The swaying of a cart is what woke Bingquing. She awoke with a start from the pain in her blistering hands that were chafting as they were tied tightly together with a rough biting rope that was threaded with small rivers of glass. It was hot and she felt a sting of pin and needles in her head. She looked up and realized a flimsy bandage that had been tied too tightly around her head. Upon seeing it, she felt against her chest and was relieved to see the scroll was still there. She knew her idea to cut the document out of it's scroll would have some raised eyebrows, but she knew it would be better than leaving it there for someone to stumble upon when a new tree was potentially planted in that spot. It was not simple to have something like this anywhere honestly.
There were many girls in a similar state who were all sniffling or in various stages of crying. The one closest to Bingquing had a burlap cloth roughly shoved into her mouth. Bingquing shifted away from her nervously as she wondered why this person was treated differently.
One of the girls piped up seeing her reaction, "She tried to run away when the traffickers stopped at an inn's bar to catch a drink and sniff out where it would be best to sell us. She was kicked until her legs could no longer move and then they did something to her face to make sure that she could never see ever again. We didn't see as we were I think they're planning to sell her to a pleasure house exclusively. The boss is a mean one, you should be careful around him. You're lucky that you're hurt and that the boss didn't want to damage his merchandise anymore."
Bingquing nodded slowly, "I can't see my forehead but is it healed? Is there a scar?"
The girl shook her head, "The boss bought some expensive cream so you wouldn't scar. He used it on several of the girls to take care of the rope burns so he can get a higher price for us. His men beat us earlier and he yelled at them for damaging the merchandise."
Bingquing tried to flex her fingers and gave a little pain sound.
"You really should just sit tight. The doctor they hired, said you were burned pretty badly maybe trying to get something from a fire."
"I was burned?" Bingquing asked. "These are cuts and blisters."
The girl shrugged, "We're on our way to the Wei kingdom."
"Wei? How long have I been sleeping?"
The girl made the same motion, "You were already here when they caught me. I was taken two days ago."
Bingquing counted the days and realized she had been sleeping for more than a week. A week was the amount of time it would take for them to travel from the capital to the border.
"You know you're a strange one to be asking the questions? Are you the maid of some rich lord's manor who tried running away from the slave contract? Did he want to make you into a concubine? Where is your home?"
Bingquing lowed her head and looked at her clothing. The blood splatters had dried in a manner that made them look more like decoration rather than what they actually were. Her clothes still did look like she served a wealthy household so the trafficker must have thought if he got her far enough away from the Caiwong capital he could get a high price for her. No wonder she had gotten kidnapped as she was an untapped potential of money. The thought made her want to gag.
Suddenly the cart stopped and the wooden door was opened. The streaming sunlight caused all of the girls to squint at the outline of the man who was one of their captor's lackeys. His eyes sweeped over them with a appraisal. He eyed Bingquing and made a whistling sound, "Hey boss, the maid from the ducal manor is awake! You said she was a money maker!"
There was a click of the toungue as a nasaly voice replied, "You idiot. Look at her, she's skinny as a scraggly stray cat. There's a hundred more where that one came from. The manor was a well-known one before the duke lost his head with the emperor's crown."
Bingquing let out a gasp, "Official Chu is dead."
The lackey positively sneered at her, "Thinking about running back home were yah? Well the Sleeping Sun took care of him when he was in the Imperial compound. All the officials are gone who were loyal to the king. Chu's either in a dungeon being tortured or if he's lucky already dead. His lands and wealth have already been confiscated. His ducal title is already allotted to sympathizers of the current crown prince. The prince held his father at knife point and got what he wanted. The emperor is under lock and key."
Bingquing rolled her eyes. Dungeon was always better than dead. Her father had always kept a low profile so even if he was implicated, he would probably figure out a way to stay alive.
The cart stopped outside of a dirty warehouse where the girls were unloaded and inspected one by one. Bingquing thought it was going to be more invasive, but just found herself spit at. "I just want to reiterate that you're the ugliest one. You're only here because you look the part. But, I just want the clothing part."
After this, he made her change with the girl who had been gagged. Neither spoke as they exchanged clothing. Hers was homespun and Bingquing's was soft silk that she knew could buy her freedom if she played it right. To lose such a valuable asset was disheartening.
Once she saw her counterpart up close, Bingquing realized she was really cute. No one the traffickers had made such an effort to keep her even though she caused trouble. Her face was as fair as the moon and her hair was smoother and glistened like smooth water.
"Um, sis . . . I'm scared to be sold to some again. My old master was fat and would make me hold trays of food for hours. Are you scared?"
Bingquing shook her head, "It's silly."
The girl whispered, "What's your name? Mine is Mo'lan."
Bingquing answered with the first name that came to her head, "My name is Ying." She knew she couldn't use a fancy name like Bingquing Chu as people would wonder if she was a proper girl who had been unlucky. It would quickly lead her to disgrace what was left of her family name.
The head croony shouted at them to hurry up and Bingquing helped Mo'lan put her hair into an elegant hairstyle.
Mo'lan was impressed as she looked at herself in the little bronze mirror on the dresser, "I won't be a serving maid anymore."
Each of them was pushed onto a stage and Bingquing held in a gasp. They were in the bustling trade city between Wei and Caiwong not the poor border towns where they would have been sold as labourers. Binquing was not expected to sell so she had been placed in a darker corner of the stage rather than where the lighting was best.
The traffickers shouted into the market crowds, "Spoils of the Caiwong Empire now that it's crumbling apart. Look at the maids? You want a new concubine, rich sir? You want a wife who can serve you well?"
Bingquing had to have a hard dark laugh as she considered how she had walked past a stall such as this on the way to visit her father. She had sneered at the disheveled women who had their heads down and were sold like cattle. Her maid had even joked about one with a large mole who would probably never be allowed to serve inside the house.
Oh how quickly the sun moves across the sky, she lamented
"Qing! Qing!" Mo'lan shouted as she was sold and being taken away in a cart. Bingquing shook her head, but Mo'lan's shouts only increased to a shrill level. The well-dressed man buying her shoved her into the cart and then put his hand around Bingquing's neck. He had the body of a soldier and his direct gruff manner was off putting and typical of men of his class.He smelled too of unwashed man and the beef he had consumed the night before. He jingled coins in the handler's face, "How much for this one? I already bought the most expensive one, can you make this one at a discount?"The traffickers exchanged glances at each other as they considered this."She's not of much use to us, other than as a back door, if you understand what I mean. I doubt she'd sell for more than a couple cents."A couple cents, Bingquing scoffed internally. Her father would have started crying from laughter if someone had presented this s
Mo'lan sat down in a huff. She wrapped her hands around her knees and raised an eyebrow at Bingquing who was obeying the command. "Qing-er, I thought we were going to meet someone rich. This looks like some old geeser's house whose run into hard times. I don't want to be the wife of a crumbling old man. I'm still young. This is the opposite of what you promised me . . . I know I'm not supposed to trust someone who is more intelligent than me, but I feel like you're very nice to me.""Maybe he'll be nice to you, mam. You should kneel like the guard said. It might not be what you think." Bingquing said quickly. She said this more out of a fear that the guard was a fan of collective punishment. She did not want then, for Mo'lan to be whipped for being ostentatious.Mo'lan complied in an irritated fashion, "You know the only reason I'm doing this is because I don't want to see his ugly face when he coos over
"I'm very sorry to hear that, your grace."The master looked at her with a strange expression, "Do you know what that's like to grow up without your mother? It's a pain so deep that no one can understand. I've always been alone."Bingquing found herself nodding. She felt locked in the gaze of a snake. His beauty was disorienting her and at the same time she just wanted to hold his gaze for as long as she could. His eyes were so empty of anything that she wondered what it would be like to meet someone whom he cared for.Wrinkles appeared to disrupt his forehead as he considered this. His mouth hung open at an angle as he watched her, "You?"At the same moment, Ning Fan came back into the room and rushed towards his master, "Highness . . ." The master was sideways in his chair as he tried to lunge at Bingquing. "Highness, please get ahold of yourself." He took the wine flask and handed to the
The next day, Bingquing woke refreshed. Her back was surprisingly sore from several weeks sitting cramped in a cart. There was a maid who did her hair and helped her dress. There was a qin laid out for her to play. The view was beautiful. The meal the chef made for her was nice and fragrant. It was almost as if the last month had not occured. She could for a millisecond fantasize that she was still the daughter of a minor court official.Father . . . she wondered if he were still alive.Escape would not be easy as the guard's eyes were on her as she traversed the room. She slept mostly and looked out the window. Interestingly, even though the outside of the manor was not well tended, the inside was immaculate. The trees were cut in the shapes of flying swans and soldiers battling endlessly. It was a bit comical as she realized from an angle it looked like the soldiers were battling a swarm of swans."Wh
Ning Fan and Ning Ren exchanged glances on the balcony as they watched Bingquing play with some white rabbits in the garden. They had been caught to be roasted and served to guests, but as she had found them in their covered baskets by the kitchen, she had insisted that she wanted to have them as pets. The wide eyed cook could say nothing as a boiling pot of water simmered.The chef had apologized profusely for not being able to prepare the rabits as she had been ordered. Ning Ren had held up a hand when the older woman had cowered before him, he didn't seem bothered much and instead deftly changed the subject to use some old jerked meat for the filling, saying it would add a rustic taste to the existing palate which he had not often eaten.Ning Fan had exchanged glances with the cook in alarm, but quietly the better meat had been exchanged for one that the cook knew was not really appreciated by the princes who prefered fresh meat t
"The Prince is going to Jungpi?" Bingquing couldn't believe her ears.Her maid reiterated it with her head bowed. "That's what I heard from the other housemaids miss. The other maids and I were wondering if we would continue to serve you or not."Jungpi was where father was.On the surface, anyone who was looking at her would assume that she had spent the last month in relative happiness. Ning Ren was crafty. Every pleasure he created for her was a test to try to figure out her identity. He would bring different wines from all the territories to see her sensibilities. The cook would rotate cuisines to see which plates she finished or asked for again. The books she found in her room also reflected this -- poetry, politics, religion. The cage was beautifully made -- but the bars were still present.She did not wish for him to know who she was. It was still unclear who had ordered the massacre
Ning Fan set the tea tray down briskly on the half desk as the Prince stared at the open garden outside. Ning Ren lounged with his hair unbound in a beautiful silk dressing gown embroidered with small birds sitting amongst a tree in spring. It billowed around him as his still gaze did not waver. His fixation was deep as if something was disturbing him."Excuse me, my lord.""Speak, Ning Fan." Ning Ren without altering his gaze, took the cup offered to him and drained it. He made a face as he wiped his mouth. "Next time you make it, make sure the water is newer. It takes bitter." A drop of blood ran down his nose and he turned to Ning Fan, "Where did you get that tea, Ning Fan?"Ning Fan upon seeing the blood rushed to his master. He dove to his knees and produced a clean white handkerchief from his side pocket. "Your highness please punish me. I should have tried the tea before handing it to you."
Within the hour the manor house was quiet.Bingquing's maid told her, she was to be left alone with Ning Ren and handed her a silver knife, "It was a privilege to serve you madam. The master instructed you to have this so you will not misunderstand his intentions."She took the knife and found it fit well inside of her nightgown. It was easy to hide and would be easy to use. A strange gift for a man to give a woman. An appropriate gift for a master to give his spy or assassin.She felt like a lamb being lead to slaughter as they approached Ning Ren's room. Everything was dark as the candles had been snuffed out. That part of the house was vacant of servants and as Ning Fan led her with a torch he seemed conflicted.It was nighttime. Ning Ren had never asked for her this late before."Master," Ning Fan bowed as he presented Bingquing to Ning Ren. "Where are all the servants?"N