Guo Zhen's POV
Two days from now, Chen Xue was going to go back to her camp, and I hoped time would slow down. I was not ready to part with Chen Xue, but it seemed to be one-sided. As much as she enjoyed talking to me, she didn't seem to mind the fact that she was leaving.
She had received her rewards today and I was nowhere done with work. An event with the Indians was supposed to happen in two weeks as we recently became allies and it was suggested that we learn more about each other's cultures.
Hence, we decided to host an event. Problem was, the ladies in India were definitely slimmer than the ladies here in China judging from the size of the clothes that were delivered here. On top of that, the outfits were quite revealing. It was a top that stopped in the middle of the wearer's belly that was paired with a long skirt that reached their legs.
We were supposed to pick a representative to wear the outfits of each other's countries, and none of the concubines managed to fit in the outfit. What am I going to do? This is going to be embarrassing if a solution does not appear soon. What should I say? That none of the ladies here were thin enough to fit into the outfit? That Chinese citizens were fatter than the Indians?
Even Concubine Chen, who had the best body in the harem, could not pull off the revealing top.
Rubbing my palms against my face, my mind was flying around and yet, it did not land in a solution. On top of this, we did not have enough performers for the events.
We lacked dancers and musicians, and for once, I honestly think the concubines are good for nothing. Some of them that I don't recognize could not dance and could not play any instruments. Weren't all girls required to learn something when they were young?
Only the main concubines contributed to this and it wasn't enough. We had 6 performers and that was it. It was at this moment, I longed for my late wife, who used to be the Empress of the country.
She was slim, beautiful, elegant and definitely talented. She was a born leader, and she could read, write, perform and sing. A sigh left my lips as I thought of her and a sad smile shaped my lips. Why did you leave me? I thought sadly to myself, and it was at this moment, the doors to my room bursted open.
Jolting into an upright position in my chair, I looked to the door to see General Jiang. Shoving the thoughts I had to the back of my mind, I looked at her questionably.
A lightbulb appeared in my mind. It must be my wife that is in heaven helping me. Maybe General Jiang could fit into the outfit and pull it off. "I need your help," I blurted out, and she frowned. I laughed at her reaction and she crossed her arms.
"Don't worry, I just need you to change into something to see if you can fit it. I think it shouldn't be a problem though," I told her and she shrugged, agreeing to it.
Sitting in my chair as I waited for her to change, I thought about the ways she differed from the other females in this palace. She was simple minded and did not care about much, and yet she was much more capable than she thought she was.
She came back out and I averted my attention to her. She looked at me unamused and turned a full 360 before facing me again. "You know, if you wanted to see my body, you could have just told me instead of making me wear this ridiculous outfit," she said with sarcasm coloring her tone. I didn't answer. I couldn't.
She was absolutely perfect at this moment. Her waist was slim enough that there were no fats popping out anywhere and her leanness made her body look long under the long skirt even though she was small in nature. All the other concubines looked like potatoes after wearing this outfit because even though they were slim, they weren't toned enough.
On that note, I should get the concubines to workout more. Maybe I'll have that organized soon. It was as if I lost the ability to talk after seeing Chen Xue which was very, very weird. I haven't felt this way ever since the empress died.
Blinking several times, I finally regained my composure and opened my mouth only to close it back. There were no words to describe her beauty at this moment. "So?" she asked and I looked at her.
"Wow, you look absolutely stunning in this," I finally managed to utter out, and she just gave me a weird expression.
"I asked you why you made me wear this outfit, not how I looked in it. I know I look pretty good in it," she said and I laughed at her confidence. I spilled everything, from why we had to do the event, to the problem I was facing right now.
Well, it wasn't a problem anymore seeing as I have found someone to wear it for me, what's left to do now is just tell the ministers about the plan. If they for some reason disagree with this, I am just gonna ignore them, because no one else is going to be able to pull this ridiculous outfit off.
She agreed to it nonchalantly, and went to change into her usual clothes. Surprisingly when she changed, I felt a sense of loss, as if I had wanted to continue looking at her in that outfit, even though I knew that it showed a lot of skin and the weather recently has been pretty cold.
She came out again, wearing an extremely thick layer of fur coat, which raised my eyebrows. "What? I just don't like the cold so don't judge," she said, and I shrugged.
"It isn't even that cold yet, what do you wear when winter arrives?" I asked her and she told me she usually stayed near a fire somewhere. Cackling at her, and feeling a little satisfaction as I now knew that she had a weakness, I looked at her and recognized the feelings I had for her.
It was adoration and admiration, but it was not love, which made me oddly relieved.
Chen Xue's POV
It was two days away from leaving the palace, but for some unknown reason, I wasn't as happy as I thought I would be.
I didn't want to leave the palace.
The past week has been pretty awesome. Although I did not get to meet Xin Cheng as much as I had wanted to, I had spent some time with the King and some time with the army at the palace. I have to say I have learnt more than I had expected in the Palace.
I always thought the palace consisted of people who were egoistic and arrogant, but although I wasn't entirely wrong I was not entirely correct as well. The King, for one, was humble and acted like a normal person when we were alone.
On top of that, the army in the Palace was amazing. The way they trained was also extremely different. They had the best physique and had so many different ways of training the different muscles we had in our body. I had to share these new techniques with my friends back home at our camp.
Wait, maybe I could ask the King if my soldiers could train here from time to time. The facilities here were also better than the ones we had in our village. We could use the camp we have right now as a place for the younger generations to train before coming into the Palace, or we could use it as a shelter if we ever need one. The former sounded more appealing. That way our country can have better soldiers, my mind told me and I had to give it a couple of seconds to sink into my mind. This might work, and our country would get stronger.
Standing up and making my way to the King, I was stopped by a eunuch. Seriously, these eunuchs were extremely annoying. Shooting him a glare, he cowered and I barged into the room. I was about to propose my plan, but his words stopped me.
Why would he need my help? Feeling upset that my plans were interrupted, I was told to change into something. Seeing no harm, I took it and changed.
The moment I saw the piece of clothing, regret filled me and I took a deep breath. Seriously? It was a top that was so short half my abdomen was exposed.
Shaking my head, I changed into it, and walked out. "You know, if you wanted to see my body, you could have just told me instead of making me wear this ridiculous outfit," I told him and he stayed silent.
"Why'd you need me to wear this anyways?" I asked and again, I was met with silence. He finally seemed to return to Earth from Dreamland, and I prompted him again.
"Wow, you look absolutely stunning in this,"he complimented me, and I could feel blood rush into my face. No, don't blush. Keep a straight face, I thought to myself and I told him I had asked him why he had me wear this.
He told me everything and when I knew what was happening, I dashed into the changing room immediately. It was freezing cold right now, and I absolutely hated the weather right now. I don't even know how I was supposed to keep this outfit on when the Indians came.
It was probably going to be freezing cold when they came as summer wasn't going to arrive anytime soon, and from what I heard, it was taking place soon.
Why did I agree to this? I changed and put on the coat I brought along with me. At this point, no one really wore winter outfits, but it was cold and no one is going to stop me.
I could feel the king silently judging me, and I defended myself immediately. Soon enough, we started bickering like usual, and I knew I was going to miss this when I went back home.