Crimson Qi, Exiled Beautiful Lady Falls in Love with a Shy Demon

A Madman's Arrow

~TIEN LYN~

The banquet in honor of Admiral Thirty Claws launched Tien Lyn's life on a lopsided trajectory, like an arrow shot by a madman in the dark. She wanted it to be her social triumph, of course. She had done everything right to prepare for it too! She had scrutinized miles of scrolls on etiquette and the Chronicles to find suitable quotes for the display of her calligraphy. Every detail had then been vetted by her mother, Lady Chen Guang.

"We must compare the most recent victories with the ancient ones, but do so elegantly, Tien Lyn," she had instructed. "Ah, but I wish the Dynasty of Purifying Glory was not in fashion. It is too dull and brutal for you."

"I have an elegant hand, and nobody will read it," Tien Lyn had argued before obediently leaving out the gory passages. Brutal they might have been, but dull? She would not admit how much time she'd spent hunting down obscure mentions of her favorite lords and ladies instead of perfecting her brush-strokes.

It felt silly now, to have spent all this time on the old stories when the right here and right now was made so vibrant by the light of the lanterns and the showers of the fireworks; the gentle music and the aroma of the thousand spicy dishes carried around. This banquet would win Tien Lyn an invitation to appear before the Imperial family. And then... Ah! Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of what might happen 'then'.

Those lords and ladies were thousands of years dead, and she was here, alive, on the cusp of her own conquests! Daydreaming, Tien Lyn only half-listened to her cousin, Xia Dao Ni's, prattle. Luckily, it was always the same. "Oh, I am so envious of Aunt Guang! There is something magical about her taste!"

As always, she smiled modestly before inserting, "She had help."

Xia Dao Ni giggled and extended a tiny dish with a dozen candied lotus seeds. "What help? Yours? Is that why a certain crone has just berated the 'libertine fashions'?"

"Of course. The silkscreens are spaced too wide in our Great Wall of Silk between the men's and women's sides of the hall." Tien Lyn stiffened up her back and tried to emanate the matriarch's disapproval: "It veritably invites scandalous behavior."

Tien Lyn popped the treat into her mouth while nobody was watching except for Xia Dao Ni who had pilfered the delicacy in the first place. The sweet flavor coated her tongue, calling on her eyes to close for a heartbeat to savor it.

Xia Dao Ni's voice still got through to her, "Ancestors, no! We might catch a glimpse of men! Us, the unwed maidens!"

"I told her that I would endeavor walking with my eyes closed." It felt apt to keep squinting with pleasure.

When she finally opened her eyes, Xia Dao Ni was hiding a far too wide smile behind her fan. "What did the lady say to that?"

"A very loud 'hmm'. But she loved the themes of the offending screens, all these allegories of the traditional virtues. So, on balance... we won her." Tien Lyn made a face. "Still, what a waste of the artists' talents!"

Xia Dao Ni studied the screens with a critical eye. "That one with the flower baskets is not half-bad. Who's the dame? The Wanton Empress Du?"

"Xia Dao Ni! How dare you!" Tien Lyn placed another sweet seed into her mouth, this time intending to roll it around for longer. "She is a 'Pious Lady Offering the Flowers to the Temple of Serene Joy'. This sublime scroll next to it has all the details."

"We should go sit near her, Tien Lyn. Look, there is always someone interesting there." On the other side of the screens, the embroidered cushions invited the men to recline for a polite conversation with the powerful matrons. And, of course, catch the tantalizing glimpses of the Xichon City's maidens. Xia Dao Ni had a point. The traffic around the Pious Lady was significant.