The Teapot Plot

Yanli's Child

          Jiang Yanli had become a mother long before she ever was of age to be married, or to have a child of her own blood but she had never regretted doing so. She had taken one look at the dirty, malnourished child that her father had brought home to be her brother, and she had claimed him as her own as soon as the first sharp words fell from her Mother's mouth. Father had brought the child home out of loyalty and love for his parent's but unfortunately he hadn't had the strength to stand up for the child once he was in their home. His inaction would forever be Yanli's disappointment, and Mother's actions a lesson as to what hate and jealousy breed when left unaddressed.

           Little Wei Ying was no longer huddled in the streets, fighting dogs for what little food he could scavenge and trying to survive long and bitterly cold nights, but Lotus Pier had its own kind of hell for the sweet child. Father's kindness and indulgence after the fact did not erase Mother's sharp tongued words, nor the marks left behind by Zidan as the spiritual whip tore at his frail body. The roof over his head never gave him the safety and security that he so desperately needed when he was reminded at every turn just how much it put him into the Jiang Sect's debt. Wei Ying was always scared that if he didn't do his best, prove his worth that he would be tossed out. She wouldn't have let that happen if she could stop it, but his fear drove him to unheard of lengths.

           The more talented Wei Ying proved to be, the harsher Mother treated both him and Jiang Cheng. Wei Ying took punishments, while A-Cheng was compared to him and found lacking by the woman who felt threatened by the memory of those dead and gone. It drove a wedge between the would-be brothers that Yanli could never overcome. She tried, she begged and pleaded with her brother not to blame A-Ying, to not take their mother's words to heart and to ignore their father's indifference to them, but it would never be enough for a child that she was just a sister to. Unlike with Wei Ying, Jiang Cheng had a Mother and would never accept his sister in her place when she was right there to please if he could only do something in her eyes correctly.

              Yanli resented her parents as much as she loved her brother and her son, her Wei Ying, just as she knew within her heart that one day she would lose her son. It was a heavy weight for such a young girl to hold, but she did so without shame because she couldn't turn her back on the younger boy. Would never turn her back no matter what he ended up doing in his life. She would never be able to save Wei Ying while her parents were there to keep afflicting these hurts, nor would she be able to erase the wounds that both her parent's inflicted on the two boy's but it didn't mean that she couldn't hold them close and pray for a day when she could soothe the hurts without her parent's reopening them and interfering with their healing at every turn.

            From the day after Wei Ying came into her life- became her son because he needed a mother more than a sister, Yanli was perfectly aware of the fact that she was counting down the days until her parents were gone. Dead if needed so long as they never harmed the children in her charge again. When that day came, when her Sect burned and her parents died, she was sad but also so relieved even though both parents had caused one last hurt before they left this world. She heard about the promises her parents extracted from her son much later, and cursed their memory when the promise's results became clear to her. Even in death they did their best to ruin both teens.

           The burning of the Yunmeng-Jiang Sect brought tragedy in many forms. The lost disciples and her parent's end was just the beginning. A-Cheng was captured, lost his core, then rescued. A miracle happened when his core was returned, but that was overshadowed by Yanli's son disappearing. For three months she waited, mourning as she did her best to help where she could, wondering if today was the day that she was going to find out that Wei Ying was dead. Then, as suddenly as he had gone, her Wei Ying was back. But he had changed. He had mastered another method of cultivation and left behind his sword and the path he had been on.