Meng Guqing wasn’t even sure she was fully awake yet. The time to rise had already come; outside, her two dowry maids were directing the palace attendants to light the lamps and prepare her washing things. She sat up, glanced around the lavish, dimly lit inner chamber, and felt reasonably satisfied.
The little emperor might not like her, but at least he had given her fine lodgings, the best in the entire imperial city. While others lived in ordinary halls, she alone occupied the entire Fengyi Palace. It was said that this palace had once been the retirement residence of a grand empress dowager from the former Yan dynasty. The design and furnishings focused on comfort and leisure. The main hall’s bedchamber and adjoining living room even had underfloor heating; the lighting was bright and ample; the beams and pillars were made of southern sandalwood; the glazed red tiles on the roof had been crafted using the most advanced techniques. All in all, a fortune had been spent. Meng Guqing was quite content with Fengyi Palace, enough that she couldn’t be bothered to argue with him over anything else.
Today was the first day after their imperial wedding. As the newly appointed Empress of Great Wu, she was expected to rise early, receive the morning greetings from the imperial concubines, and then lead them to the Empress Dowager’s Shoucheng Hall for roll call. Since transmigrating here, she hadn’t woken up this early even once. Yesterday’s wedding had been chaos, and she hadn’t slept well in this unfamiliar bed. Sitting before her dressing mirror, she yawned several times, exhaustion plain on her face.
The palace maids of Fengyi Palace saw the new Empress covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes glistening, and naturally assumed she had cried and slept poorly. Who could blame her? On her wedding night, the emperor hadn’t even shown his face, leaving her all alone. Who could sleep well after that humiliation? Feeling sympathy, the maids worked extra carefully, quietly bringing out basins and towels, afraid of becoming scapegoats for their mistress’s anger. Attending her personally, of course, was left to her two dowry maids.
Caiwei and Fusang had followed Meng Guqing from her homeland of Gaochang, serving her since childhood. They knew her preferences best. But today, instead of their usual simple style, they had prepared a grand and ornate bridal look: an elaborate peony bun hairstyle piled with gold and silver ornaments, and even the full set of cosmetics.
The most common face powder of the time was made with lead known as “whitening powder.” Though the lead content was low, long-term use was still harmful. Meng Guqing had always avoided such things and immediately refused Caiwei’s suggestion to wear makeup. Pretending not to notice the girl’s disapproval, she quietly removed a few of the gaudy ornaments as well.
She knew what Caiwei intended; the Empress had been neglected, left alone on her wedding night, and the whole palace was likely gossiping about it. This would be her first public appearance, so Caiwei wanted her to look dazzling and magnificent. The more people pitied her, the more she needed to appear proud and radiant.
But Meng Guqing thought it unnecessary. She was the Empress, all the favored or unfavored concubines lived under her authority. Even if they looked down on her privately, none would dare to show it. There was no need to put on a show to impress others or torture herself by conforming to someone else’s standards.
Besides, to the southern people, she, a woman from the eastern Hu tribes of Gaochang, already seemed a rough, uncultured barbarian. If she dressed too ostentatiously, she’d only make herself more of a joke. Thinking so, she removed a pair of heavy gold-and-jade hairpins and replaced them with simple white jade ones. She washed her face with cool water, applied a little of her own homemade lotion and lip balm, and left it at that.
Her appearance was plain but elegant. As for clothing, Caiwei and Fusang wouldn’t let her slack. They dressed her in a refined zhiju robe with a fitted belt that accentuated her tall, slender figure. Dressed like that, she truly looked the part of an empress. With an entourage of maids behind her, she strode out so majestically that one might have thought they were heading into battle.
Fengyi Palace was vast. Besides her main hall, there were two side palaces. She had already ordered one of the large side rooms to be cleaned out for receiving visitors. She was a bit late, so she assumed the other consorts and concubines were already waiting. But when she entered, the spacious, beautifully arranged hall, more like a royal tea salon, was completely empty.
Puzzled, Meng Guqing looked back at the maids. Caiwei and Fusang were just as confused. Finally, one young maid in a pink robe stepped forward awkwardly and said, “The other ladies live near the Huangji Hall, Your Majesty. Only Fengyi Palace is a bit farther, it takes them about two or three quarters of an hour to get here…”
Indeed, the Fengyi Palace, once a retired empress dowager’s residence, had been built for quiet and seclusion. And what’s the quietest place in the imperial city? The farthest, of course, tucked away in the northwest corner. The emperor clearly didn’t care for his empress, even placing her residence so far from the central axis. What was that if not a silent humiliation? No wonder all the maids had kept their heads down, afraid to speak, they didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire.
Still, it wasn’t as if the concubines had banded together to slight her on her first day. After all, for them to greet her meant rising before dawn and walking for half an hour across the palace grounds, in winter, that would be torture. Meng Guqing actually felt a bit of sympathy for them. Her lovely gaze fell on the pink-robed maid who had spoken, and she smiled. “What’s your name? You seem quick-witted. Fengyi Palace is large, and aside from Caiwei and Fusang, there’s much to manage. From now on, you can assist them and help oversee the inner hall.”
At that, Caiwei and Fusang showed no objection. As her dowry maids, their positions were secure. But for that little palace maid to be singled out with favor on the empress’s first morning that drew plenty of envy. The girl hurriedly knelt in gratitude; Meng Guqing smiled and told her to rise.
After all, she was new here and completely in the dark. She had known Fengyi Palace was isolated, but not this isolated. In the imperial palace, information was power and lacking it was dangerous. She had no intention of harming anyone, but she would never allow herself to be blindsided.
Wealth and power were fine things and she happened to have both. For the next few years, Fengyi Palace would be her domain. She would make it not only the most comfortable place to live but also the safest fortress for her spirit.
Since the concubines hadn’t arrived yet, Meng Guqing didn’t wait idly. She went to her sitting room, where Fusang had prepared warm milk and a few plates of pastries. Born prematurely in her past life, she’d always had a weak constitution; the habit of maintaining her health was ingrained. In ancient times, poor hygiene could make even a simple chill fatal. Her current good health was hard-won; she’d been too busy lately, but she’d have to resume her morning exercises soon. Looking around the cold, overly grand furnishings of her sitting room, she sighed. Impressive, yes, but lifeless.
She preferred soft, fluffy carpets and cushions, places to lounge and sprawl. Over the past half-year, she’d collected many charming little trinkets and treasures from home; soon she’d bring them out and decorate her rooms to her own taste.
After slowly finishing two small steamed buns and a square of cake, washing them down with milk, word finally came that the consorts had arrived and were waiting in the side hall.
The young emperor Zhao Donglin of Great Wu was not yet twenty years old and had ruled for only six months. Before his marriage, the harem contained only a few lowborn favorites, promoted to “Beauty” or “Talented Lady” after his favor. On the eve of the imperial wedding, he’d added a few new titles; three or four women raised to Consort or Concubine rank. Altogether, only seven or eight women had the right to greet the empress.
Meng Guqing took her seat at the main position and excused them from full ceremony. She had to admit the imperial palace truly was the empire’s heart of wealth and power, and its beauties were equally unmatched. Any one of these women could be called a rare jewel.
But her gaze lingered most on the one standing to her left. Even among such a dazzling crowd, that woman’s presence was unmistakable: delicate and elegant, her aura serene. When introductions were made, Meng Guqing learned she was Xu Wan, daughter of the young emperor’s former wet nurse and his childhood companion.
So this was the famed Xu Wan, Zhao Donglin’s true love; the one history would record as his lifelong favorite. No wonder she’d entered the palace directly as Noble Consort, second only to the empress herself.
From her elevated seat, Meng Guqing studied Xu Wan a little more. She remembered that in history, the original Empress had been deposed precisely because of repeated attempts to harm this favored consort. She didn’t know how best to treat her now.
She certainly had no intention of provoking her but a man in love would offer anything to the woman he cherished. As the unwanted obstacle in his way, Meng Guqing knew she would eventually be “removed.”
Well, so be it. She didn’t much like this gilded cage of a life anyway. She wasn’t like the original Empress who had loved the emperor with desperate, ruinous obsession. Even after being deposed, her natal family hadn’t abandoned her; her father, Gaochang Wang, had personally come to take her home. Yet she’d refused to leave, clinging to an empty dream of restoration.
Meng Guqing already had her plan: she would stay in the palace for three years, play the part of a decorative mascot, fulfill the political marriage between Dongchang and the Great Wu royal house and as long as no one came to provoke her, she would never interfere with that pair of ill-fated “star-crossed lovers.”
