A few maid dressed in plain purple robes, Knocked softly against the chamber door of Li Jiao, "Young Miss Li, please wake up! The festive dinner is about to begin!"
Still rolling on the bed, reluctant to stand up was Xu Hui, groaning in annoyance that her sleep was being rudely disturbed.
It didn't take too long for her to realize that, a strange sensation was coursing though her, as something was pulsing strongly within. On closer look, it was then she discovered, her body was engulfed by azure wisps of pulsing energy, flowing almost forcefully.
Taking her gaze off the supernatural phenomenon, to toss aside the bed covers. She jumped out of the bed, landing on her bare feet, to sit cross legged on the floor assuming the lotus position, this way her qi could remain in harmony.
All these happened within seconds, before she got up to open the door to let the maids in. Each of the seven maids had steamy water in bronze basins with white wash clothes across the side.
None of them could hide the surprise from their faces, they had never seen the Young Miss of the YuanLi sect look so disorderly in appearance. Her hair was in disarray across her shoulders.
After they got over the surprise of seeing her that way, they went on to get her ready for the banquet at the sect's main hall.
Positioning themselves around her, they began taking off every piece of clothing she had on, until she was stripped naked. Xu Hui in her past life was used to caring for herself, but seeing as they stood in a threatening way around her, made her give up on arguing with them about her grooming.
Dipping the washcloth into the water, they ran it over her body, cleaning every inch of her pinkish skin until she felt they were going to remove all the layers from her bones. Afterwards, they dried her skin with unused washcloths. Next, they slip her undergarments on her, followed by purple robes made from the highest quality fabric. They placed each leg in a purple silky shoe.
Running the comb through her long tendrils, and arranging it in a bejeweled hair clip, they went on to take care of her face, powdering her skin lightly and smearing a tinge of red on her lips, each ear had on them light golden earrings.
One of the maids handed her a bronze mirror to look at her reflection, before taking it back from her.
Stepping aside, they curtsied , as the Young Miss of YuanLi sect walked out of her chambers, heading straight for the hall where the festive dinner being held in her honor was to take place.
At the grand hall, purple peony totem on a pennon hung at various parts of the hall. Each end of the hall was rows of dinning set with young men dressed in purple robes sitting and chatting with each other. At first none of them knew she was already around their vicinity, until she had gotten a bit closer to them. That was when they rose up to greet her, their salute was one that conveyed deep respect.
Once they saw she was seated at the table, that was when they all sat back down, whispering to each other, as their dark eyes darted back and forth to her.
Later on, sect leader Li Guoliang, walked in with Physician Shen in tow, they all got up with no exception, to greet the two most powerful people in the room, before everyone settled down on their seat.
One by one, the servants from the kitchen brought in trays upon trays of assorted dishes and cups with jugs of crescent peach wine, a wine of the finest quality in Li town.
With the trays set on each table, that was when the sect leader got up to give a toast to his daughter's new gift of health, they all rose in unison giving a toast back to show their support for the Young Miss of YuanLi sect.
Not long after, the feast had commenced, that was when one of the servants walked in and went up to the head of the table to whisper something into the ears of the YuanLi sect leader.
"Matters of utmost importance has come to my attention, continue to enjoy the feast!"
With that, Li Guoliang excused himself, leaving Physician Shen and Xu Hui at the table. The rest kept eating. Moments after, one of the disciples turned in the direction of the sect leader's daughter.
"Miss Li, is it true that you were possessed all this time?! That is why you couldn't cultivate?!"
It was a younger looking disciple that spoke, the rest gasped in surprise. Not expecting that he could be so bold as to blatantly question Li Jiao.
At first Xu Hui wanted to ignore the jab that was aimed at Li Jiao, but from what she had seen of her memories, it was a really sad one.
Standing up from where she sat, until she got over to where the junior disciple that spoke was, with a bright smile on her face as though she was about to say some thing pleasant.
Without any warning whatsoever, Xu Hui grabbed him by the neck, lifting him from where he sat, squeezing the muscle of the fair skin. The disciple began making choking sounds from the back of his throat.
A stunned look crossed the faces of all who watched what was going on, it was as though something held on to their tongues, none dared to step in to his rescue.
This went on for a while, his face had already taken on a deep blue shade. At the entrance to the hall, leaning against the wall, was a senior disciple of YuanLi sect.
Fu Zian watched from where he stood, a smile of merriment showed on his face. He always knew Li Jiao to be of gentle nature, but to see her stand up for herself was more of an amusing display than anything else.
Knowing that if she kept at it, the disciple that she held in her hands would most likely die.
Reaching for the purple zither from behind him, holding it in one hand, he released a single string, a semblance of it wrapped around her neck. Unknown to Fu Zian, it was a place that held bad memories for Xu Hui.
Xu Hui, felt something wrap around her neck, digging into her skin. Flinching from the intense impact of the mysterious thing, she flung the disciple held in her hand to the ground.
Turning to see, who could be so bold as to challenge her. With eyes blazing with seething rage, her red lips curled in a savage smile almost bordering on insanity, that was when Xu Hui began walking towards him, with one thought in mind. To break him apart, crushing him under her feet not leaving a single trace behind.