The Emperor's Concubine

6.

Singing wasn't a big deal for Fortune but the thought of winning a competition with singing had never really come to her.
Standing before the almighty infamous emperor, empress,  empress dowager and every other person, she began her performance.
Lixing Ji was amazed.  Her melody was smooth and the rhythm was perfect.  He had never imagined the silly little girl to be so talented, he was really dazed.
Halfway to the end of the song,  Fortunes eyes rolled to her corners and found something unusual. A smug played on her face. Good thing she had come prepared.
All or a sudden, flock of wild birds were released just to interrupt her performance but Fortune used it to her own advantage. Instead of the birds perking on her head and pestering her, they landed on her spreaded arms adding so much flare to her performance.
Lixing Ji knew that those birds did not come in at her command and that someone wanted to sabotage her performance but who?
At the end of Fortunes performance, she bowed gracefully and let the birds roam about freely. The empress dowager was so amazed by her performance and summoned her forward.
"Such an exciting performance! You really took us by surprise with your singing with birds performance, it was splendid!"
'So she thought it was all part of my performance, that gives me a feet to pass on my message to these heinous concubines' Fortune thought "With all due respect your majesty but, I had no idea that the birds would be set loose. I don't know where they came from." Fortune said leaving everyone speechless.
Xu Ming, the culprit who let the birds loose was already shaking with fear. Although, no one saw her releasing the birds except for her maids, but if proper investigation was to be carried out, she'd be caught for sure. Yet she kept her hopes that no one would find out it was her.
The empress dowager who was still surprised, decided to ask "If you know nothing about the birds then how were you able to control them?"
"I have a simple knowledge of animals and that was how I was able to do it." Fortune answered boldly.
"In that case there's someone behind it and the culprit must be punished." The empress dowager announced and Xu Ming shuddered a bit.
"Your majesty, I do not mind that the birds were released during my performance because it has helped me a great deal but," Fortune raised him r head and turned her gaze towards Xu Ming and continued "... but if those birds were released with ill intentions, I will not mind even if they suffer." She said clearly staging as a threat to everyone and then turned to look at the empress dowager and smiled deligently "In other words, I crave peace in the harem and would like to get along with everyone peacefully and hope the emperor is satisfied with my service." She concluded 'Bleh! I did not just say that. It creaps me out to think of serving that guy, its totally annoying' She thought
"Well said! Since it has all been settled, I think today's banquet was worth it, you may all leave" the empress dowager announced and watched as they bowed before leaving. She turned to Lixing Ji "So what do you think about the girls, did they do fine?" She asked.
Lixing Ji,  who had been too busy thinking about Fortune nodded slightly "They're okay!" He simply said and stood up, he bowed at the empress dowager and walked away without even glancing at his empress. It made her restless.
The empress dowager turned to Meng Meng and asked, "What about you, what do you think about them?"
"I only think its sharing the favour of my husband with other women." Meng Meng mumbled to herself.
"What was that?"
"I said they we're great." She faked a smile. "Good day mother!" She greeted and got up, having her maids follow her from behind.
Fortune was enjoying the scenery on their way back to the emperor's chambers when she got confronted.
Xu Ming stood before Fortune with her arms folded. After taking a quick look at her face, Fortune made her way to the left and walked past her.
"She just ignored me!" Xu Ming blinked her eyes finding it unbelievable. She turned to look at Fortune and in a flash, got ahead of her and stood before her. This time, Fortune didn't stop to look at her face and walked towards her right. Xu Ming caught hold of Fortunes arm "Wait!" She said
"So now you talk, I thought you just wanted to block my way. You know, when you come across a wall, you need to walk around it. Don't let it stop you from walking." Fortune said with a domineering smug.
"You... You knew I was the one right?" Xu Ming asked. Even if Fortune knew what she was talking about, she still wanted to play the fool.
"Knew what? What did I know?" Fortune asked looking confused.
"You knew I was the one who released those birds right?" Xu Ming repeated. Fortune snickered
"You said it! So what if I knew?"
"Why didn't you tell on me? You're being too nice, with this you'll die early in the harem." Xu Ming spat out and Fortune placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Who said I was being nice?" She asked rhetorically leaving Xu Ming shocked. She leaned closer to her and whispered "Your little scandal was the perfect way for me to voice out my threat. I didn't tell on you for the reason that I am nice, but actually to get what I want, and I never lose" Fortune spoke in a really scary way that no one would believe she was capable of being nice at all. More like a devil.
Fortune pulled away and smiled warmly. Xu Ming couldn't believe that she was the same girl who spoke to her just now.
"Be safe on your way back and try not to get into trouble, okay? I'll take my leave." She leaned closer again and whispered "Hope to never interact with you again!" With that they walked past leaving Xu Ming utterly terrified. There was no way she would try to mess with Fortune in the future because the girl was too mysterious and gave out a dangerous vibe.
Just a few steps to the emperor's chambers, Fortune felt her stomach twitch. Her movement stopped but her stomach kept twitching.
"What is the matter mistress?" Lynne asked seeing Fortune stop.
"Its nothing! Its just that I haven't had anything to eat since I got to this damn place." Fortune hissed in pain
They both went down on their knees.
"Our apologies Mistress!" They both apologize
"Eh?" Seeing them like that made things more difficult as she tried to bear the twitching in her stomach. It was probably just a cramp.
"We we're supposed to bring you food but we were so careless to forget about it " Lynne reported
"Please punish us mistress, we failed to do our duty!" Rei requested
"It's okay! Everyone makes mistakes, just help me in. I think I have a few snacks in my backpack." Fortune said and they helped her in gently.
"Mistress?" Rei called
"What is it?"
"You're so nice! Do you treat your servants like this from where you came from?" Rei asked
"Funny you asked, I don't have servants. I live alone with my grandfather." She answered
"And your parents?" Lynne asked further and Fortune face turned gloomy. That alone could answer her question. "My apologies Mistress!" She apologized sincerely.
"Its okay! Not all memories can be wiped away, but I have no memory of them to begin with. It had been me grandpa and this little fella over here" she pointed at sage who meowed in response and they laughed, but as soon as she let out a slight laughter, she felt the pain once more and her brows furrowed.
"Oh no, mistress!"
"What's going on here?" Lixing Ji asked walking in with an aloof air. He looked at Fortune on the bed who seemed to be in pain. That was the end of the line for Lynne and Rei.