The swaying of a cart is what woke Bingquing. She awoke with a start from the pain in her blistering hands that were chafting as they were tied tightly together. It was hot and she felt a sting of pin and needles in her head. She looked up and realized a flimsy bandage that had been tied too tightly around her head. Upon seeing it, she felt against her chest and was relieved to see the scroll was still there. She knew her idea to cut the document out of it's scroll would have some raised eyebrows, but she knew it would be better than leaving it there for someone to stumble upon when a new tree was potentially planted in that spot.

There were many girls in a similar state who were all sniffling or in various stages of crying. The one closest to Bingquing had a burlap cloth roughly shoved into her mouth. Bingquing shifted away from her nervously.

One of the girls piped up, "She tried to run away when the traffickers stopped at an inn. I think they're planning to sell her to a pleasure house exclusively. The boss is a mean one, you should be careful around him. You're lucky that you're hurt and that the boss didn't want to damage his merchandise anymore."

Bingquing nodded slowly, "I can't see my forehead but is it healed? Is there a scar?"

The girl shook her head, "The boss bought some expensive cream so you wouldn't scar. He used it on several of the girls to take care of the rope burns so he can get a higher price for us. His men beat us earlier and he yelled at them for damaging the merchandise."

Bingquing tried to flex her fingers and gave a little pain sound.

"You really should just sit tight. The doctor they hired, said you were burned pretty badly maybe trying to get something from a fire."

"I was burned?" Bingquing asked. "These are cuts and blisters."

The girl shrugged, "We're on our way to the Wei kingdom."

"Wei? How long have I been sleeping?"

The girl made the same motion, "You were already here when they caught me. I was taken two days ago."

Bingquing counted the days and realized she had been sleeping for more than a week. A week was the amount of time it would take for them to travel from the capital to the border.

"You know you're a strange one to be asking the questions? Are you the maid of some rich lord's manor who tried running away from the slave contract? Did he want to make you into a concubine? Where is your home?"

Bingquing lowed her head and looked at her clothing. The blood splatters had dried in a manner that made them look more like decoration rather than what they actually were. Her clothes still did look like she served a wealthy household so the trafficker must have thought if he got her far enough away from the Caiwong capital he could get a high price for her. No wonder she had gotten kidnapped as she was an untapped potential of money. The thought made her want to gag.

Suddenly the cart stopped and the wooden door was opened. The streaming sunlight caused all of the girls to squint at the outline of the man who was one of their captor's lackeys. His eyes sweeped over them with a appraisal. He eyed Bingquing and made a whistling sound, "Hey boss, the maid from the ducal manor is awake! You said she was a money maker!"

There was a click of the toungue as a nasaly voice replied, "You idiot. Look at her, she's skinny as a scraggly stray cat. There's a hundred more where that one came from. The manor was a well-known one before the duke lost his head with the emperor's crown."

Bingquing let out a gasp, "Official Chu is dead."

The lackey positively sneered at her, "Thinking about running back home were yah? Well the Sleeping Sun took care of him when he was in the Imperial compound. All the officials are gone who were loyal to the king. Chu's either in a dungeon being tortured or if he's lucky already dead. His lands and wealth have already been confiscated. His ducal title is already allotted to sympathizers of the current crown prince. The prince held his father at knife point and got what he wanted. The emperor is under lock and key."

Bingquing rolled her eyes. Dungeon was always better than dead. Her father had always kept a low profile so even if he was implicated, he would probably figure out a way to stay alive.

The cart stopped outside of a dirty warehouse where the girls were unloaded and inspected one by one. Bingquing thought it was going to be more invasive, but just found herself spit at. "I just want to reiterate that you're the ugliest one. You're only here because you look the part. But, I just want the clothing part."

After this, he made her change with the girl who had been gagged. Neither spoke as they exchanged clothing. Hers was homespun and Bingquing's was soft silk that she knew could buy her freedom if she played it right. To lose such a valuable asset was disheartening.

Once she saw her counterpart up close, Bingquing realized she was really cute. No one the traffickers had made such an effort to keep her even though she caused trouble. Her face was as fair as the moon and her hair was smoother and glistened like smooth water.

"Um, sis . . . I'm scared to be sold to some again. My old master was fat and would make me hold trays of food for hours. Are you scared?"

Bingquing shook her head, "It's silly."

The girl whispered, "What's your name? Mine is Mo'lan."

Bingquing answered with the first name that came to her head, "My name is Ying." She knew she couldn't use a fancy name like Bingquing Chu as people would wonder if she was a proper girl who had been unlucky. It would quickly lead her to disgrace what was left of her family name.

The head croony shouted at them to hurry up and Bingquing helped Mo'lan put her hair into an elegant hairstyle.

Mo'lan was impressed as she looked at herself in the little bronze mirror on the dresser, "I won't be a serving maid anymore."

Each of them was pushed onto a stage and Bingquing held in a gasp. They were in the bustling trade city between Wei and Caiwong not the poor border towns where they would have been sold as labourers. Binquing was not expected to sell so she had been placed in a darker corner of the stage rather than where the lighting was best.

The traffickers shouted into the market crowds, "Spoils of the Caiwong Empire now that it's crumbling apart. Look at the maids? You want a new concubine, rich sir? You want a wife who can serve you well?"

Bingquing had to have a hard dark laugh as she considered how she had walked past a stall such as this on the way to visit her father. She had sneered at the disheveled women who had their heads down and were sold like cattle. Her maid had even joked about one with a large mole who would probably never be allowed to serve inside the house.

Oh how quickly the sun moves across the sky, she lamented