Rebirth of a Star General

chapter 2: SIBLINGS

The spring rain never seemed to end. Outdoors, it was raining cats and dogs.

However, the house was warm inside. The fire was crackling excitedly. Steam rose up from the medicinal herbs which were being boiled with a 'glup, glup' sound.

A young girl was seated in front of a copper mirror. The mirror reflected a thin and slightly pale face. The owner of the face looked sick and languid. Her lips were pressed together like a water chestnut and revealed a delicate but alienated look. The pair of black, watery eyes shaped like apricots looked just like a mountain stream shrouded with mist, which would reveal a magnificent gem when the mist dispersed. Her skin was as white as snow and her facial features were fair and elegant. She was an attractive young lady of sixteen.

Needless to say, she was aware of her own beauty. Different varieties of rouge, gouache, perfumes, and hair balms covered her little dressing table. The whole room reeked of the smell of cheap cosmetics. He Yan wrinkled her nose and couldn't help but sneeze.

The copper mirror was enveloped with the film of hoarfrost she had exhaled, making the reflection in the mirror a little vague. He Yan was absentminded for a moment as she reminisced the past. She recalled the time she had first removed her male disguise. She had sat in front of the mirror, just as she did now, gazing at her own reflection and feeling like she was looking at a complete stranger.

She knew that she had been drowned in the Xu Family's pond by the men He Wan Ru had brought, but when she opened her eyes later, she had become He Yan. Not He Yan, the real General Fei Hong and He Ru Fei's little sister or He Yan, the wife of Xu Zhi Heng. This was He Yan, the daughter of the owner of a dilapidated hut. He Sui, the father of this body's original owner, was a ninth-grade town gate officer without any duty.

Both had the same name—He Yan, but their statuses were totally different.

"Yan Yan, why didn't you call me when you woke up?" A hoarse voice was heard as the portiere was lifted. A man walked in, bringing the cold wind in with him.

He Sui was a bearded, middle-aged man. He had dark skin and was square-jawed. He was large, like a bear, clumsy yet strong. His face revealed a fawning smile. When he was reassured that there was no one else in the room, he yelled: "Where the hell is Qing Mei?"

"Qing Mei went to pick herbs." He Yan answered softly.

The burly man scratched his head and said: "Okay, then let daddy help you pour."

The white porcelain medicine bowl was smaller than the man's palm. The man obviously knew that, so he poured the decoction extra carefully. The room was suddenly filled with the medicine's bitter scent. He Yan looked at the plum blossom pattern at the edge of the bowl, then set her gaze at the man's face. This was He Yan's father, the town gate officer, He Sui.

'Daddy'. To He Yan, this was an unfamiliar word.

Her biological father was He Yuan Liang, the second lord of the He Family, but she called him 'uncle' because she had already replaced He Ru Fei at that time. In reality, her adoptive father was He Yuan Sheng, her real uncle.

He Yan was never close with her adoptive father in the first place. It became worse—it wasn't wrong to say that it even dropped to freezing point the moment she had said that she wanted to learn martial arts. Her adoptive father only started favoring her when she gained name and fame and got praised by the emperor himself. Her adoptive father never knew what she was thinking of and wasn't even interested in providing her with basic necessities like food and water. He Yan always thought that this was because he wasn't her actual father, but her real father wasn't really close to her, either. He Yan came to the conclusion that it was because 'a daughter who's already been married off is like spilt water'. As time passed, the little affection that remained between them faded away, and he didn't bother to even take a look at her.