The next morning, the family of eleven sat at the large round table, taking bits of food from the many dishes laid out before them. Meiwan's aunt put food in her daughter Sisi's bowl, then reached for a slice of lotus. The master and lady of the Yan mansion sat side by side, talking in low tones and laughing with each other. Zhanyi and Fuli played with their food before shoving it into their mouths, their faces grumpy from morning tiredness.
Meiwan, still rather uncomfortable after only living with the Yans a week or so, tried her best to keep her manners. Even after her aunt and uncle asked her several times over the last few days to relax, and take the family as her own. She didn't know why, but she just couldn't bring herself to take them as her new home.
"Meiwan, Zhanyi." Her uncle no longer spoke to just his wife, but looked to everyone seated at the table. "I'm going to put you into school. Before you were unable to go due your father being a merchant." Yifeng smiled.
Go to school? Why would I need that? Meiwan glanced over at her brother. Zhanyi is a boy, so of course he should go. The Lu family had planned to find a suitable match for Meiwan when she turned seventeen, so they didn't believe an education would be important for her. She herself, didn't believe it proper or right for her when she knew she was
eventually to be married.
Everyone sitting around the table agreed along with the head of the house, voicing their opinions over each other. It was as if a gong had been struck and a race had begun.
"Of course the two children should go to school!" Aunt Herang spoke.
"Yes! Then I won't have to be the only Yan daughter going, Meiwan will join me!" It was obvious that Yan Shi was very excited at the prospect of going to school with her cousin.
"Do I have to?" Zhanyi groaned.
The family laughed at the boy's sorrowful expression and then continued eating. Meiwan no longer felt as hungry, as she felt troubled knowing she'd be sent to school. But no one at the table seemed to notice her fallen spirit.
Yan Tu and Yan Wei were a little bit older than Meiwan, and had just finished their own lessons. They had been sent to school when they were ten and eleven, Yan Shi when she was nine, and had spent years studying. If her uncle wanted her to start from the beginning, she was sure she wouldn't finish until she was in her mid-twenties!
...
"You can sit here, by me." Yan Shi patted the seat beside her, inviting her cousin to sit. The girl was dressed in firy orange, which was much different than in days previous, and wore her hair up in a high ponytail. Her image was indeed similar to the carefree girls of storybooks.
"Hmm." Meiwan slid her leather satchel off her shoulder and plopped it down onto the low desk that was now hers. After getting comfortable, she looked around at the room's occupants.
This school was only for officials' children, and occasionally taught royal descendants. There were boys and girls filling the room, between ages of ten and eighteen. Meiwan wondered how they could all be taught the same thing, when some were so much older and others much younger.
She let her eyes roam around while waiting for the teacher to arrive, but that brought a jolt of fear to her. Her gaze landed on two young men sitting back behind her to the right, and she recognized them immediately. Shang Qinglou sat with his back straight and eyes forward, gone was the rogue who eyed her the other day. The boy she saw before her looked studious and polite, and the change in him amazed her. Though not because she now believed she was seeing the real him, but because his fake face reminded her how talented the youth of this city were at pretending. However, not so different, was Jun Fu. The other young man teased the students in front of him, using his brush to to draw on their backs, and kick their seats. The two other student's merely hunched forward without saying word, and she couldn't blame them, even she wouldn't say anything if she were in there place. But she did feel a righteous shock of anger course down to her toes as she watched.
"He's here." A dull voiced Yan Shi mumbled and poked Meiwan. "Mr. Wu."
Meiwan looked behind her to the left at the doors as a an old man lifted his wobbly leg over the door beam, his whole body heaving with the motion. She could hear groans from some of the students, while others she could feel sitting straighter and zeroing in their focus, demonstrating respect for their elder.
The teacher continued down the middle isle, passing Yan Shi. He had a long white beard and long hair that ran down his back, getting lost in the flowly white fabric of his robes. His appearance was other-worldly, even the candles burning seemed to know it as they cast light on him making his silhouette glow.
Meiwan was deeply impressed by his entrance, though she still didn't much like the fact that she was even at the school.
"Today, we will study the later works of Confucius," His voice was rumbly but somewhat weak and hard to hear. He reached the front of the room and turned around, his intelligent eyes searching the class.
After a long moment, and looking straight at Meiwan, he went around his desk and took his seat. Unrollling a book, he began the reading.
"'The master said, 'Is it not good to have friends from afar...'"
The reading went on for over an hour, before teacher Wu allowed the students to study what he's just read. Meiwan glanced around the classroom, avoiding eye-contact with the two behind her, watching to see what the others would do during this time. But it seemed they all just turned to their own thing, accept for a few passionate students who began writing and re-reading the passage from the Analects.
For the rest of the day, it was a never ending cylce... listening, then day-dreaming. Yan Shi had even fallen asleep once, her mouth hanging open as she leaned on her open palm. Meiwan couldn't wait for the day to be over so she could return home and see Zhanyi, who hadn't come since he was feeling sick.
"Before we end today's study, we have a new student." The old man stared right at her again, his eyes showing he very well knew the embarrassment he was about to cause her.
All eyes turned to her, and she smiled shyly. All the attention was on her, and she wanted to dissapear. Yan Shi winked and chuckled. Meiwan rose to her feet and bowed towards teacher Wu.
"Teacher Wu."
He nodded, before addressing the rest of the classroom. "Lu Meiwan will now study alongside all of you. This is her first time learning outside the home, so I hope you'll assist her."
His words were kind and well intended, but looking into the faces of her classmates, she recognized disdain and judgment. It was clear to her that she would most likely not be welcomed into this social circle. Some even whispered to each other while watching her, their lips moving as if saying something dirty about her.
Meiwan knew then, she didn't like school, and she much more didn't like the capital's 'finest' youth.
...
After the evening meal, Meiwan walked along the shaded path back to her courtyard. The air was chilly and she wrapped her thin arms around her body, before quickening her step. In such a hurry to find her warm bed, she didn't here the footsteps behind her.
She arrived at her doors and slid them open, when a deep voice startled her. Meiwan quickly turned around, ready to face whoever had come, but it was uncle Yifeng who stood behind her, his eyes kind.
Something about the sight nearly brought tears to her eyes. "Uncle?"
Yan Yifeng closed the distance between them and motioned her inwards to her rooms. She followed his hand and then led him to take a seat while she remained standing. Her uncle let his gaze roam the room, then nodded in satisfaction. He turned to her and smiled.
"Sit, please." His voice was soft. "Have you settled in yet?"
Meiwan sat and cast her eyes on the table. She felt nervous to have her uncle's complete and undivided attention on her all at once. She wasn't sure how to act or what to do.
"Yes, I really like my room... and my yard!" Meiwan bit her lip, embarrassed to have spoken so loudly.
But her uncle just nodded, then his expression changed. "Wan'er."
Meiwan recalled the times when her father fondly called her by that nickname. Hearing it from a stranger, yet not, brought a feeling that she couldn't identify. She had only lived with the Yans a couple of weeks, and though she didn't show it, they started feeling like family members. She looked across the table at her uncle, who's dark brown eyes seemed to hold her and bring her comfort. Like he understood all of her complicated feelings and was there for her. She took a deep breath.
"Your mother was my closest family," He began, but his voice cracked, showing his emotion. "My heart hurts for what happened to her, and I don't understand it myself."
It was if he was speaking her own heart and her own thoughts, and she was glad that there was still someone else out there who felt the same pain she'd tried hiding.
"But no matter where your parents are or what they've done, they're my family too. And I'll always take care of their children." Uncle Yan reached over and squeezed her arm gently. "Wan'er, please accept me, accept all of us in Yan mansion. We're here for you."
Meiwan didn't notice the tear that streaked down her cheek, until it dripped from her chin, and she wiped her face with her sleeve. His words were simple and short, but effective. She nodded while looking at the floor, fearing that if she spoke, she'd cry aloud.
Yan Yifeng smiled, sensing the well of emotions rising within his neice.
"Tell me about your day, I'd love to know how school went."
The girl let a small laugh, and accepted the change of subject. "Well, I have a lot to say about it, if you'd care to listen." Her eyes shined with unshed tears, and a smile of her own lit her face.
Uncle Yan chuckled and nodded, "Of course, we have all night."