When Mei Hua woke up, she was surprised to see Jin was already awake. He’d made a simple gruel with wild berries and left it near the fire to stay warm.

Looking around, she saw him at the table with a scroll open. How strange! Usually he was still sleeping, and once he’d eaten he would go outside to practice his martial arts or just meander the mountain. He only studied in the afternoon, or early evening.

Filling up a bowl, she shuffled her feet feeling awkward. She wanted to go over and ask what he was studying that was so important, but she still felt embarrassed over what happened yesterday.

After several minutes of indecision, she took the cowards way out and ate her breakfast quietly. When she was done, she went to clean her bowl.

“Good morning.” Jin said, turning around slightly to greet her.

“M-morning!”

Getting up, he walked over to her and kindly took the bowl and spoon from her hands. Smiling, he said, “I’ll clean them today.”

She gaped at him and then nodded stupidly. Since when did he ever voluntarily help with household chores?! Unless she asked or instructed, he never took the initiative.

“Er, are you alright?”

“Hm, of course? Why?”

“No, uhm, just… uhm… uhm…” Her voice stuttered into a silence.

He was standing there gently washing the dishes. It was a perfectly ordinary activity that she did every day. There was nothing at all romantic about it. But for some reason, his profile while washing dishes was doing some very strange things to her heart. Was it legal to look that good while doing a simple chore?!

She took several steps backwards, face flushed and feeling very confused with herself.

What had yesterday done to her?!

“I-I need to go out and do… uh… do… things.” She announced lamely, before running away from him.

Jin had just finished, and looked up to see her retreating figure. He carefully put the bowl and spoon away. Drying his hands, he sat back down and began reading where he left off:

“—husband greatly influences the atmosphere of the family. If he is thoughtless, those in the home will be thoughtless. If he is wise, those in the home will be wise. The family is a reflection of his leadership, both positively and negatively.

Therefore, anything a husband desires from his family, he must first display in himself. As an example, it’s no good to ask the wife to be a clean person, while the husband insists on being slovenly. If he desires a clean house, he first must be clean.

Leading by example is the most powerful motivator. It instills—”

As he read, a small smile played across his lips.

——

Weeks passed by and Mei Hua slowly recovered her ability to string sentences together in Jin’s presence. When she was able to hold an entire conversation with him and not shut down, she almost cried for joy. Even if her mind was as dirty as ever, at least now it wouldn’t show on the outside.

Jin seemed to have changed again too, though she couldn’t figure out why. While he was always motivated to better himself, he was always just a bit self-centered. Unless he was interested in doing it to begin with, he never volunteered to help and had to be asked directly. This behavior was really no better or worse than a regular non-resurrected person, so she’d not quibbled about it.

But now Jin would just… do things… before she could get to them. Sometimes it was annoying and she said so, which caused him to stop. But the things she didn’t complain about, he just kept on doing like it was naturally his duty to do so.

Mei Hua wasn’t sure what to think about the change. Obviously it was a good change, but the suddenness of it left her a bit puzzled. Still, only an idiot would complain about thoughtfulness, so she kept her mouth shut.

———

The weather had cooled down, she could go outside without feeling she was going to die. Which is exactly what she was doing with Ye.

“There’s someone on the edges of the forest to the west.” Ye suddenly announced to Mei Hua several days later.

“Are they trying to come in?”

“No…” The little fairy tilted his head. “I think they want an audience with the Emperor.”

Mei Hua gave him a startled glance. She’d never heard of anyone but herself doing something like that.

“And has the Emperor arrived yet?”

“Nope, and I doubt he’ll bother coming.”

“Eh? Why?”

“…he’s been really distracted lately…”

“With what?”

“Oh, you know… affairs of the mountain. Emperor stuff.”

Mei Hua clucked her tongue skeptically, wondering what the Emperor was actually doing. It was clear Ye wasn’t telling her the whole truth.

“If he’s not going to bother showing, then let’s go see for ourselves what this person wants. It might be important.”

“I doubt it, but I’m bored so I won’t object!”

She rolled her eyes and followed Ye.

Whenever Ye lead her places, she got their faster. When she was younger she hadn’t noticed, but after being away for a while it became really obvious. Ye often did little things like that for Mei Hua. She loved him for it, not just for his thoughtfulness, but also that he did it without ever seeking praise from her.

They arrived at a section of the forest that was a little bit to the north of where she’d stayed with the humans. There was a young fellow, in shabby green robes, sitting just outside the forest. He was bowing on his hands and knees, forehead touching the dirt.

She could hear broken murmuring, as if he was exhausted:

“…Emperor, have mercy. Ruler of… the Great Mountains…”

After watching him a bit, she determined he was harmless and came forward.

“Who might you be?”

Her question startled the kneeling young man. He glanced up and stared at her blankly for a moment. Then he remembered something and put his forehead to the ground again.

“Imperial Advisor! This humble servant is Wu TengFei! This servant has come to request audience with the Emperor!”

…Pardon? What had he just called her? Surely she’d misheard?

“My name is Mei Hua.” She said lightly and then frowned. “There’s no reason to be kneeling like that. Come, get up and let’s talk as equals.”

She helped Wu TengFei stand up, practically lifting him by the shoulders in one motion. He wobbled horribly for a few minutes, trying to regain his balance.

“How long have you been kneeling?”

Wu TengFei round, youthful face blushed slightly in embarrassment.

“T-thank you Advisor Mei Hua. This servant have been pleading for an audience with his Imperial Majesty for a little under schichen.”

Mei Hua did a double take. Almost two hours?! And what was this about her being an Advisor? Since when did that happen?!

“Here, sit over here.” With a firm grip on Wu TengFei’s elbow, she gently guided him closer to the forest, to a soft grassy spot. “Now tell me all about your request.”

Wu TengFei was relieved to see Mei Hua wasn’t arrogant, just as the tales of her had said. Her word had a lot of weight with the Fairy Emperor, so he didn’t hold back.

“This servant—”

“Ah, Mr. Wu, please don’t be so formal. I’m not used to it.”

“Er, a-alright, if Advisor Mei Hua insists…”

“Also, please just call me Mei Hua, or Miss Mei Hua if that is more comfortable for you.”

Wu TengFei blinked several times and then nodded.

“Young Miss Mei Hua,” He slowly began, struggling to speak informally. “I come from a long line of merchants. The Wu Family was once a famous merchant family, very well respected in the west. However, my family has fallen on hard times. My Honorable Father and Mother died of an illness. Shortly after my Elder Brothers passed away, one at sea in a storm and another at the hands of bandits.”

“You have my condolences.” Mei Hua said sympathetically. What an awful thing to have happen, especially so close together.

“This servant thanks Young Miss for her compassion.” Wu TengFei replied, automatically slipping into formal speech. Then, seeing her slight shake of the head, he coughed and apologized. “Sorry, Young Miss! Sorry!”

“It’s fine, continue.”

“Y-yes! When my Honorable Father and then Elder Brothers passed away, my Father’s Assistant took over. Unfortunately, just two weeks ago, he died too!”

“Him too!?”

“Yes, Young Miss! It was tragic! He was looking to buy some horses and one of them went wild and kicked him. He died instantly. After that, well… everyone said the Wu Family had bad luck or was under some kind of curse. And then no one would trade with us. Even my maternal and paternal relatives distanced themselves.” At this Wu TengFei’s face fell and looked desolate.

Mei Hua gave him a pat on the back. Really, that was some awful luck.

“Now I must take care of my Widowed Sister-in-Laws, their children, my two younger sisters, and my Paternal Grandmother!” Wu TengFei looked like he was going to cry in despair. “Young Miss, I am only just turned fourteen! Not only do my Father’s business associate not respect me, they have begun to think I might be the source of the bad luck. One of them even came to me and said I should sell the family home and business to them, while I can. Then at least my family will have food for a while.”

Mei Hua wondered about that business associate. Wasn’t it odd that they would approach a Young Master and say such a thing while claiming the family was basically under a curse?

“While that is very tragic and I do feel for you, how exactly do you think the Fairy Emperor will be of help?”

“Ah, yes!” Wu TengFei looked at her, a gleam of hope in his eyes. “Before these tragedies befell my family, we hired a young woman claiming to be from the East side of the Blue Mountains. She said it was possible to go directly through the mountains if you got permission from the Emperor. The tale was very moving, so I’ve always remembered.”

Mei Hua raised an eyebrow, immediately understanding where his mind was going.

“Are you hoping that the Emperor will grant you access over the mountains?”

“Young Miss, not just that, but EXCLUSIVE access!”