After feeding Chonglin, Liwei orders a bath for her and spent the whole hour bathing her personally.
C: "Liwei, would you care to join me?" with flushed cheeks, she asked him.
L: "You need to be taken care of. Your maids told me that you hardly took care of yourself during your reflection period and you did not eat yesterday. Therefore you do not have much energy now to do something vigorous with me. Be good and let me take care of you, just the way you are meant to be taken care of."
She wanted to argue with him but decided against it. She didn't want him to get mad at her again.
After she finished bathing, Liwei helped her get dressed and dried her hair. Now that she was fed and clean, Liwei carried her back to her bed and sat her down as he sat beside her and held her close to him.
L: "Mei, I want you to heed and obey the things I am going to say today."
C: "Alright. Mei understands and will do as Liwei asks."
L: "Good girl. But first I want to know, why did you attack Queen Ame yesterday? "
Chonglin stayed quiet at this, she didn't want to talk to Liwei about Queen Ame.
L: "Mei...Tell me."
She just shook her head no, still not wanting to talk about it.
L: "If you tell me, maybe I can help you deal with the situation. "
C: "Really? Will you really help me?" her eyes sparkled with hope.
L: "Of course."
C: "Do you promise?"
L: "I promise. Now tell me why did you tried to hurt Queen Ame?"
She grabbed his robe as she spoke in anger; "Because I hate her! I hate everything about her! She took everything that belonged to me. She took the Queen title including it's privileges! She took you away from me!! And she even embarrassed me in front of everyone! She talks down to me because she thinks she is better than me! I HATE HER SO MUCH!!! I just want to scratch her face and ruin the looks that blinded you! I want her to die so she will never come back and I can have what's rightfully mine!!"
Liwei frowned upon hearing how she felt towards his Queen wife, still he squeezed Chonglin closer to him and kissed the top of her head.
L: "I am sorry you were hurting so much without me knowing. Since that is so, from today on you do not have to see her if you do not want to."
C: "Really?"
L: "Yes. You do not have to greet her in the mornings anymore. Should you see each other in the garden, you will have to endure and greet her properly. Afterwards you do not have to think about her anymore. "
C: "You mean, I still have to bow down to her?" she asked in a raised voice.
L: "Of course." he told her in a calm manner. "You are now a 2nd rank Concubine and she is Queen. You must bow down in respect for her. "
C: "But I do not want to!" she pouted.
L: "But you have to. If you do not, you will be punished again. In the end, it is you who suffers the most."
With tears in her eyes threatening to fall; "I do not want to be punished anymore. "
Liwei stroked her hair as he patiently answered her; "Then take this time to truly learn the Womanly Virtues, learn how to act like a noble lady and learn about the back palace rules and the corresponding punishment. Should you learn them, others will be unable to find fault in your demeanor and then no one can embarrass you anymore. No one will talk down to you. Not even Queen Ame." He told her.
L: "You must do this, not only for me but, for yourself as well. I do not want to lose you. I want you here. by my side. I would have not married you if I did not truly care for you and love you."
C: "Do you really love me?"
L: "Of course, my beloved."
C: "You still care for me?"
L: "Yes, I do."
C: "You still cherish me?" she asked as she looked up to him.
L: "I will always cherish you." he sincerely told her as he kissed her forehead.
C: "Then make love to me."
L: "Mei..." he sighed heavily, before making a decision. "We cannot. Not right now."
C: "Why!?" she began to cry as her insecurities surfaced and held on to him tighter. "Why can you not make love to me? Do you not yearn for me anymore?"
L: "Mei. . .Do not misunderstand. I cannot make love to you because you are still under punishment. Had you not tried to hurt Queen Ame and spoke ill towards her, you would have not gotten punished. I would have slept in your bed last night and spend the day loving you. However, we cannot undo what has done yesterday. You have been ranked down as 2nd Concubine and is punished with confinement for 6 months."
Chonglin started sobbing by this time.
"S-so you are s-saying. . . .y-you will n-not make l-lo-love to me. . .in 6 months?"
Liwei only answered with a nod of his head.
C: "B-but you will be in Queen Ame's b-bed for 6 months instead?"
L: "Mei. . . ." he said as he reached out to touch her face. Or tried to, as Chonglin whipped her head away from his reach.
C: "No! Tell me!!" she shrieked as she stood up and turned to look at him. Hurt was clearly seen in her eyes. "Because you cannot be with me, will you go to Queen Ame's bed instead? Tell me the truth Liwei!!"
Liwei was starting to lose his temper by Chonglin's pettiness. But still managed to hold it in. In a stern voice, he answered; "What I do with my time is none of your concern. You just need to do what the palace teacher tells you to. Remember everything she teaches and we would not be in this situation again."
C: "So you are really going to her courtyard for the next 6 months! Are you really going to leave me and be with her instead!? Make love to her than with me!? Can you not see, she is doing this to separate us! She wants you to run to her by driving a wedge between us!! She---"
Liwei has totally lost his temper by then as he grabbed each of her shoulders and shook her with force, stopping her from her silliness and getting her attention. "Chonglin! Stop! Enough!!" He looked at the woman in front of him, and saw the crazed look in her eyes which made the woman he used to love completely disappear in that moment. "Mei, You need to listen to me."
C: "NO!" she shouted as she struggled to break free from his hold. When she succeeded, she backed away from him as she pointed to him. "You! You make a decision now! Either make love to me now and show me that you still love me like you claimed. OR LEAVE! But if you leave, it would clearly mean that you will be spending time with that wench and you will be in her bed each night for 6 months!! DECIDE! NOW!" she yelled the last sentence.
Liwei stared at Chonglin.
The woman he is seeing now isn't the woman he recognize anymore. -'Who is this insecure, volatile, shrewd woman? This is not the Chonglin Mei he loves and holds dear. This is not the Chonglin Mei he remembers.'-
She has completely become someone else. Someone crazy.
"My beloved Mei. . .come here." Liwei called softly, giving her one last chance.
"NO! DECIDE! Her or me!?"
Liwei took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a short while he opened them and sighed as he got up from the bed. He remained standing as he looked at her one last time. Then he walked towards her, when he was nearing her, he reached out and held her in his arms as he kissed the top of her head and breathed in her scent.
In am emotionless voice he spoke; "Remember to do everything that the palace teacher teaches you. Especially everything about the Womanly virtues and the back palace's laws and punishment." He slowly moved away from her but kept his hold on her as he made eye contact and continued speaking; "The next time I see you, I want to see you with knowledge and manners befitting the woman I love. Do not disappoint me."
Liwei pulled away from her and glanced at her surprised face before completely walking out of her room. He willed himself to harden his heart as he walked away from the woman he used to love.
-'It would only be 6 months, he could endure not visiting her. He had to.
No one can give him ultimatums. No one can control him. No one can manipulate him. NO ONE. He is KING. He is above everyone. Therefore, no one can pull wool over his eyes. Not even his beloved Chonglin.'-
When Liwei made it out of her courtyard and the doors closed, did Chonglin recover from her surprised daze. She then heard her doors getting chained and locked from the outside. It was only then that she realized, she was truly confined to her courtyard for the next 6 months and that Liwei chose Queen Ame instead of her.
"LIWEI!!" Chonglin yelled as she ran straight to her courtyard doors. She tried to pull it open but it was tightly shut and secured. She resorted to get violent with the doors by banging and kicking on it.
"Liwei! I am sorry! I will be better!! I-I-I will do better!!! Do not leave me! Do not let me be alone!! PLEASE!!! Mei will do anything you ask, just please do not lock this door and leave me all alone! COME BACK!! PLEASE! PLEASE!!! I AM SORRY!!!"
No matter what she said or do, no matter how long she pleaded or cried, Liwei didn't come back for her. She pounded her courtyard door until her hands started to bleed from the bruises. When she realized how long ago Liwei left her courtyard, she leaned her head on the door and slowly slid down to her knees and bawled her eyes out.
Her Liwei didn't care for her anymore. He didn't love her anymore. He didn't cherish her anymore. He has become a stranger to her. She hate what has become of him. But she hates Ame the most. It was her fault. All of this was her fault. Everything is that wench Ame's fault.
And she is going to make sure that wench will pay dearly for causing her all this.