Phoenix

Chapter 15

The attending nobles seem to be enamored by the girl. Her dance is graceful and motions purposeful. I suppose they are captivated by the story her movements lead, the emotions that she casts on the crowd. Anyone could tell that her skill in dance is up to par with the few masters of the art.

The dance finishes with her final pose. The attendance applauses and shouts of encores can be heard from the crowd. They must not know how much effort and time it takes to learn one dance. There must be coordination with the secondary dancers as well. Understandably, she breaks from the stage and glides towards Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager smiles. "Good. Good. A beautiful dance. Have you traveled with a company before?"

The girl shakes her head. "Responding to the Empress Dowager. From a young age, I would perform dances for my family every day at supper. I loved seeing the joy my dancing would bring them, and I was happy to be the cause of such happiness. Now that I am in the Emperor's harem, I would like to perform dances whenever Mother Empress Dowager would wish."

The Empress Dowager nods as a smile graces her lips, pleased by her daughter-in-law. Yet, the Empress Dowager is a smart woman. It is clear as day that girl's words were said to appease her. Nevertheless, that is not to say the girl is fake or truthful, just that there must be a sense of caution when mixing one's emotions with compliments.

The Empress Dowager turns to her son. "Emperor, what is the title that you have bestowed upon Jiayi?"

He does not move nor turn to face his mother; seemingly absentminded, he simply stares past the girl he is being questioned about.

Silence.

Taking the Emperor's muteness as room for her to answer, the girl smiles and bows towards the ground, "I have yet to be bestowed a title."

The Empress Dowager's irises shift up slightly and focuses on something in the distance in my direction before turning her attention back to the girl in front of her. "Very well. You may rise, Noble Lady Wu."

Noble Lady. One rank below Imperial Concubine in the harem. By the way the girl holds herself, she is an affluent aristocrat—someone who deserves to be at least made a legitimate wife, not a bed warmer.

Is this a nod in my direction? The Empress Dowager elevated my status in the harem with that declaration.

"I, Noble Lady Wu, thank the Empress Dowager for the bestowment."

She retreats back to her seat, head down, lips take aback.

"Concubine Zhao..."

My attention immediately turns to a voice, higher, towards where the Empress Dowager sits. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Noble Lady Wu's head jerk up towards that same voice.

"I heard that you also prepared a dance". Consort Qin's calculating eyes come into view.

"A dance?" I turn non discretely to Noble Lady Wu. Consort Hua appears to be determined to pit me against her after all.

I see Noble Lady Wu's head turn to me, her eyes hellbent on challenging mine. I smile and look away. "No, I'm not a dancer," I tell Consort Hua.

An eyebrow lifts, and lips rise slightly in a smirk. "Oh? Were you... never taught?"

I wondered why she would mention a dance. She could connect my lack of basic talents to my origins, though I don't see how it would do much harm to me. My lack of noble beginnings is not a secret.

I shake my head. I know what she wants me to say. She wants me to describe how my humble origins did not allow so high of a privilege.

I'll do what she asks. There's no shame in it. "I do not have any formal training. The only dance lessons I got were from my sisters when we would run and play through the grasslands." I smile and reminisce the times when we did not have a worry in the world.

"Yes, play. It's wondrous how you had time for all of that Concubine Zhao when... when you could have directed your energies towards" she pauses, "something more... appropriate".

I hold back my tongue as a bitter taste settles at the back of my throat. In such a privileged position, as she had no idea-?

I hold a smile.  "Consort Qin must have mistaken my words. It seems as if you thought that I had all the time in the world. It was a rarity for my all of my siblings to get together, as we were restricted by our different... schedules, if you will, obligations that could not be ignored."

Without our chores, we wouldn't be able to support ourselves, lobar and work were necessary, or we would be dead.

"So when we do have time, I do not see why a little fun is wrong."

I did not have the privilege to dedicate time and money to dance lessons. Such endeavors were not helpful to our situation, especially if they added to the burden. How could she be so inconsiderate and- and just plain ignorant?

The lives of the rich... so far and out of reach from the commoners.

A sickly sweet smile is directed at me. "My apologies then," she manages to get out. "If not a dance, what could you have prepared?"

"Huiqing"

I retrieve the large rolled-up scroll from Huiqing, who is waiting behind me.

I rise up and walk towards the Empress Dowager, stopping before her.

One of her handmaids comes forward, and I hand her the large parchment, its contents still hidden inside of itself.

"Oh? What is this?"

I smile and curtsey. "Xiulan wishes Empress Dowager good health and fortune on her majesty's birth date."

The maid instructs another to hold the other end of the rolled of paper before stepping slowly away from each other, pulling their ends, unraveling my creation to present in front of the Empress Dowager.

"Oh!" someone exclaims

I look up towards the head of The Crown.

"Well? What is it?" I hear people whisper and murmur all about.

"I think that it's... characters in the form of longevity. Though..."

"It looks more like spilled milk!" someone higher up within the harem crackles.