"You wanted her as a concubine?" her voice cracked. "After she beat her son like that, huh? If she could do this to her flesh and blood what do you think she would have done to my sons in a jealous rage?!"
Xiang Yu's throat tightened with jealousy. Why couldn't he have a mother like her? If only Li Hua showed him just a third of this woman's affection. His nose felt sour the tears flowing by themselves. Ming Lee wiped away his tears her heart shattered by his injuries. "Shh shh, it's okay. Come live with us, okay," she said, her voice gentle. "You can be a part of our family."
Xiang Yu bit his lip his head lowered. His tears dropped on his boots his eyes dazed and hollow. Ming Lee didn't force it. She gently stroked his hair lovingly and said, "Take your time to think about it," before placing a pouch of money into his little hand.
The wind carried Ming Lee's voice as she continued yelling at her husband while descending the mountain but it was like a distant echo to him. Morning soon turned to noon and noon to night but Xiang Yu knelt there, his knees sinking into the damp soil.
He lay down next to her mound the same way he lay next to her when she was fast asleep. Rain fell like a torrential downpour soaking him to the bone but Xiang Yu couldn't feel it. His senses were numbed, his mind a myriad of emotions.
He solemnly watched as the rain washed away the dirt from her grave. She had spent her life looking stunning, her beauty a weapon and her smile a lure. But it was never for him. To others, she was a blossoming rose, a delicate bloom that captivated hearts. But Xiang Yu only got to experience the thorns that lay hidden beneath her petals.
She had scolded him, her words like acid. She had beaten him, her anger a storm that left scars. She had even tried to kill him, her hands wrapped around his throat, her eyes fuming with hatred.
Now, as the rain soaked through his clothes, he wondered if he was the only one who would remember her. Even her lover hadn't held a vigil for her. He would move on with his wife and two concubines leaving her memory to wither like a forgotten rose.
Xiang Yu's fingers traced the jade pendant as an unsettling smile crept up his face hidden by the rain. "Isn't it funny Mother.... you spent your life hating me but now... I am the only one who will remember you," he whispered to the wind. She would scream in anger if she knew that the person she had hated the most was now the sole keeper of her legacy.
After coming down the mountain Xiang Yu fell ill and stayed in bed for a week. When he finally recovered the proprietress asked him to take care of his mother's things. They needed to make room for the courtesan who would take his mother's place.
Xiang Yu got up and gathered his mother's possessions. The women eyed his mother's lavish dresses and jewellery their gazes hungry but the proprietress intervened. "Buy them from Little Yu," she said, her voice firm. "He needs the money."
As they haggled with the proprietress on the prices downstairs he went back to his mother's room and his fingers traced the wooden floorboard to get Li Hua's treasure box. He sat on the bed and opened it. But while going through it he discovered something new.
The treasure box had a false bottom. Inside was an old diary with its pages yellowed with time. The delicate strokes were indeed written by Li Hua's hand. The diary held fragments of her life before the Spring Lights brothel but most of her entries were of her life here.
Xiang Yu traced the characters, his fingers brushing against the past his mother never told him about. As his fingertips flipped to another page something fell out onto his lap. It was a golden ring with intricate black patterns and symbols.
When he read the entry his back stiffened. Turns out that his father was a demon king and that he was born a twin. His father took his sister and left him behind. In his mother's words, he left a burden for her to take care of. An emotionless smile curved Xiang Yu's lips. She truly meant it when she called him a monster and a beast. As it turned out he came from a devil.
His laughter bubbled up knowing that he had a family other than his mother. A family of beasts just like him who might accept him and welcome him into their fold. He had finally made up his mind. He would leave this town he had known all his life and find his father and sister and the only way to find a Demon King was to follow his minions.
After he recovered fully Xiang Yu packed up his few possessions ready to set off. The cute smile that had disappeared from his face when his mother died returned and the sisters from the brothel couldn't help but gift him money and food at their parting. Even the proprietress who was known for being frugal and stern hugged him and gave him some of the money used to redeem his mother.
The courtesans' painted faces showed more concern for him than his mother ever did. They whispered blessings and warnings, urging him to be cautious. He nodded taking in their advice like an obedient student.
With a single bag slung over his shoulder, he set off excited for his new adventure. But this so-called fun adventure quickly turned sour. In his first week out in the world a group of bandits ambushed the ox cart he was riding in and robbed everyone. They robbed him of all his belongings and because he resisted they left him for dead on the side of the road. That was a very big mistake as they would come to find out soon.