Whatever the woman was planning, it could not be anything good. Even without the glint in her eyes that Samaya was sure she thought she was hiding, anyone with one functioning brain cell could tell that.

She wanted so badly to refuse. But there were eyes on her and her child was looking at her nervously from the side of the Empress.

“Well, what do you think, Lady Qing?” The Empress asked.

It sounded like a question. Like the woman was really asking for her opinion. But really, there was only one answer.

She bowed her head and saluted as she was shown at least ten times by Lian. “I shall accept and obey whatever decision Your Majesty makes.”

There was a pause before the Empress nodded. “Very well. Imperial Consort, please do make the necessary arrangements.”

The slight curl in the corner of the Imperial Consort’s lips told her all she needed to know. The woman bowed. “As you order, Your Majesty.”

Everyone went back to their teas and conversation. Manu was looking at her nervously but she just blinked and sent another smile at him. He soon had to turn his attention to the Empress as she spoke.

“You handled that wonderfully,” Fu Caiyi spoke up beside her. Samaya turned to see the woman looking at her with admiration and not a little bit of relief.

“I’ve been told that I am a quick learner.”

Fu Caiyi nodded. “You will have to be careful, however, Not many like the fact that a commoner has entered the Palace. You might have some of the concubines visiting you. You must keep your composure, no matter what.”

It was sweet that the young woman was worrying about her. Unnecessary, but sweet nonetheless.

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”

She was about to ask the woman to continue her questions on the identity of the concubines, but then another voice spoke up.

“What do you think of the Prince, Your Majesty?”

Her head snapped around to see a woman sitting in the same row as hers, closer to the Empress. Fuck, did she really ask that? Even though she did not have a full grasp of the internal politics of the Imperial Harem, she knew the Empress was pregnant, possibly with the future Heir of the Empire. To ask her what she thought of her child’s competitor for the throne in front of all the concubines … that woman sure had guts. The Empress could not even refuse, since it was an innocent question. Refusing to answer would be revealing her fear and weakness.

For a moment, there was silence before the Empress spoke. “The child is quite intelligent for his age. He does need some polishing, but I believe he will become a worthy Prince of the Empire one day.”

Okay, somewhat neutral answer. Some hidden jabs. That was fine.

Manu was apparently happy with the praise. He ducked his head and mumbled, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The Empress allowed herself a kind smile towards the child, even though it did not quite reach her eyes. She then addressed the assembly.

“Let us end our morning greetings here and convene tomorrow. Lady Qing, we hope you will join us every day.”

Samaya bowed, relieved that the pleasantries would soon be over. “It would be my honor.”

She nodded and stood slowly with the help of her maids. Everyone else stood with her. They bowed as she left.

Fu Caiyi turned to her. “Would you like to depart with me? We both live in Yongyagong and we can speak on the way.”

“I would love to,” Samaya replied and then grunted as a small ball of energy smashed into her. A regular occurrence. She caught him and balanced them both.

“Manu,” she said sternly. “How many times have I told you? You can’t run around like that anymore!”

“Sorry, mama.” The boy buried his face into her stomach. “I was so nervous.”

She sighed softly and then patted his head. Aware of the eyes around them, she gently coaxed. “Alright, come on. Let us go back. You still have classes today, don’t you?”

The boy nodded and Samaya led him out, Fu Caiyi falling into step beside her.

“You have a way with him, don’t you?” She said softly. “My daughters can be quite naughty when they want to be and do not listen to a word of mine at all. Especially if they are having a tantrum.”

She blinked in surprise. “You have daughters?”

She nodded. “Twins.”

“Wow,” she said softly. “You really don’t look like it.”

The woman looked like she was barely 20.

“You don’t look like you have a son either.” She replied. “That’s unexpected, especially since you are a … you know …”

Samaya blinked at her. “What?”

“A commoner…” Fu Caiyi said cautiously. “Commoners don’t usually gather and maintain qi. As such, they get older faster.”

“Ah.” She looked down at herself. Come to think of it, she barely looked any different from when she entered this world. “I suppose I have some good genes…”

“Ji … yins?”

Oh, they would not know what genes meant.

“Nothing,” she said softly before turning her attention to the woman. “How old are they? Your daughters?”

“Oh, they are 4. On their way to 5!” She said happily. “I must extract a promise from the Emperor to hold a feast for their 5th birthday!”

Samaya chuckled at that.

“Oh, we are here!” Fu Caiyi exclaimed

They had reached the gates of Tianfengong. She saw two of her younger maids laughing and chatting with one of the other maids.

“Su, Min,” she called the girls. The other maid looked up. A nervousness cast in their eyes and they both bowed.

“Lady Qing!”

And then they bowed to Fu Caiyi. “Lady Fu!”

Samaya tilted her head. “Min, were you talking with your friend?”

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Min shook her head. “Rin is my sister, Lady Qing!”

The girl called Rin bowed to her. “I am called Rin, Lady Qing. I serve Lady Ren Siyun.”

“Ah.” She then looked at Fu Caiyi and raised an eyebrow.

To her credit, the woman knew exactly what Samaya meant. She leaned in and whispered, “Ren Siyun is one of the Noble Ladies. She is one rank lower than you.”

Samaya looked back at the two girls, looking at her with identical, big brown eyes, their heart shaped lips quivering. How cute!

“Did you guys enjoy your time together?” She asked.

Even Su nodded, along with the two sisters. Samaya smiled. “That’s good. Unfortunately, we have to go now.” She straightened. “But you guys will meet again tomorrow. And maybe I’ll request Lady Ren to have tea with me sometime.”

Friends and families were precious in this treacherous place after all.

They nodded enthusiastically. Su and Min quickly said their goodbyes to RIn, who then trotted off to find her Mistress, while Samaya and Fu Caiyi made their way to Yongyagong together.

They walked together and chatted softly about inconsequential things. Fu Caiyi informed her about the concubine that had spoken about her child.

“Han Wanyi,” she said softly. “She is a Virtuous Lady like us. She is the daughter of Marquis Han but she got promoted purely due to her half brother’s friendship with the Emperor. She is arrogant enough to think it was her virtue that she did it. Be careful. She is in the faction of the Imperial Consort. The Empress may not like you but she does not try to sow chaos into the Harem like the Imperial Consort faction.”

“Half brother?” She asked.

“Yes. Grand Commandant Han.”

Samaya blinked. “Han Qin?”

Fu Caiyi looked up at her in surprise. “Do you know him?”

Samaya nodded. “He is the one who escorted me here.” She kept it at that—no need to get into details.

“Ah,” Fu Caiyi’s face lit up with understanding. “You must be really special, to have the Grand Commandant escort you.”

Samaya thought she heard a hint of jealousy in her voice but she chose to ignore it. She did not have nearly enough energy to care about running after a man’s favor.

“What about you?” She asked the woman.

“Me?”

“Which faction are you?”

“Ah,” she tilted her head, “I am under the protection of the Empress.” She then paused. “Does that displease you?”

“Not really,” she shrugged. “Everyone without shelter needs one.”

Fu Caiyi looked at her. “Whose protection will you seek?”

Samaya pondered on that for a moment, even though she knew it was quite unnecessary. She did not need their protection. She could already protect herself and she had the contract with the Emperor. That was plenty of protection. She did not need the tumultuous favor and protection of the head ladies of the Harem that depended on her own utility for them and could vanish at the drop of a hat. But it was not like he could say all that.

“I have not … thought on it yet,” she said softly.

“You should,” Fu Caiyi advised. “Even though you are the mother of a Prince, you are still a commoner. You have little standing amongst the concubines and even fewer connections. Going under the Empress’ … or Imperial Consort’s umbrella will help you a lot.”

She looked down at Manu walking beside her quietly, curiously looking around. She knew the brat had an ear on their conversation as well. It’s what she had taught him, after all. Fu Caiyi seemed to think that he was the source of her protection. She could not be more wrong.

“But doesn’t that protection come with a price?” She asked as she tilted her head. “And is that not why you were so reluctant to mention the Imperial Consort?”

Fu Caiyi looked surprised for a moment before her eyes curved into beautiful crescent shapes as she allowed a soft, genuine smile. “You’re smarter than I thought you were.”

Samaya shrugged. “Thank you for the advice, Lady Fu. I will think about it.”

Fu Caiyi smiled at her and they chatted idly as they walked the rest of the way. Fu Caiyi mostly pointed out different pathways and told her where they would lead. She also whispered into her ear about some secluded areas you could go to if everything in the Imperial Harem became too much. It seemed she had experience with that.

Samaya truly did appreciate her advice, even as she wondered what price they bore.

They reached Yongyagong and Fu Caiyi looked at her. “Would you like to come to my courtyard? We could have some tea!”

Samaya tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. She saw no harm in it. “Alright.” She looked at Lian. “Why don’t you take Manu to prepare him for his lessons?”

Lian bowed and was about to take Manu away when Fu Caiyi interrupted. “Does his lesson start right away?”

Samaya turned to look at her and then shook her head. “No, it’s in … about two hours.”

“Then he should be able to come with us for a while. I’m sure he will like it.”

Samaya looked at the other concubine, puzzled. But the woman just smiled at her. Samaya sighed softly and turned to her maids. “Lian and Min, accompany us. The rest of you, go back.”

The others bowed and left for Samaya’s courtyard. She then took Manu’s hands and started walking with Fu Caiyi.

“My courtyard is further inside. I hope you do not mind walking a bit more, Lady Qing.”

“Not at all.”

They walked for a few more minutes before they reached a garden. She heard giggling and soft laughter coming from there. She peeked slightly and saw that there were three girls playing blind man’s buff in a small clearing inside the garden. One of them had a blindfold on while the others were running around her, avoiding her hands which were making grabbing motions in the air as she tried to catch them. The blindfolded girl looked identical to one of the two girls running around.

Samaya realized who they were. “Your daughters?”

“And Virtuous Consort Song Yuhan’s. That poor child is all alone in the vast Jidegong. So Her Highness sends her here to play with my children.”

“Ah!” She turned to look at Fu Caiyi. “Is that why you told me to bring Manu along?”

She nodded and stepped forward. “Ai, Mei, Princess Fang, there is someone you need to meet!” She called

They immediately stopped and looked over, the blindfolded twin taking the blindfold off her eyes. They all looked at the woman curiously, eyes wide with curiosity. Samaya realized that all of them had eyes that were a bit lighter in color and reflected like gold in the sunlight. Was that something they got from the Emperor?

“Did you hear that you have an elder brother now?”

They all nodded, eyes showing varying levels of curiosity and excitement.

“Is he here?” The not-twin, Princess Fang, Samaya presumed, spoke up.

“Yes, he is,” Fu Caiyi said and then looked back at Manu.

“Oh, does he want to play with us?!” The not-it twin asked.

“Well … you will have to ask the Prince that, Mei.”

Mei’s eyes widened and she started to run up to Manu. Ai and Fang looked like they wanted to follow but the stern figure of Samaya dissuaded them. Mei seemed like a brave one.

“Do you want to play with us?” She asked as soon as she reached close enough to Manu, leaning in.

Manu leaned back. He knew how to fight with street rats, but he had no idea how to handle delicate, hyper little princesses. Manu looked up at Samaya with wide eyes, looking a bit lost.

Samaya chuckled and then knelt in front of him. “Well, these are your sisters. Would you like to play with them?”

Manu bit his lip before looking at the wide eyed princesses. They looked like puppies. Or rabbits. Manu drooped a bit and sighed. “Fine.”

Mei whooped and started to drag him into the garden. Samaya stood up.

“Manu, be very gentle with them,” she urged, hoping he would not use his idea of ‘playing’ with the princesses. “And remember, you have to go back in one hour to get ready for your lessons!”

“Okay, mama!” He shouted back at her.

Samaya chuckled. “Your children are lovely.”

“I am glad you think like that. Most people in the Harem think they are not very … lady like.”

Samaya snorted. “They are children. People need to stop pushing stupidly high expectations on little shoulders.”

Fu Caiyi did not say anything. Instead, she fell into a thoughtful silence.

Samaya turned to her. “But I have to admit, I am quite surprised. I never expected to find someone sympathetic here. I know nobles well enough to know what they think of commoners. When you started talking to me, I thought you were pitying my situation. But you are now even inviting me to have tea and allowing my son to play with your children, when you have all the reason and right to hate him.”

Fu Caiyi looked up at her and opened her mouth to answer. But before she could, a harsh voice spoke up behind her.

“That’s because she comes from a lowly background as well!”