Heaven's Daughter

Chapter 15 - Bullying Right Off the Bat

"Must I go to the Lan Manor?" Kairi asked. Madam Liu could only sigh heavily at her adopted daughter. She pulled Kairi down onto the bench with her.

"Kairi, believe it or not, this is your real family. I'm sure they miss the real Xiao You dearly. I don't want you to leave but since you are now Xiao You... it's only right that we return you to her real family," Madam Liu said. The memories of Xiao You flashed across her mind. They weren't very good memories. As a matter of fact, most of them contained poor little Xiao You being mistreated over and over. The Feng family definitely did not have good intentions when they came abruptly to bring her home. Still she did promise herself that if she ever got the chance, she would take revenge for the little girl whose body she had taken. It was the only way she could pay back for stealing her body. But, if she continued to stay in Liu Sect, she didn't know when Luo Shu Hei would return to ask for her hand in marriage again. She remember hearing that the Feng family was close to the royal family. If she went to live there, the Feng family can at least shield her from that pervert. Sighing in defeat, she agreed to go to the Lan Manor. Kairi bid farewell to her sibling disciples the following day. She probably won't be seeing them anytime soon so she gave them her best wishes. Into the carriage she went toward the Lan Manor where her problems never seems to end.

On the way to the Lan Manor, she tried to remember who were all in the family. There was General Feng. He had married into the Lan Family but when Xiao You's mother, Lady Lan passed away, he inherited the Lan Manor only until the real Xiao You was supposed to come of age. Most of the time he would be at work and had little time for Xiao You. Then there was Madam Feng, the second wife of General Feng. Since Lady Lan passed away, she took over the entire household along with all of the Lan family wealth. Feng Jiu was the eldest daughter between General Feng and Madam Feng. She was extremely spoiled and jealous of Xiao You which was the reason for most of Xiao You's tormenting days. In Xiao You's memories, there was another sibling, a brother who Xiao You seemed to be very close. He could have been the one to shield Xiao You from Feng Jiu's horrible abuse but he was sent away to the borderline of Eden as a young general.

Kairi sighed as she thought about Xiao You's family tree. The poor girl didn't deserve such severe abuse. If Madam Feng and Feng Jiu wasn't so greedy, Xiao You would have led a normal life and Kairi wouldn't have been able to take over her body.

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of a large gate. The large plaque above the gate was labeled in carved golden letters 'Lan Manor'. The estate was just as large as Liu Sect. So her family was pretty wealthy, Kairi thought as she stepped out of the carriage. No one had come out to greet her except for a thirty some year old female servant.

"Hurry up, girl! I don't have a day!" the servant snapped. Kairi eyed her up and down. The woman clearly was a servant. She was dressed in plain dark blue robes. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun making her look extremely disdainful. The look she gave Kairi was almost haughty as if she couldn't be bothered to be there. It was as if the woman was the owner of the Manor and she was a servant. Kairi took a deep breath to calm herself down. She had just arrived. She wasn't about to start an uproar with a servant. Turning to the carriage, Kairi said, "I have quite a bit of luggage in the carriage."

"Hmph! Don't expect me to carry it all in! You have hands! Carry it yourself!" the servant snapped. The driver eyed the servant with disdain but he didn't say anything. The gray haired old man jumped down from the driver seat and pulled out Kairi's luggage. He placed one in his armpit and carried the other two in his hands while Kairi carried the last two in her hands. Kairi was about to thank the old man when the servant snapped at them again.

"Quickly! I still have chores to do! I don't have time to wait on you!" she hollered. Once that was said, the servant sent Kairi a glare then headed inside the estate. Kairi and the old man reluctantly followed her inside. She noticed right away that the servant didn't take them toward the main building. Instead, they were led far into the back area of the estate where a smaller building was. It was blocked off by concrete walls with a smaller wooden double doors. Another plaque was placed above the door and it read, 'Lotus Villa'. The servant simply said that this was where she'll be living from now on and stormed off without even opening the door for them. Kairi sighed and pushed the double doors open. Inside was a small empty courtyard. Further up ahead was the home she was going to be living in. The roof and walls were old and tattered like wind and rain could seep through, the windows were broken, and there wasn't a soul in sight. She set her luggage down and knew that the Feng Family had indeed set her up to come home to get beat again. Sighing even more, she finally thanked the old man and gave him a gold coin for his troubles. Before he left he gave her a sympathetic look. Even he knew what she had in store and it wasn't going to be pretty. The bullying had already started and she hasn't even settled in yet.