Conquering the Emperor - Chapter 71

I sighed loudly as I pulled the hair ornament from my hair. What the hell am I even doing? Lady White Lotus…what a joke? Why am I bothering with all this training when I know deep down that I would never be able to match Jeely.

The question that nagged me at the back of my mind all day was…if Jeely was here then why would they need me to act as Lady White Lotus? No matter how I looked at it, subjectively or objectively, there was no way that Ren wouldn’t enjoy Jeely’s company…or the company of the other women like her. I haven’t met them, but I was sure that there was more than one high-ranking concubine in this inner court.

Two and then three days went by where I studied with Jeely. I was getting used to spending the entire day devoted to lessons now. Jeely helped me work on my posture in the morning and then we continued studying watercolor painting in the afternoon until sunset. Ren never visit me since that day we went to the Royal Medical Office together and I have not heard anything about him.

I was curious as to where he was and what he was up to, but I didn’t dare ask Auntie. Perhaps, she didn’t know as well. As the days went by, I realized with a sinking heart that I did not know anything about Ren except for the times he spent with me. It was like he lives in another world when he was not here with me. I didn’t know where he was or how he spent his days.

Come to think of it, I didn’t even know where his palace was located on the imperial palace grounds. I only knew that it was located somewhere separated from his inner court, which was where I was living.

“Rin? Are you feeling ok?” Jeely asked, her voice filled with concern.

“Oh…yes. Sorry, I was just…spacing out…” I admitted shyly.

“Do you want to take a little break?” Jeely offered kindly.

“No…that’s ok. Let’s push through…” I said as I offered her a smile.

…

It was on the fourth day since I had last seen Ren that my worries started spiraling out of control. Since moving to the capital, this is the longest period that has gone by without me seeing Ren. Deep down, I wasn’t sure if I was worried about him or if I just…wanted to see him…

I was having my water painting lesson with Jeely when a maid tapped softly on the door. After giving her permission to enter, a maid came in with a wooden box in her arms.

“Lady White Lotus, my name is Jingbu and I am a maid from Prince Kin’s palace. Sorry to disturb your important lesson but I am here to deliver this to you from Prince Kin,” the maid said as she bowed respectfully and extended the wooden box towards me.

Prince Kin? I only met him once and have never spoken to him again. It was beyond my expectations that he would send me a gift. However, it would be outrageously rude to deny a gift from a prince…and he was also Ren’s younger brother.

“Thank you. That is extremely kind of Prince Kin. I am honored to accept his gift,” I said as I reached for the wooden box, taking it from the maid’s hands.

“Thank you for your kind words. I will excuse myself now,” the maid said politely as she bowed low.

I hadn’t realized that Jeely had been silently observing the exchange between the maid and I closely. When we were alone in the sitting room once again, Jeely spoke up.

“It is extremely rare for Prince Kin to offer a gift to a lady outside of his own inner court,” Jeely said in a low voice.

“Is it?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Yes. I think it hasn’t happened before…” Jeely said.

We both looked at the wooden box that was now sitting on the table between us. For some reason, I was hesitant to open the box in front of Jeely.

“Should I send a gift back in return? Wouldn’t it be impolite if I didn’t?” I asked.

In all my life, I have never received a gift from a prince, well, a prince other than Ren before. Therefore, I wasn’t sure how I should react or respond. Then, there’s that matter of the power struggle between the two brothers for me to consider.

“I don’t think it would be an issue if you sent a maid instead of going over yourself. It’s best to keep things formal…otherwise, it could lead to needless rumors,” Jeely advised.

Oh right…rumors…

“I’ll do just that. Thank you, Jeely,” I thanked her with a smile.

Putting the troublesome wooden box to the side, we continued on with our lesson like normal. It was after Jeely had left for the day that I opened the box from Prince Kin. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but I was relieved to find that the content of the box was nothing extraordinary at all. Inside the box was a breathtakingly beautiful robe with extravagant gold embroidery featuring birds and flowers.

I sighed in relief at this normal gift. Perhaps, Prince Kin sent this to me in kind as a way to express his friendly feelings. After all, I was officially appointed as his brother’s lady. When I picked up the robe from the box, a small envelop fluttered to the ground.

Since the envelop was a light pink color matching with the robe, I had missed it at first. I quickly bent down and picked the small envelop up from the floor and opened it. There was a piece of paper inside, neatly folded.

I unfolded the paper and started reading its content. Overall, the message written inside was polite and normal. Prince Kin expressed his joy of meeting me in person and wishes me well. He mentioned offering the silk robe to me as a sign to mark the start of our friendly relationship and hoped that I could spare some time to have tea or dinner with him at his palace soon.

–To be continued…