Xia Siblings

Xia Yanxi's gaze fell on a woman standing far from him, dressed in a white and lavender-coloured silk dress, her hair flowing down her waist as if water cascading down in a beautiful motion.

Eight years. 

Yes, it had been eight years since he last saw her and she had grown up from a little girl to a woman. She wasn't how he had imagined her to look in actuality. It wasn't that she wasn't as beautiful as he anticipated but the matureness and calmness in her eyes was something he had never expected to see in a woman her age. 

All he could say was that he didn't like the fact that his sister had to get so mature at such a young age. 

Perhaps, if he was here she wouldn't be forced to mature this soon.

The little girl who used to laugh and tease him, following him everywhere by calling Gege had grown up and he didn't know how to communicate with this sister of his who he had brought calamity as soon as he stepped back into the capital. 

"Xia Yanxi, there is something mother needs to talk to you about," Li Ying said, maintaining her composure and the young man nodded his head, gesturing to her to show him the way. She nodded her head as if understanding that it had been eight years since he had stepped a foot in the manor and it was common for him not to know the way inside as the manor had gone through major changes these past years. 

"Jie, did you come to see our eldest brother?" Xia Yunhao asked, raising his mischievous brow. He was more than two years younger than Xia Xi Wan. Yet, he liked being chummy with her whenever he got the chance. The Xia siblings were not like what people believed.

"What do you think?" asked Xia Xi Wan, maintaining a good ten inches between them. She knew that her younger brother had a habit of getting a little touchy.  It wasn't that she didn't want to be close to her siblings, she couldn't.

"What do I think?" Xia Yunhao scoffed. "I'm just happy that mother didn't force me to attend school just yet. With our eldest brother here, I can rest at home for a few days." 

Xia Yunhao was forced to grow up to shoulder the responsibilities of the man of the house. He was a young boy who wanted to enjoy his life more. He was happy when he heard that his eldest brother was coming home.

"Yunhao, are you talking to the eldest daughter of Xia family?" A sarcastic voice rang and Xia Xi Wan sighed as her gaze swept across a haughty fourteen years old girl who was dressed in a light pink silk dress. It was no one else but Xia Yue, the youngest child of the Xia family. 

Xia Yunhao and Xia Yue were Li Ying's children. Their relationship with Xia Xi Wan couldn't be said to be bad. It was just that Xia Yue believed that her eldest sister hated her, given how she never tried to befriend her or showed sisterly concern like all those sisters that she saw out. Everyone talked about how her eldest sister always wished for her to disappear. 

A misunderstanding had soured the relationship between the two sisters. 

It wasn't that Xia Xi Wan never wanted to share a warm and sweet relationship with all her siblings, it was just that she was forced by her unique situation. Once upon a time, when she was not schemed against or being destroyed mentally and emotionally, she had tried but now she didn't have in it to try to mend the broken relationships. 

It was better this day. 

She was human just like the rest of them. Even she got exhausted, physically and mentally. 

While the three siblings were still standing at the door, a debate between two persons had arisen inside the main courtyard. 

A rug was pulled beneath Li Ying's feet, how could she allow herself to be humiliated just like that?

 An imperial edict had challenged everything that she had spent years trying to achieve. 

Letting Xia Xi Wan marry Jun Wang? Not letting it happen! 

Xia's family couldn't afford to have a Wangfei!

Xia's family couldn't be an ally of the Emperor or crown prince!

….

1. Wangfei is a term for Prince Consort or the prince's legal wife. 

2. Gege is a term for elder brother.

3. Jie is a term for elder sister.

Author note: So, everyone is thinking about themselves. They didn't care what calamity they would bring to Xia Xi Wan as long as they achieve what they want!