Phoenix Rising

008

"It feels so much better to be back in the capital," Shujin quipped, cheerily bustling around the room getting her young mistress's clothes and accessories ready for the queen's gathering.

Hana immediately shot her stern glare and the girl zipped up her mouth sheepishly. There were new attendants serving in the young mistress's quarters now and it would not do to set a bad example for them.

Zi-ning's living quarters was exactly the same as before, having been kept in pristine condition under the old madam's orders. Now that she had returned, the old madam had instructed Lady Min to deploy additional serving staff over. Besides Hana and Shujin, there were now two new servant girls, Chuntao and Chunxi, who had been assigned to handle her everyday needs. While Zi-ning treated the two new maidservants magnanimously, they were still different from Hana and Shujin who had been with her through thick and thin, so there was no question about who she trusted more.

"It must have been hard on you, those years at Taishan," Zi-ning said with a small smile, patting Shujin on the back of her hand. Shujin had always been a boisterous and outgoing girl, so to have spent two and a half years in isolation in the company of monotonous meditation must have been difficult to bear. Still, Shujin had never made so much as a single complaint, obediently serving by Zi-ning's side throughout.

Shujin shook her head. "Not at all! As long as I can stay by your side, it doesn't matter where I am."

"Enough, Shujin," Hana interrupted. "We need to hurry. Lady Min has already sent word that the carriages will be leaving in an hour. It wouldn't do if the young miss is late."

"There's no hurry," Zi-ning said. After all, she was not the one who was determined to shine.

Today was the day that the queen had arranged for all the mistresses and young ladies of the noble families to admire the flowers in the imperial garden.

Unlike Zi-ning, who was nonchalant about the occasion, Meiyan had awoken at the break of dawn to prepare herself for it. It was not often that the young ladies of the noble families were allowed into the royal palace—such occasions were excellent opportunities for them to rub shoulders with the ladies of the palace, and perhaps even have a chance meeting with one of the princes, or even the king himself. At a time when the crown prince and several of the other princes still had consort spaces that required filling, all the young ladies in the capital were hankering after an opportunity like this.

When she was ready to leave, Zi-ning headed out to the main entrance to find Lady Min and Meiyan already being helped up the horse carriage.

Meiyan had selected an elegant pearl-coloured dress with sky blue embroidery, paired with a set of white jade bangles and matching earrings. Her hair had been intricately done up, secured with a silver hairpin fashioned after a peony flower. Even though she always chose to dress in muted tones such as white and cream, all eyes in the room would still be drawn towards her the moment she entered. She was probably expecting no less from today's gathering.

"Mother, Meiyan, am I late? I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting," Zi-ning called out.

Lady Min and her daughter turned their heads to see Zi-ning walking out towards the front door, her head held high with a slight smile on her face.

She had chosen a deep blue dress with silver embroidery, which once again brought out the colour of her skin. Ever since returning from Taishan, Zi-ning seemed to have developed a liking for dark fabric colours—a complete transformation from the bright colours she used to favour. Typically, young ladies her age would shy away from such dark fabrics because it made them seem overly mature and dull, but when Zi-ning put them on they just made her appear all the more elegant.