Two days after I was officially said to be pregnant, guess who showed up. 

Concubine Mai. She smiled sweetly at me, pushing me a basket of prettily wrapped packages. She told me they were herbs to help me in my health. Later, when she left, I told Wan En to throw them away. 

The visit lasted two hours. Concubine Mai was digging for information about how I of all girls managed to seduce the Emperor and even have his baby. She also wanted to know if, by any chance, I had actually slept with someone else and not the Emperor? As she put it- "I'm not sure if you are worthy of having his child."

Right now, I'm thinking about Concubine Mai's words angrily. She has no right to talk to me like that! Really, she may be higher up than me, but at the end of the day, we're all just the Emperor's women! Is there a need to fight over who has the most attention from him? It's ridiculous! 

I think of who I can talk to. Gao Ling is sick in bed with a cold and Wan En tries to stay away from messy palace stuff, as she told me. So I guess I'm alone here. 

Wait. I haven't talked to Wu Mei. Maybe I'll go pay a visit to her. And I also have something else to ask her...she's the right person to ask. She's clever, so she'll know what to do. I stand up as gracefully as I can and promptly trip over my own foot. Still haven't got used to all the palace finery yet, even though I've been here for a year.

I walk with Wan En along the shaded palace paths to the home of the 7th Concubine. The servants at the door let me in, smiling at me. Wu Mei's home is the Diamond Building. It's absolutely beautiful. Everywhere I look there are glittering diamonds and polished gleaming stones. 

Diamond is beautiful and the hardest stone on Earth, from what I last heard. It actually represents Wu Mei. Her beauty is ravishing, no doubt, but she is not someone to mess with.

I glance up at the glittering steps. Wu Mei is coming down, wearing a bright yellow dress today. She smiles at me, although I notice the smile doesn't reach her eyes anymore. "Wang Min."

No formalities here, just a pleasant greeting. I feel instantly better at seeing a friendly face. Even if I don't know if Wu Mei is a friend or foe.

She and I sit down in her private room, all the servants dismissed. I tell her about my pregnancy and how rude Concubine Mai is. Wu Mei listens thoughtfully. Then she says, "Do you want to get rid of her?"

"Well, yes, but- she has guards everywhere. I'll just go on hoping for an accident to happen," I say and smile at her. She looks distant, her thoughts far away. Then I lean in and ask her what I wanted to ask. What I really came here for. "Can you help me send a letter to my mother back home? I haven't spoken to her in a year."

Wu Mei shrugs. "Okay. I can ask my father when I see him. He'll let you, don't worry."

I smile at her. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem. Now if you don't mind, I have something to do."

Taking the hint, I leave her building. 

----

A day later, Wan En rushes into my room and tells me the news. Concubine Mai was found dead this morning. No one knows the cause. No one was seen at the scene.

Wu Mei.

A cold feeling of dread crawls into my heart. She didn't-she wouldn't have, it isn't like her, she can't have done this sort of thing. I know her. Or do I?

----

"How could you suspect me?" asks Wu Mei calmly, drumming her fingers on the table softly. She lifts a shoulder. "Wang Min, the servants have already said she had a heart attack."

I bite my lip and look down, deciding not to press the point further. I don't believe her, and yet I want to. I don't want to know that Wu Mei, the person I consider as my younger sister, would do such a thing. It's murder.

She helped me send out my letter, she has supported me in many things. I should trust her. I push the nagging doubt down and look back up, smiling at her. "Of course."

----

The first son of the Imperial family.

Weak with exhaustion, I lean back in my bed. The Emperor's face is glowing with delight. He picks up the baby and smiles straight at me. Then he puts down the baby and leaves. His visit was so short I wonder if I dreamed it. 

Wan En busies herself caring for the baby and cooing over it.

It sure hurt a lot.

I just can't believe that this is the first son. I just gave birth to the heir of the Emperor. The older girls before this are nothing. They cannot inherit the throne, so this baby boy will become the next Emperor. The priests have already said he is to be called Gaozong, officially. I had no say in it, but it doesn't matter, does it? 

I close my eyes and try to rest while my son wails loudly. 

Finally I have done something in my life.