The Royal Palace and the Rival
Standing infront of the massive opened gates, a woman stood in front, dressed in blue and white expensive gown, made with the finest silk the well-known tailor near their town owned. Hair neatly brushed, dark black strands of hair flying as the air blew softly, a stark contrast to a healthy pale white complexion. A sweet smile plastered upon those cherry red lips as guards from the gates came to greet her.
"Welcome back Noble Consort Li" the two guards greeted in unison, the woman nodded, watching the guards with warm brown eyes before making her way inside, hearing the two guards whisper about how gorgeous she looks today.
'Little did they know, a man lies within the mask of a beautiful maiden' the thought brought a smile to his face. This was way easier than he predicted, he really thought he would have a hard time getting inside but who knows the guards here are so stupid; or its just that the similarities of him and his beloved sister's features are too similar, either way, he got in with no problem so now it's time to execute his phase two; find the people mistreating his beloved sister and make them pay.
He made his way towards the manor where his sister resides and was atleast delighted to know that the place was quite as extravagant as their home. He placed his luggage and sat cross-legged at the chair not very ladylike, placing his head boredly at his arm, grimacing when the fake long red nails scraped his chin.
"Why did Xie Xie made my nails like this? she doesn't even have such long sharp nails" he sighed, scanning the place. It was a combination of modern and old with the dirty white walls that has golden intricate designs running up and down, expensive gold furnitures and baby blue curtains around tall open windows that look out over a beautiful garden full of different colored flowers, the scent of said flowers wafting inside the manor his staying everytime a gentle wind blows.
He slowly inhaled deeply, standing up and making his way towards the garden through the large window, staring at the beautiful garden with such calm and ease.
"Tis a nice place, it makes a person feel peace and tranquility..." he slowly paused as the wind blew hard, his long hair flying freely before settling down as the wind was gone, before sighing heavily.
"I shall not get carried away, such pity that the other consorts and concubines living here are a bunch of intolerable people" he scoffed, shaking his head and started heading back inside when something caught his eyes, making him pause in his tracts.
A mysterious person stood where he was standing earlier, facing away from him. The curtain had fallen due to a sudden hard breeze earlier, making him unable to identify whether it's a man or a woman. He slowly narrowed his eyes before taking a deep breath, composing himself and plastering the most warm and welcoming smile he could muster.
"Hello there, can I help you?" he asked, changing the tone of his voice into something more feminine and natural, like his beloved sister's gentle calming voice. He entered just in time as the person turned to look his way. It was a woman dressed in a fancy expensive gown that's entirely gold, lots of jewelries dangling on its neck, glinting at the light. It's facial features was something he recognized easily, a mature face with sharp jawline, plump lips painted blood red, high cheek bones and fiery dark brown eyes hidden behind a curtain of thick lashes, he knew his guess wasn't wrong about who the woman is considering the woman's aura screamed royalty and he instantly bowed his head in courtesy.
"Empress" he spoked softly, before the woman waved its hand and he finally stood straight, staring at the woman's face.
"I thought you'll be back in another week Mai, and how many times do I have to tell you to address me as Lady Khang" the woman spoke, her voice full of authority yet a gentleness linger behind her tone.
'Are the empress and Xie Xie quite close?' he asked himself, remembering that his sister never mentioned anything about being in friendly terms with the empress, or anything about the empress at all. He slowly gave the empress a shy smile, pretending to be bashful.
"I'm sorry for forgetting empre—I mean Lady Khang, it must been because I'm feeling homesick after staying a few days back at home" he explained smoothly, keeping his voice in a higher note than his usual deep baritone voice.
The empress surprised him by wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close and litteraly burying his head in her large beasts, almost suffocating him.
"Oh Mai, that's why I gave you permission to stay for two weeks in your home, I know you've been feeling homesick and definitely missed your family" the empress stated, stroking his hair almost like she was treating him like a child, making his cheeks taint pink when he felt his garment getting tighter, he hurriedly pulled away, fanning his flushed face with his arm, thanking the God's above that the gown his wearing has many layers or the thing in between his legs would've blown his cover, he was embarrassed to act in a such way towards the empress, mentally scolding himself, yet he was surprised once again when the empress laughed softly.
"Still getting flushed as always, how adorable can you be Mai?" the empress stated, taking a seat and grabbing his arm, pulling him close to seat beside her way too close for his comfort, making him hold his breath, trying to act as normal as possible.
"L-lady Khang, isn't this way too close?" he asked, slapping himself mentally when his voice cracked and stuttered yet the empress just giggled playfully, a mischievous smile making its way into the empress's plump lips.
"If you keep acting like that, I would suspect that you prefer woman over men my sweet Mai~" the empress teased, and right now he was 100% sure he was red as a tomato as he tried to get away with the empress's teasings.
'XIE XIE YOU DIDN'T WARN ME ANYTHING ABOUT THE EMPRESS!' he screamed in his head as the empress continue to tease him playfully.
. . . . . Meanwhile, at the Li Manor . . . . .
"Achoo!" Mai sneezed, wiping her nose with a napkin while she munched at a drumstick.
"I wonder who's thinking about me" she stated thoughtfully before continuing to eat the large platter or drumsticks in her lap.
. . . An hour later (back at the Royal palace) . . .
"One more!" the empress cheered as she poured his cup to the brim with wobbling hands.
"My lady I think this is enough, you're quite drunk yourself" he whispered, gulping down the liquor from his cup in one go, savoring the burning feeling of it going down his throat.
"Oh hush now, I can drink more!" the empress stated, her voice getting a little sloppy and she wasn't staring at him but at the wall, making him sigh, waving a bunch of servants to fetch the empress and get her back to the palace.
The servants hurriedly obeyed, bowing their head before grabbing the empress on both arms, steadying her before the servants carried her out while she mumbled incoherent words that sounded like asking to refill his cup and go for another round. He slowly looked down, rubbing his stomach and feeling the liquids inside shake making him grimace.
'Even if the empress asked for another jar of liquor, I still won't be drunk' he thought proudly, standing up and waving one of the servants that served his sister to clean up the mess while he go and drain the liquids in his bladder... secretly, cause he may need to pretend and act as a woman but he will never use the toilet the way a woman does, never in his life.
As he finished emptying his bladder, he went out to the garden, quite enjoying the scent of the different kinds of flowers and the peace and tranquility it provides, it clear his made and made it easier to think on executing his plans on revenge for his beloved sister's harassment.
Thinking about it, it has just been a day and it may take quite some time so he needs to stay alert at all times, specially when he's around other consorts and concubines. His thoughts slowly came to the time he spent with the empress, her teasings, playful banters and the emotions in her eyes were genuine and those things brought a smile to his face, knowing that there are some people that her sister trusted and it was the empress herself which made it even more surprising because of the fact that the last time he encountered the empress was when....
His mind suddenly drifted on a distant memory and he instantly blink it away, keeping it locked inside the deepest darkest depths of his mind.
'I don't have time to think about those past, I need to focus on my revenge for my beloved sister' and that thought brought him back to his plan again when—
"My love, you're finally back!" a deep husky voice spoke from behind.
He flinched, turning his face slowly almost like he's scared of who it is when he came face to face with Xian Khang, the one and only rival he had since he was a child and now that person is the Emperor and called his sister— my LOVE!?