Chapter 7: CHAPTER 6

FENG LIQIN'S POV

Knock, knock, knock.

I was woken up by the sound of knocking. Looking around at my surroundings, I creased my eyebrows, wondering where I am. Then, I remembered what had happened yesterday.

Knock, knock, knock.

Putting my gaze on the door, realization struck me. "Yes!?" I answered the knocking.

"Pardon me, My Lady. We are your servants. May we come in?" Said a girl's voice coming from behind the door. I let them enter and three women with nearly the same face came in. "Good morning, my Lady." They said together.

"My name is Ye Hai. I'm the eldest. This is Ye Li, the second. The youngest of us is Ye Qiu. We are the Ye sisters." Said the one on the left while pointing to her sisters on her right. "We will be your servants from now on. So, if there is anything that you need, you can tell us." Ye Hai said with a smile.

"Umm, alright. I'm new here in the palace so I hope you would be able to teach me the palace etiquettes. Also, I'm not used to having servants so, you may do as you like." I said to them.

"If it's like that then, would you like to take a bath now?" Asked Ye Li. I nodded my head.

"Alright then, Ye Li. Go fetch the water. Ye Qiu, go get the food. I'll help her Lady undress." Ye Hai instructed her sisters and they went as told.

After the bath and eating, I asked the sisters what can I do here. The three of them looked at each other in thought.

"Well, what does my Lady usually do at her house at this time?" Ye Qiu asks me.

"I would usually teach the children, and afterward I would be doing some gardening."

"Then, why not my Lady tend to the garden at the courtyard?" Ye Hai asks.

I looked at them curiously. "There is a courtyard?"

They nodded while answering in unison. "Yes, my Lady."

They showed me where it was and I was awestruck at how huge it was. Without waiting any further, I went to feel the earth and plants around. Even though they looked healthy, they were not lively as the gardeners here did not treat them well. I felt sad for them and asked the Ye sisters to get some gardening tools for me. I also told them to tell the gardeners not to tend to this garden anymore. I wanted to help these plants that were sad. My heart ached to see their condition.

Just like that, I spent the whole morning tending to the gardens. When lunchtime came, the crown prince Shun Rong arrived.

"Good afternoon, Imperial Consort Feng. Imperial Father asked me to have lunch with since you are now my mother." Said Shun Rong with a sour face.

I stood up from my position, washed my hands, dried them and looked at the little bun in front of me. "Do you not like me to the point of not calling me mother?" I asked him.

"You are not worthy to become my mother." He said angrily.

I smiled and kneeled in front of him. "How am I not worthy, little prince?" He kept quiet and just glared at me. " How about this? We have some lunch and I'll show you something wonderful." He looked at me with an unsure look but agreed. "If you agree to behave during lunch, then I'll show you." I smiled at him teasingly. He glared at me again and just nodded sourly.

As we had lunch, he was quiet. Soon, we finished and I took him to the part of the garden that I haven't touched yet. He was curious about why I took him there and asked. "Why are we here? If you are going to make me help you, I won't do it." I just kept smiling on smiling at him as a response and kneeled in front of a bud.

"What do you see, Shun Rong?" I asked him while nodding at the bud.

He looked at me as if I was crazy but still answered. "A bud?"

"Yes, it's a bud but do you think it looks healthy?" I asked again.

"Yes. The colors are vibrant and it's standing tall."

"Well, do you think it's happy?" I told him.

"Why would it not be happy? The bud would always receive water and sunlight, plus it is growing in a nice area with fertile grounds." He answered smartly.

"Hmm, true. But, I don't think the bud is happy. Even though it has all the requirements, it doesn't sound like it's happy to me."

"Why does it not sound like it's happy to you? Can you hear the flowers cries?"

"No. I cannot hear it's crying. But I can feel it." I put my hand on the ground near the bud. "It feels sad to the point I can almost hear the crying of the bud," I said while looking at it solemnly. "It lacks the love from the person who plants it. It wants to be nurtured, not controlled. I feel sad watching it."

Shun Rong looked at me then looked at the plant curiously. "So, what should we do?" He asked.

I look at the plant again and enclosed my hand around the bud, but not to the point of squeezing it. "How about give it the love it needs." With that said I open my enclosed hands and the bud followed my actions by blooming into a beautiful flower. When I look back at Shun Rong, I could see the amazement on his face. I giggled at his reaction.

"How did you do that!?"

"My elemental is earth. Since my roots are Legendary Roots, my power is a bit different. I can not only control the earth but also the plants around and feel them. That's how I know that the plants here are sad even though they are healthy." I told him.

"Oh, I see. I wish I knew my power. Then maybe I would be able to do something like you do or like what Father does." Shun Rong said with a pout.

I frown. "How old are you, Shun Rong?"

"I'm 5 years old."

My eyes bulged. "Aren't you supposed to know your element by now?"

"Yes, but father said I might be a late bloomer. But, I don't believe him because I heard him say that it might have something to do with my birth mother." Shun Rong said with pain in his eyes.

I pay his head trying to lift his mood. Then, an idea came. "Shun Rong, do you like to play with water?" I asked. He nodded with his head lowered. "Then, won't you play with me?" As I said that, I made the plants near the pond splash water on the little bun. He was surprised by the action and turned to see the plants lowered to their original position. He then turned back to see me laughing at him.

"Hey! That's not fair!" He shouted. I ran away from him and to the other side of the pond. We then started throwing water at each other while also chasing each other.

Soon, we were both wet and the Ye sisters came out to dry us. It was in the late afternoon and I decided that we both have some tea at the terrace near the courtyard.

"Imperial Consort. I'll call you Imperial mother from now on. You don't treat me like the other concubines just because I'm the Emperor's son. Plus, you made me laughed more than I do my whole life." Shun Rong told me with a smile.

I smiled back at him happily. "Good. You should learn to respect your elders. And I also had a lot of fun with you too. You are like the son I never had with how much we played just now. Oh, yes. Please don't call me Imperial mother when we're alone. It sounds so formal. Just call me mother." I told him honestly. Shun Rong smiled wider hearing my words.

"Mother, can you play anything? I would usually go to one of the concubine's room to hear them play during this time. Unfortunately, none of them are that good." Shun Rong asked all of a sudden.

I realized something after the little bun asked me that. My zither is still in its box untouched. I hurriedly went to my room to see where it was placed. When I found the box among the others, I opened it to see it was still in good condition. I took it out and asked Ye Hai that followed me in to prepare a table for the zither. I took the zither out to the terrace and placed it on the small table made for it.

"Oh, mother plays the zither? Isn't it hard?" Shun Rong asked when he sees me taking the zither out of my room.

"Yes, I play the zither and no, it's not hard at all. At least for me." I smiled at him lovingly. Then, I started playing a piece I knew with Shun Rong sitting beside me.

As I played, the Ye sisters that were standing unconsciously took a seat on the floor in front of me while hearing me play with their eyes closed.

It looks like they like the piece that I'm playing from their actions.

I thought with a smile. I kept on playing one piece after the other, not wanting to stop since the atmosphere around here was peaceful that I couldn't stop playing. Then, the late afternoon turned to night time without me knowing and I stopped playing after sensing someone staring at me from my other side that was supposed to be empty. Looking toward it, I was startled to see the Emperor.

He looked at me intensely with his head on his right fist. "Why did you stopped? You were playing a beautiful piece just now."

*Alright... Since I managed to post a chapter the next day, I hope everyone likes it. I think my English is kinda crappy but oh well.😂 As long as everyone understands how the story goes. I think I can publish a new chapter tomorrow but I'm not so sure yet. 🤔 Please vote if you like it and comment if you want me to fix some things in the story or just because you like it. ☺  your choice.*