Chapter one

Tea looked down at her calloused hands and sighed. She was their only child. And a young one at that. Yet, her family did not spare her from any of the manual labour that they all had to do. Even as a 6-year-old girl who just started growing, she had to take part in digging and watering plants, carrying smaller basins of water for her cousins and sweeping their dilapidated house.

Every swish of her broom was done in urgency for fear of not finishing in time for dinner. While sweeping about the floor, old memories of her easy childhood rushed back to her mind. Reminding her of her youth. With every speck of dust moving, her body aged and deteriorated. And she was scared.

She was so young and yet felt so old. Too many responsibilities.

Tea looked up at the scorching sun, squinting to look at the clouds. She listened to the birdsong that charmingly danced against her eardrums. She wiped the sweat off her perspiring forehead then rubbed it on her dirty, muddy vest which covered only her chest. She walked towards the corner of the still dirty floor and left the broom there, already weary from her hard work. The half-finished roof sheltered her from the heat and brought with it a refreshing coolness that satiated her body’s rising temperature. Her bright green eyes fluttered before coming to a stop at the curve of her cheek. And sleep came like a hunter closing on its prey. She dreamed. And when her eyes opened, night descended. With her eyes changing from sapphire green to deep blue, she started her work.

Tea looked around herself again. Now she was not in the brown, dilapidated house. Instead, she seemed to be in a Chinese-styled chamber. Still standing, in the corner of her eye, she could spot a bed made of dark brown oakwood. It had such amazing flying bird designs she was almost fooled into thinking the birds were really flying. She had to rub her eyes more than once just to make sure she was not dreaming. There was no one in the bed but she did not dare move from where she was standing.

She did not know where she was and the bed may not even be hers. She did not want to risk death just for some simple mistake. In her mind, she knew not to leave the room but she did not know why. Instead, she moved her eyes from the bed to the rest of the room. Unlike the luxurious bed, the rest of the room was bare. There was only one oakwood table in the middle with a small china cup and a half-broken teapot. She moved her eyes back to the bed and saw red robes on it with a few small hairpins littering around. What they were for she strangely knew and yet this memory was not hers. Once again, she decided not to touch the clothes and instead looked down to take a look at what she was wearing. Pale green robes with lilies embroidered at each cuff. Small buttons went diagonally across her chest stopping at the top of the curve of her breasts. She moved her head only a fraction and noticed that her hair moved too. From what she could see, her hair was long and thick. Enough to even mop the floor with. She moved a finger and touched her inner palm. No callouses. This was not her at all.

She remained standing. Waiting. She knew someone would come to get her. One hour. Two hours. Still, no one came, but she did not dare move. She also did not close her eyes. In fact, she was afraid of closing her eyes. She did not want to go back just yet. She wanted to enjoy this time alone. Even if she was in someone else’s body. I’m sure they wanted their body back but she wanted to be selfish this time and experience something else other than cleaning and mopping. Soon enough, at the three-hour mark, someone came. She walked unhurriedly in without looking anywhere else. They looked at each other in silence before the lady sighed. In Tea’s mind, her name flashed.

“My Lady, l know you are unwilling to go. But please help me and Old Master and get married obediently. We know the palace is a hard place but you also have to know that we have barely any money left. Look at the courtyard. You only have one bed and table left. We want you to have a good life also. Why not just go!”

Tea opened her mouth to speak but honestly did not know what else to say.

The lady kept speaking: “Don’t worry. The palace sedan will be here in 5 hours. We shall be ready by then. Whether or not you’re willing to go, we will still take you. After that, everything else will depend on you.”

She then pulled Tea to the bed and started dressing her up in red. Tea did not resist because she did not know what else to do. She was still reeling from being in an unfamiliar place and now she had to deal with this lady and some marriage. Just what exactly was going on. Her hair was combed and then made into a small bun. In it, two hairpins were stuck. She saw a glimpse of the red robe and it was not much different from what she was wearing now.

Except, instead of the lilies, small peonies were embroidered in gold all around the dress. First, the lady removed her outer gown and second layer. Then on the top of what she already had on, she had the red second layer and tied it before adding the embroidered outer gown. Her hair was already done and all that was left was her lips and face. The lady drew a small red flower at the centre of her brows and added some rouge to her pale cheeks and lips. She was then given a bronze mirror so she could see her appearance. She did not look too bad at all. Tea handed the mirror back and then the lady covered her hair with an elaborate headdress made with gold and a few rubies before covering her face with a red cloth.

Then standing back, she examined her handiwork and said: “Now you’re ready. Just sit there patiently. The sedan should be here soon.”

Tea was afraid to close her eyes. She did not know what the original person wanted but it was probably not this. But she could only powerlessly wait.