I quickly walk through the grand hallways of the palace in my blue hanfu that I borrowed from Ciufan. Besides the sleeves, the whole dress is covered in sapphire blue silk. The sleeves are rendered with the same shade of blue mesh, and the mesh also drapes over the silk that is the skirt of the dress. Three pink water lilies are embroidered on the upper chest area, and white water lilies garnished the rest of the dress. I had never worn something so regal and intricate. In my hair, I wore the same hairpin with the white orchid pendant on the end, the one that was given to me by my father.

It is mandatory for every girl to be present at supper.

However, I am late.

I hurry through the hallways, my chunky shoes and heavy dress slowing me down by quite a lot.

And just my luck, I get lost.

I stop a maid carrying a tray of tea to ask directions.

"Xiao jie, can you please tell me where the dining room is?"

She nods and points in front of us. "Second door to your right."

I thank her and hurry to the dining room. Opening the door, I don't hear the expected sound of silverware clanging or the chattering of the girls. Instead, there was no sound at all. It was utterly calm.

I slowly look up, and I'm absolutely mortified.

There are no girls at all. In front of me is a bath... with a man in the steamy water.

I take a step back in shock and close my eyes shut, with my hand over them for extra precaution. I feel my cheeks fluster in embarrassment. What bothered me is that in that short glimpse, despite all the steam around him, I found him remarkably attractive.

"I- I am so sorry. I thought that this was the dining room."

After hearing some shuffling around the room and small movements in the water, I hear a deep, fruity voice. "You can remove your hand from your eyes now."

I slowly do as he says, and immediately my eyes focus on his blood-red ones. They seem endless and the color darkens the more I look into them. His eyes seemed to captivate mine as it was impossible to look away.

"Erm I..." my words fade out. I seem to be unable to speak.

"Who are you?" he asks, brows furrowed in anger. I notice a deep scar on the left side of his very defined jaw.

"My name is Zhao Xiulan. A candidate for the position of a concubine for his majesty." I say softly, finally finding my voice to speak.

One of his eyebrows raises in my reply. "The Emperor? Well then, you are quite bold for coming in when I am bathing."

Realizing that he mistook my intentions, my eyes widen, and I quickly reply, "Forgive me, but I simply got lost in the palace. I did not know that this was a bathhouse. Could this, sir, perhaps point me to the dining room?" I was mortified. To think that he thought I came into his bathhouse on purpose! I don't even know who he is!

His eyes stare into mine, hard. "Turn left, fourth door to your right."

"Thank you" I reply, before quickly fleeing the room. Good heavens. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest.

I walk past the maid who I previously asked directions from and I see her giggling before turning her head, keeping her face out of view. She pointed me in the complete opposite direction!

Sighing at the maid's immatureness, I forget about it and begin to walk in the direction of the dining room. Reaching the broad set of doors, I pull them open to reveal an enormous hall with thousands of girls chattering.

After looking through the crowd for quite awhile, I spot my roommates at a table off to the side. I begin to make my way over them.

"Xiulan! I was beginning to think you ditched us," Biyu laughs when she sees me. "Here, sit, sit," she says, patting to the cushion next to her.

Sitting down, I smile at them. "Oh, I just got lost."

"Jie Jie, what is wrong. Your face is flushed! Are you feeling well?" Zhirou asks, concern laced in her voice.

An image of the man in the bathhouse appears in my mind. "Eh... I'm fine. Really. Let's eat!" I say, changing the subject. I look around our table and at the other girls around us. Only Zhirou's and a couple of other girls' plates were full of food. "Why is no one eating?"

"Tch, they don't want to seem like pigs" Zhirou replies.

I look at Ciufan's and Biyu's plates. They only have a scoop of assorted vegetables and three pieces of roasted duck on their plate.

"We must keep our image pure. After all, we are ladies who could potentially become the Emperor's concubines." Ciufan explains.

Shrugging, I stand up with my plate in hand and walk over to the "buffet table." I get a small portion of each food item. From the corner of my eye, I see some girls snickering at the portion on my plate.

"Pig."

Sighing, I walk back to my table and sit down. Ciufan eyes my plate and looks up at me. I just shrug. "Its food. I do not see why it should go to waste."

Suddenly, the grand doors open, and three women walk in. I quickly realize that one of them is the Empress Dowager and to her left is Linghua, or- Liuyang. I'm not sure at the moment. I make eye contact with her, and her eyes show recognition. However, her calm expression does not falter. To the Empress Dowager's right is a woman who seems very familiar. She is tall and very beautiful, regal as well. Wait- it is the woman that Zhirou was staring at when we first arrived, the woman dressed in magenta silk.

I lean towards Zhirou. "Do you know who that is?"

"The head concubine. The head of the harem, Imperial Noble Consort Li." she whispers back, seemingly somewhat nervous.

I was surprised she had an answer, well, more so of how she knew who she was.

"Settle down, ladies," Consort Li spoke to the hall in a honey, yet authoritative voice.

The girls who were standing have all sat down, some, at a random cushion, and the hall became utterly silent.

The three regal women gracefully walk to the front of the hall, and on a platform, where a sizeable rectangular throne sits with a table in front of it. Two more tables sit to each side of the throne. The women each sit at their respective seats, with the Empress Dowager in the center, of course, and the two women to each side of her.

In the middle of the platform is an enormous terracotta pot, something that I wonder how I missed when I first arrived at the hall.

Consort Li rises from her seat. "The blood of a Phoenix is special and unique. Once the smoke turns red, we will know that we have found our Phoenix." Consort Li spoke sweetly. However, it was apparent to me that she did not want the Pheonix to be found. She nods to Linghua/Liuyang before sitting back down.

Linghua/Liuyang rises with ten large baskets full of papers, and gives them to a male servant who places them down by his feet. He picks up the first paper and announces to the hall, "Wu Dongmei. Age fifteen!" He then throws it into the fire, contained by the terracotta pot.

Grey smoke continues to rise.

It's the papers that we filled out. The papers that have our blood on them.

I look at the announcer. He's announcing them one by one, and there are thousands upon thousands of girls in here.

I look towards Ciufan, who seems to be realizing the same thing.

"This is going to take ages," I whisper to her.

She nods, still staring at the burning pot. So far, no red smoke. "We are not allowed to leave until either the Phoenix is found or all the forms are burned," she replies.

"It is likely that the Phoenix is not among us," I whisper, sighing. "It might not even exist."

Throughout the night, I watch as each name gets called out, and I watch as each girl becomes aggrieved that they are not the destined Phoenix. Some slump in their seats and some have tears flowing down their cheeks. Those who have outright fits with wailing and shrieking are thrown out immediately. At times, I wanted to be them, to just get out of the dining hall.

At around midnight, I fall asleep. Unable to keep my eyelids open only to see the misery of these girls around me.

-

On day three, sometime during the afternoon, our names get called out. By now, about half of the girls have been named.

"Li Zhirou. Age fifteen!"

Grey smoke.

Upon hearing Zhirou's name, Consort Li's eyes widen slightly, and her eyebrows rise. I watch as her eyes skim the room. During our confinement inside this hall, I've been watching Imperial Noble Consort Li quite closely. While she speaks sweetly and acts innocently, it seems like a facade to me. She seems to have ulterior motives.

I look at Zhirou next to me, and she has her head down, sleeping, well... pretending to be asleep. I hold up my fingers below her nose, and I realize that she isn't breathing. So I place two fingers between the bone and tendon over her radical artery of her wrist—erratic heartbeats. She is holding her breath then, which means that she is aware of what is happening in the hall. It is impossible for her to be asleep; she is pretending. Holding her breath unconsciously, and an erratic heartbeat indicates that she is nervous. But why? Consort Li? Is she hiding her face from her? I look back at Consort Li, and her eyes are still skimming the hall. They have the same last names... I had suspected it earlier, Zhirou was staring at Consort Li when we first arrived, and now...

"Zhong Ciufan. Age eighteen!"

Hearing Ciufan's name, I take my thoughts away from Zhirou for a moment.

Grey smoke.

"Zhong Biyu. Age thirteen!"

Grey smoke.

I look at the Zhong sisters. Disappointment sat on Ciufan lips while Biyu seemed to be unbothered, not really caring that she isn't the Phoenix. I smiled at her innocence.

I watch the terracotta pot as the next name is announced.

"Zhao Xiulan. Age nineteen!"

-------------------------------------------------------

xiǎo jie (young lady)

Imperial Noble Consort is second in ranking in the harem. First, being the Empress, who is the head of the harem. Because the Emperor has not yet named an Empress, the Imperial Noble Consort is currently the highest in the ranking, making her in charge of everything to do with the harem.

This is how I imagined what Xiulan's hanfu would look like:

But as for the character of Xiulan. I thought of Chinese actress Yang Mi:

But please, you may also leave it up to your imagination. Often, when I'm reading Wattpad stories with assigned actors and actresses, I usually imagine someone else. This is only what I imagine Xiulan would look like :)