The merchant had inquired about their relationship and if he would be coming with her. Li Hua could have chosen to take him with her or insisted that she wouldn't come without him. That's what a good mother who loved her child would do, right?
Her reply was like a blade to his soul. She denied him, claiming he was a relative's child and that she would send him away when she became his concubine. Her betrayal cut deeper than any blade, leaving him raw and bleeding. His fingers trembled as he held the letter. A myriad of emotions surged within him. He chuckled softly his smile uglier than when crying.
To her, he was a burden. Her ten-year-old son was a burden that she was desperate to be rid of. Resentment burned within him. It was like a vicious fire consuming his reason. His laughter twisted, psychopathic and fierce as he clutched that letter tightly wrinkling it. He put back the box and the floorboard in their rightful place before getting up, emotionless and terrifying.
What he did next was as expected. He went to find the woman whose husband was entangled with his mother. In this era, men took in concubines all the time but taking a courtesan into the harem was frowned upon. No woman from a respectable family would allow that.
He took a cart the very next day to the nearby city and found the Madam inspecting her fabric shop. She didn't despise him for wearing patched-up clothes. Instead, she warmly invited him inside her shop when she saw him standing outside for a long time.
After drinking a cup of tea and eating the tastiest pastries he had ever eaten, she warmly asked what she could do for him. Her kind eyes glanced at the patches on his clothes. She thought he wanted help to get new clothes. Instead he explained who he was and handed her the letters.
Her gaze darted across the pages her demeanour changing drastically. Tears welled in her eyes and that night she threw the letters at her husband and confronted him about it.
The fight was so intense everyone in the city knew about it. Good news travelled fast but bad news travelled even faster. Soon enough the gossip reached the small town. Li Hua felt something was wrong. She felt like the other courtesans were whispering to each other but when she came closer they would pretend to be busy with something.
Before she could find out what it was they were hiding her door crashed open, splintering the silence. The woman who stormed in was no stranger to her. Li Hua was just surprised she would be here.
"You are her, right? Li Hua?" she spat, her voice a whip. There wasn't any need for her to answer because she had a striking resemblance to the cute little boy who paid her a visit. "You dirty vixen! Don't you dare think that you will set foot in my home!"
Li Hua's heart raced as she cowered pretending to be weak. Her lover had promised to keep her identity a secret and she would enter into his home as a poor young woman from a distant village but now her identity as a courtesan was revealed before she was even redeemed. How on earth this woman found out about her identity was what she wanted to know.
She endured her face being poked repeatedly and the insults being hurled at her. She knew her only way out was to cling to her act of feigning weakness.
"Madam," she whispered, her voice trembling, "please, I—"
But the woman's hand shot out, fingers like talons and continued poking Li Hua's forehead, each word a venomous sting. "You have bewitched my husband," she hissed. "You think you will succeed, huh? Do you think my in-laws will allow such filth that can't even take care of her child into the family? You delusional dumb bitch."
The other courtesans watching the good show giggled. They couldn't help but rejoice in her misfortune. Li Hua's pulse thundered when she heard her words. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe her son did this. That unlucky star had ruined her plans. How?
When she saw her lover rushing in breathless and dishevelled she lowered her head and cried silently her shoulders trembling. His eyes darted between the two women. One was his wife acting like a lunatic and the other was his fragile lover being bullied. "What madness is this?" he demanded his eyes enraged.
His wife pointed at Li Hua, her rage unyielding. "This is what you are doing behind my back? Huang Chao don't forget who brought your family out of the slump." The man's face froze. Indeed his marriage to his wife had helped his family business recover. His ties to her family of officials had opened doors he could never have imagined.
For a moment the voice of reason swayed his heart but then Li Hua tried to get up and she swayed, her knees threatening to buckle. "My lord," she murmured, her eyes fluttering. "I didn't... I didn't mean to bring you trouble. I—," she said before biting her lip looking aggrieved.
The merchant's face reddened. "You hurt her!" he accused, his anger flaring. "How vicious can you be to beat a fragile woman."
His wife scoffed, flicking her sleeve. "She's a viper," she spat. "Take her back to your family, if you dare. See how that turns out." After that warning, she walked away leaving her husband embracing that wretch pretending to be pitiful.
Li Hua clung to him her tears wetting his clothes. The merchant's gaze softened, guilt etching lines on his face. "Forgive me," he whispered, pulling her close. "I will protect you."
Li Hua spent hours putting on an act to coax Huang Chao and ensure that he wouldn't go back on his word. She was so good at manipulating him that he even paid a third of the money to redeem her to the proprietress before leaving.
As soon as she sent him off her smile, once enchanting, faltered, revealing the anger that was simmering beneath.
Ignoring the looks from other courtesans she walked back to her room. For the rest of the day, she lay sideways on the chaise facing the door waiting for her son to return. For others, they would cool down their anger over time but for her, it was the opposite. As the hours ticked by her rage intensified. It surged like a tempest, a storm of betrayal and fury. What happened next could only be described as gruesome.