Tears Of Kai Yuan

-11-(Edit)

11

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Yang Yuhuan

"Huan Fei!" She was here.

"Fa Guanmei!" Also here.

"Lian Changmi!" A shy one...but also here.

"Yang Yuhuan!"

I was tempted not to answer, to simply make them believe that I wasn't here and find a way to escape.

The thought died as soon as it had begun. For one, I was the tallest girl there, slipping out would not be an easy task. I was also dressed in that blasted white hufu, like every other new maid in the palace. I would not be able to leave unnoticed.

I gave up on the idea and sighed. "Here...Guniang."

There were sixteen of us, lined up four in each row and facing the woman whom we were to call Madam. She was no more than ten years my elder, a melancholy face with a stoic posture that showed each of the new maids her superiority.

I couldn't care less.

I had been bound to stand out, I didn't expect it to be so soon

Holding my breath and standing upright, I moved as gracefully as I could between the still bowing girls until I had reached the front of the first row. "Shi Guniang."

The woman stared down at me, not because she was taller, but because she stood almost menacingly above us on the top of the steps leading to our future chambers. "Where are you from? Whose family do you belong to?"

I was tempted to say that I was a Zhao, that was what I had brought myself to believe for so long...but.

"My guardian is my uncle Yang Xuanjiao, an official of Luoyang."

"Have you no parents?" I hesitated. "No Mistress."

The eunuch who watched over us shot me a shaded glance I chose to ignore. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

The woman nodded once, her eyes never trailing off me as she now addressed us all. "Get ready for bed...your new lives begin tomorrow, use this night to say goodbye to all you ever knew."

"Yes...xie xie Guniang."

...

Li Xiao

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that you're nervous Ah-Xiao."

My grip on the horse's reins tightened as we continued down the streets of Luoyang. It had been only a week since we had left, and now we were back, this time without Brother Jin or Li Mei-Xiang.

Just Wuji and myself.

We were simply here to fetch the beggar-girl, and the rest of the Zhao.

The marriage was to occur in Chang'An after all. Just the mere thought of it made me tense significantly, and that seemed not to escape Wuji's notice. "Any tighter and it might dissolve in your hands Ah-Xiao."

"Shut up Wuji."

Wuji scoffed with pretend indignation before chuckling to himself, only managing to irritate me all the more. "Is there something funny I don't know about?"

When I received no answer, I pulled on the reins and turned to glare at my cousin once the horse halted. "What, no response?"

Wuji shrugged. "You told me to shut up." I only rolled my eyes at that. "Sometimes Wuji...just, sometimes."