Coming of age ceremony

Zhan Chen woke up feeling refreshed in the morning. He spread his soul consciousness to his door and found out it was his mother who woke him up in the early morning.

"Little Chen, open the door", Li Qingzhao called him from outside. "Mother, wait a minute", Zhan Chen replied.

He came down from his bed and walked to the door. Then he opened the wooden door and saw the bright face of his mother.

"Good morning mother", he greeted her.

"Little Chen, don't be lazy. Today is an important day for you. I am giving you fifteen minutes to be prepared. Little Tao will bring the new clothes for you", Li Qingzhao spoke in a stern voice.

"Ok mother, I will come and see you after putting on my new clothes", Zhan Chen replied. Li Qingzhao smilingly nodded his head and left Zhan Chen alone.

She was in a rather happy mood today as this was a special day for her son. Her son would be considered as an adult after this day. So, she was very happy for him. Previously, she had felt complete despair when the renowned alchemists of the capital couldn't heal her son but now that his son was completely healthy, she was feeling joyous.

She sent two maids to the living place of Zhan Chen. They quickly arranged a warm bath for Zhan Chen. They wanted to help him clean his body but Zhan Chen sent them away.

Little Tao came to his room after sometime. "Young master, are not these clothes beautiful?", she asked with a smile.

Today, she had tied her hair in two bangs and she was looking rather playful with her hairstyle. Zhan Chen couldn't help but play with them a little bit.

He looked at the dress she was holding. The clothes were pure white in colour. Although Zhan Chen loved to wear blue, he still liked the dress that his mother had sent for him.

"Yeah, they are good", Zhan Chen nodded his head. "Ok, young master wear this after you are prepared. I am waiting outside for you", little Tao spoke with a smile.

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"Zhan Rou, have you come alone?", the eldest aunt of Zhan Chen looked at the girl Infront of her. The girl Infront of her had a slightly mature looking face and a slender figure. If one looked closely, they could find similarities between the appearances of both.

"Yes mother, they ignored me when I request them to come along with me", the slightly mature looking girl said with a frown. A frown appeared on the face of eldest aunt of Zhan Chen. "Rou-er, Don't worry. Everything will be good eventually. Is your husband treating you well?", she asked at the girl Infront of him again.

"Looks like elder sister is facing some problems in her in-laws place. I hope nothing major is going on", Zhan Chen murmured to himself. He was scanning the Zhan's estate with his soul consciousness and found out that his elder sister had come to visit them.

His eldest aunt had two children. One boy and one girl. Name of his son was Zhan Wan and name of his daughter was Zhan Rou. The talent of his elder sister was rather average. So, she was married off to a noble family after she attained the marriageable age. But now from the words of her, it looked like she was facing some difficulties in her in-laws place.

"Wow, young master. You are looking so handsome", Zhan Chen retrieved his soul consciousness after hearing the shout of little Tao. He saw little Tao looking at him with shiney eyes. She was looking at him as if she was a fool.

"Am I looking that good to you?", Zhan Chen chuckled. "Young master, you are really dazzling today", little Tao blurted out.

"Stop it, little girl", even Zhan Chen felt a little shy after hearing the sincere praises of little Tao. He didn't noticed that his charm had increased compared to before. After he retrieved the memories of his past, he had a mature and confident look on his face, which in addition to his devilishly handsome face was enough to enamour any of the girl. Now that, he had slightly prepared himself with a new dress, he was looking dazzling to little Tao. Although she was seeing him everyday, she was still looking at him like a fool.

"Little Tao, stop looking at me. Let's go, mother is waiting", Zhan Chen pulled little Tao by her hand and strode towards his mother's place. His mother's place was adjacent to him. So, it didn't take him long to reach the place of his mother.

"My Chen-er is really looking good today", Li Qingzhao cupped the face of Zhan Chen with both of her hands and a happy smile blossomed on her picturesque face.

"Chen-er, follow me. Everyone should have been reached there already", Li Qingzhao spoke. Then Zhan Chen went with her towards the ancestral hall of Zhan family.

Finally, he is here. Aunt is coming with her", Zhan Qingyue spoke to Zhan Rou who was standing beside her.

"Aunt is growing more beautiful everyday. I hope little brother stop causing her troubles", Zhan Rou commented.

"Good morning eldest aunt"

"Good morning, second aunt"

"Good morning, third aunt"

"Good morning, elder sister"

"Good morning, big sis"

Zhan Chen greeted everyone present one by one.

"Enter the ancestral hall and knowtow. As your grandfather and uncles are not present I will take over their place", the eldest aunt of Zhan Chen spoke. Zhan Chen nodded his head and everyone followed after his eldest aunt to enter the ancestral hall.

The ancestral hall was looking colourful today. It was adjourned with colourful papers and flowers. The inside of the ancestral hall was rather plain and there was a solemn air in the environment.

There was a high platform in the middle of the ancestral hall. There were memorial tablets of past generation and short description was written on every tablet about their owner.

"Zhan He", the 96th patriarch of Zhan family.

.....

"Zhan Wang", the 110th patriarch of Zhan family.

....

"Zhan Hao", the 116th patriarch of Zhan family.

Zhan Chen read the name of his ancestors with his soul consciousness as he was knowtowing to them. He recalled that the 116th patriarch was also his great grand father. His grandfather always talked about the regrets of his father which was to bring the lost glory of Zhan family. He always felt intrigued about the history of his family since his childhood. He heard that Zhan family was a renowned family in central plain but it started to decline after the the fall of 92nd patriarch who was a renowned warrior in the central plain.

His aunts and his elder sister Zhan Rou stopped knowtowing after ninth time but Zhan Chen and Zhan Qingyue kept knowtowing untill they knowtowed for 108th time. Although it was slightly troublesome to knowtow for so many times but Zhan Chen still did it to respect the age-old tradition.

"Now, we will visit your grandmother. She had not seen us since two years", the eldest aunt of Zhan Chen spoke. The Zhan family members bowed towards the high platfrom again and left the place. A glint appeared in the eyes of Zhan Chen as he felt something. He still decided to follow everyone and come back later.