Thanks to her talents and beauty, Jiao Wei enters the Imperial Harem and starts a long journey from begin a lowly concubine into becoming the favorite.
Many people, from concubines to officials, will try to suppress her and her family from rising an...
The photo I used as the chapter cover is how Noble Lady Ling looks. The photo I used it's not mine, credit to the rightful owner.
It has been a week since Jiao Wei joined the harem, her routine was quite simple: other than chatting with her newly friends, she has recently discovered the beauty of the Lotus garden, it was one of the most bigger gardens in the Imperial palace, the name describes perfectly the garden: it has a big artificial lake full of beautiful lotus flowers.
Currently, she was with her two personal maids. Suddenly she saw a man with the Imperial Dragon robes, it was the Emperor.
After Jiao Wei recognized him, she immediately bowed to him "Pin Qie bows to the Emperor, may he live thousands years".
"You may rise, do you like this garden?"
"This concubine likes this garden for its beautiful scenery"
Then, the Emperor proposed to Jiao Wei to take a stroll with her, she happily accepted.
Since the promotion of Consort Hua, the Emperor didn't visit the harem. It made Ling Wei, her half-sister, quite furious.
Meanwhile Consort Hua was happy, she has been taking a powder to become pregnant again, she wanted so bad a male heir to made her position in the harem solid; if she had another child, her position may be almost equal to Imperial Noble Consort Qi.
Imperial Consort Qi was the only concubine to have an heir, so if someone had the future Second Prince, her position and power within the harem will rise.
Also, Consort Hua was a concubine of the Emperor for only one year, a normal concubine to rise to the rank of fei needs at least 3 years of experience within the harem.
After twenty minute of silence, the Emperor decided to speak, not to Jiao Wei, but to his eunuch "We shall retire, make preparation for this night at Noble Lady Wei palace".
The maid of Jiao Wei was quite surprised, but happy for her master; immediately her master bowed to the Emperor to send him off "Pin Qie sends off the Emperor, may he live thousands years".
Since the Lotus garden was quite big, some servants heard the Emperor words and, after some minutes, most of the concubines heard the news.
Imperial Concubine Chun was happy for her friend, but at the same time, quite jealous. She didn't have the Emperor grace for almost a month now.
All of the other concubines were full of anger and jealous, the only two didn't planned anything against Noble Lady Wei yet, they were Noble Consort Shu and Consort Xi.
The two of them were known for begin the most calm and elegant consorts, they never schemed against the other concubines, Noble Consort Shu was the Emperor consort since he was the Crown Prince; If Imperial Noble Consort Qi didn't marry the Emperor, probably she would be the one sitting at the top of the harem right now.
The competition for the Empress title was always between Imperial Noble Consort Qi and Noble Consort Shu and, recently, Consort Hua was gaining power and probably soon she will be a candidate too.
Meanwhile, First-Class Female Attendant Wei was scheming along her maids to bring down Jiao Wei. ———
Soon, it was night. The Emperor, after he finished his duties, with his sedan he went to Jiao Wei palace.
When he arrived, he saw his concubine waiting for him at the entrance of her chamber. After she greeted him, they both entered together.
She was beautiful, porcelain skin without any flaw, soft lips and little nose, her hair was free from any hairpin or decoration and she wore a simple full-white ruqun chest dress.
Gently, the Emperor caress her hair and face, she resemble a blossoming peony.
"My concubine, when we are alone I'm not the Emperor of this nation but your husband"
Jiao Wei checks were red, she never received such affection, she was happy but at the same time embarrassed.
Then, candles were blow out, the night would be long and rich of emotions for the newly lovers. ———
Soon it was morning, most of Jiao Wei's maids didn't sleep and were blushing until morning, the Emperor was sleeping soundly along her beloved concubine. They were hugging each other until Jiao Wei woke up.
Unfortunately, the Emperor had to woke up early to attend the morning court meeting. He ordered to not wake up Noble Lady Wei, after he kissed her forehead and dressed up, he left.
Every concubines that receives the Emperor grace, needs to greet the Empress but since, that position is empty the master of the harem is Imperial Noble Consort Qi, Jiao Wei needs to greet her.
At the hour of dragon (7am - 9am) Noble Lady Wei finally woke up, to greet her superior she wore a dress[1] that shows her status, not too extravagant and not too simple: the traditional Tang Dynasty dress white and pink with flowers embroidered, and two hairpins: one with flowers and one with white pearls.
She was quite happy that finally she received the Emperor favor, she was the first one among the new concubines to have this privilege, it shows that probably, if it will continue like this, soon she will rise her rank to Imperial Concubine Wei, so she will have her own palace.
The Great Empire of Jin was not severe as for the social life of women's, they could learn and partecipate to social events and, if they were of high rank, they could also partecipate in the state affairs. Something that in the previous Dynasties was forbidden.
Thats why Imperial Noble Consort Qi need to be respected, she is the master of the harem, the highest ranked-consort and the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister, a first-ranked Duke! She has everything that every woman in the Jin Empire wants.
After she greeted the Imperial Noble Consort, she was returning to her palace until Ling Wei, or First-Class Female Attendant Wei, stops her.
- key words: 1. ling wei dress:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
