"I'd also like to congratulate Yuzhao Long on becoming the new Sect Leader of the YueYang Chang Sect.  Ah, wait, no, I should call it the YueYang Qian Sect now." He said raising his cup.

Everyone basically choked on their food when he said this.
She could hear the loud whispers of everyone in the hall, while her friends just looked at her, unsure of how to help.

'THAT RAT BASTARD! HOW THE HELL DID HE FIND OUT?! I'M GOING TO MURDER HIM! AND I'LL MAKE IT LOOK LIKE AN ACCIDENT, TOO!!'

TaiFeng's grip on her teacup was immensely tight.

'No, calm down, keep your cool. You can go batshit crazy later, but for now you have to clean up this mess.'

"Sect Leader Jin, thank you for your congratulations. Although... I hadn't told anyone about me becoming a sect leader. I wonder how you knew about it. I'm rather curious." She said smiling at him, although all her friends could see she was one step away from running across the hall and strangling him.

"So it's really true then." Sect Leader Yao whispered to himself.

"Oh, I heard it from a friend who works at the magistrates office in YueYang. The former sect leader truly was unworthy of his position."

'Like you're any better.'

"Ah, I see." She replied.

"Well I suppose I should reintroduce myself."She said getting up.

'I might as well roll with it.'

"Sect Leader Qian respectfully greets you all." She said dramatically flicking her robes and sitting back down with as much swag as she could muster.

The next two hours consisted of TaiFeng making alliances with all the sects and getting to know her fellow sect leaders.
It was tiring, but Huaisang helped her out whenever she wanted to avoid a conversation and Wuxian and Jiang Cheng defended her whenever someone said she was far too young and inexperienced to run a sect.

After all that she finnaly managed to sit  down and enjoy the party. She talked with A'Yao about how well his gardening tips worked and invited everyone to tour the sect.

Hanging out with Chifeng-zun was fun as well, and she managed to get an alliance with Qinghe Nie Sect thanks to Huaisang.

Although Wangji kept glaring at her for some unknown reason.

Oh, well. He glares at everyone.

Zixuan had just ordered a servant to get some more food for everyone and more wine for Wuxian.

"Where does it all go?" MianMian said as TaiFeng finished her seventh plate of food and Wuxian downed his sixth jar of wine.

"This should be impossible by normal human anatomy standards." Huaisang added, looking at the two in disbelief.

"How are you not bursting at the seams right now?! It should be physically impossible for someone your size to eat that much food!" Zixuan yelled pointing at TaiFeng.

"And you." He pointed at Wuxian.
"How are you not passed out on the floor right now?"

Wuxian and TaiFeng just looked at each other.

"Don't mind them, their lightweights." Wuxian remarked.

"Indeed." TaiFeng replied nodding her head.
"We're just built different."

As she said this , she got a slight chill up her spine.

' Why is it so drafty?'

She turned round to see a servant coming towards them with a plate of food.

'Oh, great more food...He looks familiar.'
She thought as he came closer, going towards Zixuan.

In a split second the servant reached in his robes and pulled out a long twelve inch blade.

'Su Minshan.. It's Su Minshan! He's going towards Zixuan!'

"Jin Zixuan, you'll pay for what you all did to me!"

"NO!"

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.
TaiFeng had ran forward and pushed Zixuan out the way.

In doing so she sent a surge of spiritual energy from her body, knocking Su Minshan back sending him flying eight feet away.

Everyone clamoured around the scene restraining Su Minshan and checking to see if anyone was hurt.

"Zixuan, are you okay?!" She asked, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw he was alright.

She thought everything was fine, until she felt a sharp pain in her left side.

Wincing she placed her hand on where the pain was, she pulled back her hand to find that it was covered in blood.

"A'Hong! Somebody get a healer!"

She could feel her legs getting weaker and weaker until she fell back, her vision starting to fade.

"TaiFeng! Shit! Just stay awake and try not to move." Zixuan said, placing her down on the floor.

He was trying to stay calm but inside he was panicking.

One of his closest friends, no, his soon to be sister-in-law just got stabbed with a knife that was meant for him. She had pushed him out of the way and protected him, nobody had ever protected him like that.

Everyone was swarmed around her trying to get her to stay awake.

"A'Hong, your going to be just fine."
Wuxian said, teary eyed.
'I can't lose another person.'

"The healers here!" Huaisang said clearing a path.

The healer quickly got to work stopping the blood flow.

"We need to move her to the infirmary." The healer said.

"Be honest, it's bad isn't it." She croaked.
"What a waste of a good outfit."

"Your going to be okay, A'Hong, just stay awake." Yanli said tears streaming down her face.

"I think it went in too deep." The healer assessed the wound.

"That's what she said." She chuckled, before finnaly losing consciousness.

"A'Hong!"

"TaiFeng!"

"Sect Leader Qian!"

Did I die?

No

Am I going to die?

No, you're just injured.

That's good, is anybody else hurt?

You should worry about yourself first. You nearly died.

Relax, Zhishu, I saved someone. I don't regret what I did.

The next time you might not be so lucky. You won't survive the war the way you are now.

Lao Fang, what should I do?

Get smart. And prove to me that I didn't make the wrong decision.

She was rushed to the infirmary at light speed. Healers clamoured  around her tending to her wound and sending her spiritual energy.

After an agonizing two hours the doctors finnaly deemed her to be stable.

"What was that surge of spiritual energy she sent out? I've never felt anything like that." Chifeng-zun said, waiting outside with the rest.

"Neither did Su Minshan. The healers said that both his arms are broken."
MianMian said looking down.

"He deserved it." Jiang Cheng spat, every syllable dripping with venom.

"The Jin Sect will deal with him accordingly." Zewu-Jun said, while A'Yao was ashamed that something like this had happened in Koi Tower.

This was his home, and the person he cherishes the most had almost died here.

Zewu-Jun wasn't in the best shape either. He was trying his best to act collected but in reality he was freaking out. He didn't realize just how much he cared for TaiFeng.

Nobody did. But the thought of losing her after all they've been through was absolutely terrifying.

Qingheng-Jun and Wangji were also there.

Wangji didn't really know TaiFeng that well, but when he saw the devastated look on Wuxians face when she took the knife for Zixuan, he knew he had to be there for support.

In all honesty, he couldn't quite put his finger on her. She barely knew him, yet she had managed to convince his father to come out of seclusion by saying things about him like she had known him his whole life.

He may be extremely jealous of her relationship with Wuxian, but he wasn't going to let that getting in the way of being there for moral support.

If anything, he thought he owed her for bringing his father out of seclusion.

Wuxian and Zixuan were silent, simply looking at the floor.

"She doesn't have a golden core.".
Wuxian softly spoke.

Everyone except Yanli and Cheng, looked at him with confusion.

"That makes no sense. She can ride a sword." Chifeng-zun said.

"Plus, we all felt that huge amount of spiritual energy before. I've never felt that much spiritual energy come of of a person." Qingheng-Jun added.

"She doesn't have a golden core, so her whole body acts as one. She stores her spiritual energy in every part of her. It's even in her blood."
Jiang Cheng explained, head in hands while Yanli placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Is that even possible?" Huaisang questioned.

"There's a first for everything." Jiang Cheng replied.

"If she gets heavily injured there's a slight chance that her spiritual energy will fluctuate... Which would result in Qi Deviation." Wuxian whispered.

Everyone gasped. Qi Deviation? They knew that the wound was serious, but they had no idea just how fatal it could have been.

"And she took the knife knowing that?!"
Zixuan screamed.
"What was she thinking?! She could have died!"

"She did it to save you! Because that's how she is! She wouldn't be able to live with herself if anything happened to the people she cares about!" Jiang Cheng wailed.

"I DIDN'T ASK HER TO TAKE THE HIT! IT SHOULD OF BEEN ME!... It should have been me."
Zixuan quieted down.

"Both of you stop yelling! Just be grateful that she's still here." Huaisang intervened.

"Huaisang is right." Yanli declared.
"Right now we just need to be there for her when she wakes up."

"We shouldn't worry to much."
Chifeng-zun said, putting a firm grip on Huaisangs shoulder.

"That kid's got a strong will to live. Not even I would be so nonchalant to complain about ruining my outfit and crack a dirty joke on the verge of death."

They all smiled at this and steeled their resolves.

"Da-ge is right! We just need to stay strong, and when she wakes up we'll all treat her to enough tasty food to feed an army!" Huaisang proclaimed.

"I still don't understand where it all goes." MianMian chuckled.

Sunlight gently peaked through the windows of the healers den, gracing TaiFeng's features with its warm glow.

'Is it already morning?'
She thought, slowly opening her eyes.

She tried getting up but felt a weight on her both her arms.
Looking either side, she found that Wuxian was sleeping on her left side while Jiang Cheng was on her right.

'Honestly, these two. They act tough, but their both still just kids.'

She could see the tear streaks on both of their faces. Letting out a heavy sigh, she placed her hands on both of their heads.

'Don't worry, I'll get even stronger.  And I'll make sure I never scare you guys again.'

Awoken by the sudden movement, the two boys shot up.

"A'Hong, are you feeling any better." Wuxian said, checking her over.

"I'm fine, just quit fussing. Since when do you two not sleep in your own beds?" She laughed.

"Since you kept moving around in your sleep healer said at least two of us should make sure you don't reopen your wound." Jiang Cheng replied.

"Oh, sorry, I always was a figity person. I didn't think that applied even in my sleep." She said, scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"You know you didn't have to do that for the peacock." Jiang Cheng said.
"You could have died."

"So could he. As a cultivator I did what was right." She said firmly.

"Are you serious?! If he got stabbed the most he would have got was four days of bed rest. He would have been fine. You on the other hand not so much. You could have Qi Deviated!" Wuxian yelled.

"I know and I'm sorry. But I don't regret anything. What I did what was right. And it all worked out in the end anyway....But does everyone know? About me not having a core, I mean."

"MianMian, Jin Guangyao, and the peacock know about it. Along with Chifeng-zun, Qingheng-Jun and Huaisang." Wuxian explained.

"And that stuck up jade statue."
Jiang Cheng snorted.

"Lan Zhan isn't stuck up." Wuxian defended  "By the way, A'Hong,  I think he likes you."

Jiang Cheng straight up fell of the bed laughing, while TaiFeng choked on air.

"Congratulations, TaiFeng. When's the wedding? I'll make sure to send gifts." Jiang Cheng said, practically hyperventilating.

"And you managed to come to this conclusion how, exactly?"
TaiFeng said, massaging her temples.

"Well, I mean, why else would he keep your book for so long?"

'Wei Ying, really? How can someone be so smart and so dumb at the same time?'

"Look, it's definitely not me that he likes. I'll let you figure the rest out. Here's a little hint. Your the only person he let's get close to him!"
She yelled, hitting him on his arm.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He confusedly asked.

"How did you deal with his dumbness for this long?" TaiFeng exasperatedly sighed, looking at Jiang Cheng.

"Honestly I'm suprised I haven't strangled him by now." Jiang Cheng tsked.

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS PICKING ON ME?! IF LAN ZHAN DOESN'T LIKE A'HONG, THEN WHO DOES HE LIKE?!?!" Wuxian screamed.

"He likes you, you idiot!" TaiFeng and Jiang Cheng simultaneously yelled back.

"What?! That's impossible, I mean, there's no way that he would, because, well, um, you see, uh..... Really?"

"Its painfully obvious at this point."
Jiang Cheng  said.

"But there's no way! He hates me!"
Wuxian yelled.

"He doesn't hate you. He's just emotionally constipated and doesn't know how to properly convey his feelings to you. He does like you he just doesn't know what to say, nor does he have any experience with the opposite sex." TaiFeng explained.

"Once again the great Yuzhao Long dispenseses her wisdom!" Jiang Cheng dramatically yelled.

"But seriously, just ask him if he likes you and he won't be able to avoid telling you how he feels. After all, Lans are terrible at lying. Like, really, they majorly suck at it."

"Yeah, and if you get rejected you can just say that you were joking about confessing." Jiang Cheng said as he fought a snicker.

"Are you two sure about this?" Wuxian said.

"You won't know until you try. But right now there are more pressing matters at hand." She said holding her stomach. 

"The tiger must be fed."