Manu knew he had to be careful.

Mama would easily find out if he was not.

The first step to this was insisting that he would wear his clothes himself.

For this, he used his authority as the Imperial Prince for the first time. He told them he would wear all his garments and they could help with tying things together at the end. It was awkward and he was half trembling. But they obeyed and stayed out while he changed his clothes.

The second step was tearing up some of his old clothes and using them as bandages over his wounds. The thin lines of cuts had dug into the flesh around his elbow and burned like hell.

He had learnt from his mother that wounds needed to be cleaned first but he had no time. He would just take a nearby pitcher of water to wash them lightly before using the torn clothes as bandages. He would shove his bloodstained robes into a discreet corner of his bath, covering them with towels. He would need to wash those later.

For the rest of the day, he would try to ignore and suppress his pain as he went through his lessons. Even in training with Master Chen, he would grit his teeth through the pain. He could tell he was a bit slower than usual, but at least he was getting used to working under pain.

At the end of the day, he would come back and take his bath. He would dismiss all the maids and lock the bath door. He would then take a bucket of water and wash the bloodstained clothes he had hidden before as well as his bandages. He would then throw the bloodied water out of the window and keep the washed clothes and bandages tucked inside one of the towels. In the morning, after his mother left, he would sneak outside into the garden and put his clothes up on the low-hanging branches of a small tree hidden behind a bigger tree. Finding that tree had truly been a stroke of luck.

Over the next few days, he learned to keep two sets of undergarments when he was in his etiquette lessons as well as two sets of bandages. He would alternate between them. Wearing one set while the other was washed and being dried.

He had acted very embarrassed when his mama asked why he did not want the maids to help him. He said that he was growing up now and did not need anyone to wash him. That it was all so embarrassing. Perhaps it was his desperation, or perhaps it was because his mama was busy dealing with the Empress and the other concubines, but he somehow managed to convince his mama.

At night, when he had tucked in beside Mama the first time, it hurt so much. He had clenched his teeth and lied that the training was hard that day and he was a bit sore. The next day, he had asked both Teacher Chen and Master Chen whether he could have some pain-relieving ointment since sometimes the scrapes and bruises he got from training hurt too much. Master Chen had called him a little weakling but had handed over an ointment nonetheless. Teacher Chen gave him another pot the day after. He used them on his wounds, sighing in relief when those cuts were numbed and he could sleep peacefully.

Things became a little harder when the woman started to target his legs after a week. Thankfully, those did not land hard enough to make him bleed. Perhaps she knew that making him limp his way through the Palace was not the brightest idea if she wanted to keep it under wraps. Still, they hurt. She would say that he did not walk with enough grace, did not have enough understanding of the royal etiquette, did not speak properly, sit properly, eat properly … why could he not understand? How come he behaved like a mongrel when he had royal blood? How come it was the dirty blood of his mother that shone through? He was such a disgrace to the Imperial Family.

Sometimes, he wished he could strangle the woman. How dare she insult his mama?! His mama was the strongest, most beautiful woman in the world who worked so hard for him! Even now, she was in this Imperial Palace surrounded by people who wanted to insult her and hurt her … for him. How dare this stupid woman speak of his mama that way?!

But … he really could not do anything. Hurting this woman would do nothing. It would only end up harming his mama, who was already surrounded by enemies.

So, he endured quietly, hoping that one day he would be good enough that all these people in the Imperial Family would accept him and, more importantly, his mama.

He started to put the ointment on his feet too. Every day, before his lessons with the Chens started, he would put on a generous amount of ointment on both his arms and both his feet. After all, he needed to train properly and he could not do that with pained and injured feet. They helped numb the pain but by the time he would come back to the Yongyagong and get to washing his clothes and bandages, the pain would come back with a vengeance. He would grit his teeth against it, wash everything, take a bath, and put on some more ointment before going out.

This went on for one and a half more hellish week.

Until, one day, Su and Min started to clean both the bath chambers under Lian’s orders while Lady Qing and Prince Xu were gone.

---

The next few days passed somewhat uneventfully. If you counted getting daily ‘punishments’ and the occasional harassment by the other concubines, mainly of the Imperial Consort faction, uneventful. Perhaps it was a bit surprising, but Samaya managed to keep her cool during those moments. The fact that Ah-Liu and sometimes Fu Caiyi were in her vicinity to calm her down definitely helped.

Today’s morning greetings were a bit different.

Apparently, the Imperial Physician assigned to the Empress had told her that having small strolls sometimes with company would be good for her health.

So, she asked the concubines to stay back and take the stroll with her in her Phoenix Gardens, allowing them to roam around and explore as they liked. Of course, they all jumped at the opportunity. Phoenix Gardens were, after all, the exclusive garden of the Empress. No one was allowed in without the permission of the Empress, with the exception of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Samaya was not particularly interested but it wasn’t like she could refuse while everyone else was enthusiastically agreeing.

The Empress herself was strolling around and occasionally chatting with some of the concubines. Fu Caiyi stuck close to her and they were now chatting with Song Yuhan, the only Virtuous Consort of the Harem. Surprisingly, this neutral woman was on friendly terms with her. This development came about when Samaya once decided to play with the twins and Consort Song’s daughter, Princess Fang, and the Consort came upon the scene of the three children making flower crowns with her, patiently teaching them how to weave the flowers and the vines together, while also teaching them the names of the different flowers and their characteristics.

Consort Song started to talk to her after that, whereas before Samaya had been completely ignored by the woman. Samaya gathered it would not be bad to have her as an ally, since she was the daughter of the powerful Minister Song, who was the Minister of Finance, and neutral in the tug-of-war between the Empress and Imperial Consort.

Another unlikely addition was Yi Yingxiu. She was of the Empress Faction. She came from a family that was once prominent. Once … because most of the family had been eradicated after being ousted as traitors against the current Emperor. But not only was she spared, but she was also taken as the concubine of the Emperor. This woman … was dangerous. Samaya could feel it. Not in the way that she could kill you in seconds. But in the way that she seemed to be so perceptive and calculative. It was her mind that could kill people, not her body. She would have made a good goddamn agent back home, the behind-the-scenes kind.

She preferred to stay with others of her faction for most of the time. But she did sometimes venture out, talking to others, including Samaya. In fact … it felt like Yi Yingxiu was putting a bit more time into spending time with her than others. She’d probably been ordered by the Empress to be friendly with the newest concubine, scope her out, and find out more about her.

Samaya would have been worried, had it not been for the fact that Ah-Liu had confirmed that Yi Yingxiu had no training and had little power in the Harem itself, at least when compared to other concubines of the noble families. Why she was taken in as a concubine and put so high up in the hierarchy … no one quite knew. The reason given was that she had saved the Emperor’s life when someone was coming at him from behind during the raid on her family … but Samaya did not believe it. That man was as powerful as Siwang, if not more. There was no way he did not notice someone attacking him from behind. There had to be another reason.

Not that Samaya was very curious, beyond whether she posed a threat to Manu. At the moment, she did not. So, Samaya could afford to humor her every now and then.

Just like now.

The four of them chatted idly about what seemed like nothing and everything at the same time. Life in the harem, how Samaya was adjusting, clothes, flowers, food … it was mindless, almost. She thanked her years of training for being able to keep up even in her half blanked out state in which was thinking about dinner. The conversation soon turned to children, how they were doing, how their lessons were going, and how they were getting along.

Hou Tianjian, belonging to the Imperial Consort faction, still very much liked to keep her daughter separated from the rest. The girls played amongst each other. Manu played with them on the one day of the week he got a break from his lessons. He did not play this week though, saying that he was not feeling well. Samaya left it alone. Those twins could get very hyper and it was hard to keep up with them, especially with an exhausted body like Manu’s.

“Well, I know that it is ideal for us women to bear sons.” Samaya barely held herself back from snorting at Fu Caiyi’s words. Different times, she reminded herself. “But I cannot imagine my life without my two little girls. They are my world. I would die happy even if I never bear another child.”

Song Yuhan nodded. “It is the same for me, Lady Fu. Fang is my everything. I have no need or wish for a son. I cannot imagine what I would do if something happened to her.”

Well, Samaya could appreciate that. Samaya was pretty sure she would go mad if something happened to Manu.

“I can imagine, Consort Song,” Fu Caiyi said. “The moment I held my daughters in my arms, it was as if the world had become so much clearer. And they were at the centre of it. They did not belong to me. It was as if ….”

“... you belonged to them.” Samaya could not help but finish, feeling that in her core.

Fu Caiyi sighed softly, nodding. She then seemed to remember something. She turned to Yi Yingxiu, the only one in the group to not have a child.

“Oh, I apologize, Consort Yi.” Fu Caiyi flushed in embarrassment. “We were so engrossed in our conversation …”

Yi Yingxiu smiled and shook her head. “Please do not worry. It is only natural for mothers to love their children.”

“What about you?” Song Yuhan said. “Would you like to have a daughter? Or a son to provide His Majesty an Heir?”

Yi Yingxiu glanced at Samaya once, and Samaya kept her expression as one of polite curiosity. She looked back at the flowers in front of her and spoke softly. “I have not thought much about it, to be honest. I suppose I would be fine with either, as long as they have his eyes.”

It should not be strange. The woman only said she wished for her children to have the Emperor’s eyes… which, she could understand, given how beautiful they were. It could even be seen as a sign of her love for the Emperor. That’s what Fu Caiyi seemed to think as well, if her lovelorn sigh was any indication. But still … why did it feel so … strange?

She could not dwell on it as she felt someone approach her. A presence that had become very familiar to her the past two weeks. She sighed softly and excused herself from the three, putting on a forced smile as she saw the woman approaching her.

Kang Yuxin. The martial arts concubine, apparently. She seemed to have a grudge against her. Well … considering that she was from the Imperial Consort faction, the same as Han Wanyi and Liao Huimei, she could understand why. She seemed to have made it her personal mission to harass Samaya as much as she could.

“Lady Kang.”

Kan Yuxin scoffed. “You seem to be doing well.”

“Thank you.”

“Considering the fact that you seem to be a failure in your lessons. How are those wounds from your punishments?”

They burnt a bit. Nothing she could not handle.

“They are healing well, Lady Kang. Thank you for asking.”

Another scoff. “They are healing well? After all the repeated beatings you get for being a dirty mannerless whore? Why haven’t I heard of it?”

Those words annoyed her. But she did not react. It would only affect Manu. She might have a higher rank than her, but this woman had more power behind her than Samaya did. She could easily deal a blow to her, but she did not want the consequences to fall upon Manu. It was why the one time Kang Yuxin had twisted her arm behind her back in an effort to threaten her, she had not resisted at all. Of course, she had dodged the blow she sent her way and allowed the momentum to make Kang Yuxin fall flat on her face. But no one could fault her for that. She had just been dodging an attack, after all. Samaya had the fingerprints on her wrist as evidence in fact Kang Yuxin tried to drag her down.

“I am learning slowly, Lady Kang.” Samaya’s smile did not reach her eyes. “But I am learning nonetheless.”

“I would hope so. The Empress and the Imperial Consort have given you the opportunity to become a civilized and noble woman. It would not do to waste this opportunity.” The woman looked Samaya up and down. “I do hope your child has not inherited your lack of propensity toward education.”

And with that, she turned and left.

You fucking bitch.

Kang Yuxin was starting to realise that provoking her would do nothing so she had begun to target her son in her taunts. Of course, Samaya held herself back. As long as Manu was safe, nothing else mattered. She could take a few taunts.

By the time she got back to her courtyard, she was exhausted. She started to take off her clothes, keeping only the form-fitting undergarment, which she had found was much more conducive to her exercise and training. She had picked her physical exercise and training back up after a week here. She kept to her room, and everyone knew they were not allowed to come inside during that one hour. It was not as much as she had hoped. She could only do it on days when she did not have to entertain guests or, worse, the Emperor. Of course, she had told her maids to inform her the moment they saw anyone approaching. Not because she was afraid, but because she did not like the idea of people finding out about her peaceful moments and kicking a fuss over it.

Today seemed to be a quiet day. She should be able to get some training in today.

At least that’s what she thought until she heard the shaky and soft call of “my lady” from Min and turned around to see her clutching a wrinkled set of clothes in her trembling hands.