Chapter 39 - The Arrival of the Bai Family
XieRong head over to her grandfather"s courtyard, her body aching, covered with bruises.
Her brother had shown absolutely no mercy as he"d driven her to the limits. She promised to get back at him after she became much stronger. In the mean time, she decided to face her fears.
The Old General Guo was sitting in the garden, a cup of tea in his hands, as he looked into the pond and let out a deep breath.
XieRong decided to give it a shot and she would start by calling him grandfather.
"XieRong greets grandfather."
The old general turned his head and looked at XieRong as though he had seen a ghost.
"Grandfather, this granddaughter would like to talk to grandfather, if he has time."
"Come sit."
XieRong"s heart was trembling. She clenched her hands in order to stop them from shaking as she approached the small table and took a seat.
She controlled her breathing and tried to keep her calm as she spoke to the old general about what she told her elder brother.
"I see."
The old general down at his hands with regret and shame.
He had scarred such a young girl in her tender years. Anyone in her position would have done what she had.
"I apologise," the old general said, remorseful.
XieRong was stupefied.
Did the stubborn old general really just apologise to a seven year old girl like her?
"This grandfather is sorry that he made his own granddaughter suffer."
XieRong smiled.
"Grandfather, let this granddaughter train with grandfather before breakfast everyday. This granddaughter would like to spend some time with grandfather everyday, if that"s alright with grandfather."
The old general felt overjoyed.
He had thought that he"d lost all hope of gaining his granddaughter"s trust and forgiveness. Now that he had been given a chance, he promised to make right by his granddaughter. He had not heeded his wife"s warning and had lost his daughter, he wouldn"t be a fool the second time and lose this granddaughter as well. He promised to try and change for the better.
"Come train with grandfather for half a Shi Chen before breakfast."
The Bai Family had send word that they would be arriving at the Guo Residence today.
The guest courtyard had already been prepped and XieRong and her sister"s lessons with her aunt had been cancelled for the day.
Ruiling had pulled XieRong and FeiHong into her courtyard to try out new dresses.
"RuiLing, you know we won"t be dressing up. Why have you brought us here?"
RuiLing smiled mischievously.
"Doesn"t younger sister know that there is a new rumour going around?"
"No..."
XieRong pondered whether she had come across any other rumours while she was at the Weimin restaurant.
For the past month, before going to the MeiYing brothel, XieRong would sit in the first floor of the restaurant, gathering rumours and earning money by placing higher bets as time went by. Each time she bet, she won, and it came to a point where she paid the waiter to not reveal whom she had placed her bets on as people had started to inquire about her bet before placing theirs.
"Well, the rumour says that the first young miss of the Guo Residence has taken pity on her new cousins and dotes on them despite her family being against them."
RuiLing took out two new dresses from her wardrobe.
"So, mother and I took advantage of the rumour and bought you these," she said handing XieRong a light turquoise dress and FeiHong a bright red dress.
"Mother noticed you both wore these colours often so she chose the dresses, while I chose these to match your dresses."
RuiLing gave each of them a hairpin.
XieRong"s was a silver one with strings of dark blue gems dangling at its end, while FeiHong"s was a silver hairpin with strings of red rubies.
XieRong was touched.
No one had ever bought her a dress or hairpin to decorate herself with before.
She hugged RuiLing.
"Thank you, elder sister."
RuiLing laughed. However, there was slight pity in her heart, wondering how badly they must have been treated to be so grateful over things she received in pa.s.sing.
FeiHong thanked RuiLing politely.
"Now go, put them on."
With her hair put up in a buddha bun, and her face adorned with light make up, XieRong looked like a warrior princess.
FeiHong, on the other hand, looked like a phoenix with her red dress. It was hard to make a bright red dress look elegant on a five year old, but FeiHong made it look easy. Only XieRong knew it was because her sister actually had been the phoenix in her previous lifetime.
In a light pink dress, RuiLing looked like a celestial fairy that had descended from the heavens.
With all their three young misses dolled up, the servants felt as though their eyes had been blessed.
The Bai family"s carriage arrived exactly at the time they said it would, carrying gifts more than XieRong could count on her fingers.
XieRong had wondered why Bai Shen was staying with the Duke of West, Prince Fang Zhixin, when the Bai family had a better relationship with the Guo family. She had heard that the Bai family were always curt with the west duke, no matter how hard he tried to gain their favour, but she had let her curiosity rest as she had other things to focus on.
b.u.t.terflies fluttered about in her stomach as she watched her Uncle and Aunt greet the left prime minister and his wife from afar.
-Jie, don"t be so nervous. It will be alright.-
-But what if its not. What if they get angry that I lied about who I was?-
-The only thing you lied about was your name, Jie, and you had good reason as to why you did it. Trust me, they will understand.-
XieRong waited for someone to summon her and FeiHong as she paced about in the garden.
"Second young miss, third young miss, the old general has summoned you both in the main hall."
XieRong steeled her nerves the best she could and marched to the main hall.
Bending her knees, she curtsied and greeted everyone in the room, getting up only when her grandfather gave his permission.
"BaiHua?"
It was the first young lord Bai who voiced his surprise.
"How-"
XieRong smiled slightly.
"This lady apologises for having lied and keeping her ident.i.ty a secret from Lord Bai and his family."
Bai Minzhe looked perplexed.
"Why would you hide your ident.i.ty from us?"
XieRong took a seat with RuiLing to her right and FeiHong to her left. She explained her circ.u.mstances, narrating the exact same story she had told her uncle, aunt and grandfather about her life at the Fa Estate, about her running away after her mother"s death. Staying the night in a cave they found by chance and being cured by travelling medicine pract.i.tioner after they helped him.
"This lady will understand if Lord Bai rescinds his previous offer to accept this lady and her sister as his granddaughters."
Lord Bai looked to look at his wife who nodded her head at him.
"This lord cannot overlook that you hid your ident.i.ty from us, but the fact that you are our benefactor does not change," Bai Minzhe said, lightly stroking the cheek of his daughter who was in his wife"s lap.
"We would still like for you both to be our G.o.ddaughters. You both did what you had to in order to protect yourselves, and we cannot blame you for it,"the Lady Bai said.
"And from what I have been able to make of you, I know you must have had a good reason to change your name as well, so I will not inquire further."
Lord Bai took out the family register from his spatial ring and wrote down XieRong and FeiHong"s names in it.
"My wife and I had originally planned to send someone to find you both once we arrived here, to ensure whether you were safe and to enter you as our G.o.ddaughters because of my father"s insistence to enter you both in the registry as soon as possible."
"Why would Elder Bai want to enter me and FeiHong in the registry? The elder has not even met us."
Bai Minzhe remained quiet.
How could he utter his father"s shameless thoughts out loud?
He remembered how his father had wanted to enter XieRong and her sister as soon as possible in the registry when he had praised the girls just so his father could go gloat to the old general Guo and the old general Shan about his two new excellent G.o.ddaughters.
"Never mind that. I"m a.s.suming you would like to keep this a secret?"
"Yes, I don"t want to alarm the Fa Family just yet."
When there was nothing more left to talk about her grandfather spoke up.
XieRong had found it odd that her grandfather hadn"t gone against her and FeiHong getting adopted as Lord Bai"s G.o.ddaughters, but when she heard why she had to keep herself from falling off of her chair.
"Minzhe, when you return, tell Bai Li that you adopted my granddaughters as your G.o.ddaughters. Don"t forget to praise them!"
One word rang throughout the minds of all the people present in the room.
Shameless!