The Rise Of Xueyue Chapter 25
Advertisement
When Duke Li Shenyang returned home, none of the children mentioned what had happened in the Capital. Duchess Wang Qixing, however, informed her husband of the drama that went down. He was highly amused by the twin's reaction and had reassured his wife that everything would be alright.
Despite his reassurance, the Worrywart Duchess continued to fret about it. It didn't take long for the night to pass and the sun to rise the next morning. After enjoying a hefty breakfast, the trio boarded the large family carriage and rode into the Capital.
"Where are we going?" Xueyue asked Li Wenmin when she watched the carriage ride past the Capital and towards the outskirts of town.
"Father discovered your skills in archery and wants us to buy you a horse to practice with. It will come in handy if you ever want to compete in archery." Li Wenmin patted Xueyue's dainty head, ruffling her hair in the process.
Xueyue swatted at his annoying hand. The maidservants had spent the entire morning doing her hair and he was always ruining their hard work. Li Wenmin chuckled at her feeble attempts before soothing the hairpin back into place.
Xueyue thought about the idea of owning a horse. When she was younger, she used to own a small and inexpensive horse, but when Viscount Bai discovered her sweaty and covered in specks of dirt, he banned her from the sport, declaring it was too "unladylike". Despite his words, Bai Tianai was gifted with a prestigious horse bred for speed and races on her thirteenth birthday.
Xueyue's lips thinned in displeasure. She remembered asking her father for another horse, but he was furious, declaring Tianai deserved the horse because she was so well-behaved.
That week, Xueyue was locked in her room without food and water for three days. She was taunted by Bai Tianai's frequent laughter when the latter went horseback riding. When Xueyue persisted and pestered on, it was the first time she got beaten by Viscount Bai.
Advertisement
Ever since that incident, Xueyue rarely voiced her desires. She was scared of approaching the Duke and Duchess to ask them a favor… What if she gets kicked out of the house for being so troublesome?
"What type of horse do you want, Xiao Yue?" Li Wenmin asked her.
Li Chenyang stared out the window with a nonchalant expression. Everyone thought he was bored, but secretly, he had been watching Xueyue.
He hated how much he noticed her silence. She had been with them for a few weeks now, but she rarely spoke first. The realization disturbed him to no avail.
"Uhm...the least expensive one?" Xueyue hesitatingly said, even though it sounded like a question.
Li Wenmin laughed, thinking it was a joke, but when she stared at him confusedly, he realized she was serious. His smile wavered.
"Xiao Yue, Mother, and Father are very rich. They can buy you the most expensive horse that money could buy," he told her.
"I don't want to waste their money," Xueyue answered.
"Father instructed us to buy you the most expensive horse," Li Chenyang interrupted her. He turned towards her, a frown on his face. Usually, girls would want the best that money could buy. Why was she so different?
"And we won't settle for anything less than that." Li Wenmin grinned at the dumbfounded Xueyue.
"Young Masters and Young Miss, we have arrived at the horse ring," the footman announced right on time.
"Come on, let's go!" Li Wenmin excitedly said. He climbed out of the carriage and Li Chenyang followed after him.
Xueyue struggled to climb out of the carriage with her long hanfu. The maidservants came forward, but Li Chenyang brushed them aside.
"Here," he grumbled, offering her a hand.
Advertisement
Xueyue stared at his outstretched hand, her brows knitting together in confusion. She didn't think he was the type of man to do such a thing.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up, my hand is tired," Li Chenyang muttered, avoiding her curious gaze.
Xueyue gently laughed and accepted his hand. "Thank you," she gratefully said.
"Whatever," he grunted, helping her off the carriage before swiftly leaving her behind.
Xueyue couldn't wipe the amused smile off of her face. Li Chenyang was so awkward with girls and it amused her to see him like that.
He paused and glanced back at her with an impatient scowl, "Well, are you coming or not?"
Xueyue laughed again and instantly ran to catch up to the twins. She followed Li Chenyang's quick-paced footsteps towards the excited Li Wenmin.
- - - - -
"Li Wenmin, be careful! You're going to choke if you keep stuffing the buns into your mouth!" Xueyue reprimanded for the tenth time as he inhaled the salted yolk buns.
"He'll be fine. Let him choke," Li Chenyang mused while taking a slow bite from his bun. He ate the way a normal person should, whereas Li Wenmin was too busy wolfing down his portion to care about appearances.
"You can have mine. There's no need to rush!" Xueyue gestured towards the untouched bag beside her. She was too full from breakfast to even fathom eating more food.
"Rweally?" His voice was muffled by the buns causing Xueyue to laugh. His cheeks were overly stuffed with food and he looked like a little hamster.
"Yes, really. Now eat slowly," she mused, wiping the crumbs off of his face with a handkerchief.
"You're the best, Xiao Yue." He grinned, nudging her shoulders.
Xueyue rolled her eyes. "You only say that because I offer you food," she said while he took the handkerchief from her hand.
Li Wenmin laughed, but didn't bother to deny the truth. After finishing the food, he finally said, "Alright, let's go to the horse ring now." He began to walk in the opposite direction.
"The horse ring is this way, you dimwit." Li Chenyang grabbed Li Wenmin by the back of his collar when he noticed Li Wenmin was walking towards another food stall.
"Aw, come on!" Li Wenmin whined when he was dragged further and farther away from the rice cake vendor.
Li Chenyang rolled his eyes at the glutton beside him. "Mother wants us back for the afternoon meal. We've already eaten enough food for the day."
"YOU had enough food, I didn't!" Li Wenmin grumbled as he stomped towards the horse ring.
Xueyue chuckled upon seeing Li Wenmin grumble and sulk to himself like a child. Sometimes she forgot he was older than her.
Advertisement
Long War [Oldest]
It was a war. It was silent, so silent that few people ever noticed that it was happening, and long. So long that those who knew forgot why it ever started. Humanity had fought against itself... and lost. Prosperity, democracy and human rights were a thing of the past now, as the world fell into Sovereigns's hands - a handful of transnational corporations (and their CEOs) that monopolized the world economy. The resistance had been long silenced with the policy of bread and games. Now, over a hundred years later, something happened. One of the Sovereigns created a VRMMORPG like none other. A science fiction game, where players could explore the Galaxy... full of advanced technologies, bloodthirsty aliens and even magic. Was it a simple computer game, or... something else?
8 243Summoning Our Country - NHS Kai
CONTENT WARNING: Japanese ultranationalism, language, gore depictions, obscene scenery Off to the Orient lay a massive ocean that separated the bellies of the great continents of Eurasia and the Americas. In between the global juggernauts that were the United States of America and the People's Republic of China was a state home to 120 million people and the world's third largest economy. But things often don't go as hoped. The nation of Japan suddenly wakes up to the heavens above them having been rewritten in what seemed like divine premonition. A familiar, yet otherwise alien world awaited them beyond the shores that had kept them safe. As the vices of globalization threatened to wreck havoc and condemn the Japanese state into obscurity, it was up to newly elected Prime Minister Takamori Hideaki and his administration to face this challenge of epic proportions. Paying homage to みのろう's Summoning Japan (Nihonkoku Shoukan, NHS) as a fan-made work, this story will also follow Japan, but explores a completely different world. Now helmed by a named Prime Minister, Japan will wade the murky waters of the new world as it struggles to come to terms with its issues. Also available on Wattpad, Scribble Hub, and Fanfiction.net
8 217Tales of Sehrlana
Chris is born without magic in a world where magic rules, he knows he had a past life but cannot remember anything about it. His father belongs to the proud fire mages family, while his mother is part of the Draconate clan who are said to be the descendants of Dragons who disappeared from the continent centuries ago. Join Chris in his adventure as he explores the magical world of Sehrlana with no memory of the past.
8 219Grim Beginnings
For most, ghosts and monsters were fantasy. For Tessa Byrne-Reyes, they were a constant in her daily life as a reaper. The legendary gods and creatures of mythology were, to her, historical figures. From a young age, she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, possessing what she saw as a curse but what her family considered a gift. It was her birthright, to use her abilities to guide the deceased to the afterlife of an eternity in peace or in torment. Her classmates viewed her as "the fainting girl" who would pass out in the middle of a lesson with inexplicable injuries. She experienced each death in the town of Belmont Falls, from the mundane to the gruesome. A gunshot wound in the gut, broken ribs, her heart ceasing to beat for several minutes. No one understood what caused these incidents but over the years, she gained a reputation for being abnormal. While Tessa is the freak of Belmont Falls, Fin Belmont, the charming rebel and son of the richest man in town, is her polar opposite. Knowing each other for years but never saying more than a dozen words between them, one night changes everything, thrusting them into each other's unfamiliar and daunting worlds. Together, with the help of her best friend/his ex-girlfriend Elena, they begin to unravel secrets about their town and their pasts, learning that some secrets are better left buried and grudges can be held for centuries.
8 173The Chronicles of Sorataki: Phantom rocket
In a world that was almost kicked back to the stone ages, a power long forgotten returns once again. Countless unseen realms bridge themselves with ours bringing with it earth's second wind of ever change. But alas, no matter the change, it is still man who is cruelest to man... Losing her parents and turned into a lab rat by scientists, Natalie, now burdened with the powers of the divine interveners sets off into this bleak and ever-changing world to get revenge; this quest for vendetta however soon grows bigger than herself, when she crosses horns with a powerful and foreboding man who holds the same powers of divinity she was given. As she and her childhood friend Andrew try to uncover the face of their enemies they are led to the rumors of the 'phantom rocket' by a pair of mysterious manipulators far from their western homes. With the myth being as allusive their foreboding targets Natalie seeks to follow their lead in hopes that who she's looking for and who they might find are one and the same. Now siding with the two manipulators they pinpoint the location on a map to where such a myth likely stemmed from. A long-abandoned bomb shelter some ways away from a humble village of Aqua falls. For Andrew, however, this location hits a personal nerve, and for events yet known to the others; marks an eve of a great turning point in these four people's lives.
8 237Type: Hybrid.
A World in war. The super-potence called [Empire] was planing to conquer New York City where the rebels called [Architecture] were hiding. While the [Empire] tried a certain experiment, this failed, killing thousands of lives. Among them, there was a man with the failed mission of boycotting the experiment- Captain André Glass. By 'destiny's hands' someone picked him, a god, and gave him a second chance with a promissory note. The guy that named himself [Triania God] gave him the oportunity to move forward; and André Glass took it. -PS: Until later notice, this Original Fiction is in [Hiatus]. The Author(me) is focusing on his other Original Work, Magical Tournament until this finishes (and real life stops being a bitch)-
8 197