It had been two months now since Qian Lan had been living with her ancestors. She had finally adjusted to the hard labor and the cold baths. Of course, the sisters eventually found out about the stream being filled with water. Only difference is Qian Lan didn't tell them how the water got there. Like any other day, Qian Lan was helping the sisters do laundry when a carriage that looked like it belonged to a noble family stopped by. As the sisters and Qian Lan rushed to the main building as they wanted to know what it was about; only to be ushered away by the mother.
"You three, stay away and continue doing the laundry. Your father has business to tend to."
"What? But Ma! We want to see who it is!"
"Pei take your sister and Qian Lan away."
Pei grabbed the whining Mei away and motioned for Qian Lan to follow her back to their laundry baskets. Two hours go by and the large carriage finally leaves. Once they were out of sight, the girls all ran back into the house to question the parents.
"Ma, pa! What did they come here for?"
"Is it a marriage proposal?!"
"Mei and Pei, are you two crazy? What noble would propose to marry someone from the countryside?"
"Then what did they come here for?"
The mother pauses for a moment and looks to Qian Lan.
"Qian Lan, I need to talk to my daughters. Would you mind hanging up the clothes to dry?"
"Oh, of course."
Qian Lan quickly exits the room and heads back to the wash room. Quickly twisting the clothing, she squeezes out any remaining water. Meanwhile, the twins mother closes the door behind them and asks for the sisters to take a seat as their father was going to explain.
"Pa, what's wrong?"
"Yeah, pa you don't look happy."
"Sigh, the shaman from the capital has sent a summon order. With permission from the king, they are asking us for one of our daughters to be sent off to join the maiden selecting tournament."
"Maiden selecting tournament? What is that?"
"It is said the winner will gain fame and wealth."
"What? Isn't that a good thing then?"
"No, Pei. In reality, this is just a way to find the next maiden to be sacrificed to the water god."
"How do you know that father? Who was that man just now?"
"That man was a close advisor of the king. His name is Xia Long. Due to our family history he felt the need to let me in on the real reason for this tournament."
"I don't want to do it pa!"
Mei was freaking out also and screams after Pei that she also didn't want to participate in such a thing.
"I know, and I can't bear sending my own flesh and blood to the capital to die."
"Then…Wha…what's your plan father?"
"Sigh…...I… will be sending Qian Lan in place of you two."
"What?...We...we can't do that to Qian Lan."
"Yeah pa! It's too cruel!"
"I know its wrong! But it's her or one of you two! I don't have a choice!"
The sisters looked to each other and tears up as they think of what to do. With neither of them willing to go, they knew it was going to be Qian Lan that has to go in their place.
"I know you two have grown to like Qian Lan, but I have no choice. I will adopt her as a daughter and send her to the capital in a few days. The royal family only asked for a daughter from the Yang household. They didn't say anything else, so sending Qian Lan should be okay."
"Alright pa, we'll go along with whatever you say."
"Good, now off you two go. I need to make preparations."
The sisters quickly bid their parents farewell and run off to find Qian Lan who was still hanging up clothing. Making their way to the back of their house, they could see Qian Lan hanging the wet clothing to dry. Pei quickly runs first and hugs Qian Lan.
Qian Lan unsure of what was going on, quickly pats Pei on the back.
"What's wrong Pei? It hasn't even been that long since I saw you."
"Its nothing Qian Lan. I just felt like giving you a hug."
"Oh, alright. Did Mei want a hug too?"
Mei quickly runs and join in on the hug. The sisters holds back their tears and smiles as to not alarm Qian Lan. Soon, night falls and the twin's parents call for Qian Lan to join them for a talk. Qian Lan, makes her way to the main hall where the mother and father of the twins were waiting.
"Qian Lan, come here."
Qian Lan seats herself in front of the father as the mother also seats herself in front of Qian Lan. Once everyone was seated, the father reached into his shirt and pulls out a written form indicating that Qian Lan accepts them as her adoptive parents.
"What is this?"
"Qian Lan, you've been here for a while already. I would like you to do the honor and let us adopt you."
"What? You…you guys are fine becoming my parents?"
"Of course. Pei and Mei are rather fond of you and it's always nice to have a helping hand."
Qian Lan was at a lost for words. She had no idea what the real intentioned were but blinded by happiness she happily accepted. Using an ink pad, the father motions for Qian Lan to dip her thumb onto the ink pad and press her thumb print to the bottom of the paper.
"I can call you ma and pa now?"
"Yes, our sweet daughter. You can head back to Mei and Pei. I will drop this off at the village elder tomorrow morning."
Qian Lan quickly runs off to inform Pei and Mei of the happy news. Making her ways down the hallways, Qian Lan bursts into the bedroom and hops onto the twin's bed.
"Guys! We're sisters now!"
"Oh, did father and mother already finished the paperwork?"
"What? You two knew they were planning to adopt me?"
"Uh…. yeah. That's what they wanted to talk to us about earlier."
Once again, Pei and Mei remained silent as they watched how happy and excited Qian Lan was to finally have a place to call home. She had no idea when she was ever going to find her way home so having a place to call home in this time was a relief for her.
"Qian Lan, let's go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow."
"Oh, alright. I guess it is late."
Qian Lan couldn't help but think the sisters were acting different. Unsure as to why, she brushes it off and walks to her bed. After rolling around for a few hours, Qian Lan finally knocks out cold. Unlike other nights, she had a really vivid dream tonight. In Qian Lan's dream she was stuck in a world that looked like something out of this world. Large trees grew and covered most of her surrondings. Standing in the middle of the large lake in front of her was the figure of a tall and slender man. As Qian Lan walked closer, the figure in the distance would also move farther.
"Wait…who are you?"
"......….."
"Hey! I asked you a question!"
Once again, no answer. Feeling frustrated, Qian Lan runs towards the figure only to be blocked off by something that felt like a water shield. Just as Qian Lan fell to the ground, she heard the man speak. In a soft low voice that sounded like something out of this world.
"You can't help me. Leave."
"What?"
In that moment Qian Lan could feel herself flying. Like someone had grabbed her by the collars and thrown her into a wall. Qian Lan wakes up drenched in her own sweat. Quickly sitting up, she tries to catch her breath.
"Hah…..hah…what just happened?"
Quickly glancing around, Qian Lan could see the sisters still fast asleep. She walks up and looks out the small window. Qian Lan noticed it was still night time with at least another two hours before the sun would come up. Even if she was tired, she was too scared to go back to sleep. With nothing to do, she lights up the small light candle and heads to the altar room.
"I think I saw other scrolls here last time. Maybe I can find something to read to past the time."
Although Qian Lan was scared of the altar room, going back to sleep scared her more. Slowly creaking in through the dark halls, Qian Lan slowly opened the altar room to make sure there wasn't anything in there. Once the coast was clear she slowly propped the door open and walked to the table filled with scrolls. Using her small light candle, Qian Lan quickly grabbed whatever her hands could hold. Quickly running out of the creepy room, Qian Lan closes the door shut and walks back to her shared room with Pei and Mei.
Rather than sitting on her bed, she walks to the small brown table near the window and sits on the small chair. Quickly lighting another candle, Qian Lan places the two candles in front of her as she unrolls the scrolls. Unsure to what she even grabbed; Qian Lan read whatever she found interesting. After looking over four scrolls, Qian Lan finally found one that caught her eyes.
"What's this? The bracelet from the last bride of the water god."
"A small yet beautiful white jade colored bracelet with tints of green jade. It shines in the moonlight and brings wealth and riches to whoever wears it. Hah, would be nice if I had a bracelet like that."
As Qian Lan read of the bracelet, it made her think of the bracelet her grandmother had given her. The more she thought about it, the more her bracelet sounded more and more like the one in the scroll.
"Ha…Ha…no way is it the same one."
Qian Lan slides her dress sleeve up and reveals the bracelet. Following what the scroll mentioned, Qian Lan unknowingly stands up and places her wrist under the moonlight. She stares at the bracelet waiting for something to happen. After five minutes of nothing happening, Qian Lan shrugged off the similarity and sits back down to read the rest of the scroll.
"Let's see. Hmmm…...found on the wrist of the deceased Chenguang. The bracelet is said to have been a gift from the water god to his bride. On the day of Chenguang funeral, the bracelet mysteriously vanished. Years after, many replicas of the bracelet were said to have been sold on the market, yet none have been proven to be real. Huh, isn't that interesting."