Life among Lotuses "Part 5"

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Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime

~Mineko Iwasaki

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It wasn't like the children completely stopped craving for their parents' love and affection.

They were still children who needed their parents, despite their hatred.

Somewhere in their hearts, they still hoped, prayed, wished for a miracle to get a chance... just one chance to live together like a normal loving family.

But so far, all they got was... disappointment.

While Youling protected them against all physical harm, it was the venomous words that scarred their souls...

From morning till night, not even a single day passed by without Yu Ziyuan spewing hateful words and their father consoling them with false, empty promises.

Although, the recipient of majority of those hurtful words was Wei Wuxian, it was Yanli and A'cheng who suffered the most.

Initially, A'xian used to be affected by Madam Yu's words, only because she herself thought that maybe because of her, their family is breaking apart. Maybe, she really was doing wrong by performing better, improving faster or rather... just being herself.

Even though she felt conflicted with what her Bomu and Aniang always taught and what Madam Yu always shouted. She would rather take the blame and protect a family than stand up for herself.

Even if it meant to suffer through physical injuries and harsh words daily, she could take it without any complaint. She just... simply loved the idea of a happy family.

She missed her family...

But seeing how her Shijie and A'cheng not only accepted Youling jie but even worked together, to protect her from their own parents, she threw all the bad words out of her mind, apologising to her Bomu in her heart, for even considering such nonsense.

Soon, she became so used to Madam Yu's yelling that she often imagined her and her maids like a flock of purple ducks quaking around the docks of Lotus Pier, acting as her personal alarm clock, for waking up in the morning and for going to sleep.

So...... it wasn't really her fault that the alarm clock was always late to wake her up.

However, things were different for Yanli and Jiang Cheng.

Their hope to have a loving family shattered again when they learnt the reason behind their father's ambiguous attitude towards Wei Wuxian.

It happened so unexpectedly that even now they want to believe they might have heard wrong.

Two years after that incident, when everyone was celebrating the Mid-Autumn festival also known as Moon festival, a festival involving Lantern lighting, family gathering, family meal, Mooncake making and sharing, fireworks, gift giving and much more, the sky above the Lotus Pier was covered in dark gloomy clouds.

Yanli, A'cheng, A'xian and Jiang Fengmian were having dinner, just like any other day. Yu Ziyuan had already left the table after berating Wei Wuxian as a part of her diet.

At the end of their dinner, while she didn't expect an answer, Yanli asked her father almost frustratedly, "Why you never did anything to protect A'xian against the mental and physical abuse?

As a Sect Leader, it's almost impossible for you to remain unaware of such mistreatment done by your own wife!

Why haven't you done anything to stop her, father?"

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