CHARACTER UPDATE: Mei/Astrid is officially 16 years old now.
*record scratch*
has this really happened? is this life or what?
Thank you for 12k!!!
& also being #69 (lol)in Historical Fiction :)
Honestly, what did I do to deserve such love?
here's the highly anticipated update:
FLASHBACK: November 16th, 2010. GREEN LEAF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
"I don't know how to say this...."
How to say what? I've never been called to the principal's office. Am I in trouble?
"You are just too young."
I just turned nine. Can I leave now?
"Your aunt just called."
Oh, not her...what did I do this time?
"Your mother is dead."
END OF FLASHBACK. EVOLVE AGAIN.
I woke up in a state of vulnerability as the cold stabbed at me like knives. Nothing, I felt nothing because everything else was numb. My skin did not have sensation as it normally did. It was still dark outside. Night was a suffocating black bag that saw nothing...and the wind. The wind was my nemesis who taunted me. She saw my lack of protection and attacked me as the walls of my body had been broken down.
It was not hard to guess that the warm blanket that protected was gone.
But how?
I leaned over my bed, and reached out, in case, my blanket had simply fallen over. Nope, I was grabbing at nothing. It didn't help that my vision wasn't the greatest in the darkness.
I sat up when suddenly someone had lightly striked the skin of my arm.
"It was Jade Ying!" The voice tugged at my mind. The girl who whispered was unfamiliar, and I couldn't identify her from her little mouse voice alone. It wasn't An, Jia and it definitely wasn't Jade.
Jade would have been my first suspect, but I would've never known for sure if not for the helpful stranger. There were forty-nine girls here, and she could be any one of them. Well, I'll look out for the helpful girl.
But first, to deal with Jade.
Where to begin?
Little Miss Dollface has picked on me from the moment we met as she singled me out for my eyes. That wasn't the best start, plus, she insulted Mei's dead father. I may have assumed another girl's life but that doesn't mean I won't be offended!
However, the moment my Chinese speaking skills improve, Jade manages to make me look like a heartless jerk when I defend myself.
This calls for some revenge. I cannot handle this any further!
I got up from my bed, wrapped myself in plain but warm robes and carefully tiptoed away from our sleeping chambers outside. The sky was dark as hell, but crimson lanterns did an okay job at lighting the way.
I knew exactly where to go.
You see, I was not so clueless about the Forbidden Palace's mapping. In the modern world, I'd visited and taken a tour of this wonder as a little girl. Mom kept telling me that a beautiful Chinese princess roamed the gardens, but really she talking about a girl who didn't exist.
Princesses was long gone from where I came from.
Anyways.
I take several turns and shortcuts through the palace, avoiding every palace guard possible, and finally got to where I needed to be:
The maids' quarters.
Why was I here? Well, you'll find out.
I was surprised to be met with the sight of several maids working. They were folding laundry, scrubbing clothing on washing boards, and generally supporting the palace life in the most hidden way possible. It had to be almost midnight, and yet these girls were still constantly working.
I don't think they recognized me as one of the noble girls. My night robes were plain, and didn't exactly stand out. It's probably better that way so the attention won't be on my revenge plan for she-who-needs-to-chill-and-not-ruin-other-people's-lives (wow that was long).
That was until a girl slightly older than me rushed and grabbed my wrist.
"What do you think you're doing? Get back to work!"
Her eyes glared into my own for a quick second, and I could tell that it was because of my color but the demanding girl was quick to wake herself up from that trance.
She pushed me to the laundry circle and into an unoccupied washboard with it's own set of laundry. The maids in this circle were about my age and shared some puzzled looks. Who is this newcomer? They seemed to ask but quickly went back to their business. There were about six of them.
Well, this story has taken quite a turn. I guess my revenge plan will just have to wait.
I've never done laundry in the 18th century before, but I'm glad to say that I can finally cross this off my (strange) bucket list! After a couple minutes of observing the maids' way of doing laundry and receiving some inquisitive stares along the way, I finally got into it.
It was rough without modern conveniences. I had to be careful with the fine clothing, and deal with ice cold water. It was a chore but I didn't mind. If anything, this whole situation was pretty amusing to me.
The ice cold water was going to be for Jade...
After the laundry girls finally saw me as one of them, the gossip came out while I worked the waters on a delicate dress :
"Have you seen the newest palace wife contestants for the Crown Prince?" one girl chirped.
One girl rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Another set of stupid rich girls to serve!"
I didn't realize that the Crown Prince's harem would affect other girls in palace besides the ones marrying him. These poor laundry girls were working so hard at midnight to get all these fine clothing washed. It is nice to see their perspective now and I hope to bring some attention to them.
Then another laundry girl brought up, "Some of them are getting very competitive. Have you heard about the girl who invented a new dish?"
Ohhh. So, I'm becoming the talk of the palace now...
The next girl nodded. "Many palace chefs were replicating Liu Mei's weird dish and Qiao tried them all but still insisted that her's was the best."
Then, one rotten girl snapped,"I don't believe it! That recipe must have been created by her family money. Afterall, she is the late General's daughter"
Some murmurs of agreement followed
"She is obviously a fake!"
"Anybody could do what she did!"
"I could do what she did!"
"Oh, shut up. If I had the opportunity, I could do more than she can."
"Then, you could marry the Crown Prince!"
"Of course!"
Then, I decided that all this slander needed to be stopped.
"Well, if you think you're better, " I exclaimed, "then maybe you should stop washing other people's clothing, walk up to the Crown Prince and demand for his hand in marriage."
Every single laundry girl glared at me.
The same girl who accused me of using another person's pizza recipe cackled like a witch.
We'll call her the Laundry Girl #1 for now.
She spat. "Another idiot! Do you want to be killed? That's the last thing I would do!"
I smirked. "Then, I guess you're not all that. Look in the mirror before you talk crap about other people!"
Laundry Girl #1 gasped. "Why you little - "
Her face was red and contorted in an expression so ugly that words could not describe her likeness of an angered bull. She was truly a sight so frightening that I regretted having found myself in this situation. I was not in a pleasant place.
And like a true bull, she started to charge for me.
I barely had any time to react when she violently held her hand out, and moved so fast toward my cheek that I flinched in the chaotic impact. My eyes closed immediately.
I was prepared for the knockout.
Until: "Halt! How dare you attempt harm the Late General's daughter!"
I opened my eyes and a little man wearing a red hat was clutching Laundry Girl #1's wrist. Her bull face was a white blanket and was alarmed like a deer in headlights.
And the familiar voice of a sober man thundered in the courtyard.
"You."
With a devilish smile but the twinkling eyes of an angel, the Crown Prince - I mean Jin -was raising one questioning eyebrow. Suddenly, every alarm in my body was going off and my heart hardened in his presence.
Crap!
...
Jin strikes again! What happens next?
Also, can we talk about how Evolve got 100 reads in 1 day??
Like how many people are here? Just curious...
and guys I don't mean to self-promote but...
And I hate myself for not updating in 3 months and all of you do too but I've been super busy! I'm acting in Hollywood, recording original songs, performing rock n' roll, on the road to Miss Teen USA, creating a YouTube channel, etc..
That's just some of the fun stuff that I want to share with you all!
(soooo you can understand why my updates are so slow...DON'T HATE ME!!)
I'M ALSO GOING TO POST BOOK UPDATES!!
but yeah that is whats going on with me. how about all of you. it's exciting that spring is finally here for the northern hemisphere at least! how are all of you??
I hope life is good and wonderful to you. May you have feel blessed af and have a lovely day/night/whatever!
lots of love!
-ashley mei gong