Phoenix Rise: XieRong

XieRong followed her uncle and his wife with FeiHong to the main hall where her aunt was already berating her grandfather.

"XieRong was right, you are a stubborn old fool. You still want to test whether they are from the Guo family after they showed you the Phoenix ring?"

"HuiLiang, the ring may have been passed down in the family, but the ring binds to anyone it chooses after it’s previous master dies. It’s not a definite proof of identity and neither are those letters. Even if I believed them to be my granddaughters, I would still need definite proof as to they are who they say they are."

"It’s okay, aunt. FeiHong and I don’t mind. Besides, it’s a rule to confirm a child’s identity before registering them into the family," XieRong said, bowing to greet her grandfather.

"XieRong greets Old General Guo."

"FeiHong greets Old General Guo."

The Old General was hurt when he heard his granddaughters sound so distant, and although he knew they were his granddaughters, he was adamant to believe otherwise.

His daughter and granddaughter were right.

He was a stubborn old fool.

"Hmph. This is the Guo Family Crystal. Put a drop of your blood on it. If it glows you are indeed who you say you are, otherwise be prepared to be punished."

XieRong didn’t hesitate to cut her finger and put her blood on the clear crystal. She believed in the gods who were watching after her, but most of all she believed in her mother and herself.

At first, the crystal didn’t glow.

The old general got up, banging his hand on the arm of the chair with a loud ’thud’.

"What is the-"

But before he could finish his sentence a little golden glow as tiny as a blotch of ink appeared in the center which slowly grew to illuminate the entire globe.

"Father, this-"

"No one speaks until the younger girl is finished, understood?"

XieRong shivered, glad she hadn’t been on the receiving end of that glare.

The same thing happened to the globe with FeiHong.

"Hahaha! Father, these two have the purest Guo lineage passed down to them. Even you can’t refute the crystal!"

The General glowered at his son. He stood up and left the room without a word, the door banging behind him.

"Don’t worry XieRong, father will come around," her aunt comforted.

"It’s okay, second aunt. I have not forgiven him but I understand that he needs time to accept mother’s death. I would like you to tell him for me that that mother and I will forgive him if he tries to change for the better."

"This aunt will relay your message to him."

XieRong then went and stood in front of her grandfather’s chair.

"I didn’t call all of us here just because I wanted to meet the old general. I have some requests to make, but none of what we discuss can leave this room. Only the old general can know other than all of us present here."

"If it is about seeking justice from the Fa family, you don’t have to worry, we’ll take care of it."

Her uncle cracked his knuckles at the mention of the Fa family looking as though he were going to bury all of them alive.

"No, second aunt. I want all of you to help me and FeiHong but not do it for us, however, that is not what I wanted to request. First, I would like to get my and FeiHong’s spirit roots and mind strengths tested in secret and no matter what the result, I would like it to be spread that I possess mediocre roots."

"I would like it if you said that my spirit roots are average too."

XieRong smiled at her sister.

"I don’t understand. Why would you want to do that?"

FeiHong answered aunt Biyu’s question.

"First aunt, we’ll always be at an advantage against our enemies if they overestimate or underestimate us."

"Correct. Secondly, I would like a rumour to be spread that FeiHong and I are the children of the man my mother ran away with."

"But if we do that the Fa family will grow suspicious," her uncle said.

"Yes, but mine and FeiHong’s appearances have changed after the poison was removed and they never knew I was a girl so they will not be able to tell that we are Fa Chun and Fa Bai. They also won’t be able to refute our claim as they were the ones who spread that mother ran away with another man."

The Duchess Chin smiled proudly. Her niece was brilliant.

"My third request is that you treat me and FeiHong as unfavoured children in public until we are stronger. This way the Fa family would not consider me and my sister a threat even if they grow suspicious of us."

"What if they hire assassins to kill you? I wouldn’t put it past them," the duchess said, sipping on her tea.

"That would be my other request. I would like me and my sister to be trained in secret in both, cultivation and martial arts. I would like to learn martial arts under uncle during the night and I will learn medicine and cultivation during the evening with second aunt until I find a proper master for myself."

"What about FeiHong?"

"I will let her decide."

"I want to cultivate and learn medicine with Jie, but I would like Old general Guo to teach me martial arts, this way both me and Jie will have teachers who can concentrate completely on each of us."

"FeiHong, you’ll have to convince the old general to train you on your own."

"Don’t worry, Jie, he will agree."

"XieRong, are you sure you want this uncle to teach you? I’m not a lenient teacher."

"That’s exactly why I want you to teach me. I would like you to train me like you would train your most elite soldiers."

"This uncle will try his best. Is there anything else this uncle can do?"

"Yes, actually uncle, I would like you to assign shadow guards to me and FeiHong until we find some of our own. Then, if it is okay, I would like you to train the people we have selected."

"Leave it to this uncle."

"Is there anything that I can do?" Aunt Biyu asked.

"Yes. I was just about to ask if first aunt could invite Lady Bai and her Family to the Guo residence for a visit."

"I can, but why?"

"They offered to take FeiHong and I as their goddaughters. I told them I couldn’t accept it then, but now that I am here and a part of Guo family, I would like to accept their offer."

The general burst out laughing.

"If father finds out that the Bai’s offered to take his granddaughters as their goddaughters, he will flip!"

Her uncle continued to laugh until second aunt pinched him on the sides.

"Why would the Old general get angry?"

Her second aunt sighed.

"It’s of no importance. Just something between shameless old men. You’ll be fine as long as you don’t let father find out until the registration is completed."

XieRong didn’t understand but let it go. She would eventually come to understand anyway.

"Speaking of which, my last request is for all of you, including you FeiHong. I want all of you to stop ignoring the old general. I know what he did was wrong, and I haven’t forgiven him, nor will I until he tries to make up for his mistakes, but this is between me and him. In time, he will come to accept this reality and I will come to accept him, so please, don’t punish him on my behalf when what he needs right now is all of your support. Just like how it isn’t easy for us to come to terms with mother’s death, it isn’t easy for him. Please don’t make it any harder for him that it already is."

"I’m ashamed to be hearing this from a child," Her uncle said, coming over to pat her back.

"I’m sorry we let you feel guilty, XieRong. We were upset with our father for what he did to little sister and to you. We still are, but I admit that ignoring him in his time of need is wrong and it would make us no better than him if we did to him what he did to your mother," her second aunt said, as she took XieRong’s hands in her own.

"So you won’t ignore him?"

"No, but like you, we will let him know that we won’t forgive him until he starts to better himself as a person. Now, do you want to get your spirit root and mind strength tested?"