Tears Of Kai Yuan

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Luoyang Dongdu, Eastern Capital

T'ang Dynasty

七 赵 亮 (qī zhào liàng)

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Tang Zhen-Ting

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"Did you get what you were looking for?"

Older cousin Jiayi stretched out her hands and spun lightly. "I did." I brushed a fly from my horse's mane before patting it lightly. "And what was that?"

"What I learned Ah-Zhen, is that living as a beggar is a lot more adventurous than being a merchant's daughter. I thought that I had it bad as a merchant's daughter, but now I got to walk around in the shoes of a class lower than mine...I can't complain that much."

I simply huffed at her words. "I could have told you that Jiayi, we didn't need to go all the way to Chang'An for that."

Jiayi gently pushed my shoulder before heading to the manor. "It got us some time away from the others, of course it was worth it."

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at that, leading the horses to the stable just as footsteps could be heard coming towards us.

"Jiayi, where did you go?"

"Baba was waiting for you...he specifically asked when Rokshana and Adilah were."

Rokshana and Adilah, the only time Uncle ever said those names were when we were in trouble.

"Ah-Zhen I think you're in trouble too."

I scoffed a little too loudly at those words before walking away.

Maybe Jiayi was right, a break from the manor had been worth it.

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Uncle's manor was named Qi Zhao Liang, he had even gotten a banner made to erect it over the entrance. The sign was hung right over the entrance of the Zhao manor, a place where everyone could see the pride of the household; Zhao Ren-Yi's seven daughters.

Many thought it was a curse that the Zhao household only had daughters, even more so when his wife died giving birth to their first son, the son dying a few days later. The people of Luoyang only seemed to have their suspicions affirmed, not silencing even when he officially adopted his niece Zhen-Ting and her brother Liangjie.

The sign above served as a symbol of pride and a warning against rumors. No matter what they said, Uncle Ren-Yi loved his daughters, they were his, no one else's. This made the Zhao daughters the forbidden fruit many wanted, especially when five of them were already of age to be married.

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"Ah, Zhen-Ting, there you are."

I bowed towards Uncle as he called out to me while I walked past the main hall. He had visitors, two specifically. A man well dressed in red and black, and a eunuch who looked like he had come from the palace.

What would a palace eunuch and a matchmaker be doing at Qi Zhao Manor?

"Ah-Zhen, this is the royal matchmaker." I turned to spare him a brief greeting before giving my uncle a questioning glance, one he quickly answered.

"The blessed Emperor wants to bestow yet another honor on our family. He is sending his nephew, General Li Xiao, to come here and choose a bride out of your sisters."