Xiao Hui's suspicions were proven right on the very next week.
It was a perfectly normal day. She had woken up the Queen Consort and given her breakfast in bed. Then the Han fu ren had to sit beside the King and listen to the many proposals of the people while the maid stood with the other servants in the Hall of Grace.
Xiao Hui did not understand most of what they were saying or the changes they were proposing but she did recognize one of the proposers.
Advisor Shang Hao was a man of many talents. He was the Chief advisor of the neighboring Shang empire and was known for his immaculate ideas that he proposed to various regions in order to make connections.
Obviously Xiao Hui, who was neither interested in politics nor involved in it, did not know of Advisor Shang Hao in that way. Rather she knew him as her Shang shibo.
Before she became a maid in the Han empire, Xiao Hui was the daughter of a maid in the Shang dynasty. There she was quite close with her Shang shibo who, at that time, was a minister in the Shang palace.
But then disaster struck the walls of Shang province and in order to appease the angry Hans, Shang shibo sent a group of servants, including Xiao Hui, away to the other province. And since then Xiao Hui had been working as a maid for the Han province.
Well anyways, back to the present where Xiao Hui's suspicions about the Han fu ren were actually correct.
After the meeting at the Hall of Grace was over, Li Xinyi ran to her chambers and refused to let anyone, even Xiao Hui, enter it.
All the servants were curious but did not dare disturb the Han fu ren from whatever she was doing. Perhaps she was preparing herself for the King, whispered some of the gossiping maids.
Xiao Hui thought that they had read way too many romance books.
***
It took Li Xinyi a total of 3 hours before she allowed Xiao Hui in her chambers. And to the maid's surprise she let her in with great enthusiasm. What was going on?
The Han fu ren was bending down to a chest with intricate designs and rummaging among the little trinkets there. She had received the chest as a marriage gift of sorts from the exclusive Han Empress Dowager along with a letter wishing that she gave birth to a beautiful and powerful boy.
Xiao Hui had once taken a peek at the contents and was forever traumatized with what she saw.
But what was the Han fu ren trying to find in that chest?
The answer came when Li Xinyi finally stood up with an "aha!" She was clasping what looked like a scroll in her hand and quickly beckoned Xiao Hui to come closer.
The Han fu ren unrolled the scroll and laid it on the table. The parchment was not of great length but it was not short either. Its edges were frayed and texture was yellowing of age. Xiao Hui could not see why such an old and withering parchment made the Queen Consort so excited.
Li Xinyi, sensing her lack of reaction, pushed the parchment closer to her and said, "Xiao Hui, can you not read what this says? Look." She pointed at some words in the yellowed parchment. Xiao Hui leaned to look at it.
The words were written in a blood red color which was unsettling to look at. But that was not the main problem. It was their meaning that made Xiao Hui nearly gasp and stare at them with terror.
"Now do you understand, Xiao Hui," whispered Li Xinyi. "Just one drop of blood. Just one and that is all."
"My Lady," gasped Xiao Hui. "What could you possibly mean? Do you want to-" She stopped, too afraid to say the word.
But Li Xinyi reeled back, surprised.
"Of course I don't mean to off you, Xiao Hui."
Xiao Hui gave a sigh of relief. But the happiness was short lived when she realized the other meaning.
"My Lady wants to-," there she paused, too horrified to continue. Li Xinyi took the words out of her mouth.
"Off myself, yes."
When Xiao Hui first became the Han fu ren's personal maid, she did not expect this much of drama. She was not even a cultivator and yet she felt that she was having a qi deviation. How could the Queen Consort wish to off her self? And even ask for her poor maid's services?
Li Xinyi was getting impatient. "So would you please give just one drop of blood? Here," she brought a needle and placed it in Xiao Hui's frozen hand. "Use this to prick your finger."
Xiao Hui was afraid of many things in her life. But never had she imagined that she would be scared to death of the Queen Consort who, in her beautiful red robes, was offering- no, demanding her maid to practically kill her.
Seeing her reluctance, Li Xinyi withdrew her hand holding the parchment and instead looked at Xiao Hui with pleading puppy eyes.
Xiao Hui looked away from the Han fu ren.
"Why do you want to do this?" she asked, her voice cracking as she did so.
"What is the use, Xiao Hui?" The maid's head nearly fell off with the force she used to turn at the Han fu ren.
The Queen Consort was looking at her, her mouth twisted with some emotion Xiao Hui could not decipher. But before she could ask about what she was thinking about, Li Xinyi continued.
"What is the use of me living when my own husband is in love with someone else?"
Xiao Hui knew that the Lady, despite showing a happy face, was secretly depressed and angry by the scene. She just did not know that she also became suicidal.
"Please, Xiao Hui," the Queen Consort begged. "Please listen to my last request."
And how could Xiao Hui possibly refuse? She was just a maid after all. All her life she was taught to listen to the Royal family's demands, no matter how absurd they were.
Before being the personal maid of Li Xinyi, Xiao Hui had to pledge to follow all orders and wishes of the Queen Consort, else she will be punished.
It was a rule, a rule she cannot, by any means, break.
And so Xiao Hui pricked her finger with the needle and watched her blood drip into the parchment, sealing the Han fu ren's fate.
_________________________________________________________
Some important notes:
The name Han means "brave" and Bingwen means "bright and cultivated"
Question:
Has anyone ever forced you to do something that harmed someone?