Of course, after Feng Jiu got slapped and fled, no one stayed behind.
"What are you going to do, Little Miss? If Master finds out what you've done, you'll be punished for sure!" A Hua cried. She paced back in forth worrying herself to death. Kairi eyed the broken down building and the shambled courtyard. No matter what she does, she really needed money and professional help to fix it up. Of course the only way to get money was to get it through Madam Feng and there was no way that was happening. Thinking about Madam Feng, made her think about Feng Jiu and the hideous hand marks on her face. She stifled a laughter and then it hit her.
"Of course! Guilt tripping just might do the trick!" Kairi cried surprising A Hua that she nearly fell on her butt.
It wasn't long until another servant came running back saying that she had been summoned by General Feng. Kairi had been expecting it. She hadn't been talking to Zhang Sheng for an entire year and not learn any dirty tricks.
She walked into the main family room and found the entire family there along with the five servants who escorted Feng Jiu to Lotus Villa. Kairi walked in with her head lowered making sure no one saw her face.
"Xiao Er, your sister said that when she went to Lotus Villa, she was slapped by you without cause," General Feng said firmly. Kairi bowed respectfully but didn't look up at him.
"Father, Xiao Er won't lie to you. Second Sister did get slapped but it wasn't me, who slapped her. A Hua had done it because Second Sister brought over some servants to tease me," Kairi said meekly.
"If you aren't lying then why aren't you looking at me?" General Feng asked. Kairi bit back a grin and cleared her throat.
"I wouldn't lie to you, Father," she replied and made sure to hesitant before she answered him. She could feel a bit of irritation coming from General Feng but she still didn't look up. She was waiting for the right moment to give it a big impact.
"If you aren't lying then look up at me," he ordered. Kairi slowly lifted up her head to reveal a slight bruising on her cheek and a cut on her lip. A bit of blood trailed down from the corner of her mouth. Only a parent who had lost and reclaim a child after four years would only do anything to keep it from happening again, therefore, said parent would do anything to make up for lost time and the broken child; the broken child being her. In other words, guilt trip the father into doing anything she wants.
The moment General Feng saw the injury on her face, he rushed over within seconds. He gently placed an arm around her, examining her injury. Her plan was a success.
"What happened, Xiao Er? How did you get injured?" he asked worriedly.
"I... Second Sister, she..." Kairi trailed off as she casted accusing looks at the servants and Feng Jiu. The look in General Feng's face grew darker with each passing second as he connected the dots.
"Father!" Feng Jiu cried. "You believe her? She's lying. Look what she did to me! Why aren't you worried about me?"
"Silence!" General Feng shouted as he glared at Feng Jiu. "Which one of you hurt Xiao Er? Speak and I will lessen the punishment."
Kairi smirked at the servants and casted a shot off a threatening aura at them to keep their mouths shut. Not a single one spoke. When no one spoke General Feng turned to her.
"Xiao Er, tell Father. Who hurt you? I'll make them pay back tenfold," he said. Once again Kairi hesitated before she spoke.
"Se...Second Sister did it, Father," she said almost in a whisper. His eyes widen and his rage was so heavy, it could be felt to the bone. She quickly spoke up right away. "Father, I'm sure Second Sister didn't mean it. It was probably an accident..." she said trying to take the blame off of her.
"Stop the act, Xiao You! No one will believe you!" Feng Jiu cried.
"I've seen enough to know the truth! Jiu Er, Xiao Er is even speaking up for you! If you didn't hurt her, why would she keep me from seeing the injury?" General Feng asked.
"It's all lies! I didn't slap her!" Feng Jiu defended.
"The servants saw you do it..." Kairi said with tears in her eyes. When General Feng eyed the servants, they all nodded furiously. If Kairi had handed them all a free lifeline, why shouldn't they take it? Feng Jiu saw each one nodded in unison and her anger shot up to the roof. She had never been humiliated before especially by her own sister and she wasn't about to let her off scotch free.
"She's lying! I really didn't slap her! Look at what she did to me! What about my injury?!" she shot out. Her words infuriated General Feng further.
"How could Xiao Er hurt you? Before we left Liu Sect, Grandmaster Liu specifically told me that Xiao Er cannot cultivate and will have a hard cultivating in the future. How could she do any damage to you?" General Feng spat. That was news to Kairi. After passing out for days from cultivating, Grandmaster Liu had forbade her from cultivating so she hadn't noticed. Tonight, she was going to try cultivating to see if what General Feng said really was true or not.
"But Father--!" Feng Jiu was quickly cut off because Madam Feng had intervened. Kairi noticed the deep hatred look Madam Feng had been giving Kairi but she didn't care. She wanted her to know that she wasn't that innocent little girl anymore and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Feng Jiu, apologize to Xiao Er," Madam Feng said sternly. Feng Jiu gasped as she looked up at her mother.
"But Mother, she--!" Feng Jiu pointed an accusatory finger at Kairi only for General Feng to scream back at her.
"Feng Jiu! Apologize to Xiao Er or I'll whip you myself!" General Feng roared. Feng Jiu bit back a sob and meekly replied, "Xiao Er, Second Sister apologizes for hitting you."
General Feng breathed heavily as he glared at the mother and daughter duo.
"Four years ago, I left Xiao Er in your care and you failed us both miserably. If I find that Xiao Er is mistreated in any way, mark my words, I took you off the streets, I can put you right back there," he hissed. With that said, General Feng led Kairi away. As she was being led away, she made sure to smirk right in Feng Jiu's face. Feng Jiu fought to chase after but her witch mother held her back.
They both entered General Feng's room and he sat her down in one of the beautifully carved chair. His room was much fancier than her room. He quickly grabbed his medicine chest and pulled out a brown pill.
"Eat this, it'll heal you right away," he said warmly. Kairi smiled and took the pill right away and she felt the bruise fade away instantly. She suddenly felt guilty for lying to this old man. He really was a caring father. Unfortunately, Xiao You just never got to experience it because her father had realized too late how precious she was.
"Xiao Er, Father apologizes. All those years, I should have taken better care of you. If only I had known you were still alive, I would have brought you back home. From now on, I swear no one will hurt you ever again," he said.
"I believe you, Father, and I don't blame you. I know you work hard to keep up the Lan family name in honor of Mother. I also promise I won't hide anything from you from now on either. If I had just spoken up a little bit then maybe things would have been different," Kairi said. She thought this was something Xiao You would have wanted to say.
"How are you settling in?" he asked.
"I'm settling into the Lotus Villa pretty well," she said and she really was. It was fun doing hard labor for a change.
"The Lotus Villa? Why that damnable woman! The Lotus Villa isn't livable! How dare she put you in that living quarter?!" he hissed.
"It's alright, Father. I quite enjoy it. I learned how to garden and I'm enjoying the sunshine there. I remember being told that Mother also quite enjoyed spending her time in the Lotus Villa too," she replied quickly. She smiled brightly at the thought and then added, "I really want to fix up Lotus Villa to how it was before. I'm sure Mother would be happy if we did it. Would it be alright if I pull some money out of the family fund?"
"Of course, spend as much as you want," he said.
"But... it would be quite troublesome to constantly go ask Stepmother for approval for funds. Would it be alright if the financial duties were handed over to me? If you aren't sure about handing over the duty, Madam Liu taught me a lot about financing and I even help her with Liu Sect's finances." This was mostly true. She did help out with Liu Sect's finances at first but quickly fell into the job of making money because of her master. As for learning finances, that was something she learned in her previous life. She never thought her financing skills would come in handy now. That'll keep those grubby greedy hands off Xiao You's mother's money and the future of the Lan Manor.
"This way I won't have to constantly go to Stepmother and it'll be good in the long run when I take over the duties for the Lan Manor," Kairi suggested. General Feng let out a laugh and nodded.
"Anything you want. As long as you're happy, I'll make sure it happens but for the time being, why don't you stay in a different living quarter until Lotus Villa is fixed?" he added.
"Okay, deal!"
"My good child. Your mother had always been weak but she was kindest person I knew. She married this poor father of yours and gave me the most precious gift, you. Unfortunately, your mother passed away before she could see what a beauty you've become," he said while stroking her head lightly.
"I really miss her," Kairi said solemnly. The real Xiao You would also want this, she thought.
"So do I, child. So do I."
Right after Kairi was healed, General Feng ordered servants to pack up her belongings and set her up her stuff in the True Beauty Villa instead. It seems to be one of the bigger and better villas because Feng Jiu spoke up right away only to get shot down by General Feng.
"But Mother said that I could move in there next week!"
"Enough. Seeing as I didn't punish you, you got off easy. I don't want any more protest from you," General Feng said sternly. Feng Jiu could only bite her tongue afterwards. He then ordered Madam Feng to hand over all the official documents and anything pertaining finance.
"But, Husband, Xiao You is much too young to take care of Lan Manor finances," Madam Feng argued.
"Xiao Er will do just fine. She's learned much from Madam Liu in Liu Sect. This will be good for her as she will soon take over all duties within a couple of years," General Feng replied.
"Don't worry, Stepmother. I'll work real hard," Kairi said sweetly. General Feng laughed heartily and patted her head affectionately. Anger flared within her eyes but it quickly dissipated when General Feng turned his attention back on her.
"Of course, if Xiao Er thinks she can handle it, I'll hand it over," Madam Feng said. "But if I find that Xiao Er is struggling, I suggest that I take over right away again. We wouldn't want any mishap for the Lan Manor."
"I quite agree, Stepmother," Kairi said. Madam Feng smirked thinking that there was no way Kairi would be able to handle it but Kairi only smiled back confidently.