stay with me [BxB] mpreg

8. facing a tiger

"That - that b*tch!" Shui Hui Yin screeched. "Chang Sheng is mine, not to be held in the hands of such a vile and disgusting man!" 

"M - miss -" the bland-faced maid stuttered, scared and surprised. She had long known that the miss harbored darkness in her heart, but it had never been so... blatant. Anybody who even dared to step lightly on her mistress' toes, her mistress had dealt with by pulling the strings up from underneath them, and into the lowest rank at the Flower Houses. Whether they were men or women, although her mistress was especially viperous towards women. 

However, her mistress had always done it with a calm and cold smile. She had never expressed her anger like this. 

"Do you know of the night where the summer months bore snow, ten years ago?" Shui Hui Yin seethed, glaring at her maid. 

"The - the night where the summer months bore snow?" Her maid's eyebrows pinched in confusion, before her eyes lighted with realization. "The night the emperor was -"

"The night the emperor was murdered, yes." Shui Hui Yin scowled. "Did you know I was there? I was there on the night of the banquet, I had begged my parents to attend. I was sitting five seats down from the Emperor when he was stabbed in the chest by Marquis Gu. I was sitting four seats away from Marquis Gu. Then it erupted into chaos. I had heard of several flower ladies being delivered that night, I had heard of the crown prince finding himself a hidden rose buried underneath the snow and ashes but -" Shui Hui Yin screamed, fingers running through her thick silky black hair. "Was I late?! Was I too late?! Just by a margin - a margin and I lost him?!" Shui Hui Yin growled, her rage palpable. "I fell in love with him the day after, you know." Shui Hui Yin hissed. "I went to the palace the next day to appease the heartbroken Empress. My parents and I walked right in to see her hanging from a white cloth by the neck over the throne room. And then Chang Sheng entered. And he was beautiful, and all I ever wanted, to appease this darkness and hunger inside of me." Shui Hui Yin cried broken tears, marring her face similar to cracks running across a shattered mirror. "He was perfect," Shui Hui Yin fell to her knees. "So perfect." She lifted her face out of her hands, rage making her eyes bright. "And now, he's been stolen away! By a slut! By a dirty commoner! One of the flower ladies from that night, that cheap whore, that prostitute, has his hands all over Chang Sheng!" Shui Hui Yin exclaimed. 

"Miss!" The bland maid gathered up her courage, and shook Shui Hui Yin desperately by the shoulders. "Please don't do this in the courtyard! These - " she glanced around the empty garden, as if expecting to see a glowing pair of eyes watch them from inbetween the trees, "these walls have ears! Please, calm down!"

"You're right, Han Qing An," Shui Hui Yin laughed weakly. "These walls have ears. If they heard me say all this, they'd lock me up for my insanity." Shui Hui Yin glared at the exit to the garden. "As for that Empress with his claws sunk deep in Chang Sheng," Shui Hui Yin scowled. "I won't allow it." 

She stood, with the help of Han Qing An. "If these palace ears heard me say that last sentence, they'd have me hanged."

Han Qing An went pale. She had worked so hard, clawed her way from mud and dirt and through beds and scanty agreements, to get to where she was now. Her, Han Qing An, once an ordinary commoner now the personal servant of one of the empire's most distinguished noble ladies! Han Qing An gritted her teeth, pulling Shui Hui Yin up. She wouldn't permit herself to fall back down to her original status, sitting among the dirt and the dead. If Shui Hui Yin swore revenge on that pitiful Empress, then she, Han Qing An would help her, and clear the tracks. She would not permit herself failure. If revenge be the path her mistress takes, then so be it. 

"You won't allow it?" Han Qing An muttered. "Then let this servant accompany you, mistress. I shall be your eyes, your ears, you hands and your feet. I will follow whichever way you blow the wind. If revenge is what you want, let me help you get it."