Black Greed

ONE

"Qing'er! What are you doing there?" A woman's voice rang in the training grounds as she swing her sword so wild.

A girl in her fifteen is swinging a sword that is heavier than her arms, sweat dropping to the ground in the middle of day.

Wei MeiLan.

Wei Qing.

Qing'er or A'Qing.

Wearing a simple blue and black training clothes, she dropped the sword and looked at the source of the voice. Her hair is tied up  into ponytail with blue strings with bells at the end. Her black eyes that is focused on her task looked towards at the voice who called her. "Madam Jiang!"

She ran towards the exquisite woman that is staring gently at her. The woman has her hair up do with stern face and commanding voice. Wearing a violet hanfu with whip on her waist and decorations on her head. "Do you need something for errands, Madam Jiang?"

She received a flick on her forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you that you should call me 'aunt?' Compared to your unruly twin, you're far more sensible,"

Wei MeiLan chuckled. Her brother is a free spirited person after all, so no one can really stop him being a reckless one.

"Mad-Aunt Jiang, A'Ying has been like that since we are young," She answered. "I'm going to be surprised if he frowned so hard and cry. He's the bubbly one in the family when mother and father were still alive,"

"Your brother always loves to make scenes, causing trouble to our clan," Yu ZiYuan complained.

She chuckled in return. "Aunt, Ying'er is living up to our motto, unfortunately, it leads to trouble,"

"It's good that he follows our clan motto, but why make more trouble?"

"Aunt, he is the type of person that will uphold justice if he sees people being disadvantaged of. It's just that he do it in a way that sometimes you will either be pissed to death because of him.

"He will rather get hurt than see others get aggrieved. I guess it has been an unconscious thinking since 'that' happened,"

Wei MeiLan puts her hands behind and smiled. "Besides, you're here to give my brothers some tough love. It might cause some misunderstanding, but I see that you care, Aunt,"

The woman's eyes softened. "Why you twins are so perspective and smart?"

******

"A'Qing, why don't you join our brothers in Cloud Recesses?" Jiang YanLi asked her. The young lady is the gentle daughter of the Jiang clan who's adored by everyone. Her aura is gentle and kind, often smiling at everyone. "You can cultivate as same as them, why need to stay here?"

If Jiang YanLi is the gentle wind that billows in the Lotus Pier, Wei MeiLan is the gentle river; gentle at the surface but can be dangerous at the deep waters. Her demeanor can be a total opposite of her jiejie if everyone she holds dearly is threatened.

"Jiejie," Qing spoke softly. "I don't want to hear that my brother is getting punished to write some scriptures or something while I'm trying hard not to laugh because he slipped again at midnight to drink. While Cheng'er is sighing in frustration and getting annoyed at him,"

YanLi chuckled. "You understand the two of them so well,"

"All I can offer is to stand at your side and keep you guys safe while they are away," She proudly stated.

Her forehead was flicked lightly. "For a young person, and a woman at that, you dare to say those things,"

"Hey, our boys aren't here, besides, Aunt and Uncle are both busy. So it will be my turn," She crossed her arms. "Besides, they will return in few days, all I can do is watch idly the days upon their return," Because Aunt Jiang doesn't want me to be your maid. She added in her mind.

The twins gets a nice treatment from the Jiang family despite being adopted. Wei MeiLan devoted herself to the family while Wei WuXian devoted himself to Jiang Cheng, the next head of the Jiang Clan. It's one of the reasons of her refusal to join the two boys to study in Cloud Recesses. She can also learn what they can learn too, inside the Jiang compound.

She had mastered to play musical instruments, wield weapons, dance, sing and etiquette.

The courtesans in their city were kind enough to give her lessons to dance and sing in a short time as she practice to wield weapons and watch over her jiejie.

All that she worries is how to cultivate since she doesn't know how and no one can teach her. After all, not all person have golden core and cultivate. Especially her, a woman.

Also, the fact that she can see ahead of the future. Being a seer is a curse for her, for no matter how hard she tried to prevent those events to happen, it still does. All she can do is stand and watch helplessly it happens, and she can't even tell anyone, not even her twin brother.

"Jiejie," Wei MeiLan spoke again. "What will you do if something happened to our clan because of some stupid cultivators weaved lies to start a war?"

"Even though I'm powerless, I will support you guys no matter what. All I know is you are doing what you think is just and right while living up to our motto," Her jiejie answered honestly.

"Jiejie, I promise that I will get strong to stand side by side with A'Cheng and A'Ying. So that I can protect you too,"

"Silly girl," Her jiejie laughed at her. "Why do you need to get strong? Are you planning to overwhelm your future husband?"

"Jiejie! Why are you telling me that horrendous topic? That sends shivers to my spine. It's impossible for me to get married, much less get a soulmate,"

"Don't be so pessimistic about your future, A'Qing. Who knows if your soulmate is out there, trying to look for you," Her jiejie said warmly.

"I have an idea of who he is," She murmured. "But I'm sure he's not aware of me,"

Jiang YanLi's eyes shined. "Really? Tell me who is he. And how can you be so sure that he doesn't know you,"

She shook her head. "I know that he doesn't know of me. Whoever he is, I might bump at him in near future,"

"Come, tell me more!"

Deciding whether she should tell her jiejie or not, she sighed and gave up. "All I know is he's tall, wearing light blue robes, has jade flute and a quiet but nice aura. Unfortunately, I can't see his face so I don't know who he might be," After all, the face will help me run away fast from him.

"Light blue, almost white?" Her jiejie thought well about her description. "A cultivator from GuSu Lan Clan? Was that the real reason why you don't want to join A'Ying? Because you might meet him?"

"Partly yes," She admitted right away, but her eyes widened when she realized what had happened. "Jiejie, you believe me?"

"I know for a long time that you can glimpse a bit into the future. I thought at first is because you are perspective towards your surroundings, but as day goes by that I study you, that wasn't the reason. A'Qing, is that giving you a huge burden?" Jiang YanLi might not be a cultivator, but she's smart enough to sense what's happening around her.

"I..." Wei MeiLan stuttered for the first time. She never faltered to the toughest opponents she had faced before, but in front of her jiejie, she's a meek lamb. "I'm sorry, jiejie. It might look like I'm just making it up, but it's real,"

"Let me share that burden, A'Qing," Her jiejie asked. "It's not good for you to carry it all by yourself,"

"It's fine, jiejie. I can somehow block it, so I'm still fine. It's just some events are tad annoying, coming out when I'm off guard. But I swear, I'm fine. I'll tell you when I can't take it anymore,"

She can only give an assurance to her jiejie that she knows that only worries for her.