In a marriage alliance between two ancient nations, the unloved first daughter of a king becomes the wife of a man who has no intention of loving her. She had become an Empress yet inside the harem which she called the golden cage, she struggles bet...
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The months had peacefully passed for the harem since Li Wei's punishment many of the concubines had kept quiet and accepted that they would not do well scheming against this Devil they all called the Empress. Instead, they followed the rules of the harem perfectly and without issue. It was quite clear who had the most power in the Empire and their eyes, it was not the Emperor but the copper-skinned woman at his side. She who did not need the Emperor's love or favour to survive in this cage.
Tonight, however, proved to many of them that the Empress was not like the rest of them. The country was suffering from a terrible drought so much so that the Emperor and his court had been fasting and offering up prayers. Yet there was no change.
Now they all stood in the wide outdoor space with the court watching as the Empress prepared for her own rain ceremony. The Astrologer had fought against this claiming that it would bring more suffering as the Empress was the daughter of foreign lands with no connections to their gods and ancestors.
The woman's response was to laugh and challenge them, and then she insisted on continuing her ceremony without help. The concubines all attended ready to watch this proud phoenix fall from grace. The onlooking members of the court were already scheming to push their daughters into her seat as they stared at the scene. Then the Empress walked in, and the onlookers were shocked.
The empress wore her hair down free of any adornment for the first time both the court and harem were seeing the Empress's hair. It was thick and huge the large volumes of hair bounced as she walked. The most shocking factor was the woman's dress she wore a light gauzy robe of blue and maroon that wrapped around her but bared her heavily pregnant belly. Her makeup and jewels were gone, and her feet were bare. This was the first time an Empress had appeared like this before her people it was scandalous.
The empress stood in the middle of three large circles at the edge of the largest outer circle her guards sat with drums and surrounded the scene where pillars of flames. Many recognized the Empress's personal aid and a few other of her personal attendants it was a strange scene but the Emperor watched on in silence.
Finally, the maid he recognized as Amahari nodded at the Empress and then in a strangely rhythmic chant that many noted was the Empress's native language she began to sing.
