Phoenix: Rules Of The Harem
Chapter 7: The Celebration of Maturity, Sneaking Out the Palace As a Man
Just like the previous Shao Empire princess maturity celebrations, this time Ling Mei's maturation celebration will also be done in a big way. A large banquet would be held with the great noble families of the Shao Empire and the palace officials and their families as his invited guests. Coupled with the existence of the imperial family attending the banquet, it indicated Ling Mei's position as the legitimate daughter of the empire indirectly.
Today is the day Ling Mei's manhood celebration is held, in a few more hours the banquet will begin. All the members of the imperial nuclear family be it women and men, grand empress to the high official concubines of the empire would come to celebrate. Even if Shao Ling Mei was a mentally handicapped and stupid princess, with all the strength she had behind her back, like it or not, she said, those greedy people thought they would benefit and be seen by the Grand Empress by pretending to like her. Unfortunately they do not understand enough, no matter how hard they try to curry favor, it will never be useful to them.
Ling Mei felt today the palace was much more ominous than before, of course it was due to her decree of marriage to the second prince of the rogue Eastern Wei Dynasty. He therefore decided to sneak out of the palace and disguise himself as an ordinary noble young master, in a man's attire that made him look beautiful as well as handsome. Thinking about that, he wanted to see, what interesting thing he could get by disguising himself as a beautiful man in the capital.
"Wu Jin, do I now look as beautiful as the young men of the noble family?"
Wu Jin next to him bowed respectfully, then he said: "Right, Your Majesty. You look so different, if I were a woman, maybe I'd fall in love with you."
Ling Mei chuckled, but then she looked at herself from the reflection of the mirror and turned around. "It's good, I don't think coming out with a performance like this is a bad thing."
"Wu Jin, accompany me out of the palace today! Being in the palace for too long made me feel annoyed and I wasn't too sure I'd keep myself from tearing up the goddamn marriage decree." hearing Ling Mei's orders, Wu Jin was shocked, he quickly raised his head.
"But, Your Majesty, you have a banquet schedule for the celebration of maturity together with the Grand Empress and other distinguished guests. In addition, the Imperial Main Consort Hong makes you have to stay there to take care of his face."
Ling Mei snorted softly, she held onto her sleeves then stroked them slowly. "I knew. You take it easy, I can't just forget about your reputation. I just want to walk around for a while, I think there'll be something good for me outside."
Wu Jin looked down and smiled gently. "If it is like that, according to your wishes, Your Majesty."
As had been said before, now Ling Mei and Wu Jin were preparing to secretly exit the palace. Today the atmosphere of the imperial palace was quite crowded as the preparations for the banquet were being carried out. Many servants were walking to and fro with many items they brought, while the guards were seen keeping watch in turn tightly. Speaking of disguise, Ling Mei had swallowed an appearance disguise pill and made him look really like a beautiful young man.
The two of them chose to use qinggong to speed up the journey, when they reached the center of the bustling capital, Ling Mei smiled faintly. Wu Jin who had also used the disguise pill chose to walk behind Ling Mei, the two of them were seen walking leisurely while looking around the capital. It looks beautiful, yet deadly. That's how the capital of Xiaoyang is, in this place greedy and cunning people are very much. They are the cruel, annoying sycophants. Ling Mei decided to go inside the accessories store, because of her young man appearance, she was unlikely to enter the wine shop that contained many women.
Looking at that row of jade and hair jewels, Ling Mei thought she found the perfect one. When one hand moves to get the hairpin, the other hand comes holding the hairpin. Ling Mei flinched slightly, slightly surprised as her hands came into contact with the hands of a young woman.
"ah! I'm sorry, I don't know if anyone wants this flip but me." the young lady put her hand away, politely she said an apology.
Ling Mei gave a small smile in the appearance of a man, she thought the young lady was a good person. "It's okay, Miss. I think I understand enough."
"Uhm, then this hairpin is for you only. I'll give it to you, let's just say that it's a gift from me for our first meeting." the young lady then gave the blue lotus flower-shaped hairpin to him.
"Then, what about a glass of tea at the shop across the street? As an apology and also what if we get to know each other, beautiful Young Master?" continued the woman with honey-colored hair and a charming face, then she smiled seductively. However, in Ling Mei's gaze, she saw a quite familiar figure in her memories.
Damnit damnit! In Ling Mei's heart drew her thoughts about the woman being a good woman! The woman was a male player and it was so disgusting for her that it was actually both a woman! Ling Mei furrowed her brows, she chose to retreat and take some distance from the woman.
"I'm sorry, Miss. I think I should return to the residence now, it has been too long since I was outside today." Ling Mei tried to politely refuse.
The woman stared with a small frown on her face. "Ah, so? All right, I get it. But, allow me to introduce myself first. I am Xia Hui Fang, 17 years old and unmarried."
Hearing that name Ling Mei fell silent, in the history of the Shao Empire, there was only one noble family that used the surname Xia. Aye! It was the surname of the Chief Physician of the Empire, that was Physician Xia! Xia Lu Si, the current Head of the Imperial Physician, had only two children from his only husband and official spouse. That meant, this young lady in front of him was the eldest daughter of the Xia family and also the future successor of the Doctor Xia family. This is not good! Physician Xia had known him so deeply and Ling Mei did not want to be too attached to that family.
With the meeting of him and Xia Hui Fang, this would be a dangerous thing for him. If Xia Hui Fang turns out to be on Shao Mu Lan's side and discovers that the young master in disguise right now is an imperial princess who is rumored to be mentally disabled and ignorant, it might be a sharp counterattack for him. It was the right thing with Ling Mei to stay away from this young miss of the Xia family.
"ah! Young Master, do you want to marry me? I was quite tired because my mother forced me to find a partner as quickly as possible and marry her. Even Fourth Princess Shao Ling Mei who is one year younger than me will get married within the next month. Aih! It turns out I'm really as pathetic as you say."
Hearing Hui Fang's rant, Ling Mei simply looked at him with a flat-faced look. Unlike her mother, the mysterious and reserved Physician Xia Lu Si, Xia Hui Fang has a quite chatty and seductive character.
"Thank you for the offer, Miss. But sorry, I'm not at the age of marriage enough. I think I was out for too long than expected, in that case, I'm sorry. Liao'er let's go!"
In Wu Jin's heart was quite surprised when his master, Shao Ling Mei called him by his surname. During this time Ling Mei called him Wu Jin more often without a clan and somehow the charming young man was quite happy to hear it. Conscious of his thoughts, Wu Jin immediately walked following Ling Mei whereas Xia Hui Fang could only stare at the departure of the two young and beautiful men - in his vision - in silence. However, before long both of her eyes were rounded with her mouth open, Hui Fang patted her forehead with a regretful expression.
"Basic stupid! How could you forget to ask her name?! Aiya! I can wait even longer for her .... I want you and I hope we can meet again later, beautiful Young Master."
......................
Thinking about exiting the palace by disguising himself as a man, Ling Mei had gotten a very interesting and even too interesting thing from what she had expected. Ling Mei stared fixedly at the lotus flower-shaped hairpin that was within her grasp, she thought it seemed like she would never be able to wear that hairpin. So beautiful and in keeping with her, yet with the whole situation that has taken place and her identity at stake, put her back in the box and closed it, Ling Mei thought that she would keep the flops for a long time.
"Yu Shen!"
"This servant, Your Majesty. Do you need anything?" a male servant walked over towards Ling Mei, with a still very young look he bowed respectfully to the fourth princess of the empire.
Ling Mei stared at the reflection of herself who was in front of the mirror, a face gleaming with skin as smooth as jade and as white as milk clearly visible in her eyes. His eye lines were sharp with a cold look that froze everyone who saw him, Ling Mei's lips curved into a thin cold smile. Her beauty was like the beauty of a pure heavenly goddess being lowered down to earth by the heavens to complete her task, Shao Ling Mei had truly looked perfect.
"Yu Shen, the official banquet is about to start in a moment. I'm sure you know that I have to pay attention to my appearance to look after my father's face, so give me your best work today."
"As per your orders, Your Majesty." Yu Shen smiled, the maid gently and carefully began to apply makeup and styling Ling Mei's hair.
Unfortunately some of the servants and eunuchs obtained from the imperial palace tried to take something that did not belong to them and wanted to steal it, making Ling Mei decide to give the mistake to them and then fire him. The fourth star of the empire then chose to replace all the servants and bodyguards in his pavilion with his third-rate shadow guards, his, that way Ling Mei felt that she did not need to pretend a mental flaw within her own pavilion.
After taking some time to make up and change clothes, Ling Mei looked back at her reflection in front of the mirror. Now she has a slightly different appearance than before, with red hanfu on the inside and black on the outside with the addition of beautiful and sparkling white magnolia flower embroidery. Yu Shen then added some silver hairpins and skewers with red ruby on the top of Ling Mei's hair roll, making her look so domineering and powerful.
"I've finished it, Your Majesty. May you be quite satisfied with the results of my low ability."
Ling Mei furrowed her brows disliking, she turned to look at Yu Shen who was behind her. "Low what? You have a good talent in this, Yu Shen. Thank you, I like it."
"Your Majesty, you are a good person. I hope nothing bad happens to you in the future." Yu Shen smiled warmly, his eyes shining with delight when he heard the sincere praise from his master.
Ling Mei smiled faintly, in her heart she said, "I am not a good person and I have encountered bad things in every year of my life, Yu Shen."
"Yu Shen, get ready! This time Wu Jin will guard the pavilion and you come with me! I think it's time I went to the Banquet Hall, dad must have been waiting for me there and I had to see him."
Yu Shen lowered his head respectfully with a gaze that looked down. "Shin. As per your orders, Your Majesty."
.
.
Inside the Imperial Banquet Hall were seen many people who had been there and were seated in their respective positions. Seen Imperial Chief Companion Hong, Imperial Grand Concubine Gu, Imperial Grand Consort Shu, Official Consort High Fu, and Official Consort of the Yang Empire, respectively, being in their respective seats with different auras from each other. Imperial Main Consort Hong Yu Wen had a sharp aura, yet remained gentle on the other side. He had a good character, but could pressure someone into submission to him, that was why Imperial Main Consort Hong could lead the harem without any meaningful rebellion from the other concubines.
Imperial Noble Consort Gu Yun He had a kind and warm aura, he was a concubine with a clean and loving heart. Due to her good character and seeing her relationship with Imperial Main Consort Hong getting along without internal warfare, Grand Empress Shao decided to give her the title of Imperial Grand Consort right after her daughter Shao Mu Lan was born. While Imperial Noble Consort Shu Ji Nian was a concubine with a mysterious and cold aura. He has a closed character and is very critical of something. No matter what else, he would not act if others did not harass him. His indifference to great power pleased Grand Empress and gave her the position of Imperial Grand Consort along with Imperial Noble Consort Gu.
Imperial Consort*Fu Yu Ning has a sharp and dangerous aura, in contrast to Imperial Main Consort Hong who has gentleness in his heart, Imperial Consort Fu has a dense darkness in his heart. He is an ambitious and haughty man, everything he wants he has to get. As per the imperial tradition of concubines having a daughter of a grand empress would gain ascension of position and title. Unfortunately due to the darkness of her heart and her ambitious nature, the Grand Empress chose to grant the title of Third Level Official Consort of her title which was previously the Official Consort of the Fourth Level Empire.
(Imperial Consorts: can also be referred to as Imperial High Official Consorts is a title that falls under Imperial Main Consort and Imperial Noble Consorts. Unlike the Imperial Noble Consorts who had the same tier between the two concubines, Imperial Consorts were divided into four different tiers. The highest was the official concubine high level one and the lowest was at level four. That meant, in his position Imperial Consort Fu was four levels below Imperial Main Consort Hong and three levels below Imperial Noble Consort Gu as well as Shu).
Imperial Noble Concubine* Yang Ruo Shan had a gentle and soothing aura. She was a submissive and tender person who could not snatch at others, even Shao Ling's fourth daughter Mei considered Imperial Noble Concubine Yang to be her second father. Since it only had one son who was the youngest son of Shao Xu Cheng's empire, then the position of Imperial Noble Concubine could not rise as much as other concubines who had daughters, so the position of Imperial Noble Concubine could not rise as much as other concubines who had daughters, however since the Grand Empress liked her good character, she earned a fairly high degree increase from her initial position that a Tier Three Imperial Concubine* became the Official Consort of a Tier One Empire.
(Imperial Noble Concubines: can also be referred to as the Official Consorts of the Empire are those under Imperial Consorts. Having nine tiers the highest is level one and the lowest is at level nine. That meant that Imperial Noble Concubine Yang was six levels below Imperial Main Consort Hong, five levels below Imperial Noble Consort Gu and Shu, two levels below Imperial Consort Fu).
(Imperial Concubines: can also be referred to as Imperial Concubines is a low-level official concubine whose position is under the Official Consorts of the Empire or Imperial Noble Concubines. It has nine tiers, the highest being at level one and the lowest being level nine).
"Congratulations on the fourth daughter's marriage decree, Principal Companion Hong. I'm glad to hear it." Imperial Grand Concubine Gu smiled with a warm countenance.
Yu Wen smiled slightly, but in her heart she felt unsure. "Thank you, Consort Gu. I heard the Crown Princess is preparing herself to follow the royal hunt for three more months."
Yun He sighed. "That's right. I had told him not to work too hard, but the boy had never heard of it. Sometimes I worry about her."
High Official Concubine Fu opened her fan and flicked it slowly. "I think the Crown Princess is trying too hard to hold on to hers, that's a good thing."
The Great Concubine of the Shu Empire could only faintly smile, she sipped the tea gripped gracefully. Inwardly he understood what Consort Fu meant, he was also confident that the other concubines and Main Companion Hong understood well the words that Consort Fu had spoken. Apparently the Hall of Banquet had been crowded with guests, only three empty seats remaining belonged to Grand Empress, Fourth Princess Shao Ling Mei, and Second Prince Wei Yun Rui.
"His Highness Grand Empress, Fourth Princess Shao Ling Mei, and Second Prince Wei Yun Rui have arrived!"
All stood up, bowed, greeting the venerable Imperial Grand Empress. "Greet Grand Empress Shao, may Your Majesty live a thousand years."
"Greetings to the Fourth Star of the Empire and the Second Prince of the Kingdom of Wei, may you both always be filled with happiness."
The Grand Empress placed herself on her seat of greatness, then she gave a small smile. "Sit all of you!"
Empress Shao asked her servant to pour wine. He grinned faintly and said, "I see that the clothes of the Fourth Princess and Second Prince Wei are the same color, have the two of you discussed it for that?"
All of them looked at Ling Mei and Yun Rui with curious faces, it was seen that both of them had the same color of clothing that was red and black with headdresses that were both made using silver material. In contrast to Yun Rui who was flushed in shame with a panicked face, Ling Mei snorted inwardly, with a face that did not care from the outside she played her white rabbit doll without saying anything.
"That's not true, Your Majesty. We just happened to be wearing it at the same event." Yun Rui explained frantically, her tone sounded nervous.
"Already, Shimei. Don't you see my son's face has become red?" Empress Wei smiled amusedly as she looked at her son.
The Grand Empress laughed, truly a rare laugh. "Good, fine. I guess I was joking too much. Let's start the celebration! A toast to the Fourth Princess!"
All raised their respective wine, "This lowly one is grateful for His Majesty's kindness. A toast to the Fourth Princess!"