Among the many wonderful sights at the Daming Palace, the most enchanting was known as the Linde Hall. It had been adorned with precious heirlooms of the royal family that had travelled from one generation onto the next. There were large windows lined across both sides of the room, with heavy silk curtains that had been drawn to ensure the royal family's privacy. A great number of glittering glass lanterns had been bunched together and hung up on the ceiling right in the middle of the large hall. The floor of Linde Hall had been built with neatly adjoined portions of the most expensive marble, that shone brightly when the light from the lanterns reflected upon it. A series of vividly painted portraits hung on each wall, displaying the royal family and their ancestors.
Linde Hall was tremendously famous for being the venue where the royal family would host the most lavish feasts for guests of great importance.
One such event is often narrated by the palace staff who were present on that memorable night, due to the events that had ensued as the evening transgressed. It had been a chilly morning, and the staff at Daming Palace had already begun to sweep, dust, and prepare the Linde Hall for the grand banquet that night.
"Chen, have the tables been set up?" Heng Li, who was the main female caretaker assigned for the palace, hastily questioned the butler.
"No Heng Li, but I promise you that Linde Hall will be ready for the guests hours before they begin to arrive," Chen responded.
"This is your last chance, Chen. I'm giving you one final hour, then the chef will need to begin setting the cutlery on the tables," Heng Li exclaimed with her dark brown eyes focused on Chen, shooting him a glare that always managed to keep him on his toes.
A few hours later, Linde Hall had been fully decorated, and the guests had begun to arrive. An array of delectable dishes had been laid out in steel pans and platters, with a fire crackling under a few round pots of clay, which were filled to the brim with piping hot fish soup, topped with shrimps and chillies that were to be kept warm and fresh for as long as the banquet went on.
A well-dressed steward steadily glided from one group of guests to the next with a most tempting platter of dumplings sprinkled with green onions, oyster sauce, and pink salt held in his hand, as he offered every guest a piece.
Another beautiful stewardess charmingly held out her tray filled with more than a dozen bite-sized pork belly buns, otherwise known as 'gua bao,' an utmost favourite snack among the crowd, making its home in their hearts and bellies with its melt-in-the-mouth texture.
While a few more attendants buzzed here and there, carrying plates of crispy golden spring rolls, cumin-spiced lamb skewers, and buttery egg tarts, the main dinner table was laden with expensive, delicious, and absolutely lip-smacking dishes.
"Oh dear, did you try the drunken chicken? It's unavoidable. This must be my third serving," one woman said to another, while the second pretended to be surprised.
"Oh, you surely must be kidding, you eat so very less," the other woman responded, to which the first nodded profusely and decided to believe her lady friend right away.
"Did you see what the governor's wife is wearing? It must be worth a fortune," a soldier's wife whispered to her husband.
"The governor and his wife are patrons of the social class. They represent our society. If only you were beautiful, the money you take from me to spend on fashion would not go to a complete waste, San Li," her husband retorted, to which his wife suddenly began to smoothen down the invisible wrinkle in her fluorescent skirt that only she could see.
"I heard the empress is pregnant," a princess from another kingdom claimed. The princess herself looked quite radiant that night, she was a curious young girl who enjoyed gossiping over tea with her fellow females.
"Speak of the devil," her mother responded, as she raised her gaze to meet that of the empress as she ascended the grand staircase in a beautiful gown that was quite flowy, but just tight enough to reveal her round baby bump. Her husband, Emperor Yuan, was carefully helping her down the stairs with his concubine Wu uncomfortably following right behind them. All of the guests stood to welcome the royal family, and bowed in appreciation.
After the royal family had joined everyone else in Linde hall, the women continued to rate each others gowns, gush about their husbands and talk about the surprise they had felt after finding out that the empress was pregnant, again.
Once Empress Fang and the concubine, Wu, had been seated in the middle of the room, Emperor Yuan walked away to greet his guests, leaving an empty chair between his wife and his lover.
Empress Fang kept herself composed, even though she could feel Wu’s jealous gaze burning a hole in her body. It took every bit of patience that Fang could find within her heart, to keep herself from showing Wu her true place in the kingdom.
The predicament that Fang had to face every single day of her life, was that no one else knew Wu like she did. Even emperor Yuan believed that she was innocent, and everyone in the kingdom adored her. She had worked hard to secure a place in the palace, but she hadn’t earned a place in Yuans heart, she had snatched it from empress Fang.
A round of laughter erupted from the governors table, and Fang looked up to find that everyone was having a great time. Wine was being poured, folktales were being shared and the atmosphere of the palace had been completely transformed. A sense of liveliness had replaced the dull, monotonous air of the palace.
It filled Linde Hall with the scent of expensive perfume, raw silk, and luxury. Every woman was adorned with makeup, bright jewels, and the most gorgeous dresses, while the men wore their uniforms as a status symbol, like a badge of honour.
Emperor Yuan made his way to the minister while greeting the guests that were seated close to him. The minister wasn't sitting afar, as his importance had granted him a seat quite close to the royal family. The custom in China was such that the royal family was to be seated either at the very front on a stage or in the center of a hall, around which other guests would be seated according to their social class in society.
Government officials sat closest to the royal family as they held great importance due to their ability to make or break every decision in China. The second group that sat closest to the royal family were members of China's armed forces—the soldiers and their wives. The third group that was seated closest to the royal family were their relatives, friends, and guests from other kingdoms.
"Good evening, Minister Zhang Chi. Thank you for gifting us with your presence tonight," Emperor Yuan exclaimed as he greeted the minister of the court who sat cosily between two of his beautiful escorts who looked up at the emperor in awe.
The minister stood up readily, smiled proudly, and shook the emperor's hand. "Thank you for calling my family and me, and then blessing us with your humble presence at our table. How are you feeling tonight?" The minister asked the emperor dutifully.
"I feel wonderful," the emperor lied. In fact, he felt anything but. He felt heartbroken, confused, excited, and almost tired. "How are you feeling tonight, Zhang?"
"Oh, how can a man feel when sitting between two of the most beautiful women in the room, your honour? I'm sure you would know just as well as me," the minister jokingly said.
Little did he know, the emperor did know how it felt to sit between two of the most beautiful women he'd ever met. Still, he wasn't sure how he felt about it, so he ignored the thin line that the minister had almost crossed between humor and offense, smiled simply to seek his leave, and left to greet the other guests.
"Oh Empress Fang, you look as beautiful as a full moon tonight!" The stunning young princess from the other kingdom had made her way to the empress's seat to say hello when she had been struck by the beauty radiating from within Fang, missing the look of irritation that Wu had shot her instantly.
"Well then, there are several beautiful stars in the dark sky tonight, and you surely my dear are the brightest one," Empress Fang sweetly replied, reaching forward to gently touch the princess's hand as a small gesture of love and appreciation, while the emperor's concubine Wu pretended to not have heard the diplomatic princess arrive and continued to look away, as poised as ever.
"You truly are glowing, is it true that you're due soon, Empress Fang?"
The empress smiled shyly, nodded quickly, and placed a palm protectively upon her belly as if to safeguard her unborn child from the evil eye. She unintentionally cast a quick, fearful glance towards Wu, which the young princess never caught, otherwise, just maybe she would have stopped herself there without involving emperor Yuan in the discussion, because he belonged to both of the women seated before her.
"Emperor Yuan must be over the moon with joy. He has always loved you so much, Fang. I wonder how much more he'll love you now that you're pregnant and carrying his child!" The princess exclaimed excitedly.
Wu had heard her, and in the very next second, retorted enviously, "I don't see why Emperor Yuan would be happy. It's not the first time she's pregnant anyway."
The princess gasped, while the empress looked at Wu with utter astonishment.
"How dare you speak about my personal life, without my permission Wu?!" The empress interrogated angrily. "You had no right to."
"Oh dear, will you tell me what I can or cannot do now?" Wu snapped. "You know that I'd be in your place darling if it hadn't been for the devil in your belly."
"WU LOA!" The empress raised her hand to slap Wu, but kept it hovering in the air, controlling herself. This wasn't her. ‘What am I doing?’ she thought to herself. Wu always managed to bring out the worst in her. She began to experience a series of cold and hot flashes on her face and body. As the world began to spin around her, she felt herself sweat profusely.
"You can't touch me," Wu responded to Fang's physical reaction. "His Majesty would throw you out. Don't overestimate your value in his heart, Fang. You are only carrying his child, and it's not even his first one. You killed that child even before he could come into this world." Wu whispered wickedly, just loud enough for Fang to hear, leaving the princess amazed by Fang’s aggressive reaction.
A tear rolled down Fang's face as she felt her heart break. Many guests had become quiet, and were now paying attention to the fiery argument taking place between Fang and Wu. The empress was standing now, and she felt a searing pain travel across her lower abdomen, causing her to inhale sharply and sit back down. When she looked up at Wu, all Fang could think of was the first time she had seen her, and she felt herself wish that she never had.
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