Encountered You

Part 1: Parting

A nine years old child watched how an older woman in front her gave her a soft smile. She felt her heart hurted for no reason, but she still smiled back,

"Yue'er is a good child, right?" The woman, her mother to be exact rubbed her hair, the child nodded, "good. Then can you make a promise to Mufei this one time?"

"what Mufei wants me to do? I will do it for Mufei!"

Her mother smiled, "can you please protect your didi and meimei after Mufei go?"

Li Xi Yue blinked, "where does Mufei wants to go? I will accompany you."

"silly child," her mother picked her forehead, "Mufei will go far far away. That's why mufei want you to protect your siblings. Can you do that?"

"silly mufei!" she replied, copied her mother, "even without you ask me, i will always protect didi and meimei with all my heart and power."

Her mother always looked pale year long, and seemed to fragile, there's also a smell of medicine in her Zhengyuan but Li Xi Yue would never disliked it, she wanted to spent time with her mother always. Her mother coughed a few times, then received a cup of tea from her maid, then she smiled at her,

"if that so then mufei can be at peace knowing that my children are so good and obedient."

Li Xi Yue received a kiss on her forehead, then she hugged her mother.

***

Next day, she woken up by the cries of the servants, she went out and found that the whole Wangfu was changed, the colorful things were taken down and replaced by the white ones,

"what happened?" she asked, her personal maid, Bai Xia gave her a big bow,

"Wangfei has passed away, Junzhu."

Li Xi Yue opened her mouth, she couldn't understand anything at all, "w-what do you mean?"

"wangfei has passed away, Junzhu."

For a second, she felt like her world were torn apart. She felt everything blurred in front of her, she couldn't understand, yesterday, she was just joked with her mother, only yesterday, a day ago, she talked to her mother and now her mother already gone. Her mother would not be here to cooked for her, or read some books to her, her mother would never seen her grow up nor seen her in a wedding attire, her mother would not see Xi Qiu's future wife nor An Le's husband... Her mother would not seen them grow up, she didn't have mother anymore.

"no..." she whispered, why God hated her so much? Did God wanted to punished her because she was naughty? But why must God took her mother?

She didn't remember how Bai Xia and Ji Xia dragged her and changed her clothes to a pure white one, she only remember that she was being ushered into the main room where she was told to knelt down to observed a filial piety.

She looked at her mother's lifeless body, she looked so beautiful, she looked like she was only sleeping, why she looked so pretty? Her mother always beautiful, but she looked skinny, tears couldn't stop falling from her eyes, she knelt and burned more paper money.

Many womenfolk came to offered their condolences, their heart were broken when they saw how lonely the girl looked, she was only a nine years old, but she could be so sensible, it amazed them.

"Junzhu, please hold yourself." a Wangfei from Imperial clan came forward, she had the highest seniority among everyone here and also a wife of Xian Wang's uncle, the small Junzhu in front of her nodded,

"thank you, grand-aunt."

Not long after, a decreed came from palace, from both the Emperor and Empress Dowager, stated that they felt sad and told Xian Wang, An He Junzhu, Xian Wang Shizi and An Le Junzhu to not be too sad or it might harm body. Empress Dowager even gave out her insignia to An He Junzhu in case the eldest granddaughter felt sad and wanted to visit the palace.

An He got up with Bai Xia's help, she entered the mourning room again, she looked coldly at her father's concubines who knelt down and wiped their faces, as if very sad. She went to the side hall, with her Yahuan, Ban Xia, Ji Xia, Hong Ying and Yin Liu.

"Junzhu please have some refreshment." Yin Liu came with tea and some snacks, Li Xi Yue took the porcelain cup and took a sip,

"where is Han Yiniang? Why she doesn't observe mourning to Mufei?"

"Nubi inquire information that due to pregnancy, wang ye relieved Han Shiqie from observe mourning to Wangfei."

Li Xi Yue felt coldness crept into her heart, "Fuwang became more foolish each day passed." who in other Fu will relieved concubines to observed mourning if the Legitimate wife passed away? Even if they were heavily pregnant, and waited for a time to popped out the child, if a legitimate wife suddenly passed away, they would never be relieved to observed mourning, but her a father, a Wang Ye from Imperial clan did this, did he wanted to be sounded as a loving man or he wanted to disgust them, his children? He didn't care about his face in front of other imperial clan members but how about his children? Li Xi Yue, Li Xi Qiu and Li Xi Wan still would have to married one day, what kind of disgusting thing her father did?

"where are Shizi and An Le?"

"Shizi and An Le Junzhu are in their yards, if Junzhu wants, Nubi can go and take them here."

Li Xi Yue nodded, "go."

Yin Liu and Hong Ying went outside.

***

Mufei: Mother-Consort; this term used by the children of the emperor to call their birth mother who isn't an Empress. Or the children of a Wang call Wangfei.

Didi: Younger brother

Meimei: younger sister

Zhengyuan: is a Wangfei's yard. Came from a word Zhengfei which is a legitimate wife of a Prince.

Wang Ye: how to refer to a Wang by someone lower than them.

Wang: a Prince of the first rank

Wangfei: legitimate wife of a Wang

Fuwang: Father-Wang or Father-King

Junzhu: Princess of the second rank, title usually held by legitimate daughters of a Wang but Emperor can make anyone Junzhu if he wanted to.

Shizi: Heir-Son

Yiniang: a concubine

Shiqie: terms of concubines