The beautiful Noble Consort Ling sat languidly in her chambers, surrounded by her servants and a handful of lower ranking concubine hangers-on, when one of her allied eunuchs entered the room.
He kowtowed to the senior consort, "Noble Consort, I have so news," he said slyly.
She waved her hand, dismissing the hangers-on and only leaving her most trusted maidservants in earshot.
"Go ahead," she yawned lazily.
"A new Court Lady has entered our Lord’s service; the only daughter of Commander i. She was supposed to be a tea-lady, but this morning he already requested she help fix his hair."
Ling Lui sat up straight, her face taking on a sharper countenance.
"Go on."
"She’s a great beauty. Her beauty is comnted on wherever she goes. Before she entered the palace her nickna around the capital was Wang Zhaojun."
The Noble Consort pursed her lips in displeasure.
"Any more bad news?"
"Her father pulled strings with the Chief Eunuch to get permission for her to bring her pet dog into the palace."
This was getting worse and worse; she thought with annoyance. Another beautiful rival and getting close to the Emperor by stealth instead of competing on a level playing field with the other concubines in the harem!
She would head straight over and lay eyes on this little upstart!
ili was serving the Emperor tea in his study in the afternoon when the Chief Eunuch announced the arrival of Noble Consort Ling.
"Show her in," the Emperor, who was reading morials, waved his hand at Eunuch Feng.
The beautiful Ling Lui sashayed into the Emperor’s presence and curtsied.
"My Lord," she fluttered. "I’ve brought you so wandouhuang, made with my own fair hands. I know it’s not spring, but knowing how much you enjoy this dessert, I thought it might tempt you."
"Very thoughtful thank you, Lui," the Emperor motioned at one of the servants to collect the dessert and place it on his desk.
Ling Lui’s eyes fastened onto i ili like a hawk sighting its prey.
The Emperor raised one quizzical eyebrow. This consort of his had one of the fastest lines of communication in the palace. Nothing of interest escaped her notice for long.
Still, it wouldn’t do for her to take too much interest in his little wildcard. Lui was a dangerous woman, and difficult to control. She acted on emotion rather than logic, like most won, and it made her difficult to predict.
The consort’s eyes widened slightly on seeing ili. Hmmph. What was her Lord pretending at here? This girl was beautiful enough to compete with even the Imperial Noble Consort. Had he taken her as a personal servant to keep her close? She must get to the bottom of this mystery!
"You have a new Court Lady, Lord?" she asked innocently, indicating none other than i ili.
ili, who had had her eyes downcast, looked up in surprise, finding the Noble Consort staring directly at her.
Why would such a senior consort take any interest in a Court Lady like her?
"I see that word travels fast, Lui," the Emperor replied cynically. "Miss i ili, et Noble Consort Ling Lui. Miss i is the only daughter of Lord i. She was called to the palace to serve as a Court Lady, starting this morning."
The Noble Consort nodded slightly at i ili, who curtsied deeply.
"A re Court Lady?" she raised an eyebrow. "Has she been through the concubine selections yet?"
"Not yet, but of course, this service to may buy her a leave pass."
ili looked with surprise at the Emperor.
That was good news, and the first she had heard of it. Although she had no concerns about the concubine selections, it seed that quite a few of her friends and her brothers were concerned by it.
She knew that it would be welco news to them to hear that she might not even need to participate if she served the Emperor well.
"A leave pass because she has served you and been rewarded a marriage, or a leave pass because you’ve taken her into the harem sooner than the trials?"
"Lui," the Emperor chided her.
Always to the point, when her ire was provoked, he thought.
ili looked between the two like a puzzled child; ’rewarded a marriage’?
She hoped the Emperor would not hand her off to so horrible man who treated her with disdain or abuse. She shuddered with fear.
She must tell her father so he could try to ensure any man selected for her by the Emperor was soone her parents favoured too.
"Whichever it is, will be for to decide, Lui. It doesn’t concern you. You’d do well to rember to keep your nose out of my affairs or it won’t go well for you," he warned the little minx.
She thought she could get away with murder, literally, because she was so pretty.
While he had spent so enjoyable nights with Ling Lui, he would bring her into line so fast she wouldn’t know which way was up, if she upset his plans. And she hadn’t borne him a child yet, so her position was far from cented.
"Lord," she bowed her head in acknowledgnt of his reprimand. "You must co and join for tea, Miss i," she said to the girl, in a voice that suggested she actually didn’t want her to co.
"Thank you, Noble Consort, if you’re inviting of course I will co, if the Emperor can spare ?" she looked to the Emperor, uncertain what the protocol was for a Court Lady to take tea with a Noble Consort.
"Find your feet in your new role for a few more days, and then we’ll see," he said protectively.
The Noble Consort withdrew from his study. "Bring your famous dog, too," she called to i ili as she left.
ili looked after her with concern.
Her mother had told her not to trust any of the concubines and consorts, no matter how kind they appeared on the surface. She said they were all in a fight for power and security and that their intentions were always dangerous. She must keep her head down and attempt to stay beneath their notice.
This didn’t seem like a good start at all on her first day...
The Emperor watched the emotions chase across the girl’s face one after the other. He could read her like a prir.
She was scared, and so she should be... At least her parents had taught her that much, he reflected.
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