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The Jing Manor stands as tall and proud as its Lord.
It is also as desolate as its Lord, surrounded by a heavy air of crushing loneliness, never even coming alive when Prince Jing returns in the stillness of winter to pay his filial respects. Even the army he brings in tow is sharp, disciplined, and functional, having no need for the warmth of the hearth, leaving the manor freezing.
Homes have a way of becoming houses, and for the last thirteen years, the Jing Manor has been a house.
But one day, a flurry of sound disturbs the pleasant early morning chirping of the birds in the usually lifeless Jing Manor, breaking the inertia of one Xiao Ying, senior maid to the lady of the house.
This new dawn brings with it a scent of chrysanthemum and warm herbs, and a mystery for this young woman.
Xiao Ying tosses and turns, irked by the disruption. She has never woken up early a day since she came to the Jing Manor with Consort Sun, a political marriage bestowed to the lady’s deputy-minister father as a sign of the Emperor’s pleasure. But Prince Jing had imbibed the solemnity and coldness of his manor, and Xiao Ying often baulked that it was a punishment and not a favour from His Majesty.
Prince Jing was dutiful but detached, and despite Consort Sun swallowing her timidity to make kind overtures with food and embroidered pouches, he still remained invisible to them, a figure that came and went with the plum blossoms that bloomed in the manor's courtyard.
“Wake up!” a butler hisses knocking on their doors. “Prince Jing is back, wake up!”
It is chrysanthemum time, Xiao Ying thinks, not the time for him to be back yet. She forces herself up and quickly dresses to attend to her lady, who must don her rarely worn special robes to welcome her husband back.
“I wonder what has happened, is he ill or injured?” worries Consort Sun as Xiao Ying fixes her seldom-worn, ornate headdress.
The two ladies rush out, only to be met by an uncommon sight, Prince Jing smiling gently, eyes soft and arms tenderly supporting a pale woman of arresting beauty with a face like the moon, a figure seemingly lithe and carved from jade. The lady’s cheeks have the barest blush from the Lord’s attentions, her fingers like delicate porcelain, spun from the lustrous white gossamer that she wears. She looks so frail and fragile that she would disperse under a tight squeeze from Prince Jing, yet she clings tightly, and unbecomingly to him.
However, it is her eyes that catch Xiao Ying’s attention. They sparkle like stars and mischievous, bright children as she looks at Prince Jing, but for a second, the look fades to one of harsh, unbending steel.
A sweet pup on the outside with a sly, vixen heart, Xiao Ying deduces.
“Greetings, Your Highness Prince Jing,” the entire household falls to its knees.
“Rise, everyone. Please join me in welcoming Consort Mei to our home,” Prince Jing announces.
Consort Sun gasps at the very loving tone of the words coming from Prince Jing’s mouth. A fresh wind blows through the garden, and the new lady gives a little sigh and shifts closer to Prince Jing with a pout.
Something about this new woman who makes the Ice Prince smile feels rather off to Xiao Ying. The maid's eyes sharpen. Finally, after years, she has something of worth to report to Banruo Jie-Jie.
Xiao Ying had always been mocked among her sisterhood, for she was exceedingly plain, neither possessing the looks to be a courtesan, nor the grace to be a concubine and not even the cunning to be a maid in an important household.
But what she lacked in face and behaviour, she made up in observation and smarts, but it had been only a few years since she had been activated, once she was sent to the Jing Manor after serving the barely-important Sun Clan for half her life. Her flint-eyed, cherry-lipped, and poison-tipped sisters had always considered her a rotund and ugly laughing stock, and paid no heed to her, and laughed at her position in that ‘dead Jing Manor.'
Her position is as lowly as that of her Master, and for that she curses him. Sometimes she wished that Prince Jing was as cruel and conniving as Prince Yu, the master Jie-Jie served, so she could hold her head up high.
Alas, that was never to be the case.
“You want to meet Banruo Jie-Jie in person?” her Thirteenth Sister, the Communications Manager at the Hong Xiu Zhao remarks incredulously. “As if you have the right! Submit your report and go back, some people choose to forget their station.”
Xiao Ying bites down on her anger with a smile and clenches her hands in her robes. She hands over her report.
Report from Agent 24, placed in the Jing Manor. Prince Jing has suddenly taken a new Consort, a lady from Langzhou, the daughter of a scholar. Her name is Mei Changsu, and she seems delicate and kind, but I have suspicions about her character. I will investigate, and request our resources to find out about her as well.
Later that night, Qin Banruo laughs as she reads it, for she has already heard of Mei Changsu, the adoptive daughter of Langya Hall, a sickly lady who Prince Jing was charmed by on his tour of the Jiangzuo states. All her reports said this lady was genteel and harmless.
“Xiao Ying has never known a man’s attention, she doesn’t know how to discern Prince Jing’s taste for something new from actual spy work. Filter out such messages next time,” Banruo instructs her staff.
Perched on top of the Hong Xiu Zhao’s roof, a moustachioed figure smirks and then flies away.
With Consort Mei, comes life to the Jing Manor.
Xiao Ying and Consort Sun’s life proceeds to unravel and unfold in the following months. The manor, where they had decided they would live out exceedingly boring lives is now bursting with cacophony. Prince Jing is smiling, and happy, and although detached from Consort Sun, doesn’t spend a moment apart from Consort Mei.
Consort Mei brings along with her an entire entourage of people from her home, a generous gift of her adoptive father. The unappetizing fare the manor’s cook would produce has become palatable, as he furiously competes with the new addition, portly Auntie Ji, who charms the entire manor with her dumplings and desserts.
She has also brought along her younger brother, a boy who flies across the trees and competes with birds, and grumpily sticks his tongue out at Xiao Ying when she tries to stop him taking her lady’s share of oranges. Apart from this, there are two sharp-eyed squires and a personal doctor, who scowls at the entire staff and fusses over the delicate health of the young lady.
In barely two months, Consort Mei has flooded Jing Manor with warmth and sunlight, taking over the home and its Lord’s heart completely, a fact which Xiao Ying knows has unnerved Consort Sun.
Consort Sun is too bewildered by this turn of events to react appropriately, the new sights and sounds overwhelming her, as well as the peculiar behaviour of her husband. She has been hurt, abandoned and slighted for so long that something starts to break inside her as she sees Prince Jing loving another so openly, so ardently.
Xiao Ying hasn’t spent half of her life serving this useless noblewoman for sitting back and enjoying this show. Xiao Ying, as any loyal maid will do, fills her lady's ears with suspicions, and starts slowly igniting the jealousy deeply-buried in her lady’s chest.
Something rankles under Xiao Ying's skin, and she must discover the secret of the fox spirit Consort Mei. And she can use her lady to get her work done.
If nothing, this will fuel her investigation into Lady Mei, who seems to be an expert in the art of entrancing cold-hearted princes. An art perfected by her own people, and so Xiao Ying knows one when she sees it.
“You have to find out why he is like this with her, what drugs is she feeding him!” the weak Consort Sun’s eyes glitter with the rage that Xiao Ying has fanned.
Xiao Ying smiles, because now she has the freedom to pursue this line of enquiry. Banruo Jie-Jie will be pleased.
“This house finally seems like a home,” says Prince Jing one evening, sitting at a long-unused pavilion, now cleared, and lit with fireflies and candles framed by camellia blossoms. His gaze seems to be transfixed on the precise and nimble movements of his newest consort’s hands, who seems to be smiling serenely as she pours him a cup of tea.
“But how do you know I prefer water?” the Prince asks incredulously, as his consort presses a warm cup into his hands.
Consort Mei blushes, the colour of pink lending health to her generally sickly pallor, and she widens her eyes with a soft warmth and earnestness, and shifts close to Prince Jing, tracing the handsome line of his jawbone and the proceeding to burrow into the deep fabric of his broad shoulder. Now it is the Prince’s turn to blush, as the Lady confesses, “Ever since you rescued me from those terrible bandits, my Lord, I vowed my life to you. Having spent every waking hour with you since then, it would be remiss if I did not remember all your preferences, just as you remember how I like ancient music scrolls.”
So that is how they met, Xiao Ying confirms, standing in the darkness behind a tree at the back side of the pavilion. A matter very easy to arrange, for a woman of means like Lady Mei.
Xiao Ying’s thoughts are interrupted by the loud clanking of the cup of water, falling from Prince Jing’s hands as Lady Mei climbs into his lap, and proceeds to whisper what seem like salacious words into his ear. As Xiao Ying muses how indiscreet the lady is, Consort Mei’s gaze fixes on her for a fleeting moment.
Before Xiao Ying can even be surprised, a weight falls on her back, and she lands face-first, chest in bone-crushing agony. As she starts to black out, she can barely suppress her rage, because she has never been caught before.
In a week, Xiao Ying looks back on the incident where she was almost caught spying and heaves a sigh of relief. It seems she had escaped by a hair’s breadth, but she laughs at how foolish Consort Mei was, to accept her explanation for the evening’s events. She had always felt that the lady was ill-intentioned under that mask of benevolence, but her recent actions had only proven to pull her deeper into Xiao Ying’s pit.
I will find you out and prove myself, thinks Xiao Ying, as she writes down her report for the month.
“Report from Agent 24, placed in the Jing Manor. Successfully incited Lady Sun to start investigating Lady Mei, but was unfortunately hit by a falling tree branch while spying and have been indisposed for a week. Prince Jing seemed to be furious, but Lady Mei accepted Consort Sun and my explanation that I had been out in the gardens, and knocked out cold by because of said branch, so the operation is still in process. However, I feel Consort Mei is a cunning woman because she probably arranged to be rescued from bandits by Prince Jing. I will continue on my mission to uncover her true intentions.”
That evening, as Xiao Ying again requests to meet Banruo Jie-Jie with her report, her Thirteenth Sister laughs her off, leaving a bristling, humiliated Xiao Ying.
“I can feel something is wrong, Jie-Jie, please hear me out!” Xiao Ying pleads.
“Hah! Do you know Banruo Jie-Jie has asked us to filter all useless mail before it gets to her? Your report about two fighting consorts is so ridiculously important, of course, as if it has never happened before.”
The cutting remarks and the titters from her other sisters’ silence Xiao Ying, but tears fill her eyes, knowing what they think of her. She leaves in a huff.
Later that night, a cherry-lipped lady hidden by a thick, dark veil meets with a portly, bearded young man and hands him a report that was supposed to be burned away before reaching Qin Banruo’s eyes.
They exchange a look and a letter.
Your brother is free from his indentured life now, young lady, as is your family. Qin Banruo will hear of their deaths, and not their escape. Remember to hold your end of the bargain.
Xiao Ying's Thirteenth Sister and the communications manager of Hong Xiu Zhao looks up at Li Gang with thankful eyes and nods.
They part, strangers on a dark street, partners to rid the darkness of the Hua.
Consort Sun, never a clever lady herself, goes from timid to frustrated to angry when Prince Jing advises her to spend a few months praying at a temple in Xianzhou for the wealth and luck of the royal family. He praises her virtue (which he has never taken, to much of her consternation) all these years and believes her prayers will hold more value than most.
Of course, it is entirely astonishing to hear such a subtle, eloquent rebuke from Prince Jing, who deals with Consort Sun in Yes', No’s and Thank you’s. No doubt the idea has been fed to him by sinister new consorts, Xiao Ying realises and advises her lady. Consort Mei has been very careful to be deferential to her senior Sister-Consort, which has only aggravated Prince Jing’s anger from the last incident and increased his protection of the lady.
Not bad, not bad at all, thinks Xiao Ying as she helps her lady prepare for a farewell tea with Consort Mei. Her sisters have honed themselves in the art of captivating men, an art unfortunate Xiao Ying was never taught, but learnt nonetheless with her astute observations. This enigmatic Lady Mei seemed to be cut from the same cloth as her Hua sisters.
Stay here and investigate her for me, you must protect the household in my stead when I am gone, Consort Sun has instructed her, even as she tries and fails to put on a face of equanimity.
Xiao Ying has her injury as an excuse, and having Consort Sun leave would give her more free time.
What a wonderful arrangement.
It is an exceedingly polite meeting, as all tension-fraught interactions between rivals are meant to be. Consort Sun makes a painful attempt to act haughty and cold, as Xiao Ying has instructed her, whereas Lady Mei acts so kind and young and gentle that even Xiao Ying almost believes it is not an act.
But occasionally, when Consort Sun makes some pointed enquiries about Lady Mei’s family and life in the Jianghu, Xiao Ying spots the younger woman's hands busy themselves in her pale green robes, rubbing them back and forth as a sign of agitation. Xiao Ying follows Lady Mei’s hands carefully and seeks to note down what disturbs her.
Consort Sun tries to articulately frame her barbs as Xiao Ying has taught her, but Lady Mei has an answer, a diversion, or an anecdote for everything, hiding all her secrets in her arrow-sharp mind, and voluminous sleeves.
Until, of course, Consort Sun touches a topic that had been carefully planned by them - to rouse the legitimacy of Lady Mei’s position in Prince Jing's heart, of course.
“Ah, it is good that His Highness has asked me to pray at a temple outside the city, finally, I can pay my respects to my deceased sister, the Princess Consort Jing. Her death anniversary is close by, and our husband always mourns her by going so far away. Away from this city, I can finally honour her spirit in peace.”
Xiao Ying bites down on her lip because Consort Sun has effectively bungled their plans by forgetting to understand the nuances of paying respects to a public traitor.
Consort Mei’s hand on her teacup stills. In fact, it trembles a bit, as does her voice with the next question.
“The Princess Consort Jing? Pray Jie-Jie, tell me about her, for I know so little.”
“Ah, ahah, you are so new and so young, Prince Jing must not have had the time to share her story with you,” Consort Sun remarks almost superciliously, having found a chink in her opponent’s armour.
“Indeed.” The flatness in Lady Mei’s tone is almost curiously neutral.
Consort Sun continues on in a conspiratorial titter.
“Ah, such a tragic tale it is. Prince Jing was wed to his childhood sweetheart, his first cousin from the Emperor’s side, the Lady Lin. She was young, but very skilled in martial warfare, although from some of the gifts left behind, not at all skilled in the ladylike arts. She was a vice-marshal in her father, Marshal Lin’s Chiyan army, and was deployed to war barely half-a-year after their marriage. Alas, she was caught in the conniving plans of her father and the eldest Prince Qi, and died as a shameful rebel at the northern borders. The Emperor almost had our Lord imprisoned, if it were not proven beyond doubt that he was innocent. In fact, our Lord-Husband has never stopped questioning our sister’s passing, and he holds steadfastly to her, and thus, unfortunately, he bears His Majesty’s wrath. Ah, a difficult act to follow, that Lady Lin. I would have loved to meet her, but I entered this house many years after her passing.”
An air of silence stretches out after Consort Sun finishes, as the two schemers keep waiting for an answer, while Lady Mei’s hands start to move again, and she gently resumes sipping her tea. They were waiting for a sliver of emotion, the barest reaction from Lady Mei which would show displeasure.
Instead, Lady Mei looks up calmly at Consort Sun.
“Oh, dear Jie-Jie, now I understand. Forgive me for my impudence, but as a younger sister, it is my duty to care for you – and whenever I ask His Highness that it is not appropriate to be with me always, and he should honour your presence, he becomes so sad. Sister Sun is as luminous as starlight, I am sure your lovely countenance reminds him of the Princess Consort of the past. I can only hope to hold such a prominent place as you do, where he believes your prayers will bring health and happiness to this household.”
The neat diversion catches Consort Sun off-guard. It seems Consort Mei’s unnerving words flow naturally as opposed to her own, practised lines.
“Sister Sun has suffered much for this household. I am but young and sickly, when I am in better health, I hope to emulate your noble deeds. In fact, your virtue has even brought the Emperor’s favour to this household, has it not? I was honoured to meet Mother-Consort Jing the other day, and when Royal Father entered her chambers, he appreciated how filial our Lord-Husband was. In fact, he has granted him the royal privileges of visiting her at free will, isn’t that a reflection of Sister’s regular prayers and kind deeds?”
Consort Sun’s face twists as she is stunned. There is no retort except for a feeble laugh.
Xiao Ying winces because she knows what has struck her lady, and she curses her fates that she will have to withstand the worst of a snivelling Lady Sun.
Well, she has led her lady into this quagmire with a welcoming lamp, the outcome could only be murky.
Thankfully, Xiao Ying uses her wits to close the discussion, suggesting Lady Sun is too tired from the preparations for her journey and she must rest.
As they turn away, Consort Mei still has an air of put-upon concern upon her beautiful face, biting her lip in tension, and asking Sister Sun to take care. Her act is perfect, Xiao Ying thinks.
As they walk into Consort Sun’s cold chambers, the lady slumps over.
“Xiao Ying, I have lost before I even began,” she whispers, despondent.
For one of the most grievous wounds Prince Jing has given Consort Sun is to never let her into his inner circle, the lady only knows his generals by face, and Consort Jing only by name. For he has never let Consort Sun even meet or offer filial pieties to his mother or father, which makes her feel more like an outcast than anything else.
Consort Mei has melted Prince Jing’s façade of ice, and brought Spring to the Jing Manor, leaving Consort Sun languishing in the cold, wet melt.
“Xiao Ying, I think I may spend a long time praying,” Consort Sun says, her body shaking.
Xiao Ying seethes a bit and readies herself for the onslaught of tears. But her mind whirs with great efficiency as she replays some key sentences Consort Mei had spoken.
Prince Jing could meet Consort Jing at any time now. After years of ignominy, he was finally going to become a Noble Prince.
Xiao Ying begins the next phase of her plan as she bids a fake tearful goodbye to Consort Sun, promising to protect the household. Consort Mei stands beside her, equally subservient to her senior sister-consort, the same air of fake empathy.
It jars on Xiao Ying’s nerves because Consort Mei seems like a stealthy opponent, hidden behind an impassable wall of ice.
Ah well, Xiao Ying has a report to write - and this time she has some stellar information.
“Report from Agent 24 stationed in Jing Manor. My charge has left for several months, and I will ingratiate myself to the suspect, Lady Mei. A critical piece of information has come into my hands, which would be best told to Banruo Jie-Jie in person. Awaiting her confirmation and reply.”
Xiao Ying beams as she writes, possibly she will finally have the honour of meeting Banruo Jie-Jie in person. She will finally prove her worth.
The poison-tipped ladies of the Hong Xiu Zhao laugh as they read Xiao Ying’s report, full of spelling errors.
“Who does she think she is? She finally has a chance to be lazy and save us from all her paranoia, and she now lands up with ‘critical information’ for Sister Banruo?”
“I say, we get her married off to some foolish soldier while her mistress is away, and have her sent far from Jinling.”
“These girls who are worthless think most highly of themselves. I’ve read about it in some philosophy books, it’s called self-esteem. How silly!”
“It is silly, is it not? From now on, burn Xiao Ying’s letters without compunction, so she may save us and Banruo Jie-Jie some headaches!” laughs along their senior Thirteenth Sister, as she silently tucks the note away in her crimson sleeves.
The Jing Manor would have to do something about Xiao Ying, who was a sharp blade hidden under a dull sheath. And soon.
Two months had passed since Consort Sun had left for the temple, and Xiao Ying found her life surprisingly…different.
Consort Mei had begun showing barely a week after Consort Sun had left, which had led Xiao Ying to believe all this was timed expertly and mysteriously. It had been just a few months since Consort Mei had arrived in the household, and she was with a child already? Just around three months, Doctor Yan had declared with a happy face (Xiao Ying and the other servants often baulked how the bitter herbs had made him bitter too), and she was showing so early because of her thin frame.
Xiao Ying still could feel that prickle of distrust in Consort Mei, who was frankly, these days even more glowing, gracious, and gregarious than she had ever seen her. She somehow felt more open, more genuine than the stone-cold fox who had entered the household. If only children could change hearts, Xiao Ying thought.
Xiao Ying was suddenly elected to be an extra lady’s maid to Consort Mei in her newfound condition and often groaned at the volume of her new duties, which included dusting a lot of books that Consort Mei liked to read. She claimed to all the other servants that she missed her Lady Sun, that it was easier to embroider than to sort through books. But secretly, she filed away all the information she could glean about Consort Mei – the fact that she read complex books like men, the fact that she had more annotations in travelogues than in books about motherhood. It would serve Xiao Ying well when it would come to her next report.
Xiao Ying’s mood would darken when she thought of her report and the fact that there had been no reply to the request for a meeting, and by the time she had tried to visit the Hong Xiu Zhao, she had been met and scolded strongly by Sister Zhu, who shouted at her for her aggrandized reports, and the fact that incompetent people like her had made the Hong Xiu Zhao vulnerable. Several dangerous infiltrations in their networks had caused the Hua to close ranks, and limit communication to reduce exposure.
But still, it had hurt when she had been told to stop sending reports because she was a good-for-nothing.
Xiao Ying had laid traps and schemes to catch Consort Mei and her sinister plans, but it seemed like she had failed - and terribly so.
Oh well, she would keep on trying. It wouldn’t be easy to win her sisters’ trust, but she would try until her last breath.
But sometimes, Xiao Ying just wished, just wished for a bit of kindness and loyalty from someone.
And it came soon, from unexpected quarters.
Spring arrives, and suddenly, it is so happy and heady in the Jing Manor that no one can believe it. The oldest servants remark how such brightness had disappeared thirteen years ago, and the newest can hardly believe the change of events. Young Fei Liu seems to have become ever more a sprite in the trees, and even the dour bodyguards of Lady Mei start smiling.
Xiao Ying feels discomfited by the sheer jubilance in the manor after years of gloominess, and even she, as a long-time resident is not immune to the smell of fresh rain on the parched Jing Manor.
Who knew the melt of Prince Jing’s ice-heart would make the Jing Manor alive again? Who knew a child could bring love and tenderness and pure joy to everyone’s hearts?
Even staid, serious Xiao Ying who hid behind an air of diffidence could feel lightened by the change and lightened by the woman who she was spying on. Consort Mei never lost that aura of hers, but somehow the fox spirit seemed to be more warm and magnetic. It was so strange.
Soon, Consort Mei surprisingly assigned her morning routine to Xiao Ying, an important nod of trust.
The first time she waited on her, Xiao Ying was almost red with embarrassment as she stood outside in the early morning hour with Consort Mei’s washcloth and robes, something she had to do only much later in the day for Consort Sun. The sounds that come from Lady Mei's chambers in the early morning had never been heard in the barren manor, not even from the few birds that flock the trees.
The daily moans and wails, the loud screams of ‘Your Highness’ from inside the room, and Consort Mei flushed pink from her forehead and right down to her swollen belly was so different from the lazy Consort Sun. Xiao Ying has never seen such ardour, not even from her well-trained sisters, and especially not during a delicate pregnancy. Prince Jing’s man-servants giggle as they tell Xiao Ying about salves they have to apply on his chest and back, and the maid can confirm their claims as she cleans Consort Mei’s nails every day.
Xiao Ying is almost too awkward the first time she dresses her, but Consort Mei laughs, a warm, soft sound and it seems so unaffected compared to the woman who had serenely laid a deep cut on Consort Sun. But when Xiao Ying helps her with her underclothes, she realises how waifish and how sick Consort Mei truly is. The pallor is not due to fashionable makeup, the lady is pale and translucent all over, and the only weight on her bones seems to be that of the baby.
A woman may be enticing, but a woman this sick? Xiao Ying begins to slowly doubt whether her perception of Consort Mei’s craftiness and devious plans was merely a young woman’s jealousy.
The lady did look happy after Consort Sun had departed. And Xiao Ying had heard of such tactics used all the time, especially in noble households. Could it be Prince Jing’s rise, the mysterious servants, Consort Mei’s book habits were all indeed unrelated?
“What’s the matter? I think your ears may have burned in the morning a bit, my apologies,” Consort Mei jokes, turning Xiao Ying’s shock into a squeak.
“Don’t be scared, Xiao Ying, if you think I still hold something against you because of Sister Sun, then please put that out of your mind. You have been a member of this household for a long time, and I thank you for supporting me in this difficult period.”
Xiao Ying looks up, at first seemingly timid, but she knows her eyes are hard, whereas Consort Mei’s are sparkling and mischievous.
Xiao Ying would like to believe it is acting and lip service, but the veneer of flint that surrounded Consort Mei seemed to be oddly out of place now.
Xiao Ying begins to doubt herself as she combs Consort Mei’s hair, too lost in her own thoughts to notice the lady’s elegant fingers rubbing the folds of her robe.
Xiao Ying’s reports begin to pile up in her secret underground lock box as her sisters tighten their ranks. The only operatives that are out there are the seasoned ones, even the girls a few years older than her are pulled back. There is a mole amidst the swirling web of the Hong Xiu Zhao and Prince Yu’s connections, and things are slowly falling apart.
In this mix, comes the announcement of Prince Jing finally becoming a Noble Prince with two pearls. Xiao Ying is so shocked and excited that her foreshadowing came correct, that she almost rushes out to meet her new point of contact, Sister Zhu, at the tavern she manages, rather indiscreetly.
Sister Zhu’s face is like thunder when she sees Xiao Ying.
Xiao Ying doesn’t notice that fact in her eagerness, and once they are in a secret room, she crows. “See, I told you I had vital information about Prince-"
She is met with a tight, harsh slap, so sudden and so strong that it knocks the stolid Xiao Ying down. She cannot collect herself for a moment, and then she starts blubbering. Why?
“You oaf of a girl, you know we are under attack from the Crown Prince and Xie Yu’s cronies and yet you move about so freely! We knew about Prince Jing months ago from the Palace, it was His Majesty’s kindness because of Prince Jing’s first child. It was a suggestion by Prince Yu, in fact, to gain Prince Jing’s military favour in the future! And already we have Prince Ning and Prince Huai at similar positions for a long time. Your information is as worthless as you are!”
Sister Zhu is slender in appearance but trained in basic martial arts. She harshly lifts Xiao Ying, and pushes her out of the door.
“Don’t show your face to me again unless it is commanded!”
Xiao Ying walks out, shivers and sobs wracking her body. She feels like the air has been drained from her lungs.
All her observations, all her ideas, for nought.
As she walks out, a stout figure calmly finishes a bowl of noodles, observing her while hiding behind his muddy vegetable grower's hands.
“You may have the day off,” Consort Mei declares rather kindly to Xiao Ying that afternoon, after a bare lunch.
Xiao Ying has not been bothered to hide the marked red handprint on her face. In fact, she has not recovered enough to notice how stark it is against her skin.
“Have I displeased the Lady in any way?” Xiao Ying replies, her tone a little dead and a note of anger in her voice because it is this woman who has brought Xiao Ying to her knees.
“Xiao Ying,” Consort Mei says in a rather hard tone, “I am perceptive enough to know you are hurting. Although I shall not ask who or why, if someone in this manor has dared behave so insolently with you, I expect to hear about it honestly. I will not tolerate such reprehensible behaviour that your sweet face has turned almost purple. And if it is someone outside, if it is not your fault, I shall send someone to file a complaint.”
Xiao Ying’s hot tears begin to fall for no reason, and she can’t stop herself.
The kindness of her enemy was greater than the love of her people.
“It was my fault, unfortunately, my lady. I was glad to have been taught a lesson,” Xiao Ying finally admits, while Consort Mei hands her one of her own handkerchiefs to cry on.
And what a lesson Xiao Ying had learnt.
Time flows, and soon it is time to hear the cries of children in the manor.
Consort Mei is taken to the Palace to give birth, as Consort Jing wishes to care for her delicate health. Xiao Ying hears the happy news as fireworks are lit in the manor, and sweets and wine are distributed aplenty. She even spots Fei Liu getting drunk, jumping off trees crying ‘twin baby water buffaloes’ for some odd reason.
It was nearing chrysanthemum season again, and so many things had changed in a short while. Consort Sun was a monthly letter now, instead of a boring daily presence. Consort Mei was no longer a fox spirit, but a kind woman who seemed to be genuinely loving of all those around her.
And her sisters, there was no news from them. And there was no one in the Manor who she could open up to, because sometimes, even clever disillusioned little spies needed friendship and encouragement.
A few weeks earlier, Xiao had been in her state of continued depression when someone handed her a large piece of fragrant melon.
“Ying-jie, you seem so sad these days. I remember you always take extra melons, I thought this would cheer you up!” The voice belonged to the nephew of their regular vegetable seller, who had taken over his business recently. Tong Lu was a winsome young man and was always so cheerful when he came to their manor.
He had always been particularly helpful in selecting fruits for Consort Mei and Fei Liu’s cravings, and Xiao Ying had warmed up to his simple nature, so uncomplicated in the mess of their lives.
The melon had been a sweet relief, eaten in the shade away from the heat, as Xiao Ying could feel her sadness settle a bit.
“Ying-jie, I know people are not ordinarily this sad, so you must tell me which fellow broke your heart. I will beat him till he is ugly!”
Xiao Ying had started laughing, for Tong Lu seemed to just remind her of one of her sisters who had died young, and who had been protective of her.
So, she began telling him her stories and tales of woe. Keeping the bit about the Hua aside of course.
The Jing Manor had been handing out alms for the poor and the monks all week in the grand celebration of the birth of a boy and a girl. Xiao Ying couldn’t find a better word to describe the mood at the manor other than ebullient, and Prince Jing was ecstatic, a word she would never attribute to her master either.
He was barely in the manor, rushing to the Palace every day to spend time with his children. All the older servants in the manor thanked the gods because they thought this day would have never come.
Old Butler Fa had remarked, “When the Princess Consort died, I thought he would perish with her. I never thought that I would hear the happy sound of children in this manor. Consort Mei is such a blessing to Prince Jing!”
Xiao Ying had found herself nodding. She wholeheartedly agreed.
Later in the morning, as Xiao Ying took up her post to distribute alms as well, she found a strangely well-manicured hand extending from deep inside an old woman’s hood.
It was Sister Zhu. Finally! Had her anger calmed down?
A signal led Xiao Ying outside, into a corner of the street, where she saw her Thirteenth Sister waiting. She was holding an ink-coloured envelope in her hands, a colour so rare a Hua woman only saw it once in her life.
A final warning before she was killed by her own people.
Xiao Ying’s eyes widen as she looks around, she may not be trained but she can scream, and she turns to immediately face Sister Zhu, who is behind her and has the greatest opportunity to kill her. Instead, she meets eyes full of disdain and pity.
As Xiao Ying stands speechless, her Thirteenth Sister walks forward and stuffs the envelope into her pudgy, shaking hands.
“Sister Zhu told us how you disobeyed her despite her instructions, and these incidents have been far too many now. It is good that Banruo Jie-Jie thinks you are not worth killing, otherwise someone would have had you beaten to death for bumbling around so much. You are dismissed until further notice until I personally reach out to you. The next chance will be your last, as is the rule of the Hua.”
All sense is lost to Xiao Ying as her sisters disappear and she is left standing in the middle of the street.
But what she does see are the unfailingly sharp eyes of Tong Lu slowly arriving with his cart for the daily delivery.
He rushes forward to catch her as she falls.
“Have you seen everything?” Xiao Ying asks, faintly, feeling the world spin.
“Everything, and more, Ying-Jie. I am so sorry.”
It’s good this way, Xiao Ying thinks, as it fades to black.
“You are near impossible to convince, my dear, working so hard a few weeks after your delivery,” Consort Jing gently admonishes her only daughter-in-law. “I must give that Physician Yan a present for his difficulties.”
“Mother, nothing is difficult when it comes to my family, especially Jingyan, you and now my children,” Consort Mei replies with a very unladylike snort, as she suckles one child, in a manner very unbecoming of the role she has now perfected.
“I’m surprised he has managed to keep a straight face all this time. It must be your love.”
“Or his terrible guilt at the fact that he couldn’t keep his hands off me barely a week after I revealed myself to him. I was forced to speed up my plans and enter the house, otherwise, I would have gone insane with his fretting and Lin Chen’s cackling over my pregnancy. He had better put up with all the assignments I give him.”
Consort Jing smiles, thinking of her stoic son. “You were always an expert at playing the qin to our water buffalo.”
“Naturally, after you, I know him best!” Lin Shu’s cheekiness peeks through Consort Mei’s exterior for a tiny moment.
At that moment, Xiao Li bows in respectfully, handing two sealed messages to Consort Mei, before departing. Everyone in Zhiluo Palace has learnt the art of discretion after the discovery of Xiao Xin.
“What news arrives?”
“My friends at the temple have convinced Consort Sun to pray for three more months, citing her ill-luck with Jingyan that she didn’t conceive as soon as I did. The message went there pretty fast, the poor girl. Some of my people are guarding her well.”
“It was a stellar idea of yours to use her as leverage against Deputy Minister Sun. It was surprising to know his Hua origins and loyalty to Xia Jiang. He knows someone is after his daughter by now, and will not make any false moves. Their network is so secretive, it is shocking. That young maid grew up in that household not knowing he was on their side.”
“That is because Princess Xuanji hedged her bets and separated her people between Banruo and Xia Jiang, their networks being separate – so if one was taken out, the other would survive. I feel bad for Consort Sun, caught up in this terrible mess, but it would have been difficult to operate with her around. As for Xiao Ying, the second letter tells me that Tong Lu has almost converted her. It was good that I deployed my people on every servant. That communications manager has been so key for us, who knew Qin Banruo was holding her family secretly hostage?”
“All these webs, can you handle them, Xiao Shu?” Consort Jing’s face is lined with worry.
“Mother, don’t worry, I have a long way to go, and many noble dead to avenge. These games are but the groundwork for what is coming next, I hope you are prepared.”
Lin Shu looks down at her precious children, who have her once-bright eyes and Jingyan’s handsome jaw-lines and her Auntie Jing’s cheekbones.
The cause, the war seems too easy to fight now.
A few weeks later, Xiao Ying walks behind Tong Lu into a secluded building, a music store, near the outskirts of town.
She finds the place very spartan, very clean as if it is built with a purpose. Just like the Hong Xiu Zhao.
You had never thought to betray your people, Tong Lu had convinced her. If they had any sense, they would have never valued beauty over brains. I am part of an alliance, and we value minds like yours. Join us for the good of Da Liang.
They had considered her too worthless to even kill, as her thirteenth sister had declared. Worthless, useless, ugly, was the only refrain Xiao Ying had ever heard from her people.
No more. She would listen to such words no more.
They enter a hall, smelling of new paint, buffed wood, and the smell of milk?
Tong Lu escorts Xiao Ying ahead and places her in front of an elegant screen, and she can detect a familiar figure behind it.
She can see that well-known plum blossom hairpin. What on earth-
Tong Lu stands up to let the screen slide and uncovers their patron.
Xiao Ying begins laughing, incredulity in every fibre of her being. She had been right, oh god, Banruo Jie-Jie would go up in smoke if she ever witnessed this scene.
“Have you missed me, Xiao Ying? After all, I have been recovering very well in the Palace after giving birth, you must not have expected me back so soon,” Consort Mei says in her usual supremely calm, supremely confident manner.
“I was right, I was right, they thought I was a fool, but I was right!” Xiao Ying almost screams in elation, but then it turns into a broken sob.
“Well, Xiao Ying, I never took you for a fool, so I was very, very careful around you. Since your sisters seem to be rather callous towards one of your calibre, would you like to join me? Would you like to help me infiltrate your Hong Xiu Zhao?”
“And what is your goal, my lady?” Xiao Ying asks, slowly quieting down. She has been left so abandoned, so bereft of direction by her sisterhood, and now, she has received a call to arms. She needs to know whether she will be on the right side of history, the side where she avenges all her pain.
“To rid Da Liang of the corruption and ugliness. And to make Prince Jing the Emperor.”
Xiao Ying thinks of the years of pain, hate and the struggle she has faced with her people. She thinks of the kindness she has been shown by Lady Mei, albeit with an ulterior motive.
She thinks of the fact that they think she is smart, that she is worth something. She makes her decision.
“I would be happy to accept your command, Consort-
“My title is Princess Consort Jing, dear Xiao Ying. And remember, we are on the same side now.”
Xiao Ying gulps.
Lady Lin Shu is even more fearsome than the stories. And now they have a common enemy, the Hua who destroyed their lives.