Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

I realize that the names can be quite confusing and hard to remember so here's a little character outline so far:

Bai Shen Ting: the protagonist

Bai Shen Min: her twin brother.

fú rén: the legitimate wife of the Prime Minister.

Bai Lan Min: the concubine sister of the Prime Minister.

Bai Ming Yue: her daughter born out of wedlock.

Old Madam Bai: a concubine to the former Minister who was made the Old Madam of the Bai family by the Prime Minister.

Du Shao Lian: a concubine of the the Prime Minister.

Bai Ru Lan and Bai Ru Lian: her daughters.

Guo Fei Yan: a concubine of the Prime

Minister

Bai Fei Fei: her daughter.

Okay that's good.

Bai Ming Yue's pov:

How hard is it to trick a dummy.

With how self-centered she is, this was supposed to be a piece of cake.

Earlier that day, Bai Ming Yue left for her general etiquette lessons with the rest of the concubine daughters. On getting there, she was cornered and pushed out of the hall by Bai Ru Lian and her maids.

"Such a disgrace. You have the nerve to show your face here"

"Bai Ru Lian how dare you?!" The nerve of this idiot to push me.

Everyone tacitly turned away and pretended not to see what was happening.

"Insolent bastard! How dare you address her in that manner?"

Ptuii!!

Bai Ru Lian's maid spat at her.

Bai Ming Yue's maid assisted her back on her feet. Her dress had already been stained with dirt.

"You wait till Uncle hears of this, you will not be spared"

"You mean father?. My father would of course hear about it but a bastard like you how dare you try to call my father your uncle?!" Bai Ru Lian scoffed. "It's the Prime Minister to you!". She away walked into the hall.

Bai Ming Yue's eye reddened. Was it her fault her mother slept with a slave?! She pushed off the maid trying to console her and walked back to her courtyard.

Sweet rose courtyard.

Even the name was a joke.

All the maids knew that to be positioned here meant a demotion.

There was no powerful madam or family backing this courtyard, it was only the Old Madam.

"… Ahhh yes yes."

"So good… ahhh yes…"

"Urggghh…"

Bai Ming Yue stopped in her tracks.

She walked towards the noise and came upon a broom shed. The door was partially closed but not firmly shut. One peek inside would cause people to blush in shame.

"What are you standing there for?! Leave!"

The maid accompanying Bai Min Yue quickly bowed and ran off.

Despite the shout, the people inside were oblivious to what was going on outside.

"Yes right there! Faster!... Ahhh… "

Bai Ming Yue turned and went back to her room bolting the door tight.

She walked towards her mini study and started grinding the ink. Going back to the lesson hall would make her late. She did not want to leave that impression on the teacher. She summoned her maid and asked the maid to inform the teacher that she fell and injured her arm. She also warned her that no matter what happened after she said that, she should start crying and run off.

The maid went off to deliver her message.

An hour later, the maid came back with red eyes and a bright red handprint on her cheek. This would teach this idiot not to eavesdrop.

"What happened?". Bai Ming Yue feigned sympathy.

"Young Mistress, this slave went and informed the scholar that you fell and got injured but was interrupted by Young Miss Bai Ru Lian who slapped this slave and shouted that a mere shove was not enough to injure you, that the Young Miss is lying"

"Then…?"

"Young Miss after that the scholar became furious and punished Young Miss Bai Ru Lian to write the four womanly virtues six times and apologize to you in the next class" the maid bowed and looked up.

"You have done well," she pulled out a hairpin from her head and threw it on the floor. "Your reward."

The maid immediately rushed and picked the hairpin before hiding it inside her dress. "Thanking the Young Miss," she bowed and ran off.

"Truly disgusting"

She immediately pulled out her handkerchief and wiped her hands repeatedly before throwing it to the floor.

The door was suddenly pulled open before stopping quickly, " Yue'er, why are you still here?"

She immediately pulled her jacket collar towards her neck and entered the room.

Bai Ming Yue rised and greeted her with a bow.

"I was in my way before an accident happened so I came back"

"An accident?!!," she looked around. "Where is that stupid maid that let you fall down?"

"It was Bai Ru Lian that pushed me"

This shut her up quick.

Bai Ming Yue stood up and bowed before saying she was going to take a nap. She was getting sick of smelling the cheap perfume of the slaves on the woman.

That woman was her mother, Bai Lan Min.

The concubine sister of the Prime Minister.

The same whore who's slept with more than half of the Prime Minister's male slaves and guards.

And what made Bai Ming Yue even more furious was her pathetic attempts to hide it. Nobody cared much about this courtyard so it was almost deserted yet she went and sullied the broom closet.

And the marks all over her body. She just couldn't look at that woman. It was her fault she was being bullied like this by everyone and yet she is still being so shameless.

Later that day, a maid came to inform them about the merchant and his troupe that visited the mansion. At the open area, the merchant had already displayed his wares and different maids were chattering and having fun. She was stopped once again by Bai Ru Lian but this time she was also accompanied by Bai Fei Fei.

"Oh, you're here? Aren't you at the wrong place or did you lose your way trying to find your father?," she looked at Bai Ming Yue in taunt.

Bai Fei Fei let out a quick laugh before covering her face with her sleeve. All the maids around them also snickered and let out short laughs.

" Bai Ru Lian watch your words!"

All of a sudden, the whole place came to a hush. They all looked around before seeing who caused the silence.

The Di daughter Bai Shen Ting was walking off a small drawbridge wearinga white dress with orchids patterned at the edges of her sleeves and gown. She was adorned with big and sleek looking pearls on her head that looked expensive.

"Take a look Bai Ru Lian. Even with all your behavior and shouts, we even you go silent at the sight of Bai Shen Ting"

"You shut up you bastard…!"

"So what if I'm a bastard?," she cuts off Bai Ru Lan. "There's no difference between me and you. Our mothers both have no substantial backing and we only rely on the Prime Minister"

"No matter how you shout and bully me it doesn't change the fact that you're just a measly concubine daughter living under the whim of the Di daughter." Bai Ming Yue eyed Bai Ru Lian in mockery before walking off.

Bai Fei Fei snorted and walked away slowly with her maids.

The fanfare ended quickly when an accident happened in the lake between Bai Shen Ting and a peasant.

Bai Ming Yue was currently getting ready for dinner. Her hair was being handled by two different maids whilst another was staining her fingernails with paint. She was being treated like a favored Di daughter by her mother's maids.

She looked around for her mother and snorted in disgust.

Half a stick of incense later, her mother, Bai Lan Min walked in with a rosy complexion and dewy look.

"Aiyo! Look at how pretty you look?"

She moved behind Bai Ming Yue and hugged her, nudging her cheek with her own.

Bai Ming Yue held her breath and quickly detached herself from her mother.

"Mother, quickly dry your hair and get ready for dinner you took time with your bath," She looked at her nails and then instructs the maid handling her nails to help her mother.

At the mention of her bath, Bai Lan Min's eyes twinkled with excitement and she blushed faintly. She had never tried that before today but it was worth it. Who knew it was possible between two men and one woman? The attentions of two men nearly caused her to faint in pleasure.

On the way to dinner they came across Concubine Guo Fei Yan.

"Greetings concubine Guo Fei Yan"

They both bowed and also received curt greetings before Guo Fei Yan walked off with her daughter not even allowing her daughter greet Bai Lan Min.

"Stupid bitch," her mother spat at where the concubine previously was before walking into the hall with Bai Ming Yue.

Inside the hall, they waited for the peasant and his daughter who was joining them for a long time before they finally made an appearance.

At the sight of the wrapped up peasant girl, she wondered if she was injured or if she fell into the lake.

The question quickly made her drenched in cold sweat as she remembered her hands. She looked around the other concubines with their daughters before putting her left hand under her table and hiding it under her long sleeves.

Luckily no one was paying attention to her and was just watching the debacle currently going on.

Apparently the peasant was faking the severity of her injury and was dragged off by her father.

She continued eating with her right hand even when her mother shot her a questioning look.

After droning off for a while, she looks up to see a small argument happening between the Prime Minister, the fú rén and the Old Madam.

After listening, it was about Bai Shen Ting's teacher.

She has heard that the Great General Wang, Bai Shen Ting's paternal grandfather offered and even bribed the scholar with plenty of gold and even a title before stealing him from the Great Empire of Ming. The scholar was the one who's family for generations have tutored the royal family of Ming Empire.

It was due to the current unrest in Ming and the uncertainty of the royal family with the fact that the current Emperor of Ming was on his death bed with a sickly crown prince as his only heir after his second son was kidnapped and lost that the imperial tutor took the risk to be called a traitor and leave the Ming Empire for Da Liang.

""But we also want famous teachers teaching our daughters. Why is it only Shen Ting that gets to have one?!"

The whole hall quickly shut up.

If it was one thing the Prime Minister hated, it would be children butting in elders conversation.

'smack!'

"Vile creature! On your knees!".

Stick of incense- a way to tell time back then usually ranging about 15-40 minutes.

A/N: Hello lovelies. Don't forget to like, comment and refer my story to everyone you know.