Jinshi x OC

The Promotion

Not good, not good. Mei-ling thought as she hurried back through the streets of the inner court. The commotion from earlier has since settled and the courtyard has returned to its relatively normal pace. Other than the odd lady-in-waiting bickering with another. They must serve different consorts. You find this as a common occurrence, as the consorts are in competition with each other for the Emperor's affection, that animosity is often passed down to their ladies-in-waiting as well.

Mei-ling quickly hurried to the dorms of the serving women. The dorms themselves were nothing special, it was just a building with lots of rooms for the young girls to stay in, along with a communal dining area where they had all their meals cooked for them. Life as a serving girl wasn't too bad, you got paid, fed, and housed, and as long as you kept your head down, did your work, and not make any trouble, it was a simple life. At least it was for Mei-ling before she a higher up noticed her and has now decided she ought to work for him instead. A promotion is usually good, you earn a higher wage, often be rewarded with more respect, and have more flexible working hours, but for Mei-ling, something about her new master, brief as the encounter was, gave her an unnerving feeling in the pit of her stomach. Maybe it was the way he was staring at her, or the other exaggerated sparkle that he emitted which obviously has an effect on other women, but to Mei-ling, he was just weird.

"Mei-ling! You're back?" A young serving girl, one that shared a room with Mei-ling said as Mei-ling quickly entered her room. "Where have you been? You missed dinner." The girls name was Xiaolin, she was only 13 years old, 5 years younger than Mei-ling, her family sold her off to the palace a few months ago. Mei-ling took on a rather sisterly role for Xiaolin, being sold off by family herself, she pitied the small girl. Mei-ling looked after her basically, when Xiaolin first came to the palace, she was terrified and made silly mistakes with her work, nothing that Mei-ling couldn't quickly rectify before anyone noticed. She ended up feeling like she had to protect her, though Xiaolin didn't make it easy for her. Often she would wander off being distracted by a butterfly or just simply get lost around the grounds. The girl didn't seem to have a sense of direction or common sense really.. and so Mei-ling took her under her wing.
"Yeah.. I.. urr.. kinda got caught up with something.." Mei replied, instantly picking up Xiaolin's odd clothes she's chucked on the floor, and placing them into a laundry basket in the corner of the room. "I've got something to tell you and I don't want you to freak out.. or get upset.."
"Oh no! What have you done now Mei? Did you talk back to the matron again?"
"....urhh.."
"Worst? Oh no.. what did you do?!" Panic and worry was starting to etch into the girl's brow. If Mei had done something terrible, she could easily be executed. As much has Mei might try to stay out of trouble, she did have a tendency to have a sarcastic attitude towards some of the higher ups, and said to the wrong person can lead to serious trouble. The anxiety quickly took over her face as she considered the worst possible scenario. "No Xiaolin, I'm not in trouble, I promise." Mei said, attempting to release any of her worries. "I got promoted.." she announced with a slight hint of hesitation, concerned on how Xiaolin would react with the news that Mei would be leaving the laundry serving quarters.
"Promoted? Why that's amazing? Are you going to be the assistant matron? Omg are we going to get a bigger room? Not that there's anything wrong with this one but.. a bit more space would be nice.." Xiao blurted out in excitement.
"No Xiao.. I'm not assistant matron.. I'm not actually going to be a laundry serving girl anymore.."
"... what? You mean you're leaving?" Xiaolin's smile quickly faded and tears were starting the brim in her eyes. She highly relied on Mei and wasn't sure on how she would carry on without her. "Umm.. yes.. I'm moving to the outer court.. you know that fancy new eunuch which you think is cute?" Mei said with a slight tease to her tone, and a cheeky smile to help cheer the girl up.
"Yeah... the pretty one?" Xiao replied, wiping a tear before it fell.
"Well he's appointed me to his services.. so I'm going to go live with him.. but I promise to come and see you at any chance I get.."
"When do you leave?" Xiaolin chocked back the tears. She was happy for Mei-ling but was sad that she was no longer going to see her everyday.
"In the morning, one of master Jinshi's attendants is coming by to escort me..." there was a moment of silence as Mei-ling watched the wheels turning in Xiaolin's head. The silence stretched for a few minutes until Xiaolin surprised Mei by wrapping her arms around Mei's waist, hugging her tightly. "I'm happy for you Mei, I'm going to miss you."
Mei wrapped her arms around the girl, pulling her in close. "I'll miss you to, but don't forget I'm just down the road basically, I'll come and see you whenever I'm free okay? It's not like I won't see you again."
"I know, maybe put in a word for me and hopefully I can work with you again one day." Xiaolin joked.
"Maybe Xiao, maybe one day."