Chapter 3 - The Noble Sun Ren

Lu Na led Sun Ren to her quarters. It was one of the smaller sections of the Lu compound, but it still had a large private bedroom, a private outhouse, and a large pavilion in the middle of a lush garden. This year, she allowed her servants to decorate the space however they wanted.

Red lanterns hung on the four corners of the pavilion, with candles already lit inside. There were clay rabbits painted green placed everywhere. The top of the pavilion had the different phases of the moon painted on it. Lu Na’s courtyard looked like a painting for children. She couldn’t believe that her servants still thought of her as one. Or maybe they were more childish than she thought.

“Amazing, it looks like the spirit realm here,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

“If this is what the spirit realm looks like, I’m a little scared about going there one day,” Lu Na said.

“Hmm?” Sun Ren said.

“Oh, sorry. I was talking with my spirit.”

“Oh.” Sun Ren stared at Lu Na, focusing on her chest.

“What?”

“It doesn’t look like you’ve practiced any summoner techniques. How are you able to talk with your spirit?”

Lu Na sat down on a stone chair in her pavilion.

“I don’t know what you mean. I’ve always talked with my spirit since we’ve been bonded.”

Sun Ren sat down opposite Lu Na.

“Normally, most people who aren’t practicing summoners can’t hear their spirits. They’re just there. That’s how I felt when I first bonded with Baihu. It took me at least two years of practicing with my sifu before I could hear her. But you’re telling me you’ve heard your spirit since you’ve been bonded?”

Lu Na nodded.

“That’s…”

“Extraordinary? Awesome? Amazing? Best spirit in the world?” her spirit supplied.

“Weird,” Sun Ren said.

“Tell her I’m going to show her weird. She better watch herself at night as she sleeps.”

Lu Na chuckled.

“She thought you were going to say something good about her being able to talk with me. But no, I never found it weird since my mother helped me bond with this spirit. I always thought it was something she did for me and my brother.”

“It’s a shame about your mother,” Sun Ren said.

“I’m over it. But it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. You’ve changed a lot,” Lu Na said.

“Oh, have I?”

“All I remembered was when I first met you. You looked so serious like you were about to study for a test. Now you look…”

“More relaxed?” Sun Ren raised her chin, taking a long deep breath. “You know, you weren’t wrong. I was a very serious child. I’ve been trying to get my father to take me seriously for so long. And now, I’ve finally gotten him to recognize my hard work. Of course, my brothers can do whatever and be recognized because they’re boys, but we women have it harder. One day you’ll understand.”

“I already do. So why are you visiting us?”

Sun Ren leaned in like she was about to tell Lu Na a secret.

It made Lu Na lean in too.

Sun Ren laughed. She laughed really hard and loud, throwing her head back. Her cool composure gone as she laughed.

“It was because it’s the Mid-Autumn Festival and I had no one to celebrate it with. My mother is going to visit her parents and they absolutely hate me. My brothers are going to be spending their time in the most expensive brothel in the city. So I asked my father to let me stay with a friend. Who better than my father’s own sworn brother with a daughter my age? This way, I can do what I want and my father will think that I’m safe, so boringly safe.”

“Safe? Safe from what? You have an army of bodyguards,” Lu Na said.

“Ever since my father put down the rebels, we’ve gained a lot of enemies, especially among the poor. They feel as if we’re supporting the corruption in the Imperial government. And so whenever he leaves on campaign, he tries to keep us safe. And I told him, there’s no place safer than with my friend.”

“Wow, you actually have a friend?” Lu Na’s spirit said.

“I’m glad you came then,” Lu Na said, ignoring her spirit. “But it’s been so long since we last saw each other. I thought you would have forgotten me already.”

Sun Ren smiled, showing just a bit of teeth.

“I’ll be honest. It wasn’t you I remembered so fondly, but your mother. But I’m sure we had some fun times together and we will have some fun times this time around, too. Besides, I brought a couple of friends with me.”

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“Friends?”

“Senior Sun Ren, may we enter?” a woman called from the archway to Lu Na’s courtyard. She was a tall woman, wearing a bright red tunic with the family name Sun sewn into the back and sleeves. She had no adornments other than the sword at her hip.

“This is not my home. You’ll have to ask Young Miss Lu for permission,” Sun Ren said.

“Who are they?” Lu Na asked.

“Summoners,” Lu Na’s spirit said. “I can sense a large group of summoners just outside, all stronger than the ones that attacked you this morning. We might be under attack.”

“They’re my bodyguards and fellow disciples of my sifu,” Sun Ren said. “They go everywhere with me. With the recent kidnappings, my father thought it would be wise to keep them with me. I hope you don’t have an issue with sharing a space with twenty-one other women.”

Lu Na looked around her courtyard. By herself with a few of her maids, it was a vast area, but twenty-one other women?

“So, can they come in?” Sun Ren asked.

“Oh, yes, of course. It would be ungracious of me to deny my guests what they need,” Lu Na said.

Sun Ren waved her hand to beckon the ladies in.

“But where are they staying? My quarters here aren’t big enough for them all,” Lu Na said.

“Don’t worry about it. They’re used to sleeping on the ground if they have to. But I’m sure your father will find a way to house them in your large compound.”

All the women walked into Lu Na’s courtyard. They all wore the same uniform as the first, but none of them were as tall as the first. The first woman was easily taller than Lu Na’s brother.

When Sun Ren visited as a child, at most she had a maid to mind her and a few guards. This was bordering on ridiculous. Yet what could she say? Customs dictate that the guests be received with every courtesy, especially one that is as important as Sun Ren.

The last woman in the red uniform walked in with a tray of food. She brought it to the pavilion’s table and laid it down.

“I checked to make sure that there was no poison and tasted it myself,” she said. “Although, if Young Miss Lu would please forgive my bluntness, that servant that came by looks very suspicious. Do I have permission to beat him if he gets out of line?”

“Yes, one hundred times, yes.” It sounded almost like her spirit was yelling in her head. There was glee in her voice.

As much as Lu Na wanted to agree, she couldn’t. Head servant Cui Yi would just go back to her second mother and complain. Sun Ren and her bodyguards were only going to be here for a short while. She would have to still live with them afterwards.

“No, I don’t think he’s going to do anything foolish. He knows better than most how to recognize which way the wind is blowing,” Lu Na said. “But if he endangers Young Miss Sun, please don’t hold back on my account.”

The woman nodded and walked away.

“You know, if you dislike that man, I can have him permanently removed,” Sun Ren whispered. “I do that kind of stuff now.”

“Your mouth is gaping,” her spirit said.

Lu Na closed her mouth.

“Are you serious?” Lu Na eyed Sun Ren’s sword at her hip. That was a dangerous weapon.

Sun Ren broke out laughing again.

“Oh Na Na, you’re so funny.”

“Hey, only Mother and brother call me that,” Lu Na said. “And you looked so serious. You look so different compared to all the other Young Misses I’ve talked with. I don’t know when you’re kidding or not.”

Sun Ren settled down and tapped the stone table once.

“Okay, I’ll stop teasing you. I’ve been training tirelessly since last we met as children and this is the first time I can enjoy myself. That’s why I came here. The only place I remembered having fun. So while I’m here, think of me as nothing more than a friend.”

“Fine. Just stop teasing me already.”

“That was the last time, I promise. However, I am bound to my father’s honor of protecting the people of this city. So if anyone becomes an issue, tell me and I will resolve it for you.”

Lu Na nodded. This was going to be a tough few days with such a guest. But at least now she could rest easy, knowing that she was safer than she was this morning.

Lu Na spent the rest of the afternoon eating and talking about different things. Sun Ren talked about all her summoner training and other things happening in the country. Lu Na talked about all the gossip surrounding the other Young Misses in the city. Time passed by so quickly that night fell and they were still at the pavilion.

Lu Fengxian approached the archway to enter Lu Na’s quarters, but Sun Ren’s bodyguards stopped him. He clasped his hands and bowed low.

“Young Miss Sun, might I approach you ladies?” he called over.

“Of course,” Sun Ren said.

The bodyguards in red parted for him to walk over. Behind him trailed a few servants.

“My father, Lu Tien, sends his regards,” Lu Fengxian said with a deep bow once he reached their table. “He apologizes for not being able to dine with you tonight, but he sent me as his representative to make sure every courtesy is given to our esteemed guest.”

“Uncle Lu is a very busy man. Besides, I don’t think he would be very good company,” Sun Ren said. “Please, join us.”

Lu Fengxian nodded and sat opposite the two ladies with a straight back.

“You can drop the formality while there is no one around. We’re all friends here,” Sun Ren said.

“And stop calling me a lady,” Lu Na said.

“Not that you ever were one.” Her spirit chuckled.

Lu Na wasn’t sure what triggered her spirit, but she was being very catty around Sun Ren and her brother. She was going to have to talk with her later.

The bodyguards in red came over with the many dishes of food. There were so many dishes that it filled up the stone table with many distinct colors and smells. There were fish, an entire roast duck, a small suckling pig, and five different vegetables that were stir-fried and boiled.

“Everything has been tested and it’s safe,” the lead bodyguard said.

“Well, I would hope so. It would be silly to poison ourselves as well,” Lu Na said.

“Not if you’ve already taken the antidote first,” Sun Ren said.

“That’s going too far.”

“Or if our father cared even less about his own children to poison someone else,” Lu Fengxian said.

That was unexpected. Lu Na never thought of her brother to be so cynical about their father before.

“Well, now that we’ve established that everything is safe anyway, let’s eat,” Sun Ren said.

Lu Fengxian sat up straight the entire time, eating quietly, never making direct eye contact with Sun Ren. He looked little at Lu Na for that matter either. Of course, with a guest here, Lu Na would not question her brother.

Lu Na wanted to say something, but her brother has made it very awkward. Even Sun Ren, who was talkative before, said little.

“Well, this is boring. Get me when something interesting happens.” Lu Na felt as if her spirit had disconnected from her mind. She rarely did that unless she went to sleep or when her spirit got tired for whatever reason. Lu Na didn’t understand the process at all and no matter how much she asked the spirit, it wouldn’t explain anything.

The night was winding down into something calm. At least until the bells started ringing and the screaming.