One Lifetime Is Never Enough

1.17 Impending Parting

YuLan was not sure if that last bit was an insult or a compliment... .

Ji SongLi only bowed and cupped his fists, "This child does not deserve Father's praise. This is all because of Father's guidance."

YuLan was very certain that Ji SongLi had given her a quick glance after that last word.

Ji ChanFang nodded again in satisfaction, "Then today shall be celebrated. Chu-er, ask the kitchen to make his favorites for dinner!"

Hai FenChu bowed her body in slight curtsy, acknowledging his order. After smiling at her son, pride also apparent on her face, she headed to the kitchen to relay the menu for tonight.

Ji ChanFang walked towards his first wife, then they started a whispered discussion. YuLan was quite close to where they were, so she could hear a few things:

"He's ready... ."

"Not too early?"

"... Has mastered the Needle Sword art... ."

"... Take him with me next month to the eastern borders... ."

Ji LanBai then walked back to YuLan's side, breaking her focus, "YuLan, we should celebrate with a cake!"

Ji SongLi's face immediately paled, suddenly feeling phantom pain in his right arm.

YuLan smiled at Ji LanBai, then at Ji SongLi, "Yes, absolutely. It's truly a wonderful achievement worth celebrating."

When everyone had left the training room, Ji ChanFang stood by the broken bamboo sword, his head still looking down and his brows furrowed slightly. The spot where it had split was devoid of splinters. SongLi's movement was very precise and clean. If he wielded a real sword, this 'Needle Sword' art would have poked a small hole in Ji ChanFang's body.

In Ji clan sword art, 'Needle Sword' was not the deadliest move, but it was extremely hard to master. In fact, with more practice and given the boy's agility, he's quite sure SongLi could easily turn this move into a deadly one if he could execute it in rapid successions and on the opponent's meridian points.

*** *** ***

Later during the day, Ji SongLi found out that thankfully he did not have to whip the egg-whites, despite his initial resignation.

It was the first time ever that he saw his mother walked around with slight bounce in her steps. She seemed truly happy that he received Ji ChanFang's recognition. And with his sister chirped happily for the rest of the day, how would he have the heart to say no to her request for cake? Even his usual supporter in this, his father, did not voice his displeasure.

But when he arrived at the kitchen, he was greeted with chaos. For starters, the kitchen servants had to re-prepare everything by the Second Madame's order. Ji SongLi felt quite bad about this. He personally did not care too much about what he was going to eat, but his mother was so excited that she had given a list of all his favorites to the on-duty servants. The meal plan for the day had to suddenly change to include mushroom dishes and braised mutton, which they normally only served during winter.

YuLan's tiny body was almost hidden in the middle of all kitchen servants and she also seemed awfully busy. She was in the middle of whisking something inside a big pewter bowl. When she noticed him, she set aside the bowl on a bench just to push him out of the kitchen, not quite explaining anything. Befuddled, he finally walked away after waiting for a while to make sure that she would not call him back.

At night, after dinner, the entire members of Ji family were still seated around the circular table despite the earlier dishes had been taken away and cleaned. Ji LanBai's little legs swung back and forth in excitement, her nostrils flared every once in a while in anticipation of a familiar delicious aroma that she was very fond of.