Emperor Li Shan was still sleepy. He wanted to go back to his palace but knew that he must still perform his morning greetings to his mothers.
Yes, mothers. He knew who his birth mother was even though he could not remember what she looked like entirely as he has not seen her since he was taken to this place.
This place though, was not bad. Aside from greeting his 6 mothers daily and not being allowed to go out, he could do anything he wants. Everyone followed his orders, always tried to please him, and treated him as their god. Then, although the addition of private tutors and lectures last year was a bit constraining, it was not that bad either. At least during that time, his younger brother, Liang Shan, was allowed to visit and join him in class.
Now, with regards to his 6 symbolic mothers, empress dowager Ruyi was the one he disliked the least. Perhaps it was because she didn't look as stern as the others or maybe it was because she was more welcoming? He wasn't sure.
In any case, the mind of a 5-year-old was simple. Like was like, dislike was dislike. She was not his real mother, and he couldn't order her around either. So, he didn't particularly enjoy spending time with her.
Hearing her speak and take a pause, he answered immediately so their conversation could end earlier.
"Yes, e'niang."
Empress dowager Ruyi nodded her head. "I see, that's good. I heard that you have been taking lessons from Tutor Chen and tutor Lu for a year now. How is it? Do you find anything difficult?" she asked.
Taking the cue of her pausing, he again replied with "Yes, e'niang."
Ruyi wanted to sigh. This was not the first time that Li Shan was not paying attention to what she was saying. Anyway, she decided to ignore it and end their conversation sooner.
"Will you be going to visit noble consort dowager Lin, next?"
…
Ruyi took a deep breath. Thankfully, her patience was astounding. "Huang di, you can go now. Be careful on your way."
…
Ruyi raised her left brow. Normally, once she said that, Li Shan would be on his way, but this time, even the magic words did not faze him.
Li Shan whose attention has always been drawn to the exit saw something curious. As mother empress was talking, he saw a little figure entering the palace followed by a palace maid. The figure, which he realized was a girl due to her attire and erbatou hairstyle, walked slowly towards where he was.
He continued to observe her. Finally, when she noticed his presence, her eyes comically widened like saucers, then she quickly went hiding behind the pillar.
As a child himself, Li Shan did not take offense on the action. In fact, it only made him more curious. He has been visiting mother empress every morning for a long time (he still has no concept what 2 years and 3 months meant), but he never saw someone his size in the vicinity. Also, she was dressed differently from the palace maids. Her dress was, well, in his eyes, better looking.
Anyhow, he was an extrovert, so he had no qualms in asking about the girl. Thus, facing mother empress while pointing at the pillar, he asked "e'niang, who's that?"
Hearing Li Shan's question, Empress dowager Ruyi looked at where he was pointing at. At first, she did not see anyone, but noticing Nanny Gui standing nearby, she realized that Wan Li must be there. She must have come for her morning greeting but saw that someone was still inside so she must have hidden. This was affirmed when she scrutinized further and saw one end of her erbatou hairstyle peeking.
--
Wan Li who was turning 6 in a few months has lived all her life inside the palace of gathered elegance. The number of times she exited its walls could be counted by one's fingers with the period of primary mourning when she was 3 years old, being the most prominent.
The primary mourning period was not a very good eye-opening experience for Wan Li. At that time, she did not understand a lot of things except that they were mourning for the emperor, who was her father though she has never met him, and also the empress dowager, her grandmother, who she had seen once or twice.
Despite her young age, she can vividly recall the scene during those times. Every morning, she would stand beside her mother while surrounded by many strangers in white. They would all cry then chant words she could not recognize. It was very scary for her that the scene became a subject of her nightmares. They never failed to make her cry each time.
Anyhow, after that period, Wan Li developed a fear towards strangers and became too afraid to venture out of their palace. Thus, she continued to live in a little world where the only people she wanted to and interacted with were her mother, lady Yang, lady Zhu, Nanny Gui, and about 14 palace maids.
This attitude only became more ubiquitous given the imposition of 3 years ban for festivities and music for the emperor's closest kins. With no social obligations, she grew up in an environment of solemnity and seclusion. This made her exposure to different forms of human behavior and interaction limited. Her role models composed of only her mother and palace maids.
Given these, it was unsurprising for her personality to develop the way it did. Subservient, gentle, shy, and timid to a fault.
--
TBC