When people think of concubines, they usually picture a woman, chosen to serve a man in order to please him and give him children. At least that's how the vast majority of concubinages work around the world. In my culture, the men are always already married and of noble status, and the women can be either chosen from ladies of the noble court, or sold into servitude to a house of concubines. Similar to the rest of society, concubines have their own internal ranking structure, like the ones serving royalty are held in higher regard to those serving lesser noble lords, and the ones chosen from noble blood are worth more than those who are slaves like me. The prettier a woman is, the more likely she'll be to serve a more powerful lord and thus only the most beautiful women become concubines in the Imperial Palace. Being one of the Emperor's concubines is the highest honor. You are one of the chosen ones, and treated less like breeding stock, and more like a precious flower that will wilt if not under constant, meticulous care.
When I was a child, my parents sold me to the Rear Palace to pay off gambling debts. The Rear Palace was where the ladies of the royal family, royal concubines, and the women employed and indentured to the Imperial household lived. From the age of 10, I've lived a life of servitude in the Palace, doing everything from washing clothes, to catching rats, to cleaning chamber pots. By 14, I was assigned as a handmaiden in the Rear Palace, serving the concubines and princesses. It was more glamorous than I'd expected. The women were so beautiful, elegant, and confident, and we pampered them like mad. Many would think I'm crazy, but I dreamed of being in their shoes, of having the Emperor's attention, and receiving the same royal treatment from the handmaidens. Little did I know what those women were actually doing with the Emperor. Having grown up with parents so poor they had to sell me, and spending the rest of my short life so far as a slave, I had no education to tell me what went on when the Emperor called one of his concubines to his bedchamber.
When I was 16, I asked the Mistress of the Rear Palace about how I could become a concubine too. She told me I had to wait 2 more years, but that she would have someone teach me a few things. It was then that I learned what their true purpose was. I was shocked, but intrigued, still not quite understanding the gravity of what I was striving to become. I didn't know what the pains of labor would be like, or the stress of raising a child. I began to work my way into the personal entourage of Lady Mi Cha, the Emperor's favorite concubine, so I could accompany her into the Imperial Palace, thinking the Emperor might see me and take a liking to me.
But alas, he didn't even notice me. Who was I to think that he would pay any mind to a handmaiden of his favorite concubine? I was a silly, naive little girl with little understanding of how men are and how society functions. But there was one person in the Palace who noticed me. The Empress saw my eagerness while attending to Lady Mi Cha. She would see us handmaidens bring Lady Mi Cha to the Emperor, and pull me aside when the rest went back to the Rear Palace. She would talk to me while walking me back, just the two of us. It was unusual for her to speak alone with anyone, much less with a slave girl like me, but I didn't know that. She was kind, and seemed like a gentle soul. Probably a very good mother to the Emperor's heirs. The more we talked, the more she seemed to genuinely care about me. As odd as it seemed, I felt like I was developing a friendship with the Empress.
I had it in my mind that the moment I turned 18 I would ask the Mistress to consider offering me to a noble lord as a concubine. I didn't care how lowly a rank I would be, I just wanted to feel like I had a greater purpose. I didn't have to ask though.
The morning of my 18th birthday I was awoken and summoned to the Mistress's chambers. I dressed quickly and made my way there immediately. It was earlier than I was used to waking, the sun had barely come up and only a handful of other women were awake yet. My heart raced as I wondered who I was being given to and why so early in the morning. I paused in front of the Mistress's door, took a deep breathe to calm my thundering heart, and knocked confidently.
"Enter..." came the older woman's voice from inside.
I opened the door and stepped inside to see the gray haired, aging Mistress behind her desk, looking concerned, and next to her stood...
"Empress Eun Ae!" I said in surprise, bowing low immediately. "What are you doing here?!"
