The Apothecary Diaries Book 7

Empress

And so the consort became an empress. Gyokuyou was now formally married to His Majesty, and it was important she made that clear to those around her. In battle, you could minimize casualties if you had an overwhelming strength advantage. If a consort of a similar rank to Gyokuyou had given birth to a son at the same time she had, there could have been a bloodbath. But it was Gyokuyou who had risen to become Empress because she had given birth to her child before Lihua had produced her own male heir.

Lihua's family lineage made her more than qualified to be Empress, but though she had borne a son before, she hadn't been elevated to that rank. Not without reason.

For one thing, there was no telling how long her child would live. But the lineage was itself something of a problem.

The Emperor seemed to be trying to avoid marrying someone who was too closely related to him, for in the past, that was precisely what had weakened the Imperial bloodline and allowed a single disease to kill off its members one after another. Lihua had every right to be Empress, yet her ancestry, over which she had no control, stood in her way.

Perhaps there was one more reason as well: a need to cozy up to Gyokuyou's family with an eye toward future diplomacy.

Whatever had gotten her there, Empress Gyokuyou now towered in status even over others who lived "above the clouds" in the Imperial court. People who didn't already know her personally might well be expected to cower in her presence, and did.

"Hee hee hee! I hope you like my snacks." It had been almost six months since Maomao had heard the dulcet tones of the preparer of these not-too-sweet treats: Yinghua, a lady-in-waiting who was eminently competent but also had a quick ear for rumors and gossip. Maomao was glad to see Yinghua treated her the same way she always had, even if Maomao didn't dare do anything so foolish as speak to her. The chief lady-in-waiting, Hongniang, was watching them both closely. However, the minder soon stepped out.

Suppose I could have one? Maomao wondered.

Not everyone in the room had the wherewithal for such frivolous pondering. Beside Maomao, Yao was frozen like a block of ice. En'en kept a poker face, but the little glances she kept stealing at Yao suggested she was worried about her. Once the women had become accustomed to making medical visits to the consorts in the rear palace, they had finally been called upon to be part of a visit to Empress Gyokuyou herself.

Gyokuyou had no doubt been looking forward to this. She had, after all, personally recommended Maomao to take the medical assistants' exam. She regarded Maomao's visit as one of her all-too-few pleasures, and was treating it as something of a tea party.

"Uh, where, ahem, is Dr. Kan?" Yao asked Yinghua. Dr. Kan—that referred to Maomao's father, whose full name was Kan Luomen.

"He went to examine the young prince," Yinghua replied. "Since you're all here, Lady Lingli and the ladies-in-waiting will all get checkups as well. There's nothing to do in the meantime, so Lady Gyokuyou suggested tea." Hongniang must have gone to keep an eye on the exams.

Princess Lingli had gotten big since Maomao had seen her last. When they'd arrived at the palace, the child who had been just a toddler before came running to see the visitors. She seemed to have her mother's willful streak. Sadly, she didn't remember Maomao, but she pegged the newcomers as playmates and followed them everywhere until Hongniang pried her away. The princess had looked quite dejected. Maomao figured they hadn't seen the last of her.

At least she's healthy. They both are. Empress Gyokuyou sat across from Maomao, eyes sparkling, eager for any hint of an amusing, titillating, or generally interesting story. Which, unfortunately, I don't have, and if I did, I probably couldn't talk about it. Well, she did have some tales to tell about the commander of the military, but she preferred not to speak of him and chose to keep them to herself.