Gwen ran full tilt through the side doors and into the courtyard, expecting to see an inquisitional court assembled for their Gwen hunt, racking her over the coals for the dead koi.

Instead, she was greeted by her babulya, seated beside a brewing pot of Maofeng Cha, the tea from Fur Peak.

"Gwen, come."

Like a shy kitten, she made her way across the cold cobblestones. Despite sprinting for thirty minutes, she wasn't at all tired. At one point, she even made a four-meter leap between two estuary banks without incident. By the last stretch, she was overcome by a runner's high, where a strange euphoria, coupled with the vigorous circulation of Almudj's Essence, washed away all fatigue and anxiety. She had felt so good that she opted for a second lap around the manor, trying to capture the trigger that precipitated her chemical elation.

And so it was, almost twelve kilometres later, Gwen stood facing her grandmother, her trembling legs perspiring in the moonlight.

"I am sorry, Babulya," she began.

"It's alright, child. I believe you weren't trying to take Percy's Amulet."

The warmth in her voice startled Gwen.

"I wasn't," Gwen aped her babulya's proclamation reflexively. "He was in pain, and I thought I'd help. I didn't know that he had developed a complex about it."

"Percy has his circumstances," her babulya explained patiently. "Can you blame a boy for having a big sister he may never catch up to?"

"I see." Gwen lowered her head even as she felt a secret, vindicating thrill.

The truth was often stranger than fiction.

She had suspected Percy's grievance but had doubted the extent to which her brother was under the Green-Eyed Monster's spell.

"Well, I just wanted to know you were alright." Klavdiya took Gwen's hand and warmed her fingers. She then patted her granddaughter's cheeks, arranged her blouse, and brushed her skort. Russian grandmothers were very tactile people. "Can you spare an old woman a few minutes?"

"Of course, Babulya, anything you need."

"Just a few minutes will suffice, dear."

Grandmother and granddaughter found a cosy spot within the private pavilion. The water below was, unfortunately, empty of koi. Gwen sipped from the cup her grandmother passed over, awed by the Fur Tea's refreshing invigoration. Her babulya waited until she had settled before continuing.

"How are you feeling?"

"Awful," Gwen replied honestly, though the running had improved her mood drastically. "Babulya, can I say something you're not going to like?"

"Of course, dear."

"Morye, Hai, Dad—he's a terrible father. I can't stand his selfishness, and I don't want to be a part of his wedding."

Klavdiya patted her hand.

"I know that, dear."

"But I can't leave, can I?"

Her grandmother shook her head.

Gwen sighed. Her grandmother was nice, but she wasn't without baggage.

"Gwen, your father is—in many ways—still childish. I am afraid Guo has been too harsh on him since he was a boy."

"Sounds like Grandfather was too lenient," Gwen griped cattily.

"Oh, the number of times I had to heal Hai because Guo had beaten him within an inch of his life..."

Gwen winced.

"I... I don't know what to do about Hai either," her babulya confessed, her face looking like she'd tasted a bitter lemon. "We had wanted the best for the boys, but Jun... and Hai... Sometimes I wonder if things could've been simpler if we had stayed in Hubei or if I had stayed in Harbin. But then, of course, if all of us had neglected our duties on the Front, there might not be a China left. We would have scattered into the wind, a broken family, and you, my dear child, would not have existed."

Gwen wasn't sure how to respond. She had never had a doting grandmother, much less one who was pouring her heart out.

"Your grandfather is angry, Gwen, but he is not unnecessarily hostile because of you. This business from Hai has lost him a lot of respect. Secretary Liu's daughter is no shrinking violet. We could have called the whole thing off were it not for the fact that Qīn is with child. Our family has always stayed neutral to the politics within the CCP—but with this union, we've been pulled into Liu's Faction—the conservative faction. Do you see what I mean?"

Gwen felt a sense of déjà vu, thinking of Master Kilroy and his troubles with the Factionism in Sydney. What did that portend if her family here were to be drawn into the CCP's internal politics?

"That's ominous," she muttered, not entirely understanding the context but wise enough to speculate.

"One would think so," Klavdiya agreed. "The CCP doesn't have Factions in the traditional sense, like the Tower Mages, who share different world-views. The Factions within the Party are simply power-hungry wolves banding together as much for safety as the acquisition of territory. Liu's faction falls under the banner of General Secretary Won Liping, and they have been aggressively seeking out allies. Your grandfather's position as the Committee Chair and Secretary of the Confidential Communications Department must remain neutral; he holds too many secrets of the upper echelon to belong to one faction or another."

_Jesus,_ Gwen muttered under her breath.

Does that mean the family may fall from grace just because of her father's wayward dick?

"Babulya..." Gwen wanted to help, but she didn't know how. If she was Gunther or someone like her Brother-in-craft, she could offer the family a haven in Australia. But she was just a student. "I don't know what to say."

"Guo wanted to cut ties with Liu, regardless of the child in Qīn's belly," her babulya spoke very quietly so that her voice was audible only to Gwen. "But that would put us in another dilemma; we would then be seen as a part of the Central Committee Chair, Yi Jinhua's faction."

"Bloody hell, fucking Dad..." Gwen gnashed her pearly teeth. "Sorry..."

"I hope you understand why Guo is so quick to anger," her babulya added. "The koi, the insult, the commotion with Percy, all of it weakens his position when negotiating with Liu."

Gwen couldn't accept her babulya's justification as a viable rationale. Having a fuckwit son was no reason to rag on the fool's perfectly estranged granddaughter.

"I see." Her babulya continued massaging Gwen's fingers. "You are right to be upset, Gwen. I can't deny you that."

"So what does Grandfather have in mind?"

"He doesn't know either, dear."

"There are things he doesn't know?" Gwen scoffed.

"There are too many things Guo knows. He knows Secretary Liu wouldn't free us from the hook that easily, especially now that the fisherman has unexpectedly snagged a mighty sturgeon."

"He should be careful. Maybe there is a dragon underneath the water."

"If only, my dear. Nothing is ever simple when there is the temptation of power involved. Guo and I agree that we don't want you to be involved. It may be too late to refute your father now, but I promise things will be better from here. You won't have to do anything other than show up, walk the aisle, and then sit quietly until the banquet ends."

"Okay, Babulya." Gwen squeezed the old woman's hands. Even now, she was thinking of campus life and how removed it was from all this unwarranted drama. The futility of it all grated on her. She might be able to whittle down a Thunder Wyvern, but she couldn't prevent her father from marrying the woman of his dreams and fucking his own family over in the process.

_Or could she?'_

The temptation was astoundingly poignant.

"What about Percy? Is he alright?"

Her babulya put on a complex expression that was difficult to read.

"Guo has set a tightrope for Percy to walk, and your brother refuses to get off." Her grandmother took a long draught of the scalding tea. "All I can do is 'be there' to catch them in the fall, do you know what I mean?"

Gwen bit her lips with annoyance.

She understood, but her babulya's martyrdom filled her with indignity.

"You have your own life, Gwen." Her babulya brushed back a lock of hair from Gwen's grim face. "After the IIUC, whether Fudan emerges victorious or otherwise, you will enter the service of the Commonwealth Towers. You may serve yourself or join a Tower Faction, as your Master had done. We will be at odds, even if not entirely, but at odds. These days that we have enjoyed each other's company, and indeed the days to come, will all become pleasant memories as our Paths divide. I want you to remember us fondly. We were absent grandparents, and in many ways, we're still incapable of being here for you; Guo and I, we're imperfect people compelled by circumstance, and I hope you can forgive us for being so selfish."

Gwen felt a convulsion of hurtful passions wrecking her chest.

Her babulya's kindness was the cruellest cut.

What could she say after that?

All she could do was hold the old woman, thinking of the alternative. Would it have been better if she had never met Klavidya?

Then what?

No Babulya.

No Petra.

No Mina or Tao.

No Mayuree.

No Uncle Jun-

The alternative prospect was too terrible to bear.

She shivered, feeling goosebumps crawl all over her body.

Her babulya noticed and channelled a mote of positive mana into her body. Gwen's Almudj-Essence reacted, pushing the foreign element from her mana channels.

Klavdiya raised an eyebrow.

She looked as though she wanted to comment but shook her head instead.

"Your skirt is a little too short, don't you think?" It was a very grandmotherly thing to say.

"Oh no, Babulya, this is a pair of shorts!" Gwen rose and spun for her babulya. "It's a skort!"

"Alright, dear." Her grandmother chuckled. "I guess we should both go to bed. Can you think about what I've said?"

"I will." Gwen leaned in and kissed her cheeks. "Oh yeah, I also have a gift for you from me and Uncle Jun."

She produced ten jars of Wildland Honey straight from the hive and a Beggar's Chicken still in its clay casing.

"This is for you. The chook is from a while ago, from my and Pat's favourite joint on University Rd!"

Her grandmother opened a jar and dipped a finger into the honey. She savoured the taste of life force contained therein. "Thank you; this is a wondrous gift."

"You're going to get younger and younger, Babulya. We'll be seeing each other and having luncheons for EONS," Gwen declared, her voice broken on the last few syllables. "Soon, aunty Nen will wonder when she had a sister!"

The two women chuckled, each pregnant with their private thoughts.

"Good night, Gwen."

"G'nite, Babulya."

Her grandmother left.

Gwen made for the guest rooms, where she and her uncle had stayed. To her dismay, she was alone. Her uncle was staying in the west wing, together with the family, while Gwen—the black sheep of the Song Clan, was accommodated in the south side.

Other guests were also staying when she returned, but as it was well past midnight, they were already behind closed doors.

Her double room felt larger without Jun; the bleak 17th-century architecture felt far older and more dilapidated now that whitewashed walls were her only companion. There wasn't even an ensuite in the outdated design of the guest room, and she was no longer in possession of Hai's gift of underpants.

Feeling bloated with thoughts of separation and mortality, she resolved to change out of her clothes and wipe herself down with a damp cloth. She switched to a pair of cotton shorts and singlet, then slipped into the soft silk covers of the single bed, the only 21st-century amenity within the room.

"Ariel?"

The marten appeared beside her, still asleep, gently snoring as it digested the cores.

She hugged her Familiar against her chest, buried her face into its fur, and rested her mind against the darkness.

Ayxin sat in her section of the White-Jade Palace, pondering the possibilities associated with the attire held out before her.

It was an anthropomorphic image of a cat. There were two small love hearts, one pink and the other scarlet, on its left and right. At the bottom, just above the navel, was printed in carmine the nonsensical words "Hello Kitty".

She sighed, feeling like a set of mystical manacles held her captive. Her heart, not to mention her Core, had pounded at her ribcage when her father offered her life to the Ash Bringer.

Reaching into a pocket space she had created to mimic the effect of the human's Storage Rings, she produced the makeup kit that Jun's niece had given her.

Within the self-contained box was a cheap mirror, beneath which were three brushes, one large and two small, a tube of something called 'mascara', and a palette of mineral powders.

Ayxin recalled that Gwen had _made up_ a face, thinking she would be granted an audience with her father.

How foolish these humans were, inefficient and lacklustre, that they had to use such mortal substances to _make up_ for what the heavens did not gift them.

Ayxin looked into the mirror, examining her not-entirely-human face.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

She blinked.

Her eyes took on the thick outline Gwen had painstakingly drawn over a minute, not daring to move or achoo.

The effect was… interesting

Her sky-coloured pupils became more pronounced.

The winged tips and deep eye shadow reminded her of the mountain cats they had in the lower reaches. Did this mean Humans were attracted to felines? If so, what did they think about Demi-human Leonines?

She blinked again, cycling through the colours.

Ayxin chuckled to herself, making her lashes longer, thicker, curlier—until her face became ridiculous.

"Ayxin?" Golo's grunt sounded behind her.

The makeup kit snapped shut and disappeared into the pocket space.

She turned angrily to regard her unannounced visitor.

"Father's teeth! Did Ryxi assault you?! I wouldn't have thought he had the gall!" The Wyvern visibly shivered. Golos was likewise in his human form. Prophetically, their father had instructed herself and Golos to exercise their humanoid appearances; as usual, neither of the siblings questioned the Yinglong's wisdom.

Her brother pointed his forefinger at her bruised, black-purple eye sockets. "Your eyes, they loo—"

“I said I AM FINE, Golos!”

"Alright…"

"Why are you here?"

"Thought I'd say goodbye. Father says I will be leaving for Mandalay. For now, I am to search out Ruxin."

"I see."

"When are you leaving?"

"Leaving?" Ayxin raised a ridged brow.

Golos snorted. In his human form, the Thunder Wyvern resembled a barrel-chested and long-limbed bouncer with a tremendous silvery beard across wide square jaws and a butt chin. His eyes, poorly formed by inexperience in changing his morphic field, remained reptilian and alien, with a high bone ridge where a bushy brow should be, running up either side of his temples until they formed a secondary ridge down the back of his skull.

"Why would I leave the Mount?" Ayxin's eyes narrowed.

Golos glanced at the shirt with the kitten.

Ayxin snatched it from the marble table and stowed it away. She was the only one who could access her pocket dimensions. Not even their father could pry when Ayxin desired privacy.

"You're not very honest," Golos snorted. "You in heat?"

"How's your anus, Golos?"

Golos growled.

"I thought as much. Get out."

She watched as Golos swaggered elsewhere. Her half-sibling would have been more convincing if he had not suffered nightmares since that day. She had even heard that he'd stopped harassing creatures in his domain.

With the bullish buffoon sent away, Ayxin re-materialised the Hello Kitty T-shirt, then ran a hand over the cotton fabric.

The turmoil she felt was painful to put into words, even Draconic ones.

The Ash Bringer was a mere Human; his race was short-lived and transient.

Yet, listening to the man extolling his faith in his _niece,_ the _Calamity_ foretold by her fathers prophesy, she felt… _longing_.

That and resentment, confusion and discontentment; she couldn't understand why a mere mortal girl, especially one so calamitous to those close to her, could receive such devotion and care from her kin while she sat alone, loitering in a cold palace as her father slumbered, Ryxi pruned trees, with Golos rubbing ointments into his swollen nether regions.

Dragons were covetous beings, and Ayxin was just as much a benefactor of their bloodline's blessing as a victim of its curse. What the girl possessed—she would have as well.

Not to embrace her inferior human side—Ayxin excused her mental weakness—but a girl wants what a girl wants.

Much less a _Winged Dragon._

Gwen awoke to the sound of commotion from outside her room. The walls were wood and clay, while the windows were transmuted glass made to look like paper parchment. Neither provided a solid barrier against noise.

Rubbing her eyes, she opened the double doors to see what the uproar was about.

An NoM servant holding a mug of hot tea choked on his shallot pancake as Gwen emerged barefoot in her singlet and cotton shorts.

The entire courtyard of the South Wing was a hive of activity, and from the racket, it was evident that decorative renovations were happening. NoMs were applying fresh stains to everything that could be seen, especially the faded red pillars. All around her, workmen and lesser Mages were lifting plaques and installing giant red "DOUBLE LUCKY" pictograms hung upside down on every visible window and door.

Gifting the servants and workers another thirty seconds of eye candy, Gwen shut the door and wondered why no one had come to wake her. She checked her device and saw that it was nine AM. Tossing on a tunic, she washed her face and brushed her teeth.

"Where's everyone gone?" she asked one of the scurrying servants from the window slit.

"The family is taking breakfast in the east wing, main hall."

"Gotcha."

She threw on a halter-neck maxi and strapped in her wedge sandals, then followed the maid through the winding corridors until they reached the scene of a breakfast banquet.

The family, both the Songs and the Lius, were already eating.

She bowed before finding her seat at the table, intuitively seating herself beside Jun.

Breakfast consisted of fried dough and six-treasure porridge, a local speciality made from Wildland nuts and fruits, combined with the famous Jiangnan rice to form a thick gruel that warmed the stomach and filled the body with energy.

"Uncle."

Gwen waited for a servant to fill her bowl.

"Gwen, how was your sleep?"

"Well enough," she replied sweetly.

"Good." Jun sipped his congee. The military man worked at the gruel, savouring every mouthful before placing the bowl conclusively onto the table. "I need to head back to the base for a week. Hai has requested that you stay here to help with the wedding. I'll be back first thing on Sunday."

"No buck's party?"

"No, thank Mao." Jun shot a glance at Guo and Patriarch Liu. There was Qīn next to her father as well. "I don't think either of those three would have wanted to see Hai in that condition."

Gwen chuckled uncomfortably as well.

Did Mage-world Shanghai even have strippers?

Knowing the precarious status of NoMs in this world, Gwen had no desire to witness the debasement of women whose only worth was a pretty face.

Was her father even capable of enduring a hands-free lap dance?

But maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

Surely no one could blame the Song family if Hai sabotaged his wedding?

Nonetheless, the dismissal of the Buck's Party was agreeable to Gwen.

"I am going to miss you, Uncle Jun," she muttered despairingly. With Jun gone, she would be left with only babulya, but her grandmother's affections weren't Gwen's alone.

"I'll be back as soon as possible," Jun announced. "I promise."

Gwen wanted to reply, but a cat had stolen her tongue and ran off with it into the bush, where a saltwater croc ate it.

"There, there." Jun patted her shoulder clumsily, awkward in his public affection.

Her uncle's fatherliness proved too much for Gwen. Not even the shame of her thirty-year-old self could dispel the welling emotions ripping apart her chest like a Xenomorph. She turned and hugged him, wrapping her arms around Jun's waist, then kissed him on the cheeks.

From across the table, Hai stared at Jun, his expression one of disbelief.

In her uncle's arms, Gwen guiltily grinned.

"She's very close to your brother," Qīn remarked to her husband-to-be once they were in the privacy of the east wing. Many invitations were awaiting the penning of personal greetings.

"I'll say." Hai licked his parched lips.

His heavy-hanging eye bags indicated a shortage of restful sleep.

"You don't suppose Gwen has—?"

Hai raised a brow.

"grown fonder of her Uncle than you?"

"Well, I wouldn't know about that," Hai grumbled defensively, scratching his nose.

"She's growing up with or without you, Hai," his lover advised with great sagacity. "I am worried your rare flower might be plucked by some vagabond or a scoundrel from the horrors. You, of all people, should know how bad it gets in Shanghai, dear."

"Gwen's capable of taking care of herself," Hai muttered, thinking of the time he flew into Rosebay to save her, only to see her brutally massacring her assailant, some gloop-creature constituted of black slime, all the while in her birthday suit. It was the unfortunate young men of Hangzhou who should be afraid.

"Don't fret. Gwen will have plenty of options," Qīn advised her husband. "I've got an impressive line-up of eligible bachelors for her to browse over at her leisure, not to mention her groomsmen is one in a million."

"Look, I don't think this is the best idea."

"I've got it taken care of." Qīn kissed his collarbone, massaging him with soothing motes of positive mana.

Hai could hardly tear himself away from his fiancèe's almond eyes. Here was a woman who was madly and deeply in love. What if Qīn could find a partner for Gwen, just as she had discovered him? Gwen couldn't fault her father for thinking of her happiness, surely?

Jun left as soon as breakfast wrapped up, disappearing out the door before the warmth of his hands on her back had even faded.

What remained were duties for every member of the family.

As the wedding was undertaken on short notice, many of the elderly members of the Liu Clan would visit friends and family with gifts and invitations. Secretary Liu himself would be visiting his associates as well, leaving the running of the Reception to Qīn.

As Qīn's mother was unfortunately deceased, Hai's parents, older than her father by a decade, would double-duty as her elders, receiving guests as they arrived over the next few days.

Babulya was right; the ordeal was a vortex of 'Guanxi' - an undertow of filial and political ties that sucked the Songs into its depth, willing or otherwise.

When it came to Gwen, her grandfather came through as promised.

A fierce "Gwen will out of the way" was enough to prevent Qīn from further employing Gwen's time.

She had only one job that required her presence—get fitted for her bridesmaid's dress.

It was a position she was more than happy to occupy.

"Go enjoy yourself around the city, see the sights. Go for a boat tour around the West Lake," her father informed her. "You just came back from a gruelling trip. Unwind. I can see you were very tense yesterday."

_Then where the fuck were you yesterday?_ Gwen suppressed the words hammering at her lips. She was surprised no one had mentioned the koi, least of all her father. Poor koi.

"Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it."

As Jun had done so, Hai reached out for a hug, but Gwen shirked away, leaving her father hanging.

"I'll go see about this dress, then."

"I'll send Ah-Bei with you," Qīn chimed in. Her siren's voice possessed a husky timbre mellow enough to melt the bones of any man. It was the sort of hyper-femininity Gwen could never affect, even if she tried. "He knows the city like the back of his hand."

"Thanks, Aunty Qīn." Gwen dipped her head.

"'Mama' will suffice, or Nīang, as we say in the Wu dialect," Qīn annunciated expertly, biting the assonance.

_You're my age and look like you're in your twenties!_ Gwen screamed internally. I'll call you mother over my father's dead body.

"Thank you, _Aunty_." Gwen held her tongue.

The two women smiled at each other warmly.

Her father looked at his goosebumps. "Is it cold in here or what? It's hot as ever today..."

A servant presented himself in front of Gwen, bowing deeply. It was the same man Gwen had seen on their first meeting with Qīn.

"I am Liang Bei." The man dipped his head.

Bei had the bearing of a man who awoke tired. "At your pleasure, Mistress Song."

Gwen shook the man's hand.

The act surprised both Bei and Qīn.

It wasn't just a touch, a gesture from a superior to encourage a subordinate. It was a proper-greeting, palm to palm, applied with force and intent.

"Good to meet you, Bei. I'll be in your hands."

Bei bowed a little deeper.

"Father, I am off."

"Stay out of trouble, Gwen."

"You know I won't!"

Then she was gone.

Bei commandeered a vehicle from the underground garage, playing guide and chauffeur. Once inside, Gwen changed her heels for pumps. If she was going to take FIVE days off from 'life' and 'stay out of trouble', she wanted to shop, jog, and experience the 'heavenly' sights around Hangzhou.

First stop, the dressmakers.

"Hangzhou is one of the best places in the world for Wildland-silk, Mistress," Bei advised her. "We will go to the city's largest silk market, Fengqi Road No. 273. It is a very expensive locale! Even mundane dresses cost thousands to tens of thousands of RMB. If you wish to purchase Wildland Silks, the vendors only accept HDMs."

"How expensive are we talking about?" Gwen packed her slippers, slipping a foot into the sky-blue pumps she'd acquired in Shanghai. It was too bad there was no Instagram. She would have had an entirely different career path if she had been in her seventeen-year-old body with unlimited fashion funds in her old world.

"The vendors will try to rip you off, Mistress, because you are a foreigner and a Mage from another city, not to mention a young girl. Sometimes, the greedy merchants ask for many times the value or even sell you fake products!"

"Then why are we going there?" Gwen asked quizzically.

"Because they need the Secretary's support to continue their business," Bei informed her, his cracked lips curling on either side. "Mistress has said to spare no expense on your bridesmaid dress, so long as it is appropriate. Her only request is that you purchase in a particular shade of cream. I have the sample fabric right here."

Gwen examined the slip, rubbing the fabric between her hands.

It was smooth beyond belief, gliding between her thumb and forefinger without friction. The silk was the real deal, a fabric that felt like cold water.

"Very nice."

The stimuli made her recall Ayxin, whose entire garb had been mythical gossamer. At the thought of the dragon-woman, her Divination Sigil tingled.

Without formal training, her Sigil was less definitive than her daily horoscopes, not that Gwen needed premonition to know that the woman was bad news.

"Hmm..."

The vision of an anxious face engendered in her mind.

Didn't she have a Diviner on a lifeline?

She dialled Mayuree.

"Mia! It's me, Gwen!"

"Gwen! Oh, thank the Goddess, YOU'RE BACK!"

"My favourite Diviner! How're things?" She asked.

"I honestly don't know; I haven't left the house for a week." Mayuree was entirely serious.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm serious. What do you think? You have no idea how happy I am to hear from you. Are you back?"

"Sorry, not yet," Gwen apologised. "Next time, we'll go Adventuring together."

"You bet," Mayuree answered sweetly. "So, are you close? Are you within reach of a tier 7 Teleportation scroll?"

"Er… I am in Hangzhou."

"Oh."

"My father's getting married," Gwen took a moment to explain her situation to her Diviner companion. "I was wondering if you could do an Augury for me. I want to know if the wedding will be a shit show."

"Gwen, that's terrible!" Mayuree replied, scandalised by Gwen's shocking proclamation.

In response, Gwen detailed the context for her paranoia, then further explained that she had 'accidentally' killed the bride's prized koi.

"Oh, Gwennie~." Gwen could almost see her friend scowling, clenching her jaws adorably as she grimaced. "Alright, give me a few moments."

The Message disconnected while Gwen waited.

"Mistress, we're here," Bei informed her.

Indeed, the car was stationary.

"Bei, where are you from?" she asked.

"Me?" Bei seemed surprised.

"Yeah, you've known the Liu family for long?"

"All my life, Mistress."

The two made small talk. According to the manservant, Bei's family had served Qīn's for as long as he could recall.

_Ding!_

Ten minutes later, her Message Device pinged.

"Mia?"

"Hi, I am back."

"So, how is it?"

"… it's hard to say."

"How hard to say, exactly," Gwen replied, disappointed.

"Well, according to my Augury, there will be Weal and Woe on the wedding day."

"That's to be expected, I suppose."

"So I tried a higher-order Divination and sought specific outcomes. Do you want to hear them? _Do you recall what happened to me?_ "

Mayuree's rhetorical question reminded Gwen of what the Diviner had said: knowing your future was like hammering the final nail in your coffin.

"Do you think I should know?"

"NO," Mayuree answered honestly.

Gwen relented.

"Okay, I'll deal with it myself."

"Phew, hahaha, I wasn't going to tell you anyway." Mayuree's voice was relieved.

"Thanks for looking out for me, Mia."

"So when are you expecting to be back?"

"Six, seven days at worst?"

"Alright." Mayuree's tone relaxed, which informed Gwen more than she had desired to know. If she were going to be in danger, Mayuree wouldn't just sit on her hands and tell her to relax. "See you then. I can send a car to pick you up from Hangzhou if you don't have a ride back to Fudan."

"That's good to know."

Indeed, if she had to be cooped up in a van with Guo and Percy, Lord knows what would happen if she started leaking Dragon Fear.

The link broke off.

"Bei? I am done."

To her embarrassment, her patient manservant was already waiting beside the passenger door.

"Alright," Gwen spoke to no one in particular. "Let's see about this dress."


Hangzhou.

Once the Dragon Mage passed the dragon-pine, she began to feel the oppressive resonance of Humanity's Shielding Stones pounding at her chest. Her core hummed unpleasantly, hinting at the violent end that awaited Ayxin should she persist in approaching the city.

So this was the infamous Shielding magic employed by the humans to keep out Demi-humans and Magical Monsters, she scoffed, displeased by the sensation. The strange frequency disrupted the flow of elemental mana within her body, giving her an impression akin to being underwater.

Ayxin circulated her spatial magic until the throbbing in her chest ceased.

Her progenitor was truly all-seeing and all-knowing.

Humanity's 'Shield' was beyond Ayxin's archaic knowledge of Human Spellcraft. But as coincidence two centuries in the making would have it, she was uniquely equipped to negate its effects.

Was that why her father had not stopped her from performing her fool's errand?

The resonance was a form of highly-attuned spatial-Abjuration magic, and Ayxin possessed the talent to defuse its disruptive foci. She felt a strange thrill, knowing that Ruxin, Golos, and even her father could be stopped once enough Shields overlapped.

With a few careful incantations, she tied off the elaborate Enchantment mandala encircling her core on all six sides.

The full force of her Draconic powers would be suppressed until she released the seal, but what prowess remained was sufficient for uprooting a small township.

As for her appearance, Ayxin conveniently assumed Jun's niece's skinny form. For one, because she had meticulously studied the girl while she bathed, trying to fathom the Ash Bringer's preferences, and the other was that they shared a minute resonance thanks to the girl utilising Ayxin's scale to temper her Draconic Essence.

Though Gwen's likeness proved no obstacle, some physical elements remained immutable, such as Ayxin's sky-blue eyes and a certain air of androgyny.

Then there was a more pragmatic reason. The only modern attire Ayxin possessed was the one the niece had gifted her. That and the "Hello Kitty" tunic, an item she dared not risk on an uncertain, covert journey.

Thus attired as Gwen's simulacrum, clad in wedge heels and a white tunic-sundress, Ayxin-Gwen approached the way-station which marked the boundary into Hangzhou. Once inside the city, her scale would guide her to Gwen and, as such, Jun.

In her pocket dimension, she had brought several treasures desirable to Humans and the old documentation she had imprinted in blood with the Human regime.

The problem was she had no idea if the same _regime_ still ruled the Human world.

If she were wrong, she would have to negotiate with the Humans' cumbersome bureaucracy. If she was right, the contract compelled the regime to at least heed her request. Unless she were to wipe out a human settlement, there was no reason to anger the direct descendent of the Ying Long.

Having thus mused between presenting herself in an officious or private capacity, Ayxin chose the latter. She was here to see about a man, not to cause an incident. She wondered if it was possible to demand Jun Song from the city's rulers, though that may well sour her relationship with the Ash Bringer.

Empathically, if the Yinglong had offered Ayxin, his beloved _vessel_ , to another Dragon, she would likely fight the snake spawn. Therefore, she had to take matters into her own clawed hands.

"Halt!"

The border guards, two frail-looking humans with barely detectable innate mana, stared at her with disbelief, wondering why there was a pale-skinned gweilo girl in a sundress in the middle of a Purple Zone.

"Isn't that Miss Song, the one travelling with the Ash Bringer?"

"Didn't she pass by two days ago?"

"Maybe she went out on her own again?"

"She doesn't look like she's dressed for Questing, though."

"Don't look at me." The first shrugged. "I am not in the business of presuming what our betters do for fun. Straighten up, Corporal, here she comes!"

The girl strolled toward them, struggling to balance on her shoes.

"Here are my documents." Ayxin's eyes glowed with the subtle light of Enchantment, her tongue delivering a Draconic incantation as she held their gaze captive.

"Everything's in order, Ma'am." The first guard nodded at the handkerchief she had handed him. "It's a long way from here to the city if you're going on foot."

"I'll fly," Ayxin cooly replied.

The second guard saluted the companion of the Hero of the North.

"Where can I find the Ash Bringer?" she demanded, her voice empowered with old magic as a persistent Suggestion.

"The Liu Manor, Ma'am. The word from the top says that the Secretary is finally marrying off his daughter. The groom is Captain Song's brother. Lots of the brass will be attending, as well as the prominent local families."

"Where is this Manor?"

"West Lake, Western quarter, Ma'am. It's the largest complex there."

"Thank you, Corporal Du."

"At your service, Ma'am!"

"I wasn't here, and you saw nothing."

"Yes, Ma'am, we saw nothing."

A few minutes later, Corporal Du turned to his companion.

"Qe, do you remember Captain Song's companion?"

"The gweilo girl? Who could forget." Qe appreciatively chuckled. "She was a real looker, eh?"

"She was." Du smacked his lips. "I was just thinking of her."

"Why?"

"Don't know," replied Qe. "Feeling lonely?"

"You're not thinking of cheating on the old missus, are you?"

"Naw, Miss Song's the proverbial goldfish, you can look, but you can't touch!"

"What does that make your old woman then?"

"A salted carp!"

The two laughed mirthfully.

"That's a good one, comrade. Ah—slow day, eh?"

"Every day is a slow day out here, Qe." Du snorted. "We're out in the woods, Comrade. Nothing ever happens here, Purple Zone or otherwise."

"Thank Mao!" Qe glanced at the guard tower, where a superior officer might be watching but was far more likely napping or watching Vid-casts. If a Dragon-kin like that blasted wyvern breached the border, all they could do was immediately report the threat. It was the local garrison's job to take care of the trouble. They were just an isolated watchtower. "We should be so lucky, eh?"

Far from the outpost, Ayxin flew, her voluminous hair billowing behind her shoulders. The torturous shoes the girl had gifted her required more concentration to muster than the magic she had used to confound the soldiers. Also, the unergonomic angle of the heels grated on her ankles and the peep-toe tip made her pink appendages arch uncomfortably, forcing her off-balance.

Once the Dragon-Mage was away from the checkpoint, she lifted herself into the air, freeing the weight on the ball of her foot.

Upon reaching a suitable height, Ayxin accelerated, making for Hangzhou city. If she flew at a low altitude to avoid detection, the journey would take several hours.

Ayxin contemplatively hefted a handful of crystals in her hand.

She had about a hundred LDMs and a dozen HDMs.

Her cache of Human currency was solicited from a man who had accosted her, complimented her on her physical beauty, and then offered to take her to see the Ash Bringer.

Ruminating profoundly, she attempted to trace the last few hours of chaos.

When she arrived at the city's outskirts at night, she became immediately disorientated by the horrendous butchery the Humans had executed upon the once natural landscape. In her memory, Hangzhou was a beautiful city of rivers and estuaries, seated in a floodplain, surrounded by an extensive network of walls that shielded its population from Wildland Magical Beasts.

Instead, Ayxin became mortified by the sight of a human city stretching from horizon to horizon, utterly obfuscating every natural landmark, sprawled across every conceivable space, stripping out all but small tuffs of greenery from the once verdant land.

Then there was the mana miasma.

She had taken a lungful of it as soon as she reached the city proper, and the thickness of the spent mana fog almost sent her tumbling from the sky.

These Humans—they were a parasite! A blight upon the world!

She couldn't even tell where _West Lake_ was! A concrete jungle so tightly packed stretched out in front of Ayxin that it was impossible to discern where one township ended and another began. It was as though the city centre was a fat, fleshy spider perched on the floodplain, while all around it, silk threads in the form of highways burst like an erupted cocoon across the once virgin land.

She felt stricken by unbidden nausea, unsure if it was because of the smoggy pollutants in the air or if the reality of Humanity's usurpation exceeded her wildest nightmares. As primordial beings, Dragons are given life by the Prime Material Plane. As a race, they were especially sensitive to the changes in an area's elemental composition.

No wonder humans had such short life spans! If she could persuade Jun to leave the human city, there would be hope for the Ash Mage.

Lost and heady with sickness, she alighted somewhere discrete, then made for the town centre, wondering if someone could know where the Ash Bringer was.

And that was when she met the man who deceived her.

"Of course, I know him! He's famous!" the man had announced boisterously. "Right this way, Miss, I'll give you a ride straight to his house by the West Lake."

The liar was an ugly man, apish and small; not unlike the Canhu monkey-men who inhabited Huangshan, only this one was wearing a suit.

He directed her to a vehicle, one that, to Ayxin, looked to be in bad shape. Two other young men were in the large cargo vehicle with him; both appeared shocked that their companion had not only returned but had brought Ayxin with him.

The men said nothing while the monkey-man drove, their faces remaining incredulous as they wantonly gazed at Ayxin. Skimming their minds, Ayxin affirmed that Gwen Song possessed very desirable physical traits, as she could taste the lust oozing from the men's brains.

After some time, the vehicle stopped.

Then the men told her that they were not going to West Lake.

The bold proclamation confused Ayxin, who could hardly fathom why these apish, low-life existences would deceive her. It was as ridiculous as a Merfolk offering Golos its young, only to pass it off as a joke when the Thunder Wyvern arrived, hungry and anticipating a fulfilling meal.

"Are you saying that you do not know the whereabouts of The Ash Bringer?" Ayxin asked, her voice raising an octave.

"Bitch, are you slow?"

The men laughed at her.

Ayxin laughed as well. The situation was novel indeed!

It was a refreshing experience to interact with these strange and mortal creatures in such a manner. The Dragon was rapidly learning about the duplicitous nature of Man. It was odd because when she resided among the Humans some two centuries ago, they came only in two types—dangerous or grovelling.

"Maybe she _is_ slow…" one of the others commented.

"You are wrong," Ayxin informed the liar's companion. "I can be very fast if I want to."

The men grinned at each other.

One of them reached out to touch her thighs.

To prove her earlier point, Ayxin reached out simultaneously.

She was faster—much faster.

“Wha—ARRRGHH EEEEERAARRR!”

She plucked out the man's eyeballs, using Gwen's thin fingers as hooks, then tossed them at the screamer's wide-eyed companion, who juggled the orbs comically in abject horror.

The monkey man who'd led her here must have been uncannily intelligent because he kicked open the vehicle door and immediately fled.

" _Pok_!" she spat from her soft lips; the Draconic was less effective because the fleshy flaps of her human mouth impeded her enunciation.

The man froze, his face a mask of agony as every muscle obeyed Ayxin's command.

The remaining Human attempted to stab her with a metallic implement. Her flesh proved impervious, but Gwen's dress was less study than Ayxin's Draconic body.

"What… are you?" The man's eyes widened, finally realising that they were not dealing with a breathtakingly beautiful simpleton who had wandered into the wrong part of town.

"Take me to the Ash Bringer," Ayxin instilled a little Dragon Fear into her voice.

The man's eyes bulged, then made a gagging sound before hurling his last meal over the floor. Ayxin watched the yellow fluid splatter onto her shoes. A vein beneath the dermis of her temple throbbed. Now she knew she had indeed been deceived. Her Draconic Mind-Magic couldn't compel a victim to confess that which they did not know.

"Don't kill me!" the man begged. "We'll give you everything we have! All the money and crystals we've got on us!"

A Dragon never said no to crystals.

The blinded man continued to wail even as his companion searched him. The monkey man, held by command, was more compliant.

Ayxin was expediently presented with an assortment of paper and crystals.

She tossed the paper bills and kept the crystals.

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With a casual backhand, she knocked the man who had vomited on her across the forehead, sinking his face into the glass pane of the vehicle. As for the liar hung by her incantation outside, she broke both of his legs with a swift kick, crumpling the man like paper. Her final assailant responded by throwing himself into a passionate and bloody series of kowtows that polluted the pavement.

Such _frail_ beings, these Humans, Ayxin mused. There was no sport in killing them.

Leaving the men, Ayxin tried to orientate herself to no avail. The mana haze was too thick, and the elements would not heed her call. Short of wiping the Human blight from the earth, she would have to navigate as the mortals did.

When she emerged from the alleyway, another male immediately accosted her. This older man professed to be the proprietor of an eatery, the front of which she now occupied, drawing an audience.

"Mao! What happened to you?"

The man had been so surprised upon seeing her cut dress that his cigarette fell from his lips.

"I am fine, Sir," Ayxin replied. "I am looking for the Ash Bringer; if you could point me in the right direction, I shall reward you."

"The who and what?" The old man regarded her critically. "You feeling alright, Miss?"

"Jun Song, the Ash Bringer," she repeated herself. "I need to find him."

"Why are you looking for the Hero of the North?"

Ayxin considered the man's question carefully. She was in Gwen's form, so saying that she was looking for her future mate would be grossly unfair and somewhat off-putting. Dragons could be incestuous, but she was Human, for now.

"He is my Uncle," Ayxin noted as a matter of factly.

The old man raised an eyebrow, showing no indication that he believed her.

"You can't walk around here like that. It's not safe. Hooligans and hoodlums are all over the place. The PLA doesn't give a shit about the Districts."

"Please point me in the right direction. I am not afraid of bandits and brigands. I lack currency."

"I don't think they'll want your money, Miss."

"That is acceptable. I would like theirs."

An awkward silence passed.

"Look, at least come in and clean yourself."

"Not necessary, old Sir, though I thank you for offering it."

The Human snorted derisively at her dismissal, shaking his head.

_"Nartok!"_ A burst of elemental water erupted from thin air, enveloping her body and soaking the dress. The old man's eyes grew as large as a hen's eggs. Though the elements were rarified in the NoM District, she could still summon magic through the gate within her body. It took a minute for the Water Elementals to finish their task, leaving her dress, face and hair spotless and dry.

By then, a small crowd had gathered.

"Mao! Why didn't you say you're Mage?! A Water Mage at that? Sorry for asking." The old man seemed to Ayxin to be uncharacteristically offended. There was a scent of fear that now circulated his body. The man turned to leave.

"Do you know where the Ash Bringer is?" Ayxin intoned, forcing the old man to answer her against his will.

The man's eyes glazed over.

"No, why would I know that? He's a national hero. They don't come to NoM Districts. Try the West Lake. That's where all the Mages live."

West Lake.

Where in this light-polluted cesspool of human habitation was West Lake?

Should she, perhaps, perform an aerial survey?

But suppose she glaringly flew through the city. In that case, she may immediately give herself away, ruining the surprise of her future meeting with Jun and informing the local authorities that they had an esteemed guest that required immediate chaperoning. In the worst case, the ruler may expel her before she can attend this 'wedding'.

Luckily, a crowd of humans was here at her beck and call.

"You people," she edged her voice with an irresistible will. "Show me the way to West Lake."

"THIS WAY!" A crowd of humans stood to attention.

Immediately, they began to walk in different directions, each supremely confident in their knowledge of where 'West Lake' may be.

Ayxin stood stunned, staring at the dispersing crowd.

_What… in her progenitor's name… is wrong with these humans?!_

Ayxin hadn't slept for two, maybe three days.

Dragons cultivate by sleeping. The more one slept, the more their natural prowess grew. With their limited lifespans, humans lived every day as though it was their last moment on the Material Plane.

At least, that was the impression Ayxin got when observing those she _enlisted_ to aid her progress.

The motes of mana from the Planes grew thinner the deeper she ventured into the human territory, meaning she had to find sustenance in more mortal forms. When she got hungry, she ate, asking vendors and passersby for food, spending all her crystals. Later, the humans became upset when she could not front up the necessary currency.

Thirst was easier. There were plenty of estuaries with clear water for Ayxin to wander into and slake her thirst. Her actions always drew an audience, which Ayxin found humorous, noting with irony that the humans themselves were constitutionally too weak to enjoy the bounty of nature.

Her haughty practice lasted until she saw a child urinate into the river.

The crowd gathered around the strangely beautiful girl drinking from the stream almost simultaneously pissed and shat themselves when Ayxin endured a regret never before felt in her two centuries of life.

She then tried summoning fresh water directly from the Elemental Plane, but the water was likewise polluted by whatever the city was pumping back into the Plane. After several such occurrences, she acquired bottles of purified water.

By the second day, Ayxin had lost count of how many times these humans had tried to deceive her, lure her to strange places, and misdirect her quest. Inevitably, she left them broken and abandoned somewhere.

How quickly has human society changed in only two centuries? Ayxin reflected in dismay. When she was a child, she had never seen the outside world. She had only been taken from the interior courtyard and onto the streets when she left the household and made her journey to Huangshan. As she passed, elevated upon an elaborate palanquin, the peasants dropped to their knees in worship of Ayxin's Daoshi entourage.

After six days, her escorts had left her at the threshold of the Hundred-Thousand Terrace. That salient memory of lowered heads and stooped shoulders had thus shaped her idea of Humanity.

Even when the emissary from the humans came to see her father some five decades ago, they had lowered their heads and spoken in soft, polite tones. None dared to meet her eyes, much less demand anything of her. Of course, Ayxin knew she was borrowing her father's terror, but her prejudice remained.

Yet here, everyone glanced at her, stared at her, and watched her every move without fear. People came up to her to ask questions, followed her, and even offered her food and printed images on sheets of paper! One daring male even offered her crystal currency, blurting out that he wished to mate with her!

Of course, she wasn't in her Draconic form. But still, Ayxin was both thrilled and disgusted.

How bold the Human race had become!

She could feel the avarice and greed drooling from their psyche like a palpable slick. Was this what her father was afraid of, that the Humans were a greedy, gluttonous parasitic existence that consumed all matter within reach of their grubby digits?

When she finally reached West Lake, she felt like a year had passed, not three days. She appeared to be in a reserved area, thankfully cleared of the debris-like buildings the Humans used for habitation. Here, the resonance of the Shielding Crystal was strongest, hinting at the presence of the central station somewhere within the middle of the lake. However, the mana within the region was purer, allowing her to rest.

To the casual passerby fascinated by the exhibition, a gweilo girl had arrived at the Municipal Park, found a bench, sprawled herself on top of the stone surface, and promptly fell asleep.

"Hey, cutie, you looking for a place to sleep? How come you're not jogging today?"

Ayxin opened her eyes.

She was surrounded by Humans, about a dozen of them.

"I didn't think you were a local but, damn, who'd thought you were homeless? You need someone to take care of you."

The speaker was a Human male.

She must have slept for a whole day, judging from the pale light of the risen moon.

Rubbing her eyes to clear the mucus, she found that twelve hours of rest was not near-sufficient to dispel the mental fatigue she felt. Elemental mana here was too thin, too displaced from the Planes to cultivate. She had been tempted to surround herself with the densely packed crystals the Humans used for currency, but she knew well enough not to entice trouble.

But what was this circle of young men, and a few women, doing standing beside her?

The smell of sex was rank as her gaze swept her observers. Several of them were in heat, both the males and the females, though the heaviest stink was the acrid stench of yellow-bellied fear.

They reminded Ayxin of the scavengers on the mount, especially the crows. When the birds found an abandoned young animal, they would peck out their victim's eyes, then wait for the panicking sufferer to tire.

Fear of what?

If they were afraid of Ayxin, they would not have accosted her like this.

She traced their eyes until their line of sight converge on the speaker, who looked to be in his late twenties. The man had the bearing of an alpha male—broad-chested, well-muscled, confident, possessing a cruel, crow-like glint in the recess of his small, beady eyes. Ayxin recognised the bearing; the man was an opportunistic hunter.

"I was resting until you disturbed me," Ayxin stated the facts. "Go away."

"You don't have to sleep here." The young man grinned with an opaque expression of dangerous arousal. "I'll give you a place to stay, a warm bed and food. You'll never be cold or hungry again."

It must be because of the restrained virility of the human reproductive systems, Ayxin thought as she moved one pale leg after another from the stone bench, brushing the dust from her dress. Self-preservation, procreation, and currency seemed to be the modus operandi driving these Humans, a triplicate of natural inclinations which Ayxin, as a Dragon-kin, empathised with perfectly.

Still, the desperate display was pitiful. This particular Human's appetite was far more substantial than his ability and worth as an existence. A snake with an appetite for dragons.

Then, to her surprise, the man reached out and touched her in an overly friendly manner.

Not only that, he took her by the arm.

She stared at the fleshy appendage attaching to her limb, frowning unpleasantly. With a word, she could strip the flesh from the man's bones or command his minions to tear him to pieces with their teeth. But Ayxin would give the man a chance to redeem himself. She wasn't bloodthirsty like Ruxin or Golos; she was a pacifist.

"Do you know where the Ash Bringer is?" she demanded of the young man, throwing him a lifeline even as he stared at her chest.

The question seemed to catch the Human youths off guard. They laughed at her before the young man answered.

"I know where the man will be," the young man seemed puzzled by her fearless naivety and perplexing response. "He'll be at Liu's wedding this Sunday. It'll be the biggest event this year. His brother is marrying the only daughter of the Clan. We're family friends. Why? Are you a fan?"

"I am not a fan." Ayxin pondered what her next course of action should be. "I am a Human, like you. You are not an astute observer."

"Er..." The young man seemed less confident in his interest now.

"I am hungry." Ayxin carefully removed the young man's hand, cautiously to avoid breaking something off by accident. She still needed him if what he said was true. "Bring me some food."

Ayxin announced her desire, and her observers felt a sudden urge to bring her sustenance. It was as though her voice filled every nook and cranny of their brain.

"Of course!"

"What would you like?"

"We can get take out."

"No! We go to Papa Lau's."

"To the Hyatt! Full banquet!"

However, the young man who had touched her seemed unaffected by her Suggestion. A small, barely visible halo faded from his head, and then her assailant stepped back, his face ashen.

"You're an M-Mind Mage!" he uttered, tongue-tied and stuttering. "Everyone! G—"

“ _Munthrek! Tyrtrol ve!_ ”

Something around the young man's neck shattered, barely audible and invisible underneath his shirt.

The young man fell to his knees and performed a kowtow.

"I, Chen Pao, am at your command, Mistress."

His friends ceased their banter, stared at their leader and broke into hilarious laughter. Their voices were silenced when the young man kissed Ayxin's feet without an ounce of unwillingness.

"I desire nourishment," Ayxin commanded her newly Dominated peon.

"Right this way." Pao stood, bowed, and then opened a path for Ayxin. He turned to the rest of his companions. "The rest of you! Follow the Mistress! We are going to Louwailou! Jo, Message ahead and tell them I need a private chamber overlooking the water. Full banquet, spare no expense!"

The crew looked at each other.

" _Wiilirk!_ " Ayxin injected Pao's followers with a jolt of motivation.

She was feeling peckish.

"Let's go!"

"I know the manager there!"

"Full Banquet!"

"Beggar Chicken!"

"I'll go ahead and prepare!"

"Ah-Xi, bring the car. I am taking the Mistress down to Louwailou," Pao informed his house servant through a Message device. "Bring me the limousine in my dad's garage!"

Her sycophants sat in respectful silence as Ayxin worked through a small mountain of dishes.

_West Lake Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce_

_Shallot Stuffed Pancake_

_West Lake Water Shield Soup_

_Dongpo Pork_

_Deep-fried Bean Curd Rolls Stuffed with Minced Tenderloin_

_Beggar Chicken_

_Victory Cake_

_Three 'Savoury' Soup_

_A pound of fried rice with freshly peeled river prawns in a white seafood sauce._

A dish, _Shelled Shrimp with Dragon Well Tea,_ caught her interest. Pao carefully explained that the Longjing tea came from the Village of Longjing and was a Gong-Cha, or the tea drunk by the Kangxi Emperor during the Qing Dynasty, the last and final dynasty of China's tumultuous change through the 20th century.

"I may have met him. Kangxi was the snot-nosed brat who killed off his generals when he was twelve, right?" Ayxin dropped a casual truth bomb as she masticated the prawns, shell and all, savouring the herbal taste of rich, elemental water.

Her new followers weren't sure how to respond to such an audaciously made-up statement.

"Bring me that wine."

Pao passed over a thirty-year-old Maotai bottle worth well over fifty HDMs. Ayxin slugged down the delicious, crystal-clear liquid.

"Find me lodgings with clean air and water, somewhere discrete and without people. I wish to rest until the wedding."

"The wedding? Mistress?"

"You will be escorting me into the wedding."

"… yes, Mistress."

Ayxin had kept the man's mind intact. Within, a small part of Pao would have screamed and screamed, but the larger portion of his psyche was wholly besotted with her, whose every word was law and whose smallest whim was a mandate. His friends, likewise, had quickly transformed into her most ardent worshippers.

Whenever he laid eyes upon her, every cell in his body cried out to worship her presence—to fall before an existence infinitely more significant than his mortal self.

In watching her sycophants, Ayxin wondered if this was what her mother's scholar-bureaucrats of old must have felt when gazing upon their Emperor.

Ayxin examined herself in the hotel room's mirror.

She couldn't help but grudgingly agree that Gwen's figure was made for wearing these fabulous artisanal creations. Though Ryxi could command the silkworms to spin seamless tunics and shimmering shawls, the aesthetics of the White-Serpent had been firmly entrenched in the 16th century.

The problem was that Ayxin had no sense of style, and her followers could not resist the compulsion of her dominion long enough to tell her the truth. Even though her sycophants brought up dress after dress, she rejected them all, finding that none had the charm of the simple cotton shirt which Jun had gifted her during their heated exchange.

In the end, Ayxin settled on a dark green skirt and the Hello-Kitty T-shirt, imagining how surprised her Ash Bringer would be when she showed up at the wedding.

By the same measure, she couldn't attend in the guise of Jun's niece. Pao had said that the girl would be there and was, in fact, the objective of many of the young men attending.

The Dragon-Mage thus allowed her original appearance to overlay that of the Human niece, giving herself deeply set eyes, a sharper jawline, a more pronounced noble nose, and a head full of flaxen, platinum hair. For shoes, the pair Gwen had given her had been ruined by excessive use, so she had Pao find her a replacement in albino-snake leather from a place called _Italy_ as a homage to her useless brother.

"Pao, am I beautiful?" Ayxin knew the answer but felt compelled to request an affirmation.

Pao was wearing a tuxedo-style mandarine jacket. The young man looked good, Ayxin had to admit, even if his faculties had long since been grounded down by material excess.

"OH MISTRESS, I am drunk on your distant looks and frequent smiles, sweet and real. I dream of your delicacy of complexion and symmetry of form in silken dresses embroidered with golden peacocks, riding on a silvery Kirin, dazzling in the sunshine of springs and autumns…"

Even Ayxin blushed a little at the young man's addled obsession. She recognised the poem, stolen from the Analects of Du-Fu, the Poet-Sage of the Tang Dynasty. Ayxin's father had kept a complete collection of Du's 1500-odd poems, often joking that no second copy existed outside his treasury.

"Enough," she had to stop the young man. Dufu wasn't just a sage of poetry; he was also the patron saint of whorehouses during the Tang Dynasty, overshadowing the bureaucratic and magical genius of the great Sage.

Ayxin patted the young man's head, not unlike one's affection for a large dog.

Pao wept with happiness.

"When do you think we should attend?" she enquired of her servant.

"Any time you please, Mistress. Though I would suggest soon, we must sign in our wedding gifts and be seated. My father has reminded me that I will meet with the groom's daughter and several other potential suitors. I have already rebuked him, Mistress. You are the sole object of my devotion."

"No, Pao, go meet Gwen. I shall be occupied once we are at the wedding itself. Pay no mind to me."

"Yes, Mistress."

"You have taken good care of me in the last few days, Pao. I am not unkind. Though you may not remember me, I will reward you nonetheless."

"Your presence is reward enough, Mistress."

"Nonsense. Here, this is yours."

In Pao's outstretched hand, she deposited a ceramic pot welded shut by Enchantment. Within its pocket dimension was a supply of yearling Fur Tea, plucked at first bloom by Air Elemental Sprites. The Yinglong bartered no more than a hundred jars of the life-extending tea leaves, capable of bringing vitality to the elderly, dispelling disease and injury in the young, and temporarily infusing the drinker with motes of Draconic-vitality.

Even as Pao wept freely over his impending freedom, Ayxin turned to the mirror to examine her striking features. She had never known that with a little touch of _make up,_ a change of colour to her eyes and a subtle shift in her bone structure; she could be so breathlessly beautiful, even in her own eyes.

"Alight, Pao, ready the car," Ayxin informed her companion. "The wedding awaits!"


"That's the dress she ordered?" Qīn spread the cream-coloured horror across the dining table before regarding it critically. "She'll look like a pink pancake wrapped around a fried dough stick."

"Yes, Mistress." Her servant confirmed her scepticism. "Miss Gwen has said that the bridesmaid should never overshadow the bride. Her intentions are for you to take centre stage."

Qīn shot her manservant a perplexed glance. The elderly NoM had been in her service since she was a child. Rarely had he spoken out of turn, especially in defence of someone other than herself.

"I see." Qīn clicked her tongue thoughtfully. "It's hideous."

Bei lowered his head.

"And afterwards, you helped her make her other purchases? The ones for her friends in Shanghai?"

Bei nodded.

Qīn chewed her lips thoughtfully, her eyes looking right through her manservant.

"Has the contingency dress arrived?"

"It has, mistress."

The man brought out a package from his storage ring.

Qīn spread the dress before her, examining it critically.

"What do you think of the cut, the design?"

"Mistress?"

"Speak candidly."

"The dress is… immodest, Mistress."

"It's what they call fashion, Bei."

Her usually soft eyes grew suddenly cold.

_Murder her koi?!_

_Beguile her manservant?!_

_THE BRAT!_ Her precious, priceless koi that she'd taken care of since she was a little girl! Murdering her auspicious creatures right before her wedding, what was the girl thinking? Did she disapprove of her union with Hai that vehemently?

"You are dismissed, Bei."

Qīn watched the man disappear.

Hai was hers alone. Not the Song's, and certainly not his daughter's.

Gwen had spent the last few days exploring Hangzhou at her leisure, putting the wedding behind her.

On Wednesday morning, she spent three hours watching a man materialise a life-like scene of the Qiantang River with nought but three paintbrushes and a four-colour palette of dark ink. Watching the artist at work, she became soothed by the sound of whispering willows, sinking into the softness of the fine turf covering the riverbank.

Her luncheons proved equally enterprising and adventurous. Unlike the heavily salted and sugared cuisine typical of the tier 1 city, Su-Hang dishes were more subtle, based on the plentiful resources provided by the city's lakes and estuaries. In particular, she fell in love with a textured gloop made from West Lake Lotus Root, a richly sweet gravy possessing a fortifying vitality.

Given the freedom to explore the city proper, Gwen grew partial to jogging along the banks of the West Lake and the river. The exhaustive exercise allowed her to stretch out her limbs, while the runner's high made her feel less anxious about the wedding ahead.

Her favourite route was the descent of the blue hour when the crystalline water became awash with mauve and sometimes orange light as the sinking sun diffused its splendour over a dusky horizon.

A short but tranquil lull in her otherwise turbulent life.

The calm before the storm.

On Thursday, Gwen began her morning run from the Santai Yunshui monument, built to commemorate a noble scholar-bureaucrat of the Song Dynasty, detoured via the Leifeng Pagoda, then joined the walking trail encircling the West Lake Municipal Reserve.

The whole route was almost twenty kilometres of blissful greenery.

The more she ran, the better she felt.

Her Almudj's Essence sang out as she moved through the temperate Jiangnan waterscape, comfortably falling into the rhythmic breathing dictated by Ayxin's scales. The more she ran, the more mastery she felt over the willful power bound within her mortal body.

As milestones fell by the wayside, she felt the mental grime gripping her consciousness flaking piece by piece, mote by mote, until only the feeling of fleeting distance remained.

Occasionally, a passerby or a suspicious-looking fellow would call out to her, but she blasted past them without a pause. On one occasion, a Mage joined her, presumably a Transmuter, and the two ran side by side until the man gave up, not wanting to damage his body for something as trivial as chasing her skort.

As the day wore on, Gwen ventured further and further into the reserve, visiting temples and sightseeing from tall pagodas, bathing in the heady scent of sandalwood incense. She even caught the tail-end of a funeral procession, allowing her to watch demurely as the white-clad family filed from the grand pavilion in rows of twos, as a monk attired in saffron and gold swished a willow branch back and forth, sanctifying the path ahead.

Feeling moved by the display of human frailty, she entered the grand hall of the Lingyin Temple and lit three pieces of incense for her grandmother and her uncle, wishing them good luck and less interesting times ahead.

Friday.

Gwen noticed several pedestrians giving her strange looks as she jogged back toward the manor. There was a particular quirk about the Chinese which had always grated on her nerves—they liked to point. In Australia, finger-wagging at someone was very rude.

In Shanghai, people had pointed, but understandably because of Ariel riding Caliban rodeo style.

Here, they could only be pointing at her because—Gwen hypothesised narcissistically—because she was tall and attractive. If there was any saving grace, it was that the Chinese hadn't acquired the dog whistling habit enjoyed by Mages and NoMs alike in her old working-class suburb of Forrestville.

Still, Gwen felt offended enough to change her route. Along the way, she discovered a quaint hole-in-the-wall place selling individual Chongqing hot-pot portions and readied her body for a gut-churning experience as delicious as it was torturous.

Afterwards, she called Richard again, thinking that "the crew" was likely taking time out for some R&R. She was again received with merriment and joy, becoming privy to enticing accounts of Lulan's exploits and her soaring reputation as the 'Nantong Ripper'.

FUCK. Gwen bit her lower lip. _What a cool moniker!_

On Saturday, the Liu's held a rehearsal.

One boon of the tedious rehearsal was that she met Jun's partner for the wedding, a mousy woman from a neighbouring House called Jingweng Yi. The woman was thoroughly intimidated by Gwen's unconscious hostility, spending the entire time hiding behind Qīn. Their other bridesmaid was Qīn's younger cousin, a girl with a hyper-feminine, doll-like mien, who immediately took offence at Gwen's indifferent demeanour.

The reception wasn't at a restaurant or hotel like the Hyatt Regency or the Hangzhou Four Seasons. Instead, it was held at the Liu estate. The practice called the _flowing water banquet'_ allowed anyone who wished to wish the couple well to join the 'outer banquet', while the inner circle held their private function in the interior courtyard.

The sheer volume of guests frightened her, but there was no rescinding her sunk cost. She convinced herself that no matter how tedious the wedding, it would pass like a bad meal of hot pot eaten too quickly and with too much pepper oil.

Gwen smiled for four hours without rest.

Afterwards, she fled from the manor, avoided the riverbank and proceeded upward until she reached Zuanyuan-Fan, north of Chi-San Hill, a historic garden abandoned by the Qing invaders, then restored by the CCP as a monument to the Battle-Mages who gave their life defending the Northern Front.

After a long walk, she felt an unexpected quickening of her Lightning mana as her Almudj's Essence circulated, now with far greater mastery than when she'd first returned from the Yinglong's mountain.

Out of curiosity, she double-checked Ariel. The marten was still fast-asleep, cocooned by essence as a flow of Lightning channelled from her Conjuration Sigil nourished its growth. When she mentally nudged it, Ariel made an "Eeee!" informing her that it would soon be ready for duty.

In less than twelve hours, the wedding would begin. Gwen would stand like a marionette and be pushed to and fro by strangers directing her to sit, stand, hold the teacups, pour for her father and _mother_ , and smile at guests.

Then, she would be back to Fudan.

Back to academia.

Back to honing her six tiers of Elemental Lightning.

And finding a way to introduce the horror-stag Caliban to polite society.

Sunday, 0600.

W-Day.

A day that may very well live in infamy.

Gwen hadn't slept and had to compensate for her lack of REM with a fifteen-minute meditation. Almudj's bounty wouldn't keep her entirely alert, but she wouldn't crumple while serving tea.

She dressed in slacks, then ventured toward the dresser to prepare her face.

With her flawless dermis, she needn't apply the copious layers of concealer she had to use in the old world. She instead began with a thin layer of spot-cover, highlighted with dashes of easy-glam, dabbed in some eye-shadow paste, then used a no.2 to draw thick, voluminous wing-tips. Some contouring followed, highlighting her forehead, cheekbones, and chin. A wet-look lipstick in peach, sharpened with a pencil, completed the look.

The result was agreeable to Gwen.

Fresh but dazzling, subtle but coy.

As for hair, Gwen opted for a low-do.

At seven-sharp, she made her way across the south wing, through the central courtyard with its sprouting spectacle of dining tables.

A familiar-looking triangular platform caught her attention.

"Are those Force Barriers?" Gwen stopped a servant.

"Yes, Miss, there will be Spellcraft demonstrations after the reception."

Not a conspiracy device then, Gwen rolled her eyes at her paranoia. Duelling was the most popular activity amongst junior Mages, as demonstrated by the fact that the largest and most popular association at her uni was the Fudan Competitive Duelling Club.

When a large coalition of Houses, Clans and notable folks had a gathering, they bragged about themselves by showing off their children.

The servant left before she could apologise for stopping her.

The groomsmen's party was set up elsewhere, at another family estate.

The idea, Gwen gathered from the rehearsal, was that the groom would 'arrive' to 'welcome' the bride, 'persuading' Gwen, Jingwen, and Fei to let them through.

The weird part was that Hai was marrying "into" the bride's family, which meant the palanquin would return to the main House from where it came.

Gwen was tempted to 'defend' the door to her death.

"Over my dead body!" she would declare.

What would her father do then?

But then she would have to fight her uncle.

She was still musing when Fei, the China-doll cousin, approached with her dress.

"Gwen, you seriously going to wear this thing?"

Of course, Gwen grinned at the cousin. She had picked a burrito dress that made her look like a soggy Mexican takeaway luncheon on purpose. God knows what Qīn would do if she were to overshadow the bride in any form.

And then she pulled up something light and flimsy.

Her immediate confusion was, 'What happened to the other 80% of the fabric?'

"Aunty Qīn?" Gwen blinked innocently at the bride.

"Wear that one, Gwen." Qīn made a guilty face. "Your original one was lost."

"Lost?"

"Bei slipped, and it fell into the pond."

"Really?" Gwen felt a spark of annoyance and tried to keep it from her face. If Qīn couldn't be bothered putting effort into a lie, why bother lying? Was she testing her?

"Yes, Bei was devastated."

Gwen's scalp crawled with phantasmal premonition. The dress wasn't excessive by Australian standards. She could easily wear it to the races, where the ladies would have nothing but praise for her excellent taste.

Yet, she couldn't help but shiver. There wasn't enough material to cover most of her.

"Gwen, we have no time. Put on the dress."

Qīn's healer's presence pleaded with her.

The emotional blackmail was glaringly obvious. For a brief moment, Gwen fantasised about throwing the dress in the pond.

But she thought of babulya, of Jun—of her father's stupid smitten face.

And the fact that it was this woman's wedding day.

A woman who had waited twenty years to marry the man of her dreams.

She had to give Qīn a chance as a fellow single.

She put on the dress.

Or, as it were, she slipped into half a dress.

If she was going as a wrapped burrito before, she was now wearing only the lettuce.

Qīn had picked out a knit flare dress with a backless design, a full circle skirt and a weighted hem, all done in pinkish pastel silk.

The hem was at least three inches above her knees, dangerously exposing her thighs, while her entire back was nuddy thanks to superficial ribbon ties tethered to make a cute little 'H'.

Just as she was about to complain that the dress was too loose and she could have a wardrobe malfunction, the bloody fabric tightened.

A fucking magical dress.

Her evil stepmother had spared no expense.

On the one hand, the dress was both elegant and youthful. It put Gwen's best attributes on display.

On the other hand, why would Qīn go the extra mile to draw attention away from herself?

"You look like a real treat, dear." Qīn's eyes flashed lovingly. "Here, put these on. They're a gift from me."

"Hermès?" Gwen stared at the golden buckle embossed with a horse-drawn Duc's carriage. "For me?"

"Yes, try them on," Qīn mused in a friendly voice. "The shoes are self-cleaning, self-sizing, and resistant to almost all forms of wear and tear. It will also attune you to your element once you complete the ritual. The instructions are in the box."

Qīn passed over an orange box.

The surreal moment caught Gwen off-guard.

Qīn had scored a critical hit on the weakest part of her psyche.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Even in her old world, the most she'd ever spent on shoes was outlet-priced Jimmy Choo or Burberry's. A pair of ankle-strap Hermès sandals was over $2000! In-season varieties were often well over $4000! For that price, she could be buying work-related oxfords from Louis Vitton.

It wasn't that she couldn't afford Hermès. It was the unbearable thought of scuffing a $2000 pair of shoes, especially ones she would only wear to parties or races once in a blue moon. She had promised herself that perhaps, in another decade, when she could comfortably retire, she would casually purchase a pair a year, the newest of the season, and cycle through them.

What would something like this cost in the Mage world?

As a magic item crafted by one of the world's most esteemed 'Artisanal Accessory' workshops, what price did it command? In Australia, they had designer goods, but the products were rarely enchanted. It was like buying from the 'budget' section of a designer store versus purchasing from the top-shelf, in-seasons range.

"Cat got your tongue?" Qīn broke into scandalous laughter, amused by the stunned expression on Gwen's face.

"Thank you… Aunty Qīn." Gwen suddenly felt incredibly depraved. One could not look a gift of Hermès in the mouth!

She put her new shoes on and walked around in them.

The strap was calf-skin soft, and the shoes were weightlessly attached to her feet. Despite the high arch, she felt no discomfort; the heeled sandals were perfect.

"This is incredible," Gwen blurted out, still in disbelief that she had a pair of Hermès casually gifted to her.

"We all have a pair," Qīn informed Gwen. "Daddy got them for me from the Paris Tower. He has acquaintances there."

As is tradition, the other girls showed off their shoes, which absolved some of Gwen's guilt.

Fei wore a version of her dress with ample fabric at the back, though she had a plunging neckline that showed off nothing in particular. Jingwen, meanwhile, was wrapped from shoulder to knee. When the three stood together, it looked like they had a whole, three-quarters, and half a dress.

"Mao, your legs are so long." Fei's gaze could not be moved. Qīn's cousin was about five-foot-four, an average height for a local girl. The diminutive Jingwen was only five-foot-one and looked like a New Zealand Halfling standing next to Gwen.

"It's the shoes." Gwen awkwardly made herself smaller. The shoes added another four inches to her height, pushing her just over six-foot-four.

"Gwen's standing on the far end, so it won't matter," Qīn informed the other bridesmaids. "Come on. The men should almost be here."

"They won't get past us!" Fei announced readily.

"I'll do my best," Jingwen muttered.

"I'll kick my dad's ass," Gwen declared.

The other bridesmaids fell about with laughter.

"Gwen." Qīn took Gwen's hand, her eyes forming two smiling half-moons. "I am counting on you."

Gwen nodded.

For the shoe's sake, she better not fuck this up.

The women's collective attire was finalised with jewellery.

The bridesmaids wore crystal jewellery in sterling silver, while Qīn wore gold and diamonds.

"No bangles and necklaces for you?" Gwen asked quizzically. Qīn's first costume was a big red number that covered her from neck to ankle. Its flared sleeves begged for jewellery. A massive headdress rested on a coffee table beside them.

"You'll see after the tea ceremony," the other girls chimed in, giggling with anticipation.

Gwen opted to use the cheap, non-enchanted jewellery she had kept since Singapore. A crystal necklace and a water-crystal bracelet. On her hands were her rings, and on her ears, she wore her two Ioun Stones, the Clarity of Thought and her Translation Stone, as earrings.

A trumpet blast outside the main House suggested that the men had arrived.

"How long?" Fei turned to her cousin.

"At least an hour."

"Haha, no problems!"

Thus buoyed on her Hermè's high, Gwen turned away, insensible to the curling of Qīn's crimson, sanguine lips.

_BEEEEEEARRRRNNNNN—!_

The blaring cacophony was emitted by a suona, a kind of miniature trumpet that made a loud, ear-tingling whining. Gwen suspected the player must have been an Illusionist, for the bloody thing could be heard for miles.

Together with the trumpet, a giant gong joined in the festival of noise, followed by the thunder blast of fire-crackers created by a second and third Illusionist, filling the path with red petals for good fortune as the procession passed.

As the party descended at the front gate, now once again shut for the occasion, Gwen could spy through the iron-wrought windows her father, Uncle Jun, a young man she'd never seen before, and a fourth, someone she recalled seeing at the Liu banquet, a man in his thirties.

The groomsmen approached the gate and then knocked on the brass rings.

"I AM HERE FOR THE BRIDE!" Hai declared. "OPEN SAYS ME!"

"Why should we open the gate?" Fei retorted from behind the wooden threshold.

"For your cousin's happiness," Hai shot back.

"She'll be happy, sure, but what's in it for me?"

"I don't suppose you're willing to take some candy?"

"What am I, a child? I would not open the door unless you pass THREE tests to prove yourself worthy of Qīn's hand in marriage."

"I will accept any trial!" Hai declared expansively, oozing charisma. The crowd gathered outside began to clap, adding to the festive atmosphere.

"There are three of us, and you must defeat all three bridesmaids!"

The doors swung open, and the groom's party filed into the outer courtyard, accompanied by almost a hundred spectators.

Each of the trials had been pre-planned by the girls.

Jingwen was unexpectedly in charge of the 'Martial Trial'.

Fei was in charge of the 'Wisdom Trial'.

While Gwen was in charge of the 'Trial of Love'.

Thankfully, the ominously titled festivity was just a poetry recital selected for maximum cringe as the husband-to-be professed his love for Qīn, with Gwen acting as the judge.

The Martial Trial involved knocking Qīn's protectors into the water. With Hai and Jun, it was self-evident that the female guardians would have no chance. Nonetheless, the maiden guards put up a good show of force, eliciting cheers as they deflected spell after spell, buoyed by Water Walking. Jingwen surprised them with her skill and affinity as a Water-Abjurer, holding out against the Song brothers and the Liu cousin until the very end, when Hai destroyed the platform she had been using, forcing her into the watery arena. When the girls finally relented, they were greeted with thick red envelopes filled with currency cards to reward their labour.

Watching the exhibition, Gwen wondered if she should have volunteered and if her father could break through her non-newtonian Shield before she was OOM. If Hai ran out of mana—would the wedding be off?

The trial of wisdom was essentially a slapstick Q&A, with the bride asking questions Hai must answer, selecting from a list of answers.

Hai thankfully got most of them right, inciting jeers and laughter every time he struggled. It was just as well that the Liu cousin was a part of his entourage, for Gwen could discern from the girl's vantage point that Hai knew far less about Qīn than she thought he did.

Finally, it was time for the trial presided over by Gwen, and she presented herself to her father with a big smile and a sheet for him to read out loud.

With her entrance, however, a hush fell over the spectators.

A few of the elderly covered the eyes of their children.

Jun's eyes glazed over while Hai looked like a frog was caught in his throat.

It was the dress.

Was it too scandalous?

Gwen felt a chill. She couldn't wiggle the hem down anyhow. The bloody dress was magical and could resize itself.

She scanned the crowd.

It wasn't the length of the skirt.

There were plenty of female guests wearing minidresses and cocktail skirts. Some of their cheongsams had leg splits that were far more revealing than her A-line ruffles.

Was it the backless part?

Did the Chinese not wear backless dresses?

But it was too late to repeal her fashion faux pas. She was committed, and the sensibilities of attire would have to wait.

"Here you go, Dad. I could only write in English, but Qīn translated it for you. She liked it very much when I showed it to her."

"Gwen." Hai averted his eyes as he took the sheet from her hands. "You are going to attract a lot of attention. Are you sure that's wise?"

"I didn't pick the dress." Gwen stood half a head taller than her father in her new heels. "Aunty Qīn gave it to me."

"She did, did she?" Hai looked guilty.

Gwen regarded her father. _Was her old man in on this?_ There was palpable remorse in his body language. It was the look of a father who suddenly realised his little girl was a woman and that wolves were all around them.

"Uncle Jun," Gwen flashed her pearly whites at her uncle. She struck a pose. "What do you think?"

"Gwen, you're breathtaking, if a little disreputable, hahaha."

"You're looking like a treat yourself, Uncle."

Indeed, the Song brothers were good-looking blokes whose august appearance was improved by their suits. Hai had on a tapered Mandarine jacket in crimson silk, a riotously eye-catching colour that suited him well, while Jun was in a western three-piece with a red and gold embroiled vest, accentuating his broad shoulders and narrow waist. Amusedly, the two standing together reminded Gwen of the Hemsworth Brothers, Australia's great export to Hollywood.

Perhaps a little comically, the third groom and the Liu cousin resembled pedestrians when standing beside the two Songs, invisible but for the corsage.

She could see from the glowing eyes of the women in the audience that her uncles were stealing hearts and winning minds.

"Come on, Dad, start READING! Loud and clear!"

"Alright, alright." Hai cleared his throat.

_"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways._

_I love thee to the depth and breadth and height_

_My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight_

_For the ends of spring and winter._

_I love thee to the level of every day's_

_Most quiet need, by sun and Dancing Light._

_I love thee freely, as men strive for right._

_I love thee purely, as crystal mana clear._

_I love thee with the passion put to use_

_In my humanity, with my childhood's faith._

_I love thee with a love I seemed to lose_

_Growing with lost years. I love thee with the breath,_

_Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if heavens choose,_

_I SHALL BUT LOVE THEE BETTER - AFTER DEATH."_

With the final words delivered, Hai didn't seem so confident.

"Hell of a speech," he muttered, staring at Gwen nervously.

Jun likewise appeared contemplative.

"Til Death do you and aunty Qīn apart, Dad." Gwen met her father's dark eyes with her hazel orbs. "There's no backing out of this one. Babulya, Grandfather, the whole Song family needs you to commit."

Hai nodded solemnly, stunned by the promise of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's timeless sonnet.

Gwen wondered if it was the beauty of the sonnet that had brought Hai to heel or the fact that he had made the promise in front of such an esteemed gathering.

The crowd was already roaring with approval for Hai's boundless devotion.

"You PASS!" Gwen declared, embracing her father.

Hai dared not touch the naked flesh exposed by Gwen's backless dress. He settled on patting her shoulders instead.

Gwen's attention then shifted to Jun, who nodded appreciatively at her gesture of support for the wedding and the unfortunate path ahead for the family. The better Hai could act as husband and consort to the Liu "heir", the more influence he could exert over Qīn. If so, it was possible that Secretary Liu's sway on the Songs could be mitigated somewhat. Ideally, their House could remain neutral even as they were forced to perform inconsequential favours.

With the three trials over and the maid's tasks completed, it was time to welcome the bride.

Penetrating the inner courtyard, the groomsmen dispensed copious amounts of red packets, each with arbitrary amounts of currency cards. When enough of the women in the yard had been 'bribed', Qīn was led out by her maids amidst thunderous applause, clothed in red and gold, a humanoid tapestry of embroiled silk.

The palanquin made its round from the east wing before the party eventually entered the west wing, where the 'elders' had been waiting.

Holding the train of Qīn's dress, Gwen followed after the vermillion-garbed bride with her head down. Qīn's other two bridesmaids cleared the path as Qīn's headdress, consisting of a heavy red cloth, prevented her from seeing beyond her feet.

Hai walked beside his bride, unable to touch her before the most important ceremony of the day.

As the bride and groom entered the west wing, Gwen spotted her grandparents seated at the head of the ceremonial table, with Qīn's father, Sumei Liu, standing beside them.

First came the nuptial rite, where the couple faced each other, followed by Hai removing the veil and headdress, revealing the ravishingly beautiful bride. Hai and Qīn received a golden goblet tethered with red string, filled with honeyed plum wine.

An ovation resounded across the inner courtyard as they drank from each other's cups, followed by a crash of trumpets and gongs.

Looking away, Gwen spotted the Illusionist recording the whole thing, standing outside the crowd, manipulating incantations with his fingers like a puppeteer. The convenience of magic impressed Gwen to no end. Wedding photographers in this world had it so much easier!

There were no guests with iPhones trying to be amateur photogs and no danger of backing away for the perfect shot only to step on the flower girl, trip, then break their wrist trying to protect equipment and toddler.

In front of and below the elders, the bride and groom knelt on cushions placed under their knees by the bridesmaids while a servant brought a jug of tea with a dozen cups for Gwen to hold.

The almost newlyweds knelt on both knees as tea was poured by bridesmaid no.1 and carefully passed to Hai and Qīn via bridesmaid no.2.

Guo and Klavdiya were the first to receive the honours, being the eldest and the groom's parents.

"Do us proud, Hai." Guo patted Hai on the shoulders. "You have no idea how long I have waited for this day. I am truly happy for you."

"Thank you, father." Hai bowed deeply.

"Welcome to the family, daughter." Klavdiya was glowing with positive energy as she spoke, filling the room with warmth. Qīn regarded her mother-in-law with tearful eyes, perhaps thinking of her deceased parent, then sobbed as she received the old woman's benediction.

"Here, this is for you."

Gwen's babulya slipped a heavy gold bangle onto Qīn's wrist and gifted her with a pair of diamond and ruby earrings in mithril. Gwen could tell the earrings were enchanted but knew not enough about Magic Items to say what they were.

The next to receive the tea ceremony was Secretary Liu and his sister, serving as Qīn's 'mother'. The tea was exchanged, wisdom was given, and more gold was given to Qīn.

Another set of Liu's relatives followed.

And another.

And finally, the eldest member of the Clan of Liu, an ancient Magus aged a hundred and twelve, gave her his benediction, followed by yet another heavy-gold bangle.

Gwen wasn't sure if the Lius were showing off or what, but Guo looked less than pleased when Qīn tried to rise and was almost taken off balance by the three or four kilograms of gold and mithril she now carried on her person.

By now, it was almost 4 PM.

Between the waiting, the games, the ceremonies and the gifting, Gwen had been attending to Qīn for almost eight hours. She had eaten copious amounts of gut-filling fried dough for breakfast, but without Kimiko's nourishing weekly feeding of Caliban, her hunger grew increasingly more urgent.

If she couldn't get something in her stomach soon, everything around her might look like food.

The reception, thankfully, was immediately upon them, after which Gwen was free to eat the night away. It was the western portion of the wedding, with an MC introducing the bridesmaids and their groomsmen. From the looks of it, she had been paired with the unassuming Liu cousin, a companion Gwen didn't mind as the man was apparently in his thirties.

As expected, being the 'third' bridesmaid, Gwen was the first to take to the stage. Purposefully strutting across the pavement, she walked arm in arm with the Liu cousin into the courtyard.

By now they were losing daylight, but that was precisely the magic of the banquet. Sparing no expense, Secretary Liu had purchased thousands of Floating Lanterns, embroidered individually with silhouettes of good fortune and pictographs for luck and happiness in every shade and colour.

These floated above the wedding reception, swaying gently, forming the most spectacular outdoor wedding Gwen had ever seen, casting the entire inner courtyard in mystical, ambient light.

As they entered the banquet, the Liu cousin placed a hand against the small of her back. The man's hand was heavy, trembling, hot and sweaty.

"Sorry," his unassuming voice was filled with tension.

"Is something wrong? Are you feeling alright?" Gwen leaned in closer.

The man was sweating profusely.

"I am fine. Please, let's finish the walk. I am afraid your attire is a little too scandalous."

So that's why the man kept averting his eyes.

Gwen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. At least the guy was a good sport. A man who knew better than to entertain improper thoughts for Qīn's daughter-in-law.

"It's alright, I understand," Gwen replied sweetly, giving credit where credit was due.

As the two made their rounds, Gwen felt a tingling on her neck, where the scale was buried at the base of her hair. She scanned the audience quizzically, unable to locate the source of the resonance.

What she did receive, however, was tumultuous acclaim from a group of young men all lined up like ducks waiting to be fed, applauding her as though she had just completed a runway. The exaggerated gesture made her break out with a broad and friendly smile.

On the way, she spotted her cousins seated by the 'junior' section far from the bridal table. Gwen wanted to run over and embrace Petra, but she still had at least two more hours of bridesmaid duties to execute. After completing their circuit, her guilty companion abandoned her on the maid's side of the bridal table.

The tension drained from her taut body when Gwen's buttocks touched the soft, padded chair. Despite their wonderful craftsmanship, her designer shoes were not meant for nine hours of walking and standing. With meticulous subtlety, she circulated her Almudj's Essence, feeling her mana channels bathed in the healing essence's restorative embrace, relieving the knotted muscles in her feet. Beauty was pain, and as much as she loved those shoes, a day standing on tippy toes was torture.

The others were soon seated, as were the bride and groom.

Plates of food, steaming famously, entered the banquet.

A plate of Peking Roast Duck Crepe arrived.

What? She blinked. Snatching up the crepe and finishing it with two bites.

WHERE WAS THE REST OF THE DUCK?

The other tables had a WHOLE DUCK!

She looked at her companions, who nibbled at their food, careful not to ruin their makeup.

Gwen dabbed the hoisin sauce from her lips.

The next dish arrived.

One small bowl of shark fin soup, barely two ladles full.

WHY DO THE OTHER TABLES GET A WHOLE GOD DAMN WINTER MELON FILLED WITH SOUP?

She was so hungry she could cry.

Uncle Jun was no help because she would have to leave her seat to beg him, not to mention she had no desire to eat his share of the food. By the same measure, she couldn't just leap from the platform and demand one of the guest table hand over their duck, could she? They were barely touching it!

The next dish, and the next, and the next arrived.

One cut of Australian-Auroch in the mandarin sauce.

Two stuffed crystal prawns.

Half an East-Sea Coral-Lobster tail in ginger and shallot, with one mouthful of noodles.

Watching the others eat with meticulous slowness, Gwen wanted to reach over with her chopsticks and steal the meal from their bowls. The cuisine was delicious, which made it all the worse. A Void was opening inside of her.

"Ah~."

Jingwen, the quiet Abjurer, dropped her chopstick.

"I'll get it."

Both of them reached down.

When their heads came up, Gwen noticed Jingwen was sweating. Her face was flushed, and she was panting slightly.

"Are you alright?" Gwen poured the woman a glass of water.

"I am fine." The poor girl squirmed, likely suffering from dehydration from all the talking and walking she had to do. She looked as though she had a heat stroke.

"Hang in there!" Gwen encouraged the Abjurer.

But the woman was looking over at Jun with a glazed expression, an act which immediately soured Gwen's opinion of the whore.

Inexplicably, her Divination pinged.

The scale at the back of her neck vibrated.

Gwen scanned the banquet alarmingly, looking for a face she should recognise.

"It's the time!" Qīn suddenly rose from her seat, her crimson cheongsam hugging her hips. "That's it for the main banquet. Let's get down there and start the greetings! Hai, tell the boys to get their kidneys ready! Jing, Fei and Gwen, bring the Mao-tai! One bottle each! We're starting the toasts!"

Jingwen slipped her arms into between Jun's elbow and his waist.

Ayxin's scale bristled.

Gwen stood as dreadful premonition poured over her like an ice-bucket challenge.

"Gwen!" Qīn called out. "Come on! You're pouring!"