Flower Valley/ Doppel Ganger

A field of green.

I tilled the soil with a shovel and planted seeds.

-

"I'm not going!" Fei was indignant.

Her Mother looked to her exasperated as one of the guards tried to pry herself off the tree she clung to.

"Do you... really have to do this outside the Long family residence?"

"Did you really have to deceive me into coming here?" The child spat back.

"Child, the Long Family Elder is ill, as future in-laws, you need to make a good impression-

"Then you marry him!"

Madame Bai had no words. Her daughter was always sweet and kind, when she heard she was visiting a sick elder the family had ties to, she willingly came but as soon as she mentioned the engagement to Cai Xiao Long, the sick elder's grandson, she became like this.

She could understand if Cai Xiao Long was a bad child, but he was a good boy who cared for his grandfather and was always kind... He also wasn't bad to look at.

"Madame Bai?" A low voice called out to her from behind.

"A-ah..."

She turned around to see a youth about seventeen or so standing there blinking blankly at the commotion outside the front gate. The servants behind him were frowning in disapproval but he himself held an unreadable expression as he dipped his head in greeting.

"Thank you for coming all this way to see Grandfather."

"But of course, in times of trouble, a family should be there for each other." She beamed.

He was a looker, alright. Honestly, she didn't know who her daughter took after. If she was her age and her mother had chosen a good suitor like him, she would bow down and worship her. Why did she have to take after the idiot of a Father?

"I'm not going you hear me?!" Behind her, her daughter was screaming bloody murder.

Cai Xiao Long raised his brows but Madame Bai body blocked him. Her sweet smile practically begged him to look the other way just this once.

"I deeply apologize for the commotion."

He didn't question the commotion and slowly turned around, the second he walked away, Madame Bai stormed over to the screaming child and slapped her. That shut her up.

Madame Bai growled, "You damn idiot, you were the one who agreed to come here, the hell are you screaming for as if I dragged you here by the throat?!

". . .Momma?"

"Heavens," She looked to the sky. "How embarrassing!" She addressed the servants while gesturing towards her daughter. "Take her home, if you hate it that much, we'll cancel the engagement. Guan Guan can marry him instead."

Bai Xue Fei's mouth dropped.

Guan Guan was her younger half-sister, the daughter of Concubine Tifa. Her Mother and Concubine Tifa didn't have a particularly bad relationship, but Xue Fei abhorred the idea of their very existence.

Madame Bai had always been a forgiving and gracious person, but if there was anything she hated it was being embarrassed in public, and like now she seemed like a totally different person.

"Mom?" Xue Fei had never seen this side of her mother before and it scared her.

Madame Bai, couldn't even bring herself to look at her daughter as she entered through the Long family gate.

". . ."

The old man was lying on his bed with knitted brows, his room smelled of medicinal herbs and sweat. As she entered, servants were wiping the sweat off the old man's brows, arms and legs.

"How is he?"

"He's gotten better recently ever since the young master returned from the dungeons with some medicine."

Madame Bai tilted her head.

"The dungeons? Cai Xiao Long?" If she recalled correctly, Cai Xiao Long had never entered the dungeons before, because of this all his life he had been ridiculed by his peers.

The boy had only been following the wishes of his grandfather who became biased against the dungeons after losing his late son and wife.

He was convinced it was the devil's nest, the entrance to hell, etcetera, talking about it to him was taboo as it was enough to make him red in the face and short of breath.

Madame Bai smiled to herself, she had been worried about Cai Xiao Long because of this but it seems like she no longer needed to worry, the boy was strong enough to look after himself and his grandfather, he was able to compromise and make decisions for the sake of his household despite what he had been taught growing up, he was flexible, the complete opposite of her brick wall of a husband.

She felt tired just thinking about it. In truth, she had been similar to Xue Fei growing up, her husband's family wasn't bad and he wasn't bad looking either, it's just that he was too stubborn of an idiot.

If he didn't like something, he would give her a hard time if she did, if he didn't want to do something he got angry when she did what she wanted by herself.

To begin with, she had been an independent young missy quite unlike most women who were reliant on their households.

It was because of this the bastard wanted her, yet in the end, he basically forced her to conform into the typical miss, without even being conscious that was the type of woman he wanted to begin with. The damn fool.

If she lets Xue Fei marry such a child, that would just be sentencing him(Cai ) to the same fate as her. Xue Fei was the same type as her Father who was the same type as his Grandfather.

As she gazed at the sleeping old man, she shifted her gaze to the outer courtyard where Cai Xiao Long was carrying a watering can into the bushes.

A military family reduced to farmers. Still, they were a founding family of the empire, just like her maiden home. Many criticized her for choosing them, perhaps, it was why Xue Fei refused to meet them as well.

Farming itself wasn't necessarily a bad thing as other nobles made it out to be, they could be a supporting source during tough times.

And Xue Fei to begin with was a wild child that preferred roaming the forest with her spirit beasts and harvesting medicinal herbs. Madame Bai realized it quite early on that this child took after her but also her Father's stubbornness, she'd be an embarrassment if she gave her away to any other family.

Yet Madame Bai still felt it would not be a good match, still, she wanted him as a son-in-law. What should she do? She looked to the sky and clasped her hands in prayer. She didn't wish to wrong either child as she had been in this life.