WangXian Forever 4

Chapter 22 Circumstances

This past week had been difficult for Li XiWang. It was always hard for her when her fathers weren't around, but SiZhui had also gone to attend the wedding in JinLinTai, so she was all alone.

The girls whom she had tried so hard to befriend by sleeping in the dormitory with them, had changed.

All because of a stupid rumour.

They even had a rule 'Gossip is forbidden', but it wasn't like anyone actually listened, and certainly not her friends. She wasn't even sure she could call them that now.

It started off with side long glances in her direction, and then she'd find her friends became silent whenever she was around. Yesterday was the culmination of tension because her best friend told her they didn't want to hang out with her anymore. When she asked why, she wasn't given a reason to her face, but she overheard them later, calling her a freak.

All of a sudden, she found herself really missing Gramps and her fellow disciples. As they had all been orphans, no hierarchy existed; they were just elder brothers and sisters to each other.

Cloud Recesses had been an eye opener in that sense, because Li XiWang had never been a victim of bullies before, and she didn't quite know what to do. If she asked for help from anyone, those so-called friends would call her a snitch, and that was unacceptable.

She considered telling SiZhui, but his head was somewhere else the days, and who knew what he would be like when he got home from JinLinTai.

She felt like she could tell her father Wei anything. He was sure to have a solution which wouldn't make things worse, but she was in two minds. Perhaps it would be prudent to wait and see what happens.

*****

Wei Ying was sitting at the table in the Jingshi, deep in thought. Jiang Cheng and XiChen-Ge were due back any day,  and he was still trying to figure out who was trying to harm him.

There was a knock on the door, so he got up to open it, wondering who it could be. The children never bothered to wait after knocking, and Lan Zhan didn't bother knocking, so it had to be somebody else.

It was Laoshi Ming, one of Li XiWang's teachers. He bowed and Wei Ying opened the door wider so he could come inside. He poured two cups of tea as soon as he had sat down.

Laoshi Ming wouldn't look at him at first, and drank the tea straight away, even though it hadn't cooled yet. Wei Ying poured some more, feeling as if the other man had something on his mind. So he waited patiently and sipped his own tea.

"Did you have a nice time in JinLinTai?" He asked, nervously.

Wei Ying laughed. "My brother got poisoned, the wedding was cancelled and my nephew may prefer men over women, which is fine but as he's undecided yet, I'm not sure. Other than that, yes, it was lovely."

Laoshi Ming looked shocked.

"I can see you would have been preoccupied with...all that." He said, finally.

"Why do you ask?" Wei Ying thought it odd, that he was asking like this.

"Well, the reason I came to see you today is your daughter." He looked away.

"Li XiWang? What's wrong with her? Did something happen?" Wei Ying stood up, ready to go and find her, but he was waved down.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. But she always seems alone these days and I was wondering why."

"She has friends, doesn't she?" Wei Ying was worried. He was sure she had chatted excitedly about them before, and weren't they the reason she had wanted to move into the girl's dormitories?

"That was before. These past few days, she sits by herself all day, eats by herself and doesn't much talk to anyone else. I wondered if there were problems at home, which is why I came to see you." He sighed, finishing his tea. "Forgive me if I'm wrong though."

"I think I should talk to her." Wei Ying decided. "But thank you for bringing my attention to it." He smiled at Laoshi Ming as he let him out, wondering what was up with his daughter.

******

SiZhui was sitting on the deck outside, when Laoshi Ming left. Wei Ying spotted him and immediately went to join him. They stared at each other, one full of curiosity and the other, uncertainty.

Wei Ying smiled and opened up his arms instead. It was always welcome, and he missed holding his son like this. SiZhui also missed it; he held onto his father tightly. It was hard for him to hug his other father, always hyper aware of the fact that he did not like to be touched a lot, and sometimes it seemed like an imposition. He'd never asked, and after the age of twelve, his father hadn't offered either.

SiZhui breathed in deeply, that lotus fragrance and a faint trace of Emperor's smile. Did his father indulge in it so much that it had become a part of his natural scent? SiZhui laughed softly.

"What?" Wei Ying didn't let him go.

"I was just thinking, no one smells like you."

"Good." He smiled too, and leaned back to watch his face. "How are you holding up?"

"It's been three days since we got back. Still no word from Jin Ling." He looked sorrowful.

"SiZhui, I told you. He will need you to be patient. He doesn't know who he prefers yet. I do think it's promising that the only way out of his wedding for him, was to kiss you. He suggested it, right?" Wei Ying smiled, encouragingly.

"Yes."

"So that's given him something to think about. For you, it was easy, you fell in love slowly. But he's only now considering accepting you as his Cultivation Partner."

"Do you think...it's because I'm...I'm a man?"

"No. I think he'd still be just as confused even if you were a woman. You are mixing up two reasons. He's just not ready to commit. Who you are, what you are, hasn't factored into his decision yet," Wei Ying patted his shoulders. "Just be patient."

"Okay."

He still looked as if there was something else on his mind.

"Go on. What else are you worrying about?"

"My sister."

"What about her?" Wei Ying asked, sharply. Two warnings in less than an hour did not bode well.

"Have you noticed that she's much quieter, lately? As if she's withdrawn, and I'm not sure why." SiZhui admitted.

"We haven't been home as much as I would have liked," Wei Ying lamented. "But now you're also saying something's wrong, and just now, Laoshi Ming came to tell me the same thing, so I'll talk to her."

"Okay. If I see her, I'll tell her you want to see her."

"Alright, but I think I should find her and just talk. I don't want to sit around and wait, when I could be fixing the problem right away." Wei Ying stood up and stretched, feeling a little tired. He eyed the basket next to SiZhui.

"Yes, I'm going to feed the rabbits."

They split up, and Wei Ying went to find his daughter.