ARC 2.10: One Afternoon....

Night came....

Quirra was getting ready for bed. It is the 16th day today so naturally, she wasn't expecting for Liwei to visit her. Once she laid down to rest, her thoughts drifted off to her afternoon with Liwei.

After their first public display of affection in the garden, she "spontaneously" showed him three other places in the back palace where they continued on with their outdoor adventure.

Afterwards Liwei clung to her like a spoiled child, begging for love and attention every minute. He was literally all over her, getting handsy and touchy-feely. It was only when they came back to her courtyard, that they saw Chonglin's personal maid waiting for them. Upon seeing the King and Queen approach her, the maid bowed then hurriedly told the King that her noble lady had hurt herself.

When he heard Chonglin's situation, Liwei quickly left with the maid. Without even saying goodbye to Quirra.

"Ungrateful motherfvker." Quirra grumbled at Liwei's actions. It was like their whole afternoon of wondrous pleasure and sexual adventure was easily thrown away and forgotten like trash, as he ran towards the other woman the minute he was told she "hurt" herself. -It's not like the idiot woman is really dying. I bet she was just faking it just to get his attention! Pah! What was I expecting!? Men are really all the same. No matter which era they are.-

As her thoughts of that complex afternoon came to a stop, Quirra let out a small sigh as she rolled over to her side and decided to go to sleep. She could finally rest well after all the physical activity she made the whole day. With the thought of sleeping in, she fell asleep with a huge smile on her face.

In the middle of the night, two shadows entered Queen Iwa's room. The other was holding a dimmed lamp and stood by the door, waiting, while the other lit a candle by her table. After a while, the one who stood by the door left and closed the Queen's door slowly. Making sure there was no noise in it's movement.

Meanwhile, the other shadow went to where the Queen is. The side of Iwa's bed dipped as her sheets shuffled and a man's body laid down beside her..

Quirra's eyes was already open the moment she heard shuffling inside her room. She has always been a light sleeper from her past life. She could never get a good night's rest nor get a deep sleep because of her working lifestyle. Simply put, she was a workaholic with little to no rest.

She then heard the removal of clothes before the man slowly lifted her blanket and went inside it as he laid beside her in her bed. With her back towards the man, she closed her eyes and went back to "sleep". Pretending she didn't hear anything and know nothing. But she couldn't stop her thoughts from running.

-This ungrateful scum must've fought with Chonglin. That's the only reason why he's here. Huh. I must've gain a bit of his favor over the rest of his women, since he didn't go anywhere else tonight.-

Quirra didn't know whether to laugh or cry about this.

Liwei laid still, as his thoughts drifted back to what happened between him and Mei this afternoon.

When he reached Chonglin's courtyard, it was total chaos. Everywhere he looked, there was ruins. From the flowers that he had ordered the servants to plant for her, to the valuable things he gave her like paintings, tea sets, jewelry and clothes--- everything was in disarray.

The flowers were uprooted and stomped upon. The valuables were thrown and broken. As for the clothes and paintings, some were torn and some were shredded. And in the middle of the mess was his beloved Mei, wailing loudly as she sat on the ground in the middle of her room. Liwei didn't feel like comforting her. In fact he felt annoyed with her.

The punishment was for her own good yet she kept on acting out, making him lose face every time. However, Mei was the woman he held tightly in the palm of his hand. She was precious to him.

Sighing heavily, he decided to give in to her tantrum and went to console her. Afterwards he would talk to her about her punishment.

"Darling" Liwei softly called her as he went to embrace Mei. "What happened in here? Did you hurt yourself?" He then scooped her up in his arms and brought her to her bed, while ignoring all the mess on the floor. Once she was settled on her bed, Liwei checked her body for injuries. Overall, she only got a cut on her finger. She clearly got it from the shards of earthenware she threw around. He just shook his head on her silliness as he took the finger with a cut and put it in his mouth.

Chonglin stopped wailing by this time, but her tears still kept falling and her body started to shiver. From the side, a maid came with some medical supplies and handed them to the King.

Liwei took it and patiently took care of his beloved Mei's wound. The whole time Chonglin stayed silent as she watched the man she love took care of her.

"Leave us." Liwei ordered the servants around, after he finished.

Once the servants left and it was just him and Chonglin left in her room, Liwei looked at her beloved Mei. Her cute and innocent features are now replaced with hurt and sadness, as she looked at him and waited for him to speak first.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" He asked her softly as he took her hands and held them.

Chonglin just stared down at her feet, not wanting to look at him. Liwei lifted her head up so she could face him but she kept her eyes lowered, unable to meet his gaze.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" He patiently asked her again.

Chonglin shook her head no. She remained stubborn in admitting her mistakes, and this made Liwei angry at her cold actions. However, he understood this is how she acts whenever she had been wronged so he could only be patient with her.

"My darling Mei, I want you to listen to me. When we are alone together, it is fine to act the way you usually do with me. However when we are in public, you must act in decorum and care for your own image. If you act like a Noble Lady, not only are you giving me face,but it will also let others know that you are my beloved woman."

Mei: "B-but....I-I don't know how to act like a noble lady. I was never taught to and you know that!" she pouted.

Liwei: "I know. But you must begin to learn. Especially now that I have become King, everyone is looking at me, observing me and some are even spying on me. Wanting and waiting for me to fail. If they see a fault in you, it will become a reflection of me. Do you understand this?"

Mei nodded her head meekly "Mei understands."

Liwei: "Tomorrow I want you to learn the proper etiquette and manners of a Noble Lady. You must also learn about the palace rules. And above all, I want you to promise me not to let this incident happen again. Do you understand me?"

Mei: "Mei promises Liwei and Mei understands."

Liwei: "One last thing, You must never destroy your home like this ever again!" He warned her. "A noble lady must act with grace. All these things you have broken, were things I gifted you. They were all given with love from me to you. It brings me great pain to know you do not treasure them seeing how you easily threw them around and broke them."

Mei: "But I do like them, Liwei! Mei treasures them!" she said as she frantically tried to explain herself "I-its just....Mei was so angry at Queen Iwa that Mei.....Mei could not help herself and lash out." "I-i'm sorry Liwei" she sobbed.

Liwei sighed as he grabbed her head and kissed her lightly on the lips after which, he pressed her closer to his body. "I understand how you feel Mei, but Queen Iwa was in the right this time. How you treated her was disrespectful. If she was a malicious lady, she could have had you whipped or killed on the spot if she wanted to. That is why you must not disrespect her again. Iwa is Queen and She is Mother to our nation."

Chonglin began to cry again. She didn't like the fact that she had to share Liwei with others. Especially not with Iwa. And the fact that she is Queen and Mother to the Nation, she hated it the most.

Mei: "You said you love me, but why did you not make me your Queen instead?"

Liwei sighed. "You know why. We already talked about this. We are not having this conversation again. "

Mei: "But you are King now! Certainly you can change your Queen this time?"

Liwei sighed again. "Mei, darling. You know that even as King now, I still cannot do that. "

Mei: "No!! I refuse to believe that! You do not think about me at all!!" She yelled at him as she began to punch him in the chest and escape his hold.

Liwei held her tightly and just let her vent her anger at him. If it was up to him, of course he would make Chonglin his Queen. However, he still does not have a full of hold the government yet. Iwa's family held too much power and support, and they have made too many contributions to the country and to him. Until he can subdue her family and reign over everyone with his own power, he cannot dethrone Iwa for now.

"Darling, you know I love you. I love only you. I cherish no one else but you." he told her as Chonglin continued to cry bitter tears on his shoulder. "If I did not love you, I would have not married you and made you my woman."

Mei: "But you have so many women! I am just one of many."

Liwei: "But you are the only one I love. The only one I cherish. The only one I favor. I would not be here if I did not love you."

Mei: "But you were with Queen Iwa last night. And today you were also with her! "

Liwei: "You know I do not favor Queen Iwa. I was only with her last night because it is required of me to spend two nights with her out of the month. As for today, I told you what she said was right. You broke the palace rules so now you must face the consequences."

Mei: "You made me lose face in front of everyone today!" she cried out, not giving in to the argument. "Especially in front of Queen Iwa! Why did it have to be in front of her!? You say you love me, cherish me and favor me, but why is she queen and not me!!??"

Liwei couldn't hold himself back any longer. She truly didn't understand why she was punished. It was like speaking to a wall. And it truly made him mad this time.

"What is the first rule about being Queen?" He asked Chonglin as he pulled away from her and stood up.

"Do you know!? Of course you do not!! What makes you think you are qualified to be queen if you do not even know the first rule to be queen? You do not have the skills to be a noble lady, you do not follow the palace rules and you do not know what the punishment is for not folowing the palace laws! Not to mention, you do not even know how to manage your own household, especially with so many concubines and servants in the back palace. You do not know how to manage money either nor do you know how to speak to others to win their favor. You have so many things you lack that you do not even know how to act decent!! Just look around you! All these valuable things that I personally gave you, you broke them so easily. So tell me now, what makes you think you are qualified to be Queen?"

The whole time Liwei let out his frustrations, Chonglin was speechless. She could only look at him in fear. Her Liwei just yelled at her and told her she would never qualify as queen!! It wasn't her fault she was born a commoner! It wasn't her fault she fell in love with him and followed him into this damned palace!! Everything is not her fault so why is her Liwei blaming her?

This is the first time Liwei was mad at her. The first time he yelled at her. The first time he stood up against Iwa. He had never hurt her with his words before. And it all happened today after spending the night with Queen Iwa!! It was all that slut's fault!!! Everything of this is Iwa's fault! She made Liwei become someone who does not love her anymore. Someone she did not recognize! She changed Liwei! She changed us!!

"You will learn the womanly virtues as well as make 20 copies of them. 10 copies for Queen Iwa and 10 copies for me. You will do everything your punishment stated. Lastly, your privileges as Noble Consort will be revoked and be replaced by Concubine privileges until all 20 copies are handed in."

With that, Liwei left Chonglin all alone in her chaotic courtyard without giving her a single glance. He didn't even look behind as he left quickly.