Li Hong’s Family was very welcoming. Li Hong was an elderly man and now lived with only his wife, Madam Changying. They had five children: two sons become scholars, the third marrying into a merchant family, and their two daughters having long since gotten married and bearing them grandchildren.

Changying was a gentle, kind woman who liked to nurture. When her husband told her that Mei Hua had lived in the mountains alone since she was a child, she forgave the girl’s wild appearance and crude behavior. She determined in her heart to civilize this strange girl her husband had brought into their home.

As Mayor Li Hong had said, he brought his “friends” over to duel with her. They were astonished by her skills and in turn told others about (Retired) Disciple Li Hong’s mysterious acquaintance.

After a week had passed, Mei Hua mentioned going home. Li Hong and his wife looked at each other and both decided not to let her go.

Mei Hua, having lived with a (mostly) honest fairy all her life, was not prepared for the trickery of the human tongue. The elderly couple always found some excuse to get her to stay. The Madam was actually the worst of the two, actually resorting to tears at one point.

So she stayed. One week turned to two, two weeks to a month, and a month to six months, and then a year had passed.

During that time, she dueled with the Mayor Li Hong’s “friends”. Unknown to her, he began taking bets on who could beat her. He made quite a bit of money on the side from the gambling, so he made sure to treat her extra well.

Madam Changying introduced Mei Hua to the more feminine aspects of human civilization. Makeup, perfumes, scented baths, and beautiful clothes… all things she’d lacked in the mountain. Some of these things she wasn’t particularly keen on, but other things (like the scented baths), she quite liked. Her tan, rough exterior slowly transformed into a pale, soft one under Madam Changying’s guidance.

When it was discovered she could play the pipa lute, naturally one was found for her to demonstrate her skills to the elderly couple. Considering her rough and tumble behavior, they’d not expected much. They were absolutely blown away at her skills. “Teacher Ye” had been correct, she was an excellent musician.

But she only sang once. And only for the elderly couple. For some reason, that song had made her feel very uncomfortable. It was like her songs weren’t meant for them, and by singing she’d committed some kind of betrayal. She didn’t understand it, but without her deal with the Emperor, she was not obligated to sing for anyone, so she didn’t.

Li Hong saw a money making opportunity in her pipa lute skills. He took her to a newly opened Tea House that he knew was struggling and convinced the manager there to hire her. She worked for a single hour ever day, playing the pipa lute. In that hour, the Tea House was packed.

For her part, Mei Hua agreed to playing as a way of thanking Li Hong for her room and food. She didn’t realize he was already making money from her duels, and that he was making even more with her lute skills. He took a rather large “administration” fee off her Tea House pay and then gave her the rest to use as she saw fit. Not realizing what was happening, she was simply happy to have money of her own to spend.

Another year passed, Mei Hua dueling and playing the pipa lute. The elderly couple did quite well and grew wealthy from her work.

Near the end of that second year, Mei Hua finally met someone she couldn’t beat. The man in question was a high ranking within the West Lotus Sect and had come to fight the person who was causing a stir within the lower ranks. Rather than being upset, Mei Hua was excited at finally meeting someone who gave her a challenge. When she requested a second duel, the man had given a hearty laugh.

“What is your Core Stage?” He asked her later, still amazed at how such a young girl could fight so well.

“My what?” She’d replied blankly.

“Your Core? Do you not know?” When he turned to Li Hong, the elderly man shook his head.

He then spent a few minutes explaining the concept: A Core was what happened when a person condensed their qi into one location within the body. By continually condensing and purifying the qi, it created a stronger Core. These stages were given different names to signify how strong they were.

“That’s interesting.” She’d nodded after listening. “But I don’t have that Core thing you’re talking about.”

“Y-you don’t have—?”

“I don’t. Blue Flower Mountain Arts are about circulating qi freely through the whole body, not condensing it into one spot. Furthermore, while a Core may make it easy to identify a person’s strength and simplify qi based attacks, it weakens the body’s natural defenses. My Arts are designed primarily for defense and strengthening the physical body as evenly as possible. A Core like you describe would be pointless to that goal.”

The West Lotus Sect Master nodded slowly, not entirely sure how he felt about such a concept. What exactly is the point of learning any Mystic Arts if you’re not going to focus on qi attacks? It’s no wonder people had never kept to the pure version of the Blue Flower Mountain Arts. Such a restriction in the teaching would be bothersome.

Now that Li Hong and everyone else knew what Core level was required to beat Mei Hua, people requesting duels began to drop off. With the drop of income from the gambling, Li Hong and his wife became a bit upset. They’d grown use to living a lavish lifestyle. They viewed Mei Hua as a money horse, and when she started bringing in less, they began to think of other ways they might use her.

The Madam decided, since she was no longer good for fighting, that Mei Hua could finally focus on being a woman and seeking womanly pursuits. Her pipa lute skills were now legendary and her beauty had been refined to the point of perfection. She could never be the Lady of a house, due to her lack of family and connections, but she could easily be someone’s concubine. Wealthy men would jump at the chance of having someone as skilled as her as their concubine.

It was only when this subject of marriage was brought up that Mei Hua realized the attitude of Li Hong’s family towards her had changed drastically over the last two years. She’d flat out rejected the idea, only to be met with push back.

Madam Changying had scolded her, telling her that a woman’s value was in marriage and producing children. Mei Hua couldn’t keep acting like a child forever. To be accepted by society, she needed to get married. And the Li Hong home would do her the favor of helping her find a good husband.

When Mei Hua heard this, a shiver ran down her spine. She’d been living among humans long enough now to understand what Madam Changying was trying to do. Unfavored daughters were often given to wealthy families in marriage in exchange for money. Mei Hua had thought this practice extremely barbaric and cruel, but it had nothing to do with her and, anyway, what could she do about it? She’d never thought Madam Changying viewed her as an “unfavored daughter” and would try to sell her off.

Looking at Li Hong and Changying, she suddenly cursed her own gullibility and ignorance. Why had she stayed so long with them? They no longer looked at her with kind eyes, but now always with a flash of greed and arrogance.

She must leave.

So she did.