Chapter 8 A Fallen Concubine
In the Gentle Lotus palace, one of the palaces in the harem of the empire of Fir, a mature-looking beauty wearing a blue and purple robe is running hastily towards a corridor. Though she was panting heavily, she didn't stop on her steps.
Her lips began to mumble with worry as a heavy feeling weighed on her shoulders.
Her graceful bearing and light steps would make those who see her heave a sigh in awe and admiration. She is one of the most beautiful women in the harem of the emperor and was one of the favored concubines of the emperor.
Although it is known that the emperor of the Fir is an amorous man, he is also a man who loves his women.
He would shower them with gifts and love and has shown sincerity towards every one of his wives and concubines.
In fact, compared to other emperors, he only had 1 main wife, the empress, 3 main or favored concubines, and 10 secondary concubines.
In short, his harem is composed of only 14 women.
It didn't take long before the beautiful figure reached her destination. She did not hesitate to quickly open the closed door and enter the room.
Her nose was immediately assaulted by the strange smell inside the room, but she did not mind. Her mind was thoroughly focused on the person inside the room.
Her eyes darted everywhere and soon saw a figure lying on the ground.
Seeing the familiar face, she could not help but feel worried and sad deep in her heart.
In this place, she only has one friend out of all the concubines and that is the woman lying on the ground.
With trembling hands, she slowly approaches the figure while tears begin to fall like pearls escaping her dainty eyes.
"Ro… Roa'er… Roa'er… No… This is not happening." she muttered with disbelief as she slowly approached the unmoving figure.
She slowly squatted down on the ground and carefully shook the woman.
"Roa'er… wake up…" she said with a sobbing tone.
It was only yesterday when the two of them were talking happily in the gardens. They had good chemistry and became friends when they first met in the imperial harem.
With one look, the both of them seem to have a bond between them as if they were friends in their past lives. It was an indescribable feeling of camaraderie and sisterhood that none of them can explain.
As the relationship between them became closer, they began to share a lot of things and were then given a name in the harem as the twin beauties of the court.
But not all are appreciative of the connection between the two. Their closeness seems to have ticked the annoyance of the empress and her cohorts. The empress did not like that the emperor even showed favorable impressions of the two.
But the most annoying thing for the empress is their backgrounds, as both women came from powerful families in the empire.
And so, one scheme after another was thrown at them, but they were able to dodge their enemies. However, due to her negligence something has happened.
While hugging her friend, her eyes began to tear up. She could not let her go. She could not accept the current situation.
While slowly shaking and hugging the lifeless woman in her arms, tears would not stop falling down wetting her cheeks.
"Help us! Help us please!" she cried and cried loudly until her voice began to become hoarse.
She then looks at the pale face before her and she could not help but caress the beauty in her arms.
"Roa'er… please wake up! Please!" she pleaded while hugging her friend in her arms.
Suddenly, from outside, loud footsteps could be heard.
Then a group of palace guards barges inside the room.
Following the guards are a bunch of palace maids and eunuchs while behind them are their masters.
"What have you done!" suddenly a shrill voice shouted.
It was a mixture of anger and scolding.
The voice startled everyone as they made way for the owner of the voice.
As the group of people made their way, a woman wearing an elegant red gown and a phoenix crown on her head began walking towards the room where the woman is still hugging her already lifeless friend.
"Concubine Su! What have you done? Why is Concubine Fang…" the empress said but then stopped as she glared at the woman on the ground.
Concubine Su did not say anything and just continuously hugged Concubine Fang's body. She did not have the heart to listen to the empress and just wallowed in her sorrows.
Her mind was blank and she felt as if a part of her soul had been taken away from her.
Seeing that Concubine Su did not move, the empress showed a slight sneer on her mouth and gestured for the eunuch beside her.
"Capture the murderer…" she said with a serious tone.
The soldiers did not hesitate to move and quickly grabbed Concubine Su.
When she felt her body was grabbed, her mind suddenly cleared up, and looked around her.
When she saw the many people around her, Concubine Su suddenly felt a bit of hope in her heart.
"Please! Please save Concubine Fang!" she suddenly cried while grabbing the first person near her.
The soldiers were quick to act and restrain Concubine Su.
"What are you feigning ignorance for?" the empress taunted.
"Yeah, it was you who poisoned Concubine Fang. Why are you playing dumb now?" a main concubine suddenly said while jeering at Concubine Su.
The other concubines in this place are the cronies of the empress, so they would support the empress in this scheme.
"What? What are you saying?" Concubine Su asked as her heart immediately fell.
She suddenly understood that she and her friend had finally fallen in their scheme. Actually, she already knew that this was their scheme, but she just could not accept the fact that they would use the life of another just to target someone.
In her mind, she was thinking of another concubine in the past which has caused fear in the palace.
That concubine was, if not the most beautiful, one of the most beautiful ladies in the harem.
When they called her a monster, she could not believe that such a person would casually kill another just for the emperor's favor.
But now that she is experiencing this for herself, she truly now understands the viciousness of a human's heart.
Concubine Su was taken to the dungeons and was soon put on trial.
She did not say or do anything. She did not even defend herself and let the trial go through as if she did not care.
Her eyes are blank and she just looks at an empty space.
The emperor extended his grace and let her live. However, she will vanish in the cold palace just like the wicked one 5 years ago.
Yes… It has already been 5 years since Li An was left in the cold palace.
And it seems that she would be having a new companion in that place.
…
Meanwhile, Li An is currently lying on a long tree branch while waiting calmly for her prey.
Yesterday, she had a nice lunch. It was a long and juicy Manacab. So today, she decided to hunt another one for her dinner.
However, it has taken her a long day to use herself as bait for those creatures. After a long day, it seemed that no one dared to attack her.
While closing her eyes and using her sharp senses, she suddenly heard something moving in the bushes.
She slowly moved her head and looked down and within her sight, she saw a long and slender creature slowly wading through the bushes. Though it looked like the creature was moving silently, with Li An's sharp hearing, she could hear the rustling of the leaves as the long creature passed through the bushes.
"Hihi… I found one…" she thought with an excited heart.
She could not help but smile when she could finally see her prey slowly approaching within her effective hunting radius.
For a long time now, she has already developed a range where she could effectively hunt her prey without them escaping her.
At first, it was the small rodents in the cold palace which had suffered her onslaught. Then after she got tired of the rodents, she began hunting bigger prey as she moved her hunting ground deeper into the back forest within the cold palace.
So now, her effective hunting radius has reached 10 meters.
Within 10 meters, she was sure that she could take down any prey she would set her eyes into.
And so, with confidence in her eyes, she waited patiently as the Manacab slithers and crawls towards its doom.
It did not take long before the creature finally entered her hunting area.
But suddenly, the creature stopped. It was as if it has a dangerous premonition as it suddenly lifted its head upwards.
Its gaze was pointed at Li An's direction.
With a slight annoyance, Li An's small and petite body suddenly flashes like an arrow. Her eyes did not leave her target. Like a ferocious animal, she snarled and growled. But because of her size, her voice did not sound intimidating. Instead she sounded like a cute kitten baring its fangs.
As soon as her small figure appeared, the Manacab was startled as it wanted to dodge.
But a flying object suddenly hit its body and pinned it to the ground. Then before it could do anything, it suddenly found its consciousness fading. The last thing that it saw was a cute little human girl grinning from ear to ear while walking towards it.
"What a good catch…" the cute voice entered its ears before everything went black.