2

"The arrival of emperor Lon." Ress, Aria's eunuch announced. All the wives stood from their chairs and bowed all except Aria, rather he had a very gloomy expression.

"May the emperor live a long happy life." they all announced as Aria just sat there, lips pursed in a line and in a very deadly mood.

"My empress, it's been so long since I last saw you. Aren't you going to greet your husband." the emperor said with a smirk.

"And who's fault is it that I've been absent?"  Aria replied.

"Imperial Concubine Rose, I hope you're doing well." the emperor said facing the said woman, she replied while bowing her head and all the other wives were speechless.

They were surprised because not only did the emperor not ask the empress of his well being, but he went as far as to humiliate him by acknowledging a lowly peasant in the harem.

All the other wives looked to the empress to see his reaction only to find a smile, they were stupified and dumbfounded. Those who knew her very well knew that smile was the most dangerous of all the smiles in the empire.

"I'll just sip my tea and watch dear husband be all lovey dovey with the peasant." Aria said loudly enough for both people to hear and smiled smugly when the emperor glared at him.

"Mind your tongue." The emperor said through gritted teeth, visibly and audibly annoyed.

"Do see yourself out dear husband. And remember to never set foot in my Imperial Harem meetings again." Aria said seriously.

"How dare you!" shouted the emperor's Imperial advisor. And the whole hall went dead quiet and this when the advisor realized his mistake. He just yelled at the empress, the second most powerful person in the whole empire.

"Such disrespect, Eunuch Ress, What's the punishment for yelling at a royal. Most specifically an Empress?" Aria asked turning towards Ress whilst leisurely sipping his tea.

The Imperial advisor's face paled, he had not meant to yell at the empress for he was caught in the heat of the moment because no one has ever dared to talked that way to the emperor.

"Your majesty, beheading of culprit and all family members." Eunuch Ress said.

"Your majesty please have mercy on this soul." the advisor knelt down very quickly begging for his life.

"Aria don't be hasty." the emperor said trying to save one of his men, but not only did he add fuel to the fire, he also angered Aria.

"So you allow such insolence in your empire, how novel. Remember dear husband these are rules written by you and the previous leaders of the nation. They are as powerful as an Imperial decree. Stand in their way and I won't hesitate to clear that filth you love." Aria voiced in a relaxed tone.

All the other spectators could feel the tension between the emperor and the empress, the empress just publicly in front of one hundred  people said that he will kill the Imperial Concubine if the emperor does not follow through with the advisors punishment.

Aria was cleaning out all the people who were involved in his framing and he just started with the advisor. The advisor was the one to declare that given the evidence against the empress he should be punished accordingly and thus reason why the emperor striped Aria of his title and sent him to the cold palace.

At the moment everyone was shocked by the bluntness of the empress. They shivered and were sweating all over, it wasn't a secret that the empress was powerful, but to see him actually challenge the most powerful man in the nation, they were respectful.

"Did you just threaten my concubine, Aria?" the emperor roared.

"Dear husband, I advice you call me by my title and not my name, it's disrespectful and belittling. Do you hear me blabbering your first name everywhere I go?" Aria asked.

Everyone was rooted in their positions, the emperor himself was shook to the core by the calm empress, no one had ever spoke that way to him before not even his Imperial Concubine, who was his sweetheart. The Imperial Concubine was respectful even after getting the emperor's favor, but the empress was another story and the emperor wasn't fond on reading it to the end.

"I thought so. And just like how the wives must not attend morning court with the emperor, I advice you stay away from my harem meeting My dear. Now run along my love don't be late, your paperwork is waiting and take that filth of an advisor and punish him before little Rose gets snacks." Aria said and the concubine in question was shaking from anger. The empress was disrespectful and belittling her.

"Mind your tongue Aria!!" the emperor roared.

"Wrong move my love. Guards take Imperial Concubine Rose to get 20 flogs on her back, chain her and let the maids drench her in cold water. NAKED." Aria said. Gasps were heard all over the hall as the wives were beyond surprised at this point.

"You wouldn't dare!!" emperor Lon roared.

"I did, since I can't punish you your majesty I serve to strike where it hurts most and that's your concubine." Aria said.

"All this could have been avoided had you dearest husband called me by my title and not my name." he continued.

"You're punishing her just for that simple of a thing? " the emperor questioned in disbelief. He can't believe that his empress is mad for not getting called by his title that he'd punish someone for it.

"Your majesty, are dumb? has Imperial Concubine Rose made you so love struck that you've become dumb. If I remember correctly no one calls you by your name and if they do, it's disrespectful and they get punished. So why can't I punish those who disrespect me."

" And since I can't punish the emperor of the state, I'll punish what you hold dear and if anyone has a problem Eunuch Ress will take care of your worries." Aria concluded and watched as his guards drag the concubine out as she screamed and yelled for the emperor to help.

"You may go to your palaces, the emperor ruined my meeting." Aria told the other wives while sipping his tea. As if scared for their lives the wives scurried out of the hall towards their homes, leaving the emperor in the hall with Aria and both their entourage.

"Aria that was very unnecessary." the emperor stated with a stern face.

"Eunuch Ress." Aria called.

"Yes your majesty?" Said eunuch waited for the empress' command.

"Double Imperial Concubine' punishment." Aria said.

"Y-Yes your majesty." Eunuch Ress could feel the murderous look the emperor gave him.

"And if dear husband hurts my man, then I won't hesitate to personally deal with your ministers." Aria said with a smile, the man he referred to was Eunuch Ress. The Empress knew and noticed the glared the Emperor gave Eunuch Ress when he delivered the command to double Concubine Rose' punishment.

"Your majesty if you're done please show yourself out, this humble soul is tired and needs to rest. It's not everyday an Empress is banished to the cold palace for a whole year." Aria said standing up and moving towards his garden. He was really tired of the emperor and his concubine, they were nauseating him.

He made he's way towards his garden to see four beautiful kids playing around on swings he had installed there. The kids were too engrossed in their playing that they didn't notice their mother standing at the entrance staring at them.

"Head Steward Richard. Inform the wives and the emperor that in a week's time I'll be holding a party for the visit of my father and sister from Allira." Aria said cooking up a plan in his head. Concubine Rose was going to pay for that she did to him, he was done playing the nice guy in order to get the emperor to love him back. He was now going to play dirty like the two had done to him and he wasn't going to stop until he was satisfied with the outcome result.

"Yes your majesty." Richard replied before heading to inform the others.

"Eunice, make me a list of noble women and men that are willing to marry the emperor as concubines, I want that list in three days." Aria said to the Head Maid.

"Yes your majesty." Eunice answered before running away to prepare the list.

The empress was about to have fun.