Chapter 5

I had expected the first woman to visit me at Plum Court to be an enraged Consort Chun. Instead, Jieyu Xu came first.

She was the Xu woman who had entered the palace the previous month and immediately conceived an imperial child.

Her belly was not yet showing, but she made a grand entrance supported by two palace maids. Only after I had curtsied did she speak.

“Now that Beauty Yao has broken with Consort Chun, whom do you intend to rely on? The emperor? The Empress? Or perhaps my Xu family?”

She was probing me.

Without changing expression, I said, “Now that I have entered the palace, my whole heart naturally belongs to serving His Majesty.”

Jieyu Xu sneered. “Beauty Yao should think carefully before answering…”

She said nothing more to me. She simply sat in the courtyard admiring the bare plum trees for several minutes before taking her leave.

The moment she was gone, Xiaolian asked, “My lady, Jieyu Xu came to recruit you. You mustn’t agree. Concubine Song and the young master are still in the master’s hands!”

I smiled. “Silly Xiaolian. Jieyu Xu came to sow discord. She sat here in silence for several minutes, but anyone watching will assume she spent that entire time talking to me. This performance was for my dear sister Consort Chun.

“I broke with her as soon as I entered the palace. Now, right after my first night with the emperor, Jieyu Xu has spent several minutes in my courtyard. Consort Chun and everyone else in the harem will assume I’ve joined the Xu family.

“Jieyu Xu wants Consort Chun to come after me. A Beauty against a Consort, two women from the same clan tearing each other apart—of course she wants to watch.”

Xiaolian paled. “What do we do? Should we explain it to Consort Chun?”

I smiled. “Explain to whom? And who would believe us?”

I glanced as if idly toward Xiaoyuanzi, who stood guard at the gate.

“How strange that Jieyu Xu wears such an old love knot at her waist. She doesn’t seem like the sort to use worn things. It must be precious if she brought it into the palace.

“Xiaolian, the Xu family must be exceptionally clever at choosing women for the palace. She conceived after only one month here.

“Do you suppose she was already pregnant before she entered?”

I murmured the words without caring whether Xiaolian heard. The person I meant to hear would hear them.

I saw Xiaoyuanzi slip away, and my lips curved. My dear father, that piece of intelligence was my gift to you.

Jieyu Xu was no innocent creature. By showing me that old love knot, she had practically announced her intention to harm me.

Five days later, Consort Chun swept into my courtyard with a vast retinue of palace maids and eunuchs, putting the full grandeur of her rank on display.

I curtsied. “Peace and blessings to Your Highness…”

Consort Chun looked down at me. Even with my head bowed, I could feel the venom in her eyes. Before she entered the palace, I had been nothing more than a toy for her amusement.

She had never expected an insect like me to cause her trouble five years later.

“A lowborn wretch remains lowborn even after entering the palace. You and I are not the same. You will always have to kneel when you look at me.”

“Your Highness is right…”

I agreed with a smile. The more she behaved this way, the more clearly she revealed her unease. The family must have been putting pressure on her.

“Remember your place. Do you truly think entering the palace makes you my equal?

“I am a legitimate daughter of the Song family. Legitimate and concubine-born children have always stood worlds apart. You are merely a bastard-born slave. I am the mistress.”

Consort Chun continued to mock me.

I sneered inwardly. I was not trying to stand against her as an equal. I meant to stand against the entire Song family. There was a great deal of blood between us.

“Find a way to make Jieyu Xu drink this medicine…”

At last, Consort Chun came to the point.

A packet of medicine landed beside my feet.

“You plotted with Jieyu Xu for a full hour, and Father is furious. If you don’t want your wretched mother and your invalid brother to die, cut all ties with the Xu family and make Jieyu Xu lose that child.”

I laughed. Dropping the pretense, I rose and looked directly at Consort Chun. “Your Highness, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Insolence!”

Consort Chun flew into a rage. Caiqing stepped forward, putting all her strength into a slap aimed at my face.

I moved faster. My hand cracked across Caiqing’s cheek. I had waited many years for this day.

Caiqing stared at me, stunned. In her eyes, I had endured every humiliation without protest for years. How could I possibly dare strike her?

I sneered. “Your Highness should discipline your servants. They dare lay hands on one of His Majesty’s Beauties. He has summoned me to his bed again tonight. What do you suppose will happen if he learns of this?”

Consort Chun was so furious that she moved to punish me herself. I continued, “Your Highness, I advise you not to act rashly. The moment that slap lands, I will defect to Jieyu Xu.

“Don’t bother threatening me with my mother and brother. Kindness works on me; force does not. If it comes to it, we’ll destroy each other. Three worthless lives in exchange for yours—and the clan has no other eligible women to send into the palace.”

Consort Chun stormed away.

Less than fifteen minutes after her departure, a young eunuch from the imperial study came to summon me to attend the emperor.

The slightest stir in the harem could never escape that man’s notice. I rubbed my face and prepared to perform.