soft voice.
“This way I won’t be able to bother me with concubines..”, the male consort said before continuing to drink his tea.
“That’s true but what if an incident will happen again?..”, the gugu frowned, remembering the odd event.
Yaozu sighed, “It’s quite impossible to frame me for poisoning with a fertility medicine I gave, however..Didn’t the incident end too quickly for a framing?.”, the male consort frowned slightly.
“..Yes, the incident happened and ended too quickly, indeed. Does your Highness think?..”, the maid’s eyes widen, after putting all the pieces together.
Yaozu gave the maid a soft unimpressed look, “Qingge won’t have failed so miserably unless someone got in her way or it wasn’t her plan at all..”, the noble consort put his tea away as his emotions, that overwhelmed him, stopped him from drinking.
“It’s clear that it was the emperor’s plan all along…”, Yaozu scoffed mockingly, disappointed in himself for letting his guard down, “He has no conscience or shame…”, the male consort clenched his jaw tightly.
“I need to speak with Roulan.”, the male consort rose from his seat and made his way to the chambers of the forgotten concubine.
He planned to stay married to the emperor for a while, thinking it will benefit his father a little but it seems he was wrong.
However, he finally made up his mind,now he wishes for his forgotten cousin to follow his steps.
*****
“FùqÄ«n, I know it’s unbelievable..-“, Yaozu was interrupted by his father’s hands, which were starting to hold his hands.
“I would like to see her, if it’s as you say…”, the prime minister smiled gently, but there was a sad tint in his warm eyes.
The noble consort nodded before glancing at his maid, who clapped her hands, giving the signal for the person waiting in the back room.
A lady entered slowly with a maid, closely behind her. She had a rigid expression, obviously awkward about the whole situation, however, she still wanted to go through it. Family always have been her priority, after all, and it seems it’s a family trait passed on her mother’s side.
The prime minister was speechless while looking at the too-familiar face, with many emotions showing on his face.
Yaozu smiled softly, delighted to see his father so happy.
“Uncle, it’s a pleasure to meet you..”, the girl smiled slightly, happy but still quite awkward about it.
“Lan’er..How can this be..?”, master Xiao frowned deeply, anger visible in his eyes.
“It seems the emperor isn’t someone worth our loyalty, FùqÄ«n..”, Yazou smiled bitterly, while not meeting his father’s eyes.
“The emperor isn’t worthy of the throne at all.”, Ruolan had a cold expression, showing her resentment towards the ruler of Xue kingdom.
“A foolish snake is what he is, no wonder he does not have many loyal subjects..”, Yaozu said in a cold voice, while grabbing his father’s hand tightly,”FùqÄ«n, such a person shouldn’t sit on the throne..”
The prime minister stayed silent for a while before finally speaking in a quiet voice, “I was informed Qing’er and you evaded and your whereabouts are unknown..”, Ruolan didn’t bother to say anything, realizing the elder already figured what had happened, instead she put her hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.
The prime minister’s face turned cold after he analyzed the poor state of his niece carefully. His patience seemed to run out very quickly, his loyalty too.
Meanwhile, Yaozu smiled in the background, delighted with his success. Seed just planted but are already growing, how wonderful.
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