Morning Tea

"Jiang Yi. Jiang Yi! Where is Jiang Yi?!" Fear surged in and enveloped An Jia Li to the point that she panicked. Suppressed by the fear of his fate of being beheaded, An Jia Li reflexively searched for Jiang Yi's figure. She hoped that her husband would comfort and protect her. Until the point of silence resounded and made An Jia Li realize that she was no longer with Jiang Yi. Her life is separate. He was alone. There was nothing he could turn to for help.

"What should I do now?" that was the only question that kept running through the confused and frightened An Jia Li's mind. All of her emotions came together so An Jia Li had to burst into tears. Even if he was really in the novel, he couldn't make use of his meager knowledge because he hadn't finished the final chapter of the novel.

The only thing he knew very clearly was that he had reincarnated into a novel by Xing Yi and became a servant character named Xiang Lian whose life was threatened. An Jia Li did not know and did not remember about the story in the novel which was actually her past life.

Morning came, but An Jia Li was still in bed. His eyes didn't look good. He stared at the ceiling of his room with a frustrated face because he was constantly depressed by the thought of the punishment he would receive later.

"I couldn't sleep all night" An Jia Li shouted in her heart as she got up from her sleeping position.

"How is this!. Now sleepiness is attacking me! Even though this morning is Xiang Lian's schedule to entertain Emperor Feng's morning tea... am I really going to die today?!"

An Jia Li had been thinking non-stop since last night. He thought about his fate in this novel world, plus he hadn't finished reading all the novel chapters, so he didn't know how the plot of all the novels could have helped him live in this world. Unfortunately, such an opportunity no longer exists. There was little he could do with his memory, which was still sufficient to live the life in the early chapters.

Even so, at this moment An Jia Li could only think about the chapter containing the beheading. she is still worried.

Slame!.

The door to An Jia Li's room opened again with a slam. A gaze from someone on the doorstep of his room managed to make An Jia Li freeze in place. Sweat ran smoothly down his temples as he felt Miss Liu's intense gaze pierce him.

"Xiang Lian!. Look at your messy appearance!. What time do you think it is!?" snapped Miss Liu.

An Jia Li was about to speak, but she was still nervous because she still felt strange even though she already knew about Miss Liu. He was one of the figures who always scolded Xiang Lian. He is also a strict butler of the Feng kingdom and pays more attention to Xiang Lian's character because he is always careless and innocent in doing his job.

Miss Liu walked quickly in annoyance. Angry fire could be seen in his eyes.

"You heard what I said last night and earlier?!. Why are you still silent!. Quickly tidy up your clothes!. Do you want to add more punishment?" said Miss Liu who suddenly made An Jia Li move quickly. He reflexively can do many things when he hears the word punishment that keeps pressing him. With his reading memory. An Jia Li also changed into a maid outfit for the emperor's morning banquet and tidied herself up according to the standard of the royal servant's rules.

In the midst of that, Miss Liu looked closely at An Jia Li and noticed a strange "what's with your eyes?" asked Miss Liu as she leaned closer to An Jia Li's panda eyes, "You didn't sleep all night?" asked Miss Liu again confidently with dark circles around An Jia Li's eyes, especially her eyes looked sad.

"Th-that..."

Don't want to wait for an answer to his question. Miss Liu pulled An Jia Li and made her sit on a chair. He then took a box in which there were tools for decoration such as; moisturizing cream, powder, lip rouge and so on. Of course, he started to paint all of that on An Jia LI's sweet face. The polish was only lightly polished, because Xiang Lian's face was already basically good. Miss Liu only disguised An Jia Li's sleep-deprived face so that it was pleasing to the eye.

An Jia Li herself just silently obeyed. He was also a little confused as to why Miss Liu put on makeup just because there were eyes and panda eyes? Isn't that too much for someone whose status is just a servant?.

An Jia Li's question was answered by Miss Liu's words as if she had just heard her heart.

Miss Liu spoke in a tone of sadness that she concealed. "Even if you're just a servant. You're still a woman. Take care of your appearance especially in front of the emperor."

An Jia Li was pensive for a moment. He remembered now without having to wait for Miss Liu to explain. This morning's banquet chapter also tells a little about Miss Liu's past.

Liu Qionglin was his full name. She was also an orphan, but she still had a mother who had the status of a concubine of the previous emperor. Actually being a concubine is a job. And because of her job, Ms. Liu's whereabouts were hidden by her mother from the emperor so that she could live in peace without having any ties to the empire.

Right. Ms. Liu's mother became the emperor's concubine when Ms. Liu was a child. Miss Liu's mother was also a beautiful village flower so it was no wonder that she could be chosen as one of the emperor's concubines who worked to serve the emperor.

But the previous emperor was someone who was very temperamental. Until one day little Liu somehow managed to sneak into the palace to see his mother who worked there.

At that time, little Miss Liu learned the truth that her mother's occupation was not as an ordinary maid, but as a special servant of the emperor, namely a concubine. There were many kinds of concubines back then, and Miss Liu's mother was a maid concubine who merely served little entertainment for the emperor using her pretty face.

The life of the concubines, including Ms. Liu at that time, was of course required to always look beautiful and have a perfect appearance, so that they could entertain with beautiful and pleasing faces. Some rules also apply such as having eyes that are as beautiful as spring flower petals, and their smile must be charming.

When they meet such conditions, then they are considered concubines. But what happens if they don't try to fulfill those conditions? They will be punished for looking down on the emperor, and not being able to entertain the emperor.

Even so, the things they get are also commensurate for their work even though they have something in common like the Comfort Women from most brothels. It's just that the concubines get a bigger reward of course, and can't be embarrassed because their status belongs to the emperor.

At that time, Ms. Liu saw her mother being punished for not wearing her usual makeup. Even though Ms. Liu's face is already beautiful without having to be polished with powder and rouge. But the conditions are the same as the rules. And anyone who does not meet the requirements is tantamount to breaking the rules. And breaking the rules is the same as getting punished.

The emperor at that time actually recognized the natural beauty of Miss Liu's mother, but he was still an emperor who had to appear fair and wise. So the emperor said nothing for just one concubine that could damage his dignity as an emperor. Punishment is still punishment.

Little Liu was accidentally caught peeking at his mother who was being sentenced, so Ms. Liu's mother instinctively who saw her child immediately ran to protect her. Miss Liu is his only child.

From there, the identity of Ms. Liu's mother was revealed where she was already married and even had children. His sentence was tripled because he took little Liu's sentence. Even so the kingdom announced that the release of little Liu was a form of the emperor's kindness to an innocent little girl.

The punishment that Miss Liu's mother received was not only being expelled from the ranks of the concubines, but she was also given a severe punishment by damaging the face of Miss Liu's mother with hot water.

The punishment for not wearing makeup left half of Ms. Liu's mother's face blistered and damaged, leaving Ms. Liu traumatized. Since then, Ms. Liu has always kept herself beautiful and flawless. This also applies to other female servants, especially Xiang Lian, who he considers as his own biological sister.

After that, Ms. Liu also imposed strict rules on the female servants of the kingdom to keep a good appearance. Miss Liu doesn't want to see the same thing that happened to her mother happen to other women, even though such rules no longer apply as emperors change.

But women are still women who must maintain their honor even though their status is low.

Feng Empire – Long Feng palace.

The morning tea was always held every week in the Feng Empire to increase cultivation and health. This is also followed by the people in their respective homes freely, whether they are also cultivating or not. When the gong started beating, it became a sign of the start of the morning tea banquet for all the people of the Feng empire because it also signaled that the Feng emperor had already started drinking his tea first.

The tea that the Feng emperor drank was the same as the napa that the Feng imperial society drank, although in terms of quality, of course, what the emperor drank was of the highest quality.

The origin of the tea is not an ordinary plant, but from a plant that specially grows in a large spring called the jade lake. As the name suggests, the jade lake is believed to have originated from the tears of a girl carrying dragon jade gems who would not stop crying over her lover who died in the land of the earth clan.

Although the record about it is not written, but the story is still passed down from generation to generation so that people do not have a strange view of it.

"I can't. I can't die. Either way, I must avoid Xiang Lian's recklessness for my life!" thought An Jia Li.

An Jia Li picked up a tray of tea utensils and carried it carefully to the main hall where the morning tea was being held.

Fate began to move all the characters in the story again. The two eyes met. Between Jiang Yi's deep eyes who have played the Feng emperor, and An Jia Li's eyes who are reprising his role as Xiang Lian. Of course there was another look in An Jia Li's eyes that was currently colder and full of disdain.

Of course that was the look in the eyes of the emperor's favorite concubine!.