The Esteemed Guests

Lan Manor, Ring City, Phoenix Empire

A young boy stood in an open courtyard in his chamber. He was clothed in a loose green robes patterned with soaring ostriches, its ends fluttering in the light wind. He looked wiser than his age, which was ten years, with the way he stared into the distance like an old sage.

Lan Chen's mind was in tumult. The Li family patriarch, Li Zhenming, the most influential business and political mogul in the Imperial Capital, was paying a visit to the Lan Manor with his family! All of the previous week, Lan Chen had been unable to wrench himself from the tutelage of his mother, Madam Lan, who had found fault with every inch of his etiquettes and berated his nanny ceaselessly. But Lan Chen knew there was a cause. After all, to successfully chummy up to the Li family, being a second class family themselves, was a once in a lifetime opportunity! They had to present their best side! One word from Master Li could change the course of his father's business overnight, causing them to also rise into the ranks of a first class family!

But Lan Chen sensed that there was more to the visit than that. Business deals were in the offing, yes; but perhaps there was a betrothal as well! Lan Chen shivered. To be betrothed to the young lady of the Li family! It was like slapping a stamp of "SOLD" onto his forehead.

"Young master!" Chun'er, Lan Chen's personal maid and nanny, ran up to him, withsweat beading on her forehead and her maid uniform clinging tightly to her body. Her two plaits tied in a bun atop her head was the same as all the other serving maids of the Lan Manor.

"Come and change! The Li family have arrived already!"

"They have?" Lan Chen snapped out of his daze. "Did you see them? How many are they?"

"I didn't see the Li family, but I saw their carriages outside. They brought two carriages and one wagon. Their servants were bringing in gifts for Master and Madam when I came in. The gifts are treasures!"

Chun'er kept chattering with a dreamy look as the two entered Lan Chen's chamber and as she brought out the embroidered silver robe Madam Lan had spent a fortune on. Chun'er dressed him in a hurry, not ever running out of things to say. She combed his hair and tied it, holding it in place with a matching silver headpiece. She brought out a pair of clean white socks and golden colored shoes that had a pointed tip.

"What's with your expression, young master?" Chun'er finally looked up when she patted down Lan Chen's robes. The boy was pouting.

"Why must we make so much effort to coddle up to a first class family just so they can do business with us? Why aren't we contented with what we have already? We're also rich. Mid-tier families would kill to have what we have. Must this go on forever?"

Chun'er was startled. Had she always been looking at her young master with the eyes one looked at a child with? The privilege of being born into a second-tier family made him more mature than his peers!

"About that," Chun'er got up, "I don't know much, but I believe Master and Madam are doing this for the future. Nothing is permanent. And it is good to try and get to the top while one still can. Times change. It is easier for a second-tier family to slip back into the pool of ordinary families than for a first-tier family to." She pulled Lan Chen's hand, "alright. Let's go. Master must be ready to introduce you already,"

The main hall where the Lan family received guests was located in the middle of the manor. It took Chun'er and Lan Chen five minutes to walk there from Lan Chen's chamber. They met Madam Lan at the entrance, and she took her son from the maid and led him into the hall, not before telling him to put on his widest smile.

A loud ring of laughter assaulted Lan Chen's ears when they stepped into the hall. It was his father, Master Lan, Lan Huifan, laughing really hard at something Master Li must have said. Lan Chen quickly scanned the Li family. They were just four. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh, here they come!" Lan Huifan spotted his wife and son and rose, "this is my wife, Rui Danyi. And my son, Lan Chen,"

Lan Chen and his mother greeted the guests courteously. Master Li was a tall sturdy man with a well kept beard. His face was calculating yet warm. He nodded at Madam Lan.

"This is my wife, Ren Zimimg," Master Li, Li Zhenming, introduced his family, "and my daughters, Li Sihan and Li Silan,"

Lan Chen blinked. Were they two? He thought the little girl seated next to Madam Li was holding a big round ball. It was actually a baby! A very fat baby!

The girl was putting pieces of banana into the baby's round pink mouth. Feeling eyes on her, she looked up.

Her eyes were very black, like orbs. Cold and emotionless. They seemed to suck life out of one. She glanced once at Lan Chen and he felt goosebumps all over his body. Why did this tiny girl seem like a 500 year old yama?!?

The aura coming from her was fluctuating, a little sinister, but no one else noticed. Despite himself, Lan Chen fixed his eyes on her. This did not seem right!

"Sihan, greet our hosts," madam Li said to her daughter.

"Hello," the girl said in a deep low voice, her eyes fixed on the baby in her arms. Madam Li shook her head in exasperation.

"She just doesn't want to learn any manners," she smiled apologetically at Madam Lan, who beamed and brushed it off as childish behavior. The two women thus started chatting.

"Yeeet!" Screamed the baby.

"Little Bun, what else are you 'yeeting'?" the girl murmured, "you've ate every single snack I packed for you,"

"BunBun hungry!!" The baby howled. Lan Chen was a little surprised actually, that she could talk. She seemed to be only a year old.

"Why do you call her Little Bun?" Lan Chen asked the stoic-faced girl by way of conversation. She raised her eyes and surveyed him. Those dark orbs flickered.

"That's her nickname. Isn't she like a bun?"

It should be Little Pig, instead, Lan Chen thought. Li Sihan pinched the baby's fat cheeks. She herself was not in any way fat. She was lean and healthy, a little spindly, like a normal eight year old. The only thing was that her demeanor was terrifying!

"Mother," Li Sihan suddenly called her mother, "Little Bun is hungry. When will we eat?"

Black lines appeared on Madam Li's face. She opened her mouth to rebuke her daughter but Master Lan talked first.

"Ah, we're impolite hosts! Children are in their growing stage, their meals should not be neglected. Please," he got up and gestured to Master Li, to lead them to the dining table. Master Li gestured back to him to lead the way. Li Sihan got up nimbly and followed her father, carrying the baby effortlessly. Lan Chen wondered if the girl worked out regularly. She was a little muscular.

"Yeeet!" Little Bun screamed excitedly at the sight of the magnificent spread on the table. Lan Chen almost sniggered. The second generation of the Lan family was indeed something!

Throughout dinner, Lan Chen fixed his eyes on the Li sisters. Madam Li noticed this and laughed.

"Danyi, look, your son is already smitten with my daughter!"

Lan Chen's eyelids twitched. The two women were already on first name terms!

Madam Lan seemed to have won the lottery, with the smile that blossomed on her face.

"You know what, Zimimg, I've been thinking -- why not let them marry each other in the future? Our Lan Chen is a wise boy. You won't have to worry about a thing!"

Ren Zimimg glanced at her husband. For business moguls, having someone to inherit their estate was paramount. The Lis, though, had two daughters. Master Li had already declared Li Sihan as his heir, but the problem was that they had to find a prospective husband for her that could manage the Li family's businesses on her behalf. The daughters of the Li family were just a notch below being princess. The lawless business world was not suitable for their delicate skins. Their husbands would do all the work.

Li Zhenming was engrossed in his conversation with Lan Huifan and didn't notice his wife's look or what the women were talking about.

"I will talk to Zhenming about it," Ren Zimimg smiled.

Li Sihan looked up and scowled at Lan Chen. She abruptly rose.

"I'm full," ignoring the enraged baby's wails, she left the main hall.

"Excuse me," Madam Lan smiled as she pulled Lan Chen up to a side of the hall.

"Now son, I'm going to talk to you as if you're an adult. Do you know what Li Sihan is called? The little princess of the Li family. Do you know that she's the heiress of the Li family, the one to inherit all the businesses and assets in the future? In the next few years, she will become the most eligible spinster noble lady. All the capital's young masters will seek her hand in marriage. Even some princes will join the queue. It will be stiff competition for you, son. Unless you seize the chance granted you by the heavens now. If she has the title of fiancee of the Lan family, other suitors would hold themselves back out of giving our family face. I am sure you understand me now. The best thing is that we have Madam Li on our side. I don't know how you will do it, but you must make Li Sihan like you!"

Rui Danyi returned to chat with madam Li while Lan Chen headed for the Spring Pavilion, the chamber prepared for the Li family during their stay.

Lan Chen walked through the front garden. He heard voices out in the gazebo on the pond and headed towards it.

Li Sihan was seated at the tea table placed in the gazebo, reading a book. Her sister was propped in a chair near her with pillows. The baby was snacking on sweets.

"Hey," Lan Chen smiled at the girl.

"What do you want?" Li Sihan replied in a low growl, as she flipped the pages of the book absently. Her eyes were on him.

"You must be bored. I'll bring you somewhere nice to play,"

"Who invited you here. Who said I want to play. I don't play. Go away," Li Sihan waved her small hand hand. Right then her aura was like that of an ordinary little girl. Suddenly it fluctuated and her two eyes turned sharp and shone, glinting with a strange light.

"Ahhh," she let out a turbid breath, "this is not good,"

Lan Chen suddenly noticed a thick scent emanating from her. It was sandalwood, but he did not know this. It was dispersing quickly all over the pavilion.

"Phooo," the baby in the chair covered her nose with her tiny hand while sucking on a large sweet. Li Sihan put the book down on the table and got up suddenly. She picked up her sister and left the gazebo in a hurry. Lan Chen was puzzled. He could have sworn that it was someone else that left just now. Even the gait was different. It was almost like another soul was inhabiting the young girl's body intermittently. And, Lan Chen realized with a jolt, the person seemed to be the owner of the sinister evil aura. What should he do! Her parents wouldn't believe him! He decided to pretend he didn't notice anything and silently observe that person's behavior and see if they had any bad intentions.