Lovely Blossoms

It wasn't until a little over two months later that Fen Hua was finally able to speak to Jingfei. Lady Shu and Lady Suyin were waiting for Liang Gemeng to come home. It was a monthly custom for them all to sit together and eat a meal. When the heads of the house were busy with the entertainment for the night, Jingfei sidled closer to Fen Hua.

"Finally, we can talk," she whispered. Up close the scars on her face were even deeper than she had thought they were. These were scars made by a whip or something of the sort. Fen Hua felt heat grow in her stomach at the thought of it. "You are looking very well."

"Thank you, you too," she hesitated for a moment trying to decide which topic to address first. "How did you end up here?" She finally asked.

Jingfei let out a dry laugh. Her eyes met Fen Hua's for a moment, there was a shift of emotion behind them. A silence followed for a few minutes after. At last she spoke again, "I hope that we can become friends again in this place. We will have to make more of an effort to see each other." She gave Fen Hua a weak smile.

"I would really like that," Fen Hua said, overcome with relief. She had started to believe that her friend no longer wanted anything to do with her. She reached out a hand and tentatively touched Jingfei's. Though the latter didn't pull away, Fen Hua could sense how uncomfortable it was to her and pulled it back. Jingfei moved back into her original spot. Fen Hua worried she had messed things up again, so was happy when Jingfei offered her a smile before she headed out of the room at the end of the night.

When Fen Hua turned back towards Xiulan, Lady Shu caught her eye. She had been watching them. Lady Shu gave her a gentle smile then turned her attention back to her husband. She didn't know why, but this action made her feel nervous, like she had been caught doing something wrong.

Over the next few weeks things progressed as they had been. Fen Hua got to know the likes and dislikes of Little Xiulan, and Lady Shu was becoming, without any explainable reason, more and more intimidating. Liang Delun had talked to her a few more times since then too. Each time he did Fen Hua fell a little more entangled by him. Every now and then she would catch him watching her play with Xiulan, and it was becoming harder to know if she was reading into his kindness or if he really was interested in her.

Jingfei had been able to contact her a few times, sometimes they would share little gossips about the things they saw, nothing major, mostly involving other servants. And other times they would talk about the way things were when they first met and occasionally, they would talk about Liang Shu. Fen Hua learned early on that Jingfei also held esteem for the young man. Apparently, a lot of the servants within the Liang household did.

"I saw him last night coming from Master Gemeng's quarters," Jingfei whispered. The two girls were sitting against an outside wall, chatting and snacking on cookies from the kitchen. It felt like old times, and Fen Hua was, for once in her life, extremely happy. "He was wearing the dark red Hanfu that we saw him in a few weeks ago."

"Oh, I like that one," Fen Hua said giggling a little.

"Hush, let me finish," Jingfei said moving in a little closer. "He asked me about you."

Fen Hua felt herself stiffen. "What?"

"He said, 'Do you know that young woman that watches the little Lady?' I said, 'Yes we came from the same household before coming here.' Then he said, 'Then I can trust you?'"

Fen Hua was lost in these words, she had no idea what any of this could mean. Her heart was pounding loud and erratically. "Why was he asking about me?" She croaked out.

She reached under sleeve of her hanfu and pulled out a piece of paper. She slid it towards Fen Hua. "He asked me to give this to you." She smirked at Fen Hua. "Will you let me know what it says?"

Fen Hua held the piece of paper in her hand. A part of her wanted to open it right there and read it instantly, another part wanted to take it inside and savor the time before she opened it. The sound of someone coming broke her of her reverie and the two girls quickly stood up.

"Next time," Jingfei whispered before heading towards her own quarters. Jingfei watched as Fen Hua walked away, for just a moment she felt regret.

Fen Hua hurriedly walked back to her room; the piece of paper held against her c.h.e.s.t. Once she was inside, she quickly opened it leaning close to a candle to read it.

'Meet me outside by the plum tree later tonight'

'What the heck?' Fen Hua was having trouble taking this in. The writing was elegantly written, it was created with a steady hand. She had no way to know for sure it was his handwriting, but she had no reason to believe differently. 'What time is later tonight? When? What the heck?' She walked back and forth in her room for a while trying to decide if or when she should go. After a while the need to know what he wanted won out. She realized she was even willing to wait outside all night if that's what it took. She felt like she had become one of those pathetic girls in a tv drama. 'How did I come to this?'.

She found herself wearing a cloak over her head standing under the plum tree. It was within Xiulan's quarters, but far enough from her room that she was sure no one would see or hear anything that happened here. She hadn't been waiting long when a manly figure stepped into view. He wore a dark red hanfu, a hood covered his head, and the darkness shrouded his face.