Hello everyone, sorry for the late update! I've been busy with works hence I do not have the time to write and update this story! Anyhow, here's chapter 7, happy reading! *winks*
-------------
Ever since the first day Ruolan entered the palace, the Emperor never set his foot into the concubine's quarters. Now that His Majesty finally will show up tonight, this of course a golden opportunity for the concubines to stand out and do whatever they can to win the Dragon's attention. Well, of course Ruolan was not among those women whom craved to be in his favour since he was no woman. But because of his current situation, he could only helplessly follow the orders and join those concubines to dine with the Son of Heaven while prayed for the Emperor to not pay even a single attention on him.
Inside the dining hall, there were hundreds of beautiful women draped in rich and delicate robes, elegantly sitting in rows while eagerly waiting for the Emperor's arrival. Unfortunately for Ruolan, his seat was at the front row and not too far from the Dragon's table. Behind him, he could hear other women murmured to each other, curious about the Emperor's appearance.
"I wonder how the Emperor looks like. I hope he is a good looking man!"
"Do not get your expectation high, rumours said the Emperor is an ugly and a fat old man..."
"Really? A fat old man...?"
"Uh-un, I cannot imagine to be touch by an old man..."
"Me either. I remember back in my house, there was a fat man living in the next door. Whenever he walks, his belly will move and jiggling just like an egg yolk wiggled in a bowl..."
"Oh, then the Emperor's belly is like an egg yolk as well?"
Both women gasped with their faces looked at each other in horror. Meanwhile, Ruolan's face gradually turned pale upon hearing to their conversation. Before this day, he never thought nor interested to know about the Emperor's appearance, but, after eavesdropping to the conversation from the back, now he wondered on how exactly he looked like? Was the rumour right? Or was it not?
"Announcing for the arrival of His Majesty!"
Speaking of the devil. He came right at the time when Ruolan wondered about his appearance.
The loud and melodious voice announcing the Emperor's arrival instantly faded the chattering noises in the hall; everyone fell silent and stood, waiting for the honoured guest to enter the huge room. Anyone whom stood in the front rows was fortunate to be able to see clearly of the Emperor's face.
The moment when the Son of Heaven elegantly entered the hall, the vivid image of an old and fat Emperor they bore in their mind straight away swiped off like a shot, their jaw dropped and eyes widened in astonishment seeing the unearthly beauty before them. Such a beautiful man, dark pupils with phoenix eyes shape, neat, elegant, tall, and slender figure clothed in exquisite robes with embroideries, greatly granted his noble and heavenly aura that could make anyone fear and kneel before him.
All eyes and attention lies on the dazzling Emperor as he marched through the dining hall; his head was proudly held high, sparing not a single glance to the ladies in his surroundings. When he finally sat down on his seat, the whole people in that huge room bowed and greeted him: "Many blessing to Your Majesty!"
The Emperor solemnly responded to the greeting as he waved his hand. "Dispense with ceremony."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." The concubines sat down to their seat after showing their gratitude.
Since the very start when the Emperor appeared in the entrance until he sat in the dragon seat, Ruolan unable to cast his gaze away from the astounding monarch. He could not believe he was given another chance to see the person he wanted to meet the most again, the charming flutist he met in that beautiful and tranquil garden last spring. Ruolan never expect for the man whom made his heart entangled in the web of confuse feelings was actually someone blessed and ascended from above?
"It is a pleasure to be able to gather with my concubines tonight, I[1], Xiong Xuan Yu apologise for not paying a visit for so long. As the Ruler of The Nation, I had been busy with piles of works hence do not have the time to be idle, however, I decided to spare a bit of my[1] time and threw a feast to meet with my concubines. Let's not waste the time and enjoy the good food and the wine to our heart content."
The moment when the Emperor ended his speech, a eunuch called out for the dishes to be prepared then a large numbers of servants walked into the hall bringing different tray of foods then began serving all the guests in the room.
When the foods arrived at young man's table, Ruolan could not help but to be amazed of the dishes placed before him; it was totally different than the one served at the concubine quarters. The foods were cooked and decorated nicely with complex designs of carved fruits and vegetables, combined with its delicious aroma already made his stomach growl.
Ruolan picked up his chopsticks after the Emperor gave them a toast and began to enjoy the exquisite dishes. But before the young man began eating, Ruolan solemnly studied the foods as he poked the reddish-brown coloured roasted duck with his chopsticks and found out that the meat's texture was tender and moist. For someone like him who had experienced numerous method of cooking, he can tell the duck was steamed before it got roasted by just a glance.
After he finished inspecting the bird, Ruolan took a slice of the meat and slowly chewed it; the skin was crispy and the soft meat burst out its juice and melted in his mouth, it was sour yet sweet at the same time. The roasted duck was too delicious to the point Ruolan forgot about the beautiful Emperor for a moment and enjoying his meal to his heart content. He remembered of the Dragon only when he finished his meal and noticed the Emperor had already stopped dining, instead he was accompanied by women sitting in between him.
The woman beside him said it in a seductive kind of tone while pouring the alcohol into his cup. "Your Majesty, enjoy your wine."
"Not fair, Lao Ji wants to pour the wine for His Majesty too." The other woman pursed her lips adorably, hugging the Emperor's arm tightly and squeezed it with her soft chest seductively that could arouse any men from reveries.
"What the..." Blood rushed up to Ruolan's face and his cheeks flushed with anger, his heart immediately grew an ugly feeling watching those women seizing the opportunity to be so close with the Emperor. He even surprised and embarrassed to find himself to be angry to those women. Hell. He was a man, why did he suddenly felt this way?
However, he realized the other women were not much better than he was, watching the immodest act before them with the displeasure look they bore in their face. Oh, how could he forget that majority of the concubines there shared the very same goal: to win the King's favour.
Xuan Yu was least not affected by the coquettish behaviour conducted by those women, putting a small smirk in his face; he let those ladies do whatever they want as he sipped his wine. After spending time with his concubines for almost an hour, his personal servant went beside him and whispered something to the King in the ear; Xuan Yu nodded his head then waved his hand to dismiss the servant.
"My Beloved Concubines," his deep voice immediately hushed away the noises in the hall; the two maidens beside him fixed their seat and lowered their head while waiting for the Emperor to give out his speech. "Thank you for being here and accompanied me tonight. The night is getting late and it is time for I to retire."He stood, followed by all the people in the hall, paying their respect to the monarch before leaving the dining room.
But before the Emperor leave, he turned to the women beside him and gave them a small smile: "I want both of you to accompany me tonight." Both of their eyes widened in surprised and secretly glanced at each other before replying him, the two women nodded shyly. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Two at once?! Ruolan gasped, for someone like him who had not bedded any women in his entire twenty years of life; of course it was a big shock to him. Could it be that one woman was not enough to satisfy him until he had to bring the two of them to his chamber? Seeing the noble man escorted by the two women, Ruolan could not help but to generate a depressed feeling. He knew the fact that the Emperor had the privilege to sleep with any women as many as he wanted, but, the thought of Xuan Yu sharing his bed and pillows with countless of women... Aii, why was these unnamed feelings developed inside of his heart?
The more he pondered over the matter, the bigger the flame in his heart grew. Ruolan tightened his fist until it turned white and his delicate face twisted into a bitter expression. Ever since that very day he met Xuan Yu, he could not comprehend why the charming flutist kept lingering in his mind and madly wanted to see him again. Now that he finally got to see Xuan Yu again after the long wait, unfortunately, the time was too short and Ruolan could not get enough of seeing him. He was aware that after Xuan Yu step his foot out from the hall, it would take him a long time to be able to see the man again. If only... If only he had the power to stop the time, definitely by now he would be able to look at Xuan Yu as long as he want until he satisfied.
While Ruolan frustratingly mulled over Xuan Yu, he did not realize that his legs had unconsciously moved on its own to follow the very man he had been dying to see again. However, this careless action only rendered him to stumble against the small table before him and unable to find any support to balance himself. The poor young man fell onto the floor along with the furniture in an instant.
All the people in that huge room stared at the young man lying on the floor with shocked and horrified expressions written over their face. This very rare scene had caused the hall turned unusually quiet and even if a pin dropped on the floor, it still could be heard.
Meanwhile, before the Emperor could make another step out from the room, suddenly, he heard an audible sound of something fell onto the floor as well a chorus of gasps coming from his behind. Dead in his tracks, he swirled his direction to the hall followed by the two women beside him only to find someone was lying flat on the floor.
Right after Ruolan's body landed hard on the cold surface, his mind immediately processed on the situation he was in at the moment. Alarmed, he hurriedly rose and found out that everyone in that hall were staring at him, hence, made his whole face turned all red as red as a cinnabar to the foolish act he just done. He was just about to get back to his seat when suddenly he heard the deep and heavenly voice commanded him,
"Stop right there."
Right after he heard the command, Ruolan immediately froze in his spot; his body was shaking greatly and sweats pouring from his forehead like rain. Right now, he really wished he could turn himself into a dust and disappeared within the thin air but he knew even if the Heaven and Earth were to crumble, he will still stood there and will not become any single thing. No choice, he slowly whipped his body to the direction of the voice then knelt before the Emperor with his face looking down.
"Your Majesty." Even though his face and voice appeared calm, but the truth was, he was frightened to the point of crying his heart out when the Emperor told him to stay rooted in his position.
The Emperor marched through the hall again, but this time he halted halfway and stood right in front of the disguised concubine, scrutinizing him in a close distance. At the moment he studied the young man, Ruolan's face already turned green while the others secretly glanced at each other with their faces turned pale, anxious to know what will become of the unfortunate woman after The Dragon had caught her clumsy behaviour earlier.
The Emperor's expression was stoic when he stared at the concubine in front of him, with a strong but not aggressive tone in his voice he said: "Lift your head."
Ruolan flinched a little when he heard the voice above him ordered him to lift his head, secretly bit his lower lip; he slowly tilted his head upwards only to find the phoenix shaped eyes were solemnly staring at him. Right at the moment when their pairs of eyes met, the anxious feelings he had in his heart suddenly disappeared as a gush of heat instantly flowed up to his face, making his cheeks turned into a bright scarlet colour and his chest beating non-stop like a drum seeing the handsome figure in a close distance. Ah, Ruolan felt like as if he had gone back to the time when he first met Xuan Yu, the feeling he felt that time were the same as he felt at the moment, it just that the situation then and now was different.
On the contrary, upon seeing her face, Xuan Yu realised she was not really a beauty if compared to the other women in the hall. How did this happening? His solemn and handsome face instantly turned dark. What was in the mind of the scout-man for the harem to bring such woman to the Imperial Palace? Since ancient time, the Emperors of Kingdom He always been gifted with beautiful women from across the land but never recorded to have unappealing women to be a part of the Imperial Harem, it seemed like the people in charge for the beauties took lightly in his job. What audacity! Were they trying to make this man above all whom was loved by Heavens to lose his face? This thought only made the Emperor to secretly gritted his teeth in annoyance; see what he will do to the imprudent servant tomorrow!
As for Ruolan, the changes in the Emperor's face scared him to the point his soul almost fly out from his body; he knew Xuan Yu was going to punish him for committing such disgraceful act during his leave. Before the Emperor would say anything, the young man lowered his head and said in panic:
"Concubine Shu ashamed of her wrongdoings, she deserve death!"
Xuan Yu shot his eyebrows up, any sign of anger disappeared in an instant. It was not her fault to begin with; the one who should be blame was the people who brought her here to the Imperial Palace. However, he Emperor did not expect she would think that she was the cause of his frown. She even asked for a heavy punishment when she was just tripped and fell to the floor! The Emperor secretly laughed in his heart watching her trembling greatly for misunderstood the situation.
Xuan Yu remembered about the part when she fell down to the floor. That time when the event occurred was exactly at the time he was about to set his foot out from the entrance hall, he thought that must be purposely done to stop him from leaving. What a smart move! She was his concubine after all, so this must be one of her plans to gain the Emperor's attention. Humph! Well then, I, Xiong Xuan Yu will play along with your scheme. Let's see how will this little rabbit going to entertain him!
"Rest assured, I am not that evil to recklessly punish you."
"Your Majesty is kind and generous."
Phew, Ruolan secretly let out a soft sigh, it seemed like the God of Luck still blessed him with its luck. However, before he could thank the Heaven, suddenly he heard the Emperor said,
"I need no longer of the two beauties; instead, she will be the one who is going to accompany me for tonight."
This unexpected turn of event had made everyone's jaws in the hall dropped in shock, but Ruolan was ten times more than anyone else. What was in the Emperor's mind? Did he found Ruolan's clumsy behaviour attractive? If that was the case, then certainly every woman in that hall would throw themselves onto the floor to get his attention. But who would dare taking the risk when they do not know the consequences of conducting such foolish act?
Right now, Ruolan paid no care about those stuffs anymore. The one and only thing he cared now was himself, his identity as a false concubine! How was he going to explain when the Emperor found out that he was not a real woman? Maybe a punishment such as "death by a thousand cuts"[2] will not be able to ease The Dragon's anger. Aii, it seemed like this young man had already ran out of lucks. This time, no one could help him as he had no one to depend on, Ruolan could only rely on himself and helplessly wait for the calamity to fall upon him...
End of Chapter 7
[1] The Emperor uses the royal I.
[2] Death by a thousand cuts – the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly AD 900 until it was banned in 1905. In this form of execution, a knife was used to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time, eventually resulting in death.
.nh?