024 : The Main Character Comes Out Late

A few days had passed and the emperor had gathered all the resources needed. General Kong Wen already instructed his group of warriors to sort their last preparation before departure. The ministers on the court are all busy filing all the documents for the reports that needed His Majesty's attention since Yan JinLong would be away for a long time.

During this time, even though Yan JinLong wanted to spend his last days with Lin Mian Mian, he could not afford the luxury and would just silently weep on his office. Minister Chang Jie is on his side to constantly wipe the tears away while he hands him dozens of documents after His Majesty signed the first batch. This action made the emperor to cry more bitter tears.

Fortunately, thanks to Minister Chang Jie's persuasions, Lin Mian Mian would appear once or twice a day in the study. During these hours, the study would be off-limits. All the servants know that the concubine is just 'serving' the husband while it is worth the while. The one month infatuation is about to end so they thought that Lin Mian Mian is just spending the remaining time to raise his favorability.

Though, only a few people knows that it is the otherwise.

The one who knows the most about this is Lu Mao and the three rotten maids. Since they follow Lin Mian Mian all the time, and they are allowed to enter the study because of their master's presence, they almost witness all the reasonable interaction between the two individuals. They had seen the emperor from their previous life so they understand this one part very well - Yan JinLong is indeed had fallen for Lin Mian Mian.

May it be his actions or just his eyes, anyone sensible could see the overflowing emotions that could drown a person. Even if the two of them are just talking, or even just sitting side by side, one can see the satisfaction coming from the emperor's eyes. Whenever Lin Mian Mian is around him, his attention seems to be only focusing to this individual. His Majesty will not care whatever they are doing; just simply staying beside Lin Mian Mian is enough to make his heart happy.

Well, rolling on the sheets is also nice but that is only the benefit of getting the price. He will still love this person without doing that.

According to the schedule, the two-week preparation has come to an end. It is time for the emperor to lead his troops towards the battlefield to protect borders. Though, it is not really necessary for Yan JinLong to come since he had some talented generals to guide the warriors. He could just order someone to go and fight the war. But this is not Yan JinLong style.

For him, the leader should be the one leading the group, not the one being left behind.

And so, the palace is now in a frantic stage. The announcement of the departure had been set already but the emperor suddenly announced that they would be leaving two days earlier. The reason is not clear as to why he moved the date but Minister Chang Jie hurried the people to prepare a parade to bless the emperor for his departure. So now, all the servants are flying off of the floor as they rush left and right to do all the decorations.

"Minister Chang!" The Head Eunuch called.

Minister Chang is instructing a few servants to bring this and that when the head eunuch called him. He turned around to face the old man that has been serving the emperor since he is still young. His name is Mu Shi and is already sixty years old this year. Though, despite his age, he is still robust and full of life. He is in old friend of General Lin and is fond of this group of children since he could not have a child.

[A/N: He is a Eunuch, it means that he is already castrated. Also, take in mind that even though Lu Mao is a eunuch, he is still not on the age to be castrated. He is still a kid T_T]

"Lao Mu," Minister Chang Jie cupped his hands and bowed. Though his position is higher than the Head Eunuch, he still respected him as an elder. "What is wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong, minister," the old eunuch said but it is obvious from his sweaty head that he is telling the otherwise. The old man took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat away and returned speaking. "Actually, the harem..."

The one that handles the harem is the empress dowager. She is responsible to the order and rules inside the emperor's garden, making sure that nobody steps above the authority beyond her rule. She manages the quarters where the ladies are staying, their financial reports, as well as punishments when they committed a crime. The Empress Dowager is partial to the Emperor's rule over the harem.

Since she is the Queen, she should be the one instructing the concubines on their position to the ceremony. She arranges them according to their credits, meaning that the most favored one would be on the front door while the otherwise has to stay on the end of the line. This is not biased since the Empress Dowager knows that hierarchy is something that is evident inside the harem.

Though, this time, the Empress Dowager is not here to arrange the ladies. Yan JinLong will be handing the authority to the matriarch so she could not attend on her duties to prepare for her role. She left the responsibility to the Head Eunuch that now sent invitations to the courtyards to alert the ladies. Since the planned date was moved in advance, all the concubines were in a frantic mess to prepare.

One by one, the beautiful flowers arrived to the garden. Despite the hurried time, the ladies still managed to appear flawless and beautiful. Their charming appearance did not lower the gauge level and even raised it up to highlight their perfection. The servants even swore that by just looking over this group of ladies is enough to blind their eyes. Their beauty is really very stunning ah!

When a number of concubines had arrived, they all huddled up in different places. Originally, Yin Mei Mei takes the top list on the harem's most favorable concubine so the lower ranked ladies should be surrounding her as they praise her worth and beauty. She also stands on the first place and the sisters who were close to her would then start arranging their selves on the line, with the closes person her closest confidant.

However, since the accident that happened on the Jade Palace a few days ago, Yin Mie Mei's favorability rating plummeted to the negative numbers. The sisters that she deceived started to become suspicious towards her, and even the Empress Dowager reprimanded her. Thankfully, due to the impending war, Yan JinLong has no time to raise his verdict over the concubine's punishment or else she could have been suffering inside the cold palace right now.

So, the question is who should be standing on the first place?

The once peaceful garden of beauties suddenly became a battlefield. The concubines looked at the other sisters with a smile but their eyes are giving off a killing intent. They are like cats that are disguising a calm figure but ready to claw anyone if they dare to move. Everyone wanted to get the first place.

When Yin Mei Mei arrived on the scene, all the ladies that came before her all look at her direction. Different from the haggard face Lin Mian Mian saw before, the Yin Mei Mei now showed her powerful beauty. Small face with big eyes, buttoned nose, pink small plump limps, her long black hair draped down, and two deep dimples that shows whenever she smiles - nobody would expect that this lady had offended the emperor.

What could this innocent person do to be hated by the emperor?

Everyone knows that a confrontation happened between the new wife and Yin Mei Mei, though they didn't know the whole story. Nobody had seen the new wife aside from Yin Mei Mei so they assumed that the culprit must be the new wife. Even though the rumors had stated the Lin Mian Mian is a divine being that could not even hurt a fly, anybody could still judge the person since they had never met him.

He might be a green tea bitch that might trample them one day!

Also, if Yin Mei Mei did really do the crime, she should be on the cold palace right now. Instead, the emperor seems to pardon. It is as though His Majesty only scolded her since the new wife is the Emperor's current priority so they all think that Yin Mei Mei is just a victim. All the insults they thought about Yin Mei Mei vanished instantly after seeing her angel-like appearance.

Of course, all of this happened due to this angel-like bitch's instigation.

Yin Mei Mei knows that her reputation will be affected after the incident so she quickly thought of a countermeasure. Since nobody had seen Lin Mian Mian, she created rumors about how Lin Mian Mian is really a black hearted bitch that only wanted to use the emperor for money.

She also twisted the story about the encounter relaying that Lin Mian Mian wanted to stop Yin Mei Mei from attending the emperor. Everyone had seen the concubine walking around the Jade Palace during that time so they thought that she is there serving the emperor. Lin Mian Mian had been holed into his courtyard for so long so why did he come out right now? To create trouble?

There are only a few people that saw the event and most of them are working inside the palace so they have no time to tell the others about the events. Lu Mao and his friends of rotten maids also didn't have the luxury to chat with other maids since their attention is always towards their master. Minister Chang, the one who knows the events very well, is also busy with the preparations so he was not able to clarify the things.

With all the things placed properly, one word can cause a misunderstanding. Somehow, this set-up, this must have caused the original Lin Mian Mian's painful suffering.

Yin Mei Mei walked to the encirclement as if it is her rightful place. The stupid birdbrain concubines flocked around her as if serving the bird queen. A few concubines that started to doubt her credibility properly showed their distance while the remaining ones that are weak to compete only remained on the sidelines.

They all started to ask her questions as if it is her press conference. The shutters of cameras are blinding while the lighting from the studio highlighted her existence. Numbers of microphones, recorders, and even some unknown shaped material is being pointed at her, waiting for her to talk. The actress of the year took a handkerchief from her pockets and said, 'I am abused! That guy harassed me! I will bring this to the court. You better prepare!'

Well, this set-up would be best seen on the modern setting.

The lady retained her innocent reaction as she listened to the questions. She smiled, showing the deep holes on her cheeks, then lightly dabbed the edge of her eyes as if hiding the tears that are about to fall. The concubines stopped their question as they all look at the poor lady. Aww, what kind of devil is that person to make this lady cry?

"I'm fine. I'm sorry," Yin Mei Mei said stickily gentle. "People have different attitudes. It's just that the appearance and the attitude didn't match."

"Sister Mei, don't apologize. It is not your fault. The one that should be kneeling is that person. How could he dare to hurt you?" A concubine, named Lu Sei Min, replied back.

Lu Sei Min is that one concubine that wanted to use the status of the new wife to earn favorability. She knows that benefits of being a general's son's friend than being Yin Mei Mei that has no background. Yin Mei Mei is favored now but she would be useless once the emperor chooses an empress so Lu Sei Min would rather want to hug Lin Mian Mian's thigh for protection. 

So, without sending a notice, Lu Sei Min paraded herself in front of the Lin Courtyard. They say that Lin Mian Mian is a kindhearted person so it doesn't matter if she went uninvited or not. If it was the previous person then yes Lu Sei Min will be welcomed without a problem. The old Lin Mian Mian would even serve her refreshments while welcoming her with a warm smile. He is really a very kind but dumb person.

But the old Lin Mian Mian is not here anymore.

Instead, Lin Mian Mian only rushed to help that dirty servant that dirtied her clothes and ignored her [Chapter 014]. Lin Mian Mian even flaunted his presence as if his existence is the only one that is worthy. He humiliated Lu Sei Min in front of many people bringing her shame. This angered her so much that now she blocked Lin Mian Mian from her list.

Though, she did not need to block him since Lin Mian Mian already blocked them from the start.

Now that Yin Mei Mei fought with Lin Mian Mian, Lu Sei Min wanted to use this opportunity to destroy Lin Mian Mian's reputation. Even though Lu Sei Min knows that it was Yin Mei Mei's fault, why should she side to the enemy? The enemy's enemy is her friend; Lin Mian Mian is still new to the place so even though he has a high rank, it can't be compared to the other concubines that also have a good backing.

He is still a greenhorn to this bloody garden.

While everyone is spraying curses that certain someone, the Head Eunuch arrived. He explained to the ladies that it is now his job to control the harem while the Empress Dowager is away. Any misbehavior will be reported to the majesty so they must conduct their selves properly. The ladies listened to his words well and the Head Eunuch started his instruction.

Like the usual, Yin Mei Mei headed to her usual spot. Then her teen girls followers also followed, trying to line up before the others. Nobody wanted to be on the last line so they all scrambled like chicks. Mu Shi is still relaying the instructions so he was surprised when the concubines started moving. He had not yet announced the arrangement, why are they lining up?

It is really disrespectful towards the elder. Even though he is just a eunuch, his title is enough to hold judgment that could influence the Emperor's decision. He watched the concubines to line up like some kids that wanted a treat. Mu Shi asked the ladies to settle down and listen but nobody heard him. They are busy taking their pedestals making sure that they are far above than anybody.

He is already an old man and that little precaution is enough to exhaust him. Especially now that a trouble is brewing over the heads of the concubines. Rather than reprimanding these group of women, he told a nearby servant to watch the ladies while he's out to call Minister Chang. The servants nodded in pleasure and smile after the old man. These concubines are always a good source of gossip materials.

Go! Go! Fight oh! We want some hair grabbing ah!

While the servants are preparing their eyes to watch the scene that will unfold, the concubines already started the fire.

Not all thought that Yin Mei Mei deserved her position so now that her favorability lowered a bit the other concubines took the chance to gather themselves. One of the concubines that have a very strong backing and said to have a very strict personality, Fu Xiao San, walked towards Yin Mei Mei. Her daunting face showed dissatisfaction as she looked at Yin Mei Mei from head to down. Yin Mei Mei returned a confused look like a chick that has been wrong.

"Sister San, is there something wrong?" Yin Mei Mei asked in a soft voice.

"There is," Fu Xiao San straightforwardly replied. "It seems that Sister Mei has been holding the position for a long time. Don't you think this is the right time to concede?"

"What do you mean? This Sister Mei did not understand," Yin Mei Mei bit the lower part of her lips drawing red marks. Anyone looking at her would feel pity. Well, not this one.

"The arrangement has always been decided from credibility. Since Sister Mei had lost a few points from a few days ago, the rankings should have been readjusted," Fu Xiao San scoffed as she flipped her fan open. "This lady Fu has earned good credits recently from attending the Arts competition. This lady should have advanced to a higher rank."

Yin Mei Mei clenched her fist. She knows what Fu Xiao San is talking about. While she is worrying over Lin Mian Mian, the other concubines are earning their points by attending jobs or competitions that might raise their favorability. Fu Xiao San is one of her firm opponents inside this harem so she has been careless since Lin Mian Mian arrived suddenly.

Yin Mei Mei blinked her eyes to show her adorable fucking eyes. "But Sister Fu, this lady Mei had accumulated a lot of points these few years. How can a mere punishment take a lot of points that could make this lady concede?"

"Well, if you weren't lower then I am not here to take my place!" Fu Xiao San exclaimed. She never thought that Yin Mei Mei could back her out.

"Sister Fu, calm down, there's no need to fight over. If you want, I would give this place for you," Yin Mei Mei said with glistening eyes full of reluctance. "If Lady Fu deserved this place then this Lady Mei will give it to you."

Yin Mei Mei is like a chick that has been abused. It makes people feel that she really deserved the place but since someone wanted her position then she will just give it. Fu Xiao San's pride is higher than the Mount Everest so she won't accept the offer. She only scoffed and walked away back to her original position. But, before she could go, Yin Mei Mei called her to set-up sparks to detonate the bomb.

"Sister Fu? You didn't want the first place anymore?" Yin Mei Mei asked.

Fi Xiao San only glared at her before she walks away with a red face. Yin Mei Mei sneered inwardly. She returned to her position with a wide smile when another person came to disturb again. This time she thought that another concubine wanted to mess up with her again so he turned her head with a saddened expression. But she was surprised to see a different face.

Actually, it is not only Yin Mei Mei but also the other concubines that surrounded her. They all look at the young man that seems to be very out of place. His light blue robe fitted his slim body that highlighted his good-looking face. Currently, the face is smiling brightly as he looked at Yin Mei Mei. His eyes showed nothing but gentleness.

"Pardon me," the young man called softly. "I don't want to disturb whatever feud you guys are doing but I would like to call your attention. Don't you think you are standing in somebody's place?"

All the ladies are in trance as they listened to the young man's voice. Yin Mei Mei and Lu Sei Min recognized the person by his voice. They never thought that this person would appear before them wearing this kind of clothing. The concubine only managed to take a step back trying to control her urge to kick this man away.

The main character finally arrived on the scene.