The Emperor's Concubine

Chapter 4

Fortune woke up with a start, stretching all the way out. She heard cats pur and turned to see Sage sleeping by her. Then it hit her, she recalled her encounter the other night and thought of it as strange, such a thing was really unbelievable so she concluded it to be not more than a dream.
"It wasn't a dream!" Fortune found herself say as she sat up and got a really good view of the room. It was just like the plot in one of those ancient movies and by observing closely, she could tell it was decorated with the most exquisite wares. "That dude really is royalty."
Sage stretched on the bed catching her attention, she got up and jumped into Fortunes embrace.
"Looks like you had a great sleep. Why not we think of something to do now that we're here. Sight seeing will be fun."Fortune suggested with a warm smile and Sage meowed. "Its settled then, let's..." She was interrupted by the sudden knock on the door. "I wonder who wants to see that infamous emperor. Now that he's not here, should I go out?"she contemplated and then an idea struck her. She grinned mischievously.
Clearing her throat, she walked towards the door with Sage in her arms and opened it. Surprisingly, the maids who were bowing before her did not show the least of concerns about her appearance and simply relayed their message.
"Greetings Your grace!". The two maids chorused leaving Fortune dumbstruck.
'Your grace?' Fortune thought.
"His majesty requires you to join the other concubines in the 'Blooming hall' to greet Her majesty, the empress..." At the sound of that, Fortune felt a loose knot in her head but just couldn't react yet and just let the maid finish. "...we are assigned to you by His majesty to be your personal maids and put you through with what you need to know."
The other maid who had been silent the whole time asked; "If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Your loyal servants will tell you what you need to know" she bowed her head.
"Just to be clear, 'His majesty is the Emperor right?" She asked and they nodded. "Would it be considered treason, if I beat him up to a pulp?" She yelled
"Oh no, my lady, you will be executed for speaking such vile words against His majesty, please take it back." One of the maids pleaded.
"Why should I? How dare he make me his concubine without me knowing?" Fortune spat out in a fit of rage. "Hmph, and he said I wasn't his type. He's had eyes on me the whole time. What a hypocrite?!"
"Your grace please calm down, His majesty must have you in best interest."
"Yes, his majesty rarely stays with a girl. You are very lucky to have his Favour!"
"Pfft, to hell with his favour."Fortune muttered to herself. She took a glance at the two girls and asked. "What are your names?" She asked with a gleeful smile.
'Oh my, she changes her attitude very quickly' they both thought.
"My name is Lu Rei but I am mostly called Rei." She introduced herself.
"And you are...?"
"I am Lynne. Nice to meet you your grace"
"Look, this whole formality stuff is really not my thing. You can just call me Fortune" Fortune said with the best interest but was shocked as they both dropped themselves on the floor kowtowing to her.
"Please have we done wrong your grace?" Rei asked with so much fright in her expression.
"We dare not call you by name your grace, we will have our lives ended and same goes to our clan. Please reconsider your grace." They both pleaded earnestly.
"Whoa, that serious?" Fortune asked herself and from the way they were reacting, she already got her answer. "Alright, you can stand up now."she told them and they did so.
"Thank you, your grace"the both chorused.
'Geez, ancient people are a workload' Fortune thought shaking her head. "Well, since you can't call me by my name, why call me mistress instead. I'd prefer it to 'your grace'." She emphasized. "Since that's all settled, get me ready to see this empress. Once that guy gets back, I'll give him a piece of my mind." She ordered and the maids prepared a bath for her, after which they dressed her up in a scarlet Robe. It was indeed fantastic and beautiful.
After it was all done, Fortune found it a bit difficult to believe that the girl she was staring at in the mirror was her.
"Gosh, I knew I was pretty, beautiful and all but this is really out of my expectation." Fortune said still admiring herself in the mirror. She turned to Rei "Tell me, is there any word better than beautiful?" She asked and the girls chuckled.
"Uh, enchanting!" Rei answered.
"Mistress is so enchanting that even the empress cannot be compared to you!" Lynne praised
"Really?" Fortune asked surprised. "I thought the empress is always the most beautiful woman in the harem"
"She used to be, but now that you're here, you have outshined her." Lynne answered
"But beware, her majesty gets jealous so easily that she frames up any concubine who she suspects to have gotten a little favor from his majesty and then frames her up." Rei warned "There was a case concerning the death of a concubine. She was really beautiful and was a threat to the empress beauty. Unfortunately, this concubine wasn't lucky and got drained. According to the rules of her crime, she was flogged with a plank one hundred times. Due to excessive bleeding, she died." Rei concluded.
On hearing this story, Fortune knew what was installed for her.
'Great Lixing Ji, you've actually thought an indirect way to harm me. Really great!" She thought.
"Mistress, your eyes match your dress very well." Lynne complimented.
"Thank you!" Fortune blushed a bit. 'What good is my beauty if I can't destroy anyone in my way. Lixing Ji, the next time we meet, you'd better give me an explanation
*Lixing Ji sneezes*