"Tell me your story, Lady Wang!" Princess Kougyoku insists.
"What would you like to know, Princess?" Yueying asks.
"Everything! Er, if that's alright with you."
Yueying laughs lightly. "Alright. Let me think."
She clasps the cup of tea sitting in front of her in her hands and lets her gaze wander around the main garden.
It's a dreary fall day. The clouds cover the light blue sky and the breeze is chilly, but the foliage within the garden is painted in the most magnificent shades of red, orange and yellow. The colours are bright in contrast to the grey weather, bringing a strange kind of warmth to the dreary surroundings. Her gaze drifts back inside the small pavilion, then to the fine dark blue silk robes and skirts that the thirteen year-old princess sitting at the table in front of her had gifted to her earlier that day.
"I was born to a very kind family who own a teahouse deep within the mountains." Yueying begins. She intricately weaves the story of her first sixteen years of life. She brings up the pranks her and her younger brother would play on each other and the cool, quiet nights within the mountain valley.
However, it wasn't long before her beloved younger brother had taken up swordsmanship at the young age of twelve, leaving behind the teahouse and traveling south with a band of other young soldiers-to-be.
Then she tells the princess about the decline in business for the teahouse, and about the magistrate.
"The magistrate visited the teahouse one evening. He spoke to my parents while I was in bed, but while I went out to fetch myself some water, I overheard their conversation."
Yueying remembers the scene vividly. Her parents and the magistrate seated around a table, the rest of the room was dark. A single candle flickered in the middle of a table, illuminating their faces causing harsh shadows to carve their faces in a way that made them seem more menacing.
"The magistrate wanted me in exchange for money to keep the teahouse running."
Yueying explains and recalls the looks on her parents' faces. They seemed conflicted as the magistrate promised them that Yueying would lead a better life, however Yueying knew that the magistrate was lying.
Yueying had heard rumours about the magistrate from many of the town's young girls. Women and girls would be taken from the little trading town she once called home and be forced into the magistrate's home as slaves, where they would live their lives in poor conditions and die soon after from mistreatment. The magistrate could get away with it. After all, he was the son of a powerful lord.
"What did they say?" Kougyoku asks quietly. Yueying feels as if something catches in her throat and casts her gaze to the side.
"They agreed - I don't blame them though. The magistrate has a skill for weaving convincing lies, and my parents only sought what was best for me."
Kougyoku grimaces and raises her sleeves to her mouth. Yueying lifts the cup of tea to her lips and takes a sip, pushing down the lump in her throat.
"I ran away that night. I took everything I could and slipped out from the back door, into the forest behind the teahouse and never looked back."
As Yueying opens her mouth to continue, Kougyoku interrupts her.
"Do you miss them?" She asks, referring to Yueying's family.
"Of course I do." Yueying replies. She feels a sad smile tug on her lips as she stares at the reflection of herself on the surface of the tea.
"Then they must miss you too." Kougyoku says. "Do you think they're still doing well?"
"I'm sure they are."
"You should visit them."
"I don't know…" Yueying replies quietly. She bites her lower lip in contemplation. Kougyoku stands up abruptly, the scraping of chair legs against the wooden floorboards echoes throughout the small pavilion.
"You should! You have a family who loves you a-and they probably worry about you every single day! They're the special people in your life that care about you the most! You have to cherish the time you spend with them before they pass!" Kougyoku shouts. Her voice begins to shake and she balls the fabrics of her skirt into her hands.
"You have to go back, Lady Wang!"
Yueying stares at the princess in a stunned silence, her mind is blank and she is unsure of what to say next. There's a brief silence between them before Kougyoku lowers her head.
"I-I'm sorry about my outburst. You'll have to excuse me." Kougyoku says, not meeting Yueying's eyes.
"Ka Koubun! We're leaving." She calls for her attendant and hastily rushes off.
Yueying is left in the pavilion, at a loss for words. She mulls over the princess' words as she stares into her cooled tea until the steady sounds of footsteps paired with the drumming of rain snaps her out of her thoughts.
She looks up to see Koumei at the foot of the pavilion stairs with an open umbrella over his head. Yueying cracks a smile at the sight and stands up, heading down the stairs and under the umbrella beside him.
"How silly of me to not bring an umbrella." Yueying muses.
"It didn't look as if it were going to rain today, so it's quite understandable." Koumei replies.
They begin their slow walk across the gardens back towards the palace.
Yueying purses her lips together for a moment before speaking.
"Do you think it's possible for me to leave the city for a little while? I'd like to pay a visit that's been four years overdue."
May come back to edit this! Enjoy!
note: I tried posting this chapter through the app, and it didn't seem to work. If you received two notifications, it was because I deleted the chapter posted through the app and re-uploaded it on my laptop.