5 The Empress Dowager is On Her Way, Time to Prepare!

It was a beautiful day. The blue sky was cloudy, and the warm sun made the pond water sparkle. I was on my way to the kitchen to bring the prince his morning meal, when I was stopped by a sound of whispers. The whispering was coming from a few of the older court maids in the courtyard. I walked over to find out what they were going on about.

"Hey there, what's going on, why are you all so worked up?", I asked curiously to the older women.

"Child, haven't you heard, the Empress Dowager is coming tomorrow at noon!", she said.

"Why is it something to get so worked up about though?"

"Are you crazy, she is very strict, even stricter than the Empress, and the only one she smiles at is his highness, the prince. She also is very protective of him, Since your his personal maid now, you'll have to escort him to the banquet, and she'll probably give you a hard time for sure."

I always tell myself that I don't want to get into trouble while living in this palace, and knowing this makes it harder to not get in trouble. I am so worried...If I want to please the Empress Dowager, I should seek help from someone who has seen her before. So, maybe just this once I can sincerely ask for a favor, and put a little trust in this old court maid.

"What do I do? Is there something I can do to make her like me, even a little?"

"Well...I could tell you, but for a cost." she said mischievously.

"What's the cost?" I said with determination.

"You are going to have to clean the chicken coop, and get the eggs without breaking them."

"Alright then, it's a deal! Now, tell me what to do to make her like me."

"Okay, as simple as it may seem, it certainly is not. You have to surprise her with talent. Do you know how to do embroidery child?"

"No, I never heard of it. I only know how to sew and cook."

"Well cooking is great, but, embroidery is more technical than sewing."

"Can you teach me then, I am a quick learner, please teach me!"

"Alright, quiet down, I will teach you the basics, but you have to finish the chores first."

"No problem!" I said with joy.

I walked away joyously realizing I haven't brought the prince his food. Shoot, I hurried back to the kitchen to make a new plate for him. No one had actually tried my food, well the prince, but it was a medicinal treatment, but I had an idea in mind. I wanted to wait until the Empress Dowager arrives, then present the whole family with my food, so this meal is not prepared by me, just by a normal court maid. Anyways, I hurried to the prince's quarters with the plate, and stopped outside his door.

"Excuse me your highness...I have your morning meal." I said while knocking gently on his door.

"You may enter. Good Morning Mei, you seem to have come a bit later than usual." he said.

"Oh, I apologize for my absence...your highness." I said as I bowed and placed his plate on the table in the center of the room.

"Its fine, you may leave now, thank you."

"As you wish your highness."

I think his highness is a bit uneasy, he seems kind of disturbed. Though, I don't think I'm the problem, maybe he is worried about the Empress Dowager coming. Maybe he wants to meet her standards, although she is said to favor him dearly. I have to hurry, the chicken coop won't clean itself. I need to save as much time as possible, so I have more time to practice embroidering with the old court lady. I find it rude that I call her and old court lady, I'll make sure to get her name later on. I walked out of the prince's quarters, and went to the garden sanctuary, where the chicken coop was caged in. I entered through the rustic gates with a bucket and scrub, I scrubbed the outside of the coop first and got all of the mud and dirt off, then I crouched down to enter the inside, I scrubbed the walls of the inside of the coop, and put the bucket down, then a chicken flew out, knocking the bucket over and creating a puddle of soapy mud. I sighed and looked at the hen who was sitting on her eggs. I had a basket to hold the eggs in ,and I was scared to get pecked. I reached to grab on egg after the other, and as I feared, I did indeed get pecked, a lot. My eyes began to tear up, but even though I was hurt, all I could think of was pleasing the Empress Dowager. I managed to get all of the eggs, I brought them to the kitchen, but forgot to close the chicken pin. It was a disaster, but luckily there weren't chickens running around the premises because the pin was located inside of the fenced sanctuary, therefore, they were running about inside of the sanctuary. I tried to catch one of the chickens, but I slipped and fell into that same puddle of soapy mud, I felt like a pig, and I felt so overwhelmed that I began to cry. I was helpless, until the warm voice of someone familiar came to the rescue. It was none other than Prince Xiaoyuer.

"Ruby! Are you alright, what happened?" he said with worry.

"I'm okay, I just hurt my hands while collecting eggs, and forgot to lock the chicken pin back." I said ignoring my hands.

"Let me help you." he said as he picked me up out of the mud and sat me down on a stone pedestal in the garden.

"Okay, your highness." I said with a bashful smile.

He seemed to have paused to think, then he walked over and picked up the empty bucket, then ran towards a chicken. He caught it and put it back in the pin, then he did the same for the rest of them. After all of the chickens were back, he walked toward me with a warm smile. I looked at him, realizing how handsome he was when he worked hard. He carried me without saying a word, he just gave off a warm energy that was comforting and nice. It felt like a dream. He carried me to his room and sat me down on a bench, he left and came back, and began to fill a tub with nice warm water. I was surprised that he was doing all of this, I suppose he does care about me. He gave me new clothes and told me to take a bath while he stood outside the room. He was a gentleman. I washed all of the dirt off of me and changed into the new clothes. I opened the door to his room, and thanked him for the bath and clothes.

"Its fine, now, give me your hands. You said you hurt them at the chicken coop." he said.

"I'm okay...,but if you insist." I said while holding out my hands.

He put some type of ointment on my scars and bandaged my hands. He was very kind and gentle too. Could I have fell for the prince? No, I haven't even known him long enough...

"Ruby, I was shocked to find you in tears, you must take care of yourself more." he said.

"Yes, your highness, thank you. I will take my leave now." I said.

It was now the late afternoon, and I headed to the courtyard to find the old court lady. She was by the pond with thread, needles, and something else, I don't know what its called, it reminds me of a tambourine. I walked over and told the woman that I completed the tasks and am ready to learn.

She began with how to loop the thread and do it neatly. Then, she taught me how to do a simple flower. She told me that my hand work was very great and delicate, but, I still needed to improve my technique.

"Miss. May I ask your name? I am Mei Ruby." I said politely.

"Oh, well my name is Ju Li, but just call me Miss Ju." She said with a sweet smile.

"Alright, Miss Ju!"

She also told me that embroidery is most beautiful when it is done from the heart. It was finally the end of the lesson, and it was getting dark. I thought deep down about what she said, and what it could have meant, and I kept thinking, until a vision filled my mind... it was a memory of my mother.

In the memory, she did indeed look like me, but with red eyes, which means I got my amber eyes from my father. She was smiling at me saying "My Little Ruby" Then my father stood next to her, talking to me too. The memory fades back to now and I feel a tear fall down my face. I had no idea why I was crying. I thought my mother died before I could see her. I clenched the necklace in my hands then it began to glow. The glowing stopped, and for some reason, I felt like I knew what I had to do next. I decided to make a large, embroidered portrait of the Xiao family.

You may be thinking, "How did she finish so quickly?", well I am a fast learner after all. On the other hand, I still pricked myself more than a few times, but in the end, I think the embroidered portrait came out pretty good. So, I placed it carefully in my room to keep it safe, then I went to bring the crown prince his nightly meal. Afterwards, I ate my supper, changed my clothes, and headed to bed. I was truly exhausted from today, I needed to be more than prepared for the Empress Dowager's arrival tomorrow.