Just as Xiuying mother and step mother left alongside the Prime Minister, a maid called Qingge came out from the back of the flower she had been hiding. Everything is clear to her, she had gotten past the Empress's main gate. The royal guards at the gate had reduced to a quarter, one over four of what it used to be at the beginning.
She hastened out of the Eastern palace, she hid away avoiding the original route to the Empress's chamber, she didn't want any eye watching her. If she were to be caught, her life would be taken away from her.
*
Xiuying sat with a blank expression. She was now in control of her own body, mind and soul but it had time attached to it. After being away from her body for seven days, now she can appear whenever she wished and disappear when her time was up.
But for how long can she make use of Xiaofan? For how long can this go on? When will Xiaofan be allowed to return and she herself can return to her body fully. As long as she could control her mind that only means she could still return as the Empress. What happens to Xiaofan then? Will she return to her world? Will she be set free from here?
"Maid Yue, serve me my tea."
Maid Yue was astonished, after the Empress's so called death, though a little more push and she would left this world. She acted strangely. She would even yell, scream and do all sorts of things. But the person that had just spoken to her now was her Empress, with her sweet soft voice, gentle and light like a feather brushing against a human's skin.
"Yeah, ma'am." She served her Empress her favourite Oolong tea.
The Empress was very composed, she sat straight and lifted the tea with two hands. She took a sip, 'She didn't make noise while drinking?'
The Empress's manners was the highest in the whole of Ming Kingdom aside the Dowager's, but after her three days death she started acting up. The maid thought because she had gone for some times she had forgotten her well polished etiquette. Forgotten her gracefulness.
Who would have thought she was still sane?
She had cried when she saw her mother, even she the maid noticed her lady didn't act like this when the Dowager had visited earlier. She was acting a little but awkward. Her moves and words calculated. But now she seemed more like her normal self. Like the Empress she served.
"Bring me my embroidery board," Xiuying said with a gentle tone.
"...Yeah ma'am."
These two weren't the only one in the room as Peizhi and the rest couldn't help but peek at the Empress occasionally.
After she demanded for her embroidery board, Peizhi stared absentmindedly at the Empress, Xiuying felt the eyes and looked up, but the latter didn't look away.
Maid Yue had brought the board with pink silk material on it, she remembered clearly that the Empress's last embroidery was on a blue silk. She had embroidered on many other colours but she did it most on blue and pink.
The Empress would always send them away while doing her embroidery and when they returned, the Empress would have cleaned up all the treads. Not one of them had seen the aftermath of the embroidery or even her knitting.
She placed the board by the Empress's side and passed her the tread through the needle, then, stretched out her hand but after like some minutes the Empress hadn't accepted it. Did I pass in the wrong thread? She looked up and saw the far away look in the Empress's eyes,something compelled her to look at the direction in which the Empress was lost at, she did and saw the youngest maid staring right into the Empress's eyes. How dare this lowly being? An ordinary commoner... "Peizhi!" Maid Yue bellowed bringing the lost maid back to her senses. "How dare you? You dare look at the Empress? How dare you lay those lowly eyes upon her Royal Highness? Do you want your eyes gauged out? You little..."
"Maid Yue." Xiuying called the older maid to a halt.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... My... My crime is punishable by death."
"That's enough," Xiuying said. "Hand it over," she turned to the head maid. The woman then passed her the needle. Xiuying started her embroidery on the piece of pink silk. The texture soft, the surface smooth. If you tried using it to wipe off sweat then you would have to wipe for a century for the sweat to be completely wiped off.
Peizhi didn't break a sweat. After all the Empress was so nice, she couldn't hurt a single fly.
Xiuying sent them all out and was left alone to her embroidery.
"You have just a little time left." A voice inside her mind said.
"A little time left?" another asked.
"Yes!"
Xiuying clenched the material and it crumpled.
'How long do we have to keep this up? How long will this thing continue? For how long will Xiaofan be here?' She asked but no answer came.
*****
"Yeah, ma'am."
"The ban has truly been nullified? There's no mistake in this information right?"
"Yeah ma'am. The guards at the gate had reduced to a quarter of what they were and the gate has been opened..."
"OK, you can leave now."
The two speaking was none other than the sixth consort, Consort Meiwei with her spy maid, maid Qingge.
'The ban was just nullified and the Empress Dowager had already visited? She must have demanded that from the Emperor. Not only that but Lady Xiurong and Lady Zhenzhen too?'
'The emperor hadn't made an announcement, does that mean he plans on allowing only her relatives and the Dowager?' She wanted to know but who could she ask.
She sat down remembering the pain on her big toe. She still couldn't go out as she was limping.
She didn't want to be another joke to the other consorts.