Stolen Goods

"Well well well," the vixen said, "It seems like this one has encountered some....trespassers."

Shock could not even describe what Xiao Hui felt at that moment. Was this the well mentioned Noble Lady Wei of the Han empire? She had thought that Han Bingwen's complaints were mere exaggerations because he did not wish to part from his beau but now it seemed that she was the one who had been blind.

Shi Ming, ever the outspoken one, clearly did not take a liking to her and said, "Does Noble Lady Wei own this mountain? Why is she accusing us of trespassing when she is committing the same deed?"

"Hmm, it seems that this little courtesan lacks manners. What shall Yingying do?"

Said courtesan spluttered in shock. Xiao Hui was sure that she was thinking the exact same thing as her. How did Wei Piying know of Shi Ming's former profession?

The woman did not elaborate but the smirk on her face betrayed the excitement she felt at seeing their perplexed faces. 

As always, Han Bingwen stepped in before Shi Ming could retaliate. "Wei Piying, while your.....devotion of Mount Gujin is commendable, my A-Ming is right; both of us are trespassers here."

Immediately, like a hawk to its prey, her hears rounded to the previous King's overtly familiar way of referring to Shi Ming. 

She moved quickly towards him and pressed her body against his. "Would gege not call Yingying A-Ying too? He is perfectly capable of, after all." The last bit was added lowly and with her pink sleeve covering her wide, red mouth. 

It is considered highly disrespectful to show coquetry to a taken man, especially in front of his lover, and the disrespect increased tenfold when the man in question was a part of Royalty. 

One glance at Shi Ming revealed all her feelings about it. Her face was rapidly turning a putrid purple hue and her nails nearly made her palm bleed. 

Xiao Hui did not like the courtesan's attitude towards her, but in this circumstance she could not help but feel some sort of empathy....

....which disappeared as soon as she remembered how Li Xinyi felt after witnessing Han Bingwen's love for Shi Ming. The pain and anguish of the Han fu ren at that moment was incomparable and Xiao Hui could not help but internally berate herself for her forgetfulness. 

Han Bingwen, perhaps sensing the burning glare of his bao bao, tried to shrug her off but the vixen held tight with a surprising amount of strength. 

"Yingying wonders," she said, nearly simpering, "what is gege doing in this mountain? Has he not heard of the dangers lurking around here? He is so brave."

"Forgive this lowly one," Xiao Hui interrupted before Han Bingwen could answer, "but she wonders about why Noble Lady Wei is in this mountain all by herself? Is she not afraid of the demons here?"

She flushed when she felt three gazes at her, but resolutely stood her ground. Listening to the triangle back and forth was giving her a headache and an uncontrollable urge to interfere which she never had before. 

Wei Piying, for the first time, properly focused on her. After what seemed like ages, she smiled/smirked and said, "This little maid seems to think that beautiful Yingying walked here all alone."

Slightly startled, Xiao Hui asked, "Did she not?" 

The question was answered by a soft rustle and then a black cat with odd blue eyes came out from where it was sleeping. 

There was silence from all four of them. Then...

"Ha!" Shi Ming shouted out, triumphantly. "A mere cat is the companion of Noble Lady Wei and yet she berates us for coming in a small group. She truly is nothing but a woman of duplicity." 

Immediately, as if she had no shame, Wei Piying latched herself to Han Bingwen's arm and began whining. "Gege, look how that lowly courtesan is bullying Yingying. Surely she must be punished. Would gege not do that for Yingying" With that being said, she fluttered her lashes and pouted. 

Xiao Hui hid a snicker behind her sleeve. The spoilt mistress had no idea of the grave mistake she had made. Perhaps if the Han Bingwen had been a tad bit stupider, he would have believed her, but it would have still been a lost cause. Wei Piying just disrespected the beloved lover of the previous King and now there was no return. 

"What did you just say about my A-Ming?"

The widening of her eyes was a clear indicator of the inner thoughts of the spoilt woman. Her dark red lips mouthed the words "my A-Ming" over and over again as if she could not believe Han Bingwen had the nerve to call another woman his.

Shi Ming also looked shocked as if her lover had never stood up for her at all. The maid wished to take a leaf out of her book and scoff at the assumption that Han Bingwen did not love her. Why else, if not for love, would he turn a deaf ear to all the insults the courtesan threw at her?

"Leave it be," the courtesan interjected, acting suspiciously like the mature one. "We came here not for arguments, but for something else, so let us just leave it be."

Wei Piying, who was before in a state of immense shock, pulled out of her reverie and gave her annoying trademark smirk. 

"Something else? Could it be that this courtesan came here in search of a certain parchment?"

They all froze in their tracks but none of them froze as much as Xiao Hui. Her shoulders tensed so much that she felt that they would break and her legs trembled like a leaf on a windy day. Her entire body and mind was screaming only one thing: please let her be lying, please let her be lying.

"What do you mean, Lady Wei?" Han Bingwen frowned. The maid curled her fingers in anticipation. The woman could very well have been bluffing. She might have overheard their conversations and then just came up with a way to mess with their head. Xiao Hui hated to admit that it was working. 

In answer to the previous King's question, Wei Piying rummaged in her luggage and then pulled out a book. A very familiar book. A book with a plan black cover and with no name. 

"Where did you get that from?" Xiao Hui gasped out, forgetting all her politeness that it was no surprise that the vixen was not very pleased.

She sneered. "It looks like this maid has no sense of manners calling me so informally. Yingying has no personal connections with maids."

What happened next was best not to tell as of yet. All Xiao Hui knew was that that moment was going to go in her top list of disrespectfulness.