Autumn, summer, winter and spring had gone by for six cycles. Feng Mian felt that it was a bit surreal; like she was partly dreaming and partly awake, the time spent in this world was way too long. This year, the body she was in had passed the age of twenty and her once petite figure had blossomed into that of an elegant beauty with the passage of time.

Tian Junli, who was six years old, laid on her lap while holding a book titled 'The Six Realm's Mythical Creatures' in his hand. She didn't know if he understood the characters in the book or not, but he had been concentratedly looking at it for more than a quarter of an hour.

He then looked up at her, his white chubby hands pointing at a particular phrase in the book.

'Tao Tie, one of the four holy creatures, is a beast with green skin and sharp teeth.'

"You don't know what a Tao Tie looks like?" She asked the young boy. Tian Junlin shook his head.

"No problem! This sister will draw it for you to see."

Feng Mian picked up a brush and drew meticulously on the sheet of paper. "Let's see. Here are the eyes… the nose… the mouth…"

System 555 peeked into her drawing. 'What the hell? Isn't this Doraemon?'

She put the finished drawing aside. "What else do you want to see Junlin? I'll draw more."

Little Junlin pointed at another paragraph.

"A Qilin? Easy!" Feng Mian pulled the cuff of her uniform to her elbows and got on to draw another picture. This time it became a Pikachu.

System: 'F***, if that's a Qilin then this daddy is a dragon.'

Afternoons by the lake were mostly spent leisurely like this. Initially, she taught Junlin to recognise some of the Hanzi characters and later when he slowly learnt to read, she accompanied him as he flipped over books.

"Our Junlin is so smart! Already knows how to read characters at a young age. Good boy! Tomorrow I'll teach you how to calculate using Pythagoras Theorem."

Tian Junlin tilted his small head, not understanding what a Pie Tigress was. 'A new type of food?'

Feng Mian only smiled and rubbed the top of his fluffy head.

A junior maid walked into the pavilion hastily, bringing news. "Wan Mei jiejie, the concubine called for you. She wants you to pick a suitable dress for tomorrow's banquet from the Clothing Department."

"Tomorrow? What's the banquet for?"

"It's Prince Tian Yu. His Highness came back from the border last night and the emperor would like to hold a celebration."

Feng Mian sighed audibly. 'There goes my six peaceful years.'

*********************

After dressing Concubine Zhou, Feng Mian also got Tian Junli ready. She neatly attached a jade pendant with a dragon carving on the sash of his hanfu. Tian Junli, who had been mesmerised by the familiar-looking shape, constantly fiddled with the accessory that was larger than his chubby hands.

"This is a dragon, the most powerful out of all the mythical creatures from the legends," she told him.

Tian Junli's eyes glimmered in fascination. Feng Mian had actually grabbed this little pendant when she had been organising the many gifts sent to the Penglai Pavilion.

These past few years, the emperor had made it clear that Concubine Zhou was his most favoured concubine, and he spends at least 10 nights out of a month there, even though Concubine Zhou treated him with a hot and cold attitude. Ministers who seek to elevate their status would often come to seek favours from Concubine Zhou by sending gifts.

Feng Mian held the shorter Tian Junli by the hand and led him to their seat amongst the imperial wives. Next to her, she saw Noble Consort Wei sitting side by side with the Third Prince, Tian Feng.

After the death of Concubine Jing, her twelve-year-old son was later adopted by Noble Consort Wei and was moved to Yonghe Palace. From what she had heard, this Noble Consort had treated her adopted child fairly well and spoiled him immensely.

Unlike a certain someone she knows. Her gaze paused at Concubine Zhou.

You can tell from a glimpse that Concubine Zhou had put in a lot of effort to dress up today, decked up exquisitely with the best-embroidered hanfu and finely crafted headdress with multiple jewels and gold hairpins. If Concubine Zhou had stood in front of the sun, her eyes would already be blinded from their reflections.

Prince Tian Yu was seated the closest to the emperor who sat at an incline higher than everyone else. Even from where she was sitting, she can smell the stench of gunpowder in the air between those two.

Tian Yu: 'Ah I stole your girl, so you played dirty and sent me to the middle of nowhere? Too bad that even after six years her heart still only has me.'

Tian Ke: 'I'm the emperor, what can you do about it even if I sent you to hell? If six years isn't enough I'll send you away for another 20 years.'

There was a loud sound of drums beating in rhythm. Flute and zither started playing as a group of beautiful dance performers swooped onto the stage with silk scarves. The dancers dressed in a sky blue Northern Desert chiffon dress were agile and their bare feet barely made a sound as they landed from their jumps and aerials. The crowd erupted in cheers of excitement.

As lunch was served, Feng Mian filled the wine cup for Concubine Zhou and poured tea for Tian Junli. The emperor clapped his hands twice to gain attention from the banquet attendees.

"Today zhen feels very happy and the court is blessed to have zhen's younger brother back from his expedition at the border." He raised his cup towards Prince Tian Yu.

"There are two announcements to be made. The first one is, Concubine Zhou had given birth to zhen's fifth prince, it is high time that she should be promoted. From now on, she will be known as Noble Imperial Consort Zhou."

The system prompt was immediately triggered and Feng Mian startled at the sudden update.

[SYSTEM PROMPT: Become a first-ranked servant to at least a second-ranked consort in the harem has been achieved.

Points rewarded: 50 000.

Total points: 50 200.

Task progress - 50%]

"Another thing is, seeing that didi is no longer young and still doesn't have a family of his own, zhen feels regretful." Both Prince Tian Yu and Concubine Zhou stiffened, fearing for the emperor's next words.

"Today zhen would like to help didi solve his important life matter. Zhen sees that the young miss from Minister Fu's family is both benevolent and beautiful, the two of you are well suited for each other. Hence, zhen decrees that from today on, eldest Miss Fu will be betrothed to zhen's youngest brother, Prince Tian Yu!"

Everyone but Prince Tian Yu and the newly promoted Consort Zhou broke out into applause. Noble Consort Zhou's face had already become two shades paler from the announcement.

Minister Fu stood up. "Thanking the emperor for his consideration! It is this one's blessing that this minister's daughter had caught Your Majesty's eye. This minister congratulates the pair and Prince Tian Yu for the engagement," he said delightfully.

Prince Tian Yu's fist had already become purple from exertion as his nails scored marks into his palms. His chair screeched as he sprung up. "This didi is honoured that Your Majesty would think for this one. But--"

Prince Tian Yu didn't get a chance to plead as the emperor cut him off. "No need to thank zhen! Zhen's words are heaven's words and cannot be retracted once said. Didi can pay zhen's efforts by marrying happily and giving birth to a few more royal offsprings."

Tian Ke took his leave after saying what he wanted. "Zhen is tired now and will leave you ministers and family to have your own fun. Enjoy the banquet everyone!"

"The emperor is leaving!" Eunuch Zheng announced.

Everyone bowed in unison and spoke in tandem, "Seeing the emperor off!"

Emperor Tai Ke left without looking back.

*********************

That very night, the chamber of Penglai Pavilion was turned upside down by the wrath of Consort Zhou. Small, expensive objects were thrown and broken into; calligraphy papers were ripped in halves and scattered on the floor. Feng Mian sighed as she watched Consort Zhou throw her temper tantrum.

Seeing that she wasn't about to calm down any time soon, Feng Mian left the room quietly and waited outside the newly installed door. Turns out, Tian Junli was also wandering outside the corridor. He tugged on her sleeves.

In his little book that Wan Mei bounded for him some time ago, he wrote, 'Wan Mei jiejie, why is concubine mother so angry?'

Feng Mian sat on the cobblestone stairs. "Her Romeo is about to marry another so she's in a bad mood. Don't go see her right now, wait for a bit."

Tian Junli's eyebrows scrunched up and he scribbled, 'What is marry? And why is she mad if he marries?'

"Marriage is… well… a promise to stay together forever, I guess? She's mad because she won't be together with the man she loves."

There was an endless sound of brush moving against paper. 'But isn't concubine mother married to imperial father?'

Feng Mian looked at him. "Your concubine mother isn't normal. It's best if you don't learn from her."

System 555: "Hey, don't go teaching kids bad things."

Feng Mian: "He only looks young, but his soul is already old."

'Can't concubine mother marry Romeo and imperial father at the same time? Imperial father has a lot of wives, why can't concubine mother have other husbands as well?' The book was continuously passed back and forth.

Feng Mian laughed amusedly at his untypical logic. "You're right! I knew that our Tian Junli is the smartest one yet!"

Tian Junli pondered over the issue of marriage for a long time and there was a comfortable silence between the two. He wondered how he should go on about asking his question so that Feng Mian would agree to his request. He wrote meticulously.

'Then can I marry you? We can be together forever. It'll be fun!' He started by selling the pros.

System 555: "You cradle robber. Look at what you've done."

Feng Mian choked on spit. "Cannot ah!"

Tian Junli's small heart felt hurt from the careless rejection. He wrote faster and shoved the book back to her.

'But I'm a good boy! You said so yourself, that I'm better than the child from next door. You won't be able to marry someone better than me!'

Feng Mian: 'Why are her only choices for marriage between him or the next-door neighbour's child?'

Tian Junli continued selling himself, he wrote down five of his best attributes. "See, I'm good at reading, good at writing. good at drawing, smart, good-looking..."

Feng Mian felt like this argument was going nowhere and humoured him this once.

"Fine. When you grow up and prepare a satisfactory betrothal gift, this sister will consider marrying you."

Having received a satisfactory answer, Tian Junli beamed from ear to ear.

"But who knows, you're so soft and obedient. It might be that in the future it will be me who has to prepare the dowry to marry you out."

"........."