Doppelgänger

It was lunchtime, the academy was bustling with students roaming around the hallways, trying to find a place to eat with their friends. However, a young girl with rare violet eyes waited under the wisteria tree in front of the school gates for a person to come and show her around her new academy. She was wearing a dark purple hanfu, made from the finest silk, with thin threads of silver embroidery on the hem of her long sleeves and her skirt was also embroidered with silver peonies. The dark colour of her dress definitely accentuated her snowy white skin. A portion of her long silky black hair was tied up in a bun, tightly secured in place with a set of identical silver hairpins while the rest of her hair cascaded down her slender back. She couldn't help but feel excited as she waited patiently under the wisteria tree with her hair swaying a bit due to the currents of cold autumnal breeze. She could finally make friends and her cousins would be extremely surprised when they would see her in their academy. There were many pairs of curious eyes staring at her but with her calm and composed nature, she did not mind any of them.

"Hu Jing Li?" A gentle yet honeyed voice called out to her. The violet eyed girl turned around and saw a red-cladded young lady waving at her. "I am Huo Yu Xi of the Southern Territories' Huo clan. As the representative of the Alchemy faction, I am here to show you around the academy."

"Hello!" Hu Jing Li flashed young lady Huo a bright cheerful smile but deep down, she couldn't help but feel a bit alarmed at the sight of this girl in front of her.

Huo Yu Xi was about the same height as her and they also have similar body shapes, except for the fact that Yu Xi was slightly curvier than her in certain parts but young lady Huo also has silky long black hair, cascading from her head down to her waist. As she secretly analyzed her fellow classmate, Jing Li felt a bit relieved that the girl in front of her has bright emerald green eyes and not the same violet eyes as her. Nevertheless, Jing Li still have this unsettling feeling that Huo Yu Xi was almost like her doppelgänger! If someone were to look at them from the back, they would surely have a very hard time trying to figure out who is who.

"Afternoon classes start after lunchtime so we have plenty of time." Yu Xi claimed as she began to walk away from the wisteria tree with Jing Li following suite.

Young lady Hu wasn't the only one who noticed the similarity between them but Huo Yu Xi, herself, also noticed it and she clearly didn't like it. Hmph! How dare this new girl look exactly like her! She thought to herself as she accompanied her new classmate around school. After all these years, many people had complimented her heavenly blessed looks but now there is someone who might steal her spotlight and she just couldn't let that happen.

"I will show you the way to the Alchemy faction." Yu Xi spoke softly, not even a single trace of dissatisfaction could be heard in her speech, as she stole a few glances of her new classmate but the more she looked, the more she could feel her blood boiling. However, she was very good at concealing her bone-shattering hatred with a sweet little smile so Jing Li did not notice the tension in her emerald green eyes. "Your violet eyes are incredibly beautiful."

"Thank you, young lady Huo." Jing Li flashed her an awkward smile, trying to shake off the unsettling feelings.

"You're welcome. You can just call me Yu Xi." The red-cladded miss laughed gently. "Your family name is Hu so are you from the Northern Ranges' Hu clan?"

"Yes." Jing Li nodded slowly. "I am from the Northern Ranges' Hu clan's fourth household."

"I assume your father is the highly-skilled imperial physician Hu." Yu Xi had her speculations that the violet-eyed girl was from the Hu clan since most of their clan members have those same clear violet eyes but she did not expect Jing Li's father to be imperial physician Hu. She knew that the Hu clan have many of their kins working in the imperial court but she really did not expect that Jing Li was the daughter of a mere imperial physician. Huo Yu Xi secretly sneered.

"Y-yes..." The violet eyed miss said in a low voice, seemingly embarrassed by her low background as she carefully analysed Yu Xi's speech. The Northern Ranges' Hu clan's divine beast was the arctic fox, which was known to have a keen sense of smell and hearing. Therefore, the Hu clan's offsprings were naturally born with the gift of enhanced smell and hearing. Jing Li had noticed the mocking tone in Yu Xi's voice since the beginning but she decided not to say anything as she did not want to make herself a new enemy on her first day at Yun Lin Academy.

As Huo Yu Xi and Hu Jing Li walked around the hallways, they encountered the infamous young master He fighting with a junior student who looked like he couldn't take any more beatings or he would end up in the hospital. Young lady Hu noticed that no one tried to interfere with the commotion so she looked at Yu Xi, thinking that the latter would do something to stop He Kai since she's the representative of a faction but what the newly transferred girl didn't expect was to see this so-called righteous woman completely ignoring the boys fighting. Jing Li was obviously disgusted by her classmate's unconcerned reaction but Yu Xi didn't even bother trying to explain herself. Faction representative? It seems like this title was only for show. As He Kai continued to beat up the other student, Jing Li's patience has reached its limits.

"Stop it right now!" She shouted loudly so that everyone at the scene could hear. Many eyes landed on her and even He Kai's ones as he slowly let go of the other student. Good. That's exactly what she wanted. "Who do you think you are? You should be ashamed of yourself! You are currently inside of an academy and not some random fight club!"

"What do you want?" He Kai looked at her in annoyance yet he couldn't help but blush a little at the sight of such a beautiful girl. Her eyes seemed as if they were made of stardust and polar lights, so bewitching... He was completely lost inside of them but he quickly regained his domineering composure as soon as he saw Huo Yu Xi standing next to the unknown girl, not wanting to show any sign of weakness in front of that wretched woman.

"I want you to apologize to him." Jing Li rushed to the other student's side and helped him get up.

At that moment, young lady Huo was secretly smiling because she had known young master He for a long time and knew that he would never apologise to anyone, especially those whom he had fought with. She also knew that those who tried to make him apologise would not have good endings, such as his ex good friend and that was many years of friendship taken into consideration. So what makes this newly transferred girl think that she could make this man take the initiative to apologise? She did a good job screwing herself over and Yu Xi did not even need to lift a finger.

"What makes you think I would ever do that?" He Kai responded as he took a quick glance at Huo Yu Xi, trying to act as strong as possible. The robust young man's lips curved into a sneer as he directed his fiery gaze at Jing Li.

"I said apologise to him." Jing Li's violet eyes suddenly glowed a bright shade of crimson red in He Kai's vision as he stared at them directly but no one else could see what was happening.

"Yes." The man answered monotonously then kowtowed to the injured junior student, who was extremely surprised by the sudden change in He Kai's attitude.

Huo Yu Xi looked as if she was about to choke on her own saliva as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her very own eyes but she was not the only one shocked by He Kai's unusual action. Many students nearby were looking at the commotion with wide eyes, completely dumbfounded by the whole situation since they didn't know what happened to the robust young master He. He must have taken the wrong medicine!