"My royal brother! How could you? How can you keep the royal lineage if you only sleep with men?"
"17th brother, it's not what you think?" Hu Yiqye cries out to Hu Deming.
How can Hu Deming be wrong? His brother was stripping down his brother's favored eunuch. This ambiguous relationship had been going on for so long and the truth finally came to light this time. No wonder his older brother was never interested in any of the beauties who had approach him before. His older brother has always been into men. Hu Deming clenches his heart as if he was in an agony pain.
"Royal brother, how could you?!" Hu Deming angrily shouts as he runs out of the hall.
Hu Yiqye pushes the crowd in chase of his misunderstood younger brother. He also knocks down Eunuch Gao who was in the middle of pulling his pants up. The crowd watches the show.
"Little brother, please wait a moment!"
"Oh no! Another forbidden love." A young girl who was about fifteen years of age whispers into her mother's ear as she was trying to lower her voice as low as possible. But everyone heard her.
"Oh! his majesty has a forbidden love with his brother. The two can never get together. " The people can't help but have a wild imagination. All of his majesty's lover had all come out to attack the new empress. How will the court be from now on? They can't help but pity the lovely Ying Momo. Being crown as the empress just to shield the emperor's scandal. She will definitely suffer in the palace.
Ying Momo safely snuck away from the big commotion. She sighed in relief after climbing down from the second-floor balcony.
"Ying Momo!"
Ying Momo heard a familiar voice angrily shouting in her ear. Why was this voice so familiar to her? Ying Momo turns around and found her aunt's face in front of her. Now that she thinks about it, it seems like her aunt was standing here waiting for her. Aunty Qingqing was an imperial concubine of the previous emperor. She is Ying Momo's aunt and one of Hu Yiqye's deceased father's concubine. Hu Yiqye refers to her as a stepmother. Of course, she was here waiting for her troublesome niece. She saw her niece sneaking away after causing a scene. She watches the young girl quickly climb down from the balcony. The girl was too distracted that she never cared to look down to notice her. Imperial Concubine couldn't help but sigh in distress for her troublesome niece. She loves this niece of her. What she couldn't understand was her older uncle's intentions. Her Uncle Ying BuChu loves this granddaughter greatly but why did he send her to the dangerous palace? Was he that hungry for power that he sacrifices his granddaughter for it? And this little thing had always been troublesome. Definitely not empress material. She has some good qualities but no qualities to be the mother of Chu country at all.
"Ying Momo! Why are you running away after causing so much trouble?" Aunty Qingqing pulls one of Ying Momo's ear.
"Ow, ow, Aunty you're hurting me. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"You have just entered the palace and you've already caused the empress dowager to faint. You also humiliate the emperor and his most trusted subjects! Don't apologize to me. Apologize to them or you will be beheaded!"
Imperial Concubine Qingfeng thought back to her days when she was still living in the Ying's manor. (Qingfeng is her royal name. Her real name is Qingqing.) Her uncle's son and daughter in law had passed away. Her cousin and his wife left their child in their father's care. Her uncle Ying BuChu was an outstanding man. He became the youngest prime minister in the history of Chu. He had helped the previous emperor and the previous emperor's father to establish a strong foot hold in this continent.
Her parents and Ying BuChu' s generation suffered greatly due to the warring states. Qingqing's brothers and sisters were sent off to war at a very young age. Ying BuChu wasn't any lucky either. At that time, it was chaos. All of the countries were sending their children to war. Ying BuChu was the youngest son out of the seven sons from old Ying Ting. Ying Qingqing' s father Ying BuHai was Ying Ting's third son. He had four sons and two daughters. All four sons and two daughters died in the war. Both of Ying BuChu and Ying BuHai's five other siblings also died in the war. Ying BuHai remarried and had Qingling and Qingqing. When she became five, she heard about her young uncle who became a young general. He won many victories. In a short amount of time, her young uncle had married and retire from the military. He then became the youngest prime minister in the history of Chu.
Ying BuChu was outstanding but that made him the target of others. His wife, and his only son with his daughter in law was murdered. Little Ying Momo was the only survivor. Imperial Concubine Qingfeng knew how much her uncle cherish this granddaughter of his. When she heard the news, she couldn't help. She was married off to the previous emperor. Her father got tired of his children being killed off in the war. He was drowning in misery when most of his siblings and children were killed in the war. Her older cousin Ying BuChu had her marry into the palace giving her father a helping hand. Her sister also follows her to the palace but that's a story for another day.
Imperial Concubine Qingfeng was the previous emperor's favorite. She was lavishly spoiled by him. She can do almost anything. She can freely leave and enter the palace on her own. She used to visit her lonely father at the Ying's Manor. The naughty little Ying Momo use to sneak into the third master's place. Imperial Concubine Qingfeng's father Ying BuHai, misses his daughters a lot. Seeing the cute Momo he can't help but spoils her. When she was in trouble, she would run to Ying Ting's place and hide there. Ying Momo causes trouble every day that she was at the third master's place half of her life. Imperial Concubine Qingfeng visits constantly and she got to raise the cute little Momo. Pulling Ying Momo's ear reminded her their sweet days in the Ying Manor. Too bad, that sweet dream had ended early. Ying Momo is now the empress of Chu country. She can't help but pity her cute little Momo. Momo use to be the bright star in the Ying Manor. Now that the bright star was sent into the palace. Will that adorable little bright star still shine in this dangerous place?
Ying Momo loudly interrupts Imperial Concubine Qingfeng's thought as she shouts, "Aunty Qingqing, please let my ear go before you rip it off. I can't win his highness favor if I only have one ear!"
"At this time you know how to worry about your image? You didn't care about it when you made the empress dowager faint!"
"That has nothing to do with me. It was the emperor!"
"Momo! You dare to blame the emperor! With that mindset of yours you will have the whole Ying clan to be executed!"
Ying Momo got down her knees and beg her aunt, "Aunty Qingqing, I'm your only niece. You don't want me anymore? I'm sorry if I made you unhappy. But I didn't mean to. The emperor dislikes me. I don't have any chances at all. Grand papa just sent me off to the lion's den. What can I do?"
Seeing the pitiful Momo Imperial Concubine Qingfeng could only relate. She was also toss into the lion's den. She made it up in her heart that she'll protect her only niece.