Rain and Jing walked out to the courtyard. On the spot where Rain had previously occupied, Hui sat, the they were reading in hand. She wasn't reading it, not because she wasn't bored, but because she didn't want to read it and not be able to spend more time with her brother.
The maid stood off to the side, still showing the bare minimum of respect. She was looking interestingly at Hui, who was just sitting there. It was obvious the maid had tried to make conversation... and failed. Hui only made conversation when she wanted to or had to. This was not one of those times so she could ignore the maid as much as she wanted.
The maid did not mind. Not because she wasn't annoyed, but she had respect. If Rain or Jing had done that, she would have been openly annoyed, but not Hui.
This was because news of Hui's physique had spread. It was common knowledge throughout the palace that the lowest concubine's daughter had a physique. This immediately gave Hui a high status and high respect inside the palace, despite still being a child. It was fortunate that the king hadn't taken her away to raise exclusively. Though Rain didn't like his father, he knew he wasn't a complete idiot. He had enough sense to not come back and see Jing after the incident and he hadn't made a scene by stealing Hui for himself.
However, this self control only made Rain more wary of his father. It meant he would be harder to deal with. He would definitely come for her in the future.
Hui perked up. She immediately noticed their presence, more specifically her brothers. Seeing her change in expression, the maid looked their way as well. Flashes of jealousy and scorn flashed across their face as they saw Jing's evidently superior looks. She also looked again at Rain, who she previously hadn't even looked at due to her inspecting his sister. She was surprised by his looks as well, obviously noticing that he was handsome as fuck for a nine year old. Rain just looked back at her, bored, before walking up and jumping on top of the large rock that basked in the sun. His sister, who was also in the rock, also crawled over and rubbed herself against him.
"Well?"
Captivated a bit by Rain's looks, the maid jumped a bit. Jing hadn't failed to notice this so her voice was a bit strained.
The maid looked back at Jing, not hearing the strain, before clearing her throat and announcing her intentions.
"By order of the king, the children that are of an appropriate age are to gather at the palace for a meeting that will occur between the kingdom. The other lords of the land will be bringing their children as well and this will be a good time to have the heirs interact. This will be exclusively for the kingdom and those who rule under the king in this land. Additionally, the king's own, legitimate, children will be there."
'Indeed. The moment I knew would inevitably come has shown itself.'
It was only natural that the king would gather the kingdom and the next generation that would potentially inherit their land should they perish or ascend. Rain knew that this would come eventually. His gossips with the maids had confirmed that it was happening soon. What interested him was the choice of words.
"You say children of age... what do you mean by that?"
The maid looked at Rain, a bit of annoyance in their eyes as if they wanted to surprise them with this information.
"Yes, I did say that. What I mean by that is you will be attending and your sister will not. According to the king, she is not old enough."
'Knew it.'
There was no way that their father would let his concubine daughter with a powerful physique be discovered. That was another reason why she stayed solely in the courtyard. When Hui was born, he had two choices. One, take her as his own and raise her as a prodigy, or hide her and keep her as a trump card. There was no way he was going to expose her now and besides, none of the other concubines or his wives had children recently. It would have been pretty big gossip so Rain would have heard about it. The king could impose the age rule and get away with.
Hui's eyes snapped up, clearly pissed. She didn't want to go to the meet and greet and meet her siblings. Her brother was enough and she had heard enough from Rain to guess their characters. Though she wouldn't judge until she met them, just like Rain, she had been warned to not keep her hopes up about their attitudes.
However, being separated was unforgivable. She was about to do something rash when Rain put his hand on her head. He looked her in the eyes, his eyes empty. Being loving and comforting her was not his style. He didn't want to do that nor did he want to tell her things he didn't know to be true, like he was going to be okay. So he just looked at her, his head slightly cocked as if asking what she was planning to do.
Hui knew very well what this look meant. She was acting solely on emotion without considering the facts. What could she do? Jack. shit.
Jing evidently wasn't happy with the news of a gathering either, but her expression lightened when she heard that Hui wouldn't be going.
"Ha ha ha ha. It's okay little Hui, your brother and I will go have a good time in your stead. I'll prot- I mean watch- over him."
Jing said this lightheartedly. She wasn't happy about seeing her husband or her son being exposed to the world, especially the vixens, but there was nothing to be done.
The maid scoffed.
"Did you think you would be going? You? The lowest concubine? All you have is your looks compared to any of the others. You will be staying here. We won't have you dishonor the gathering with your presence."
Jing froze. Hui smirked. And all Rain could do was think,
'Ah shit, here we go again.'