Yulong, Silver and Chains

EIGHT

Meifen didn't know what it was like to have a mother since hers passed away shortly after her birth. Her older brothers and her father were all that she knew. One by one, however, they all passed away from the war until she was left all alone at twelve. She tried to survive on the streets by herself, but she was eventually prostituted away at thirteen. It was either starve or do that sort of work. There was no in between for her. Life was hard and with the raging war, it was impossible for commoners such as herself to make any other type of decision. She didn't know what it was like to be a mother or to nurture someone, so she wasn't sure how she should act around Zengguang. How was she supposed to nurture and ease the mind of a broken adult riddled with torture?

The wagon unceremoniously lurched to a halt, almost catapulting her forward and off her seat. She gripped the sides of it and gasped in shock. Blinking back, she flicked back the flap of the window. They had arrived at their destination. A large estate wedged in the outskirts of the city with large, red fences marking and isolating the territory from people randomly waltzing towards it. She slipped out of the carriage and gazed up at it. It appeared rather simple in its luxury. There weren't extravagant statues and paintings and adornments from outside of it, but the simplicity of it all spoke of its luxury.

"Take the woman's belongings to her room," Manchu ordered as a pair of servants approached the carriage. They bowed and took her trunks full of belongings. A few of them were weighed down by the weight, but they managed fine as they slipped inside the house.

Meifen regarded Manchu with a pinched expression. "You don't happen to live here too, do you?"

"Certainly not."

"That's good then," she said with a relieved sigh. "Shall we go inside? Will General Hung be waiting for me?"

He scoffed. "The General has more things to do than wait for a petty whore."

Her lips thinned down. "Right when I thought you might have a tad bit of remorse, you act like a flagrant idiot."

"Watch your mouth," he seethed. "I am still a Lieutenant General."

"You keep boasting about your position of respect whilst doing nothing to garner respect," she said bluntly, before approaching the house. It was large enough to be separated into different wings of the house, so she was fairly certain she would be pushed to a different wing of the house than General Hung. She pulled the robes tighter around herself as a frigid wind blew against her face.

Manchu marched up to the entrance of the door and swept inside in jerky strides. She trailed behind him silently. The interior was similar to the outside of the house. There weren't paintings, or statues, or heavy adornments lining the walls or littering the halls. A few servants were walking in the corridors and gave small bows before continuing with their business. They all looked healthy and well fed, so that was an indication General Hung wasn't bad to his servant. Still, she needed to meet the man before deciding what she thought of him.

Manchu paused at a doorway and rapped his knuckles against the door. For a moment, nothing happened, but after knocking a second time, a brisk, "Come in," was ushered.

Inside, an old man was sitting behind a thick set oak desk with a brush in his hand. His beard hung low down his chest and splintered into half a dozen tendrils. Although his face was weathered with age, his shoulders were broad and he was sturdy. He set down the brush when Meifen and Manchu entered. A smile graced his lips, crinkles forming along his mouth and eyes. "You must be Zheng Meifen," he said.

"General Hung," she gasped breathlessly. His presence was strong enough to make her bow down to him nervously. A General was an extremely high position in the army and to be in the presence of one—to have him know her name, no less—was an honor indeed. "I'm honored to be chosen to live in your home and take care of Xia Zengguang," she answered honestly.