Palace of Hundred Virtues.
"Virtuous Consort, Noble Beauty Yang requests a meeting."
In a large room adorned with refined yet unpretentious decorations befitting of a scholar's descendant, a woman dressed in lilac was engrossed with her reflection at the dressing table. When she heard the announcement, the hand delicately removing rouge on her cheeks paused.
"Oh my, this late and without advance notification?" Virtuous Consort Liu murmured, turning away from the mirror. "What is her excuse for this breach of etiquette?"
"Answering mistress, she didn't say anything..." her lady-in-waiting replied slowly. "But she looked like she was in a hurry; even her dress was stained with mud."
Virtuous Consort Liu tutted, getting up reluctantly. "Help me look presentable. It's unacceptable to keep guests waiting."
"Yes, Virtuous Consort."
***
"Sister Yang, what brings you to my palace? I'm more than happy to accommodate my sisters, but this timing is really..."
Zi Hua sucked in a deep breath, breaking the spell the intimidating foyer air had cast on her during the arduously long wait for her host.
"Answering Virtuous Consort Liu, please excuse my rudeness for visiting at this hour. I come bearing an urgent request," she explained. "Do you perhaps possess a hundred-year ginseng?"
Virtuous Consort Lou looked at her contemplatively from above the dias. "I do," she answered. "May I ask if Sister Yang is ill?"
Zi Hua shook her head. "It's for my injured lady-in-waiting. If your ladyship could just lend me half—no, a small piece of that ginseng, her life would be—"
"Is the lady-in-waiting you are speaking of the audacious servant who bumped into Concubine Lin this afternoon?" Virtuous Consort Liu interrupted.
"Y-yes." Denial of Yue'er's "crime" nearly rolled out, but Zi Hua was afraid bringing it up would make things awkward.
"Sister Yang..." Virtuous Liu sighed, an exhale full of pity and something else. "There are many servants in the palace, but like imperial consorts, not everyone is deserving of their station. I understand your desire to help a servant with whom you share a close bond—I, too, have childhood attendants who accompanied me to the rear palace. However, you should also consider the balance of this relationship. Is sacrificing your pride and honour for sinner denounced by His Majesty worth it?"
Zi Hua's protectiveness flared.
"It was an accident!" she shouted. "Yue'er may be clumsy, but she's nothing if not kind, hardworking, and irreplaceable. She doesn't deserve to die because of one mistake!"
Virtuous Consort Liu's counter was swift and merciless: "A servant's job is to lessen their master's worries, not add to them. No amount of servant lives can make up for the loss of one imperial family member, whether it is a 'mistake' or not. Your current words could be interpreted as defiance of the sentence His Majesty the Emperor and Her Highness the Empress decided on."
Under Zi Hua's regretful and incredulous gawk, her voice softened, as did the measured sympathy in her eyes. "Had you requested the ginseng for someone else, anyone else, I would give it to you im the blink of an eye. But your lady-in-waiting has committed an irreversible sin that tarnishes both your reputation as an imperial consort and your integrity as a citizen of Li Empire. Such an individual is underseving of your mercy.
"I'm saying this for your own good... You do understand, don't you, Sister Yang?"
A sickening feeling rose within Zi Hua. She'd guessed Virtuous Consort Liu wouldn't be as virtuous as her title, but this... She hadn't expected this.
The taste of protests as they were swallowed was bitter—unprecedentedly so. For what was the point of arguing, when a conclusion had already been decided?
She gritted her teeth, salvaging the scraps of her composure. "Understood, Virtuous Consort."
Virtuous Consort Liu's smiled, then she feigned a yawn. "This has been a pleasant talk, but the Hai hour is approaching..." she trailed off.
"Sorry for taking up so much of your time," Zi Hua replied, standing up. "Goodnight, Virtuous Consort."
The moment she stepped outside the Palace of Hundred Virtues, the sky groaned and it started pouring.
Even the heavens looked down on her... but she couldn't give up because of one prickly rejection.
'One down, three to go...'
***
Palace of Glorious Beauty.
"She still hasn't left?"
"Not yet." Wang'er hesitated, thinking of the pitiful yet resilient figure kneeling in the rain. She added, "Noble Consort, you really don't plan to hear Noble Beauty Yang's plea? It's... It's raining quite heavily outside, and she's been kneeling for half a shichen..."
Noble Consort Meng rolled her eyes, shifting into a more comfortable position on her side sofa. "Whatever she has to say has nothing to do with me. I don't even remember her face."
"But she must have something important to say, otherwise—"
"Is Noble Beauty Yang your mistress, or me?" Noble Consort Meng snapped, throwing a pillow at Wang'er. "Besides, I never told her to kneel in the rain! If anything, Virtuous Consort Liu will probably use this to lament my cruelty or something at tomorrow's morning assembly. That two-faced busybody..."
She paused, considering the speculation she had blurted out in a fit of irritation.
"On second thought, go outside and tell her I'm asleep," she instructed, closing her eyes. "That should chase her off."
Wang'er sighed. She should've gotten used to her lady's apathy by now, but it never ceased to keep her on her toes.
"As you wish, Noble Consort."
***
"M-mistress, we've been kneeling f-f-for almost one shichen," Qiu'er said, teeth chattering. "H-How long are we going t-to keep th-this up?"
Zi Hua wasn't any better off. "J-just a lit-little l-longer..."
The sky was indigo now, but the rain showed no sign of stopping. Lightning flashed after her last word, and the Palace of Glorious Beauty's gates creaked open.
Relief hit Zi Hua like the piercing raindrops. She scrambled to her feet with Qiu'er and approached the servant who had opened the gate.
"Miss, will the Noble Consort see us?" she asked rapidly.
Another bolt of lightning illuminated Wang'er's apologetic expression. The hope in Zi Hua's eyes slowly died.
"Apologies, Noble Beauty Yang, the Noble Consort is asleep now and cannot be disturbed. Please leave."
Kaboom!
Her rejection rang in Zi Hua's ears, so heavy it drowned out the rain, the thunder—everything.
"P-please, miss! Could you wake up your mistress, even for a minute?" Zi Hua begged, grabbing her sleeve. "My friend is dying, and I heard the Noble Consort has a hundred-year ginseng. I only need—"
Wang'er clenched her teeth and brushed her off, turning around. "Apologies, Noble Beauty Yang," she repeated. "There's nothing I can do for you."
Creeeak...
The tall gates yawned shut. This time, it stayed closed for good.
Splash!
Zi Hua fell into a puddle, her shaking knees finally giving out.
"Mistress!"
Qiu'er tried to help her up, but they were both weak and unsteady from kneeling for so long, that she nearly got dragged down instead. During the ordeal, Zi Hua saw candlelight flickering inside the palace, and the silhouettes moving within.
Cold realisation seeped into her heart: Noble Consort Meng wasn't actually asleep; she just hadn't wanted to meet her.
Compared to Virtuous Consort Liu's casual hypocrisy and honeyed poison, this haphazardly disguised truth hurt more.
This manner of lazy lying, offhand dismissal, uncaring superiority... Clearly, Noble Consort Meng didn't care if she found out or not, as long as she was given a logical reason to leave and accepted it.
...And what choice did she have, except to accept it graciously?
It was all her fault for being a low-ranked consort—no, it was entirely her fault for not protecting Yue'er in the first place!
Zi Hua wiped her bleeding palms on her wet skirt roughly, angry at both the Noble Consort and herself. "Qiu'er, let's go."
Qiu'er shivered, but didn't let the umbrella over their heads shake. "W-where to next, m-mistress?"
She conjured up a mental map of the palace and quickly reached an answer:
"Clear Lotus Palace. I pray Wise Consort Tang is in a benevolent mood."