Lovely Blossoms

Li Shen forced herself to put aside the memories. There was no way to know how she had come here or why. What she knew was that life went on. No matter how cruel or dark it might be, one must continue. She wondered for a moment if that fight had been instilled in her because of her worthless father making her fen for herself since she was little more than a toddler.

Every day a maid would come into her room and bring her meals. Breakfast had already past, the leftover food grown cold. Lunch would be here soon if her stomach was right. Today she would try to start a conversation with her. Today she would become Baek Fen Hua.

Li Shen peeked out the door waiting to spot the older woman that normally brought the food. She could see her in the distance, she was talking to a younger girl as if scolding her. The younger girl was probably around fifteen or sixteen. She couldn't have been much younger then Li Shen, or even Fen Hua. The girl glanced in her direction and without knowing why Li Shen hid behind the door heart pounding.

"Stop being such a wimp," She chastised herself. " How are you going to make it here if you can't even make eye contact with the maids?" She told herself this, but inside all she could think about was the way that Fen Hua had been treated. The nervousness of her had transferred to Li Shen and it was hard to push it back.

Li Shen moved to the pillowed seats near the table. She put her fingers on the base of it and began to drum them feeling every moment that passed was a lifetime.

The sound of the door creaking open finally gave her a sense of relief. She did her best to give a tight lipped smile to the slender older woman as she walked in, but her smile quickly dropped as the younger girl followed her in. This hadn't been part of her plan. She was only brave enough to talk to one person right now. It had been almost a month and a half since she spoke to someone( not questioned or yelled at for help during the worst part of it all, because she had done plenty of that), now she was expected to speak to two people at once?

"Fourth Miss, this is Baek Jingfei. She will be serving you for now on," the older woman glanced at the young maid, Jingfei and gave her a slight glare.

Jingfei waited a moment longer then she should have considering the master servant relationship between her and Fen Hua, but she finally gave a slight bow.

"I will be your maid for now on Forth Miss, I will do my best to serve you." She didn't look directly at Fen Hua, but Fen Hua could see the hostility towards her in every aspect of her body.

"Nice to meet you," Fen Hua said quietly. Her voice cracked a little from her lack of using it. She gave a slight cough and spoke a little louder. "Thank you for your service." This was the moment that Li Shen dissolved herself fully into Fen Hua. For now on she would be Fen Hua.

The two maids had lifted their heads in surprise at hearing Fen Hua speak.

"We have brought your lunch Fourth Miss, please have some." Jingfei set a tray down in front of Feng Hua. A very simple meal of broth and rice. It was the same every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She wasn't sure if this was because she hadn't been feeling well, or if this was just a way to keep her feeling miserable.

Fen Hua lifted the bowl to her lips and began to drink the warm broth. Usually she would wait for them to leave before making herself look like a starving dog before they left, but today she needed the strength to finish what she started.

"If that is all Fourth Miss, we will be going now," Jingfei said stiffly. It seemed to disgust her quiet a bit to see Fen Hua slurping up the soup the way she was.

Fen Hua gazed at the young girl, somewhat pudgy in the cheeks but still attractive because of her youth. Her eyes were slightly beady, but full of long lashes and a feeling of vibrancy. Despite her bad attitude and obvious dislike towards Fen Huh, she decided she liked this girl.

"You must first check the chamber pot," the older maid, who Fen Hua didn't know the name for, chastised Jingfei.

A tinge of red bloomed on the young girls cheeks. A hostile animosity that she would never be able to discuss. She had never thought that her life would turn into serving the lowest of the low in a low ranking military family. Not only serving but also having to check the chamber pot! How did her life come to this?

The older maid clicked her tongue in warning and Jingfei begrudgingly moved towards the thankfully empty chamber pot. Fen Hua had been doing her best to dispose of it herself as much as possible. She wasn't used to having other people deal with her not so pretties. Jingfei was noticeably relieved and walked backwards towards the spot she had left next to the older maid.

They were about to leave when Fen Hua spoke up.

"Could," she cleared her throat again. "Could you stay for a while?" Her voice was naturally gentle, like a soft water. She lifted her finger and pointed to Jingfei.

A look of surprise covered both the maids faces. In all of the years of serving in this home, Meilin, the head made of the entire household, had never once heard the Fourth Miss ask for anything except for the day her mother died. That was the day that the child became an a.d.u.l.t even though she was still so young. Her request then had also been unexpected. "Can I go with her?" She had asked. There was no denying that the possibility she didn't understand what she was asking was there, but the look in her eyes, the depth and certainty that was there when she asked...

"Of course Forth Miss," Meilin said quietly. She couldn't describe the feeling inside of herself at this moment. She had somehow grown to think of the Fourth Miss as something other then human. Never speaking, never leaving the room, never showing emotions. To hear her now in such a delicate tone was disconcerting. She quietly bowed and left the room