No matter how hard Mei tried to leave the building, she couldn't, so she just gave up and sat there while the woman slept throughout the night.
When the morning sun peered through the window, Mei tried leaving, and she succeeded this time, which puzzled her a lot, but she knew Ling'er was going to look for her as they promised to watch the morning greetings at the empress palace together, so she floated towards the palace and found Ling'er already there waiting for her.
Once she was seated next to her, she received a barrage of questions about her whereabouts, but Mei decided till she found out what it was she experienced last night, she would keep it a secret.
Everyone gathered in the Empress's hall one by one, and she saw the pregnant concubines being assisted to a seat by her maid and she wondered what her affinity was with her.
The empress was the last to arrive, they all greeted her, and Ling'er started introducing the entire harem one by one. She pointed to Empress Fang, starting with her.
The empress was sitting on her throne higher above than anyone, looking down on everyone, which showed her standing, her phoenix crown inlaid with pearls, shining brightly in the morning light. At just twenty-five years old, she commanded authority helping the emperor run the inner court.
She gave birth to a prince and a princess for the emperor and was the mother of the emperor's first princess and his only surviving son.
She was not only beautiful but also talented and had an unyielding grasp of the inner court and its secrets.
She was from a great scholarly family with deep roots in the empire and the current prime minister's daughter, she got married at just seventeen years old to the emperor when he was just a prince and had a princess just two years after that.
Rumour had it that it was love at first sight for her when she saw the emperor, the then prince, at a party hosted by her father and the two of them lived a harmonious two years alone before he became an emperor and his harem expanded.
The morning greeting had begun, and tea and snacks were served, and that's when the war of words started. Even though, on the outside, someone would think they were conversing normally.
It was the total opposite as each one of them tried to up the other, throwing words at each other like a dagger and each trying to pull the other down.
Mei felt bad for the ladies. Although this was their life, she was sure they didn't choose to be like this. The circumstances of this man-eat-man society forced them, and she also felt bad for the emperor because this unhealthy competition and greed for power cost him the lives of a lot of sons.
On a chair below the empress sat Noble Consorts Liu, the daughter of General Liu Yi; although she was not the empress. She was powerful in her own right, with a powerful family behind her.
Getting married to the emperor in his first year as the emperor, she also gave the emperor a prince who passed away. There were rumours she controlled the palace guard through her cousin, who was the commander of the palace guard.
Consort Sun Rui, her sister, sat in the seat below. She was of the same rank as Noble Consort Liu but was seated below her based on their years in the palace. Mei didn't need to be told by her father behind Rui. She was powerful enough. Ling'er also informed her that the emperor praised her knowledge and beauty, as it was famously known that the emperor said her poems swayed his mood, and unfortunately, she hadn't given birth yet.
The seat below was Consort Bai Liwei, the pregnant consort. She learnt that she was a merchant's daughter whose power lay in her family's money; rumours had it that her family's trade profit funded half the imperial expenditure.
She was the favourite of the eunuchs and the maids and was well known for her generosity when giving gifts. Although she was excused from the morning greetings, as she was heavily pregnant, she still came without fail, which reflected positively on her character.
Mei realised that the woman she liked of all the bunch was Consort Liwei, as she was the only one who was genuine among all the other women.
The other concubines were many, but Ling'er told her the rest didn't matter as those she introduced were the ones with power, but there were many women there.
The palace was a battleground and Mei soon discovered that the morning rituals were tiring and were filled with flattery that was veiled insults. She failed to understand how they referred to each other as "sisters " while insulting each other.
Mei was staring at the wall, lost in her thoughts when she heard the empress asking her sister about the emperor gracing her the previous night, and she sat up as the drama intensified.
Her sister stood up, bowing to the empress, apologising as she recounted how she was sick and her maids, without her permission, went behind her back to summon the emperor and that she had already punished them. Mei's jaw fell at the blatant lie her sister was telling without blinking.
Ling'er exclaimed that the morning greetings were never boring, cheering for the Empress to banish Consort Rui to the cold palace. Mei shook her head, amused by how dramatic Ling'er was being.
She knew her sister was not a nice person, but she saw first-hand how manipulative she was, and looking at the empress's expression, she was fully aware of her sister's trick.
The empress told Consort Rui to teach her maid to go seek a physician next time she was sick instead of the emperor as, according to her knowledge, the emperor has zero medical knowledge. Ling'er whistled at the comment while Mei laughed.
She could see her sister blushing with embarrassment as she accepted the empress's suggestion and sat down quietly.