1 Encounter at the Market

In a small dirt courtyard, a young boy was squatting, hugging his knees as he stared at his reflection in a tiny koi pond. The boy's reflection showed a young man that looked about 12 years old with black hair and delicate facial features. Handsome could be one of many words that could describe this young man's face but one could see that a blank stare seemed to be the only expression his face could make.

Wang Meng looked at his face and couldn't help but think of his mother. His mother, Li Na, was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was so beautiful that she made his father's first wife seem like nothing but an ugly duckling in the presence of an elegant swan. However, although Li Na was blessed by the heavens with beauty, she was born as a woman with no status, rising from the ranks of Head Maid Servant to her current status as Mistress Li, one of many low-ranking concubines in his father's harem.

What would have been any maid's dream in the Wang Estate to be the love of the family head was actually hell due to his first wife, Liu Yang, known as Lady Liu. Because Lady Liu was born into the Liu family of the three Great Families within Wang City, Wang Meng and his mother's lives were anything but luxurious and peaceful. In a world where having a pretty face can only get a person so far, Wang Meng's mother's influence in Wang City pales in comparison to Lady Liu's.

While thinking of his mother, Wang Meng unconsciously grabbed the clear marble that hung from a delicately linked gold chain around his neck. When he was young, his mother gave him this necklace, saying that it was a protection charm that his father gave to her when he first laid eyes on her.

His father giving his mother something of such value was something that Wang Meng could hardly believe because in the very few times that he has seen his father, there was never any expression on his face besides stern cold eyes that never seem to warm up in any occasion. There was never any love in these eyes for Wang Meng, only the look someone makes when they see something they disliked. This demeaning look has always had the greatest effect on Wang Meng's impression of his father.

As he rolled the marble against his fingers, Wang Meng seemed to have become lost within another world. If someone saw him right now, they would think he was looking off into space, staring at his reflection within the koi pond. But in Wang Meng's eyes, he was no longer in the small dirt courtyard, but another world that only belonged to him. A world that not only was without the darkness and hardship of his everyday life but a world that he enjoyed, his Dream World!

Whatever he thought of within this world always happened exactly the way it occurred in his thoughts. The scene that he always thought about within his Dream World was him and his mother, sitting in a gazebo in the middle of a huge lake laughing and enjoying each other's company. The wind would blow a gentle breeze with the birds singing a calming tune. Simulating a peaceful escape that rarely ever happens to his mother and him in real life.

Wang Meng's best friend and only friend really also appeared in his Dream World with him and his mother. His name was Fatty, an orphan boy around the same age as Wang Meng who served Wang Meng's residence for as long as he could remember. Even though Fatty was a servant, Wang Meng treated him no differently than a brother because to him, Fatty was someone almost as important to him as his mother.

Fatty was the only other person beside his mother who could put a smile on his face. Within in the Wang Family, everyone else saw Wang Meng as a wastrel, someone with no potential to make something out of himself as the son of only a mistress. But Fatty was different. He allowed Wang Meng to feel that the hell of the Wang Family can be a little more bearable as long as he had his best friend by his side.

Wang Meng smiled at both his mother and Fatty as he look to the other side of the gazebo. Besides his mother and Fatty, however, there was always a fourth figure that sat with them, a dark silhouette, vaguely outlining the image of a man. No matter how Wang Meng tried to imagine the image of his father, he would never fully appear in this world inside his marble.

His mother would always look at this dark figure while smiling and giggling, but Wang Meng could never hear what they were talking about. During this time in his Dream World, it is one of the few times as of late where he sees his Mother's face light up with happiness, always making him feel warm inside.

As Wang Meng was starting to sink further from reality in the peace of his Dream World the sound of a faint echo coming closer brought him back into reality.

"Wang Meng … Wang Meng … WANG MENG!"

As Wang Meng awoken from his daze from being in his Dream World, he felt someone's foot kick his upper back forward and his reflection became only an inch away from his face as he opened his eyes wide with surprise.

Splash!

The sound of laughter come from Wang Meng's assailant has Wang Meng's head surfaced from the pond.

"Hahaha, that's what you get for ignoring me for the last 10 minutes," said the fatty who kicked him as he pretended to pout in front of Wang Meng. This little fatty, was Wang Meng's only friend in the Wang Estate, Fatty, who seemed to be trying to get Wang Meng's attention for the last 10 minutes but became impatient and kicked him into the pond.

Almost immediately Fatty stopped pretending to pout and started laughing again, his face and stomach began to jiggle from all the excess weight on his body.

"Woah!" Splaaaasssshhh!

In the middle of Fatty's laughter, Wang Meng pulled his best friend into the pond with him, causing the pond water to form huge waves as Fatty's body fell in.

"Arrgh, this is my only set of clean clothes," Fatty complained as he resurfaced from being pulled into the pond.

"Serves you right for pushing me in when I was having a nice dream!" Wang Meng said as he glared at Fatty.

"You say that as if I did something wrong!" Fatty snickered. "What were you even dreaming about, huh?" Fatty made a thinking face for a moment, then snapped his fingers and exclaimed. "You were fantasizing about a girl weren't you!"

"You!" Wang Meng couldn't handle this fat blob anymore as he dunked his friend's head down into the water.

"Gurgle, gurgle." Fatty's flailing body began to make more waves in the pond that made Wang Meng lose his footing, causing him to release Fatty.

"Trying to kill your only friend, what's wrong with you!?" Fatty exclaimed as he was gasping for air.

"Shouldn't you be on cooking duty today? Since when could you be so idle to bother me in the middle of the day?"

"I am on cooking duty today. That's why I came here to ask you if you wanted to come with me to the market to see if there is anything interesting to buy."

"Why even look for anything at the market when you can't even afford to buy anything?" asked Wang Meng in an irritated tone as he got out of the pond and began wringing the water out of his clothes.

"I can't afford anything, but you can," said Fatty as he winked at Wang Meng. "Your best friend needs some new clothes now that his only nice ones are now ruined. How am I supposed to impress Jing'er now?" Fatty groaned as he also got out of the pond and wrung the water out of his clothes.

Wang Meng looked at his friend with doubt as he said "Did you even have a chance in the first place? How could the young lady of the Song family ever take notice of a fatty like you?"

"Why does everyone say that? I'm fat, not ugly! Everyone underestimates the charm of this face! With these new clothes you're going to buy for me, who knows? My chances were pretty good before with this handsome face but after you do me a favor and buy me some nice clothes, she's bound to notice me!" Fatty said as he started to beg. "C'mon, do your Brother Fatty a favor, just this once!"

Seeing that Fatty probably wouldn't stop begging for a long time if he doesn't go with him, Wang Meng reluctantly went along with Fatty to the market.

. . .

Wang City Eastern Market in Wang City was the most populous and exotic market within a hundred-mile radius so there were many merchants and visitors that came daily from all over the regions surrounding Wang City.

Fatty excitedly pulled Wang Meng to one of the most famous clothing shop in the market, Silk Road Palace, begging Wang Meng to buy him a really luxurious robe to impress Song Jing. Wang Meng groaned internally as he looked around. As a shop with a huge reputation, many of the clothes within the Silk Road Palace were able to easily reach the high point of even Wang Meng's life savings, not to mention the amount of money he currently had on him.

Going to crowded places like the market was something Wang Meng was never a big fan of. Not only did he feel subjugated by the stares of the strangers he past, but he also felt the weight of anxiety caused by everyone's judgement weighing his body down like a ton of bricks. After being shunned and despised by many in the Wang Family for so long, Wang Meng grew more apprehensive when going outside his mother's residence. If it wasn't for Fatty begging him, he probably wouldn't have even left outside its bounds today.

As Wang Meng and Fatty were looking at the robes reaching the lowest quality and price that the Silk Road Palace had to offer, Wang Meng heard a disgusted snort and an insidious high pitch giggle as he saw a pair of brother and sister approach Fatty and him. Wang Meng's face turned pale as he saw this pair approach while Fatty, still oblivious, was picking out the clothes he wanted. Cold sweat started to run down Wang Meng's back as he tapped Fatty's shoulder to tell him they needed to leave the shop.

This pompous brother and sister pair were Wang Meng's half sibling's, Wang Wei and Wang Fang, both being Lady Liu's children. As the spawns of the devil herself, this brother-sister duo treated Wang Meng no differently than their mother would treat his mother, lesser than the dirt under their shoes. Out of all the people in the Wang Family, these two were the one's Wang Meng wanted to see the least. Seeing that Fatty was too engrossed in looking at the material of the robe he was holding, Wang Meng took a deep breath and looked up at his half siblings as they approach.

"Tsk, I thought I saw two familiar faces in the corner of my eye but it turns out to be two strays getting excited over trying to buy some rags," Wang Wei sneered as he looked at Fatty and Wang Meng. "Not only is one a dirty rat dog who looks like a pig," Wang Wei said as he looked at Fatty and then turned to Wang Meng, "But the other is the son of a slut who doesn't know her place."

"Brother, don't waste your time talking to these dogs or else they might bite. They smell like they just swam in some trash," laughed Wang Fang as she pinched her nose.

"The only dog here is you, bitch," said Fatty under his breath as he finally noticed the duo's presence.