A marriage written in the stars

Hidden scars

You thought the drama was gonna stop after the last chapter? HELL no. This is where the REAL good'uns begin. Sappiness galore. Definitely less violence than the last chapter. You are welcome.

Considering that some people here may notice this gigantic wave of new chapters being added, I'm sorry I took so long to put them up. If you want to see a more regularly updated one I am ALSO on fanfiction.net in their Dynasty Warriors tag. Same story, same username, ALL powerful, ha ha! But I have not forgotten about you guys here. For you beauts, I will continue updating, that is a fact. This story ain't over, home boys. (...but the vernacular is. I might have went a bit overboard on that)

As always, reviews are ALWAYS here to stay for a party and I am super happy to hear any of your thoughts, people, good or bad.

I don't own DW or the company behind it, and I am not secretly their overlord controlling their minds to get my dream game into production. Because that's TOTALLY not possible. TOTALLY IMPLAUSIBLE. ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE!

Chapter 6: Hidden scars

"Him? Acting strange? Can't say I noticed." Said Bao Sanniang.

"I haven't either. Sorry, Xingcai." Asked Guan Yinping.

"Just...turn your heads and look at him now. There's something off with him. It's like he's..." But as all three of the girls turned their heads to gaze at the emperor, who was currently dining on some chicken, there seemed to be nothing unusual they could spot on him, not unless chicken grease on the chin counted. At the opposite end of the long table, the women sat together, their conversation separate from the one the men of the table shared. Ordinarily, Xingcai would sit by the side of Liu Shan for lunch but today, she felt the compulsion to sit with her friends for once. She had to tell them what she saw.

"But I saw it." Xingcai continued. "He looked so strange. Right after he killed him."

"Now THAT I would like to see." Bao Sanniang commented as she coaxed the dumpling into her mouth with her chopsticks. Then, with her mouth full, "I've never seen him hurt a fly. Literally. A month ago I was playing with some cats and he accidentally stepped on the tail of one of them and he was apologizing like he insulted my ancestors!"

"Please," Xingcai wiped the spitted crumbs off her face. "Finish your food before you speak." Bao Sanniang complied with a big swallow.

"Brother told me that he saw Lord Liu Shan saying sorry to a plant because he had to prune it." Guan Yinping added. "I'm...plants don't have feelings, right?"

"Plants do NOT have feelings. And I was there for that incident." Xingcai also remembered how she was forced to help him because he couldn't handle the guilt. But as it has been for the whole morning, whenever she thought of him, her thoughts always go back to last night.

She turned her head once again and looked at Liu Shan, hoping to see a glimpse of what she saw last night. But there was no fire in his eyes, just the two cold opals she was used to seeing. With a sigh, she went back to her food but with every mouthful it only reminded her of how tasteless it is to her at that moment. Her eyes glanced up and she quickly sees the other girls quickly dart their eyes away from her. She knew what was in their minds, even if they won't say it. They don't believe her. Or at least, they only believe part of her story. It was already common knowledge that Liu Shan himself had been the one to slain Bu Zhuo but the consensus of the palace was that it was with great remorse and regret. Not with the conviction that she saw last night.

"...Either way, let's change the topic," Xingcai decided. "How have you both been?"

They were both quick to regale Xingcai with a colourful account of the past few weeks. Guan Suo introduced Bao Sanniang to his mother officially for the first time, alongside a quick recap of the unofficial introduction ("the horrible day we shall not speak of" Bao Sanniang said in a mockingly regal tone), and despite Sanniang's nervousness in making a bad first impression, it seemed to go well. As for Guan Yinping's part, she had recounted a particularly memorable training session with Guan Ping which led to her accidentally punching a wall into pieces, made more humourous by her interpretation of her adopted brother ("Oh no there is a hole in the wall just like there is a hole in my heart where the holy spirit of my father shall kill me and I will die and be deeeeeead") and her flawed reasoning as to the breaking of said wall ("I think that wall was secretly paper, like someone was hiding something behind it").