12. The Brothel

Zhen didn't have long. She guessed that she had an hour, at most. Sima Yi had gone to Cao Pi with urgent business. They could talk for hours, or only a few minutes. It all depended on how long Len and Jia could keep everyone believing that she was with them as they made her a new dress. In all realism, Len knew her measurements by heart, and Zhen's weight had returned to its norm after having Cao Rui.

She pulled her shall over her head as if it were a hood and held it in place so it wouldn't move and show her face. She kept her gaze low so she wouldn't draw attention to herself as she walked in through the brothel door. The brothel was no more than a pub with benches lining the walls and tables spread everywhere in between. Women spread themselves over any man that they could spot who had a pouch tied to their belts.

Zhen went to the side and through the first she came to. The room was like a wardrobe. Dresses hung on one of the long walls. They weren't really dresses though. Dresses covered, these would show more skin than they would cover. There were mirrors on wood planks that were littered with different kinds of face paint.

Luckily, no one else was here. So she got to work. She had seen whores paint their face before, all of them put on as much around their eyes as they could and overly powered their faces. This was perfect for her since she couldn't be recognized. She started by painting the over the mole on her cheekbone. Then she used a black brush to line around her eyes and black powder on her eyelids. Using the fair colored powder, she went over her entire face until the pink of her cheeks were gone.

The planks were also lined with perfumes, which she didn't touch because she never wore perfume and Cao Pi would notice it when she returned to the castle. She looked in the mirror. Only a trace of her previous face could be seen. So she lined her lips with a blood red glossy paint. Now she couldn't recognize herself, but just to be safe, she pulled her hair up and let a few strays escape the bun. There, now she looked like a whore.

She pulled off the detachable sleeves of her dress. Then she took off her rings and necklace. Then she wrapped her shall around her waist and tucked everything in it at her waist. Lastly, she put on some jewelry she found in a box. All of it was made of a fake gold and was oversized in every way.

She looked in the mirror one last time, but someone else was staring back at her, perfect.

She left the room and went back into the pub of the brothel. She saw one of the whores go over to the bar keeper and hand him at least a dozen coins she had earn in ways Zhen didn't care to know. The bar keeper must also be the owner. If he was the owner, he would know that she wasn't one of his whores.

She followed the whore to the back of the room. When she paused for a split second, Zhen grabbed her arm.

"Excuse me, I'm new here and he," She gestured at the bar keeper. "told me that he had a customer waiting for me, but I can't find him, can you help?"

"Lee?" The whore asked.

Lee? She had mistaken 'he' for 'Lee'!

"Ohhhh… Lee right." The whore started. "Well, this guy of yours must be someone important, because no gets to ask for one of by requests unless he paid extra. Do you know his name?"

Zhen tried not to show relief.

"Umm, Bo something… Wang Bo."

She tried to sound nervous, the kind of nervous that would be expected from someone like the person she pretend to be.

"Wang Bo… Wang Bo…" The whore repeated as she thought. "I can't think of anyone off hand, but there is this guy who called himself 'Bo'. He's in the stable."

"The stable?"

"Don't be too worried, the stable can be a great place to catch some extra…"

"Right, thanks."

Zhen left, keeping her gaze low so that the bar keeper wouldn't see her.

"Hey wait!"

Zhen froze. She slowly turned.

"The stable's that way."

The whore gestured over toward the door behind her. Zhen smiled nervously and left. She pulled the door open and stepped in the stable. Unlike the pub, the stables were dead silent. Wang Bo wasn't here, but then she heard a murmur. She recognized the voice immediately, Wang Bo. His voice had come from the back of the stable. She followed the sounds of his voice and found him lying on the floor between his horse's front and hind legs.

She striped herself of the fake jewelry and put her own back on. Then went over to a bucket of water and carefully washed her face until it was back to its normal state, paint free with a little brown around her eyes. The water however, looked like the water in her cup after she was done cleaning one of her paint brushes in it. So she grabbed the bucket to dump it out, but then she had a brilliant idea.

She put the bucket down and carefully led Bo's horse from the stall so that he wouldn't be stepped on. Then she picked the bucket up and emptied it on him. He let out a shout. She threw the bucket next to him.

He stood up while trying to shake the water off of his arms. He paused when he felt her eyes on him. Then he looked up and saw her.

"You wanted to talk to me, well I'm here now."

He only stared at her.

"What do you want Bo?" she asked.

He began to take a few steps toward her, but she backed away slightly.

"Zhen, I…"

"What?"

"I never thought I would see you again."

"Oh stop! Something happened between you and Dao, so you come crawling back to me? I have a family now Bo. I have duties."

"Duties? Like giving your lord as many sons as you can manage."

"You know nothing about Cao Pi!"

"I know he doesn't know you like I do."

"You never knew me, you never cared to know me. All you cared about was Dao, for whatever reasons. You made your choice, and I've made mine. I will not back down from it. Now leave. If you wish to tell my family I wish they would come as soon as they can, I would be grateful."

She turned to leave, but Wang Bo rushed toward her.

"It doesn't have to be like this Zhen. Run away with me."

She stared into his eyes and saw he meant it, it wasn't any wine speaking. It really was him, but he couldn't seriously think she would consider it.

"You can't be serious."

He grabbed her arms.

"Zhen…"

"Don't say that! Don't even think it Bo. You had your chance and you threw it away."

"I wasn't the one that sent you away."

"But you didn't fight for me either. You just watched as Yuan Shao took me away. You did nothing. At least my father and brothers fought for me. You just stood by watching as the soldiers forced me into the wagon. I hate you for that Bo."

She pushed him away.

"Is this all you came for?"

Bo looked at his feet.

"No, Dao kicked me out of the house."

"Why?"

"We got into a fight. When we got your letter saying that you wanted us to come, I told Dao I wanted to come, she didn't. She told me that if I wanted to go, I would be going alone."

"So you came here for entertainment?" She assumed, referring to the brothel.

He didn't look up at her.

"You came to me for entertainment!"

"Dao kicked me out. I wanted some comfort."

She was disgusted with him. How could she have fallen for such a pig?

"You've changed Zhen."

She looked at him to find his hungry eyes on her.

"No, you've changed Bo. When did you become such a womanizing bastard? I have nothing more to say to you. If you will please tell my father to come whenever he can, I would appreciate it."

She turned to leave.

"Maybe I won't. Maybe I wish for something in return."

Without turning or missing a beat, she replied;

"Keep wishing."

She pushed the stable door open and pulled her veil over her head as she walked back out into the street. The sun had set. She wasn't sure how long she had been away from the castle, but she wasn't going to waste any time to get back to it.

She was glad to find that Shao Len and Jing Jia had put Cao Rui to bed. Len volunteered to watch him all night. Zhen thanked her and promised to tell them both everything in the morning as soon as she could.

When she got to her and Cao Pi's bed chamber, she found it empty. That was good in two ways. For one, Guo wasn't here, and two, she could hide how long she had been away. She quickly changed and got into bed. This is when she released how tired she was. It had been a long day, and she was grateful that it was finally done. Hopefully everything would fix itself in the morning, but she knew it was a foolish hope, Guo would still be here, Bo would still be in the brothel doing who knows what.

The silk sheets were soft, but cold until her body heat would warm them. It made her feel slightly stiff. However, it was probably the thought of Cao Pi figuring out what she had done.

She heard the door slowly open. Cao Pi stepped in. She heard him pause for a long moment before moving across the room and changing. Zhen stayed very still, hoping that she could fool him into thinking that she was asleep.

The bed bounced slightly as he got in. What should she do? She wouldn't have been able to sleep through that, but she was too petrified to move.

Cao Pi answered that for her by leaning over her and whispering into her ear.

"I know you left the castle. Where did you go?"