I woke up the next day, him already gone. I got up and found my way back to the concubines' tent and entered. All eyes were immediately on me when I did.

"Where were you, Fengling?" Mingyue asked.

"I was in Tang Yifang's tent," I answered hosnestly

"But you weren't summoned." Ranwei said in an accusing tone. Did she think I was lying?

"I walked into him when I was taking a walk," I said, leaving out the part about the soldier. Ranwei looked unconvinced.

"Anyway, its good that you are alright," Mingyue said.

"I was so worried about you when you didn't come back, Jiejie!" Lianhua said, blinkjnng her large eyes.

"Thank you, Lianhua," I said, "I'm alright."

Suddenly a horn was blown loudly, it resonated acrossed the whole camp site. There were shouts and hurried footsteps outside.

"What's happening?" Lianhua asked.

"They are going to war," Mingyue said, "I heard from my father that there is likely to be a finally battle between Tang Yifang and the current Emperor. I think this is it."

A final battle? Well let's hope Tang Yifang wins, because my family and my life depended on it.

-

It was not until two weeks later that the survivors if the battle came back to the camp. All the concubines immediately hurried outside to see if our side won and if Tang Yifang was okay. To their disappointment, there was no sight of that man.

"What happened?" One of the girls stopped a passing soldier and asked.

"We won the war!" He said happily, though tiredly. "Lord General Tang is now the Emperor of China!"

We all gasped at the news. Does that mean we were now concubines of the one and only emperor?

"Where is his majesty?" The girl asked impatiently.

"He is already in the Imperial Palace with the rest of the army. We are here to pack up and escort the rest to the palace."

Even I was very happy about that. Finally, we could move out if these tents and into the famous Imperial Palace of China. The other girls ectastically walked back to the tent chirping to one another and started packing up. I saw a familiar face running towards me.

"Young miss!" Xiaomei skipped happily to me.

"We are going to the Imperial Palace now!" I said.

"Really? I will pack quickly!" She followed me into the concubines' tent where other girls were already almost fully packed with their maids. We didn't bring much anyway so the packing was done relatively quickly. Soon, all the concubines were fetched by some soldiers and escorted to carriages off to the palace.

---

After a few days of traveling, I was informed that we would be arriving soon. When I felt the carriage slowed down, I pulled down the window cover and peaked out. The small window of the carriage didn't really allow for a wide field of vision but the small picture that I saw as we entered the gate of the Imperial Palace already amazed me. The gate that we entered was magnificent, with doors that looked as heavy as a ton. I could see us traveling through an incredibly large yard area. However, the white stone floor was stained with red here and there, signs of the horrific battle that happened. I could almost imagine the soldiers fighting to survive here, desperate to hold on to their own life.

We went deep into the Palace. It was so big that it was more like a small town on its own, with four high walls surrounding the outmost premise. Finally, we arrived at the Inner Court where the concubines of the Emperor would live. We were all assigned to the building for lowly concubine since none of us has been promoted yet. Our maids are sent away to be trained as Palace maids.

"This is so nice!" Lianhua said excitedly as we unpacked.

"I know right," Ranwei said, "But I just hope I could be promoted soon so I can have one of those big palace of my own."

To be honest I did too. I was a bit fed up with living in the same place with so many others that I didn't even know well. But it didn't seem like I was going to be promoted any time soon, with my attitude towards Tang Yifang and all that.

---

Two nights after we all settled into the Imperial Palace, I was summoned by Tang Yifang to his palace. I was bought by a eunuch to his place. It was so much nicer than any building I've ever seen, even more dazzling than the palaces in those historical dramas that I watched. We entered into the Palace of the Dragon龍之殿 where he was now staying as the Emperor of China. We walked passed the front hall and around to to the back. He informed Tang Yifang that I was here and opened the door for me after getting his permission to.

I nervously walked into his bedchamber and the bed of golden silk immediately drew my attention as it was placed in the middle of the room. It had four redwood posts around and white silk drapes with golden embroideries hanging off. The room itself was as big as the apartment I lived in in the 21st century. The walls were slightly bare, and so was the room. I guessed Tang Yifang threw out the decoration of the previous emperor and wanted to redecorate.

Tang Yifang was sitting at a desk, writing quickly in a scroll.

He set down his ink brush when he saw me. "You are here."

I curtseyed, "Yes, my l- your majesty."

"Come here." He gestured towards the empty chair next to him. I listened and went to sit down in it.

"So, Li Fengling, how are you finding Palace life so far?" He asked, starting off the conversation."

"It's... agreeable." I said ambiguously. I've never like sharing a room with other but I didn't want to seem like I'm always complaining.

"Good." He nodded, "I have decided to promote your father as a High Minister."

"Oh really? That's.... good." I replied plainly. I get that I was supposed to be happy but I didn't even know my father. I had no sense of belonging to my family so I just couldn't muster the emotion to sound like I was happy.

"Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I am."

He sighed, "I can never get you to tell me what you are thinking, can I? Fine. As the Emperor of China, I command you to be honest with me from now on."

His voice was serious. "Yes, your majesty." I replied.

"Tell me, why are you not keen to please me like the others?"

In looked into his obsidian eyes, "You told me to be honest, your majesty, so please don't punish me for what I'm about to say."

"I promise. Just be honest with me."

"I just can't find it in my heart to please a man I barely know." I watched his expression carefully after I said that. His expression was a neutral one, it was really hard to tell what he was thinking.

Suddenly, he laughed. "Do you not like power? If you mange to seduce me you can become the most powerful woman in the country."

"Who doesn't want power?" I said, "But if it means I'd have to pretend to love someone I don't, I'd rather do it another way."

He chuckled, "You are interesting." He then picked up his brush, and continued writing on the scroll."

"What are these?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"My first royal decrees," Tang Yifang answered. "Can you read and write?"

"Of course," I said. I was about I say 'who doesn't' when I remembered that woman of this era probably didn't receive too much education, if at all.

"Good. Write for me, I'll dictate." He handed me the brush and pushed the scroll to my side of the table. I picked it up and dipped the brush into the black ink. Good thing I've been practicing Chinese calligraphy.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He started dictating, "..and therefore in the name of Heaven's Son, I command Li Yangsheng to be promoted to High Minister of the Court. The command comes into effect immediately."

"Is this it?" I asked once I finished writing.

"Yes," he sat back up, "give me the scroll."

I pushed it back to him. He picked up a heavy jade stamp, stamped it into some red ink, then stamped it onto the end of the scroll. "And that's done." He muttered, rolling it up and setting it aside.

"Now I can rest." He sat back in his chair again and sighed, visibly exhausted from the war before and the plethora of work now.

"Would you like a massage?" I offered, seeing how tired he was.

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow, "What kind of massage?"

"A friendly massage." I said firmly.

He chuckled, "Fine."

I stood up from my chair and walked around to the back of his. I started putting pressure on his temple, neck, and shoulders, which I could felt was very tensed. When I finished, I called to him, "Your majesty?"

He didn't respond. I realized that he has fallen asleep in his chair. He must have been so tired to fall asleep in this hard wooden chair. I didn't want to wake him up so I took off my outer layer and put it on him, making sure he was tucked in and warm before leaving. I didn't do this in hope to win his favor or anything, it was just that he had been pleasant to me so far, and he was the emperor after all. He couldn't get sick if he was to run a country.