Secrets of the Blossom

Chapter 5

Three Years Ago

Jin Xiao Bao carefully reigns in the stallion in front of the gate of the Xue estate. Today he is riding the horse, instead of having Jin Bao and Zhao Cai bring him in the carriage, because he has just bought this beautiful animal, and wants to show him off to his friend Xue Lianyu.

He is a little scared of the horse, that he calls Red Cloud, so it isn't until he dismounts that he notices something is wrong. The gates of the Xue estate are open slightly but there are no guards around. There is an unusual silence as well, none of the usual shouts or laughter of the servants as they go about their daily work, no one is shouting commands, and there is no sound of the guards practicing their martial skills. Also, there is the thick coppery smell of blood and the acrid smell of smoke heavy in the air.

Xiao Bao leaves the horse in front of the gate, knowing he is well trained enough to stay there without being tied. He climbs the stairs and pushes the gate further open. For a minute he doesn't know what he is looking at, but then falls back against the gate in horror. The courtyard is full of dead bodies. Xiao Bao's first instinct is to run, but then he remembers his friend. He needs to find Lianyu and find out if he is alright.

Xiao Bao searches the bodies in the courtyard and finds several servants, including the family's head retainer but doesn't see any of the family members.

"Lianyu, Lainyu!" he cries out desperately, wanting his friend to be okay, but there is no answer. There is a lot of blood and arrows are everywhere, it looks as if the family had been attacked by a large group of assassins whose only mission was to kill everyone. Xiao Bao keeps calling for his friend as he moves into the inner courtyard. Just down the stairs he sees him, lying next to a servant.

"Lianyu!" Xiao Bao runs to him and sees he is still alive, but just barely. Even to him it's obvious his friend won't last much longer.

Lianyu is trying desperately to speak but Xiao Bao can only make out the word "protect" as the man points towards a large covered decorative urn in the corner of the courtyard. Xiao Bao glances its way but then turns his attention back to his friend. His friend stares unseeing and Xiao Bao knows in the short time he was distracted his friend has died. Just to make sure he holds a trembling finger under the man's nose but there is no hint of breath. Xiao Bao cries out his friend's name again, but he knows the man can no longer hear him. Xiao Bao folds Lianyu's hands over his chest and gets up. His legs feel weak under him, and he stumbles as he moves towards the urn. Lianyu had pointed it out with the last of his strength and Xiao Bao knows that it must hold something precious to his friend.

He lifts the lid and looks down into the terrified face of the little girl. She has one hand tightly clasped over her mouth as if to keep herself from crying out. He recognizes her, this is Lianqing, Lianyu's little sister.

She recognizes him as well, "Gege," she cries. She has considered him her brother ever since he became friends with Lianyu.

"Meimei," he says, which is also what he has always called her. Little sister.

He lifts her out of the urn and clings tightly to her, murmuring comforting words. He looks around and suddenly it occurs to him that whoever did this wouldn't hesitate to kill the girl as well. He has to get her out of here and the only place he could take her was his home.

"Don't look," he tells her, and holds her head to his chest as they pass the bodies of her brother and the servants that she has known all her life. He hasn't seen Master and Madam Xue, but he believes they are most likely dead as well, maybe further inside the estate.

He sits her in front of him on Red Cloud and wraps his cloak around her.

Now

Xiao Bao can hear the little girl's cries as soon as he enters the courtyard. It is unusual for the ten-year-old to throw a tantrum so he quickens his step worried that she might be injured or sick.