Status Elevation!

24 December 1745

[Fuk'anggan's POV]

"Young master! Wake up! Consort Chun is in labour now!"

I awoke to the butler of the Fuca residence nudging me. I have been tasked to look out for the birth of the royal baby and report it as fast as I can to father about the situation via letters sent out to the buttler of the Fuca residence.

When I arrived, palacemaids rushed back and forth Jingren Palace* with some fetching buckets of hot water while the others, fresh pieces of white linen cloth, crisp and neatly folded. From a distance, piercing screams can be heard.

There were already many people crowding outside the palace waiting anxiously. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager, the Empress, the noble ladies, palace servants and some Court officials.

"Ahhh!!!"

"Push harder! Push harder!"

"Ahhh!!! I can't do it. I'm giving up!"

"Nearly there! Push!!!!!"

"Ahhh!!!!"

"Last push! I can see the head!!!���

"The body is out!"

"I can't do it! Ahhh!!!!"

An air of excitement veiled over the Imperial household as the Emperor paced back and forth in front of the closed doors of the palace chambers. Beads of sweat can be seen trickling down his forehead even in the harsh bitter cold of the winter morning.

I paced around trying to keep as warm as possible as my hands are already half frozen from the cold. Dawn has finally broken with a silver of orange. It has been 4 hours since I was rudely awakened in my bed chamber. I marvelled at the magnificent hue of the sky.

"So beautiful!" I breathed in the freshness of the morning air feeling the stinging cold of the air inside my nostrils. It carried a light tinge of sweetness of the morning dew. I thought to myself when was the last time I had appreciated the beautiful view of the morning sky.

"Creak!" a chamber side door opened.

"A royal princess!" a palace nanny carried a neatly wrapped baby out of the chamber side door and handed the baby to the Emperor. Everyone present at the scene knelt down to congratulate the Emperor.

The Empress Dowager leaned over to adjust the baby wrap. As she did that, she squeaked in surprise.

"My! The little Princess is born with a Buddha's hand!"

The Emperor took a closer look at the Princess. True indeed, the 5 fingers of the right hand are linked with a thin layer of membrane resembling the Buddha's hand. It is certainly taken as an auspicious sign of heavenly protection of the Qing dynasty.

"Ha ha ha!!!!" the Emperor laughed heartily.

"The heavens are protecting our Great Qing. I shall bestow upon my 4th Princess the title of Princess Hejia of First Rank."

"Congratulations Your Majesty, Dowager Empress, Noble Consort Chun." the crowd said in unison.

The crowd was stunned as heads can be seen turning while remaining in kneeling position and low whispers were exchanged.

First rank princesses are only conferred to princesses born of the Empress. This is almost a direct admission that Noble Consort Chun will soon be elevated to Imperial Noble Consort, which is only 2nd to the status of the Empress.

However, imperial rules state that there could only be 1 Imperial Noble Consort and that strongly threatens the status of Imperial Noble Consort Lan.

Imperial Noble Consort Lan clenches her fists and puts on her best smile. It is either her death or someone else has to die. Something must be done fast and quick.

While everyone kept their heads down as they remained kneeled, I sneaked a glimpse of Noble Consort Lan's body language. I could almost smell a bloody war coming.

[Yongqi's POV]

From Mother Consort's main hall, I saw K'anggan heading towards my chamber. I ran across the hall to intercept him. Pulling him by his hands towards my study, I instructed Eunuch Li to keep everyone in close proximity away. I closed the door to my study and looked at K��anggan intensely.

"Tell me more about what you saw." I said softly.

I sat with full attention towards trying to gather as much information from him as possible. After Father Emperor's verbal announcement of the conferment of Princess Hejia, the palace has referred to her as the Buddha Princess. Everyone scurried to find a suitable gift to present to Noble Consort Chun and the Buddha Princess.

Rumors have been flying over the potential elevation of Noble Consort Chun to Imperial Noble Consort. It would be unprecedented in the Qing dynasty to have 2 Imperial Noble Consorts.

Mother Consort had looked extremely worried. Father Emperor has never shown her much favour and her character has been rather soft spoken. This has made her quite an easy target to be bullied by other women of the harem - especially Noble Consort Chun who would find every opportunity to make Mother Consort look bad in front of others. Now that Noble Consort Chun has a status higher than Mother Consort, I shudder to think about what could potentially happen.

"I agree with you that something terrible will happen soon. I need to ensure that whatever happens, do not implicate my Mother Consort into the storm." I softened into a whisper.

"You can count on my father and I. We will use our family resources to ensure that the both of you are protected." K'anggan whispered back.

I gave K'anggan a brotherly hug and left the study to help Mother Consort with the gift selections.

2 January 1995

[Elizabeth's POV]

"O-m-g! Look at the pinafore. A prestigious school is a prestigious school. Definitely a notch higher. Even the school uniforms are better than others." Aunt Lily reached her hand out to fiddle with the folds of my uniform.

I flinched uncomfortably at her movements as I didn't like the feeling of her fingers brushing against my knees as she ran her thumb against the seams.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Virginia coming out of her room groaning and rolling her eyes at Aunt Lily and at the commotion as she stomped back into her room.

"Elizabeth! Your school bus is arriving soon! Get your butt out of the house now. I don't want you to be late on the first day of school." dad shouted.

"What time is the school bus arriving?" I asked dad.

"Out! NOW!" he shouted as mom grabbed my school bag and dragged me out of the house.

I looked at my watch. Standing outside the apartment block at 5.50 am with hardly any vehicles passing by. Soon, as 6 am arrived, some neighbours started streaming out of the house to catch the first bus to go to work.

"Goodness! Elizabeth is going to St. Antonio's." the neighbour next door squealed.

"Really? Oh gosh! It's true! The rumors are true!" another neighbour squealed as they walked towards mom and I.

"Good morning!" I greeted the neighbours as my mom put on her 300 megawatt smile.

"Congratulations, your Elizabeth is going to big places. You are such a lucky mother."

"Yea, tell us what was your secret to get Elizabeth there?" another neighbour joined in.

"Me too, I want to know."

"Oh we are just lucky. We worked very hard for it." mom said to the neighbours as a couple more joined in the conversation.

I cringed. Worked hard? My foot. The enrollment deadline was already over by the time they decided to enrol me into a school after I begged them to place me in Johansson's.

The Prime Minister's daughter was announced to be enrolled in St. Antonio's Convent School, causing a media frenzy over the usage of his political office to gain unfair advantage for his daughter. If it wasn't for the fact that the Prime Minister wanted to show that there are equal chances for everyone to go into a prestigious school, there would not be a last minute place opened for me with a nearly 90% tuition fee subsidy.

"Beep beep!"

I was snapped out of my thoughts as the school bus arrived with the words "St. Antonio's Convent School" and the school crest with the words "Ego sum Via et Veritas et Vita" painted in gold.

My watch showed 7.05 am. So much for missing the school bus, huh? I rolled my eyes internally as I got up the school bus.