The Empress Wears Gucci

61

       No one could recover from that surprise, which is the surprise of someone you trusted, showing you their true colours. I wondered how far she would've gotten if I did forgive her. Chang Ying had the smarts to pull it off—to portray a whole different persona of herself to me and everyone else. It was manipulative. It was a very good manipulative plan.

       They preach so much about morals and virtue, but I barely see anyone following these rules. Even the officials will plot against each other. Of course, people can vary. Their personality, looks, values, interests, hobbies, can vary, however, why must there be so much plotting and need for power here? Has Eastern philosophy not yet taken off? Either way, it wasn't just ancient China. It was ancient Rome, Greek, Egypt, and even up to my year, 2018, where people will do whatever it takes for money and power. Is the concept of money and power such a bad thing? No. I believe not. But in the wrong hands, can it cause a complete disaster? Yes. Absolutely. The history of the events that had happened before I was born scared me and the present still scares me now. Is it human nature to plot and scheme for a little bit of dominance? We all die at the end, don't we? We all sleep, we eat, we breed, and we die. That is the way we were meant to be doing, and yet we have overcomplicated the way we live. 

         Ancient China. The place I never knew I'd live in. How fast time has passed me by! And how grateful I was that after all that I've been through, I still have remained unharmed. For all I know, this could be hell and I did die, but if this is hell, perhaps hell isn't too bad. 

       I still haven't recovered from my interaction with Chang Ying. I must say, I have to acknowledge her plan and her brains to even pull it off. She tricked me. To make matters even worse, I almost tricked myself into excusing her behaviour. I doubted everything. It must've been because I was afraid of losing another friend. 

          "Madame Ying Yue." A eunuch revealed himself to me, dipping his head before looking up at me. It was Lian Ying, the Emperor's main eunuch. He stood before me, holding a small smile. 

          As I placed my brush down, I glanced at Hua Er quickly before looking down at him. "What is it?"

       "His Majesty has requested that you see him," Lian Ying responded. "If you will, please follow me."

       Hua Er gave me a quick nod before urging me to hurry up. Without saying another word, I hastily walked down, giving the eunuch a quick smile. I was afraid of what was going to come up. The Emperor was busy at this time. My heart was racing. I knew Lian Ying felt my hand sweat against the palm of his hand. But I didn't want to ask him anything. I chose to keep my mouth shut. 

      Then, an immediate thought came to my mind. If the Emperor tells me beforehand that I was going to be the next empress, what would I do? Thank him? I started to feel a spike of adrenaline in my body. And a spike of guilt—I started to think things through. I wasn't ready for this position. Once I get it, was I planning to leave? How could I just leave like that? At one point, I'd have to break the news to the Emperor and tell him that I'm not even from here. There will be a point where I'll have to either fake a suicide or tell him the truth. Jaxon would leave as well. How will that make things any better? They would assume the worst and say that we were secretly lovers. Then the officials would have the biggest 'I told you' moment in history! If I was going to leave, I still didn't want to leave a bad reputation for myself in this place. Call me egocentric if you want, but I don't want to be known as a woman who was disloyal to the Emperor. 

        My heart was hammering against my chest as I climbed into the sedan chair. Since I could hear the pounding of my heart, I was silently hoping that the eunuchs around me couldn't.