Chapter 11

It had been roughly sixty minutes since Harry and Malfoy were made to kneel in the hot sun and recite from the book of etiquette. Consort Delacour was sitting in the shade of her veranda with a big pail of ice next to her to further cool her down.

Sitting beside her were the other concubines, all looking uncomfortable and anxious, even Pansy Parkinson was looking unsure of this new development.

Although Harry was suffering, he didn't notice it much. He was just horrified to see Malfoy kneeling on the ground with the sun beating on his body, sweating profusely.

The consort dabbed her neck with a handkerchief while two servants fanned her. "Even when it is two gorgeous concubines sweating the smell is still pungent. Go put the incense over there," she instructed. The servants left the incense pot near the two concubines and went back to standing guard over the consort.

Harry and Malfoy started coughing at the same time. Harry's nostrils were filled with the cloying smell of the incense, overly sweet and strong. He ignored his discomfort and redirected the flow of the wind around them with his magic to get some reprieve from the pungent smell.

Malfoy had been diligent in reciting the rules, not even needing the book. But as time went on, he seemed more tired and started speaking softly.

Of course, this annoyed the consort. "Somebody come here and hit him." The concubines all shifted and looked at her uneasily. She backtracked and huffed, "If we cannot hit the one with the baby hit the one without."

Harry started at her callousness. He darted forward as the eunuch shuffled his way with his twirling staff fitted with a flared cloth. He clutched at Malfoy to protect his stomach and presented his back for the eunuch to hit.

Malfoy tried to get out of Harry's protective embrace, crying, "Please, you cannot hit him, he is sick!" The blows took the breath from his lungs and Harry took several breaths to stabilize himself and not faint, he had already hurt his back when that vile man had pushed him. He felt his skin breaking but because of the dark color of his longhua, the blood was not seen.

Hermione who had left to find help from Empress Dowager had returned and immediately went to Harry's side. "Young mistress! Please stop hitting him, he is not well!" Harry looked up to find tears flowing down her eyes. He found that he was too angry and too hurt to console her. The eunuch must have hit Harry more than fifteen times before stopping.

"If you become lazy again, your dear sister will take the punishment in your place." The consort taunted primly from her shady veranda. Malfoy swayed on his hands and knees. "Niang Niang, I am really not feeling well."

"Look at him everyone, he really is a drama queen. This pitiful act is so that everyone will pity him" she mocked. Harry realized then that nobody was going to save them. He then took a deep breath and started siphoning some of his magic directly to Malfoy. He would most likely become very weak from this, but he didn't want to contemplate the consequences if he did nothing. "Hermione, what did the Dowager say?" He hoped she was sending help. "I am sorry, young mistress.

The eunuchs turned me away saying that the Dowager's health was bad at the moment and she shouldn't be disturbed. But I sent Ronald to the neutral zone to bring the Emperor back." Harry cursed, that could take hours. He felt weak already, feeling the child sucking his magical reserves, which were also trying to heal his wounds, his magic could only stretch so far before he collapsed. He had to end this now... damn the consequences. Enough was enough. "Hermione, come and help me up! I cannot understand how you all can watch our pregnant sister suffer, how heartless can you be! And if any harm comes to his child, you will have to answer to the Emperor about why you were complacent in the murder of his baby!"

Harry was so angry that his body shook. "Not to mention the Ivory King! Do you not know who his Uncle is Consort Delacour?" Harry asked, looking around at the rest of the concubines, "What will you all say to the Ivory King? That you feared for your life so you allowed death to claim his kin and his unborn child?" Harry stood on shaking legs and helped Malfoy up, daring anyone to come and stop him, ignoring the stuttering consort spewing rubbish. Blaise Zabini walked over timidly, progressively getting faster the closer he got to Malfoy.

Harry and Zabini took Malfoy's weight on them, being careful to not jostle him much, and helped him limp out of the hall. Harry called for Dobby to get the royal healers to Malfoy's palace. Consort Delacour stood in bewilderment, not believing that she had been so rudely dismissed. Her head maid gasped and called out to the consort and frantically exclaimed, "Niang Niang, it looks like there's blood on the floor!" She was gesturing with a fan to the ground where a crimson stain glared back at the gathered audience.

The consort gasped in disbelief and collapsed back into her chair her eyes widening at that. "How can this be? Wasn't it just an hour?" She whispered in despair. "How can there be blood?" Outside, Harry barked orders for the eunuchs to provide a palanquin. It was a small blessing that Malfoy's palace was close to the Emperor's and thus not a long walk from the consort's residence.

Harry ushered the healers inside informing them of the time Malfoy spent under the sun and the incense he inhaled. He was asked to step aside for the healers to work on Malfoy, and Harry obliged with worried eyes. -- Inside Consort Delacour's residence, the air was so tense that it could be cut with a knife. The head maiden was fanning her mistress with fear etched in her movements.

Noble Lady Pansy Parkinson was standing in front of the consort with an uneasy face, trying to gauge her mood. "He must be a fool!" The consort exclaimed into the silence, her tassels flying in her anger. "Why did he not inform me if he wasn't feeling well?" "Imperial Concubine Malfoy repeatedly complained about it," Noble Lady Parkinson said timidly. The consort turned to look at her and shook her head, "How was I supposed to know if it was real or not!" The anger in her voice was now mixed with fear, she continued, "He is so good at faking things. How could he? He is eight months pregnant, right? His carriage should be stable enough, how could he bleed after just one hour of kneeling?" Noble lady Parkinson refrained from commenting. "Blood!. There was blood on the floor. Just like there was when I lost my baby." The despair was now palpable in the consort's voice. "Niang Niang, It doesn't matter if the healer said it was ok to kneel for an hour, you should not have ordered him to really do that! The eight month of pregnancy is always precarious."

The consort turned her anguished eyes to glare at the Noble Lady. She flew from her chair towards her yelling, "Why didn't you anything say that back then?" She pushed Parkinson to the ground. "What's the use of telling me now?" "Niang Niang spare me!" The Noble Lady cried. "Niang Niang, please be mindful of your health," the head maiden called out. The head eunuch limped his way towards the consort and went down on his hands and knees saying fearfully, "Niang Niang, the Emperor, the Kings, and the Empress are outside the main gate." The consort fell back into her servant girl's arms in shock whispering, "So soon?" She turned to the eunuch and asked urgently, "Any news from the house of Glorious Dreams (Malfoy's residence)?" He shook his head in the negative. "What about the child? Is it safe?".

"The Healers are still in the process of examining him, there's no update." The consort wobbled towards her seat. "Noble Lady, Niang Niang didn't mean to give you a hard time. Madam was just shocked, please think of a way to help her out," the head maiden pleaded.

Noble Lady Parkinson stepped forward, "Whether Imperial Concubine has a miscarriage or not, the royal family must have already heard before coming to the palace, therefore for the sake of safety perhaps Niang Niang should apologize." The consort held her head high, "Why should I apologize? I have not done anything wrong at all!" "Niang Niang does it really matter? The Emperor's opinion is the only thing that matters. It's an offer of apology rather than admittance of guilt. Please do it for the sake of calming down the Emperor." "I did nothing wrong," The consort reiterated with unshed tears in her eyes. "The Emperor will find out the truth sooner or later." "Yes," the Noble Lady agreed, "but looking at Imperial Concubine's condition right now, perhaps the Emperor will only be concerned with identifying the one who caused the incident." She paused to look at the dawning understanding in the Consort's eyes. "Huangsha (Emperor/his majesty) will surely get angry whether Imperial Concubine miscarriages or not." She looked up at the now sniffling Consort and said softly, "Niang Niang must apologize to keep the Emperor's trust." The Consort pursed her lips in a tight line and nodded her head shakily.

Edited and updated on 29/06/2021