Chapter 3

Shaohua Palace was enormous. Calling it magnificent would not have been an exaggeration.

The Noble Consort disliked going out and did not require me to pay my respects. She simply sent her senior personal maid to tell me not to bother her without a reason.

So, although we lived under the same roof, I had never once met her.

The emperor had lately been busy with affairs of state and rarely visited the harem. Consequently, we consorts had a great deal of free time too.

Whenever I had nothing to do, I slipped out to meet Wang Xiu and Shen Chunrong.

There was a pavilion in the northwest corner of the imperial gardens. It was out of the way, but the view was lovely and few people went there.

We often sat there drinking tea and eating pastries.

Wang Xiu and Shen Chunrong both lived in Consort De’s Fanghua Hall.

They said Consort De was a very good person, gentle and kind, who always spoke softly.

I could not help wishing I lived there too.

I was thinking about it when an argument broke out nearby.

The three of us peered out. A woman in pink knelt on the ground, one hand over her face and her eyes red.

Maids and eunuchs knelt all around her.

The woman standing before them wore a pomegranate-red silk gauze gown worked in gold embroidery, with intertwining lotus vines covering its skirts. Gold threads caught the sunlight in tiny gleams, like a phoenix about to spread its wings.

Her hair was swept into a high, soaring bun, with a pure-gold hair ornament inlaid with kingfisher feathers set at an angle. Pendants of thin jade and eastern pearls swayed as she moved.

Yet even those costly robes and jewels lost some of their luster beside her face.

I had never seen anyone so breathtakingly beautiful. Even the little mole beneath the corner of her eye seemed alluring.

Beside me, Shen Chunrong stared, spellbound. I even heard her quietly swallow.

“So beautiful…”

The words slipped out in a daze.

“Who’s there?”

A sharp-eared matron turned toward us. We exchanged glances.

We’re done for.

If I was right, a woman of such otherworldly beauty could only be the Noble Consort, said to command the emperor’s favor above all other women in the palace.

I knelt and bowed my head as low as I could.

All I could see was a pair of shoes worked with pure-gold cloud patterns and set with beautiful eastern pearls.

Their tassels trembled. My heart trembled with them.

Soon, their owner stopped before me.

“Look up.”

I followed the voice upward and met a pair of indifferent eyes.

The Noble Consort bent slightly and slowly tipped up my chin with long, pale fingers.

The cool touch made me shiver.

She seemed to notice my fear. A flicker of interest appeared in her eyes.

“Are you so afraid of me?”

I wanted to say I wasn’t.

But the tears came before I could stop them.

Great hot drops rolled down my cheeks and fell onto her fingers.

She clicked her tongue in distaste and shook her hand free.

Then she muttered,

“So oversensitive.”