XieRong could feel the pain all over her body as she slowly regained consciousness.
She didn"t want to wake up yet. She had wanted to stay with her mother a little longer.
"It has already been two days since the young miss fainted," she heard someone say.
XieRong couldn"t believe what she was hearing.
Two days! It had been two days!
It felt like she had only spent a Shi Chen with her mother, not two whole days.
"Father has really done it this time," her aunt angrily said, from beside her.
"Second aunt, don"t worry. My sister is much stronger than she looks. She"ll wake up soon."
"I know XieRong is strong, but I"m not so sure, if she will wake up. My father possesses a very powerful mind strength. I am a cultivator in the mid Earth Cultivation Realm, yet I was barely able to try and walk to your sister."
Her aunt stroked her forehead.
"This aunt feels useless. I wasn"t even able to protect my own niece."
XieRong slowly forced her eyes open.
"Ugh," she groaned as she tried to sit up.
"Jie!"
"XieRong!"
XieRong tried to smile.
"Aunt, FeiHong," she acknowledged as they helped her sit up.
"How are you feeling, Jie?"
"Like a thousand horses ran over me?"
XieRong"s stomach let out a rumble. Her face flushed in embarra.s.sment.
"Aunt, is there anything to eat?"
Her aunt hurriedly got up from beside her.
"I"ll go inform brother and sister-in-law and bring some food for you to eat!" She said, rushing out while she instructed the servants to bring some water and clothes for XieRong.
When everyone had left the room, Xierong turned to FeiHong who was now sitting in the stool her aunt previously occupied.
"FeiHong," XieRong patted her sister"s head,"Jie knows you might not believe me but I saw and talked to mother. She told me there was more to you than what met the eye."
FeiHong flinched away from her sister"s touch. XieRong just smiled.
"Don"t worry FeiHong, mother didn"t tell me what was different about you, only that you weren"t the same little girl she left behind. Jie won"t force you to tell anything. I just wanted to let you know that no matter what happens, Jie will always love you. If you are wrong I will scold you and correct you, but I will always, always love you for who you are, do you understand?"
FeiHong nodded her head in understanding with tears in her eyes.
"From today on, Jie will let you do as you please. Mother told me I had been sheltering you too much, so I will allow you to do whatever you want, but you have to promise to inform me briefly about where and what you are doing just so I know you are fine."
"FeiHong promises," FeiHong said, as she hugged her sister.
XieRong patted her sister"s back.
"Promise you won"t hesitate to ask for help when it gets dangerous."
"I promise."
XieRong kissed her sister"s forehead.
"Now go play while sister gets changed," she said when she saw that the servants had arrived with the tub and clothes.
Soon, the tub was full of water and flower petals.
XieRong had never taken a bath like this. She usually just washed up by the stream near the old lady"s place.
Her body was still weak as she got into the tub like a newborn fawn learning to walk for the first time. The aroma of the a.s.sortment of flower petals was soothing and calmed her down.
"What"s your name?" She asked the servant who washed her hair.
"Li Jia, second young miss."
"Tell me, Li Jia, has anything happened in the Guo pavilion in these two days?"
"No, second young miss, on the contrary, it has been unusually silent. The d.u.c.h.ess, lord and lady refuse to speak to the old master until second young miss has forgiven him. Even third young miss refuses to acknowledge him. The Old General has been moping in his room for the past two days."
XieRong slipped into the tub until half her face was covered with water.
She felt bad for the old general. She hadn"t wanted the entire household to turn against him when she had said what she had.
"Miss, this servant apologises for being so bold, but the old general isn"t as hardhearted as he seems. Second young miss should forgive him."
"Why do you say that Li Jia?"
"Miss, after the first half year of second miss" marriage, the old general heard rumours about a woman moving into the Fa family without having been married. The general looked into it and found that the woman was none other than second miss" senior sister from her days in the cultivation sect. The second young miss always told the old general how kind and generous her senior sister was so he was relieved that his daughter had someone looking after her and let the matter rest. Miss, the old general might be stubborn, but he still loved his daughter and tried to look after her in his own way. It"s just that he is very bad at showing and telling how he really feels."
"Thank you for telling me this Li Jia, but I still can"t forgive him completely. However, I will try."
"Thank you, miss. That"s all this servant asks. Now, let"s get second young miss dressed."
After XieRong was done filling her stomach she went to look for the old general Guo.
It wasn"t soon after she"d reached the courtyard that she saw a girl a little older her age pick a fight with FeiHong. She was tempted to go help her sister but stopped herself. This was FeiHong"s battle. She"d only interfere if things got too out of hand.
"Aren"t you going to go help her?" her aunt Biyu asked, coming to stand by her with her uncle.
"No."
"Why?" her uncle asked, folding his huge arms across his chest.
"The same reason you both aren"t going to help your daughter," she replied watching the fight,"I want FeiHong to learn how to protect herself. Someone made me realise that I"ve been babying my sister too much when my duty is to teach my sister and watch over her as she grows, not to fight her battles for her."
Her uncle put his huge paw over her head and ruffled her hair. Aunt Biyu slapped her husband"s hand away.
"Don"t touch a lady"s hair. It"s rude!" She chastised as she began to fix XieRong"s hair.
Her uncle just rubbed his hand as if he were used to it. He just continued to observe.
"Now I see what my sister means when she says she sees Hua in you."
XieRong didn"t look away from her sister as she was winning against her opponent. She hadn"t realised how much her sister had grown.
"What do you mean uncle? I hardly look like mother. FeiHong resembles her more."
"Uncle wasn"t talking about outward appearances, XieRong. When I saw the way you stood up against father on your own, your determination to protect your sister and now when I heard the wisdom in your words, you looked exactly the way my little sister did, strong and stubborn with wisdom way beyond her years."
"Do you believe me and FeiHong? That we really are your neices?"
"I would be more surprised if you weren"t my nieces," Aunt Biyu replied.
"Were you going to meet father?" Her uncle asked, observing how little FeiHong had paralysed his daughter after using her own strength against her.
"Yes. And I want all of you to be there when I do."
"You know, FeiHong told us everything you both and Hua Mei Mei have been through."
Her aunt placed her hands on her nieces shoulders.
"But me and mother hardly told FeiHong anything. How could she have told you?"
"She knows much more than you think, XieRong. Can"t you see that you have been underestimating her all along?" Her sister had beaten her cousin who had started to sob on the ground.
"This lady is the first miss of the Guo family! How dare you treat me this way?!"
"This miss didn"t come here to pick a fight, but since you picked one with this miss after this miss gave you a chance then don"t blame this miss for teaching you a lesson!"
XieRong laughed at her sister"s words.
FeiHong was indeed her sister.
"Our daughter has grown arrogant in all the years she was spoiled as the first young miss of the Guo family. This will be a nice lesson for her," her uncle said.
Her aunt chuckled.
"Indeed."