Although it was broad daylight, the town square was dark and desolate.
After waving bye to the helpful manservant, Xiao Hui found a small but cozy corner and laid down there till morning. It was not the best place to sleep but it sure beat sitting on the box in the Dark Chamber.
When daylight came, Xiao Hui left the spot and started wandering around the town.
It was the same place she had strolled in a million times with Li Xinyi but somehow it felt different.
The town's bustling and liveliness was non existent. It was as if the Imposter King completely stripped the place off its laughter and joy with his cruelty.
Shop owners were not yapping about their goods, children were not running around making a mess, no fight was breaking out in the square, none of that was happening. Everyone walked around with their head held high, refusing to speak with each other.
It was very sunny and beautiful today yet the town was so cold.
Xiao Hui went past the marketplace and to the thicket of the woods. Then, turning right she walked straight until she reached a frail, slightly bent tree.
It was the same tree she and the Han fu ren had seen when they caught Han Bingwen serenading the prostitute. Funny how the incident was just little more than a week ago yet it felt like years had passed.
But Xiao Hui was not here to reminiscence. She had a mission to find the King and the only place she could think of was the brothel.
However, before she could enter, she was stopped by three women with their face made. It was just like Mo Chao's story and the maid stiffened, unsure of what to expect.
The women came closer to her and Xiao Hui took a step backwards. Their hands raised as if to grab her, making the maid squirm and close her eyes. Any second now and she will be attacked.
"Meimei!" exclaimed one of them to her surprise. "Are you here for a job, meimei?"
Xiao Hui blinked. They were not attacking her? And a job? What were they on about?
But almost immediately her questions were answered. They expected her to be a courtesan. She was not here for that purpose; she wanted to check if the King was hiding in the brothel.
Xiao Hui tried to explain that to the women but they pulled her into the brothel before she could open her mouth.
The brothel was lavishly decorated with lanterns even though the Mid Autumn festival was long since gone. At the entrance there was a beautifully dressed woman who bowed at any man walking in. And there were a lot of them.
Men wearing high class robes walked into the brothel with an air of importance. The woman at the entrance ignored their leers and simply smiled and greeted them. She hardly batted an eye when the three women dragged Xiao Hui in. Perhaps it was a daily occurrence that young maids were mistaken to be future courtesans.
Courtesans of different shapes and sizes were lounging in the brothel, tittering with each other. Some were drinking, others were laughing and some were even dancing.
Of all the places Xiao Hui visited in this new world, this was the liveliest.
The thought made the maid reel back as she began to reflect on it. Yes, it was true that all the bustling she expected from the market was instead in a place such as a brothel. This was a huge surprise that was also saddening. How bad was the Imposter King's regime that happiness could be found only in a brothel and no where else?
There were many things to look at, many people to look at, but Xiao Hui found her gaze wandering to the corner of the place.
There, as quiet as a mouse, a woman was standing watching the others. She was not interacting with anyone, neither was she going up to any of the customers. She was just standing and watching.
Suddenly, like a viper, her eyes found Xiao Hui's, startling the maid. Xiao Hui quickly looked away but not before seeing the woman raising her wine glass at her.
When the maid looked back at the corner, the woman was already gone.
***
This was the second time Xiao Hui got stuck in a room.
The three women who had dragged her in the brothel were currently vanished between the new group of men who had walked in. The men had looked very familiar to Xiao Hui but she could not place who they were.
Since she lost the women, Xiao Hui had decided to investigate the whereabouts of the King and so she went upstairs.
The contrast between downstairs and upstairs was so stark, it was almost blinding.
Where downstairs was full of liveliness and joy, upstairs was simply cold and quiet. Instead of being a big hall like downstairs, upstairs was just a corridor with many doors along the path.
Xiao Hui was not a completely pure and naive maiden to be oblivious to what went on behind the doors.
For the sake of her eyes, the maid did not want to open the doors so she had walked along the corridor to find a potential hiding spot.
Her eyes had been darting around the area, even inspecting a wall to check if it was fake. It was not.
That was when things went wrong.
Xiao Hui had walked away from the wall and had her ears pasted on door number 214 since no sound was coming from that room when someone suddenly opened the door and pulled her in, making the maid yelp in surprise.
"Hello there, beautiful meimei," whispered a breathy voice in her ear.
Xiao Hui stiffened. Behind her there was a man tightly grasping her waist. His breath hit her ear making her wish to squirm.
She slowly glanced behind to see who the perpetrator was but the man pushed her head back. The maid winced at the pain it left.
The man, however was relentless. "Do not squirm pretty meimei. It will disturb my little brother down there."
Little brother? What was this madman on about?
However she did not have time to voice the question as the man, for better or worse, moved her away from the door and was dragging her to the bed. He really did think she was a courtesan.
"I am not!" Xiao Hui gasped out loud. The beast paused in his maneuvers allowing her to continue.
"I am not a courtesan!"
There was a slight pause. Xiao Hui was breathing heavily, her eyes drooping. She did not dare look at the man in fear of being attacked again.
Whatever little hope she had diminished after hearing the man laugh mockingly. Xiao Hui slumped back into the cursed bed, awaiting her fate. Maybe it was what she deserved. After all, she was the one who-
The door opened with a bang.
The beast stopped trying to push his hands under Xiao Hui's cloth and jumped to look at the door.
At the entrance stood a familiar figure at her mighty glory. It was the woman in the corner.
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Question:
Have you ever been mistaken to be someone else?