Coming of age

The Past - The Grasslands

Su Aoming sat in his seat at the head of the large dinner table with an indescribable look on his aged, but handsome face. His four sons; Aomi, Aoyan, Aochi and Aoru the youngest sat at both sides of the table in equal pairs, each wore their own expression on their faces masking the deep thoughts within their hearts as they looked at the stage with fixed gazes at Su Ninou as she performed her coming out dance. Ninou was Su Aoming's second youngest child and his only daughter. Today was her coming out feast and everyone's thoughts were restless for their own reasons.

"So talented, so talented..." a guest muttered to himself as he ran his fingers through his beard and chuckled, eyes fixed on Ninou as she swayed in perfect rhythm to the beat.

"Aoming, I have heard so many stories, but nothing compares to seeing the talents of the young miss in person" another guest said. He raised a glass to toast, which Su Aoming returned, his mind wondering off again.

Although Ninou was only fifteen, Su Aoming knew that she was the most accomplished amongst his children.

As the wealthiest merchant in all the grasslands, he had spent a lot of effort training his sons to be adept business men, but he never would have guessed that it was his daughter, Ninou who would grow with an inborn talent for business. She was skilled in dealing with both local and foreign merchants, a shrewd and prudent negotiator, she was skilled at archery and horse riding and was one of the fastest riders he had. Ever since she was able to make complete sentences she had accompanied her father Su Aoming to do business. When she wasn't accompanying her father she was out delivering and expanding their business with the night riders.

The night riders were Su Aomings elite team, they were swift and efficient. Originally created for delivering goods and gathering information, they were the best at what they did. Ninou had made a suggestion to take advantage of the night riders for business expansion, and with her negotiation skills and creativity, they did just that and Su Aoming got even richer as his business grew.

A coming of age feast in the grasslands was a way of presenting a young lady to possible suitors which was the last thing Su Aoming wanted, there were four kingdoms in the grasslands and even though theirs was the smallest he was still a duke, a status he earned when he married his wife Niyan who's the empress's younger sister, they were the last surviving descendants of the past emperor of their kingdom and as part royalty, Ninou's coming of age had to be held in a grand style, even though some things had already been set.

There was a silent guest who had his eyes glued on to the stage. Even though he was dressed simply anyone with a good pair of eyes would know that he was anything but that, from the quality of clothes he wore to the calm shrewdness in his eyes that only belonged to royalty. Ever since he arrived he hadn't taken his eyes off Ninuo. His gaze intense, as though he wanted to learn a move or two from her, But Su Aoming knew better.

At this time of the previous year his sister in-law the empress had approached him with a request. As the smallest kingdom in the grasslands they were constantly faced with threats of war, the emperor of Dayu, the largest and most prosperous kingdom on the grasslands, had proposed a marriage to their kingdom. The empress had only sons and Ninou was the only princess in the kingdom as her mother Niyan was the only other descendant alive. She had summoned Aoming and Niyan to discuss Ninou's marriage.

At first they were okay with the marriage, Dayu was not only prosperous with vast lands and great military might, but their current emperor had many sons, some of whom were within the same age range as Ninou. So even though Su Aoming and Niyan were reluctant to part with their daughter they were still okay with the proposal. It was only after all agreements were made and Ninou's bride price; paid in seven trunks of gold once every week for eleven months, that Su Aoming found that she was actually to marry the emperor himself. For the sake of their kingdom, Su Aoming refused to reject the proposal and could only comfort his wife Niyan.

Looking at the man sittted quietly in the corner with his fixed gaze and his graceful daughter on stage, Su Aoming's thoughts grew even more restless.

The music ceased.