*/ "Second Mistress Yao! " an old woman bowed.

"Ah, Grandmother, don't bow to me, did the medicines for your rheumatism work?"

"Yes, Second Mistress Yao, I am fine now. Thank you so much."

"How are you, Second Mistress Yao?"

"Fine, Uncle, thank you!"

"Mistress, please try these fresh fruits!"

"Sure! Have tea with me some time!"....*

Warm water rolled down her face, making her drenched hair stick to her white neck and back. Caihong was finally having her bath, and she was absently pushing the stray strands of hair out of her face. Anbai, on the other hand, was standing behind her, pouring mugs of the warm water over her, trying to wash away the dust and grime as best as she could.

"I still think you were wallowing in the mud," she huffed, as she continued to pour water.

'Is Jie saying something?.... I can't hear... What is she-..'

"You're so dirty, sheesh."

*/.... "The colour of these apples is so bright, but you know what, I still feel something is wrong. Tch tch tch," Xingjuan frowned, as she crouched down in front of a roadside fruit stall, and observed one of the apples closely.

The woman who was counting her money with a grim face looked at her in shock.

Xingjuan looked at her thoughtfully and did a double-take. She facepalmed herself.
" Aish, I'm so blind. My bad. Now I know what's missing."

"What's wrong, miss?"

" Very simple, none of these is as bright as you," Xingjuan smiled, and added," Jiejie."

The woman's face which had been glum moments ago now sported a deep crimson flush.

"I'm old enough to be your aunt," she muttered, blushing furiously.

"Pfft, nonsense. Look at you. You can't be any older. Please let me call you Jiejie."

"Hmph," the woman said, but she was smiling shyly, her hands already busy at placing the apples in a small basket.
"Here, take."

"Aiyaa, Jie! So many?"

"Now, now, take them already. All of them are for you."

"Ahahaha, thank you," Xingjuan bowed, taking the basket. "Jiejie."
She took a big bite out of one of them, and mumbled, her mouth full, "So sweet, Jie, just like you."

One could swear that the woman's blush crept down to her neck. ....*

"Oi, mèimei, I am going to soap your hair. So you know what you have to do, don't you? Keep your eyes shut," Anbai went on, not aware in the least that her little sister couldn't even hear her.

' Aigoo, Jie is still saying something, but why is she whispering? I can't-..'

"Oi, stop moving your hands through your hair! How am I going to wash it properly, if you keep putting your fingers in between?"

' Oh, she is asking me to move my hands away. Okay..'

Caihong put her hands down at her sides, stiffly. Her eyes were glued to the wooden partition in front of her. Her head ached horribly, making spots of blue, white and red flash in front of her eyes.

*/ "Grandfather!!" Xingjuan shouted, cupping her hands before her mouth. "Grandfather!!! Look up, up!!"

A yellow, well-worn straw hat popped out from among rows and rows of green, and an old man, who was working in the field, looked in all directions, confused as to who was calling him. When his tiny little eyes finally focussed on the tall figure standing on the sidewalk, he flashed her a toothless grin.

Xingjuan waved at him, and called out, "Wait, I'm coming!!"

"Aiya, no no, aish your clothes will get all muddy again!" The old man wrung his rough hands, calloused from years of ploughing.

But of course, Xingjuan wasn't the type to care about clothes getting dirty. She quickly jumped down from the sidewalk, and darted towards the old man, her fingers already working on the belt holding her outer robes in place.

"Here, hold this," She stuffed her outer robes and her sword into his hands. "This. And this too."

Soon enough, she was standing in front of them, clad only in her innermost upper robe and pants, with her belt fastened around her slim waist, to prevent the cloth from getting in the way.

" Ah, now that's better," she sighed contentedly and grinned, making the old farmer and his wife, who had just come out to greet the owner of the cheery voice, stare at her, shocked.

Xingjuan promptly took out her handkerchief and masked her nose and mouth with it, to prevent herself from gagging on the foul smell of the compost. She picked up a rod and tied the two pails to it with sturdy ropes, one at each end. She then hoisted it onto her shoulders and walked off towards the field.

" Oi, there she goes!" The farmer's wife exclaimed. "This girl," she shook her head, amused.

"May she live long, the Second Mistress Yao," the old farmer prayed.

"Yuàn nǐ de qídǎo dédào huíyīng (May your prayers be answered)," the wife smiled, as she used a wet washcloth to wipe away his sweat.

Xingjuan began to sing as she expertly balanced her centre of gravity, while carrying the buckets of manure, towards the vegetable fields.

"The burning lotus blossoms in the cold,
Pupils reflecting darkness darker than night,
Healing the wounds and what was broken,
Yet there are...

Aiya, look at him, he's coming this way, there's no place for me to move, either."

Sure enough, there was a tall, manly figure coming her way. Dressed in robes as blue as forget-me-nots, raven black hair blowing out in the breeze. His handsome face made people turn their heads to admire him.

His posture was upright. He kept his eyes to the ground, as he took long strides.

' Is he new here? I have never seen him around here before.'

' He looks like he's an heir of a prestigious clan.'

'Must be a cultivator. Maybe he's just passing by.'

Both of them were now standing face to face. Xingjuan shifted a bit, shrugging to ease the heavyweight on her shoulders.

The youth finally looked up. He was undoubtedly surprised, for his hazel orbs widened a bit. Well, you see ladies plucking flowers in the garden to decorate their hair, but it's truly a rare sight to see a lady working in the fields, carrying fertilisers about.

Their brains chose this very moment to remind them of their P's and Q's, and their gaze faltered.

Xingjuan bowed her head and hastily stepped aside, to give him the way to walk past. But as luck would have it, as soon as she did that, due to the pressure of the pole digging into her shoulders, she lost her balance.

She yelped just as she was about to fall, and found strong arms circled tightly around her waist and back, preventing the fall.

She looked at the person who had just saved her an embarrassing fall so that she could thank him, but all the words she wanted to say, died on the tip of her tongue, as her tea tinted orbs locked on the worried, yet charming hazel ones.

Her eyes fell on a glittering object, which dazzled her when the light struck it. It was an earring, made of the purest of silver. It was perched just above his ear lobe, beside the antitragus and had enchanted runes engraved on it. Her suspicion that he was a cultivator was instantly confirmed.

In the meanwhile, the youth was internally panicking, at the feel of warm skin directly under the cloth.

'Oh fuck, she's just in her undershirt, shit...'

His cheeks and ears were painted by an intense flush, as the realisation dawned on him.

' Which girl goes around in just an under-'

"Shameless!!" He bit out, and abruptly released the grip before walking away swiftly.

"OUCH!" Xingjuan yelped, as she landed on the ground with a thump.
"Donkey!!!" She yelled after his retreating back. "If you had to drop me at the end, why did you have to hold me in the first place?! When you have to brace a person's fall, at least, help that person stand up, you white peacock!! Idiot!! Ouch, my ass, aahh..." /*

"AAAAAHHH, JIE!!! MY EYES ARE ON FIRE!!! SOAP!!! BURNS!!! WATER!!!"

"What?!! Mèi!! You were supposed to keep your eyes closed!!" Anbai shrieked.

******

Li Liang's brain had suddenly attained this irritating and in this case, agonizing, habit of repeating past events on a loop, like a damaged record.

He was standing at the side of Caihong's bed, in which Renshu was warmly tucked in. He stood there, choking out deep breaths, with hands tightly clamped on his ears, as if in doing so he would be able to block the voice inside his head.

The voice, most unexpectedly, belonged to Doctor Cheng, the Royal Physician of the Ruan Sect.

' I'm so sorry, Elder Lord Li.'

"No..."

' Your grandson has been defiled.'

"S-stop..."

' Either there were too many, or it occurred multiple times...'

"Don't say anything... Please stop..."

'... but he is bleeding...'

" Please stop... I..."

' This medicine will ease the pain and any further blood loss...'

"Stop... Please stop... I can't, anymore..."

' I can't say anything else until his fever subsides...'

"I'm begging you, stop... Please..."

' Elder Lord Li, please pray well.'

"I can't any-"

"Ow."

His excruciating thoughts and the haunting voice were shut up by a sudden push against his backside, and the sound of a soft thud.
He hastily wiped away his tears, which had unknowingly wet his cheeks.

He turned. But he couldn't see anyone at first. He looked around, puzzled.

"I bumped into a pillar, aiya."

He looked down at the floor, for that was where the familiar voice was coming from. It was Caihong, and she was vigorously rubbing her eyes.

After Anbai had succeeded in getting the soap suds out of Caihong's eyes and scrubbed her clean, Caihong had started rubbing her eyes to rid them of the smarting sensation. She walked up to her room, continuously rubbing her eyes, for she didn't need to keep her eyes open to walk around in the royal mansion. Besides, even if she was in the way of some maid or guard, they let her pass. Thus, without any hindrance, she had walked straight into her room, planning all the possible ways to approach her new friend.

"You bumped into me, Second Mistress Ruan, haha," Li Liang chuckled a bit.

"Oh, hello," Caihong replied, blinking her eyes. "Is Renshu awake?"

"No, he has a fever."

"Mmm-hmmm," she said, a bit dejectedly, and got up to bring a trough, filled with cool water, and a washcloth. She dipped the washcloth in the water, squeezed the water out, and placed the damp cloth on Renshu's burning forehead.

"Second Mistress, by any chance, are you left-handed?" Li Liang asked when he noticed the silver ring adorning the index finger of Caihong's left hand. It was shining beautifully in the cool moonlight coming through the window.

"Umm, not really," Caihong answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Ah, no, no. Just like that, I was just curious."

Though there were complicated runes engraved on the metal, something was missing. Something was incomplete. Li Liang couldn't figure out what it was. It gave him a nerve-racking, restless, itchy feeling. It was similar to how you feel when you forget the name of a very dear person, or not being able to remember where you had put the keys, just a second after you had kept them somewhere.

Yet, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't think of anything. His mind was too weary.

"Why is the room so dark?" Caihong grumbled, placing a fresh washcloth on the sleeping boy's forehead. Her fingers began to glow in a brick red hue, and she swiftly drew a fire talisman. She swung her hand out towards the lamps and the candles, lighting all of them up in one go.

"Now that's-"

"Elder Lord," a bowing maid, standing at the doorstep, interrupted her mid-sentence. "His Highness requests your presence for dinner."

He nodded, dismissing her.

"Aren't you going too?" He turned towards Caihong.

She smiled and shook her head. "I'll have dinner here so that I can keep an eye on him."

"You... you will take care of Ren?"

"Yes. Please go ahead and have dinner. Don't worry, he's safe with me here."

Anyone else would have felt uncomfortable at the thought of leaving a sick kid in the care of another kid. But somehow, Li Liang couldn't bring himself to worry. Somewhere, deep down, he knew that it was okay. Everything was fine.

He turned to leave when a hand tugged at his sleeve. He smiled, now he didn't need to look to see who it was.
He turned and crouched down to her height.

"I want to ask you something," Caihong said, eyeing the clasp of his cloak and reaching out her fingers to touch it.

He nodded.

"If you aren't uncomfortable, may I call you Grandpa? You can call me by my name too. At least, when we're alone."

Li Liang had long lost the ability to turn down her requests. "Yes. Caihong," he quickly agreed.

At last, when Caihong looked up at his face and smiled brightly, he saw something which he had never expected to see ever again. He was left, stunned, tongue-tied. All his questions fought amongst themselves, each wanting to come out first, and yet, he couldn't do so, for he didn't want to frighten the kid, just in case his suspicion wasn't true. He couldn't ignore the possibility that he might just be hallucinating; he wasn't really in his right mind.

' Your eyes...

Is it possible?...

The colour... It seems to be alike...

Is it you?'