Twenty two

So she made an effort to try getting him to notice her.

At the end of it, she was all alone. No family, no children or grandchildren to pass her years of experience on to. She was all alone.

And just because of Cang Mang, would she be subject to the same ending? Couldn't she receive some form of redemption? What was so bad about her that she couldn't get what she wanted? Why did she have to end up in the worst way possible? Why couldn't she receive a bit of...

Thoughts swirled around her mind as idea blossomed in a rather crooked direction.

At the Dong Residence, Cang  Mang didn't bother to take Dong Mei through the main door to inform her parents of her return. Instead, he went straight to her room through the door that had been left open.

He placed her gently on the bed and sat on her bed, locked the door and turned to leave through the window.

Outside, the wind had picked up generously and a heavy drizzle had started. He had to get home before the downpour because he would hate to get too wet.

Just as he was getting out, he happened to catch a glimpse of Dong Mei, carelessly resting in her bed.

He ignored the sight and tried again to jump out the window. But suddenly, he who was normally very athletic, could not find the strength to lift himself out the window.

He stood by the window before smiling mockingly at himself.

He threw his head back and chuckled, seeming helpless he said to himself as he closed the window, "Cang Mang, you are such a good man!"

He turned back to the room that had gotten darker since the window was closed. He lit a small wicker lamp and naturally made his way to the bed.

"Don't get to excited," he spoke to Dong Mei although she seemed unaware of his existence at that moment, "it's your fault for being too heavy. Now my arms are aching and I don't have energy to climb out a small window."

He placed the lamp on a small stool at the foot of the bed and took a seat there.

"If I'm to go out through the door, what if a thief comes in the night? Worst of all, a cold breeze? Then you catch a cold? I can't call myself a hero then, right?" He blubbered on.

He picked up her feet and placed them on his lap. Slowly, he undid her shoes and placed them at the foot of the bed.

He went to the trunk that contained her clothes, "luckily your parents got a maid, otherwise all these would be disorganized."

He pulled out a light fabric and a pair of hand made socks. He went back to the bed and put the socks on her feet before fastening them.

He moved to the side of the bed where she was sleeping. Fearlessly, he undid her outer robe so that it wouldn't choke her as she slept. He slipped it off her body and placed it on the small stool after folding. Only when he turned back did his eyes shrink back into their sockets.

"You old witch! Why didn't you bandage yourself?" Cang Mang's voice was filled with bitterness, as though the last thing he ever wanted to see was the curve of her breasts and the tip of her nipples poking through the thin fabric.

He quickly threw the extra fabric he had over her and wrapped her up as one would a present. He then threw her under the blankets and covered every part of her body except her head.

When he was done, he stood up heroically, as though he had just battled a dragon an won.

"Cang Mang, like refined jade, a son of heaven, you are unparalleled," he gave himself several taps on the chest.

Thereafter, he made his way towards the window. On opening it, he was nearly showered by the heavy downpour.

He took in a deep breath and sighed it out. He was definitely going to get wet.

He looked back into the room, "you owe me three thousand gold for this," he said before he jumped out the window, closed it behind him and ran through the rain.

The morning after had light rains.

Dong Mei woke up with a splitting  headache and her father shouting for the thief that stole his wines.

She massaged her temples to ease the headache. As she shifted between the sheets, she felt something poke her.

She fished for it within her beddings and finally pulled out a small wooden case that she had never seen before. She unceremoniously flipped it open.

Inside were two hair pins. She was familiar with the wooden one. She had worn it on the day she met Bai Yang Wei. It was in pieces in the case though the pieces had been carefully arranged to resemble what it used to be.

That was queer. Dong Mei corked an eyebrow at the hair pin. How could it break so badly? She felt a bit of pain looking at the broken hair pin.

It had been given to her by her parents after they visited a far off temple. They had picked the wood from a tree that was said to give luck in marriage. Her mother had burnt some for herself and took some back for her daughter.

Dong Mei was pleased with the gift. She had her father take it to the local carpenter to curve it into a hair pin. She promised her mother that when she was successfully married, she would burn the wood for a prosperous marriage.

She always wore that wood when she was going to see Bai Yang Wei in specific. She would also put it on anytime just in case she bumped into him.

Now the wood she had held on to for so long had been severely split. She didn't know what to think about it.