Sunlight streamed through lattice-patterned windows, reflecting off fragrant rosewood furniture and spotless floorboards. Tall shelves lined the wall near the entrance, gleaming with fresh polish and the promise of decorating it with personal items. In the centre of the room was a circular dining table; to the right, a side couch was positioned to have full view of the backyard's scenery—perfect for daydreaming.
Cling! Cling! Cling!
Zi Hua pushed aside the heavy, beaded curtain separating the reception area and an inner chamber. She was met with a canopy bed, a simple dressing table, and several folding screens obstructing further impressions.
As expected, it was a bedchamber, not large enough to be described as "magnificent", but not small enough for discomfort either.
It was cosy in a familiar way. It would be her new one from now onwards.
"Although the eastern chamber isn't large, doesn't it resemble your room at Yang Manor, miss?" Yue'er commented, echoing her thoughts.
Zi Hua's laugh dissipated under her breath. Her maiden room was larger than this, but it certainly didn't contain fixtures as valuable as fragrant rosewood.
"Yes," she replied, "I suppose it'll save me effort getting used to."
She entered the bedchamber, each step interchangeably carrying the weight of surrealness and the lightness of curiosity.
This place didn't look like a home, with its bare walls, unadorned furniture, and—she ran a finger along the dressing table's carved floral edge—and these too-pristine surfaces.
She walked behind the folding screen, which concealed a bathing room. The cold from the neglected tiles crept through her soles and lingered. A lone tub and clothing rack stared back at her wordlessly.
What had she expected?
Zi Hua retreated back into the bedchamber and sat down on the empty bed. Even the new sheets felt stiff and unwelcoming beneath her hands.
There was no warmth here. No personal history and no familiar faces save for Yue'er.
And yet it would be her home. Already was.
'We'll always have your back, lil sis. Trust your instincts and follow your heart.'
But what if her instincts had nothing to say? What if her heart ached with the dull sting of a hollow accomplishment?
She'd said she didn't care about passing the selection, but that was just self-deception speaking. Deep down, she secretly wished to be sent home honourably, to leave all the stifling rules, overwhelming glamour, and suffocating pretences behind.
But that was obviously a pipe dream now. The only thing left was acceptance.
Zi Hua exhaled loudly, as if all her disappointment could be purged in one breath. When she opened her eyes again, they were clearer than ever.
If the higher powers dictated she was to be a consort, then the most devoted consort she shall be—on her own terms.
"Yue'er," she called. "Ask Qiu'er to meet me now. I have a few questions for her."
Yue'er watched clarity wash over her face and smiled.
'The young lady was never the type to dwell on negativity for long.'
"Yes, miss."
***
In a room with only generous sunset rays for decoration, one young woman sat at the elaborate hostess's seat, another backed her dutifully, while a third stood ramrod straight opposite them.
They were none other than Zi Hua, Yue'er, and Qiu'er respectively.
"Qiu'er, how long have you been working in the rear palace?"
"Answering mistress, eleven years since I was thirteen."
"You must be very familiar with the inner workings here, then. I'd appreciate if you could explain the situation to me in detail," Zi Hua requested.
Qiu'er bowed humbly. "You flatter me, mistress, but I will share everything I know," she said. "Excluding the empress, there are sixteen consorts who have accompanied His Majesty the Emperor before he ascended the throne. Noble Consort Meng, Wise Consort Tang, and Virtuous Consort Liu hold the highest upper first-ranks, followed by Lower Second-Rank Consort Chen and Upper Third-Rank Consort Xu.
"The others ranked higher than you are Noble Concubine Gong, Concubine Lin, Madame Huang, and lastly Madame Ye, who lives in the western chamber of the Palace of Tranquillity."
Curiosity lit up Zi Hua's eyes. "What is Madame Ye like? I didn't see her on the way here. Should I pay her a visit? It's customary, isn't it?"
Contrary to her keenness, Qiu'er responded with hesitation. "Actually, mistress... Madame Ye is one of the most elusive consorts in the rear palace. I've only seen her a handful of times since transferring to this palace last year, and she always looked so frail. However..."
She trailed off, stoking Zi Hua's interest even more. "However?" she prompted.
Behind her, Yue'er also blinked anticipatingly like a mouse who had found cheese.
'Like mistress, like servant,' Qiu'er noted, lips twitching.
Still, she had to answer, so she stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Madame Ye was a commoner who caught His Majesty's eye when he was crown prince, but after two miscarriages, His Majesty barely visits her. Yet, he still awarded her the position of Upper Fifth-Rank Madame—even higher than some blueblood concubines.
"Besides, I've bumped into her servants while collecting supplies before, and they were never shunned or slighted like servants of unfavoured consorts." Her murmur dropped to a covert whisper, "And the western palace never actually lacks anything despite being detached in terms of connections. It is most suspicious, if I may say."
"I agree..."
Zi Hua contemplated the likelihood of survival in the rear palace without a noble background, but Ding Meng Meng somehow came to mind. Even the daughter of a fourth-rank official was mysteriously poisoned and mercilessly eliminated from the consort selection. If Qiu'er's observations were correct, how did Madame Ye tread the line between favour and disfavour so subtly?
Not to mention, Zi Hua still harboured doubts about Madam Xiu's judgement: Ding Meng Meng's panic and confusion were too real to be an act—that much she could distinguish as her roommate and main target.
Secondly, was Qiu Rong's involvement an unlucky coincidence, or a glimpse at the truth? Instead of proving her innocence, she immediately cut ties with Ding Meng Meng and sealed the guilty verdict, as though in a hurry to close the case. And she had succeeded, probably because Madame Xiu daren't go against the empress dowager's niece.
Lastly, there was something Zi Hua hadn't told anyone. A minor detail, with severe repercussions.
The rouge compact.
It could've been a trick of the light, or a paranoid illusion, but... when Ding Meng Meng had given her the rouge she admitted was laced with lily pollen, its container was smooth without embellishments.
Sometime during her breakdown, she had crashed into the female physician, and the compact had fallen down. Zi Hua had picked it up in the chaos... and saw a tulip carving on its bottom.
In that instance, the fragmented clues stood out: the fresh lilies by Ding Meng Meng's bedside, her unbalanced relationship with Qiu Rong, the poison ivy extract and redundant lily pollen...
How had the silver compact changed hands and appearance? Was Qiu Rong truly the mastermind? If not, was he—or even likelier, she, in the rear palace right now, coiling over the next victim's head like a venomous serpent?
Zi Hua gave an involuntary shudder.
And... how many such serpents lied in the rear palace?