• My name is Li Shuei, a maid of Master Luo Sei. It may be odd to others, but I am in love with him. He is a man of such wisdom. There are so many things he knows that I haven’t even heard of. He is also kind, even to us, the maids of his household. Also, for a Lord of the house, Master Sei calls us all by name. There is even a strange instance I remember when I think of this. It was the first day I was at his house:
    “Good Morning” I said to him. “You must be Master Luo Sei”. “Good morning to you too, Li Shuei. Please, just call me Sei. I’m quite glad you made it safely here without getting caught in the rain. Please come in and have some tea.” He paused and looked at me, as though inspecting. “You look cold.”
    I came inside to have tea with my new master. I felt uncomfortable because the way he acted was not the way I expected. I always thought Masters were supposed to be rich, old, snobbish married men who do nothing but harass house help all day.
    “I apologize for not being able to fetch you myself. I was busy with documents that the emperor wants me to survey.”
    That’s what he said. It’s weird, he’s apologizing to a maid, the child of a peasant and most of all, a girl. The life of women in all classes of Chinese society is so scripted. First, there’s foot binding, hehehe, my parents are too poor and to busy to bind my feet. Then, there’s arranged marriage. Sigh… it’s like Master Sei is the only real person in the world who understands.
    That very day, I found out Master Sei’s profession. He is one of the emperor’s advisors, his strategist too, in times of war. I’ve always wanted to meet the emperor. Is it true that he is God-like? Was his ancestor dropped down from heaven? More importantly, was “she” dropped down from heaven?
    You probably don’t know what I’m talking about. I mean Master Sei’s fiancée, Yi Ling. She is the emperor’s niece. Seeing her in any occasion disturbs my mind. Maybe Master Sei always smiles when he sees anyone, anyone at all but… he doesn’t seem to be any happier when he sees Lady Ling. When I was young, I always thought that people are supposed to marry those they love, but I’ve never seen that happen. Even mother and father admit they did not love each other before they got married. I forgot. I will never see mother and father again. Maids aren’t supposed to leave the house. Despite that, I have always been happy in Master Sei’s service. Ooh, I forgot to tell you something. He put me in charge of his tea. I have to serve it in the afternoon and at night after dinner. And in the morning, I wake him up by knocking on his door and prepare the robe he is going to wear.
    One day, when I was serving his afternoon tea, he called together all the maids in his house. He told us all a story to learn from. And so, he started:
    “I know a lady, she was born from a peasant family and was forced to serve as servant. She worked diligently every tiresome job offered to her. Just when she was about to give up on life, a young prince noticed her and loved that she worked hard and kept optimistic despite hardship and famine. She married the young prince and finally became someone. She died old and happy, the perfect life. Guess who it is? The Emperor’s grandmother.” He smiled at us. He smiled at all of us, as though we were all a part of his family.
    He says everything he wants to in the form of a story like when I was sad, he told the story of The Happy Prince:
    “The Happy Prince was always happy and never left the palace. Everything was served to him. Everyday was such a festive day that it started to get boring. One day, he decided to leave the palace despite his father’s refusal to his request. The first day he has been outside, he saw an old, sickly man working in his farm. This deeply hurt the prince since he’s been living an extravagant life with no consequences and no hardship of any kind.
    The second time he left the palace, he saw death. It caused tears to fall out of his eyes. He did not know what this was since he has never been sad in his life.
    On the third time that he has been out of the palace, he saw a bald man wearing a plain robe begging for food. This man was a monk, obviously. He taught the prince about enlightenment. After observing life at the monastery, the prince realized what he must do. He learned to cherish happy moments and to share sad moments like the rest of the people. With that lesson learned, he became a formidable ruler.
    Now, Shuei. Times of Sadness are necessary to make happiness more enjoyable and special. Being happy all the time, believe it or not, is not good for your health. Go on now, practice your calligraphy. Here’s a new guide book for you.”
    He made us all learn to read and write and shared what he learned from great philosophers. Only rich women get to study but he gave us all a chance. With the lessons he teaches, again, he makes us relate to it with the use of his stories. I want to remember every word he says, like the story of his great grandfather who discovered our village, Luo Yang, or the spirits of our ancestors being able to answer us back through symbols. He encourages us to pray to our ancestors and leaves a room for us to burn incenses and to pray. He encourages us to crave knowledge. Sometimes, me and my best friend, Sa Xiang, like to borrow books from his private library right after cleaning. I think he’s starting to suspect that someone is touching his precious books but he never seems to point a finger at anyone.

    Part I~ Meeting the Emperor
    “Oh no, Sa Xiang! Master Sei left his pamphlet here! It contains the plans for the Imperial army’s encampment at Jing Province. He said he’ll need this. I gotta go!” I yelled but Xiang shook me and said “Woah, woah! We’re not allowed to leave the house. You know that. And what will you do when you do when you catch up with Master’s carriage?”
    “I don’t know but I’ll try.” I ran off leaving Xiang in a state of shock. “Crazy girl”. I heard her murmur on my way out. I looked to the left, then to the right of the busy street and ran when I saw Master Sei’s carriage. He always tells the driver to go slowly as he did not want to hit anyone unintentionally and preferred to enjoy the scenery.
    I shouted again and again “Master Sei! Master Sei!”. “Hold on, stop.” He said to the driver and got off to see me. “Li Shuei, what are you doing outside? You could have gotten hurt.” I gasped for air and handed him the pamphlet. “Your… pamphlet, sir. You left it at home.”
    “Ah, what would the emperor say about me? Late for his conference meeting and missing the necessary paraphernalia. You’re such a good girl, Shuei.” He smiled and patted my head.
    “Hmm, how could this be? I’m late, but I don’t want you to walk home by yourself.”
    “I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry.”
    “No need to apologize. You are much help to me.” He paused with a troubled face and looked at me. Suddenly, he smiled again. “I know, I’ll take you with me.”
    The gates of the Forbidden City opened for us. A little later, we were standing before the Emperor of the world.
    “Luo Sei, what is this woman you have brought with you? Are you not engaged to my Yi Ling?” the emperor said gazing at me.
    “Sire, is it wrong to bring a servant? After all, we are to have afternoon tea, right?”
    “Ah, I see. Well, you won’t have to bring them here if you would only stay here!”
    “I apologize. I must turn down your offer yet again. I am happy where I am, where the wind is free and the leaves dance to the music of the lively streets”
    “Well, if I shall like to keep you as my adviser, I shall have to bend to your terms, am I correct?”
    “Yes, sire.”
    “Well then, we shall have tea. Does this young lady know how to make good tea?”
    “Yes, sir. In fact, I brought her along for her exceptional capability in the art of tea.” He nodded to me as the ladies brought me to the kitchen. Same old, same old, I boiled water and mixed the ingredients as usual except in a different setting. When I came to serve tea, I heard them talking.
    “I apologize for the misunderstanding, Luo Sei. It’s just that you dress your maid like a high-class lady. Is it true that you even taught them to read and write?
    “Yes, indeed. I believe that each person, man or woman, deserves a chance at education and I guess, also, proper clothing to wear.”
    “Oh good, tea has arrived. I hope it is as good as you claim, Sei.” The emperor chuckled.
    After pouring the tea, I was preparing to leave but both Master Sei and the emperor asked me to sit down. The emperor asked many questions about me and told me that I was such a lovely sight on an autumn afternoon.
    Master Sei walked away with me, smiling with such glee. He held my hand all the way until we got home. We did not talk, he was too happy to talk. The only thing he said was that he was proud of me, the way a father would say it to a successful son.
    After practicing my calligraphy, I was summoned to Master Sei’s chambers. He stood up from his chair and patted my head yet again. “You’re very good, Li Shuei. You’re a blessing from the heavens. Thank you again for this morning.” He kissed my forehead and then paused for a short while, the smile disappearing from his beautiful face. “Don’t you ever do that again.” He started in a calm tone. “I don’t want you to get hurt. Don’t leave the house without me. You might get lost or be taken by someone. Don’t scare me like that, Shuei. Promise me that.” He shook me. He had not taken his hands away from the sides of my head. I held on to his hands and nodded my head “I promise.”

    Part 2~ Spring Time Surprise

    It is spring time. I woke up quite suspicious that there was not much noise nor people inside the house. I asked Xiang where all the people were. I was surprised to find out that Master Sei fired them all, leaving Xiang, the head cook, Hong Cai and me the only ones remaining.
    I bust into Master Sei’s room angrily without even knocking. He was staring blankly out of his window, thinking deeply about something. “What is the meaning of this? Why did you fire everyone?” I asked him half-angry and half in tears.
    “You of all people know very well that we had a hard winter!”
    He pointed his fan at me then continued. “I don’t want anyone to suffer while serving me. We, I cannot support so many servants as before. I-I won’t be able to live with it if anyone suffered because I could not support them. We can only do so much with the resources available to us.”
    “Why didn’t you send me away?” I asked, fighting my own sadness.
    “When your parents sold you to me so they could start living the good life, you have been so precious. Besides, Shuei, I still need you, I cannot deny that.”
    I didn’t answer back to him because I was speechless. Instead, I tried to wipe the tears with my sleeves. He came towards me and made me look at him. He wiped the tears from my eyes so when I opened them, he smiled again.
    “Don’t you worry about them, Shuei. I made sure they got good jobs before I sent them away. If ever harsh conditions arise, I could provide for you and they could provide for themselves.” Master Sei glanced at Xiang who was looking through the open door. “Xiang, if you would be kind enough, make tea for all of us. Just for today.”
    Xiang nodded and tea was served in no time. When she came back, Master Sei was still trying to hush me. He sipped from the small cup and said “Shh. There is change everywhere, Change that all people have to adapt to. There is change in the season, dynasties, the state of land, everything. As a young bird hatches and is fed, one day, it shall have to use its own wings to fly and to serve himself.”

    Part 3~ Lady Yi Ling

    Lady Yi Ling arrived to visit Master Sei after hearing that he dropped the most of his servants. I was quite uncomfortable with her clinging onto Master Sei’s arm and being so noisy. Master Sei forbade unnecessary noise in his house.
    “Oh Sei, are you getting ready for me? Wow, this is so touching! Set the date, love. I want to be able to be with you at all times.”
    “Ling, do not rush.” He separated her arm from his and picked an apple from a tree and showed it to her. “As with this apple, we also have to wait for things to ripen before we pick. When the time is ripe, our wedding shall commence.” She grabbed the apple and said “But love! If you wait too long, the apple will become rotten and will fall to the ground. I don’t want that to happen!”
    “Hush, Yi Ling, Hush. Patience is the key to a successful marriage. Besides that, you need not worry about waiting too long and our marriage plans falling apart. You are barely a teenager. I want you to focus on your studies. Once you have completed yourself as a person, then you are ready to walk down the isle.” She looked away quite flustered.
    “I understand.”
    “Come on, let us discuss this over a cup of tea.” He smiled at her. “Cheer up.” He again called me by name and asked me to bring tea. I hate that look she gave me, it’s as though it was a crime that Master Sei would call me by my name. I suppose she is even younger than me. But, in my opinion, she is just annoying.
    Lady Yi Ling sat down incompetently, staring at my master. I served the tea and even spared her from the trouble of having to pour it into the cup. “Luo Sei, I don’t like tea.”
    She pushed the cup towards him. “Drink. It is good for you.” Master Sei pushed the cup back towards her. “If I do, will you smile for me?” she asked. Master Sei nodded slightly and smiled for her.
    I left them in the garden because I have no further plans to stalk them. Instead, I decided to read some new scrolls that I saw Master Sei put inside his cabinet. It’s quite interesting. It’s about their detailed victory at subduing the rebels from the South. I hope that the Han will be safe now. Master Sei has a noble profession. If only women were allowed to work those… Never mind.
    I got up to collect the cups in case Master Sei wanted to put some of the papers he’s reading on top of the table. I looked at his cup quite surprised. “Master Sei, your tea has gone cold.”
    “Oh yes, I apologize for forgetting about it.” He started off by drinking it all in one gulp.
    “Master!-“
    Lady Yi Ling could not help herself and laughed at the strange sight. I grew even more irritated when she did so. I got the cups and left with discontent.
    I believe Lady Yi Ling will not make a suitable companion for my master. She is too immature for him. Her lack of relevant intellect will surely bore him to death. I don’t ever want that to happen. I’ll do anything, anything at all to delay this wedding. But then, I don’t want him to be lonely. I don’t know what I’ll do right now but I guess; I’ll just go with anything… Because I love him and I want him to be happy.

    Part 4~ The Funeral

    I was summoned to Master Sei’s chambers. Apparently, he wanted me to see something. He gave a scroll to me in such disappointment that simply holding the letter made me feel uncomfortable. I took a deep breath before opening it.
    “No, no. It can’t be. Master Sei! This couldn’t have happened!”
    “I thought so too, Shuei. Come, get dressed. We’ll go to Sun Ying’s funeral.”
    Sun Ying was a friend of mine. She was a servant at Master Sei’s household until spring. Apparently, she died of Typhoid Fever which struck China at a very crucial stage in our development. Despite the fact that we were very sheltered from the outside world, I know very well what is happening outside. People are dying…one by one.
    Master Sei, was this why you would not let us out? Is this why you were angry with me? Did you take the chance with the others plainly so you could save us from this epidemic? So many questions I want to ask, but right now, I can only stare at you from a distance.
    The three of us, Hong Cai, Sa Xiang, and I, Li Shuei, came with Master Sei to the funeral. We prayed so she would stay safe wherever she was off to. Xiang couldn’t help but cry, so I rubbed her back and tried to comfort her.
    Death is a natural part of life. I know that, I always have. I have never been afraid to die. But now, when I saw how much grief and devastation it caused, I will be afraid. I will be afraid to die… for the sake of those I love… For Master Sei! He needs me! I know he does. I shall never take that for granted.