"Wu Fengmian awoke to the sound of birds chirping. She fluttered her long eyelashes, revealing clear eyes that one could-*thump* lose *thump* their soul *thump* within." Wu Wangshu sighed deeply. "The frick are you doing Fengmian?" Fengmian smiled, revealing a neat row of pearly white teeth. "Didn't brother crave pigeon soup yesterday?" Fengmian gracefully got out of bed, vaulted out the window (ignoring the perfectly functional door a few feet away) and collected her spoils. Wangshu helplessly looked at her until he saw something glittering in the dirt. "Isn't that the hairpin grandmother gifted you for your birthday?" he asked, bending over to pick up the golden hairpin. Upon doing so, he saw two other accessories also littered nearby. Fengmian, with three pigeons grasped by their tail feathers in her hand, looked up at her brother and pouted. "It's your fault that you didn't buy me the slingshot I wanted." Seeing her brother's face turn black with annoyance, she snatched the hairpins and pushed the pigeons toward her brother. "Here, you can bring these to the cooks; make sure that they send a portion to my courtyard as well!" With these parting words, Fengmian cheerfully returned to her bedroom, abandoning her brother outside.
Fengmian returned the accessories to her golden jewelry box and called her servant over. "Xiao Xi, let's go out today. I want to go buy some candy." Xiao Xi nodded and brought the princess her garments. Fengmian glanced at the outfit before shaking her head. "No, I don't want to go as a female today." Xiao Xi's facial expression twitched but didn't comment. Ever since the young miss was a child, she would wear her brother's old robes and run around the palace; due to their similar characteristics, none of the servants realized that the small child dashing about was the princess until they witnessed her hugging her brother. As she got older, she still would occasionally cross dress such that she could have a bit more freedom. Xiao Xi brought Fengmian her desired outfit and helped her get dressed. Fengmian admired herself within the mirror. "Xiao Xi, if I were a man wouldn't you fall for me?" Fengmian had dark, glossy, long hair, a fair complexion, ruby red lips, and beautiful phoenix eyes. Anyone that looked at her would immediately feel as if a goddess had descended. Although her stature was a bit short, Fengmian could still pass as an extremely attractive young male, as during this time period beauty was appreciated in both women and men. Xiao Xi smiled but said nothing.
Upon entering the busy streets of the capital, the speed of the carriage in which Fengmian and Xiao Xi rode in got progressively slower. Finally exasperated, Fengmian put on a charming smile, placed her head upon her dainty hand and said, "Xiao Xi ah, how about we walk the rest of the way?" Xiao Xi understood that this was not a question but rather a statement such that the hidden guards would know of her actions and returned the smile. They exited the carriage onto the bustling street, with Fengmian occasionally stopping to look at the products the stalls on the side of the street offered.
Eight years ago, the five year old Fengmian had come out to the capital in a similar fashion, strolling about dressed as a noble boy with Wangshu. Fengmian had insisted on walking back then too. Suddenly, a horse seemingly having gone wild, charged down the street. Wangshu had protectively shoved Fengmian behind him and the hidden guards had appeared to form a defensive circle around the two when Fengmian suddenly ran out, grabbing an orphan girl who was about to get stampeded by the horse. She hugged the girl protectively, her arms shaking. The horse was quickly injured by an unidentifiable masked archer on a nearby rooftop before it could harm the two girls. Upon recovering from her shock, Fengmian smiled and asked the girl for her name. The girl had stared at Fengmian blanking before gesturing wildly. Fengmian blinked and asked, "why won't you speak? Are you afraid of me?" The girl shook her head before opening her mouth, revealing a set of off white teeth and...no tongue? She expected Fengmian to have an expression of disgust but Fengmian had only said, "ah, that sucks. Can you still taste food though?" Later on, it was revealed that the girl had no name, so Fengmian named her Xiao Xi and brought her back to the palace as a servant.