The girl in white rushed towards the deep inner parts of the palace.
The harem is where the emperor and his concubines reside. It's heavily guarded, however, the girl in white was able to enter and leave at her own leisure.
She went to a particularly extravagant residence called, the Brilliant Night Palace. This place was different to the residence of the other concubines. This palace was resplendent. It was as though the owner was worried about not having a way to spend all their money.
A potted plant that was placed casually was an eye-opener compared to the plants, flowers or pine bamboos found in the palaces of the other concubines. It was elegant.
The leaves were made from gold, the pears were made from pearls; it had inlaid fruits from agate, emerald chiselled cucumbers; coral hole tree branches, an ivory fence, and even the azure porcelain in full bloom was from the former dynasty. It was ruyao and blue flowers created from kilin of the previous dynasty. The place was overflowing with wealth.
If a beggar were to get his hands on one of the bowls from this palace, he would become filthy rich.
Such, was the special Brilliant Night Palace.
Inside the special place was a special person. That was the emperor's youngest consort, the Brilliant Consort.
The emperor's other concubines all had incredible backgrounds too, but the Brilliant Consort was different. Her family members weren't officials or territorial owners, but merchants.
Martial arts flourished during this dynasty so many concepts and ideals of scholars were useless. Consequently, merchants weren't exactly discriminated against, but merchants who could enter the palace were no ordinary merchants. The Brilliant Consort wasn't from an ordinary merchant family.
Her family is the richest family in the entire nation with thousands of stores, more than ten thousand boats and so many people working for them there was no way of knowing their numbers. You could say that her family brought in half of the nation's income.
If it weren't for her family background, the emperor wouldn't have put up with all the disdainful looks of his concubines for marrying a girl younger than him by seventeen years, especially when she was only thirteen at the time when he married her.
When the emperor married her, he was bestowed with the title, the number one lolicon in the world, which led to a trend of men marrying young wives. It was considered all the rage. The males of the nation couldn't help but sigh, "The emperor has great tastes." His decision left a huge impact. Ten years later, major ministers in the imperial court whether deliberate or not speak about themselves having a daughter not yet thirteen, and wondering if his majesty would be interested…… Or they'd wonder if his majesty would consider their granddaughter that's yet to turn ten…….
The incident troubled the emperor greatly and so he did not accept any more concubines for fifteen years after the Brilliant Consort. He dotes on the Brilliant Consort most which is why he hasn't had any other concubines after her. This guess is in fact very close to the truth.
Fifteen years had passed and the young thirteen year old loli wife was now nearly thirty. She was no longer the silly wife who only knew how to flirt and act spoilt before her husband. The young naive and pure girl had reached the point in her life where she needed to make preparations for herself.
Although the Brilliant Consort was known to those in the palace as a kind, silly and wealthy person, silly daughter of a landlord, she too had plans for herself.
The girl in white with the peculiar identity was her plan.
The girl in white stepped into the Brilliant Night Palace. In front of the palace stood a row of maids, who couldn't help but fight a cold war and stutter as they greeted her: "G-Greetings, General Manager"
The girl in white ignored their greeting and just coldly asked: "Is her highness inside?"
"Yes."
"All of you, leave. No one is to approach without my orders."
"The girl in white" had a dangerous look in her eyes. In a cold tone, she said: "I will break the legs on any who dare to come in without my permission."
"Understood, understood."
The girl in white waved her hand as if she was trying to wave off flies and the maids left. The girl in white then casually strolled into the extraordinary palace.
The girl in white, Bai Ling lowered her head and said: "Your servant, Bai Ling greets your highness. Please forgive my tardiness."
"Ling'er, come over, let me see you properly."
Bai Ling stood up but kept her head down. She then bowed and gently walked over to the side of the large bed in the palace. A beauty with apricot eyes, peach cheeks beauty sat on the bed. The Brilliant Consort giggled and then pulled Bai Ling over to sit next to her.
Bai Ling took a step back, panicked and exclaimed: "Your highness, your servant is a servant. Doing this would violate the rules in the palace."
The Brilliant Consort shot her a rebuking look and said: "You child, what are you afraid of? Others don't recognise you. Do you need to act like this in front of me?"
Bai Ling refused to go over to her and could only sit on an angle by the Brilliant Consort's side, not even letting her bottom touch the bed sheets as if she were afraid she would stain the Brilliant Consort's bed sheets.
The Brilliant Consort saw her and sighed to herself: It's been twelve years. Ling'er has been forced to be a eunuch all this time. It's been tough on the poor child.
"Ling'er, how have you been recently?"
With the opportunity to report, Bai Ling quickly got off the bed and said: "Your servant has not let you down, your highness. Your servant has become the general manager of four of the offices in the harem. As of current, your servant is beneath no one in terms of the number spies and power." Bai Ling showed great vigour as she spoke. Her tone was filled with confidence so it was evident that she was very confident in her abilities.
"Th-That's good." The Brilliant Consort was lost for words for a moment. She was actually wondering if Bai Ling was well, but the child didn't seem to care about herself. She was fully devoted to the Brilliant Consort which both moved her and made her feel guilty.
The two of them shared a secret. A big secret.
The palace maid had turned into the general manager as a eunuch, but was actually a girl.
On her way from home the palace twelve years ago, the Brilliant Consort met a girl around seventeen to eighteen years old. At the time, the girl was completely covered in mud and thin. It was freezing and yet she only wore a shirt that had been torn countless times as if she were on the verge of death.
Being the kind person she is, the Brilliant Consort took her in after seeing her pitiful situation.
The Brilliant Consort was heavily favoured by the emperor at the time, but it was never peaceful between his ladies. The Brilliant Consort's family was rich enough to compare to the nation. She had six tables worth of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When she gave tips, she casually tipped them tens of silver ingots, so of course there were people who got jealous.
The princes slowly grew and the fighting got worse as they competed for the throne. The Brilliant Consort wasn't one to conspire and suffered a fair bit during the time.
Consequently, she decided that she needed to nurture her own power in the harem! And that's when she thought of the young girl that she took in, Bai Ling.
Nobody knew Bai Ling's identity. She was a girl but she looked like a eunuch if she dressed up a bit. Bai Ling lived in the Brilliant Night Palace, so her life was hidden to the world. And since the Brilliant Consort was always generous with her tips and rewards, nobody said anything. Overtime, everybody came to terms with Bai Ling being a eunuch.
The Brilliant Consort taught Bai Ling literacy, martial arts and to carry out certain tasks in the palace, slowly turning her into an important figure in the palace.
Bai Ling made it her mission to help the Brilliant Consort, so she always gave it her all to ascend the ranks. She was now the general manager of twelve offices, so she was a major ranking eunuch.
The Brilliant Consort took a good look at Bai Ling.
The young eunuch was described by the people as "The Colourless Chrysanthemum of the Six Palaces". She was born with a beautiful face, big mesmerising eyes, was delicate and charming. She was considered a girl who could make a man go crazy for her with a frown. Women hated her guts for her seductive appearance.
It was amazing how a lanky young girl from twelve years ago grew into such a mesmerising beauty.
It was a pity that she had to dress up as a eunuch.
But if Bai Ling dressed as a girl, the Brilliant Consort would be worried. The emperor could see all the beauties of the harem, so all his consorts were worried.
If she were an imperial consort or even a maid, she would be hated by everyone in the harem. She would either end up with her face ruined or dead. But as a eunuch, she could avoid trouble.
Everybody knows that the emperor of this dynasty is a loli-con. He has no pimps and he doesn't like taboos. And so the peculiarly beautiful eunuch wasn't very much liked, but wasn't pressured either. Bai Ling no longer knew if it was right or wrong to accept playing the role of a eunuch.
The Brilliant Consort touched her shiny and smooth hair. She smiled and said: "Hmm, you look like you've gotten prettier. If I were a guy, I wouldn't let you go."
Bai Ling's expression turned grim: "Your highness, how would a man like a person like me who's neither male or female?"
Speaking of Men, Bai Ling couldn't help but feel disgusted. She lived as a eunuch for a long time, but she had not felt that she was a male. However, she didn't feel like she was a woman either. Growing up around eunuchs, she had a different view to most other girls. She couldn't imagine a man touching her, or even living with a husband. This feeling made it feel unacceptable to her.
The Brilliant Consort knew about her old habit so she didn't peel back the layers of the onion. She just smiled and said: "I liked to speak about those sorts of things before I got married. Look at how I am with his majesty now. Our son has grown so much already. Child, you need to think for yourself sometimes."
"Men…"
Bai Ling suddenly started blushing. The numb and burning feeling from the kiss Ming Feizhen forced on her welled up in her chest. Her lips suddenly started releasing a hot sensation like they were burning up, yet the sensation felt good. Even she couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Normally, she'd kill anybody who offended her on the spot.
That man not only hugged her, he even gave her a deep kiss. Bai Ling wanted to say she was disgusted, but she was slightly confused because she didn't hate it. In fact, she had a slight lingering feeling for it. She had never experienced this feeling before, and she had no idea what was happening.
Bai Ling shook her head as if she was trying to shake off the confusion on her mind: No, no, you can tell that he's not a good guy from a single glance. He must've done something shady to me, and he…he looks ugly too! If I run into him again, I won't let him off.
"Please do not worry, your highness. Sir Zi and you are the reason for your servant to continue living. Your servant will definitely not"
"I was not questioning your loyalty, silly child…"
The Brilliant Consort shook her head, smiled helplessly and said: "I asked you to come today because I asked his majesty for a seat to watch the imperial martial arts tournament, but I heard that it's not safe. You know how I haven't been asking about matters in the harem recently. I depend solely on you. Are you willing to examine the venue and see if it's safe?"
Bai Ling said to herself "I see", and then respectfully replied: "Your servant shall now go and see to it now."
She then suddenly said to herself: The imperial martial arts tournament? That punk will be there then, won't he…? Hmph! Ming Feizhen!
Glossary
Ruyao and Kilin are materials used in Chinese porcelain