There was, quite naturally, not much left of Blue Flower Village. Anything made of wood had long since rotted away and much of what was left had been overgrown. Still, the Blue Flowering Trees were still artfully growing along disappearing roads and gardens. Left overs from a time when this place had been alive.

With Little Yan and Little Shi holding each of her hands, Mei Hua walked through the ruins feeling wistful. She'd read about this place in the scrolls so many times when she was younger.

Sometimes it'd been general history, but other times Xuiying had focused on specific people. She'd obsessively write every detail of that one person's life, right up until they died. In some ways, Blue Flower Village was more like her hometown than the place she'd been raised in until the plague hit.

The Villagers built their houses in a circle, with the bottom half of stone and the top half of wood. The stone circles could still be seen, though it was overgrown with grass and vines. There were many round houses, some huge, some small. She walked around inside them, trying to guess about the rooms and what they were used for.

They found the remains of a public bathhouse. It had been circular shaped, with one side for men and the other for women. Now it looked like a huge steaming pond, split straight down the center. When Mei Hua had originally read that they'd bathed communally, she'd been stunned and a bit in disbelief. She'd discussed with Ye the pro's and con's of it. Seeing it in person, she smiled.

And then there were the fountains. There were several spread through out the village. Originally they'd been simple, but as time went by the villagers had made them progressively more elaborate. They'd give each one a design motif: tigers, bears, lions, wolves, and even deers. When asking where a person was, they'd often say something like "Near Lion Fountain."

Now they were just round holes in the ground, some empty and some still seeping water. Occasionally they'd find a bit of broken stone statues. She laughed when she found a fountain with an almost completely intact statue. It was of a deer! Had the Emperor done that on purpose?

When it became time to head back, Mei Hua said to her three sons:

"Children, remember this place. People once lived here, loved and cried and died here. It was home to many people and many generations of those people. They'd done nothing wrong, but the unrestrained wrath of one powerful person destroyed everything. And what for? What did they lose everything for? Because that powerful person lost their temper due to jealousy. And in the end, that powerful person didn't get what they wanted, and lost everything that mattered to them just the same. That's what jealousy and rage does to a person, and you must never forget it. It destroys everyone around you and then yourself last of all."

The twins nodded obediently but Shan Hui lifted his chin slightly.

"What about the Old Man?"

"What about him?"

"He was jealous too and ruined people, but he got you."

Mei Hua was quiet for a moment.

"My dearest son, no one is perfect. We all make mistakes, sometimes serious ones. Your Father repented of his actions, learned from them, and became a better person for it." Her brows lowered, slightly troubled. "But he can't ever escape the consequences of what he did. That he's got to live with until the day he dies. That is punishment enough, I think, and I love him. Why should I add more to his burden?"

Shan Hui looked off into the distance thoughtfully before nodding slightly, his lips quirking ever so slightly upward.

"I suppose that's true." He finally admitted.

"And anyway, aren't you glad I don't hold it against him? Where would you be if I'd carried on someone else's grudge, hm?"

"The only decision the Old Man ever made that was even half-way decent was loving you, Mother."

Mei Hua laughed heartily. "You're so stingy to him, even when you're complimenting!"

Far away, in the distance, exactly where Shan Hui had been looking, stood none other than Huang Jin, Lord of the Mountains, and Fairy Emperor. Currently hiding from his wife. Of course he'd known the moment his sons and Mei had gotten near Blue Flower Village.

He'd planned to stop them, but the brat had been ready and pressed him back. They didn’t use fists or words, it was just their immense individual energies vying with each other. The power struggle between them had been fierce. The brat had been smart, even borrowing power from his twin siblings, making it so that the only way to beat him was to go all out. Doing so would have harmed the brat, the twins, or destroyed the area. All of which would have ruined Mei's birthday.

Ah, his Mountain Flower was his real and only weak spot and that brat constantly used that fact against him.

So he'd sulkily hid nearby, peeping in on them instead. The brat had the decency not to say anything outrageous. Obviously the twins didn't know anything so they were harmless. Even if he didn't like this Village, what it reminded him of, he smiled a little seeing his wife's happy face as she walked among the ruins.

When she'd talked about the Fairy Emperor's foolish behavior, Jin had felt his heart breaking. He couldn't go back in time and change things. What had happened could never be undone. All that was left was hollow regret and remorse now. Did he really need to be constantly reminded of his own stupidity? Her harshness, even if deserved, left him aching.

The brat practically glowed with malicious glee as his Mother unintentionally slapped Jin's face.

When the Brat asked about Jin specifically, he'd held his breath. After her severity with the Emperor, he could not help if she secretly thought the same of him. She would be in the right since they were actually the same person.

But she'd been kind. She'd been thoughtful. She said she loved him.

Big tears fell down his face when he heard her, and at that moment Shan Hui looked right at him. He'd stiffened, realizing his eldest son had seen him in a moment of weakness. When Shan Hui had smiled slightly, a pitying half smile, Jin wanted to puke blood. Of all the people in the world, the brat pitying him was the most insulting!

As he sat down, clearing his face of tears, he knew he'd need to tell her who he really was. But he didn't know when or how to do it. Having lied about something that big for so long, she was bound to be really angry at him for it, and that scared him.

Mei Hua was the only person who’s opinion mattered to him. If he didn’t have her favor, then he had nothing.

——

Mei Hua birthdays were big affairs, that got bigger and bigger every year.

While the sons and husband insisted on an in-house personal party hosted by Mei, the woman herself was forcibly given a birthday that was bigger than a New Year's celebration. Merchant friends and their families from both the West and East were invited to join. Entertainment from all over the world was brought in. This was the only time the gates of Blue Flower Palace opened to the outside world, so everyone with connections tried getting in.

Intelligent creatures of the mountains came from near and far to leave gifts for their Lady, to the Consort of the Emperor. Some gave precious gems, strange and mysterious plants, others performed tricks, danced, or sang. Whatever they could do to show fealty to the Emperor through loving his wife, they did. This act, in and of itself, was considered a show by the human guests, who always watched with wide eyed wonder and disbelief.

With so many guests, most of which were adults, the fairies needed to be visible. After some thought, Jin created something called an Illusion Mask. Each mask was white and could change the bodily appearance of the wearer as they liked, making the fairies visible to the human eye.

To prevent the fairies from causing too much mischief, the mask itself would always be visible, no matter how the body changed. He also took all the masks back and locked them away at the end of the party. His sons were enough trouble, he didn’t want the fairies giving him grief too.

The fairies had mixed feelings being visible. There was safety in being unseen, but it was also fun for them to change themselves into outrageous looking creatures to startle each other or the guests. Since the masks would always give away what they really were, they'd paint them to suit their appearance or mood. So in the end, Lady Mei Hua's birthday also became a kind of costume party for the fairies.

The fairies put on their own performances for their Queen as well. Some did theatrical productions, telling strange tales that came from the beasts of the mountains, while others did elaborate long sleeve dances, or used umbrellas and fans, while others got out their drums and flutes.

It was their time to show off, and many did. The reward was a week off of their choosing, Blue Flower Wine for the boys and Blue Flower Lotions for the girls, and a personal pipa lute performance as a group (an idea from Lady Mei) and a rather ambiguously received jade statue of a deer (obviously an idea from Lord Jin).

To the human guests, these performances were by far more interesting than anything brought in from the outside. But Lord Jin still insisted on outside performers, and everyone knew this was for her Ladyship. She'd only left the mountains once and even then hadn't gone very far. To her, everything from the outside was marvelous and new, while to the guests everything from the mountain was mysterious and enchanting.