The next day, Xiu Juan was awakened by the beam of the sunlight that caressed her face. She rose from her bed to open the doors of the balcony to let in the fresh air. As soon as she opened one of the doors, the wind forced its way in causing the white drapes to wave in excitement. The drapes wrapped themselves around Xiu Juan as though they were inviting her to dance with them. She gently pushed them to the side and continued her way onto the large balcony. She turned her head toward the sound of swans that were landing onto the lake and watched the family of swans follow one another as they tried to avoid the fishermen that were sailing beside them. Xiu Juan wrapped her arms around herself and watched the lake until Luli came in with a few maids. Luli had them wait in the room while she walked onto the balcony to call Xiu Juan.

“Um, Empress,” Luli held one of the drapes to the side and peeked through the door. “They want to get you ready.”

Xiu Juan turned around and smiled at Luli. “Good morning, Luli.”

“You ready for your first day as Empress?” Luli held the drapes for Xiu Juan as she walked through.

“Of course,” she said as she smiled at the five maids to greet them.

“Ah, these are the maids I just met. We became friends rather quickly. That’s why I asked them to come with me here to meet you. They were very nervous,” Luli smiled as she introduced them to Xiu Juan.

Xiu Juan lowered her head to them and they bowed lowly to her.

She sat down inside of her dressing room in front of the large mirror. Before the skinny maid with very big eyes and ears could reach over and grab the tray of powder, Xiu Juan placed her hand on top of hers to stop her.

“I got it. I don’t put on much anyway,” Xiu Juan insisted.

She politely bowed and obeyed. As Xiu Juan freshened her face, the other maids combed her long hair and pinned ornaments in it.

She looked at herself in the mirror, furrowed her brows lightly and pouted. “I look older, don’t I?” Xiu Juan touched her hair that had many ornaments adorned in it.

The maids looked at each other. “Um, that is how we have always seen the old Empress wear her hair, your highness. It has always been instructed that Empresses wear their hair up.”

Xiu Juan smiled at them and turned back to the mirror and began to take out the many jewels out of her hair. The maids widened their eyes and placed their hands on their chests at Xiu Juan’s doing.

“Well, not this Empress,” Xiu Juan said as she looked at herself in the mirror.

“Did you not like it? The way we did your hair?” The taller, dark skinned maid with a birthmark on her face asked.

“It was lovely. But it just didn’t suit me,” Xiu Juan shrugged. She turned her eyes back to herself in her reflection, “Also, someone once told me I didn’t need so much complimentary things.” Xiu Juan stroked her charm that was laying on her makeup table in front of her and stared at it warmly, “That person believed that things were beautiful just how they were.”

“Beautiful just how they are?” the smaller chubby maid repeated, her eyes lighting up. The other maids’ eyes lit up with her.

Luli, who was putting away the discarded ornaments back into its box, raised her eyes at Xiu Juan.

Xiu Juan smiled and sighed as she put away the last jewel she unpinned from her hair. “And it’s so heavy. Who would want a sore neck at the end of the day?” She concluded. She undid the bottom half of her hair and kept the top part loosely intact. She then tied the bottom half of her hair in to a low, relaxed ponytail just to keep it in its place with a jeweled chain that dangled far down her back after it was wrapped around her hair.

“Now, how does it look?” Xiu Juan looked at her maids.

They smiled in approval.

“Better than before!” The maid with a scar by her ear but possessed a pretty smile beamed.

“It’s not traditional, but I like it,” the maid with small eyes chimed.

“What will the head housemaid say, though?” The taller maid with the birthmark on her face worried. She seemed to be the oldest one of them all.

Xiu Juan curved her lips, “What are they going to do? Fix my hair every time I undo it? Shave it off?” She got up from her seat and headed to her closet of attires. When she opened it, she was astounded by the selection.

“Oh goodness,” Luli gaped. “Look at all of these beautiful fabrics! So exquisite! The embroidery is remarkable!”

“Oh…um…” Xiu Juan wasn’t sure what to say.

“Is something wrong?” The skinny maid with very big eyes and ears asked.

“Mmm…just wondering,” Xiu Juan began as she reached for the white and light blue attire, “what I feel like today. Not too blue. Not too flashy. Just something subtle.” She pulled it out and the white and light blue silk spilt down to the hardwood floor as though it were liquid. The layers stretched for many, many meters.

“This,” Xiu Juan smiled.

“Oh, that’s my favorite,” the chubby one grinned widely. “When I washing it, I looked at it twice before folding it away. I hope you don’t mind, Empress.”

“Oi, don’t talk so much,” the maid with the scar and pretty smile poked her.

Xiu Juan laughed, “Why would I mind? You only looked at them? I would’ve tried them on myself if I were you!”

The maids looked at her as though she were strange, then they looked at each other.

“Oh, it’s not like you haven’t thought about it!” Xiu Juan turned around and pulled out five dresses. “Luli help me,” she passed a dress to Luli.

Xiu Juan spun around in her white night robe and handed each of them a dress to slip on. They looked as though they weren’t sure what to do with it.

“Try it on! Luli used to try on my clothes all the time when we were little.”

Luli smiled at them and nodded, blushing from embarrassment.

Xiu Juan grabbed the tall dark maid with the birthmark on her face and spun her around and placed the rich robe of one of the dresses on her shoulders. Facing the mirror, she gaped at herself. She looked down to her shoulders then to her feet.

“It…it feels beautiful,” she gawked. Then she smiled and giggled at Xiu Juan who was smiling warmly at her.

Then shortly after, the other maids twirled the colorful robes and wrapped it around their shoulders and scurried to the mirror. Xiu Juan watched from their backs and smiled at them while they touched their faces and the threads of the dresses. They giggled as they looked at each other and praised one another, turning from side to side and spinning around. Luli giggled along with them. They looked at Xiu Juan and stopped.

“You don’t mind us? Not even a little?” They asked, still uncertain of Xiu Juan.

Xiu Juan shook her head. She looked at each of them warmly, “What are your names?”

They stood up straight.

“My name is Fan,” the skinny maid with very big eyes and ears bowed to Xiu Juan.

“Mine is Guang,” the tall dark maid with the birthmark on her face bowed.

“Ting!” The small chubby maid excitedly bowed.

“Yue,” the girl with the scar and pretty smile bowed politely.

“Liu,” the maid with small eyes bowed.

Xiu Juan walked closer to them and stood up straight. “Fan, Guang, Ting, Yue, Liu,” Xiu Juan called in a low, clear voice, “from this day onward you will serve me personally.”

They gasped and looked up.

“You mean…” Guang’s chest heaved.

Xiu Juan smiled gently, “I’m promoting you. You will serve next to me and anyone who wishes to speak to me will come to you or Luli first.”

Guang began to cry. Xiu Juan stopped smiling.

“Are you not pleased?” Xiu Juan tilted her head.

Ting shook her head. The maids came together and embraced one another. They got on their knees before Xiu Juan and smiled with tears in their eyes. Xiu Juan stepped toward them to lift them up but was stopped.

“Dear kindhearted Empress, you have just saved us from our troubles!” Yue exclaimed.

“We left our parents, brothers, and sisters to serve in the palace but our pay was not enough to support them, especially with the war going on. They sent us here so we could find a better life. But what is life when you know your family is starving?” Fan cried.

“We were just lowly maids, mere workers in the palace. No one cared about us till you,” Liu expressed.

“Thanks to you, we can finally support our families back at home!” Ting bowed, weeping with joy.

Touched, Xiu Juan knelt before them and held their hands. When she looked down at them and saw how rough and scarred they were, she couldn’t help but pull them in and embrace them.

They are too young to be living a life like this, Luli stood by and wept, watching and smiling.

“We are all the same age, but live in total different worlds. This isn’t right. This isn’t fair,” Xiu Juan held them. “One day, we shall all share the same world. A world of peace.”

They all smiled at her and nodded.

Guang, who was still leaning on Xiu Juan’s shoulder sniffled, nodded, and grinned, “You smell of plum blossoms.” She raised her head up and looked at Xiu Juan. She shook her head, smiling, “You have something about you, Empress. You are full of surprises.”

Xiu Juan stood up and smiled, “I’m just another human being who, by chance, cares. Now rise. We need to get you ladies out of those clothes. You must look presentable before others if you serve me. But first,” Xiu Juan looked at herself and chuckled, “help me get dressed.”

Luli chimed in and extended out her hand to the five girls, “Here! I’ll help you guys after we dress the Empress!”

They quickly got up and put Xiu Juan’s gowns away. They applied on layer after layer of silk onto Xiu Juan and when the final robe was draped over her shoulders, the six girls stared at her with awe.

Liu whispered to Ting, “The more I look at her, the more I cannot look away.”

Ting nodded, staring at Xiu Juan admiringly, “Indeed. Such grace cannot be justified with just one blinking glance.”

Xiu Juan turned to Luli and told her to lead them away to get dressed. They giggled away and twirled hand in hand, excited about their brighter future. The five girls then suddenly stopped in their tracks by the door and bowed down immediately. Luli looked at them confused but bowed anyway.

The Zhao emperor was strolling by in the hallway and saw them dancing in the room and raised his eyebrow at them. When they stopped and bowed to him, he saw Xiu Juan in her white and light blue gown standing by the balcony, her back turned to the door. He just turned his eyes away and continued walking with his men, not saying a word. Xiu Juan noticed the quietness at the moment the Zhao emperor was staring at her and turned around but she did not catch him in time.

A gong soon sounded and made her flinch. She turned her head back toward outside.

“What’s that supposed to be?” Xiu Juan asked.

“It’s the sound for lunch,” Fan said.

“Ah,” was all Xiu Juan said in return. She turned her head back to them. “Go and change. I’ll see you all at lunch,” she ordered with a warm smile and shooed them out gently with her hand.

At her lunch table, Xiu Juan had been kneeling for a while waiting for the Zhao emperor to come join her. She sighed and slumped her shoulders, her chin leaning on one hand while she ran her fingers around the lip of her tea cup. When she heard someone slide the door and entered, she jolted straight up and looked to only see Guang. She looked at Luli who was standing next to Xiu Juan and shook her head. Her eyes had disappointment in them. When she approached Xiu Juan she knelt by her and bowed her head.

“Empress, I’ve come to deliver a message from his majesty,” Guang began. “He wanted to let you know that he won’t be joining you for lunch.”

Xiu Juan, whose eyes were on Guang, breathed in deeply. She looked at the feast on her table and sighed.

“Well, okay,” Xiu Juan shrugged. Xiu Juan looked at the girls and smiled, “Who’s hungry?”

They widened their eyes and looked at each other.

“Come join me. I cannot finish all of this!” Xiu Juan insisted while dividing empty trays across the table.

“Empress, we must not. It is against the rules,” Yue said softly.

“If anybody has anything to say about my acts behind the doors they shut me in, then they can come talk to me. It would be nice to hold a conversation with someone in this palace anyway,” Xiu Juan said bitterly. She then held up her small bowl of rice and smiled, “Now, come join me.”

The five girls shyly approached the table with Luli and picked up their rice bowls. With their heads still lowered, they looked at the food with big eyes. Xiu Juan dispersed each cooked dish into their bowls and filled it up. Picking up her chopsticks, she looked at the five girls.

“Is there something wrong?” Xiu Juan asked.

They shook their heads.

Ting raised her head to Xiu Juan and spoke quietly, “It’s just…we never had these kinds of food before.”

Xiu Juan smiled and relaxed her shoulders, “Well enjoy it for the days to come because I don’t think that person will ever join me for a meal.”

“Thank you, Empress,” Liu said, and soon after everyone thanked her.

Xiu Juan mostly watched them eat and barely touched her food. She did not appreciate the lack of respect the Zhao emperor had for her. And what she said about him not ever joining her for a meal was proven right, as he did not show up for dinner either.

That night when Xiu Juan got into her long, ivory night robe, she had a late night tea session with her new friends. Luli told them about Qin and they shared their stories of Zhao.

“When I hear you speak of Qin, I am not afraid of it as much,” Fan marveled.

“Seems like the people of Qin live pretty happily,” Liu pondered over the thought.

“Ah, we do what we can to get by,” Luli blushed by the praise of her beloved land.

“But there is a man of Qin that we do fear very much. He is known as the Red Death God here,” Ting said with wide eyes.

Xiu Juan turned her head to this.

“Or the Beast of Battlefields,” Guang chimed in.

“I also heard him go by the name: Demon of War. They say he could single handedly wipe out an army!” Yue blurted.

“But word also has it that he’s handsome,” Ting sighed, her head resting on her hands.

The five girls nodded in agreement. Xiu Juan smiled at their comment.

“You must be talking about our Ying-tai!” Luli exclaimed with excitement.

Xiu Juan shot a stare at Luli who immediately sealed her lips and lowered her head.

“Your Ying-tai?” Fan questioned, her head tilting to the side.

“Did you know him?” Ting jumped.

Luli turned her eyes to Xiu Juan, afraid to say anything else. She smiled and decided to let Luli speak. “He was a friend of ours. A dear friend,” she said in a tiny voice.

They gasped and came in closer.

“Was he scary?” Guang asked.

“Was he as handsome as people say?” Yue beamed.

“Tell us!” They squealed.

Xiu Juan looked at the wide-eyed girls and laughed. “Um, I don’t know what to say! Do you want to be afraid of him or adore him?”

“You tell your side of the story,” Liu requested.

Xiu Juan gripped the charm by her waist as she thought about Ying-tai.

“He was…” she began. “He is the most honorable man I know. He knew no fear. His passion was his people and his country. Though phenomenally skillful with his sword, he prefers to deal with dilemmas with his words.”

“Mmmm, anything more?” Fan asked.

Xiu Juan looked out to the night sky, “That’s about all I could tell you. Ying-tai…he’s just someone you have to meet yourself.”

“Ehhhhh,” they sighed.

“Does the guardian of Qin have a lover?” Guang asked.

Xiu Juan froze at the question. Her heart pounded fast as she reminisced of their moments together and then it ached when she imagined the look on his face when he learns of her leave. Then she remembered how he never returned any of her letters when they were younger and how he shut her down and turned a cold shoulder to her that one day.

Luli saw the hurt in Xiu Juan’s eyes and placed her hand on top of hers.

Xiu Juan shrugged and smiled at the girls, “It’s late. We must get to bed.”

After the girls were dismissed, Xiu Juan sat by the table next to the white drapes that were fluttering in the cool night breeze. Before Luli left to go to her room, she stared at Xiu Juan who had her head lowered.

“You okay, Xiu Juan?” She asked gently.

Xiu Juan didn’t answer but when Luli closed the door behind her, she buried her face in her hands and allowed the tears to leak from her eyes at the sound of Ying-tai’s name finally being spoken.