Chapter 9; Women's Pavilion (Inner Court)..

Over the next few days the palace was relatively Quiet ; The people of East Qing had been sent back to their nation, the royal astronomer had picked a date for the wedding in alignment with the will of the heaven's and preparations were being made for it was to be a double celebration ( the crown princes' coronation as Emperor and his marriage) but as usual there was a storm brewing in the prime ministers home .When Tang Rhong Guang informed his second daughter that the Emperor was to wed the princess of East Qing, she went into a fit of rage and nothing could be done to stop her. Tang ruoxue had been in love with the Long tian xi for as long as she could remember, when they younger she'd do anything possible to gain his attention but he always treated her with disregard .She finally saw her chance when, the Emperor died and her father promised her that she would wed the crown prince and become Empress and now some stupid nothing from East Qing was trying to take that away from her, she wouldn't let that happen she made a silent resolve in her mind to destroy that East Qing princess.

Today was the first time that hao mei would attend the meeting of the inner court also know as the women's pavilion. The same way the Emperor's court was a place where officials, ministers and governors gathered to discuss the political well-being of the nation, the palace also had an inner court where the women of the Imperial family gathered to discuss social etiquette, morality, etc but most importantly to pay homage to the Empress and even though it was unspoken; to garner her favour. Hao mei was quite nervous because she knew that the women of the inner court wouldn't welcome her presence even though they didn't say anything they had made it quite obvious even the maids treated her with scorn but she could hardly do anything about it because she had no power , she had even considered reporting the situation to the crown prince but she hadn't seen him for a long time.Another reason she didn't react to the harsh treatment was that all the tricks played on her were mapped out by the Empress who hated hao mei because she felt that hao mei had had displaced her sister who was supposed to marry the crown prince and as rumor had it the Empress was besotted with her sister. There was nothing she could do about the situation but to bear and hope things turned out better.

As Hao Mei entered the room the place immediately went silent as everyone turned to stare at her it was quite obvious that they had been talking about her from the awkward glances they threw at her. She just silently tool a seat to wait for the Empress' arrival. They for an hour, then two and three but still no sign of the Empress hao mei had already began to suspect that something fishy was going on when a maid appeared to confirm her suspicions. The maid had been told to inform them that the meeting of the Inner court had been postponed to the evening as the little prince had fallen ill. Hao mei was sure this was probably just another elaborate scheme to throw her of her feet but she was determined not to fall.

As the evening approached Hao mei began to prepare in order to avoid being late. She was almost done with her headdress when a maid came to report to her that the meeting was already in progress as the time had been moved forward ,hao mei did her best to arrive in time or at least be fashionably late but it was too late. It dawned on her that this must have been the plan from the beginning ,she had little choice than to fall for their tricks.When she entered the hall everyone turned to stare at her, some daring ones even sneered at her.

"greetings your highness " she said greeting the Empress dowager.

"you insolent wench you dare to defy my instructions and come late for the seance. " hao mei was speechless she hadn't been given any prior notice. She looked around her and finally realized what was wrong; every other woman in the room was dressed in white cotton cloth and silver jewelry while she was the only person wearing gold jewelry and coloured silk clothing.

" have you nothing to say? I gave an instruction and you dared to defy me, it seems like you have no regards for me. You are yet to become the Empress and you are already crossing the line "

"so that's what this is all about. She's proving her authority before I even become empress.

"you have no regard for authority nor a sense of moral etiquette, so according to you crimes I shall temper punishment. You shall be stripped of your robes and flogged twenty five Times by the guards. " the Empress dowager said with a distinctive smirk forming on her face. When the Empress dowager saw that the East Qing princess did not say anything she was shocked. She had expected her to cry and plead with her to reduce the punishment or for forgiveness.

"Do you have any complaints " she asked giving Hao mei one last chance to disgrace herself by begging her for mercy but hao mei refused to be humiliated by

the empress instead she did the unexpected

" Thank you for your benevolence your highness ,I know you are only doing this to teach me to differentiate right or wrong ." This only enraged the Empress dowager more she ordered the maids to strip her of her robes leaving her in undergarments. The guards dragged her away to be flogged and everyone followed. It was well worth it if only to see the unwanted, guest humiliated.

By now how made had been whipped twenty times and she felt like she couldn't take anymore. She did not scream or give away any feeling of pain because she was not willing to give the Empress dowager and her sisters that satisfaction. As the whip was about to come down again an all too familiar voice ordered them to stop. It was long tian xi .

" what's the meaning of this " long tian xi asked, rage evident in his voice. At first no one had the courage to answer but after some minutes the Empress dowager finally replied in a shaky voice " your highness, she disregarded and disrespected the inner court and all that I stand for.

Long tian xi looked at her blankly before saying "do you realise that until we are married she is not a member of this court, you dare to bestow punishment on someone who is not under you. You will apologize to her right this instant " By now hao mei had been helped up from where she was being flogged and was standing beside long tian xi.

"I....I Am sorry for the misunderstanding "the empress dowager said.

Without letting hao mei reply long tian xi swooped her into his arms and carried her away. The Entire palace staring at them from behind. When they arrived at lishui pavilion long tian xi put her down and wanted to help her tend to her wounds but Hao mei turned to him and with a nasty look on her face she asked him to get out.

After he left she found herself smiling absentmindedly If not for long tian xi she might have died today, she wanted to be nice to him, to thank him for saving her from the nasty empress but she had to remember that no matter what he did he was still the enemy.., whereas whose fault was it that she had to stay here and come in contact with that nasty witch everyday. At least her plan to humiliate her had backfired so it was one good thing "mei mei what's wrong with you, you're smiling when you just got whipped. Are you OK " it was hao mei's Imperial aunt yue .she was her only friend and companion since birth as there wasn't much difference in their ages,.

"high it's nothing " she said wiping the smile of her face.

Another update. Sincerely hope you all are enjoying the book. I feel like I have to work on how I write face slaps or humiliating scenes.