“I’m going to be the Empress someday!”
Ten-year-old Song Weiwei stood on a dirt slope facing the imperial city in the distance, shouting those words with all the swagger she could muster.
As for me, I sat on a dirt mound with my chin propped in my hand, speechless.
“Song Weiwei, you still haven’t paid back the two copper coins you owe me.”
Song Weiwei turned around and rapped me on the forehead.
“What’s the rush? Have you ever seen an Empress who welshes on her debts?”
She hopped down from the slope and turned to coax me.
“Just think about it, Du Zeyi. If I become the Empress, you’d be my sister. You can have anything you want. Why worry about those two copper coins?”
As if becoming the Empress of a nation could be that easy.
I muttered under my breath, rubbed my forehead, and raised my voice. “My mother’s calling me home for dinner!”
Then I slipped away as fast as I could.
Leaving only Song Weiwei behind, stamping her feet in exasperation.
