Chapter 2: First Day at the Capital

She watched with eyes so wide open, her eyeballs could have rolled out gently. It had been a long time since she saw such rush and chaos or even such order and grandeur. The shops were all systematically placed, the dark grey roofs towering over the clean grey streets covered it with a dark shade. It was so urban it was almost like they left mother nature behind those gates. The rush she could see however wasn't the casual busyness of a marketplace. A solemn silence filled the air. Everyone she saw wore white and the shops were closed. The carriages were moving at a slower pace now to accommodate the crowd.

"Hey, what's going on?" she leaned over and asked the carriage driver.

Carriage driver Bao was long forced to get used to the young miss's casual and careless manner that it didn't frighten him anymore. "Let me check, young miss." he replied. The carriage in front of him with the matriarch stopped. He lightly tugged on the reigns of the horse to make her stop. Since she was just walking that was enough for her. He tapped a passerby and they had a quiet conversation. They nodded at each other and the man walked forward in the direction everyone seemed to be heading.

Bao leaned back and whispered, "Young Miss, It's the left prime minister's funeral procession. It's about to pass by soon."

"Ah, I see", she nodded.

As soon as he finished his sentence, funeral music could be heard. The people stopped moving and knelt. She couldn't see the procession clearly as there were carriages in front of her as well as her father and his subordinates on horses. But they removed their helmets and bowed their heads. They didn't climb down their horses as their primary duty was to their country and were obligated to remain alert when they were in their armor. However, the music seemed familiar. Funeral processions in the village were different and less grand. This music reached into her memories pulling out what she had hidden away from herself.

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Her dress is white, she looks at her hands, they are tiny and pale, clutching her servant girl's sleeve. She doesn't want to look, but she knows if she doesn't one last time, she'll forever regret this moment. She goes forward holding back tears and takes a long look at her mother's face, memorizing her high cheekbones, her bow shaped lips which are now lightly painted in her favourite shade, her face was cleaned and seemed paler, yet so beautiful. She wished she could see the colour of her eyes, but that wouldn't be possible. That's okay, everyone always said that she had her mother's eyes. It was true.

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She opened her eyelids slowly. The bright light attacked her eyes. She fluttered her eyelids, taking the time to adjust to the brightness. Ming Ling, her servant who was the same age as her, walked towards her with a tray in her hands. She placed it down on a table that stood next to her bed.

"Meng Ling? What happened?" She yawned.

The startled Meng Ling spilt the tea she was pouring into a cup. "Young Miss! You're awake." She wiped the cup and helped her mistress sit up.

"You fainted while the procession was going on. So we brought you directly to Xing Hua courtyard. The master and matriarch have gone to pay respects to Left Prime Minister Chen's family. You have been excused due to your.. um.. condition."

"I see.."

"Your aunt, young miss, must be devastated. After all, she loved the Left Prime Minister so much that she even gave up her position of first wife."

"Yes, she must be. I will go check on her tomorrow as it is evening already."

She didn't know much about her aunt as she had rarely seen her. The knowledge she had of her came from what her household servants and grandmother told her. Her aunt, Chen Fang Ya, was a year younger than her father. She had three daughters. The oldest, Fei Yan, had been engaged to the crown prince since she was three. Back then her father wasn't yet the famous general he became after the Great War, and so his rank was still below some of the major families. So when the Song Kingdom's third princess demanded that she get married to the Prime Minister, she was demoted to second wife. However strong their kingdom was, they couldn't let the princess be the second wife. The Crown promised her that she would not be mistreated. By now rumour had spread that Fei Yan was a beautiful girl who performed well in her studies. The sly Emperor took this chance to institute her as the future Crown Princess. This way, her mother and her will have the strong backing of the emperor and he will have secured a smart girl for his son. Then there were the twins Chen Huang Lee and Chen Bai Lan. She didn't know anything about them except that they would be turning four this year.

She inhaled the fragrance of the herbal tea and sipped while flexing her toes.

"Also Young Miss, I heard from the laundry servant who heard from the kitchen servant who heard from the grocery boy that the three princes also went to the Left Prime Minister's House to pay respects."

She was intrigued, after all she had to keep a lookout for potential husbands. She didn't want to end up with those husbands who had no respect for their wives and some even beat them. She read way too many romance novels about those amazing, handsome husbands who were respectful and treated their wives in such a poetic manner. Of course, the village council had to find out about these fantasy novels, confiscate them and burn the pile to the ground.

She giggled, "Tell me more!"

Meng Ling looked confused, "About what, young miss?"

She grinned widely, "About the princes of course!"

Her servant looked back with twinkling eyes, "Do you want me to investigate the princes and all the potential bachelors?"

Ming Dan was ecstatic, "Yes! Help me! Let's discuss boy stuff!" She had never thought she would find a kindred soul in Meng Ling. Her friends had been married off abruptly and with no warning. She didn't think she could discuss these things with other people and she certainly wasn't expecting her first friend in the capital to be her servant who she'd known for ages. They never got close because she always hung out with her friends from the village. She had a good feeling about this friendship.