"…As sister wives, we are always honest with each other, so why should we drift over our husband's favour when we ourselves knew what we were getting into when partaking in the Concubine selection, Attendant Choi? I mean, I do understand that you have quite a sensitive nature and you are often prone to misunderstandings, such as other Concubines gaining and loosing favour all of the time, but…" "I think that you are misunderstanding me, Concubine Cho…" "'''isn't that why you made the trip to let me know about this piece of calligraphy that is tearing my sisters apart?" "I only told you to keep you informed sister, I had no ill-intentions at all." "I would have found out about this either way, so I do not see the need for you to go to all of this trouble, Attendant Choi? You are already pregnant and you might even surpass us all in rank, so what do you have to worry about?" "I…i just wanted to prevent something foolish from happening to you 3 ever since our husband lost his favour and him losing his main wife. The harem has no choice but to look up at all 3 of you and…"
"…If you were truly worried, then you could have told my sisters this directly when you met up with all of them." "I…am afraid that I am not that good at communicating my thoughts…" "really? Well you seem perfectly capable right now, I wonder what you think that your issue is?" "It seems as though I have already made you upset…" "if you have the time to explain yourself, then you can figure out a way to life our husband's punishment or change His Majesty's mind so we can resume our normal lives and not be under so much scrutiny. Put yourself in even more good graces and depose his wife already so that we can all breathe as service him again as usual."
"I…apparently do not have that ability…" "inability isn't the issue sister Choi, but having a corrupt heart and intentionally driving a wedge between us Concubines as soon as you previous Mistress has suffered her downfall. I still remember how The Third Princess Consort used to vent her anger out on you by throwing items at your head and ripping your clothes apart…" "Concubine Cho! What on earth are you implying right now? That I have betrayed my Mistress for fame and glory?" "You are the only Concubine to conceive her husband's baby since her marriage to him, so what do you think that suggests? But I am not here to give out advice to my senior in age but junior in rank, we can just speak informally to one another, right? Instead of sideways with tidbits of the truth; that is just tiring. So if you have any concerns, you can voice your opinions without going around all of us, what do you say?"
"…Well well, you have certainly sent her packing and without face as well." "Is that supposed to be a compliment, Concubine Kim?" "So it is official then, Attendant Choi is trying to become the next Princess Consort, and she actually has a chance with that viscous servant of his." "Our Seo Yeon is smarter than her, don't you worry about that. We can always count on her if our plans do not work out." "What is going on with our eldest sister?" "She is in a rather unfortunate place where she is slowly falling for the only man who has ever loved her, just like Seo Yeon and Seon-Ho." "What do you mean by that?" "Don't you find they're dynamic a little odd? His lover is his best friend's only and most precious sister? The woman who saved his life in childhood and also responsible for his father's death? The woman who chased after him throughout their childhood is now an object of his…possessiveness to say the least?" "They do seem like an unlikely couple…" "It is due to the power imbalance, just like with our sister and our husband, since we both know who is infinitely wiser than the other." "So what about the other couple?" "Seon-Ho is indebted to Yeon for saving his life, resentful for the secret that she hides including the things that she knew about his mother and is too dependent on her at the same time. She is like a deep-rooted addiction or obsession that he has with her and for Yeon? She is a lowly orphan than any of us were and now the man that she openly loved in front of the world now has come back to her with tenfold the emotions that she had and he inserted himself into her life in every single angle possible and now she does not know how to live without him. But the difference with this second couple is that they are both extremely sharp-witted and intelligent and they can read each other like books they have memorised." "So is this a good or bad thing?" "Well, they are happier than most couples, and they look like they know how to maintain a marriage if it comes to that…but we should not interfere in their matters. We only care about getting our revenge and we have invested our lives in it, so much so that we have been raised by fake families to carry on out nobility status here. Our parents will never experience what we are going through in the palace, so we cannot take anything from granted either."
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"I need to pay my respects to my husband later on after breakfast, the hairpin that yore are dressing me in is fat too ostentatious." "I think that you are being a little overly-cautious, My Lady, although your sisters Concubines Park and Kim are not as favoured as you are now, they sure do act like it when they adorn themselves with pretentious jewellery and perfume." "They do not exceed their status norms by wearing such things, so you had better never talk like this again. A prying ear may think I do not fare my sister-wives well, which defeats the purpose of my existence here in the palace. His Highness will favour a confine regardless of her face or family, and all that matters is that favour, or all efforts are futile, do you understand me, servant? You have been far to reckless in speech lately and it will get us all in trouble. You need to work on your prudence." "Yes, My Lady…don't you think that you should wear brighter clothes for breakfast with The Third Prince after he is waking up with Attendant Choi?" "Well you seem brightly adorned for all of us, and you seem to be wearing such a nice perfume as well ,what is that smell exactly?" "My Lady, you know that I do not own any perfumes at all." "My mistake, do no forget that we have to make paper ships to be burnt for sacrifices for our ancestors on this auspicious day of ours, so please get onto it as soon as my husband arrives, and please check on the food in the kitchen before he arrives." "Yes, My Lady."
"…You have been working hard to release yourself out of our confinement, husband, I have ordered the servants to make ginseng soup for you and it shall be ready…" "Send it over to Concubine Cho's place, I promised to have breakfast with her." "Husband! I am almost ready to birth our child now and you cannot keep leaving me on my own like this!" "You have our whole team of physicians in your palace, what more do you need? You might as well get some more sleep, you look positively haggard." "Forgive me, my pregnancy is starting to take over everything now, shall I wait for us to have lunch together?" "I am having lunch with Concubine Kim today…" "Husband, have I done something to upset you? Is that why you keep finding time away from me? is it my pregnancy? Am I too big for you? Too ugly? Or too lazy?" "Your are overthinking Attendant Choi, I have a harem to keep up with despite who is pregnant or not. I am deposing my wife soon and I need some collective options from the most intelligent ones." "Does my husband not find me intelligent enough?" "Your brother was asking about you in his latest memorandum; I have to commend you for placing your family with my second brother to help bring him down." "At least my brother's care has not wavered for me, I wonder if his old injuries have gotten better…" "I have already sent him a reply with some special ointment on your behalf." "Thank you, Your Highness, i am grateful for your care and consideration for my family. I have also prepared paper offerings for today to let the monks guide their souls to The Pure Land." "Good job, but I must go now and I will try to see you again tonight.
"How dare that bitch tired to impede me! She won't even let me have my husband to myself when I am so close to birthing his baby! For his kingdom!" "Calm down My Lady, Princes and Kings have real harems for a reason you know. And if you stop snapping at him every time he mentions another woman, you can possibly become a candidate for the new Third Princess Consort. These whores can interfere once in your precious time with your husband only a handful of times and not forever you know." "Maybe he has suspicions about my visits to his favourite Concubines, it wasn't like I was close to them before I got pregnant." "Well, killing Concubine Cho's maid and replacing her with one of your own was a good idea, telling us about the paper ships for offerings today has secured you another night with The Third Prince. And your brother is proving himself to be quite useful in The Emperor's court as an upcoming general, which was the only thing that the prior Princess Consort lacked. Her family was far too greedy to help her stabilise her position in court and now she is babbling away in her quarters like a mad woman in fear of Seo Yeon…" "ins't that your man's ex-lover? The one who cam out of the brothel completely clean?" "Bullshit! Seo Yeon slept with everybody, why else would those 2 break up?" "Sure, whatever you say." "What is that supposed to mean?" "Seo Yeon has peerless looks, keen intellect, she educated herself when she was living in poverty and despite all of that, she comes from a good family. You will need a lot more than childish rumours to take her down; look at what she has reduced The Third Princess Consort to without doing anything to her at all. And rumour has it that she will be entering the palace to carry out her suggestion of looking after the children of The State Princes as soon as The Princess Consort is deposed." "They cannot drag up a dead body to the palace…" "…by the way, do you think that I am only being favoured for my family members? And not myself?" "What do you mean?" "I am pregnant and yet I cannot get my husband's attention unless it has something to do with my family." "You are overthinking now, you are a favoured Concubine and nothing is more common than seeing your husband here, even if he does act like he has never met me before. That is evidence that he trust you just like he does with the others." "That is true I suppose, so it isn't just about my family after all then.