Murong Lihua: Murong Lihua is 15 years old and is the younger sister of Murong Yuqi. She is your average teenager in a way. Spoiled but well mannered. Pampered but social. Beautiful, young, and naive.
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As soon as the sister saw Xiu'er, she knew she wouldn't like her. She didn't want to be here but her brother asking her to tend to a girl was kind of a big deal anyways. For as long as she could remember, her brother had never paid attention to any girls and was always focused on being a diligent son, loving brother, and competent hero in martial arts. She would have cared less if the girl was pretty enough to be her sister-in-law, but what a dull-looking girl this is. And how could he fall for someone like her.
In the past, countless girls had thrown themselves at him for arranged marriages but he turned them all down. These girls came from large respective and prosperous families. They trained from a young age strict social etiquette, needlework, cooking, socializing, well educated and talented. Not only that, they were beauties known far and wide across the land bringing glory and fame onto their family names. These were the girls her brother deemed not enough. These were the girls he could've had, but he went for a plain one.
Why?
Murong Lihua led Xiu'er to the girl's bath where a tub of warm water was prepared with flower petals and scented ointment.
Xiu'er asked one of the maids to get a bath for A'Li as well, in which she was given a strange look before the maid obliged. She took her time in the bath while Murong Lihua stepped out to wait for her. Murong Lihua kept rushing her through the door to hurry up with her bath. Xiu'er had already woken up late and now she was taking too long in there. Breakfast was going to turn into brunch soon if she didn't hurry up.
Xiu'er was so annoyed at Murong Lihua's nagging that she purposely took a nap in the tub and was late to breakfast afterwards.
Everyone was already settled in their seats at the dining hall waiting for her to arrive. The dining hall was actually a room in the resident quarter of the Sect Leader, the place where the Sect Leader lived with his two children. There was a large circular table in the middle of the room that could seat up to ten people. A brownish-orange embroidered table cloth was laid on top and small tassels along the sides. The table was completely packed with all sorts of dishes that were starting to get cold. There was a door that led outside and another door led to the guest area.
Kun Shang was worried about Xiu'er. It was only a night but he was concerned the matters with her brother might've taken a heavy toll on her. She was late to breakfast too and that itself was already saying a lot. He was about to get off his seat to go look for her when Xiu'er entered the room in a crisp blue outfit from the outside.
She was wearing a plain blue robe with bindings on her arms, a metal protector on her wrists, a black belt around her tiny waist, and a thin sleeveless cardigan on top that flowed behind her like a cape as she walked. She had some of her hair up in a ponytail secured with her gem hairpin.
She examined as everyone sat around the table in a new outfit that matched their size and personality, almost like their previous one, just different in design.
Kun Shang was wearing a grey robe where the sleeves ended at his elbows. Underneath was his white undergarments and he had black wrappings on his arms. On top of the grey robe was a black, sleeveless robe and everything was tied down with a black wrap around his waist.
Xiaogua's outfit was only a sky blue robe and a short sleeved blue hanfu on top. He had a small belt at his waist that kept everything in place.
Yu Yue was glamorous as a goddess in a snow white dress with sky blue ribbons tying around her waist. Her outside robe was also white and embroidered with fainting blue flowers and raindrops. She had her hair up in a waving bun that pointed to the back with white hair accessories on her head. The hairs that were loose ran elegantly down her back.
Jiyi Sangshi was wearing a tight black robe that was lightly embroidered to make it look military-ish. His hair was cut short and had a small bun on top. The maids had a difficult time this morning combing the netted hair. With his consent, they cut it off to make him look more civilized.
Xiu'er thought she would be the last person to arrive but noticed that the host hadn't even shown yet. So instead of sitting at her seat, she stepped back out and leaned outside against the wall next to the door. They were also missing one important friend. Her brother.
Murong Lihua asked what she was doing instead of going inside. She simply replied that the host hadn't made his appearance. Where she came from, proper etiquette was that everyone sit after the host so either Kun Shang and them were being rude for sitting down first or Murong Yuqi was being rude for being late.
Murong Lihua went in first, mumbling that her brother would have cared less about those etiquettes. She stepped into the hall and after a couple of strides, stopped herself when she saw Kun Shang. He had his feet flat on the floor, both palms on the table and staring blankly behind her at Xiu'er. Murong Lihua was immediately love-struck by his handsome appearance and masculinity. Never in her life had she met anyone who reached all her expectations of a man before: handsome, tall, calm, and from the look of it, strong. She blushed and dropped her chin down in a shy smile. She introduced herself to them and took her seat with nervous eyes.
When Kun Shang saw that Xiu'er wasn't going to come in, he was about to get up again when Murong Yuqi finally entered the dining hall through a door at the back. Today, Murong Yuqi was wearing white robes topped with a very plain, silky, black robe. The collars were kept together with an elegant gold wire on the chest. He sat at the side of the table looking outside and noted that everyone was here except one. He stared out the door and into the open doorway where he could see a piece of Xiu'er's robe flowing in with the wind.
Xiu'er looked up into the beautiful open sky with her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall, crossing her feet. There were very few clouds to block the sun, a nice cool breeze flowing through, and the smell of hyacinths and orchids in the air. She could also smell the food from inside: biangbiang noodles, peach congee, mutton stew with beef, cold mixed tofu, and sweet and sour eggplant, served with lavender tea.
Murong Yuqi greeted them before inviting Xiu'er inside. The chilly spring air might make her fall ill. She heard his words coming out the door and vanishing with the wind, but chose to ignore it.
Ever since she was little, she loved eating Silang's cooking because he knew what she liked the most. She didn't think she would miss him this much before when he got caught by Gou Qingzhao. With few living relatives remaining, they swore to take care of each other in the future. It's such a dangerous task ahead of them so being out of each other's sight could bring a high chance of danger. How could he be so reckless as to let them capture him? The future is a rough path ahead and they have a great responsibility. She has a great responsibility, incredible feats she must achieve and the only person ever so loyal to her, was her brother.
After convincing herself that he must have a reason for infiltrating the Eastern Sect, she saw A'Li come running to her after his bath. She picked him up and an unexpected tear dropped from her eyes.
"Let's go, A'Li," she said before anyone could see her wet eyes.