Chapter 38 - Concubine Chu First Love
In the concubine Chu Palace, her lady maid reports something to her.
"Get my rare peach wine and some snack to celebrate soon to be my rightful position and place," Royal Concubine Chu is smiling so happily due on the news from her lady in waiting.
"But, your highness, everyone is using their mourning outfit and present in the late empress palace," her lady maid is persuading her miss to do the right thing.
"Who is the master, here? You or me?" concubine Chu throws the porcelain tea cup to her loyal lady maid head. As soon as the teacup break into her left forehead, a warm blood oozing out. She kneels and repent her wrongdoing. She begs her mercy on the floor.
"Never ever told me about your opinion. Soon, I will be the empress and everyone will listen my wish," she is looking cunningly with her deep sorrow. She has been married to the emperor for almost ten years, but she still virgin.
Concubine Chu is surrendering to her faith as concubine. She falls in love to her domineering husband, even she saw him only. He refuses to have dinner on her palace and even he never visited her on her sick bed. However, she also a grown up woman who need her husband. The last time when her father arranging her to serve his majesty the emperor which failed. She wants to feel the happiness as a woman. She feels lonely in this big palace alone. She needs someone who she can relay when she is alone inside the thick wall of her new house.
The lady maid brings her the peach blossom wine with some snack. Concubine Chu is celebrating it by herself before she walks to the Empress Palace with her mourning clothes. As a royal concubine, she is not entitled for a big convoy of guard and maid. She still needs to walk around inside the palace, and it differs from the Empress who got her sedan around inside the Palace.
She is purposely walking through the small garden near the Empress Palace when she bumps into a eunuch.
"I am sorry, your highness… I am ree… ready to get punish your highness…" The Eunuch kneel with his face down on the ground. Concubine Chu is feeling his face somehow familiar. She is squatting down and hold his chin up to find out about his face.
"Brother Li, what are you doing inside this palace?" Concubine Chu is almost fall back into the ground to see the familiar face.
"I try to find you Yi… why do you have to suffer yourself when my family can help you to solve it? I told you to wait for me to come back and propose you," Li Fang Min is explaining to her.
"But… your sacrifice is too great for finding me, brother Li. They have to cut off your family offspring by becoming a eunuch," Concubine Chu tears start to come down. She is longing for her old love and there is a slight hope on her suffering for her new love.
"I have my way to enter this place and preserve my offspring ability. This is the fastest way to enter this place as if I enter with my official title, it will take a long time for me to enter the Palace," Li Fang Min answers her.
"Brother Li, Yu Hu will take you to my Palace. You wait for me there while I pay my respect to the late Empress. I will be back soon," Concubine Chu stands up and fixes her grace. She is walking with a smile up in her face to be able to get a new hope inside this lonely place. In her heart, she will bury her love for this cold emperor who torture her heart for almost ten years yearning for his love. She will grab the new hope from her old brother Li who is willing to sacrifice himself to find her. She needs to keep him secret and keep him well in her arms or he will be doomed.
Yu Hu is guiding Li Fang Min to Concubine Chu Palace while Concubine Chu continues her journey to the Empress Palace. Yu Hu makes sure that no one dares to question about the eunuch existence inside her master Palace. Yu Hu also finds out that the Emperor is not in the Palace since the war in the border happening. Lord Chu is relaxing in Concubine Chu palace couple day a go.
In the Empress Palace, all the concubines are trying to put their best show for the dead Empress. They are looking at each other and trying to find the main culprit. Everyone knows that the empress sudden death looks suspicious. However, no one dare to make the speculation about the cause of the death.
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In the evening, they are arriving at the gate to the capital. Suddenly, the carriage convoys are stopping at the gate due to the queue. Eunuch Wang is informing about the delay to the emperor who is curious to find out about the matter. Zhang is going down from his horse to find out about the delay when there is the sign of the Royal convoy. He can see all the queue from the people try to enter the capital and held the royal convoy.
"What it is?" Zhang asks one of the guards who is trying to stop the people to enter the capital.
"You have to go back to the line… We have strict order from the Palace to close the capital gate to avoid people from Bai Lan to enter and the Empress just die," The guard is telling him.
"Who gives the order?"
"The house of Lord Chu… He is forbidding everyone to enter and contaminate the capital until further notice from the Lord Chu house…"
"I see… now open the gate and let these people pass… we are in hurry and the convoy need to pass and enter the Palace!" Zhang is giving the instruction.
"We do not dare to open the gate… we are an only small soldier and if we do not follow the highness orders. We will not have our job the next day," The guards do not move an inch from his post while the others guards are putting stop to the people who want to enter the gate.