Chapter 4

The Great Palace, Xiang Empire, 1479

"Meet the emperor."

"Meet the emperor.

"Meet the emperor."

Those words repeated themselves in Lihua's head,

echotng from every cormer of her mind. They stayed

there until she accepted them. Unil she accepted

this strange, strange reality. Nervousnes, anxiety

ear, and duult all nnergel unw vne and squeezed

and seratched her heart with their icy claws. She

couldn't bclicve what ahe waa hearing. Was Official

Chun lying to her? Surely, he wouldn't lie about such

a thing. But grandfather never mention ed anything

about meeting His Majesty. All he said was that he

was to go to the palace to deliver herbs, but not a

word about the emperor.

She stared at the middle-aged man with wide eyes,

disbelief swimming in them. Finally, after moments

of silence, her voice returned. She swallowed,

staring at him like he just grew a tail, before saying,

"wh. what?"

omcial Chun gave her a look one could almost

identify as pity. "Must I repeat it for you, miss? Did

you not hear me?"

"" She blinked, "no, no, I heard you. But.th-

there has to be a mistake! Grandfather never said

anything about meeting the emperor. He only told

me to take the herbs to the palace and return home

as soon as I'm done." She explained, stuttering a few

times as she got the words out.

His eyes narrowed, "are you calling me a liar?"

"What? No, I just"

He merely shook his head and cut her off, "I don't

mean any disrespect, Miss Wu, but that is not mny

problem, nor is it my concern. You may discuss it

with Sir Zhao Lin later when you go home, but for

now, you mustn't keep the emperor waiting" He

summoned a maid and told her to take Lihua to

some man. Minister Hyung, she thought, was his

name. She wasn't sure since she wasn't listening.

She was going to meet the emperor. The emperor

himself! Was this a dream? Was she dreaming? Or

imagining all of this? She slowly moved her hand to

her face and pinched her own cheek, then winced

at the slight pain. "But I.. I." She whispered. She saw

then maid nod obediently and gently gesture for the

girl to follow her.

"Wait a minute"

"Goodbye, Miss Wu." Official Chun brushed her off,

waving his hand in a dismissive way as he turned

back to his work.

Is he serious right now? What on earth is going on?

The quiet maid bowed a little, keeping her head low.

"Please follow me, my lady." She says politely, her

voice soft and shy. Lihua held back the urge to sigh

and groan in frustration and followed the timid

woman silenty. None of them spoke a word. She

didn't know about the maid, but for her, this was

getting awkward as hell.

"What is your name?" Lihua asked, breaking the

silence.

"Heo Mei, my lady." The maid responded. "Mei.

That's a nice name." She complimented with a soft

smile.

Mei blushed slightly, "thank you, my lady."

After that, it was silence again. The two women

didn't say anything, for they had no idea what to

say. The maid, even if she did have something to

say, couldn't. She could only speak when spoken

to. A question popped into Lihua's mind and her

curiosity pushed the question through her lips, "tell

me, Mei, what is the emperor like?"

The maid stiffened.

Lihua could've sworn she saw pure fear flash in

her small eyes, which made her frown slightly in

confusion. Why did she suddenly become so tense?

Did I say something wrong? Did I offend her in

some way? She thought, still frowning.

"Mei?" She said after a few minutes, "what's the

matter?"

"We have arrived." Mei said, stopping in front

of two large wooden doors. Several guards stood

there stiffly, their calculating eyes studying their

surroundings carefully, searching for any sign

of danger. This was it. This was the throne room,

where the emperor was. Lihua raised a brow at how

fast the maid spoke, as though she was in a hurry.

"I must get going now. I'm going to get a beating if I

don't" Mei said the moment she saw an elderly man

walk over to them. She bowed and left before Lihua

could say anything else.

"Wait..! Mei"

"Miss." Lihua's attention snapped to the man with

the straggly grey beard and grizzled hair. He wore

plain crimson red robes, showing his high status,

and a black hat. His face was tan and wrinkly, and

his eyes were observant and judging. Maybe this

was the minister Official Chun had mentioned.

She bowed and spoke respectfully, "Minister Hyung,

I am Wu Lihua, granddaughter of Wu Zhao Lin"

"What are you doing here then? Isn't your

grandfather supposed to be here?" He asked with

narrowed eyes and a suspicious stare.

Lihua wanted to glare at him for interrupting her,

but she managed to calm herself down and simply

replied, "well, yes, but-

"Why?"

By the gods, if you don't stop interrupting me, I will

murder you in your sleep.

"My grandfather is ill. He is unable to come to the

palace s0"

"So he sent a woman instead."

". What? With all due respect, Minister Hyung. I do

not see anything wrong with that." Lihua's finger

twitched. She wanted to strangle him! Who did this

man think he was?

"Nevermind. Let us go inside now." He waved his

hand and motioned for her to follow him as he

walked towards the large doors. The guards bowed

and opened them, allowing the two to step inside

the great, magnificent hall..

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