Archive of Our Own ^beta

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So pairain is there any guy that you like right now?

because I heard a rumor at the rear place when visiting our Maomao.

that one of the officers in our military has a thing for you that he might be interested in buying you out after all you are going to be 40 soon  .
Really joka you heard someone is interested in buying me out thank goodness the hag is not around or I would not hear the end of it .

you are lucky you just turned 28 she hasn’t been trying to push for me or meimei to choose someone to buy us out.

but lets put it a pin in this conversation about marriage how is our Maomao doing .

especially with big sister being back to being in full health and wanting to build an actual relationship with her .  

Our maomao is still giving our big sister a hard time with her moving into her work place and world .

from what I have seen big sister has been really pushy about her methods to getting our maomao to even speak to her .

other than that I saw how some of lady gyokyou ladies in waiting trying to block big sister from interacting with maomao unless it is necessary for her to be near her .

I wouldn’t call it bullying because they are being somewhat nice to her

but they are definitely protective of maomao.

I think the head lady in charge of the jade palace has been even more  dict about her feelings with maomao biological mother being around her.

like she barely lets Maomao out of her sight if she is busy one of the other ladies who have been “ friends with our girl “ is always has her with  her.

Can you blame them  joka even if they weren’t around when maomao was a young girl they obviously developed a family bond before the crown prince was born.

let’s face it the few times the hag let her daughter near maomao were not pleasant she cut off one of her fingers .

it’s no wonder why maomao does not want anything to do with her biological mother other than her being a fellow lady in waiting. .

when her mistress lady lihua is talking to lady gyokyou they can't avoid each other un like here in the red light district .

pairin what would you do if you received an offer to leave the red light district like meimei and maomao did.

by working in the rare palace what whould you do because we both know the old hag is teaching me the ropes to mange the verdigs house?

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Lady gyokuyou I am sure you are wondering why me and my head lady in waiting request to meet you for tea in your palace instead of outside court yard?
have to admit lady lihua I am a little curious given that I have given most of my ladies time off to spend time with their familles.

i really hope this is not about lady lishu again being bullied by her staff because I have the mind of going straight to the empress with our  worry about her.
 I can assure you gyokuyou while lishu being bullied is one of the reasons why I want to talk to you about I believe lady ah duo or should I say empress ah duo is currently working on something about the situation .
given that she has all but adopt her as her own Child .

The main reason why fengxian is here with me is because she has a question about how much do you know about her daughter Maomao who if I remember right was the one who saved both of our lives and our babies last year.  
You are not wrong lihua I did hire maomao last year after she nursed you back to health darling now why don’t you let her ask me her question if you are wondering maomao is not here at the moment she said that she was visiting her grandmother who lives in the  pleasure district .

 Not to be rude gyokyou but are you sure it’s safe for maomao to be in the pleasure district given that was where she was kidnapped from originally according to what lishu and the empress had told me about maomao.

Relax lihua if I didn’t know you any better I would think you had gotten attached to her in a  maternal sense.

because while you can be soft at times when it is just us and ah duo.

I would be worried if you were trying to steal maomao from me after  everything you really seem to think so little of me.

I hope you are not doubting my ability to care for my ladies in waiting are you?  My lady please don’t fall for lady gyokyou bait.

the  main reason why I seek your audience lady gypkyou I was wondering has Maomao ever expressed wanting a relationship with me.

because one of the reasons why I agreed to be lady lihua head lady in waiting was to hopefully get in my daughter good graces and try to build a proper relationship with  her .

I'm am going to be very blunt with you about Maomao she has been very vocal to me and my head lady in waiting about your history with each other and with the  military strategist .

she sees me and lihua more as maternal figures than she does you she has referred to you as a slut someone who didn’t even want her in the first place something about you only sleeping with someone just to escape your former life in the red light district.

I don’t know about you gyokyou it seems a little bit strange that Maomao sees us as maternal figures given how close Maomao was to everyone before you gave birth to the second crown princess.

I would think hongiang is more of the maternal figure given how much she dotes on Maomao and the other ladies in waiting.

 I am not going to lie lihua it is strange that Maomao sees us in that light you more so than myself .

I am more worried that her grand mother is going to try to marry her off to some noble man in order to get more money for her business .

and Homgiang is probably going to have my head for telling you this but  quick question lihua how much do you remember from the time Maomao nursed you back to health?  

Not much besides learning that shin tryed to poison me and the empress baby if it wasn’t for Maomao I wouldn’t still be alive now what does that have to do with your head lady in waiting?    While she would definitely deny this but the day after Maomao returned to the jade palace Maomao fell under the weather with a cold she was by her side I caught her making soup for Maomao and bringing medicine for her and everything you can imagine a proper mother would do if their child was sick.  Hell Maomao even called her mom while she had a fever and sometimes when homging thinks I am already asleep she would go to Maomao room to make sure she is in her bed and tucks her in on the late nights that Maomao is working. 

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Good morning my lady it looks like lady lishu wants to have tea with you as we just got this letter two minutes ago how would you like to proceed.

Good morning fengxian I think we should accept  lady lishu invitation for tea does it say where she wants to meet because that poor girl needs as much guidance as she can get from one of the other high consorts .

despite her being a high consort during the past emperor reign she was only around nine years old when she was gifted to him by her slime ball of a father if you can imagine someone being forced into my position that young.  
Yes my lady she request that you meet her in the garden she will be meeting you there at eleven am you still have plenty of time to decline the invitation .

if you wanted to it’s only eight am and no my lady I couldn’t imagine being forced into the  rare palace that young she hasn’t entered the blooming stage yet has she I hope that basterd never had the chance to deflower her please forgive me for my use of corse language.
 Honestly fengxian I don’t really care about you using corse language that those who are deem to be commoners around me when it is just us you are my  lady in waiting on top of that you are my best friend  .

the only thing I will ask you is to refrain from using that type of language in front of the empress and the other high consorts like lady lishu and lady gyokyou .

one of them is only twelve years old and the other one is like a younger sibling despite her being 23 years old while I am already in my early 30s  you and the other ladies in waiting really seem to think I’m unaware of what you ladies  speak about when I am not around don’t you.
Lihua I don’t speak about you behind your back nor do my fellow ladies in waiting as for the  rumors that have been circulating around me and my fellow head ladies in waiting is that there will be a new high consort joining us .

she is supposedly around lishu age but  old  enough  to be of marrying age and our empress taste we sadly don’t have much more information since I last spoke to my fellow head ladies in waiting.

 Well that is interesting news to hear how long have you known about this  new consort hopefully she and lishu can become friends considering that they are around the same  age .

I wonder if that stray from the jade palace knows anything about this from what gyokyou told me the last time we spoke the stray seemed to be more worried about lishu situation more so than both of us combined. My lady we should be leaving for your tea meeting with lady lishu it just turned ten am

 I on’t want the other consort’s thinking that you can’t manage to keep an appointment for being tardy or make the others think that you are being unfair to lady lishu by making her think that you are subbing her or ignoring her.

You are right fengxian we don’t need any rumors starting up about  me being rude or subbing another consort as a power play or something else we can finish this conversation tonight when we come back because it is almost time to get ready for the spring garden festival soon so it is best not to rock the boat.  You are right my lady especially with how the middle ranking consorts have been paying more attention than usual whenever you and lady gyokyou are seen together speaking of lady gyokyou you know that stray kitten you were talking about I am her biological mother so maybe tonight you can explain how Maomao got that nickname from you unless you are planning to spend the night in lady gyokyou bedchambers again.  

Sorry fengxian I sometimes forget that Maomao is your daughter don’t think I haven’t noticed that you have been trying to sweet talk the other ladies in waiting especially from lady gyokyou house .

about giving you information about Maomao listen the only things she has mentioned to me is that her mother even though she  loath to use that title to describe you she has been pretty clear that she doesn’t really want to know you or have a relationship with you.

so I am asking you to not try to manipulate people she trusts to talk about traumatic childhood with I don’t know if I am going to see gyokyou tonight do you know if the empress is planning a visit tonight if not then you have the night off.

 I am sorry my lady about being so underhand when trying to get information about my daughter I have been to a mental health clinic before you hired me as your head lady in waiting I am trying to be better to Maomao every time I try to get close to her someone always interferes or she just plain refuses to speak to me or ignore me so I fell back into my consort skills to get even little bit of information on her but when I do see someone acting like mom to her I get this spike of jealousy I promise not to start any proxy wars as mother you of all people can understand what jealousy does to a person.

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Good morning lady lishu thank you for the invitation for tea today I hope that you were not waiting too long were you?

 Good morning lady lihua it is my pleasure to have you here for tea I just got here myself what type of tea would you like to drink lady lihua I have selected green tea and jasmine tea and ginger tea as well I have arranged for some sweets if you want to have something to eat as well as something salty if you prefer that of course.
 Slow down lady Lishu there’s no need to be nervous around me you know that me and the empress were good friends with each other when we were still forced to serve a male emperor.

the last one thankfully only saw you as a daughter unlike his awful father who you were unfortunately forced to be with .

as for what type of tea I would like to drink is green tea if that is okay as for snacks I would like to have something sweet if you don’t mind now what is on your mind?

 I wanted to ask you if you have heard any rumors about the empress selection for a fourth consort to join our ranks even though I am only a high consort in name only  .

Because I am afraid that wil be the one the empress is going to be forced into letting go of  me because she doesn’t visit me in the same way she does lady gyokyou and you .

and I have very little influence here in court and I have this strange feeling that lady gyokyou has one of her ladies secretly looking after me when my own ladies in waiting are so hyper focused on bullying me anyway possible am I going crazy.

First thing I want to let you know lady lishu you are not going crazy because the rumors about a fourth high ranking consort joining our ranks is true I have heard about this from the empress dowager  herself .

that her daughter in law is looking for another high ranking consort to join us as the pure consort  yes the same title our empress once held when we were still serving an emperor since empress ah duo was the first one to give brith to a male heir before the plague happened that caused all the men in the world to mysteriously disappear .
now as much as I would love to assure you that the possibility of you getting pushed out of the rare palace is unlikely to happen I can’t because there are always power games being played in the background that.

 I have no idea if some mid ranking consort is not trying to plotting a way to rise above her status or station.

 I am sure  pretty sure that is unlikely to happen considering our empress may have or may not have figured out way to protect you like before when she was engaged and married to the crown prince at the time of your meeting .

as for lady gyokyou she has always been kind and caring and sometimes ambitious about being empress she is the daughter of a high ranking official and the lady of the western capital who controls our trading system with other nations as such she has the tendency to act more business  like .

she of course has feelings for the empress like all of the consorts but I can’t tell you exactly how she feels about role as a consort why do you feel like she or myself have our ladies in waiting watching you secretly without letting you know?

Probably because whenever I am with my ladies in waiting in public one of her ladies just so happens to be in the area when my ladies in waiting are trying to get me to do something.

it feels like someone is always shielding me from my ladies pettiness when they want to start a argument against your ladies in waiting or our empress ladies in waiting.

well I can’t say that I haven’t been trying to protect you as much as I can from politics of the rare palace or from other offices who are constantly trying to poison us or other consorts making power plays .

i will be lying about that especially considering my previous head lady in waiting before fengxian who you have met before at the crystal palace   When I send invites for meetings such as this one  .

But shin my previous head lady in waiting is the reason why I almost lost my life last year if it wasn’t for lady gyokyou at the request of the empress I wouldn’t be here.

my point of me bringing this up is because I too felt how much genuine generosity that comes from gyokyou and her ladies so at best the advice.

I can give you is it to ask gyokyou to let you handle some things on your own but you must also be accepting of her and her ladies protection because you are still going to be a little sister to us do you understand lishu?

I understand  lady lihua that you both care about me enough that I can come to either of you for advice or just listen to what I am saying but also take care of me when you see fit .

it doesn’t take away my independence or make seem  weak can you please tell about this rumor that I have been hearing about  a certain person was kidnapped by the shi clan and is it true that you are with child.

 You are correct about your being able to come to either of us for advice or listen to you as for me being with child I don’t know where you heard that from.

but yes it is true I haven’t heard anything about anybody being abducted or kidnapped let alone from the shi clan .

as much as I would love to take up the rest of your day we still have responsibilities lady lishu so I must bid you adiu.  
i understand lady lihua thank you for your assistance with what was bothering me I was hoping you would confirm the rumor about you and lady gyokyou being an item maybe some other time may I ask if you are going to see lady gyokyou now.

I am actually going to the clinic now because I have an appointment regarding my pregnancy which as far as I know the court doesn’t know about my pregnancy.

as for this so call rumor about me and lady gyokyou being together is just that a false rumor little flower you need to learn the difference between useful rumors and fake rumors I will see you later lady lishu.

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So Maomao out of curiosity is there someone who caught your eye in a way that you would see it as not a  friendly thing but more of a romantic thing ? 

Yinghua why are you disturbing Maomao while she is cleaning and helping hongniang with the cooking you know that she can be a bit of a perfectionist when she is working with hongniang. thank you seki- u for saying something because I was wondering why my quiet time with Maomao was being interrupted now unless you want me to lose my temper!!!

  I suggest we all get back to work especially because our mistress is expecting an guest to arrive soon and you know what that means we will have to play nice with the visiting guest staff . 

so yinghua I expect you to be on your best behavior  because I don’t even know who is visiting if it is lady lishu or lady lihua I don’t want any proxy wars being started unlike when we are going to garden parties where that is expected does everyone understand.  

Yes we understand hongniang don’t we girls?  After the guest leaves hongniang do you think it would be okay if we took a break?

I think we will be fine after the guest leaves for now allian can you and haku- u get our mistress ready for this meeting while me and Maomao finish getting the food ready .

and seki- u and yinghua please finish the cleaning while koku-u and guiyuan take care of the crown princess? 

ladies you can stop what you are doing now  there aren’t going to be any here besides the empress you know she doesn’t travel with anyone so everyone besides hongniang and Maomao can relax for the rest of the day.

My lady why wouldn’t we need the other ladies in waiting as empress wouldn’t she need her food taster with her  regardless of who is making the meal?  
Ah Maomao I don’t know why the empress doesn’t want the other ladies in waiting here while she is visiting I just got a text message from her saying that she needs me Maomao and hongniang at  the main palace where she is staying.

I  guess while we are there you ladies can put the decorations away because we don’t need them so hongniang I don’t need to tell you this but please get yourself and Maomao ready for the main palace.  

Yes my lady come now Maomao we need to get ready it will be easier if we use my room to get ready together.

So kitten tell mom what would you wear to an appointment with our empress if you were requested as a consort after performing for let’s say a garden party?

I would dress in a formal light green dress that is medium length because according to  rumors the empress favorite color is green and she loves anything with flowers specially lilies or roses.

I would also put light make up to medium eyeshadow to highlight my eyes given how unique my eyes are and I would wear a bold lipstick color that matches my skin tone and eyes why do you ask ma are you trying to decide what type of makeup to use?

Very funny kitten you know I don’t particularly participate in things like trends just because it’s in style  .
I was curious given your background you seem to have really thought about this subject before now that I think about it isn’t one of lady lishu ladies one of your adopted sisters who has performed for the empress in the past and they told you about our empress taste?

 one of my sisters did perform for our empress in the past about three years ago I only know because I was in charge of doing her makeup as a test to see if I had what it takes to be a consort I was around lady lishu age she is now when this test happened. wait a minute kitten you are telling me you were fourteen when you were tasked to do one of your sisters makeup as a test is the same time as you were getting nightmares about your biological brith  Ugg I can’t believe I am going to say this mother.🙄.

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hey joka you know now that meimei is working for the rare palace like our kitten has been doing since she was seventeen and with parin and her boy toy are talking about him officially buying her out and marriage .

I need someone to take care of our home and business I had originally planned on having Maomao overseeing our business and home but she has managed to make her own life in the rare palace.

I don’t plan on forcing this on her especially after her father death as much it pains me to admit this Maomao is happier there she would be taking on the role as the madam here I was wondering would you be willing take on the mantel as the overseer and madam considering I can dye at any moment now that I am in my late nineties?

 I will  be honored as one your longest consorts here besides parin to take care of our business and home I have already started a cramming program here and I have been for last two decades I always figured that I or our cat would end up inheriting the business and the house but my question is what would you be doing after you give me the rains officially because I have been helping you out unofficially since Maomao was fifteen. 

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Allen doesn’t something feels off about our stray as well because I noticed that when the caravan came our stray avoid it like the plague.

 When lady lihua and her ladies were shopping doesn’t her new head lady look familiar and isn’t it weird that she freezes up whenever she lady lihua is around? 

now that you mention it is a bit weird that Maomao acting like a child whenever lady lihua is around I wonder if what I have hearing from lady Camila is true that this new lady is her biological mother .

You know what lady lishu lady has mentioned that her biological mother used to lash out constantly at Maomao I believe that lady meimei works for lady lishu had mentioned that she cut off her finger when she was a baby to curse her biological father and has neglected her duty’s as clan heiress according to Camila who is very distant relative of Maomao and meimei.

  you mean  to tell us that  excellent lady that is always with lady lishu is our maomao adoptive older sister that everyone seems to love like a sister besides maybe homging who ltreats most of us likethe daughters  that she never had the chance to have considering you were with our misstress family for decdes as  you were origing working for our lady's mother as  she became with child she eventrly transfore the care of her baby to you am right hongimg? 

ugg allian i really don't like how you are exposing me to our new ladies in waiting to how i keep everyone in line with my tough love  mother approch towards any of you who serve under me but considering today is very easy day with our lady approval we have gather everyone to our louge that our lady had made for her ladies to relack.

and get to know each other i inclouding myself if you are wondering why yinghua and our stray are not here dispite one of them being really into gossip she is  with our lady and linigi about the stray she is with her grandmother in her home town.

sorry mom oops i mean hongniang  just be greatful that it wasn't our resident gossip girl who is not here  with us this time around who oftens hangsout  with  a few mid ranking consorts like lady camila that i was talking about earlier anyway before we change the topic now that seki-u and her sisters knows us  a   bit better do you girls have any questions for me hongniang  guiyuan even maomao when she returns in a few days.

[ this is seki-u talking]

i have a few questions that i am sure both of my sisters would like yo be answerd as well ask some of their own one of our first questions is mostly for Hongniang why  do you all rrefer to  maomao as a stray like you would call a lost pet or something that seems like bullying which none you did that when we were growing up?

my second question is mostly for Allian why do you call our boss mom when it is ovbese that she doest like to be called also what is the deal with maomao and the wise consort from what yinghua has written through letters back home she mostly goes on our lady baby but occially she talks about the wise consort and Maoamo relationship so i was hopeful to geting  answers.

well to anwswer your first questin mom i hope you do not mind myself and Gyuian answering on your be half we don't bully Maomao at all the nickname was yinghua doing orignating when me and her were taking our break well maomao was working with mom and gyuain as you know her name means cat cat or kitten like most lost kittens are offten strays i thought she was joking about calling her that i recently started using the name some of us call her kitten or we do not use anything but her name our boss has strong maternal insetics if we can make her day bebeeter we would her mom as you might come to see this as a family unit some of us are really greatful of that because some of us dont have the nices homes just so you know this informations stays between us all.