Xiao Niang stood up and winced at the sounds her joints made.
She'd been bent over for hours tilling the hard soil and was extremely exhausted and sore.
Her family had gone home hours ago, as soon as the sun set. No one liked being out during the dark these days.
With increasing threats and agitation from their Eastern neighbours, the border town where Xiao Niang lived had become exceedingly dangerous, and the people were terrified.
Xiao Niang had wanted to go home with her family but had been ordered to stay behind and make up for the hours she'd wasted that morning.
They desperately needed the food and money and couldn't afford to fall behind schedule, especially since her younger sister's health was deteriorating.
Xiao Niang put her tools away and decided to go home. If her father and stepmother decided to punish her for disobeying, then so be it.
Whenever she got to that bridge, she'd cross it, but she just couldn't stand to be out this long after dark.
She looked over her shoulder her entire way home, the fear that someone was watching her constantly in her mind.
Xiao Niang felt the tension leave her when she finally saw her home, she let out a relieved breath and ran towards it.
"What are you doing here? How dare you leave the farm without my permission? I told you Wei would come get you whenever I decided it was time"!
The vein in her father's forehead was throbbing, and his fists were squeezed tightly, she could practically see the steam coming out of his ears.
"It was late, and the Lord told us not to be out after sunset, so I decided to come home" Xiao Niang said boldly, she was going to be brave today and not let her father push her around.
"If I wanted you to come, then I would have sent Wei to get you" Her father spat in her face and Wei smirked from where he was sitting.
"Get out. Get out of my house right now and get back on that farm" Her father screamed.
"No" Xiao Niang replied sternly. She would not move a single inch. She was so focused on staring into her father's eyes that she didn't notice his hand moving until it was too late.
Her face stinging and her cheeks ringing from the first slap, Xiao Niang was completely unprepared for the next two that swiftly followed.
"You will either obey me or suffer the consequences. There is no in-between. So tell me what will your decision be, daughter" Her father whispered as he pulled her outside by her hair.
Xiao Niang's feet scrabbled on the ground, but there was no purchase to be found, she scratched at her father's hand desperately, trying to get him to loosen his grip.
He flung her away and she landed on all fours. Xiao Niang turned around to face her father and was shocked at the hostility on his face.
"You will kneel here for however long I decide, and you will not move an inch until I come to get you. Do you understand?"
Her father gripped her chin tight and squeezed hard. Then he turned around and walked inside, shutting the door behind him.
Xiao Niang had no idea how long she'd been kneeling, but her legs felt like lead, and her knees throbbed with a dull ache.
She'd lost feeling in her calves hours ago, and her feet were numb. Her father pulled open the door and walked up to her. He stood over her, a hard expression on his face.
Looking at him right now, she couldn't recognize the man who'd held her tight and loved her to death when she was a child, who'd played with her and given her anything she wanted.
"Get up" he said. His voice was strong and void of any emotion. Xiao Niang struggled to stand, and her legs shook under her.
She felt a wave of dizziness come upon her, and her vision temporarily blurred and went out of focus whilst her knees and joints popped in protest of her trying to stand.
Xiao Niang let out a pained cry and fell back to the floor while her father stared on from above her. She gritted her teeth and tried her best to breathe through the fresh wave of pain that went through her legs as she slowly got to her feet.
As she stood, she felt a mix of different emotions: relief that the ordeal was over, resentment towards her father for causing her that much pain, and a massive fear she tried to ignore and bury deep within her.
It was the fear of what other punishments lay in store for her if she kept pushing him, just like she'd done tonight and many other times.
All of a sudden, Xiao Niang found herself wondering what he would do to her next time? Tonight, he'd made her kneel on stones for hours, and next time he could do something much worse.
His choices were limitless, and the thought of it terrified her. Her father's expression was stony and unmoving despite seeing her in so much pain, and it brought a bit of pain to her heart.
Xiao Niang bent down and rubbed her knees and calves. If she'd been stronger, she might've tried to resist and not show weakness, but she just didn't have the energy to go through another round with her father.
She stared at the ground and waited for the lecture that she knew for sure was coming.
"Look at me," her father said. She raised her eyes to his, but the icy cold she saw in them made her flinch and lower her gaze in deference.
"Look at me" he repeated, and Xiao Niang was left with no choice but to look into his eyes.
He stared back at her and their gazes clashed. His gaze was cold and hers was full of fear, anger, and resentment.
The air was thick with tension and unspoken words, but Xiao Niang refused to speak first. She felt her knee throb, and she reached down to rub at it without breaking eye contact.
"The next time you disobey me, I want you to remember that there will be a price to pay and believe me when I say this will be nothing compared to what I will do to you then"
His voice was firm, but for a moment, his eyes flashed, and she could have sworn she saw a glimpse of the father she'd once loved and adored in his eyes.
Xiao Niang felt her emotions rising to the surface, but she tamped them down quickly, she couldn't afford to take another punishment so soon.
She was angry at the unfair punishment, scared of what her father would do to her the next time she displeased him, but also sad.
Sad that the man who'd held her mother's hand and cried while she passed away was no more.
Xiao Niang's father turned and walked away, leaving her standing there with her aching legs and reeling thoughts.
There were so many thoughts going through her head and her emotions were all over the place.
But for some reason, all she could focus on when she entered the house was her father telling one of her siblings the story of Luo Yin Ping, a poor girl from their village who found true love and married a visiting noble.
Xiao Niang turned in her bed and pushed her confused emotions to a corner of her mind, she would try her best to understand them tomorrow, but right now, she just wanted to sleep.