The sly flower and the bored butterfly

Do the heavens hate me?

Today I finally confirmed that the heavens hated me.

　　Everything was fine , grandmother was recovering, that stupid doctor finally grew brains and I was safely returning home. Until fate decided that I was being too lucky and played a mean trick on me. Storm hit the forest, my horses weren't able to withstand the rain and my carriage rolled off the cliff. Wind slapped me in the face and it felt as if someone was crushing my entire body. The heavy rainfall did not help.I don't remember when I fell unconscious.

　　And now, here I am. In this unknown place, near a river,without money,food and a twisted ankle. I am actually surprised that I survived this. That cliff was very high.

　　I am Jin Hui ying. First born daughter of the Jin mansion. Do I sound snobby right now? I probably do....I was raised by my grandmother outside of the capital because of my poor health.My parents felt that mountains were more suitable for my recovery.
　　I was happy with my grandmother. She always encouraged my dream of learning military tactics. She is a wholesome woman and taught me many things. My childhood was quite good. Despite of my illness my grandmother never held me back and allowed me to play around.But she didn't let me run wild either.

　　I went back to the capital 2 years ago and my parents were more than happy to welcome me.I wasn't sure what to expect but everyone was kind. Everything was smooth till I heard the news of my grandmother's illness. I asked her to come back to the capital but she didn't agree. So, I went to visit her. Fortunately she is fine now.  Unfortunately for me, I met with a terrible storm and am in this pitiful state. I think finding a place with people would be good. After all the chances of someone rescuing me is nil.
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After wandering for ages, ( it is difficult with a sore ankle), I finally came across a settlement. It was a relatively small area with tattered looking tents next to each other.I cautiously approached the area. A man who looked very drunk walked towards me and stared at me. I wanted to ask him about the location but he laughed loudly and walked away.

　　Suddenly I noticed that everyone there looked fishy. " Damn, my fate." An unpleasant looking man shouted. " All my money is gone. How will I drink now !" Normally, I would have exited this place immediately but today was special. I had just survived falling from a cliff and my long term illness which caused me difficulties in breathing didn't work up today. I was determined to test my luck.

　　Soon, I saw a pavilion to my right. It looked grander than the other areas of this settlement. It had a large board that read "賭" which meant ' gamble'. On it's entrance there were two girls dressed in red robes were standing. The girl with her hair tied up saw me.
" Young lady, What brings you here? I wonder if you have some special interest?"
" You have sharp eyes, this young lady does have a few ' special' interests."
" Aiyo! , young lady. Come in, come in, you've came to the right place."

　　That girl grabbed my arm and led me inside. Inside the pavilion there was a huge table in the center. There were other relatively small tables around the place.A man with a big build and unnatural smile was standing in one side of the huge table. He had a nasty scar on his arm and he had tattoos on his face. There was another man standing in the opposite direction.There were playing a game of ' four- five-six.' It was clear that the big guy was winning. He looked at the man opposite to him.

" You still have the chance to withdraw. Don't blame me if you lose again."
The other guy said, " Boss, I definitely won't blame you because I will win this time."

　　They started playing the game. That person who was called boss repeatedly won. To win in this game you had to roll three dices and get the combination of four-five-six. If you get the combination of 4-5-6 then you win  all the money at stake. That boss repeatedly won and finally he took all the money. This continued for some time. He kept on winning. But what surprised me the most was the fact that he would win before the other party even got the chance to roll the dice three times.

　　It was clear that he was cheating. No one can have such a strong luck. God's don't favor people like that. My suspicion was further confirmed when I saw the ' boss' persons servant subtly fidget with the dice before handing it to the other party.They were probably using two sets of dice and that servant I think ,changed the dice every time. And I being a sneaky girl, decided to get involved in gambling . I hope this is fruitful for my dull life. I walked towards the table and said, " I want to play this game of dice. Allow me to join your game."

　　The guy looked at me and sneered. " Little girl, do you think this is a sweet shop? I will be generous enough to let to go today."
" Let me go?! Don't tell me you are scared of a little girl like me." I provoked him.
By now almost everyone present was looking at us. He looked angry. " Fine little bitch, I will show you your place today. Quick take out your money."

　　I smiled . " I don't have money. But I do have this." I showed them my hairpin. " It is made from the finest gold and the purest jade. There is only one of this shape and size in our entire country. You can check it's authenticity yourself ."
He looked skeptical about the hair pin. But still examined it anyways. He smiled a crooked smile and said, " You will regret this."

　　He proceeded to roll the dice and got a combination of 4-4-4. He actually dares to play around. His servant passed me the dice and I rolled it. I got 4-4-5. I  was surprised to see the results because I thought that second set of dice didn't have numbers greater than four. He underestimated me.

　　I shot a smug smile and took a portion of his gold coins. He looked flustered and eyed his servant. Just as his servant reached the dice and performed his trick my hands caught his wrist. Alarmed he shouted, " What are you trying to do?" I felt around his wrist and twisted it. He jerked his hands away from me and the sudden movement caused the second set of dice to fall down.

　　A nearby onlooker cried, " Look, look the boss was cheating. He was using two sets of dice. Look!" The boss looked at me . " Slut, what tricks are you playing?"
"Tricks? I simply wanted some money and played with you. How is it my fault that you were so bad at cheating and got caught by me." Boss scowled. I caught him motioning something to his servant. I sensed danger.I grabbed my hairpin, money and proceeded to leave.

　　　Everyone was silent for a moment before the boss shouted. " Brothers don't be fooled by this slut. She deliberately framed me to drive a wedge between us. She is probably from another gambling arena. Today, I as the boss of this place announce that whoever catches her will get to be a permanent member of my group and get the money they lost."

　　For a moment I was confident thinking that no one would believe him. But I was wrong, very very wrong. The moment they heard the word ' permanent member of my group' they all stared at me. One of them yelled charge. They all ran towards me with whatever they could find. Thankfully I was already near to the entrance, so I had an advantage .

　　I ran in a random direction like a madwoman. In the process I managed to shove several guys, trip a lady , roll a basket of fruits and everything else I could do to keep them away from me. I regretted not working hard to learn martial arts when I had the chance. But it was too late. Everything was like a blurry picture. I had entered a forest and it was getting dark. I couldn't see the guys anymore but I was out of breath. My lucky streak was over.

　　I started having coughing fits. My disease started showing it's presence. I was tired . There is no way I could have ran anymore. That's when I heard it. The sound of my predators approaching. I saw one of them coming towards me. He was grinning like an animal. He looked behind and shouted.
" I found her. She is here."
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How was the first chapter ?Please vote and comment if you think you may come back to this story. I would also like to apologize for any grammatical errors above. That drawing is an inspiration for Jin hui ying's appearance.( I took it from the internet.)

Thank you for reading ~