You see, Kat Zu had always believed that the people of her village were terribly stupid. This was not because she herself was that grand a brain—heavens no. She only considered herself above them all because she refused to believe in the stupid folktales the villagers shared amongst themselves.
It was far too embarrassing to be that gullible, she thought, as she sat on her bed of silk. Having nothing better to do, she recalled one of the many far-fetched stories she had heard in the past year.
It was a tale her own mother told her—the poor old, easily deceived woman.
According to her, if you stayed up past eleven PM on a Blood Moon—The Hour of Rat—you were sure to attract the worst kind of bad luck.
Or something like that.
It was why Kat was still awake at this exact hour, waiting to see what on earth would happen should she rebel. After all, what could go wrong?
So the young woman stayed up, choosing to see for herself if the rumor was true. She laid her head on the pillow, staring at the sheer curtains above. Against the blood red silk sheets, Kat's hair and skin appeared to be as pale as snow.
A crow cooed somewhere in the distance; time flew by like the wind.
Now, it was exactly one minute past eleven when she heard a strange sound coming from outside her family's modest courtyard.
Bang!
The young woman ran out into the front yard, the white of her hanfu trailing behind her like wings. Purple petals fell from the looming blossoms above her; the wind was still so their leaves fell ever so gently.
Kat waited, her breath slowing in discomfort.
Bang! Bang!—
BANGGG.
The wooden gates suddenly split down the middle, pine tearing apart like paper.
The young mistress gave a slight gasp and stepped back. "W-who's there?! Step back. This is the chief's home! Y-you're trespassing…"
Her voice weakened towards the end of her pointless cries. She watched as a foot stepped over rubble, entering the premises without care.
"Waste not a second of my time lass, where's the Chief?"
The gruff voice belonged to a man in charcoal black imperial uniform. He was wiry, and took not much room as he came to a stop next to the blossom tree. Just outside the ruined gates were two other men in cloaks of a different colour.
"What do you need father for? Who are you even?" The initial shock of his entrance was gone. Now she only felt much irritation for an evening she was previously enjoying.
"You've got a smart mouth on ya, don't you girl?"
"Where is he?!" He grabbed Kat by the hair, thin bones for fingers scraping her scalp.
She was about to hack up spit onto his face when she heard her father's voice call from behind. "Kat? Is that yo—"
He was holding a paper lantern that dropped to the ground. "—get your hands off her." Kat couldn't turn to see but she knew he had a hand on the hilt of his sword. It didn't matter the time; her father always had his weapon with him.
The official gave her hair one last squeeze before tossing Kat as one would a rag doll. "You're Chief Zu, I take it?" He stepped over her as she groaned in pain. She turned over to see her father move forward.
"I am. What business have you here?"
"I've been given an order to bring you to the council for questioning. The crown prince was poisoned." There was a pause and Kat dragged herself up. "Simply put, chief Zu, you're a suspect."
The father and daughter duo weren't given enough time to process the remainder of the man's sentence. He clapped his hands.
"Hold him down. You, get the lady of the house. Ask the rest to round up all servants and otherwise present."
The official's voice was cold. Before Kat could understand what was happening, the entire courtyard was filled with soldiers in red cloak and yellow crests. They broke the doors and set fire to the blossom trees. Kat's heart sank; she could neither move nor breathe.
"S-suspect?!" The young lady cried in horror, sanity leaving her as rage began to boil. "If he were only a suspect worthy of fair trial, you would not burn his home! You want to pin this on him! You liars—"
She jumped in the man's direction, wishing nothing but to tear the condescending look off his face. "—father would never do such a thing." But of course, Kat didn't get really far. A stone faced soldier grabbed her by the stomach so her feet were off the ground. He took her outside and she watched with a face frozen in anger and horror as their home burnt down.
After an hour, she found herself shackled inside a wagon attached to a mule. Her father and mother—the latter who looked completely confused and half awake–had been taken separately. They were heading for the capital. As a reward for Kat's "insolence", the man in the black cloak sent her off to a dying village at the edge of the empire.
She was to become a 5th concubine for some retired general in desperate need of an heir. Kat's stomach turned as she tried not to think of what that even meant. Mother had often mentioned marriage in the past and a certain "activity" she was to prepare for in the chambers.
Would Kat be obligated to share his bed? What did that even mean—to share a bed…
That worry was shelved for later; the wagon came to a stop. The sun had begun to rise and for the first time since this nightmare of a journey started, she could clearly see the world around her.
They were nowhere close to the village she had been brought up in. This new place was grim, swimming in rats, and filthy to the core. She wiped the already drying tear streaks off her face.
The guard who brought Kat here, opened up the wagon and unshackled her.
"Move, girl," he ordered, shoving her towards a wooden gate covered in spirogyra and creeping vines.
Before the stunned girl could ask what she was to do, the gates swinged open and a woman with the longest nose she had ever seen pulled her abruptly inside.
"Welcome girl!" To the guard she hissed, "I hope this one is fertile? Not like that last tramp you brought, I hope?!"
The guard didn't answer, choosing instead to grunt in annoyance. But Kat wasn't given much time to process any of this; the gates slammed shut, creaking its way until the soldier was out of sight.
Kat turned her head away from the shut gates and faced the strange woman.
"Welcome, girl. I'm YaoYao, first concubine of this grand mansion. You will address me as Mistress."
Kat had indeed jinxed her luck.