59 Hot Pot

The current house had developed a peaceful serenity between all of its occupants. At lunch and dinner, they would all meet to discuss various plans while eating in high spirits. Everyone slowly moved into a pattern with their daily lives.

Han Bing was sitting at his desk overlook the reports that had been given to him the past couple of days. Nothing in them made sense, it was as though the Emperor had lost his mind. The Emperor had been purging certain families even going so far as to killing them outright. The Emperor had proclaimed that they had done treasonous acts and were going to disrupt the peace to the common people. Not only was he killing certain families outright he was also forcibly keeping the rest of the court trapped within the palace, so he could see their every move.

Han Bing could not think of a time were the Emperor had shed his pretense of being a kind and just person in front of the entire world. "This couldn't be from us escaping, I was more of a pass time than anything else" Han Bing thought to himself "what exactly is going on in the capital?"

Han Bing shivered in fear, currently the emperor was occupied with his task of cleaning up the court but what would happen when he was done that. The Emperor had always taken his frustration out on Han Bing.

Han Bing heard Mai's light airy voice call out that "dinner was ready." He clutched the reports in his hands as he silently made his way towards the dining room. Han Bing was determined to share the news with Mai and Zheng Li to see if they could make light of it.

They all sat around a table with a bowl of broth in the middle. Each chair had a bowl of rice followed by a plate and a smaller bowl. The smaller bowl held a light brown sauce that was mostly see-through accompanied by a hint of salt and pepper. In the middle of the table was side dishes that included vegetables cooked in different arrangements. Some looked to be covered in a red sauce whereas others were not.

Han Bing glanced around the table in surprise. He had never once doubting Mai's cooking but even he had no idea what he was supposed to do at this moment. He gave Mai a questioning glance while he saw down. Han Bing noted that the servants all seemed to be smiling even though they were trying hard not to.

Once everyone was seated for the meal Mai started to explain what they were eating. "This is something that my family would share a lot on a cold winter night. It brought us closer together and I wish to share it with you us well. The meat isn't cooked yet or the vegetables that aren't on the table. What you do is you bought what you want to eat in the big pot of broth. Which will cook it leading to the broth becoming more flavorable this is called hot pot. The other thing I am excited to share with you is Kimchi, it is the spicy red side dish that you see here. Please enjoy everyone!" Mai said with a excited smile on her face.

Although Han Bing had been interested in the food that Mai was talking about he couldn't pull his eyes off of the woman herself. Every since she had arrived she had developed an air around her that made people in her presence feel happy.

Han Bing watched as Mai nodded her head to Zhi Ruo. Who then walked back into the kitchen and pulled out a cart that was filled with small cuts of meat and vegetables. Han Bing continued to stare as Zhe Ruo put a quarter of the meat and vegetables into the broth.

Han Bing heard Mai and Zheng Li suck in a breath as they watched the meat go into the bowl. Mai picked up her chopsticks to spread around the pile of meat that had formed.

"The meat shouldn't take too long" Mai said watching the bowl intently. "okay it had been long enough trying some you guys! Don't forget to dip it in the sauce."

Everyone picked up various pieces of meat and vegetables to try with the different side dishes. Han Bing was incredibly impressed with everything that he had put into his mouth even the Kimchi. Once everyone got used to taking the slices of meat out of the hot pot they slowly started to devour it piece by small piece.

Han Bing looked around the room to the joyous faces that filled the dining room and wish that he was not going to be the bearer of bad news. However, he had learnt at a young age to ask those that he trusted about the information that he got.

Han Bing walked over to Mai and gave her a light kiss on the neck from behind. Wrapping his arms around her he said, "that was delicious Mai, you never cease to amaze me."

Han Bing watched as her checks developed a light flush from his compliment. Mai turned in order to face him, staring into his eye before going in for a kiss on the lips.

Zheng Li made a noise in the background to remind that of his presence. Zheng Li had seen the confused look on Han Bings face before dinner started and knew that he had wanted to talk about the reports with him and Mai.

Han Bing rolled his eyes at Zheng Li but decided that it was probably a good idea to get the information out in the open instead of getting distracted by Mai.

"These are the reports from the people in the city. Something is not right, but I don't know what yet. It looks like no one knows exactly what happened just that the Emperor completely changed. I want you guys to read it and see if you can connect any dots that I might have missed" Han Bing said. "Also, I don't think that this is related to us, but I think we need to be extra careful and find another place to live that isn't in this country."