Two twin sisters drifted apart because of misunderstandings and screaming by there on family no less. Zan Cui the one with a dragon fate was seen as bad luck because she is a girl. So she was openly despised and raised to be a tool for her elder bro...
Fei Cui gets dressed up in light blues, pinks, and purples. (wearing the dress above. Picture from Pinterest) Seeing her daughter looking so beautiful and elegant An Lang can't help but smile. Fei Cui is her pride after her son and now that there is a chance for her to get engaged to royalty she can't help to be even happier. Marrying her to the second prince although he is not destined for the throne he is still royalty and who is to say that the wind might shift in the future. After all the first prince may not be able to keep his position. After all the emperor has many male children and it is impossible that no one wants it. Blood feuds in normal in the imperial palace. Although she is a bit apprehensive to put her daughter in the wolf's den the benefits over wights the danger. She is sure that her daughter understands this and will follow her advice. How could she not want to move higher up in status? This is something even beggars dream of so how can she not?
Fei Cui sees the smile in her mother's eyes and for the first time, she saw the greed in them. She always thought that she was smiling at her with pride but now she finally knows the truth. She was a tool all along. An unknowing puppet in her mother's hands, happily listening to her blindly. Realizing this she wants to cry but she holds it in and smiles gently at her mother as she has always done. Living in the palace has taught her to control her emotions and would only cry when no one saw her. Crying shows weakness and in a place full of enemies showing weakness will be exploited. Women in the palace only cried if they could achieve their goal, most often they would pretend to be bullied and cry out to receive justice. They would frame their rival and gain sympathy from the royal court and most importantly their husband. Although she never competed since her Phoenix destiny made it so that he would keep her as his main wife no matter what. It did not stop him from indulging in many other women most of the time. Even so, his other concubines were still threatened by her and tried to push her down from the pedestal so she had to protect herself.
She was stupid to think that he loved her, only realizing a year after she married him as he dropped his facade. In fact, she realized that he never truly loved any of his women. He only kept them because they were either useful politically or for his sexual needs. This gave him an edge over the crown prince who was always loyal to his wife and would never take in another. The crown prince is more capable than the second prince but the second prince knew how to curry favor and gained many supporters through marriage. Few nobles care about who is the best capable ruler, they only care about personal benefits. So course the second prince would gain more supporters of the nobility than the crown prince who only had the support of the emperor and the military officers. Even so, the second prince needed to scheme against him in order to gain the right to the throne. That is why she was an important chess piece because not only had he gained the support of the Cui family but also the supposed luck her fate would have given him if not for her sister's fate was in the way. Although the connection was weakened because they drifted apart it can't be taken away by another if her sister was still alive. That is probably why he wanted to frame and kill her sister. Knowing that the Cui family did not care for her he used them to help with his plan and since the Cui family also wanted Eun Xi gone they also plotted against him as well. The more she thinks about it the more stupid she feels. No, Ignorent is probably the right word.
Fei Cui: No, now is not the right time to feel somber. I need to avoid my engagement to the second prince and talk to uncle. Maybe I can push the engagement onto someone else, now that I think about it it is at this banquet that my third cousin Aoqi Cui fell in love with him to the point of obsession. They used to have a good relationship until the second prince came between them. She also never bullied Zan Cui. Although they did not have a good relationship it was not that bad. They acted like distant relatives that you only see once a year. Distant but not hateful. They always ignore each other completely. Although she does feel bad to push that bastard on to her cousin it is the best way to regret it without causing a commotion. If she shows royalty any disrespect she will be punished heavily. But saying that she can't marry him because of her beloved cousin will be seen as filial piety and not offend anyone. This is the safest way to do it. She might be reprimanded by her mother a little but it will soon pass. After all her mother sees her third cousin as her replacement for Zan Cui. After all, she basically raised her since her cousin's mother was sick and barely leaves bed. So An Lang took it upon herself to take care of her since she and Aoqi's mother are friends. Aoqi's father on the other hand is a workaholic and barely spends time with her. Aoqi's father is in charge of all the businesses the Cui family has and those are very busy.
An Lang: " What is it dear are you nervous?"
Fei Cui: " A little but I am also wondering if it should accompany Aoqi since she can't go with her parents. After all, aunty is sick again and uncle is in a different region for work."
An Lang: " As expected of my daughter you are so caring. Alright, you can go and accompany her, she is in the praying hall as she wants to pray to the ancestors before the banquet begins."
Fei Cui: " Agin?"
An Lang: " Yes, that poor dear is worried about her mother, it is like she thinks that she will be gone soon."
Fei Cui: She will not die until 2 years later and not from her sickness. Did she not commit suicide because her husband Qiqing Cui decided to divorce her because of her sickness? He wanted a son and she was too sick to give birth to another child. And since he wanted his child to be born from his main wife and also because he despises the harem system he decided to divorce. It is not like he hates the harem system he just thinks that only royalty should be allowed to use it. Because marriage for nobels is personal business and marriage for royalty is politics and for the country. Unfortunately, divorce for noble women is considered shameful and if their birth family doesn't support her after divorce it is like a death sentence. Men and women of commoner birth don't suffer from this problem. Aoqi's mother did not get any support from her birth family so she decided that suicide was better than living on the streets like a rat. Besides she was already sick so she would have died anyway. This way it is less painful. But for some reason, after her mother died Aoqi became very distant with An Lang. No one knew why. But that is not her problem, although she does feel sad about her fate, she can't do anything about it. Besides she has to put her uncle and sister first. As well as herself, she can't afford to be so self-sacrificing again in this life. She has seen the outcome of it and she dont want to repeat it.
Fei Cui walks towards the praying hall and just as she is about to step in Aoqi walks out. Aoqi is a different kind of beauty compared to Fei Cui. While Fei Cui is elegant and refined Aoqi looks more mature yet cute. She is 2 years older than Fei Cui. With her big hazel eyes, curly brown hair, and a well-developed body. Although she is slightly overweight one would not notice if she wore more loose clothing which she usually does. But it also means that she can't wear what is in fashion all the time, so she chooses to wear clothing from other countries instead. That way no one will know if what she is wearing is in fashion or not. But she does not wear clothes that are too out of place. But today she wears something tighter than usual.
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Aoqi Cui: " What are you doing here fourth sister?"
Fei Cui: " I wanted to attend the banquet with you since you have no one to go with."
Aoqi Cui looks behind her as if she is looking for someone and then says: " What about your twin sister, won't you go with her?"
Fei Cui: "..."
Aoqi Cui: " Agin?"
Fei Cui: " Yes."
Aoqi Cui: " ... "
Aoqi Cui: " I will go with you."
Fei Cui smiles softly at her and says: " Alright let's go."
