"Why do I have to find an Empress if I can do handle it by myself?"
For the nineteen girls, they have to take any opportunities to escape the life laid out for them. To be swept up in a world of glittering hanfus and priceless ornaments. To live in...
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Wᴀʀɴɪɴɢ: The following is intended to mature readers. It contains scenes of deaths and other graphic contents that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is advised. If you do not wish to proceed. There would be a divider and warning where the scenes mentioned above would happen. But if you want a better reading experience, you should read the entire chapter. Thank You!
Ryujin's POV
Palace of Great Benevolence, Forbidden City January 15, 1745
Lᴀɴᴛᴇʀɴ Fᴇsᴛɪᴠᴀʟ, ᴡᴀs the most anticipated event for the other concubines, well it was supposed to be for all the concubines including me; I was dreading it, I haven't talked to Yeonjun yet, neither patching things up with him. Okay, back to the topic, everyone was busy designing their very own lantern—some girls even went far by embellishing their papers with precious silk threads—the other concubines' servants went to and fro from the palace just to get the materials for their lanterns. Everyone wanted to shine; including me.
My lantern was simple, I decided to commemorate my kingdom this time. I just drew my kingdom's flag, dragons, and et cetera. Heck, my lantern isn't worth mentioning or compare to the other lanterns. Kai even tried to persuade me to use the remaining gold threads I receive from the Dowager but I declined.
The sky was ever-changing, its various colors of navy blue, black, lavender, robin's egg blue, turquoise, and a fiery tangerine painting the dome above her. Sometimes the clouds were puffy and tall, other times they were no more than mere wisps, dashed across the sky by some divine paintbrush. Even though it was still midnight, everyone in the palace was awake. Today, the royal family, ministers, generals, and us (concubines) were preparing for our journey to stay at the infamous Summer Resort of the Royals. When my servants came, I told them I had a headache.
They were so helpful, Kai was spoon-feeding me my breakfast while Xiyeon was slowly wiping my hair with a wet towel as quietly as possible, that I almost felt bad for lying to them. I had to, though. I couldn't face the girls and Yeonjun while my mind was still floating everywhere.
My servants were rushing to pack my clothes for the 3 days stay at the summer resort. Chaeyoung whose purpose was to only taste my food was helping Yuna and Nakyung packing my hanfus, ornaments, and cosmetics. And here I am, sitting on my bed mindlessly. Xiyeon was helping me dress for today, I didn't care about my appearance anymore since Yeonjun just wants a bedmate, not a soulmate. This time my outfit was simple, no ornaments, just my thin-layered hanfu that focuses on showing my voluptuous figure to Yeonjun. But Yuna draped a thick coat to avoid my headache to worsen.
As I went out of my room, the other girls were still in their rooms dressing up. Outside the palace were 13 palanquins, Gu Ning led me to my palanquin which was the very first one. It was more elegant than the rest. My servants followed behind, carefully placing my stuff inside the palanquin. They left me alone inside the palanquin, it was comfy inside. It was peaceful for a second before I heard the clamors of the concubines right outside my palanquin.
