The capital city of Hua—Wulihe—was worlds apart from Duan. A sprawling city pieced together from mainly mudbrick buildings, its narrow streets were filled with bellowing street vendors plying their colourful wares, the air suffused with the stinging fragrance of chillies and spices. Unlike Duan, whose residents favoured the elegant melodies of stringed instruments like the zither and pipa, Hua was a city of drums, and performing troupes put up dazzling acrobatic performances to the resounding beats of drums of all shapes and sizes around the main market square.
The unfamiliarity of the city frightened Meisi a little, although it did not dampen the excitement inside her.
It had taken them close to ten days before they arrived at Wulihe, and in mere moments the entourage would be entering the royal palace. Already she could see the red-brick walls of the palace lying ahead, with towering turrets piercing towards the cloudless skies. Stern guards wearing chainmail armour the shade of blood saluted the moment they caught sight of the crown prince approach, promptly opening the palace gates.
Crown Prince Zhiren headed immediately to the royal hall to greet the king, while the carriages bearing the women were taken to the inner palace, which would now become their home.
When the carriage came to a stop, Meisi quickly alighted, curiously studying her surroundings. She wrinkled up her nose. "Is this all?" she asked, directing her question at the Hua maidservant that she had been assigned. There was but one girl waiting by her carriage, dressed in flowing peach-coloured chiffon robes that dipped a little too low at the bosom for Meisi's liking.
Unlike the palace of Duan, which had gracefully sloping emerald roofs, with intricate statues of the kingdom's guardian gods sitting upon their eaves, the palace of Hua was all harsh angles devoid of adornments. It looked incredibly plain, and was nowhere near to the level of luxury that she had expected.
The scrawny girl tilted her head and stared at her briefly, then she said, "I'm afraid I don't understand your question."
Meisi scowled. "Don't you mean, 'I'm afraid I don't understand your question, Your Grace?'" Did this girl not realise who she was speaking to? The servants of Hua were decidedly less well-trained than those back home, she concluded. Perhaps she had made a mistake when she told her mother that she did not want to bring her old maidservant along with her.
No, Lianxi was a little vixen. If I had brought her along, she would definitely try to climb onto the prince's bed, she thought, trying to convince herself that she had made the right decision. All she had to do was to have a word with the prince about being more stringent with the selection of her wait staff and that would solve the problem.
A short distance ahead, Princess Xuan was also being helped off her carriage. The difference was that while there had been one servant waiting for Meisi when she alighted, there was a whole retinue of at least ten waiting for the princess.
Meisi's lips twisted in disgust. That was something else she would need to speak to the prince about. Even if Princess Xuan was to be the crown princess, the disparity in the treatment between them should not be so great. Surely she should get at least six servants?
Her servant girl had gone running off to the side, whispering something into the ear of an older lady-in-waiting. The woman frowned, then walked over to Meisi.
"What are you waiting for?" Meisi demanded. "Show me to my quarters immediately. And make sure you don't damage any of my belongings when you move them over." Already the princess's entourage was headed towards a nearby palace building that was likely her assigned quarters, and she did not want to be left standing here under the blazing sun. She wiped the sweat off her brow, cursing at the foul weather of Hua.
"Of course," the older woman said, her voice clipped and terse, with none of the deference that a servant should have.
Is this the attitude of all the servants in Hua? Meisi wondered.
Nonetheless, she followed behind the lady, but to her surprise, she was not shown to a palace building within the vicinity of the princess's quarters. Instead, she was led down a series of confusing corridors until they emerged in an open courtyard that blatantly looked like servant quarters. Dozens of servant girls, dressed in the same peach garments as the rude one she had first met, were busy rushing to and fro in between their duty shifts.
"Why have you brought me here?" Meisi asked.
Was it because they wanted her to pick her own serving staff? She spotted two girls who seemed relatively docile, nibbling on buns under the shade of a willow tree. Maybe those two would do for a start.
"You asked to be shown your quarters, didn't you?" the matron replied, her lips quirking upwards in a sneer.
"Yes, but this—" Meisi spun around, eyes blazing with fury. "Is this some sort of a joke? Don't you know who I am? I am Han Meisi, and I am to be a consort to the crown prince! How dare you bring me to these quarters?"
"I know very well who you are," the woman replied, though she did not seem the least bit fazed by Meisi's outburst. "We have received instruction that you are to be part of the crown princess's serving staff. Given that this is your first day here, the chief steward has instructed that you be allowed to settle into your quarters first, before reporting for duty at the princess's chambers." She pointed a knobbly finger at a small building on the western side of the courtyard. "You'll be sleeping over there."
Meisi's jaw slackened. Part of the crown princess's serving staff? There had to be some sort of a mistake. She was not here to be a servant—she was here to be a consort, and possibly to take over the position of crown princess in future!
"This is preposterous!" she shouted. "There must be some kind of misunderstanding. I demand to see the prince right now!"
Yes, she had to see Prince Zhiren. Once she did, everything would be resolved. Someone had likely relayed an incorrect message about her identity, which had led to this entire debacle.
"The prince does not have time to deal with the likes of you," the matron said. She grabbed Meisi by the arm, forcibly dragging her towards her assigned room. "Don't say I didn't warn you—rules are strict here in the royal palace, and we do not take lightly to servants who step out of line. One you've unpacked your belongings, change out of those ghastly Duan clothes and put on your servant robes. You'll be reporting to the princess first thing tomorrow morning."
#
That night, lying upon a hard platform with only a thinly padded cotton sheet beneath her, Meisi's mind was plagued by nightmares. Her sisters laughing at her, mocking her for her predicament. Her mother crying and screaming, begging her to come home. Situ Zhiren, with his arms wrapped around two svelte courtesans, watching as she was forced to scrub the floors.
She awoke in cold sweat, her heart still gripped with fear. It was almost daybreak, and the first sliver of light was streaming in through the open windows.
Where am I?
"Lianxi?" she called, expecting her maidservant to come rushing in.
But no one came.
As her eyes slowly acclimatised to the dim light, she realised that she was still in the servant quarters of the Hua palace. This was a tiny room, even tinier than her room back in the Han manor, with bare walls and nothing in the way of furniture other than the elevated platform they were sleeping on and a rickety wooden table. When she had cried herself to sleep, there were five other girls who had been sleeping beside her—but none of them were there now.
"Get up! You're already late!" a shrill voice scolded.
A plump matron was standing there with her hands at her hips, her hair secured tightly behind her head in a neat bun. Before Meisi could respond, the matron had already grabbed her by the shoulder, half-dragging and half-pushing her out of the room.
She found herself herded all the way to the princess's quarters, and then pushed to the floor in the middle of a spacious parlour. Trembling in fear and confusion, Meisi looked around, hoping that she would be able to catch a glimpse of the crown prince here. Unfortunately, there was none.
"Han Meisi," a familiar voice called her name, dragging out each syllable in a cruel, painful manner.
Meisi turned to find Princess Xuan entering the room, dressed in opulent silks the colour of fire, her long, dark hair freely flowing down her back, adorned with a glittering headdress of rubies. Although she had given up her Duan attire for the style of Hua, she still looked like royalty through and through.
Meisi glanced down at her own dirty robes, ashamed of how dishevelled she looked.
"Your Highness," she greeted, pressing her forehead to the ground. "Please, you have to help me. I don't know why these horrid people insist that I am to be a servant. They dragged me to the servant quarters and refused to let me leave!"
"Is that so?"
The princess bent down in front of Meisi, using one carefully manicured finger to tilt the latter's chin upwards. Bitterness streaked through Meisi when she saw how radiant and beautiful the princess was, with her lightly powdered cheeks and rouge-tinted lips.
"Let me tell you something, Han Meisi," Princess Xuan said, leaning in to whisper into Meisi's ear. "This is no mistake. You are a servant, and that's all you'll ever be."
An explosion erupted in Meisi's mind.
The princess straightened herself back up, bursting out in delighted peals of laughter as she made her way to the front of the parlour and took a seat on the rosewood chair.
"That can't be," Meisi muttered. "That can't be!" she said a little louder. "It's you. You're the one behind all this!" She pointed an accusatory finger at the princess. "You're afraid the Prince Zhiren will favour me more than you, that's why you're doing this to me. I want to see the prince now! I'm going to expose you for the jealous, conniving monster that you are!"
Princess Xuan's eyes flashed dangerously.
"Your beloved prince was the one who issued the order of having you sent to the servants' quarters," she said. "Are you still living in a delusion? Situ Zhiren hates you as much as I hate you. Be glad that he hasn't sentenced you to death."
Meisi collapsed onto the floor in disbelief. "Why? You're lying. The prince wouldn't hate me. I'm the prince's woman. I don't believe a single word you're saying."
"The one that the prince wants is Han Zi-ning, not you. If it weren't for your greed and shamelessness, if it weren't for you climbing into the prince's bed, then I wouldn't even need to be sitting here!" Princess Xuan shrieked. She picked up a porcelain vase from the nearby table and flung it at Meisi. The vase struck Meisi at the left temple, leaving a trail of blood trickling down the side of her face.
"Ah!" Meisi screamed, pressing her hand against the wound. Warm, sticky fluid stained her fingers, leaving her horrified. Broken porcelain shards lay scattered around her.
"You ruined the plan. This is all your fault, Han Meisi," the princess said. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then walked over and picked up one of the shards. Meisi quickly backed away, but the exit was blocked by two stern guards.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you." Princess Xuan smiled, but Meisi only felt a bone-tingling chill run down her spine. "I'm going to make sure you live for a very, very long time, so that you can enjoy all the pain and suffering that you have brought upon me." She squatted in front of Meisi, pressing the cold shard against the latter's right temple.
Meisi shut her eyes in fear.
A sharp sting seared down the side of her cheek as porcelain sliced through her skin from her temple all the way down to the corner of her lips. The princess's cruel laughter rang out once again, ringing incessantly in Meisi's ears.
Now, she wished nothing more than to return home to Duan, but it was too late.