Chapter 14 Little Angel
A table of different kinds of fruits and dried meat filled the small table. The aroma that the dried meat produces makes those who smell it salivate unconsciously.
Li An stood at the side of the table while observing the reaction of the three women before her.
Though her body is that of a 5-year-old child, her mind is already that of an adult. However, she lacks the emotional attachment that humans have when interacting with others.
She felt a bit weird while looking at the three women. Their smiling faces and the way they looked at her made her feel goosebumps on her skin.
"Wow! You… you're the one who's been giving us food!?" Alu suddenly exclaimed.
Concubine Su also realizes this as she shows a loving smile.
"Thank you… You not only saved us, you also gave us food. I don't know how to thank you." Concubine Su said while she squatted to the ground within Li An's eye level.
She extended her hand to pat her little head.
However, Li An subconsciously dodges her head to avoid the soft hand touching her. She did not dislike the woman before her, she just did not know how to interact with her.
"Hmm… I think you look like someone I know…" Concubine Su muttered while she looked at Li An's cute face.
Though the little girl still has that childish look on her, one cannot deny the beauty she is going to be when she grows up.
One could tell that she is going to be one hell of a woman when she grows into a proper lady.
From the structure of her face, her eyes, and her nose, one could somewhat tell that she looked familiar. This is true for those who have interacted with that person for a long time.
Alu and Concubine Su look at each other as if reading what is on each other's minds.
However, no one said anything. When Li An gestured for them to eat, the three hungry ladies ate the food on the table.
Misha did not care for anything else and just ate the food she picked one by one.
Of the two maidservants that Concubine Su has, Alu is the oldest who has reached the age of 15 while Misha the youngest has reached the age of 12.
Alu was supposed to be of marriageable age, but due to the circumstances in her family, she decided to continue working for Concubine Su. She knew that if she came back to her family, she would just be sold to someone in a form of marriage.
It has happened to her sister before and she did not want such a thing to happen to her.
After the case of Concubine Su, her family could not do anything anymore especially since she was thrown into the cold palace with her mistress.
After eating, the three of them gathered in the welcoming hall of the main building. They all look at the tea table in the middle with a bunch of different-sized pouches.
"Are these… bank notes?" Misha muttered as she saw some special paper sticking out of one of the pouches.
"I think these are silver and gold bank notes…" Alu also said while she opened a few pouches.
"Why do these assassins bring their money with them?" Concubine Su asked in confusion.
"Maybe because they thought that the assignment was easy this time and after their job they could just go out and fool around after," Alu said with a smirk.
"Alu… You are already at a marriageable age. Take these and…" Concubine Su takes a big pouch and hands them to Alu.
In that pouch, there should be around 10,000 silver. That amount is enough to feed a family of 10 for many years.
Alu suddenly extended her hand and pushed the pouch away.
"Mistress… we can't leave this place anyway. I don't need much money in the meantime. You can keep them first." Alu said while shaking her head.
Concubine Su knows what is running in her mind. She knew the situation of her family and how they treated Alu in that family. Her father is a lower official but a bit ambitious. He used his eldest daughter to get to his current position, so she knew that he would also use Alu as a bargaining chip.
If she is still in the palace and has the title of the emperor's concubine, she could somewhat help Alu in that matter. But now that she was thrown into the cold palace, she knew that she could not help Alu in the future anymore.
"We can't leave the cold palace anyway…" Alu suddenly added.
Concubine Su felt a bit conflicted. She knew that because of her, the future of her two maidservants was cut off. She knew that she had implicated the two because of her mistake.
Seeing the reaction of their mistress, Misha gave Alu a blaming look. She wanted to say something to placate the situation, but she could not think of anything.
Suddenly, the three's attention caught the small figure walking towards them.
Li An's small body was dirty as if she just played on dirt.
"What… What did you do? Why are you so messy?" Concubine Su walked towards Li An and rubbed some of the dirt on her face away.
"Hehe… I buried those people in the bamboo forest…"
Hearing her words, the three were startled. They did not expect to hear such words from a child. How could she bury someone at a young age?
Concubine Su showed a hint of sympathy to the child as she patted Li An's head.
"Li An… Do you want me to be your mother?" she blurted subconsciously.
When Li An heard her words, something in her heart seemed to have popped. It was not a bad feeling but instead a good one.
She felt a new emotion that she had not felt before and she liked it.
Li An blinked her cute little eyes as a cute smile appeared on her little face.
She nodded her head.
Concubine Su could not help but extend her arms and hug the little girl before her.
"From now on, I will teach you about the outside world. I will teach you all that I know…" Concubine Su promised while caressing the back of the child before her.
An unknown motherly instinct is pushing her to promise to take good care of the innocent child that was left in this forsaken place.
From the first time that she has looked at this little girl, she had an inkling that this little one was the emperor's daughter. She might be the daughter of that sinner who died in this place.
Why no one knew of her existence, she did not know. But she has promised herself to groom the little girl to be a proper princess so that when the time comes for her to emerge from the cold palace, she could face the world outside head-on.
And so, the days when the pampering and teaching of Li An began.
The first thing that Concubine Su taught Li An was how to read and write the Zisho script. The Zisho script was the most commonly used script in the continent of Lamba.
The history of the script dated way back thousands of years ago.
It is said that in those days, the people of Lamba lived harmoniously in the middle empire. However, because of human nature, one kingdom after another began to be built as people flourished and prospered.
Because they all started as one, the script they used was also brought as other kingdoms rose and fell.
Zisho Script comprises many characters. Though it was revised many times, it still retains its core language.
But the Zisho script has two components, one is the long version and the other is the shortened version.
The long version would always be used by scholars to show flare in their writings. However, the shorter version was commonly used by regular people because it is easy to understand and use.
Li An sits on a chair as she controls the brush on her hand. She is to copy the handwriting on the table and it proves a bit challenging.
She did not know why but she seemed to have some problem controlling her fingers while holding the brush.
Concubine Su, who saw her diligently working on copying the simple script, showed a faint satisfied smile on her face.
After an hour, Li An heaved a deep sigh as she looked at her crooked handwriting and compared it to what Concubine Su had written.
"This is unacceptable…" she muttered with a frown.
How could she accept such failure when she could write difficult glyphs and yet she failed in writing Zisho Script.
Suddenly, Seedee floated in the air and with a teasing tone said.
"It seems that you have found your weakness…"
Li An pouted while glaring at the air before her.
"I found it hard to control my hands. I'm not used to writing in such a way…" she murmured.
Concubine Su who is checking her work turns her head and looks in Li An's direction.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
Li An showed a cute smile and shook her head.
"Actually this practice is not that bad. When you begin to practice high-level runes, you will need such a skill…" Seedee said as it floated in the air while examining the written work of Li An.