CHAPTER TWO -
kindling
"Are we there yet?"
"Not yet."
A pause. "How about now?"
"Still not yet."
Another few seconds ticked by, "How about now?"
"My heavens - Xiaoqiao I will let you know when we get there!" The second voice quipped back out of utter exasperation. This resulted in yet another pause from the tiny teenager dramatically dragging her feet along the dirt path. Upon hearing said teenager inhale a deep breath of air, the raven-haired girl leading the charge immediately piped up, "No - we're not there yet! Quit asking, you're being ridiculous!" However, even as she spoke, Daqiao let the smallest of laughs escape - something she was not eager to dwell upon.
"Fine - I'm just saying this is taking entirely way too long! We coulda been there by now if you had just let us take the boys up on their offer and let them send the ponies." Xiaoqiao let another groan out, moving from slouching forward to lazily leaning her torso backward so her face was staring up into the swirled mixture of cherry blossoms and powder blue skies.
Daqiao's head shook, another laugh climbing out of her throat. Pausing in her hike up the grassy hill before her, she reached out to grab her younger sister's arm, looping their limbs together in some sort of last-ditch effort to raise morale, "First of all - they're men, not boys. Secondly - they wanted to send horses, not ponies. You wanted to ride eight-foot, thousand-pound beasts into the middle of nowhere?"
"First of all," Xiaoqiao quipped back, a noticeable degree of sarcastic mockery oozing through her words, "you're totally thinking of, like, bears or something. Have you ever even seen a horse!? And anyway - why do I have to suffer because you're scared of everything!? My feet hurt! And I'm hot. And I'm hungry. And I'm bored! And-"
Despite Xiaoqiao's best efforts to make their long trek feel infinitely days longer, the young pair of sisters finally reached the top of the hill. Luckily for Daqiao, two figures were seen in the immediate distance - the shape of two distinct men becoming more apparent the closer the girls got.
"Hey! You guys made it!" The first had shouted out almost immediately, an infectious laugh echoing throughout his entire form. As he moved to face the girls, his chocolate-brown locks of hair sprayed over his shoulder, his signature high ponytail's golden emblem glistening in the afternoon sun. The man spread his arms out in either direction of himself, "Whattaya think!?"
Even from so far away still, both Qiao sisters could see the effort that had gone in on the men's parts. A large crimson-tinted blanket lay within the grassy clearing behind the male duo, upon which a vast assortment of baked goods, meats and cheeses, and who-knows-what-else sat. Directly in the center sat a delicately shaped tea kettle, complete with four smaller containers to pour into.
Both girls hesitated in their approach - almost as if it was too much to try and absorb all at once. But before too much time could go by, Xiaoqiao had let another noise exit her mouth, "Yay!" And with that, she had bolted in the direction of the picnic area with a rejuvenated spirit, earning herself a hearty laugh from the two men. Daqiao had made a move to scold Xiaoqiao for acting so impulsively, but she took the laughter from their opposites as a positive sign and instead resigned herself to moving closer to the scene.
"Lord Sun Ce, Master Zhou Yu - this is all too much! This is absolutely beautiful and so, so thoughtful of you both!" Daqiao's words flushed out in a sea of gratitude, the young girl unsure what else she was supposed to do. Unlike her sister, she didn't dare step towards the blanket unprompted. Speaking of - she stole a glance at Xiaoqiao, who had merrily made herself comfortable upon the fluffy material. One hand filled with an impromptu miniature sandwich of sorts, Xiaoqiao's cheeky grin faltered only for a second - to shovel said edible monstrosity into her mouth.
"Heavens, I was starving! This is amazing, guys! Gold star work!" Despite her sister's droning on and on the entire way here about manners and proper dining etiquette in such company, Xiaoqiao's words came out between chomps. She adjusted herself on the blanket slightly, moving so she was now sitting criss-cross applesauce, the most content of hums sounding about within her throat.
With this, the ponytailed man known exclusively as Lord Sun Ce extended his arm towards the blanket, urging Daqiao to follow suit. As the young maiden hesitantly made herself appropriately comfortable, Sun Ce took it upon himself to mirror Xiaoqiao's actions from earlier - plopping down beside Daqiao, his large fingers picking at the various meats and cheeses and compiling them into some sort of combination.
"I like the way you think, Xiaoqiao!" Sun Ce exclaimed, even as his dark gaze focused entirely upon the construction occurring within his fingertips.
"Don't forget the pink stuff in there! Trust me." Xiaoqiao offered enthusiastically, her eyes eagerly watching Sun Ce's little art project. The man snapped his fingers in her direction, almost as if to say "you're right!". Xiaoqiao's grin continued to beam, the young girl finally turning to face Zhou Yu, who had delicately placed himself by her side without her noticing earlier.
"You are the most exquisite creature I have ever witnessed." Was all that came from the long-haired man upon locking eyes with her. Xiaoqiao's head tilted to the side ever so slightly, her long chestnut pigtails moving to frame her small facial features as her grin widened - a seemingly infectious act, as, finally, a hint of a smile cracked at the corners of the pale man's thin lips. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Xiaoqiao."
A low tinkling of metal gently clinking together mixed in with the excited high pitches emitting from the tiny sparrows fluttering about in the warm autumn air. The fading summer heat gave way to the breeze continuing about, gently giving way to another rise in the orchestra of man and nature. Lazily, a single brown eye popped open upon the young Xiaoqiao's tanned face. Taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of the sun rising in the window, the girl slowly forced her other eye open. Another moment passed as she slowly regained her full consciousness, making a move to stretch all four of her petite limbs in various directions, the soft cracking of her joints further pushing her to a more alert setting.
Letting out an involuntary groan of comfort inside the safety of her cocoon of blankets, Xiaoqiao threw a glance to her side. Empty. Of course.
"Lord Zhou Yu?" She piped up to no one in particular, knowing full well that, despite her well-intentioned dream just moments prior, those events were all in the past. Zhou Yu wasn't here - he no longer waited until the absolute last minute to venture off to attend to his duties. Instead, he was gone before the sun even arose - at least by Xiaoqiao's estimation - even though there was so much left unsaid between them. What if he was still really mad at her over yesterday? She had never seen Zhou Yu angry before - much less when it was directed at her.
Well, there was that one time some guy on the street had reached out and grabbed at her from out of nowhere - the man claimed he had tripped, but Xiaoqiao wasn't sure how much she bought that story. After all, she was pretty sure he had been standing still as they passed by and magically seemed to trip right as Xiaoqiao moved past his figure, so his hands coincidentally happened to grab at her bottom. It had all happened so fast, that it had nearly startled Xiaoqiao half to death and she remembered almost tearing her shorts off in her panicked hop away from the man's grip. Even then, Zhou Yu remained straight-laced, his face giving away none of the secrets of his mind. Her calculating husband had merely towered over the man, grabbing and clutching both of the man's soiled hands within one of his own large pale ones. The briefest of verbal exchanges were heard as Zhou Yu checked on his well-being - and then he was leading Xiaoqiao away, back in the direction they were originally headed. Xiaoqiao remembered stealing a peek back over her shoulder, just in time to watch a pair of armed guards she hadn't even noticed prior approach the man. Within another two seconds, he was being smacked upside the head with the hilt of a sword and dragged away to some unknown location.
She'd asked several times that evening what happened to the man, but Zhou Yu tactfully dodged actually answering her. Instead, he almost seemed to insinuate that he had no recollection of the man at all, which was... weird.
The young girl crinkled her nose, almost giving way to the ache of loneliness already clutching at her heart - but she forced herself through it. Instead, she let out a single, long breath of air, almost as if to refocus herself - and before she could change her mind, she tossed her fortress of blankets off of her small frame, pushing herself to a vertical base and fully committing to being awake. Out of reflex, she found herself using her fingertips to twirl her wedding band around her finger, absent-mindedly moving towards her wardrobe.
Zhou Yu might not be here, but it didn't mean she was going to lump around all day. She was going to find some answers.
With only the smallest of hums vibrating within her throat, Xiaoqiao found herself peeking around the corner of the door leading into Lord Sun Ce and Daqiao's shared common space. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be around at the time, as she found the immediate area completely abandoned - save for the few hundred dozen assistants milling about. Okay, maybe her sister hadn't hired that many - but when you're looking for a very specific face and instead find twenty-eight other ones blankly staring back at you, things tend to get a bit exaggerated.
Puffing up her cheeks in a dramatic fashion, Xiaoqiao twirled on the heel of her wool boot, swinging her entire body around so her arms naturally swayed to clasp her hands behind her back. "Guess I missed ya, sis!"
She waited for another beat - naturally on the off chance that, for whatever reason, Daqiao and Sun Ce were playing a rather random game of hiding and seek. When no one dramatically jumped out of the shadows shouting "you got us!", Xiaoqiao let out a small noise of confusion. Finally, she pushed herself to move forward, away from the private domain of her sister and brother-in-law and further back in the direction of the more public buildings.
Twirling her wedding band around her fingers, Xiaoqiao's small pink mouth mushed together in heavy thought. Thin eyebrows kneading together, the young girl continued to wander along the stone path back towards the common areas, trying to figure out where to go next. She had been hoping to speak with Daqiao about Zhou Yu's whereabouts, but now she found herself unable to locate her own sister. And where Daqiao and Zhou Yu were, Lord Sun Ce wasn't too far away.
So why was she the only one who seemed to have gotten her invitation to this private party lost in the mail?
It wasn't that this was particularly unusual. After all, Zhou Yu and Daqiao had always been more of the same like-minded mindset. They could easily spend hours discussing a variety of topics - from astrology, to common customs in foreign districts, to strategy in both war and conversation, to convincing Lord Sun Ce to agree to plans he wouldn't particularly care for, to the finer points of poetry and live entertainment, and on and on and on and on.
This usually left Sun Ce and Xiaoqiao to entertain themselves - from competing to see who could eat more meat buns in a solid sitting, to arm wrestling, to befriending strangers on the street, to trying to climb to the highest point in the tallest tree they could find that day, to play fighting with wooden sticks, and other various activities.
Or, at least that's how things used to be. Now, it seemed like all they talked about was the former topics - strategy, war, planning, and foreign matters. It wasn't that Xiaoqiao was dumb. She knew things were moving forward in a new direction - a paradigm shift, if you will. It just would've been nice to have been included - to give her the chance to try and keep up with the everchanging tides.
"Good morning, Lady Xiaoqiao."
A voice broke through Xiaoqiao's intrusive inner monologue and she suddenly stopped in her self-wallowing. Twisting her head slightly, an all-too-familiar face had appeared before her. Despite herself, Xiaoqiao couldn't help but bring both of her hands to her small mouth, letting out another noise of peril.
"Your face! It looks horrible!" Her eyes widened to an almost unnatural degree, the young girl staring in absolute horror as she took in the sight before her. Lu Xun's original polite smile immediately faltered and he instead found himself blankly staring at Xiaoqiao. She was sure if he could, he would've glared - but she would put good money on it that the pain would be too much for him to bear - since his once blemish-free face now sported a rather dark, large purple and blue bruise directly beneath both of his eyes. "What happened?!"
Lu Xun's face continued to fall - and Xiaoqiao was immediately proven wrong, as the young man was now most definitely glaring at her.
"You happened." Was Lu Xun's almost immediate response. Wasting no time, he raised a finger up to his nose, pointing at the miscolored facial feature, "Remember?"
Oh.
"Hey - I apologized for that! I just didn't think it would look... yikes. Ew. Sorry. Again." Xiaoqiao couldn't help herself and took a small step forward, continuing to peer at Lu Xun's battered face. Her right arm reached up, fingertips spreading as she very gingerly placed her skin on the warmth of his nose, "Can I touch it?"
It took Lu Xun a moment, as he simply stood there in what could only be described as utter bewilderment, before he spoke again, "Lady Xiaoqiao... you're already doing that..."
However, his words seemed to fall upon deaf ears. Xiaoqiao continued to softly pat at the bridge of Lu Xun's nose, touching her fingers to the dark discoloring under his eyes, those wide brown eyes of hers staring ever so intently. Lu Xun made a move to step away, clearing his throat in the process as a stammer filled his mouth and his eyes shifted downwards towards the stones beneath his boots. Still not acknowledging Lu Xun's apparent discomfort, Xiaoqiao continued to peer inquisitively.
"Wow - I must have a really, really hard head - harder than sis ever said I had!" Finally, the small girl had pulled her hand away from Lu Xun's face, letting out an awkward giggle.
"Xiaoqiao - what in heaven are you doing?"
Both parties twisted ever so slightly, just in time to take notice of Daqiao approaching. The raven-haired girl had at first paused in her movements, those wide brown eyes silently dissecting the scene before her - and in one fell swoop, her small legs had hurried up to Xiaoqiao's side.
"Oh! Hey - sis! I was-" Even as Xiaoqiao's mouth had popped open to explain just what had happened, Daqiao had jerked her away from Lu Xun. The elder Qiao tightly locked her small hand around her sister's upper arm, yanking her back a foot or two, safely behind the shadow of her small frame.
"My sincerest apologies, General Lu Xun. I cannot imagine what my sister must be thinking to invade your space like that. I can only pray that you will forgive this transgression and not hold it against her moving forward." Daqiao's words came out slow, calculated, and low to a scrupulous degree - almost as if she did not wish for anyone else to overhear the conversation. Xiaoqiao found herself blinking, quirking an eyebrow incredulously, and glancing between her sister and Lu Xun.
"But sis-"
"Not now, Xiaoqiao." If Daqiao was anyone else, Xiaoqiao was certain that this would've come out as a direct order. But her sister wouldn't her order her around. Would she?
Another beat passed, with Lu Xun clearing his throat again - his own eyes flashing between the two Qiao sisters, "Lady Xiaoqiao was not causing any harm at all, Lady Daqiao. I can assure you of that."
Despite Lu Xun's `rise to the defense of the younger girl, Daqiao's grip did not falter and, if anything, grew even tighter into a vice grip. Xiaoqiao made a small noise of protest, suddenly becoming aware of the manicured nails digging into her bicep. Xiaoqiao offered up a half laugh in an attempt to ease the tension, "Hey - sis - no harm, no fowl, right? So, can you-"
"Foul."
"Huh?"
Daqiao breathed a deep breath, and again Xiaoqiao found herself unsure on how to proceed. Lu Xun, who was originally backpedaling away from the scene, took a small step forward. However, the second his lips parted to speak, Daqiao clarified, "The phrase is 'no harm, no foul'."
Xiaoqiao let out another uneasy laugh, "That's what I said."
"No, it isn't. It's foul. You said fowl. I heard the double-u." Daqiao immediately retorted. Thankfully, though, before Xiaoqiao could fire back for clarification on this clarification, Daqiao released her grip from Xiaoqiao's arm. The raven-haired girl nodded towards Lu Xun, moving to clasp her hands before herself, lacing her fingers between themselves, "General Lu Xun, again, I do apologize for my sister's actions. Please, be on your way. We do not wish to hold you up any longer, so please see yourself as you were."
Xiaoqiao's frown continued to haphazardly pull at her lips, the young girl in complete confusion as to what was actually transpiring right before her eyes. Did her sister - her meek, polite, ask-four-times-if-it-was-okay-to-sneeze-before-sneezing actually just dismiss someone from her sight in the most passive-aggressive way possible?
However, unlike said sister who seemed to dwell way too much over trivial matters, Xiaoqiao didn't wait too long to transition her attention on Lu Xun. The boy continued to stand before the two girls, fighting a losing battle against himself in trying to hide the bewilderment written across his face.
Xiaoqiao took a moment to sidestep even further behind her elder sister. As Lu Xun's eyes fell over her face, she seized the moment to raise both hands, jutting up both of her thumbs in a sign of good faith. Lu Xun continued to stare at her for a moment, despite the wide grin flopping onto Xiaoqiao's mouth as an added comfort of sorts.
Nonetheless, the boy eventually did take a step back, making the motion to bow his upper half down towards the stones and dirt, "Lady Qiaos - always a pleasure." And with that, he tentatively made the motion to descend away from the scene.
Xiaoqiao's wide grin immediately faltered, her arms drooping back down to her sides. As the crunching of stone and dirt slowly drifted further away, she became hyperaware of eyes boring a hole directly through her. She didn't have to twist her head to know Daqiao was currently glaring calm, cool daggers in her direction - but she did so anyway.
"So - uh - you really not a fan of birds now or something? What's up with the grammar lesson, sis?" Xiaoqiao offered halfheartedly. She rocked back and forth on her boots, finally locking eyes with her sister.
"What did I say yesterday." Daqiao immediately challenged. And honestly? Xiaoqiao was pretty sure Daqiao hadn't even bothered to hear her foul/fowl reference, even though she was the one who was so insulted by it.
"Uhm."
"Did I not explicitly tell you just how important to our kingdom Lord Zhou Yu is? Did I just waste my breath trying to tell you how crucial things are right now? How insufferably busy we all are trying to navigate our next steps against Cao Cao? Do you not understand that he is trying to ruin everything Lord Sun Ce has been building?! Why am I hearing about this ruckus of sorts you caused at Lord Zhou Yu's office yesterday!?" Daqiao's words again came out in a low, steady trail - albeit uncharacteristically lacking any hint of nervousness or passiveness. And in Xiaoqiao's defense - well - she asked a lot of questions really fast right off the bat there. "-and why am I just now finding you inappropriately harassing the same general!? Don't even get me started on how much it would disappoint Lord Zhou Yu if he found out you were playing your silly little pranks and harassing his officers when he needs them more than you will ever know!"
"Uhm."
That was all Xiaoqiao could muster up. Any hint of a smile or attempt at defusing the situation had immediately deflated from within the young girl. Her entire figure unconsciously dropped - each word her sister spewed out acting as another twist of the proverbial knife in her gut. Or heart. Or both. She wasn't sure. All she knew was that her sister was mad. And apparently so was Zhou Yu. Or he would be.
A strange, dull pounding began to form behind her temple. Xiaoqiao blinked, those normally bright eyes burning from exposure to the air and her feeble attempt to not display how much Daqiao's words had cut just now. "I'm sorry. I- I didn't think-"
"That's exactly the problem, Xiaoqiao. You don't think." Daqiao was on a roll of sorts, it seemed. Xiaoqiao swallowed the large, rough knot that had formed in her throat. She made another attempt to speak up, but Daqiao simply shook her head, releasing a long, deep breath of air, "Just - don't, Xiaoqiao. I love you but don't. Please - for everyone's sake... just... grow up. Go home. I have to get back to Lord Sun Ce." Daqiao had already made her moves away from her younger sister, backstepping with another shake of her head.
"I can help-"
Daqiao's head continued to shake, "We don't need your help, Xiaoqiao. At least not whatever you think is help these days." With that said and done, the elder Qiao finally twirled around, her small pointed heels carrying her back in the direction Xiaoqiao was originally headed in an effort to find said sister.
For a moment, Xiaoqiao simply stood there, frozen in that uneasy stance. Arms now completely useless at her sides, the young girl could only stare as her sister's figure became smaller and smaller up ahead, the soft twirl of dust in the air the only symbol of her memory. Well, that, and the aching knife jabbed directly into Xiaoqiao's heart - but that was fine, right?
An excited shriek echoed up into the treetops, sounding out above the tumultuous downpour. Large droplets of rain pattered against the shingled roof, dripping down into muddy pools in the pathway below. In the distance, a young pair ran to and fro - one actively making attempts to duck and dodge the other, even going so far as to hide behind the large cherry blossom shielding her from the onslaught of rain. However, that didn't deter the much larger man, who had pounced from seemingly out of nowhere, scooping the young maiden up into his arms and twirling her around in a chaotically elegant embrace.
A bit away from the young couple was a third figure. This one happily hopped from one puddle formation to the next, the discolored splotches of mud splashing in all directions around her and ultimately ruining the fine material of her wool boots. The young girl let out another laugh, lifting her face up to survey the immediate scene, struggling to see more than a few feet at a time before her.
"C'mon, Lord Zhou Yu! Get out here before it's all gone!" She shouted out eagerly, jumping up and down as if that would further entice him. Stretching her arms out in either direction of herself, she tilted her head backwards, allowing the downpour to splash onto her once-pristine face.
"No, no - I think I'm quite alright over here, little one. You can have it all." Came the automated reply from the lone figure standing beneath the safe shingled canopy of the gazebo. Zhou Yu remained standing still, his palms supporting his figure against the railing as he kept a watchful eye on his three counterparts. Sun Ce and Daqiao continued to prance about together in the distance - neither seemingly a care in the world between their giggles and screams as they continued to shock and awe one another.
"Then that means I have to come to you!" Xiaoqiao's giddy squeal bounced out into the open before Zhou Yu could prepare himself. Moving faster than any knew she was capable of, Xiaoqiao had essentially bolted to be by Zhou Yu's side. With one last shluck as her boots seeped into the muddy earth beneath her small form, Xiaoqiao pounced upwards, launching herself onto Zhou Yu's back and clinging onto him with every last ounce of strength she had left.
The much taller Zhou Yu staggered for half a second, completely thrown for a loop at the sudden weight being thrust upon him. He moved his feet, steering himself to account for Xiaoqiao's figure clutching onto his back, before moving to scoop her knees around his wrists, pushing her to a more comfortable position. Satisfied that she was now secure in his grasp, Zhou Yu finally released the beginning crevice of a smile across his mouth, even as his clothes absorbed the chilly liquid from Xiaoqiao's soaking wet form.
"You're an absolute mess, you're aware of that, right?" He had even ventured out a short laugh. This prompted Xiaoqiao to nuzzle her cheek into the crook of his neck, her own lighthearted giggle sounding within his skin.
"But you love me anyway!"
"I do, little one."
"Ew, you love me?" Xiaoqiao taunted into Zhou Yu's neck, her warm breaths sending goosebumps rampant across the older man's flesh. "That's cool. I guess I love you, too."
For a moment, the young couple stood there, the safety of the gazebo protecting them from the onslaught of rain falling all around them. Xiaoqiao breathed in again, enjoying the comforting scent of Zhou Yu's presence - a mixture of books, lavender, and candlelight smoke mixing into the intoxicating earthy tones of the rain and garden.
"Okay, let's get you inside before you catch a cold." Zhou Yu turned, his long legs already moving to carry his other half back into the safety of enclosed buildings. Xiaoqiao's head popped up instantly.
"What!? That's not fair - Daqiao and Lord Sun Ce are still out there!"
"Yes, but I'm not in love with your sister nor Lord Sun Ce. They can fend for themselves. You need me more." Was Zhou Yu's soft reply, his low voice the literal opposite of Xiaoqiao's high squeaks of peril. The girl seemed to consider his words for a moment - and then, before he could register what was going on behind him, she had lurched upwards - straining her neck to get an opportunity to shout over her shoulder towards her sister and her counterpart.
"Did you hear that guys!? Lord Zhou Yu is in love with me!"
"Okay - that is enough for one day. Let's get you inside."
Despite Xiaoqiao's screeching across the garden, the opposite pairing didn't seem to take note of the sudden announcement; they remained busy wrapped up within one another under that cherry blossom tree. Xiaoqiao's wide grin reappeared, moving to position herself more comfortably over the movement of Zhou Yu's muscles, allowing him to carry her back inside and away from her favorite weather.
It had been what felt like days since her unfavorable encounter with her sister, although some small piece of logic reminded her it couldn't have been more than a few hours. Ever since Daqiao left Xiaoqiao standing there alone, picking up the pieces of what she thought she knew, the young girl felt directionless. She tried going home, but the empty corridors felt more foreign than comforting. She attempted to draw a picture for Lord Zhou Yu, but her flow of inspiration had seemingly run dry. She made an effort to read one of the numerous strategy scrolls he had left laying about the place, but the words didn't make any sense in her head and she wasn't sure if she was attempting to learn about some sort of board game or a complicated defensive strategy on the battlefield.
So she had taken to simply wandering, letting her own mind run rampant on itself, her thoughts bouncing all throughout her head. A long stroll down this corridor, a quick turn left, a bunny hop to the east, a pause in the community garden to admire the koi pond, a swing to the right, and another four passageways later - and Xiaoqiao found herself... somewhere.
Truth be told, if she truly looked, she could've hindered a guess as to where she was. But that would've required some sort of effort, and effort would mean a chance for failure, and failure would mean she was wrong. Again.
So, Xiaoqiao simply continued to meander about aimlessly, dragging her boots along the stone beneath her feet. Even as a slight autumn breeze swept through, she didn't bother to process how cold her bare legs had become due to her own silly choice in choosing her favorite pair of cotton-white silk shorts. It wasn't that she was necessarily harboring on the fact that she and Daqiao had supposedly had some sort of falling out - the two had had squabbles in the past; after all, they were sisters. But something about the way she had seen such an aggressive change in not only her sister, but also Zhou Yu, sat uneasily with her.
Yes, they were under an incredible amount of stress. And yes, maybe Xiaoqiao wasn't taking things as seriously as she could be. But could she really be faulted for that - when neither party was willing to offer up a sliver of their time to explain what the problem with this Cao Cao guy was? She wanted to help - she almost felt like she needed to help - and yet, every time she turned around, she was getting scolded for not helping, despite trying her best.
"Oh - hey, Xiaoqiao!" A familiar female voice broke through the young girl's self-pity party. Xiaoqiao glanced up, just in time to see Lady Sun Shangxiang sidle on up to her side.
"Lady Sun Shangxiang! What are you doing here!?" Xiaoqiao placated a large smile, forcing down her previous inner turmoil. Shangxiang rolled her large green eyes, moving to loop her bare arm through Xiaoqiao's clothed one, turning to steer the young girl away from... wherever she was headed.
"Well, first of all, you're outside my quarters, you creep. Second of all, how many times do I have to tell you? You can drop that 'lady' nonsense - it makes me sound pretentious." Shangxiang's nose scrunched up, as if to further display her disgust with the notion. Nonetheless, the young princess' wide grin continued to beam at the younger Qiao. "So I'm sure you've heard - how exciting?"
"Oh no - don't tell me my sister told you about yesterday too - Lady Sun Shangxiang, I'm so sor-"
Shangxiang's smile faltered for a half second, her face scrunching up again, "Yesterday? Oh, stop it. Yesterday is yesterday. Shit happens - I'm sure one of those guys had it coming. Maybe not Lu Xun since his body is apparently made of porcelain - but I digress! I'm talking about today. With your husband? And that Zhuge Liang character?"
"Wait - what-"
"Don't tell me you don't know! He didn't tell you!?" Shangxiang stopped bouncing along, dragging both she and Xiaoqiao to a screeching half right there in the otherwise vacant corridor. Shangxiang's wide green orbs stared at Xiaoqiao with a palpable degree of curiosity for a moment too long, making that uneasy knot in Xiaoqiao's stomach reappear all over again. "Uhm. Lord Zhou Yu went to Jiangdong to go meet with Zhuge Liang - y'know, Lord Liu Bei's strategist? They're meeting to discuss their options regarding the big ole Cao Cao elephant in the room everyone's been sorta kinda not talking,but very much so stressin' about? You didn't know this?"
No.
But then again - why would she? It wasn't like anyone told her anything anymore these days. Well, no, that was a petulant thought. People did tell her things; they just waited until it was too late for her to know any better and then chastised her for not knowing any better.
Xiaoqiao's throat and mouth ran dry, the small girl only managing to shake her head to and fro once, "No, he didn't tell me. When is... when is he leaving...?" Somehow, a small part of her already knew the answer.
The second Shangxiang's wide grin completely washed off of her face, Xiaoqiao knew she was correct. He was already gone.
"Oh. I'm sure he wanted to tell you and say goodbye and whatnot - he was probably just really busy. Apparently that Zhuge Liang guy is... well, he's... I've heard he's a lot. Like, his time is not easy, cheap, or fun, y'know?" Shangxiang's words came out in a flurry that Xiaoqiao half tuned out - not out of disrespect for the princess, but purely because she was still processing the first part. Zhou Yu had left for an important mission and he didn't bother to say goodbye - but worse than that, he didn't even bother to tell her.
But then again, maybe that was her fault. After all, instead of waiting at home like she should've been, she had spent the last several hours wearing in the stones lining throughout the entire palace.
"Yeah, I mean - I wasn't even home at all today, so I guess we just missed each other or something silly like that. And he's just going to Jiangdong - he'll be back, like, tomorrow or something. No big deal!" Gosh, she would've given anything to believe her own words right there. Xiaoqiao's latest attempt at a smile faltered as she drew in Shangxiang's newest facial expression.
"Wait - you really had no idea?" The princess pulled herself away from Xiaoqiao, finally unhooking their elbows from within one another. When Xiaoqiao only met her with another blank blink, Shangxiang let out an audible groan, "Why are men always the worst? He's known about this for days. Well, kind of. He knew of the plan to meet in Jiangdong - but our supposed lord and savior Zhuge Liang decided to agree to grace us Wu plebians with his presence as of a few hours ago. So. The least Zhou Yu could've done was give you a heads up that he was most likely going to get called away for a super secret mission any day now - but no. Apparently, communication is so hard! And from our own strategist, no less!" Shangxiang's rants continued to fall on deaf ears - Xiaoqiao could only absorb so much information in one moment. Right now, she was currently still processing the fact that he had known about this excursion for days - and not once did this come up. And better yet, one would also think that Daqiao would've mentioned it the last few days, right?
Xiaoqiao swallowed another hard knot down her throat, forcing back the tears she felt stinging in the corners of her eyes. She began to twirl her wedding band around her finger, finding herself getting lost in the repetitive motion. Today was just too much - too much of everyone piling on her - but at the same time, not even acknowledging her. She wasn't sure what to do with how she felt right now. Was she being too much? Not enough? What?
"Hey... I'm sorry - forget what I just said now. I'm sure he was just overwhelmed and didn't want to burden you." Shangxiang's verbal backpedaling wasn't exactly helping matters, but Xiaoqiao didn't have the desire to tell her that. Unlike other people, no matter how stressed she was, she wasn't going to unload her nonsense on people who didn't deserve it. "What are you doing tonight?"
Xiaoqiao continued to blink back those tears, steering her gaze solely on Shangxiang's inquisitive face. Despite herself, she forced out an incredulous giggle of sorts, a small noise having bubbled up from within the pit of her stomach, "Apparently not seeing my husband."
"That's the spirit! Kind of..." Shangxiang's smile had returned, albeit a bit uncertainly. The princess resumed hooking her arm through Xiaoqiao's, turning to continue walking the duo in the direction they were originally headed, "How do you feel about going out and forgetting about these worrywarts for a night? My treat!"
Xiaoqiao didn't have the emotional capacity to argue or even attempt to come up with an excuse. But somehow she doubted the princess was taking no for an answer. Truthfully, she kind of wanted to just go home and be alone and take a long soak in her bath and try to process today and sleep and sleep and sleep until everything was all okay again. Or maybe the exact opposite - she could whack her head on something really, really hard and send herself flying back through time to about three weeks ago when she and Zhou Yu had first fed the palace pandas as a married couple. That was a good memory. That was worth remembering and celebrating. And she had wanted to celebrate it with him yesterday, but alas - he was too busy not telling her important plans and chastizing her like a child for attempting to help.
How did everything get so twisted so fast?