Meng's Revenge: Vol.4 of Life Among Clouds WangXian Series

Woman, Beginning

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were gathering a full house. Having had Lan Sizhui for most of his life had made such a difference in both their worlds, especially Lan Zhan's. He had found salvation in that little presence. The comforting hugs, the small hand that gripped his, had pulled him back to the surface when the agony and guilt of Wei's passing became unbearable. The child, now a fine young man, had been his only lifeline for the thirteen years before Wei's return.

Sizhui also salved Wei's unreasonable guilt that he held regarding the extermination of the Wen Clan remnants. To have the one sole survivor a part of his daily life again, a child who had loved him in his first life, raised to honor his memory in the only subtle ways that Lan Zhan could do while the world still thought him a monster, was another godsend.

Now, within a matter of months, they were blessed with, first, Anshi and then, much more recently, Xiao Mian. And Sizhui, with his usual humor, grace, and patience, fell into an elder brother role quite naturally. Anshi and he had very similar, quiet natures, but Xiao Mian puzzled them both. She challenged them daily and when she was sharing her body with Nana Lan, it quickly turned into a wild and unpredictable ride. The grandmother brooked no nonsense and the two young men could get away with nothing. However, on most occasions, Xiao Mian was herself and trying to come to terms with her mother's death, and her older brothers were determined to help her through it. It had, after all, been part of Mian Mian's last wishes.

The tragedy of Mian Mian and her squad's loss was felt throughout Cloud Recesses, Gusu, and Yunmeng. It tightened the three communities' ties even more and heightened the area's awareness of security. But the personal loss to Xiao Mian at such a pivotal time in her daughter's life was immeasurable. No one had known her better. 

Xiao Mian rarely left the house and garden and when she did it was with a strong escort. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying enlisted their sisters to develop Xiao Mian's education The women were delighted to help.  Qinyang supervised her schooling. Qing began her medical training. Yenay kept her physical cultivation on course, especially  self-protection and group fighting. And several times a week, Chu Chu and Mei Mei came to help with housework and to teach her advanced cooking skills. 

Everyone kept her busy and she was usually exhausted by the end of the day. However, sleep often eluded her and she had become increasingly anxious, tense, and irritable over the weeks since the assassins destroyed her world. Somedays she hated being alone. Other days she could not stand company. One day she would laugh and be merry. Another, she would bite everyone's head off. Life had lost it's stability and she sometimes felt like she was careening off the the walls of the Bungalow.

 One day, a few weeks after her mother's murder, Xiao Mian woke up in agony, Her body shivered with cold one moment and after she rolled up in a quilt to stave off the chills, she immediately became overheated and kicked the covers off. Her abdomen was ripping apart and worst of all, when she staggered, doubled over, to get help, she looked down and saw blood. She could not help herself and collapsed on her bed and screamed for her fathers. All four men woke with a start and Lan Zhan and Wei dashed into her room. She was sobbing hysterically and begged them to get Qing. Anshi dashed off and Sizhui put water on and gathered linens for use by the Doctor. Lan Zhan held her hand and tried to calm her, trying to get any information from the hysterical girl while Wei Ying, eyes wide with fear, held her tightly, stroked her hair, and murmuring lovingly in her ear. 

Within 20 long minutes, Anshi arrived with Qing. She deftly ordered the distraught men from the room and sat before the girl, taking her pulse and checking her meridians.

"Your pulse is a little rapid. I want you to lie back and I am going to feel your abdomen." She pressed down on her lower belly and Xiao Mian squealed in pain. 

"Oh, Aunty Qing it hurts so much!"

"I imagine it does. When did the bleeding start?"

"I noticed it this morning. Not a lot, but coming from...below. And it got all over. "

"Have you noticed any other changes?"

I noticed some swelling on my chest. I thought I was getting a cold...Am...Am I going to die?"

Qing smiled. "No, my dear. But life for you is about to change a very great deal."

A while later Qing emerged from Xiao Mian's room. The men gathered and she advised them to sit around the table.

Lan Zhan was frightened but stayed calm.

"How serious is it? What is wrong, Qing? She was fine when she went to bed!" The others nodded in agreement, eyes wide and anxious.

Qing looked at them, gravely. "I suggest that you order several bolts of muslin and some cotton batting. You four are in for a rough ride. Your little girl has just taken her first steps into womanhood."

"Wei shouted, "You mean she...?"

" Yes. and the next week is going to be insane for you all."

She laughed as they all colored a deep shade of red; four grown men, standing before her, looking more terrified than at anytime she had seen them in battle.

"Xiao Mian will be edgy, emotional, and will need a lot of patience. And guess what? You get this once a month until her fifties! Oh, and you will need to get her wardrobe changed. Her little girl clothes are completely obsolete. I would put Qinyang in charge of that. She has the best fashion taste among us."

She noticed a pout come over Wei's face.

"And of course, you as well, Wei. But tone down the red a bit. Let her decide her own taste."

He brightened up immediately.

"Keep lots of tea brewing; I will send one that will relieve the stomach cramping and will help ease her to sleep. Also, fill the waterskins with hot water to warm her belly. They work wonders for the pains as well. She will be very depressed. This is a time that she would have shared and celebrated with her Mother and that is not possible. You must be extra kind right now."

They nodded and Qing left. 

Lan Zhan went to the bookshelves and chose some lovely illustrated collections of poems, happy and light and designed to bring smiles and not tears. Sizhui ran to the market and bought a box of fine chocolates. Wei picked a vase of pink peonies and tied his favorite red ribbon around it. They all quietly slid them through her door and left for the day. 

Anshi sat quietly by her door, taking the first shift to watch over her. He reached back into his memories of campfires and stringed instruments and voices raised in songs handed down for hundreds of years. He closed his emerald eyes, heart aching for his sister, and began to sing her softly to sleep.