Chapter 9 - Tea Party

Xiu Ying chose a light blue robe with small embroidery at the end of the outer robe. Hair ties up in a ponytail and no makeup. If he comes to the party like this, he has the simplest looks but still, the prettiest. Xiu Ying looks at himself in the mirror and couldn't help but scoffs. 'I can fall in love with myself.'

Jing Yi smiles widely, feeling satisfied with his work on Xiu Ying's hair. 'Now, no one can belittle my young master's look!'

Xiu Ying walks to Yanxi Palace, where Noble Consort Li Na resides. Along the way, the servants and guards couldn't help but turn their heads around and their eyes kept on sticking to Xiu Ying until his figure was out of view.

Actually, it was wrong for other men to stare at the emperor's concubine but the urge to admire the beautiful figure makes them forget about the rule.

When Xiu Ying arrived at Yanxi palace, he's a little bit surprised because all three consorts were already there, enjoying their tea. Xiu Ying quickly approached them and couldn't help but smirk in his heart when he saw the snickers on two from three of them. When he is a meter from them, Xiu Ying greets them one by one.

"Greetings Noble Consort Li Na"

"Greetings Consort Hui Yin"

"Greetings Concubine Wen Qian"

Looking at Xiu Ying's stunning appearance, Li Na and Hui Yin couldn't help but frown. But not Concubine Wen Qian, who prefers to steal a glance once in a while then lowers her head.

"Oh my... Concubine Xiu Ying. It's not proper of you to come late to our party. As a concubine, time is gold. You need to be punctual," said Hui Yin while scanning him up and down.

"Well, since it's just us today, so we don't mind. But what if you're going to attend any banquet or meeting with His Majesty and you're late, you'll bring shame to His Majesty's face!" Li Na sighs and shakes her head, showing that she's disappointed with Xiu Ying.

'Wow! Never thought they're going to start as soon as I came here. Hasty, aren't they?' Xiu Ying remains unaffected by their words.

"Sorry, My Ladies. But Xiao Mao, Lady Li Na's servant informed me that the tea party will be held this evening, so I don't think I was late." With his face held straight, Xiu Ying retorts.

"Oh my... yes it's in the evening but shouldn't you come earlier than that? If Li Na jiejie said evening, then you should come before evening time!" Hui Yin slightly raises her voice.

Xiu Ying turns his poker face to Hui Yin, "If this concubine is not mistaken, the earliest time for tea to be served in the evening is in shen's hours, am I right? But now, there is still a quarter of an hour before shen's hours. That's mean, all of my ladies are just TOO EARLY and I'm not even late."

[Shen's hours : 3-5 pm, but I mean here around 4 pm. Sorry if it's wrong]

Hui Yin clenches her robes and is about to stand but Li Na glares at her. "It seems Concubine Xiu Ying is right. We're just too early as we are all a little bit too excited. Let's just forget about it. Concubine Xiu Ying, please have a seat and join us." Li Na fakes a smile.

Xiu Ying walked around the round table to find an empty seat, but before he managed to say, "Well next time, don't forget to mention the exact time. In that way, I could come an hour earlier. I'll even help to serve the tea for all of my ladies."

Both Li Na and Hui Yin's mouth twitched.

Walking towards his seat while keeping a straight face, Xiu Ying gracefully took a seat. He's sitting opposite Li Na, Hui Yin on his right side, and Wen Qian on his left side.

Xiu Ying didn't pay too much attention to Wen Qian because from the memories he had, Wen Qian is not a threat or not the type that will cause him any harm. Wen Qian was sent to the palace unwillingly.

Her stepmother forced her father, who is Minister of Rites, to ask the emperor to make her a concubine. Wen Qian's stepmother knew that the emperor never wished to have a concubine so she sent Wen Qian to the palace in hope that the emperor will make her life miserable. But too bad for Wen Qian's stepmother. Even though Wu Zhang Wei didn't favor her, he also didn't hurt her. Deep down in her heart, Wen Qian felt relieved she was sent to the palace. At least, no one will disturb her if she stays low.

"Ahem.." Li Na fakes a cough to get their attention.

"It's been a while since we got together like this right? So....how have you guys been doing lately?" She glances at every one of us.

Hui Yin starts with a sigh. "Lately, I've been trying to learn to make snacks and pastries on my own. I'd like to let His Majesty to have a taste but..... each time I failed to make one. Maybe, I don't have a talent for it. Unlike Li Na jiejie. Be it cooking, sewing, you're excellent in it."

Li Na covers half of her face with her sleeves, hiding the faint blush, "Oh my... Hui Yin meimei, you flatter me. I'm not that good. It's just, I've been doing it since I was young so I kinda got used to it."

Xiu Ying lightly scoffs. 'What a dumb and dumber.'

Li Na turns to Wen Qian, "What about you, Wen Qian meimei? How's your life doing so far?"

Wen Qian plays with her fingers. "It- it's okay. Same as always. Nothing changed." She looks at Li Na timidly.

"Wen Qian meimei, how can you act like this? As a concubine, you should make an effort to get His Majesty's attention. Or maybe you can do something productive like what Hui Yin meimei did. Try to improve yourself by learning new things. There are so many things you can do in here but you just waste all the chances given." Li Na shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

Xiu Ying gives a look at the pale girl. 'It's not cold right now. Why is this girl trembling? Did it have something to do with any of them?'

"Xiu Ying meimei.." Li Na called.

'Meimei...? For God's sake! Girl.....can't you see I'm a man? Well yeah a ger but still a man. Get that title right first before you're trying to teach someone else.'

"You just returned from your parents' house right? How's the trip? I heard that you've become famous lately. Everyone in the town has been talking about you." She grits her teeth. When she heard the news that everyone was praising Xiu Ying's beauty, she could barely stay calm because when she went to the capital market, no one ever talked like that about her.

"Really? I didn't know about that. I've been busy spending time with my mother. She's keeping me occupied with the work of tending the garden at our house. I've no time to care about gossip." Xiu Ying having eye contact with Li Na, a sign of no backing down.

Li Na's eyes twitched. "Haha... Th- that's good. Rumors are just rumors. The people are too nosy with the lives of us, the concubines. Ah! Before I forget, I'd like to ask....why does Xiu Ying no longer wear... makeup? It- feels different looking at you without makeup."

Xiu Ying leisurely sipped the tea before he answered. "It takes too much time to apply. I feel kinda foolish in the past for wasting so much time on makeup only, meanwhile, I can use that time for other things."

Hui Yin interrupts with a smirk on her face, "But we like to see Xiu Ying jiejie with makeup. It suits you well."

"Sorry for disappointing all of you but I guess from now onwards you guys have to get used to my bare face. I won't use any makeup anymore. It gives me a lot of trouble." Xiu Ying barely holds his laugh when he sees the veins that almost pop out on both of their foreheads.

While the dumb and dumber busy calming themselves down, Xiu Ying turns to Wen Qian who didn't spit out any words since Li Na asked her before. The petite and pale girl seems to be in her own world.

Noticing the gaze from Xiu Ying, Wen Qian slowly turns her head towards him. Wen Qian became stiff for a moment when she met Xiu Ying's clear and gentle eyes, added with the faint smile on his lips. Realizing that it was rude to stare at someone else's face, Wen Qian quickly averts her eyes and mutters sorry.

"Pardon for disturbing your times together, my ladies." A male servant suddenly came greeted.

"I'm here to announce that Her Majesty and His Majesty will come here in a moment. They have something to announce to all of my ladies here."

'Empress Dowager and Emperor are coming here?!'

All of them thought the same and looked surprised, except Xiu Ying. As soon as the male servant left, Li Na and Hui Yin called their servant and asked them to make themselves look presentable. Meanwhile, Xiu Ying takes this chance to swallow each and every pastry on the table.

When one woman in her late 40s and another young man in his 20s walk into the courtyard, all the concubines and servants bow.

"Greetings Your Majesty."

"Rise," said Wu Zhang Wei.

When all four concubines straighten their backs, he looks around and his eyes stop at the prettiest one, who is wearing the light blue robe. He sizes him up and down.

'When you met me, you're wearing like you're mourning. But now, meeting with these girls you're wearing something like this. Not enough with men, even the women you want to enchant?'

Empress Dowager Wu Jiaying noticed that his son was frowning, then she followed where Wu Zhang Wei's eyes landed. When she sees it, her eyes widen.

'Wait...who is this beautiful guy? I don't remember him as one of my son's concubines. Did Zhang Wei secretly take him in?' While thinking about this, Wu Jiaying slowly gets closer to Xiu Ying.

[Bengong: I (referring as the empress or concubine), when speaking to a person or audience of lower rank or status]

"Pardon Bengong...but...your name?" She asked directly to Xiu Ying, which surprised Wu Zhang Wei and other concubines.

"Your Majesty, this concubine named Li Xiu Ying." Xiu Ying folded his hand to the front and bows.

"Xiu Ying? Son of Prime Minister Li?" Knowing that the ger in front of her is the rumored weird concubine surprised her for the second time.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Seeing all the Empress Dowager's attention being given to Xiu Ying, Li Na and Hui Yin grit their teeth.

After taking a seat, Wu Jianying speaks up. "Actually, Bengong just wanted to inform all of you, my princess who was supposed to return a few weeks ago will return in two days and this time is for sure. Bengong would like to hold a small banquet. So, Bengong would like to ask, is there anyone who would like to volunteer to help Bengong handle the banquet?"

Li Na and Hui Yin's eyes gleam. It is clearly seen that they want to do it but in order not to show they're too eager for it, they stay still.

"Bengong asked all of you because Bengong doesn't want you to think that Bengong is siding with anyone. So, to be fair, let's just find a volunteer."

From when he came until now, Wu Zhang Wei sticks his eyes on Xiu Ying. He's frowning when the latter didn't seem to care about the banquet and there's no sign of volunteering himself.

In the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Li Na was about to speak up, but he quickly interrupts. "Mother, it seems like they're too shy to say anything. How about mother gives this chance to... Concubine Li. We rarely see his involvement in this kind of thing."

Xiu Ying's eyes bulge. The urge to strangle someone is too strong.

"Pardon Your Majesty. But, for a lowly concubine like me, who has no worth shouldn't bear this responsibility. Maybe, it is more suitable for someone who is talented and responsible like Noble Consort Li Na." Wu Jiaying was quite surprised a concubine rejected the offer. Usually, a concubine will try hard to be more appealing.

"Mother, Zhang Wei thinks mother should just pass this matter to Concubine Li. Let him have the chance to SHOW HIS WORTH." Zhang Wei stressed on the last parts, reminding Xiu Ying what he told him before.

Wu Jiaying sighs. "Since the emperor has insisted, then Bengong will pass this task to Concubine Li. Hope you can handle this well. Even though it is just a simple banquet but still all the main ministers will be invited and we're gonna have a special guest too. So, our image depends on you."

Unwillingly, Xiu Ying said, "Yes Your Majesty. I'll try my best." He folded his hand to the front and bows.

When Wu Jiaying turned around to leave, Wu Zhang Wei smirked when he met the deathly glares from Xiu Ying. The interaction between those two cannot be escaped from Li Na and Hui Yin.. They can only lower their heads and clench on their robe tightly.