JustJae

Following his father's murder, Wu Ling's mother returned to the life of a courtesan, disguising her young son as a girl to take refuge in the Bamboo Silk House, a women's only sect dedicated to the arts. Now, as his powers awaken, he'll find himself torn between protecting his family and the goals of powerful cultivators who see him as a means to an end. 

"Wu Ling, I've accepted a marriage proposal on your behalf," the bewitching Hall Master of the Bamboo Silk House declared. "When you enter the Inner Sect, you'll enter under the name 'Hua Qianhu', fiancee of a young lord of the Liang family." 

"Hall Master, that's impossible!" Wu Ling protested. "Even if you ignore my relationship with Meifeng, I might have dressed well enough to hide as a mortal woman but I could never..."

"So you truly didn't realize what you were doing," the Hall Master said, a dark smile on her lips. "Little Ling, you're a natural-born Shapeshifter. I'll teach you what you need to know," she said, her features shifting until she looked like a mirror image of the stunned Wu Ling. "As long as you follow my arrangements and learn my techniques, it isn't impossible for you to reunite with Meifeng..." 

"But you should consider Young Lord Liang carefully," the Hall Master added. "His affection for you is genuine. Perhaps, one day, you'll even feel the same for him..."

Unparalleled Artist: Unlikely Hero

<p>"I don't think you have much to worry about Novice Su. If she concealed matters from you, she only concealed enough to love you honestly," Wu Ling said, hoping to soothe the clearly agitated scholar. "Su Yao has a rare gift. It sounds like the gift skips many generations in the Zou family, but the curse that goes with that gift, and misunderstandings about that gift, can lead to a good deal of persecution." </p>

<p>"If your daughter didn't inherit her particular gift," Wu Ling continued. "This might never have come up because it wouldn't have been relevant to anything. The woman you love is the same as she's ever been and your daughter has a brighter future than you could have imagined as long as she can overcome the adversity that comes with it."</p>

A Father’s Burden