Scarlet Dandelions

by Fynn Chen

  “I-I don’t dare to, Princess Wanwan,” Yingqi said.

  “Then I am commanding you to do so,” Wanwan said and saw the maid’s eyes quiver a little before she finally nodded her head.

  Yingqi looked like a pure and innocent child and Wanwan would hate to think that she was keeping huge secrets from them. Wanwan later taught Yingqi how to approach her mare and how to groom Scarlet without provoking the equine. It seemed unnecessary because Wanwan could tell that Yingqi had already known beforehand. Wanwan smiled to herself but it did not surprise her for she had already expected it. In fact, Scarlet had taken to Yingqi almost as easily as she had taken to Yexuan as well. In Yingqi’s eyes, happiness was reflected in them as she bonded with Scarlet, a look that dispelled all of Wanwan’s thoughts of Yingqi as a villainous character. Regardless, Wanwan still had to get to the bottom of Yingqi’s past but she would not be hasty.

  “P-Princess Wanwan, Scarlet is really beautiful and really g-gentle.”

  “Gentle?” Wanwan nearly spat out the word and grimaced at her horse. “Well… I am not so sure if that is the descriptive word Prince Zhongtai would use on Scarlet. The last time he tried to touch her, Scarlet nearly bit off his fingers.”

  “Really?!” Yingqi asked, her eyes becoming round with interest.

  As if recalling the difference in their statuses, Yingqi lowered her head again. “I-I am sorry P-Princess Wanwan, I got too excited. My behaviour had been i-inappropriate.”

  “What was inappropriate, Yingqi? Expressing your excitement?” Wanwan asked with a cynical undertone which the palace maid was quick to detect.

  Darting her eyes away, Yingqi gave a small nod of her head as she focused her attention on polishing Scarlet’s mane.

  Yingqi is rather intelligent and perceptive. Palace maids were taught from young to read the moods of the masters they served. If not for her stuttering, given her beauty and intelligence, Yingqi could have been selected as a maid-in-waiting for one of the imperial consorts or even the Empress herself. Wanwan wondered why she was here to serve Princess Yexuan in this place where she could not possibly gain any recognition nor promotion.

  “Tell me Yingqi, why did you become a palace maid?”

  “M-Money,” Yingqi replied simply.

  “And when you have earned enough? What would you do with these monies?” Wanwan asked smoothly.

  The column of Yingqi’s throat bobbed as she struggled to find words. “B-Buy land, b-buy a horse, b-build a house.”

  Wanwan tried to contain a smile. “That is a really simple dream, Yingqi. It is beautiful.”

  “T-Thank you, Princess Wanwan.”

  Time passed in silence for a couple of moments before Wanwan spoke again.

  “I would realise your dream immediately. How much taels of gold would you need, Yingqi?”

  The brush nearly slipped from Yingqi’s hands and the palace maid froze as if consumed by a fearsome thought.

  “N-No… Princess Wanwan, did I do something wrong? D-Don’t send me out of the palace, please.”

  “It is not monies you truly desire then, Yingqi,” Wanwan said and wore a casual smile on her face, “I was pulling your leg, Yingqi. Don’t look so afraid. Your Princess Yexuan will berate me if I intimidated you.”

  Putting a finger to her lips, Wanwan said, “keep our conversation a secret from your Princess Yexuan.”

  Yingqi bit her lips as she nodded in obedience.

  Amidst her time spent with Scarlet and Yingqi, Wanwan had not failed to take notice of the change in the volume of snowfall outside the stables and of the changing sky colours from clear to musky.

  “Perhaps, it is time that I return you to Princess Yexuan lest she worries,” Wanwan said.

  Upon their return to Yexuan’s quarters, Wanwan understood from the other serving maids that Yexuan had yet return since the morning court session. Narrowing her eyes as she felt her heart seized by worry, Wanwan took a folded umbrella and departed from Yexuan’s residence in haste, towards the direction of the Hall of Moral Accordance where the morning assembly was usually held at.

  Assaulted by anxious thoughts gathering in her mind, Wanwan broke out in a semi-run midway, and when she had spotted Yexuan, the anxiousness finally dissipated. Yexuan looked heavily shrouded in sentiments, her eyes were unfocused, and she seemed to not have notice Wanwan approaching from a distance. It was only when Wanwan had stood herself right before Yexuan and held the oil paper umbrella over Yexuan, that the courtly princess had jerked to attention.

  “Y-You scared me. What are you doing here?” Yexuan asked in surprise but there was a hint of elatedness as well.

  Shrugging one of her shoulder and giving a slight wave of the umbrella, Wanwan said, “went to your quarters, you were not present, so I came to fetch you instead. The snowfall is getting heavier.”

  Yexuan’s mouth quivered slightly before her lips curved into a smile, one that had a tinge sadness in them. Pursing her lips, Wanwan held back her tongue as she used her free hand to brush away the snow which had yet melt in Yexuan’s hair and coat. Shutting her eyes lightly, as if savouring Wanwan’s affectionate gestures, the smile on Yexuan grew wider before she broke out into a snigger.

  “What are you laughing at, Princess Yexuan?”

  Yexuan said nothing and only shook her head as her eyes slowly opened.

  “Hmph… I shall interrogate you when we are back.” Leaning closer to Yexuan, Wanwan said in an almost-whisper, “when we are alone.”

  A crooked smile formed on Wanwan’s face as witnessed Yexuan’s face slowly turning pink.

  “Princess Wanwan, you are incorrigible,” Yexuan chided and strode ahead, leaving Wanwan to keep up with the courtly princess’s pace.

  “As incorrigible as the ministers in your court, Princess Yexuan?” Wanwan said boldly and had another satisfaction of hearing Yexuan gasp as she spun around to face Wanwan.

  “Princess Wanwan! What nonsense are you spouting? Hurry along, didn’t you say the snowfall is getting heavier? Why are you just standing there?”

  “I am just standing here because you are not moving either! Besides, you nearly collided into me when you turned around so suddenly.”

  Pressing her lips tightly together before letting out a sigh of defeat, Yexuan then placed her hand around the handle of the oil paper umbrella as well.

  “Fine, Princess Wanwan, let’s head back now, shall we?”

  Wanwan had to suppress a laughter as her hand crept to where Yexuan’s was and enclosed it. “Yes, we should head back now.”

  The two princesses shared a slow, romantic walk back to their abode as snow fell incessantly. Eventually, they decided to head for Yexuan’s quarters together and stay there for the remainder of the day.

  Still stinking of horse manure after rushing out to fetch Yexuan, Wanwan decided to take a hot bath as Yexuan requested for tea to be prepared for them before indulging herself in a literature piece by a famed female politician. Before long, her new maid had entered with tea prepared from lavender and barley as well as a light snack of red bean cakes and almond cookies. Yexuan gave Yingqi a smile.

  “Thank you, Yingqi. These are Wanwan’s next favourites after Osmanthus tea and pork buns, you are learning her preferences well.”

  With her head bowed, Yingqi replied with her usual stutter. “Y-Yes. P-Princess Yexuan and Princess Wanwan had Osmanthus tea and pork buns the day before. I-I thought you might want a change.”

  The smile on Yexuan’s face grew. Yingqi was especially likeable, perhaps because she was of similar age as Wanwan or perhaps because of her adorable stutter or perhaps it was because Yingqi was so shy and obedient. Regardless, Yingqi quickly became her favourite serving maid and Yexuan preferred to have her around within the living quarters. Since Wanwan was still taking her bath, Yexuan decided to strike a short conversation with Yingqi.

  “Yingqi, how are you lately?”

  “I-I-I have been well, Princess Yexuan. T-The palace maids in your court has been really k
ind. T-Thank you for asking.”

  A giggle left Yexuan’s lips as she stroked her empty teacup. Yingqi immediately lifted the pot of tea and filled the princess’s cup.

  “That is good. Tell me what you did today, Yingqi.”

  Yingqi’s mouth twitched, and her brows furrowed slightly as she answered, “P-Princess Yexuan, Princess Wanwan invited me to the stables to groom Scarlet.”

  “Scarlet?!”

  Misreading Yexuan’s surprise as anger, Yingqi immediately fell to her knees. “I-I am sorry. P-P-Princess Yexuan, I apologise. I-I should not have touched Scarlet. I know Scarlet is a special horse to Princess Wanwan and yourself. I apologise, Princess Yexuan. I apologise.”

  Startled by Yingqi’s profuse apologies. Yexuan stepped forth to help her maid up. “Yingqi, why are you apologising? I am not berating you for anything. Hurry, get up.”

  A look of difficulty passed over Yingqi’s face and Yexuan could not hold in her sigh. “Yingqi, I really am not blaming you for anything.”

  Yingqi gave successive rapid nods of her head. “I am still sorry.”

  “What are you sorry about? It was Princess Wanwan who dragged you out to brush her horse. Scarlet belongs solely to Princess Wanwan anyway. I have no say in who gets to touch her or not so stop apologising Yingqi. You did absolutely nothing wrong.”

  Giving another bout of nods, Yingqi left the room shortly after.

  “Heard that you borrowed Yingqi today,” Yexuan said once Wanwan had come out from the bath, dressed only in her inner robe.

  Wanwan winced a little but told Yexuan the truth anyway.

  “Yes, I did. I took Yingqi to the stables to see Scarlet and to speak with her.”

  Yexuan, having already learnt that piece of information from Yingqi did not show any surprise. As usual, Wanwan who was great at reading moods, caught on to Yexuan’s knowledge quickly, and continued to explain as she put on her outer tunic. However, at the end of Wanwan’s explanation, Yexuan was beginning to feel worry stir in her stomach.

  “Y-You think… my palace maid is suspicious?”

  Wanwan nodded with a nonchalant expression.

  “But you look unbothered,” Yexuan said appallingly.

  “Well… I don’t know for certain what Yingqi is keeping from us, but she seems to have a pure heart, so I am not too worried. Else, I would have whisked you away from her,” Wanwan said in that usual easy tone of hers.

  Yexuan broke out into a small smile. Wanwan always had ways to make her smile and feel special no matter what the situation was.

  “Anyway, I have been watching her for three months now, she goes to your backcourt to do something, but I found nothing suspicious there. If there was a dead body in your backcourt, I would have found it already,” Wanwan joked again.

  Goosebumps rose along Yexuan’s hands. “Wanwan! Don’t say that, it sounds scary.”

  A cunning grin formed on Wanwan’s face right then and she raised her arms high up, curling her fingers to turn her hands into claws. “Scary? Are you scared? What if she is actually feeding spirits at your backcourt?”

  Yexuan squealed uncontrollably and slapped Wanwan’s chest. She was truly scared now and was startled by the guttering of the candlelight. Wanwan bellowed in laughter and almost folded in half as Yexuan jumped.

  “Wanwan… it is not funny. I am scared!” Yexuan said again, her voice had risen by a few decibels.

  “Yes, yes, I know, then I will stay in your room tonight or you could come over to my place. I will cuddle you to sleep and protect you from spirits. But I cannot be certain if my room does not have spirits lurking as well,” Wanwan said cheekily.

  Yexuan threw the book of poetry at Wanwan in annoyance who caught it with ease. “I hate you.”

  Wanwan grinned. “No, you don’t. You love me and you say it often.”

  Yexuan recoiled a little. “I did?! Since when?”

  “On nights when we sleep together. Sometimes.” Wanwan said smugly.

  Yexuan’s heart lurched and she felt as if she had been utterly exposed. So Wanwan had not been truly asleep on some nights.

  “Y-You are… incorrigible…” Yexuan muttered.

  “But I love you too, so we are even,” Wanwan said again, with chivalry.

  Yexuan did not know how to respond to the wildling princess except to throw her body into Wanwan’s arms. For the thousandth time, Yexuan prayed to have Wanwan by her side forever and for them to grow old together.

  Oh heavens, I, Pei Yexuan will not ask for much in life, except for me to grow old with Wanwan. Or is that too much to ask for in itself? Please, be kind to us and grant me this prayer.

  - To be continued -

  Author’s note

  Scarlet Dandelions: The Zither and the Sword is the first book of the Scarlet Dandelion series. The tale between Princess Yexuan and Princess Wanwan has only just begun as we began to traverse into the mature years of their lives and witness the evolution of their relationship.

  In the story, I have borrowed various elements from the Eastern culture, for example the Qi’Xi festival, mid-autumn festival, and various other celebratory methods in both the countries of Bo’er and Pei. Some parallels could be drawn between the Mongolian-Manchurian civilisations living on the steppes with Bo’er and the Chinese Han Dynasty with Pei Dynasty as they were the primary setting inspiration. However, I do not wish to mar the historical accuracies of the cultural practices in these countries, and to allow myself room for sufficient creativity, I have decided to create fictional countries instead.

  Another key element of this story is the exploration of same-gender relationship in the Eastern culture. Inspiration from this came from the Chinese phrase 断袖之癖, which translates to ‘cut sleeve’, a euphemism for homosexuality. This phrase originated during the Han period and spoke of the sensitivities of a love relationship between a male Emperor, Han Aidi and his lover, Dong Xian. There have been some examinations of poetries which depicts admiration and romance between two men. However, I was most piqued by the lack of such similar materials between two women. This was perhaps largely attributed to how Eastern literature were mostly written by men. Nevertheless, I found writing historical romance stories between two females to be a most interesting undertaking. To borrow the ideas of Platonism, a soul binding relationship experienced between women could be far more enriching than the mere union of the physical body.

  Once again, thank you for having been with me on this journey. Wanwan and Yexuan’s story will be continued.