"your majesty, it..it.. consort Shu." Xiao Xiao mumured quietly afraid to anger her.
" Consort Shu, you mean Jin Yu? No wonder she's the only consort in the palace, she does has some tricks up her sleeves." Yanhui smiled as she laid down to rest.
" Your majesty,now that she has drawn his majesty away, what of your promise to the empress dowager? How are we going to fulfill it?" Xiao Qi asked worriedly as she lighted incense.
"What incense is that? It smells different" Xiao Xiao asked curious.
" Sandalwood for calming the mind"
"Oh"
" Your majesty, stop pretending to be asleep, how do we draw his majesty here?" Xiao Qi pressed.
" How come non of you are surprised I've consummated my marriage to the emperor?" Yanhui asked suspicious.
" Your majesty, everyone in kunning palace knows" Xiao Qi answered carefully.
"Everyone, what do you mean?" Yanhui sat up alarmed feeling bitter.
"There was no handkerchief and no sounds from your room all night unlike consort shu's but don't worry, it won't leave this walls" Xiao Qi replied tactfully.
" And yet the empress dowager found out"
"Your majesty about the emperor....."
" The empress dowager will take care of it for us, she's the one desperate for an heir not me" Yanhui smiled at Xiao Qi.
"Your majesty, you're wise" Xiao Qi smiled back understanding.
" I don't understand, what do you mean the dowager will help us? Why?" Xiao Xiao was confused.
Xiao Qi dragged Xiao Xiao along with her as the exited the room despite her protests. As they left, the room grew quiet with only the sounds of crickets coming from outside. Yanhui was lonely and missed her parents and siblings from the future. She never felt it before but now that she had no one to talk to or guard against, she felt suffocated. The events of the last few days caught up to her and she cried her heart out, she wanted to go home!. She wanted to watch her favorite drama, she wanted to see her parents, she wanted to eat Jollof rice and fried chicken, heck!, she even wanted to attend class, it was better than this dog eat dog palace.
Yanhui was crying quietly at first but she could hold it no longer and burst into loud tears. Her maids rushed into her room to see what the matter was, when they saw her crying her heart out in pain.
" Your majesty, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Xiao Xiao asked worriedly holding her close.
" I..I.. miss my mommm!.I..wa..nt..to go home..." Yanhui said bursting into louder tears as she held unto Xiao Xiao.
" Young missss.." Xiao Xiao also burst into tears remembing that her miss had never suffered any grievance, like she had this past few days.
" Don't scare me your majesty, Xiao Xiao why are you making it worse?! I call for a physician, take care of miss" Xiao Qi ran out in panic.
Even though Xiao Qi was given to Yanhui as a dowry maid, she had stayed by her mother's side since she was 12. Xiao Qi has never seen Yanhui cry before, she always got what she wanted and has been spoilt from childhood. It was her first time seeing her cry and so she panicked.
Kunning palace went into a ruckus with servants running about as if the palace was on fire. The commotion attracted the attention of the emperor.
Consort Shu was helping the emperor take off his clothes when they heard the commotion. He turned and called his chief enunch Cai Lun to find out what the problem was. He soon came with news:
"it seems the empress is not well, a physician has been called for" he said bowing.
" Oh?" He replied raising an eyebrow.
" I hear she's dying and keep saying to go home" Cai Lun continued.
" The empress is sick and dying? Why didn't you say so earlier?!" The emperor immediately put on his clothes and rushed to kunning palace n panic; she couldn't die yet! He won't allow it.
Consort Shu watched in anger as the emperor left :
" That vixen! Why doesn't she just die!! She just doesn't want me happy!!" She screamed breaking her hairpins and teacups, her eyes red with hatred for Yanhui.
Her maid Dumei stopped her and bandaged her injured hands :
" My lady, don't damage your hands for little things. The emperor loves you the most and is just afraid of the Yan clan"
" You're right, he's already tired of her and will just hate her more for the trick she pulled today" consort Shu smiled sinisterly.
The emperor was stunned at the sight that greeted him; Yanhui was crying her heart out in Xiao Xiao's arms, the royal physician was standing nearby in panic and confusion, Xiao Qi begging the physician to save her lady in tears. They didn't even realize the presence of the emperor!.
"What's happening here" he barked
They all immediately turned to face him, surprised he was there and turned to greet him in chorus:
" Greetings your majesty "
Before he reply, Yanhui formly shocked into silence burst out crying again:
"Wuwuwu..I want to go home, you're very mean, why did you shout? What did I ever do to you? Is existing a crime? Is wanting to be happy a crime? Is having a dream a crime?. I'm sorry, please take me back, I don't want anymore.Everyone is so mean, I hate it here... wuwuwu I want to go home....."
The emperor was shocked and didn't know what to do or how to comfort her, he has never seen anything like this before!!. He simply didn't know how to comfort a crying girl!. He looked at her painful face and realized she was not faking it at all!. He drew guilty and decided to go hug her like Xiao Xiao did earlier. Yanhui snuggled into the arms of the familiar stranger and found comfort in the familiar warmth.
The ruckus also alerted the empress dowager, who sent her maid to inquire of what was happening in the empresses palace, but the old maid was stunned! She saw the empress in the arms of the emperor, crying to go home; that she no longer wanted to stay here, with snot all over her face, the emperor trying his best to comfort her. She simply bowed and left dumfounded to report her findings to the dowager.