Time passed like flowing water; silent and fluid, never stopping.
The Imperial City's skies started to snow lightly, the temperature turning cold. The end of the year was approaching, and the beginning of a new, prosperous year was near.
Everywhere on the streets, people were bustling preparing for the year's end. Rich or poor, celebration was in the air. Peasants worked harder and saved up to throw a feast, to buy their children and family new clothes, and to survive the New Year's cold temperatures.
The Yue Clan's servants were of course busier than before; even the normally quiet Yard of Blossoms was now filled with chatter as the two old ladies Qui and Kharin, Loan and the maids, and the shadow guards grouped up together to discuss New Year plans.
Hong Yue said that Ling Yue's yard was too quiet and too short on servants, so he sent her a group of handmaids to select from. She picked out two maids and named them Ming and Shan, the two names very fitting considering their characters.
Ming was a very bright and straightforward girl, but she wasn't naive. Her mouth was sharp and quick, her argues on point. She seemed to act impulsively, but she had reasoning behind her actions and has her boundaries set clear.
Shan was the calmer one, quiet but perceptive. She saw what Ling Yue saw. Her placid eyes were unmoving and mysterious, seeming to peel through everyone's masks, seeing their true natures and intentions.
She had a very good head on her shoulders, capable of making decisions on behalf of Ling Yue, the smartest of the maids in the yard.
Loan, although strong, was a bit too slow. She wasn't naive, but she preferred straightforward methods and righteousness over crooked, cunning ways. She saw things for what they were and didn't think further. Nevertheless, Loan was still very capable, and she was willing to learn.
She was patient and aware of her own shortcomings, so she searched for Ling Yue and Shan for guidance and assistance.
Ling Yue was very grateful for the extra manpower.
The two maids were very clever, and the extra chatter from the bright Ming helped liven up her yard. Ming's liveliness affected the people around her; even the shadow guards opened up more. Although Ling Yue told them not to, the shadow guards still hid in the dark, secretly protecting her. She didn't want them to live like real shadows, so she forced them to hang out in the yard with Loan.
The two old ladies were also given a promotion, they didn't need to toil in the kitchen anymore; they were now the two head handmaids who looked over all of the yard. They now lived in the rooms near Ling Yue's chambers, along with Ming, Shan and Loan.
Hong Yue have been stopping by more frequently; although he never entered the Yard of Blossoms, Ling Yue still recognized him watching from afar. He touched her heart.
His thoughts were enough to move her.
How stupid of the previous Ling Yue not to treasure him or recognize his love. Hong Yue's love didn't show through flashy words or lavish gifts and jewelry for his daughter; he made people protect her. He showed up whenever she needed him, and he always kept an eye on her. He cared for her in his own way, it was the previous Ling Yue that was blind.
She knew it would take a while before their relationship could completely heal up, so she took small steps. She knew Loan had stopped reporting back to him. Loan worked for her now, but Hong Yue had nothing to protest.
He was surprised that Ling Yue knew. He had indeed seen the changes in his daughter that Loan mentioned before, but he couldn't risk getting too close to her, because he knew she had always blamed him for not having a mother, for everything.
But she had been warming up to him recently.
She's been smiling softly at him, melting his heart.
He was ecstatic when he received the fruit cakes she baked him a few weeks ago. He had sat there, staring at them for ages, the pretty and small fruit cakes almost too precious to eat. He munched them down anyways because he didn't want them to go to waste, smiling from ear to ear that whole week.
When Ling Yue heard of his reactions, she didn't know whether to smile or to cry. He was a precious father, but she wasn't his daughter... The Ling Yue that he had been watching so tenderly over for so long, died right under his nose, under the bottom of that cold, cold lake. She was but a mere soul from Ling Yue's later lives, somehow ending up here...
Ling Yue hasn't forgotten about Ting Fu or Aina.
She was letting them live for some more time, before she starts her revenge. They wouldn't die quickly, no, they were not worthy of Ling Yue's poison. She would not allow them the pleasure of a quick death, she would toy with them until they begged for death themselves.
How hopeless would it be, to see your situation slowly plunging into despair, to have all your riches and power stripped away from you, to have your good reputation destroyed? What they had done to the previous Ling Yue, the Devil's Hand will return to them ten-fold.
"Loan."
The chatter in the yard died down almost immediately. The Yue Clan's butler entered the yard.
He was a kind looking man who has served Hong Yue ever since the Clan Master was but a young Lord. The butler swore loyalty to no one but Hong Yue. He was the person who held down the fort at the Yue Clan when Hong Yue was gone and brought back Ling Yue all those years ago.
If it wasn't for the butler's letter to Hong Yue, he wouldn't have returned to the Yue Clan in time, and Clan Master's seat would have been forever lost to his useless but greedy brothers.
The butler can make executive decisions on the Yue Clan whenever Hong Yue was gone. He had the right to control the whole household. The servants feared him and respected him like the Master himself, but the butler was neither greedy nor arrogant.
His coming to the Yard of Blossoms meant serious business.
Loan's faced became serious as she saw the golden envelope in the butler's hand. An invitation from the Imperial Family.
"I'll inform the Lady, uncle Zhu. Thank you." Loan slowly said as she took the letter.
"The Imperial Family is throwing a year-end feast. Noblemen of the capital and their family's Lords and Ladies are invited." Uncle Zhu smiled tightly.
"It's two weeks away from now. The Master didn't want the Lady to come, that Imperial Palace is a demon's cave, but he had no choice. Concubine Fu herself wanted the Lady to come. We've got to be careful this time, Concubine Fu is Ting Fu's aunt. Who knows what she has prepared for us."
"Ah, is that so?" A voice gently sighed.
Ling Yue slowly approached, a soft smile forming on the corner of her pink lips.
A gleam bright like the night's moon flashed through her eyes, as her smile turned into a hair-raising grin: "If she has prepared us that grand of a meeting gift, then I can't help but return the favor."