"Did you hear? The Empress is pregnant!"
"Is that so? We'll be expecting the Dragon Child then! That'll be great!"
The Empress smiled as she heard the voices of the palace maids, both so engrossed in gossiping that they did not notice her approaching. Shan Er, her handmaiden, bristled at their disrespect and snapped at the two maids.
"Show some respect to Her Majesty, the Empress!"
The two maids almost fell over themselves in their attempts to separate from each other and curtsy at the same time. "Your Highness! Please forgive our rudeness!"
"You may rise. Shan Er, do not be so harsh on the maids. They were merely excited at the good news that this Spring has wrought." The Empress seemed to glow with benevolence. Indeed, as palace gossip would have made note of, the Empress seemed to be in a perpetually good mood ever since it was discovered that she was carrying the royal child.
After the two maids were dismissed, the Empress returned wordlessly to her living quarters, and appeared lost in thought as Shan Er prepared the tonic soup that the royal kitchen had taken to make daily for the Empress. The Empress studied the steaming broth, and her smile widened. For all she was, she appeared like a lovestruck teenager sighing at her lover's gift of flowers.
"Your Highness, today's soup is to help cool your body against the summer heat. The Emperor has ordered the kitchen to ensure that it is served hot, so please drink it before it gets cold."
The Empress nodded, and carefully tasted the soup. She grimaced, and Shan Er rushed forward, forehead creased with concern. "Is Your Highness alright? Is the soup bad? I'll-" Her panic was quelled by the Empress' raised hand.
"Shan Er, I'm fine. Unfortunately, the soup was not to my taste." Seeing Shan Er open her mouth again, the Empress cut her off. "It's okay, I will still finish it. It is for the good of the Dragon Child. Besides, I cannot reject something that my husband has so thoughtfully ordered for me." Upon finishing her sentence, she picked up the soup once again and started taking slow sips.
Placing down her bowl, she smiled fondly as she placed her hand on her abdomen. "Shan Er, aren't you excited? This Dragon Child is going to be like a younger sibling to you."
Two weeks later
"Have you heard? Apparently the Imperial Consort is also carrying a Dragon Child!"
"No way! Won't the child be competing against the Empress' child for the position of Dragoon Heir then?"
The Empress froze as the voices drifted to her seating place in the garden. Word had spread that one of the consorts in the palace was extremely talented with all types of flora, and that she had managed to make the garden appear as if in eternal spring. The Empress had taken a liking to the flowers that bloomed even in the intense heat, and spent almost every afternoon enjoying the lovely view. Seeing the colour drain from her mistress' face, Shan Er hurried over to help her to a nearby bench. The Empress looked at her with a vacant gaze.
"Shan Er, she's done it. She's stolen my husband, my power, and now she's not even going to spare my child!" The Empress was gripped in the sort of terror that she had not experienced for a very long time.
"Your Highness! Please do not fret so, it is bad for the Dragon Child!" Shan Er tried her best to comfort her mistress.
"Your Highness." The voice startled both mistress and maid, who whipped around to face the newcomer. It was a minister from one of the smaller provinces of the state. "You Highness," he repeated, "Your servant here could not help but overhear your conversation just now. Your loyal servant understands that the Imperial Consort's child is a great threat to the position of the Dragon Heir that Your Highness' child rightfully holds. Your servant wishes to offer a solution to your problem."
With that, he produced a small packet of powder and held it out with both hands and a bowed head. Shan Er retrieved the package from him and handed it to her mistress, curiosity written all over her face. The Empress examined the small packet and directed her gaze back to the minister whose head was still bowed. "What is this, Minister?"
"Your Highness, this packet contains ground dang gui. Dang gui helps to stimulate contractions within the abdomen. Used during childbirth, it is an aid for the mother, but used too early in the pregnancy..." The minister trailed off, and Shan Er's eye widened as she realised what he was trying to imply.
"How dare you! You are asking my mistress to abor-"
"Silence, Shan Er."
The handmaiden fell silent and watched with worried eyes as her mistress played with the packet of powder on her palm.
"Minister, how long does this powder require to take effect?"
"Your Highness, the effect is immediate! In addition to that, since this is a herb, it does not contain unnatural traces, unlike man-made poison."
The Empress pierced the minister with a sharp gaze.
"Why do you offer me this? What are you aiming for?"
The minister hastily bowed down. "Your Highness, your loyal servant dares not to ask for any reward!" After a pause, he continued, "However, your loyal servant has been assigned to the small province of Shen for almost five years. Your servant believes that he can serve better if allowed a promotion to the Palace office."
After a moment of silence, the Empress stood up, pocketing the powder. "Minister, you are dismissed. If you perform well, I shall see to it that you are given your due."
"Thank you, Your Gracious Highness!"
Three days later
"Set it down here." The Empress watched as Shan Er carefully put down the tray of tea she was carrying. She stared at the teacups for a moment before visibly steeling her resolve. She produced the powder packet from her sleeve, and poured its contents into the opposite teacup. She then handed the wrapping paper to Shan Er to dispose of.
Not long after, Imperial Consort Hua swept in with her trademark grace and elegance. She spotted the Empress, and bowed low.
"Your Highness, the Consort is honoured to be invited to tea with you."
"Rise, Imperial Consort. Do not force yourself with strenuous formalities, the child is more important." The Empress gestured to the seat opposite her. "Please, sit down. It would not do good to fatigue yourself."
The Imperial Consort sat down, and fiddled with the teacup. She seemed to hesitate, before plucking up her courage and asking the Empress, "You Highness, please forgive my boldness. I am curious as to the occasion warranting tea with you. I have not heard of any important event coming up."
The Empress laughed, and set down her own teacup. "Imperial Consort, can I not invite you for tea without reason?" Seeing the Imperial Consort's unconvinced look, she sighed and continued, "Imperial Consort, I fee that over the past year or so we have had numerous conflicts. As women of the Palace, and His Highness' wives, I felt that we should not have such petty agreements. I hoped that this tea would help to make peace between us. Will yo forgive me for my past pettiness?"
The Imperial Consort's eyes widened. "No, Your Highness! I am but a lowly Consort, and I dare not take offence to your actions! I'm sure that Your Highness' actions are all for the good of the Palace and the Emperor!"
At the Imperial Consort's words, the Empress started to feel the beginnings of guilt in the pit of her stomach.
"This lowly Consort understands that the Empress, as the Phoenix to the Emperor's Dragon, has many concerns that we could never dream about understanding! While we do embroidery and take leisurely strolls in the garden, Your Highness has to support His Majesty in court. I cannot begin to believe the great amount of stress that must put Your Highness through!"
At the Empress' silence, the Imperial Consort rushed on to continue, "Your Highness, please be mindful of your health. It would be bad if both you and the Dragon Child come to harm." Raising her hand, she indicated to her own handmaiden to bring forward a bouquet of blooms. "I have heard that Your Highness likes the flowers planted by Consort Ma, and have requested for a special bouquet for you. I hope that you will accept this humble gift."
The Empress marvelled at the unique arrangement of flowers that she had not seen before. "Imperial Consort, are you close to Consort Ma?"
"Yes, Your Highness, she took up gardening at my suggestion. It is heartening to see that her talent contributes to our garden." Seeing the Imperial Consort's dazzling smile, the Empress could not help but mirror it. The Imperial Consort fussed with the flowers on the table and sat down. Sweat from the hot weather was already starting to bead on her forehead, and she raised her teacup to her lips--
CRASH!
The Imperial Consort stared in stunned silence at the broken pieces of the teacup that the Empress had swept from her hand. She raised her eyes to the Empress in shock. The Empress herself appeared to be surprised by her own action.
"My apologies, Imperial Consort. I-I thought I had seen an insect land in your drink, and did not want you to drink it for fear of harming your child." If the Imperial Consort noticed the tremble in the Empress' voice, she made no mention of it.
"Thank you so much for your concern, Your Highness. Did you scald yourself? We should summon the Imperial Physician right now!" The Imperial Consort quickly grabbed the Empress' hand, careful to avoid the angry red patch on its back.
The Empress waved off the Imperial Consort's worries, muttering, "It's okay, Imperial Consort. It will serve as a reminder for me to stay calm and not be too rash in the future." Seeing the quizzical look on the Imperial Consort's face, she quickly gave a small smile.
"Shall we go to the garden?"
Months later
The Empress and the Imperial Consort each had their child within an hour of each other. The Imperial Consort had a healthy son, and the Empress similarly had a healthy... daughter.
A mere week later, the Minister of Shen Province was tried for treason. It was revealed that he had long been planning to worm his way to the Palace through various underhanded means, and that his attempt with the Empress was not the first. Various other governors and officials had stepped forward to provide evidence for his scheming and bribery. The minister was sentenced to death due to his attempt to harm the child that would eventually become the Dragon Heir.
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Author's note:
Hello, and thank you for reading the next instalment of my palace series! Firstly, I would like to apologise for the long delay in my update -- I have had the idea for this chapter floating about in my head for quite some time now. It's currently the deadline period in my university now, and I have been rushing papers, so I did not have the time to type this story up until now. To make matters worse, I misplaced my laptop! Thankfully, everything's fine now. :)
Next, I'd really like to thank all of the readers who have voted for my chapters! Voting makes my stories more visible to new readers, and when there are more readers, I get more feedback to help me improve. It's also a great morale booster and kind of pressurises me to write faster so as to not disappoint my eager readers. :X
On to the story! Personally, I'm a sucker for happy endings, and I'm glad that the Empress decided to do the right thing in the end. Originally, in my head, the Empress was a cold-blooded, emotionless person who would do anything to stay in power. However, I must say that I like the current ending better, although the poor Empress is being short-changed again! Her daughter cannot be Emperor, so the position of Dragon Heir goes to Imperial Consort Hua's son. What will the future bring for them?
If drama serials are anything to be believed, the Palace was full of internal politics, and it is not unusual for people do anything they could to climb up the ranks, including siding against innocent people and harming them. It's a good thing that we're out of those times, isn't it? :D
I'll try to update after my exams, so please stay with me, and thank you again for reading my works! Feedback is welcome. If you have any ideas that you wish to see up here, feel free to message me, and I'll see if I can work it into my story!
Till next time!
P.S The story has not been proofread yet. If you see any mistakes, you can point it out to me. Thank you!