OFFERING CONCUBINES
EPISODE 7 OF THE BANQUET AT QING REN HALL
The morning came, the sun rose this morning, hiding shyly behind the winter fog. There was no snow last night, so the air felt warmer.
Meihua flowers spread a distinctive aroma.
His majesty Yan Yue woke up and when she opened her eyes, she was unmindfully amazed by the bridal red clothes that were still attached to her body.
The circulation of the view, it turns out that he did not sleep in his room, but in the room which is all shades of red typical bridal room.
For a moment, His Majesty Yan Yue recalled, what happened to him at the last seconds of his consciousness.
Last night was the night of his bride with the consort of Youwu province, the adopted daughter of Governor Qian Ren.
But...
His highness Yan Yue rolled her eyeballs around the room, all this time she had never really spent a bridal night with any concubine. He only came to perform the ritual of drinking wedding wine and drinking tea brewed by his future wife.
And now...
He woke up in the bed of his new concubine, it was of course out of the custom of the king.
Downstairs, at the foot of the bed, fast asleep Xiao Yi who now bears the title of Consort Yi. Also with still wearing full bridal clothes.
The movements of His Majesty Yan Yue woke Xiao Yi up.
"Your highness..." Xiao Yi immediately stood up timidly.
" Consort Yi, what happened to me?"
His highness Yan Yue held her head which still felt dizzy.
"The noble one drank too much and fell asleep here" Xiao Yi replied.
"What did I do last night?" His Majesty looked at Xiao Yi suspiciously.
"His majesty only drinks and sleeps"
"I asked, did I do anything to you?" His Majesty stood still while holding his head.
Xiao Yi simply shook his head in confusion.
His Majesty smiled in satisfaction at Xiao Yi's reaction.
"But..didn't you do something to me right?" his Majesty asked as he brought his face closer to Xiao Yi's face.
Xiao Yi lowered his head in fear and shook his head strongly.
The handsome young king laughed. Just this time, he felt so happy about playing someone.
"Eunuch Chen!" call His Highness Yan Yue,
The door immediately opened, Eunuch Chen appeared with in the follow of the two King guards.
"Yes, your highness..." Eunuch Chen saluted.
"I will return to Rongyu, "Her Majesty Yan Yue tidied up her robe, while smiling lightly at her new concubine.
Eunuch Chen simply stole a glance at Xiao Yi and immediately followed the king's steps out of Xingwu's guesthouse.
After the king's death, Chu Cu entered hurriedly, meeting his master.
"Miss.eh Madam, how are you this morning" Chu Cu looked worried.
"What do you call me? Mrs?" Xiao Yi glared in astonishment.
" Yes lady, uh Lady Yi, according to lady Shue now I must call you Lady Yi, otherwise Chu Cu will be punished..." Chu Cu answered Xiao Yi with a red face.
Xiao Yi took a deep breath, this palace is full of rules.
"Is your highness rude to the mistress?" Chu Cu asked curiously which was a little seductive. Xiao Yi glared at his servant.
"Keep your dirty thoughts that Chu Chu, he doesn't dare to do anything to me" Xiao Yi chuckled triumphantly.
Chu Cu only gawked in astonishment, hearing his master's reply. It is impossible for a king to do nothing to his concubine, on the first night.
Not long after Dayang Shue appeared at the door with a few servants, carrying a lot of new cloth and clothes.
"Excuse me, madam..." Dayang Shue bent his feet in salute.
" We're delivering some new clothes for the mistress, " replied lady Shue.
"But I've brought enough clothes from Youwu" Xiao Yi said
"Sorry madam, the rules in the palace of the concubines, because now that the mistress is officially a noble wife, the mistress must use the clothes provided by the palace. It's been arranged by Suri's mother"
Dayang Shue nodded his head to the servants who came with him to put the cloths on the clothes.
"Please mistress clean up, some waitress will clean the room for mistress. Once ready, I will pick up the madam to Qing Ren Hall to meet the queen mother." Dayang Shue saluted and said goodbye.
Xiao Yi looked at Chu Cu confusedly, so many rules within this palace, even the matter of dressing was set.
...***...
Xiao Yi wore a golden orange robe with green and gold on his neckline. Some of her hair is in a high loop upwards and given a red flower-shaped skewer with petals and small golden yellow flowers.
The girl was truly beautiful and shone in that golden-colored twig-patterned silk wrap.
Upon entering the Qing Ren Hall, there had been a gathering of concubines sitting opposite to each other's tables.
On the table there are several kinds of dishes and tea in a pot.
According to the explanation of Shue's lady-in-waiting at the time they walked towards Qing Ren Hall earlier, according to royal tradition, each king married a new concubine so Suri's mother would hold a morning banquet after the first night with the concubines to welcome the new concubine as a new member of the palace.
Then his eyes circled the room, there were 9 tables in front of him, there were 8 already occupied by 8 beautiful women in colorful and luxurious clothes.
There is only one table at the very end there is no still empty.
Dayang Shue let Xiao Yi occupy him.
All eyes seemed to follow Xiao Yi's footsteps with various expressions. Some are staring lightly, some are like sneering, some do not care and some seem pitying. But almost all keep jealousy in their hearts, only they try to suppress it so that they do not lose their pride as the king's wife if they dare to openly be jealous of their fellow wives.
Gossip and rumors quickly spread inside the concubine's palace, especially regarding the affairs of the king who spent one night with his new concubine this morning.
In history, there was only one concubine who had experienced it, concubine Xiang Mei from Handong Province. He married the king as his second concubine. And that made Consort Mei arrogant and arrogant because none of the concubines had ever slept with the king on the night of the bride except her.
"Your highness the queen mother arrives." The hall's doorkeeper made the announcement.
All stood saluting the Queen Mother, the mother of the King who ruled the Yanzhi kingdom, the noble Yan Yue.
The Queen Mother entered gracefully towards the three-tiered throne chair facing the door. Then sit on one of the left edge chairs of three golden-brown ebony wooden chairs with a stepped backrest carved in a very luxurious cloud motif.
Dressed in a crown of gold inlaid with rubies and small pearls dangling, the Queen Mother in her half-century age still looks very beautiful.
His clothes are ivory yellow with embroidery peony flower motif in bright red.
"Greetings to the queen mother.." all close her palms while bending her legs, their heads bowed respectfully.
The queen mother gave a small nod, her hand giving the code to return to the starting position.
"At the request of the king's majesty, Consort Yi as the new noble concubine will occupy the seat of honor this morning"
the voice of the Queen mother sounded authoritative.
Xiao Yi immediately stood up and walked to the middle of the room while saluting the Queen Mother with the gazes of all the concubines.
Since the King did not have an official Queen, the seat of honor next to the king's seat was rarely occupied, only alternately seated by concubines if the king allowed it.
The king himself rarely attended banquets in the halls of Qing Ren except for the important days held by the Queen Mother.
But if anyone can occupy that seat of honor at the request of the king, then it is the King's signal to attend the banquet.
All the concubines showed the face of the sumringah, they were looking forward to seeing and meeting the king, their husband.
The yearning that burst out, made their faces blush, as red as the meihua petals that were blooming in Shenhua garden.
...Thank you dear readers who have followed the story of Concubine Performances...
...Looking forward to the next episode......
...🌹🌹...
...Please comment below, don't forget like his '🙏...