Around five to seven in the morning, Li Jin carefully helped the Emperor change out of his nightwear. Originally, it should have been Jiang Yunyao who did the work but she was too tired from the last night's exercise and was still sleeping soundly. As it was her first time serving the Emperor in bed, he decided to let her go.
Once the Emperor departed from the main chamber of Cun Shan palace, Jiang Yunyao who was supposed to be sleeping soundly opened her eyes with a slight smile gracing her lips.
According to the palace protocol, when an royal consort receives the Emperor's favour, she must pay respects to the Empress first thing in the morning. In some rare cases, the Emperor would relieve the royal consorts from that duty.
The current Empress's personal name is Zheng Ruoyi. She is the eldest daughter and daughter to the first wife of Duke Yong Ping.
However, the Empress did not hold the Emperor's affection. The Emperor treated her with respect. She is the birth mother of the eldest princess, Dongfang Xianmin and the fifth prince Dongfang Jinye. Because of the two children and her family background, the Empress's position is stable. In the harem, Imperial Noble Consort Xi is the only one who is on par with the Empress in family background. Imperial Noble Consort Xi's father is the left prime minister whereas the Empress's father is a duke. A pity that the Imperial Noble Consort Xi has no children. Else the one sitting in the Empress's seat would have been her.
Jingyang palace is the Empress's residence. Every Empress of this dynasty lived in the Jingyang palace.
Just like every morning, Jingyang palace is filled with laughter and chatter of the royal consorts who came to pay respects to the Empress.
"This Concubine pays respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live a long life." Jiang Yunyao arrived right on time and saluted the full ceremony which was considered rule abiding. Upon seeing the Empress nod slightly, she quietly retreated to her seat.
After a bit of conversing among themselves, the royal consorts heard the announcement of an eunuch, "Imperial Consort Shu has arrived."
Jiang Yunyao rose to her feet along with other royal consorts as she watched the gorgeous woman slowly and gracefully enter the room. The woman seemed to be in her twenties, with her body thin and flexible. Her sweet voice resounded in the room as she greeted the Empress, and bowed elegantly. "This Concubine greets the Empress."
As Imperial Consort Shu completed the full greeting ceremony, the eunuch announced that Imperial Concubine Ling has arrived.
In the imperial palace, below the rank of Noble Lady, royal consorts do not have titles. The only exception was Imperial Concubine Ling who received her title when she was only a Second Class Attendant. Ling means elegant temperament and good character, wonderful reputation and morality, worthy of being admired. She was promoted to First Class Attendant Ling eight months later when she was pregnant with the second prince. An year after the birth of the second prince, First Class Attendant Ling was promoted to Noble Lady Ling. Then she was once again promoted to Noble Concubine Ling when she was pregnant with the fourth prince and to Imperial Concubine Ling after she gave birth to the fourth prince. Even though she was only a First Class Attendant at the time of second prince's birth, she was granted permission to raise the child she gave birth to. This alone can decide her position in the Emperor's heart.
Just a glimpse of her standing by the doorway and it was obvious that her beauty eclipsed Imperial Consort Shu's, not to mention Imperial Concubine Ling was more alluring. She finally approached the Empress to pay respects after sweeping her gaze through the Royal consorts.
The Empress treated all the Royal consorts in the same way. Jiang Yunyao was not able to find any differences in the way in which the Empress treated the Royal consorts. This cleared one doubt in Jiang Yunyao's mind: The Empress is too proud to form relationships with other Royal consorts. She has no close friends or alleys inside the palace. All the Royal Consorts who were supporting her were forced by her father.
After all the Royal consorts payed respects to the Empress, it was finally time to leave. Upon leaving, they could finally stop acting and show their true colors. The honest women who have no hope of receiving the Emperor's favour left quietly. Those who stayed behind were the ones with intentions in their hearts.
As the saying goes, 'No rose without a thorn, or a love without a rival'. Everytime these Royal consorts who are jealous of each other and treat each other as enemies fight each other, something bad will happen. The Royal consorts in the palace are divided into three factions with one faction supporting the Empress, one faction supporting Imperial Noble Consort Wenxi and one faction supporting Imperial Noble Consort Xi. These three women were the most powerful in the harem. Of course there were also some who remained neutral but that group only consists of imperial consorts who have no chance of being favoured by the Emperor. Jiang Yunyao did not want to stay behind and become an object for these women to vent their anger on when they fight.
But some things cannot be avoided no matter how much one tries. Once Jiang Yunyao reached the Cun Shan palace, she ended up bumping into Imperial Noble Consort Xi who is the one that is currently managing Cun Shan palace.
In the huge imperial palace, there are many palaces. The Emperor resides in Qianqing palace. Shoukang palace is the residence of Empress Dowager. The late emperor's royal Consorts reside in Ningshou palace and Cining palace. The six Western palaces and the six Eastern palaces are the residences of the Royal Consorts of the Emperor. The six Western and the six Eastern palaces are managed by the Royal Consorts of the rank Imperial Consort and above. The Empress is the one responsible for managing the twelve palaces.
The Royal Consort responsible for managing the palace resides in the main courtyard of the palace while the other Royal Consorts of lower ranks live in side Courtyards.
The courtyard in which the Empress resides in the Jingyang palace is called Golden Phoenix courtyard. In Cun Shan palace, Imperial Noble Consort Xi resides in the Golden Jade courtyard while Willow courtyard is Jiang Yunyao's residence.
Jiang Yunyao watched as the grand palanquin of Imperial Noble Consort Xi passed through her in the direction of Cun Shan palace.