The Tyrant is King?!!!
The day the Queen Consort vanished was surprisingly a quiet one.
There was no panic in the palace; no one was crying or demanding where the Han fu ren went. Everything was quiet and everyone was doing their normal chores. It would have been a perfectly normal day if not for one tiny detail.
The palace was quieter than usual.
Usually the place would be full of servants running around, trying to give the masters and mistresses their breakfast on time. Occasionally some yelling could be heard by the Elders, telling them to keep quiet or slow down. And sometimes even the Han Emperor would walk around, making sure everything was in place.
But today none of those sounds could be heard. Instead there was pin-drop silence.
Xiao Hui tentatively crept out of the servant quarters. To her surprise, none of the servants and maids were there. Surely there was no important meeting this early in the morning.
After walking for a while in the desolate palace corridor, Xiao Hui finally saw somebody. It was the Head Cook, Jiang Li.
Xiao Hui was never very close with the Head Cook but they did have a bonding moment once. It was when Xiao Hui was first sent as a maid for the Hans and was extremely homesick.
Then, Jiang Li walked into her crying in a corner and just sat beside her. She did not speak, nor did she bother to comfort her. However she stayed with her the entire night and the next morning Xiao Hui found some youtiao in a plate beside her.
Since then the maid had a soft spot for the cook and although they never spoke with each other (unless necessary), Xiao Hui admired the other a lot.
Now Jiang Li was coming towards Xiao Hui with her face full of urgency.
"Xiao Hui!" she yelled. "Why are you not in the Hall of Grace right now?"
Why would she be in the Hall of Grace? No one had informed her of a meeting there. She said so to Jiang Li and was puzzled to see shock in the Head Cook's face.
"Have you lost your mind, Xiao Hui," Jiang Li screamed, irritation that she had never seen directed towards her, coated her voice. "All of us must be situated for the Praying Ceremony."
Now Xiao Hui was even more confused. They never had a Praying Ceremony before. Still, she followed Jiang Li to the Hall of Grace.
The Praying Ceremony turned out to be a boot licking ceremony instead.
When Xiao Hui entered the Hall of Grace, the first thing she noticed was that every one was kneeling on the ground. And in front of them was a man whose entire being was wrapped in a powerful aura. He towered over them acting as if he were God Himself.
To Xiao Hui's shock, the man was wearing the King's crown and King's robes.
The imposter turned when Jiang Li and Xiao Hui entered the hall. He had been smirking but now his face twisted with rage.
"You!" The King wannabe roared. "How dare you not show up on time, you stupid maid? Do you wish to die that badly?"
Jiang Li gave her a nudge and trembling, Xiao Hui kneeled down before the man. The man pushed her head with his foot, wordlessly demanding an apology.
"This lowly one apologies, Your Majesty." Another push. This time it actually hurts.
Xiao Hui hurried to explain herself. "This one woke up late, Your Majesty. She did not mean to disrespect you."
But the King wannabe if possible became angrier.
"Have you lost whatever little brain you had? Lick my shoe."
The hall was silent. Xiao Hui could not believe her ears. How dare this imposter demand her to lick his shoes? The only true King was Han Bingwen and even he had lost some respect from her after last week. Who was this man? Han Bingwen never made the servants do something so humiliating like this before.
The maid looked up from her kneeling position to gauge the man's emotion. Surely he was joking?
But the imposter had a grim, if not slightly mocking face and was waiting with clear impatience. He was completely serious.
Steeling her resolve and swallowing back whatever little pride she had in her, Xiao Hui knelt her head down and opened her mouth. She licked one stripe along the beautifully embroidered cloth and watched with disgust as it left a wet streak.
The King wannabe smirked and kicked her head away. Xiao Hui still stayed in her position, afraid that if she moved even an inch, she would be dead. Whoever this man was, he was dangerous.
The man turned away from Xiao Hui and the maid moved her head up, wincing as she did so. But he was not done with her yet.
"Send this disobedient maid to the Dark Chamber."
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Question:
Have you ever woken up one day to see that your life has completely changed? Was it a positive or negative one?