Declaration of War

Lan cradled her lifeless sister the entire night. By dawn, Lan digs. She buries the little body and adorns it with all sorts of flowers with a sign that says 'The Beloved Flower: Wei Liling'

At the house, the fire had died down, and what used to be the rooms for Wei Guo and his family, are now only ashes. Servants cry and mourn for what is evident of what's left of Wei Guo and Madam Wei. They begin to reorganize and clean.

Through the thick air, Lan walks into the house. Servants all bow and ran up to her to ask if she was okay. She assures them she's fine and asks one of her maids, "Where's Grandfather and First Uncle?" "They are in the main hall, miss." Lan nods.

Guang He and Wei Jing sit in the hall emotionless. Everything happened too fast, and now, two of their beloved family members are gone. They can only hope Liling made it out, and that Lan is still safe.

Right at that thought, a servant ran in and bowed to report, "Grand Master! First Master! First Miss is here!" Both men stood up, and at the entrance, Lan comes in: with burnt, blood-covered clothes, face smeared of dirt and dried tears, wearing two flower ornaments to her disheveled ponytail.

'She was here last night..' They both run to her and hugged her.

With no more tears to cry, Lan reciprocates with a tight hug and pulls back. "Liling is gone," she choked as she says, "it was Emperor Yuan's men." Guang He and Wei Jing freeze, fists balled, hearts knotted tighter, and tears fall. 'Even little Liling..'

The mighty Commander and General of Xia are now just regular men, mourning for their loss.

Lan frowns and reached both arms up--barely enough to reach the men's face--to wipe their fallen tears. She grabs their hands with her little ones and held on tight to comfort them.

They stood in silence until enough time had passed for them to be calmed. "Lan'er, go clean up and meet us back hereafter," Guang He softly says. Lan nods and headed out.

An hour passed, "Grandmaster, First Miss is here," a servant announced. The door opens, and Lan walks in--in a white dress with the two flower ornaments again to her half updo--to the seat, and sat left of her Grandfather.

After deep thoughts, "It's obvious, the emperor wanted to warn us again despite our attempts at peace.." Guang He said. "I will avenge them grandfather." "Lan-" Guang He is enraged and deeply hurt for his lost and the reason for it. But as a commander, he knows the depth of powers and has to think rationally. Yes, he wants to kill that man sitting on the throne and knows he has the power to. However, doing that will only make Xia unstable, susceptible to invasions. Guang He's loyalty is to his kingdom.

"Grandfather, I don't know how or when, but I will do it. A man who kills innocent people to keep his position is a man unfit to rule this kingdom that you're fighting for. Liling had a life ahead of her, only ten. Second Uncle and Auntie did nothing wrong. They didn't deserve this ending. It was his declaration of war"

Guang He sighs, "Lan, when one kills the emperor, any emperor, the powers go to the split ministers until a new dragon is chosen. That is a period when a kingdom, our kingdom, will become weak. I can't fight for my kingdom if there is no kingdom to fight for. Your uncle wouldn't want that either." The principle of the Wei's loyalty to Xia was taught to the males of the clan before they could learn 'mother' or 'father'. Guang He, Wei Jing, and Wei Guo were no exception.

"Then we have to make the power strong and united during that period," Lan refuted. Guang He was dumbfounded. Wei Jing who was quiet this whole time speaks, "I will continue to train her," inferring his siding with Lan. Guang He doesn't respond.

It wasn't a no.

All the while, back in the capital in the palace, Emperor Yuan slaps his eunuch. "You fool! I said to target the general! What have you done!?" Chao, on his knees, kowtowing his head so hard, his forehead bleeds, "This servant deserves to die! This servant deserves to die! This servant had thought when Your Majesty said "his son", you meant Wei Guo, his biological son!"

Emperor Yuan slaps Chao again, "So it's my fault?! That Guo was a useless bastard, targeting him would send no warning! You sent a declaration of war!" "This servant deserves to die!"

"That's right you do," he said in a monotone.

By that night, Emperor Yuan had gotten himself a new eunuch.

The next day, Lan took her grandfather and uncle to Liling's burial site. There, they also give Wei Guo and his wife their burial, so the three could be together in the afterlife.

Lan sticks three incense to each sign, closes her eyes and prays: 'Liling, Second Uncle, Auntie, I promise, I will give the person who did this to you tenfold. May you rest in peace...Liling-ah," Lan smiles, "I won't be sad, so don't be sad up there okay?" She tries her hardest to keep the tears in.

Another person is added to Lan's one-man list of revenge, and she plans to execute it.