The Ant Woman Ch. 19

"She was the mastermind somehow," the Empress whimpered out. "She must have been. She's every bit as manipulative as she needs to be." Suddenly, she stood up and ignored her worried little maid. Her lips became a strict line. Then they parted and she said, "I'll go see her."

"But, Your Majesty," her little maid said, "your face!"

"It doesn't matter," Miseo said as she glided on. She met a kneeling Wen in her reception room. That Wood Consort looked quite dignified and content, as if she'd recently finished a project.

Miseo sat down and gestured for Wen to do the same. Then, without any pleasantries, she asked Wen, "What did you do?"

One of Miseo's maids handed Wen's maid, Lien, a tray with a tea cup. Lien served this tea to Wen, who took it with a little smile. As she pulled the lid away and idly gazed down at the hot liquid, and later on took occasional sips, Wen gave her account.

"Wood Consort Hayun and I both witnessed surprising cruelty in Yanlin ... no ... Yuwei's behavior."

That blonde had been divorced from the Emperor.

"She'd harmed her servants terribly, but we knew that if we complained too often then Your Majesty would only assume we were harassing her out of jealousy. It was dangerous enough for Hayun alone to punish her once. I wondered about Yuwei's true nature. Perhaps she wasn't satisfied with her life? Perhaps she'd never been satisfied? We all had treated her so well when she was a maid, even better when she became an Imperial Consort, yet she still lashed out?"

"The next logical step for her," Wen continued after another slow, agonizing draught of tea, "would be to become pregnant. Would she have been satisfied then? I can't say, but I know she wanted a royal heir. I wondered what would she do if all the opportunities were taken from her? So, when I became pregnant, and Yuwei asked me for advice on how to be more fertile, I said I'd done nothing, hadn't even taken any fertility medicines. This still placed the idea in her mind. Fertility medicine, and who is the most knowledgeable with medicine? Wood Consort Hayun, who also had recently birthed a prince."

"Thanks to my secret instructions, Hayun told Yuwei of a very costly and rare fertility pill, but she warned against it. That didn't matter to Yuwei, or I assume it didn't matter. Judging by what she attempted later on, she must've exhausted her funds to put the pill in her hands."

"Then, I monopolized the Emperor's time. It wasn't difficult to do. I'm one of his most favored concubines, and he trusts me well. This way, after spending so much money to receive her pill, Yuwei would find that she couldn't use it. This would only exacerbate her irritation and nurture new desperation. I also told Hayun to discuss crimes involving assaulting people, both men and women, while they were too intoxicated to even sit up. Even though Hayun described the crime with all the expected disgust, the idea had been placed in Yuwei's mind."

"Soon before the dinner party, I knew what could be done. I told the Emperor what Wood Consort Hayun and I had been doing, how we wanted to know if she would truly be willing to do such a horrifying thing. So, His Majesty agreed to pretend to be ridiculously drunk. The beverage I gave him was spiced water. Later, he had a guard wear his sleeping clothes and stay in his royal bed to wait and see if Yuwei would try to perform the unspeakable crime."

"When she was discovered, Yuwei had no defense. It had been made apparent that the Emperor was so drunk he couldn't respond, or rather, Yuwei had no reason to believe he wasn't drunk. Either she'd tried to assault the Emperor or she'd known a guard had been put in his place and wanted to commit adultery. The guard even gave a short testimony of what Yuwei had done to him."

Wen placed the teacup on a saucer, on a table, and she sighed. Her ringed hands quietly folded on her lap. "And that, Your Majesty, is why Yuwei has suffered the same fate as the previous Empress Consort. That is why the rest of her life will be dedicated to religious studies, and why her name is associated with great dishonor."

Miseo ... wanted to laugh for some reason.

But suddenly there were footsteps and the Empress Dowager's sharp voice. "Is that what happened?"

Miseo and Wen both got down to their knees on the floor, and so did all their servants. When the Empress Dowager was standing before them, her maid still and elegant, she said something else, something that surprised everyone.

The Dowager turned to look down at Wen. A corner of her thin lips jolted up.

"Wood Consort Wen," the Dowager said, "it seems that whenever you notice a toxic member of the harem, you eliminate them."

Miseo's heart chilled and her eyelids drew back as she realized the Empress Dowager had let herself in and listened to Wen's explanation. She glanced at Wen. Wen was gazing down at her knees, blank and cold.

"Goodness," the Dowager went on, "isn't the Emperor fortunate to have such a thoughtful concubine? It's dangerous for him to be exposed to evil beauties, and so, having you by his side is truly useful."

The old woman smiled then.

Wen's breath visibly left her form as she drooped a little.

***

This palace felt new to the Tree Cage. It had once been smaller, but it was renovated to be larger, more beautiful, and more extravagant. A deep red roof and matching columns with silver and gold painted into ornamental, marble-like patterns. Dark and pale woods. Large windows and doors. Far more space than required. The incense burning on this hot summer morning smelled like a cool pine forest.

It was named the Apple Blossom Palace.

Lu Shuyan, her husband's concubine, and a wet-nurse holding a small boy in her arms were all allowed to visit this palace hidden away in the Tree Cage. When they were let into the beautifully decorated reception room, they bowed towards the woman who sat in a tall chair on a platform, holding a teacup of the finest tea.

"Good morning, Seed Consort Wen," Lu Shuyan said to her high ranking daughter. "We're grateful that His Majesty has allowed us a visit with you, and we're honored that you accepted us into your palace."

Once she had her teacup put aside, Wen rose and stepped down to the floor with a gentle little smile on her whitened face. She wore a gauzy, thin, long silvery coat. Yellow embroidery decorated the flimsy garment's hem, placket, and dangling sleeves. It put no extra heat on her body. It was purely ornamental and provocative.

Her skirt was bright blue with patterns of lacquered, pale green leaves. Her necklaces were strings of pearls, alternating between white and pale pink. Wen playfully gripped one of those necklaces as she approached her mother.

"Come now, Dear Mother." Her free hand gestured upwards. "I have food for you and I won't let you kneel through it all." When the other women rose too, the wet-nurse put the curious little boy on his feet. He was staring at everything. "Oh, you must be Chian." Wen reached down to pat the top of his head. That boy did look up to her, but then he shyly turned away and ran back to the wet-nurse's side. Or rather, he toddled.

Just then, Wen's personal wet-nurses walked in with the princes holding their hands. Wen called out, "Ah, my boys are here." She looked to her brother's wet-nurse. "Go on so little Chian can play with his nephews." As the wet-nurses and tiny boys went off, Wen led the other women off to her dining room.

The dishware was mostly white with portions of yellow, and with silver and purple designs. The utensils had gold and silver handles. The food itself was wonderful enough to rival what the Empress Consort would normally have. Eunuchs played music while the maids served everyone. Everything was happy and peaceful. Wen had even decided that her father's concubine was a pleasant person.

Later that night, after the guests had left, Wen was visited by the Emperor. He sat with her on a porch for some time, looking at the stars and pointing certain constellations out. After a time, he seemed much more relaxed, and he said, "We're opening a trade deal with Breden."

"Is that something this concubine needs to know?" Wen playfully asked.

He shrugged, but he didn't answer. "We've learned that elven women can reproduce with centaurs. Hence, we've agreed to let Purveyors into Junshu to purchase elven women from their families." At Wen's puzzled look, the Emperor explained, "A Purveyor purchases women to be sold into Breden families. Breden allows dwarves to have this profession too."

Tilting her head to one side, her many hairsticks and dangling chains jingling, Wen said, "They might be pleased to have such exotic concubines." Or, at least the elves would seem exotic to a people that weren't accustomed to them.

Nonchalantly, the Emperor said, "Centaurs don't have concubines. It's not permitted in Breden."

Wen was so shocked that she looked at the Emperor with a fallen jaw.

"I believe that learning from different cultures is very helpful for a ruler." The Emperor smirked.

Wen closed her mouth and looked back to the sky.

And she wondered what sort of ideas the Emperor had in his mind.

How would he press Junshu in his hands? What shape would the empire be pressed into?

Well ... at least Wen was confident that she'd be there to watch him.

She put a hand on her belly.

***

The End