Rebirth

11. The Invite

Xing softly stared at her mistress with gentle eyes. She was an orphan and was taken in by her uncle and aunt. Her village was attacked and burned when she was still a baby and her parents died in the fire. Her aunt and uncle promised to raise her till she was 14 before leaving her to fend for herself. She gratefully accepted knowing her uncle and aunt could have thrown her out in the streets as a beggar long ago, but they chose to let her leave when she was older and more mature.

She walked from the outskirts of the country in the freezing snow to one of the largest cities in Zong Country, Crystal City. There she stumbled upon the Wei household, in need of servants and maids. She jumped at the chance and was recruited. For three months she was working in the kitchen tending the fire when she was suddenly chosen to serve Lady Mingxia. She didn't understand at first but she obeyed her orders.

When she started the first day she found out that the rumored tomboy lady was really a tomboy. Somedays, Mingxia would flip over the wall and sneak out in boys clothing. But there were also days where Mingxia would stay at home and read books for long hours. It was like she had two sides of her that would come out on different days. In Xing's eyes this was what makes Lady Mingxia, Lady Mingxia.

Xing may be young but she understood what loyalty was and vowed to be loyal to Lady Mingxia for life.

She went into the closet and retrieved a blanket to place over Mingxia. After that, she blew out the candles and exited the room.

The next morning she awoke at dawn, like the many other servants, and went to the washroom to prepare Mingxia's outfit. As she walked over she heard the other female servants gossiping like usual. She pretended to ignore it but the topic they were talking about caught her attention.

"-Spring Banquet." a servant said.

"I heard that the lady of the Luo family can't go this year."

"Oh really! Why though?"

"You haven't heard what happened last year? The Queen Dowager wanted her to marry to the sixth prince but she rejected it. As a result her father was demoted and she was banned from ever entering the imperial palace."

"What? That's so cruel."

"Yeah, but it's her fault from rejecting the Queen dowager."

"Why would she reject him? If she didn't, she could have been a Prince Consort by now."

"Probably because she wasn't going to be married as a consort."

"Don't tell me she is going to marry as the second wife."

"No, she was given to the sixth prince as just a concubine."

"Oh, no wonder. With her father's status she should be entitled to be at least a wife."

"Oh well, it doesn't concern about us."

"Anyways, I heard that Lady Mingxue and Mingxia are invited this year."

"They are invited every year even though there normally they wouldn't be."

"I can understand why Lady Mingxue is invited but Lady Mingxia. Sigh"

"I mean like didn't she change lately."

"Yeah, but she's still herself. Didn't you know she escaped class yesterday."

"She's been like that since young, you can't expect her to change everything."

Xing didn't hear the rest of their conversation, she walked out with Mingxia's dress and went straight to her lady's room.

"Xing, morning." Mingxia greeted as she yawned.

"La-Mingxia, why are you up so early? The sun just came up."