74 Who is This?

Mai watched as the water boiled and the eggs clinked around the pot. As with most open flame cooking the only control over the heat one had was how close or far you were putting the items to the fire. "Has it been 10 minutes yet?" Mai thought to herself, "I know my mom said that it was fine not boiling them until the yolk was chalky, but I like them that way. Also, these aren't even chicken eggs, so I don't know how long to cook them for." Mai stared into the pot willing the eggs to cook faster.

Mai heard Han Bing footsteps as he creaked along the floorboards towards her.

"Good morning, Mai" Han Bing said softly as he glanced towards Mai.

"Good morning, Han Bing" Mai said just as softly to him with a slight smile on her face "I got you an egg dear husband! You must be starved" Mai's stomach growled right when she mentioned being starving.

Han Bings eyebrow lifted a little as he glanced at Mai, looking towards her stomach "are you sure I am the one starving dear wife?"

"shhh" Mai exclaimed embarrassed, going back to her task of babying the eggs to cook them faster. Taking a small stick that Mai had cleaned in the fire earlier she scooped out the two eggs with little trouble. Taking the boil pot of water from the hook that held it over the fire, Mai added the tea leaves to the water.

"Where did you get tea leaves?" Han Bing asked in confusion.

"From Fourteen" Mai mumbled quietly not knowing if she had done something wrong accepting tea leaves from the man.

"Ah, Fourteen" Han Bing started looking toward the man who had been silent the whole time "and what do you have to say for yourself? You claimed to know my mother and yet I couldn't sleep at all with the knowledge that is contained in this letter!" taking the crumbled letter out of his pocket with his voice slightly cracking "Who is Meng Lifen!"

Fourteen glanced downwards sucking in a large breath "Meng Lifen was your mother or what was left of your mother when she died. She hard very little interactions with the outside world and the Emperor used that to his advantage. He directed that all the servants would only use Meng Lifen so that she would slowly accept the name and the identity he created for her. In doing so also accept him at a fundamental level." Fourteen looked downcast as he continued "In the earlier years she defied him, but as the years went on, he used you as his greatest tool. When she referred to herself as Meng Lifen the first time, he gifted her a painting of you."

While Fourteen had been telling of the twisted existence that was Meng Lifen, the aroma of jasmine filled the air bringing a sense of calm to the people.

Mai's heart shuddered in pain for Han Bing, it almost would have been better if Meng Lifen had been a lie and Fourteen had been caught in the act. Yet, here they were. Mai found some cups in a small cupboard, rinsing them in some water first she made a cup for everyone that was present.

"Here" Mai said handing Han Bing the cooled down boiled egg.

Han Bing looked at her in confusion and back at the egg. His hands wrapped around the egg and he just held it in his hands.

"You have to crack it" Mai replied, realizing that Han Bing had probably never cracked a hard-boiled egg before, "like this" May hit the top of the egg on the ground so cracks appeared all up the egg. Gently wiping away the eggshell with her hands. "See it isn't that hard" Mai started to say before she glanced up at Han Bing who looked like he was going to smash the egg on the ground. Mai utterly scared that Han Bing was going to ruin the egg went with a nervous chuckle "NO! Silly me take this one, ill crack that one." Mai reached out her hand and traded eggs with Han Bing.

Now that the eggs had been cracked and were slowly eaten to savor the flavor Mai asked "So what are we going to do now? What organization do you work for fourteen and how many of you are truly loyal to your cause and not just a mole planted by the Emperor to watch over you?"

"To answer your last question" Fourteen began "we are a small closed knit group of people we have no name and only exist in the shadows. We are taken in as orphans and given the life of luxury for the first year. Then slowly items are removed until we have nothing… Then we are told if we beat everyone else there, we will regain the luxury items. Only it never was at the same level as when we first arrived. Id like to say this instilled a great sense of competition around us. However, that all changed when members started dying and only our small group even knew what their name was, even if that name was just a number. Eventually we realized that the Emperor was slowly losing his mind and started sacrificing us in great numbers to achieve his aim." Fourteen spoke as if these sequences had little effect on his own person almost as if he was recounting facts with no emotions. "I am sure you guys trust me enough to undo my hand bindings. One cannot enjoy tea if one can does not sip the tea" Fourteen followed up with.