"My head is killing me. Where am I?"
TaiFeng moaned, eyes still firmly shut.

Feeling around, her hands were brushing over soft silk sheets. But they weren't her own.

Slowly opening her eyes she was met with a ceiling, the ceiling of her old room in Yunmeng to be more precise. 

"Shit!" She cursed sitting up in her bed, which she instantly regretted as her wounds hadn't  fully healed yet.

"Ow, ow, ow. Ugh, my everything hurts." She winced as she rubbed her sore arms. Being flung across a cave by a evil mutant ninja turtle really did a number on her.

'What day is it?... Where's the sword?!'

Frantically looking around, she started to panic when she couldn't sense any resentful energy anywhere.

Ajusting her white inner robes she slowly got up out of bed and went towards the door.

'Judging by the level of my injuries, it hasn't been more than five days since I killed the Xuanwu.' She thought using the table for balance.

'I just hope nobody got to the sword, otherwise I might as well just yeet myself sraight into Yunmeng Lake.'

Swiftly opening the door and stepping out, she immediately collided with someone.

Tripping on her robes she almost fell straight on her back if it wasn't for a pair of strong arms catching her by her waist.

"TaiFeng! Your awake!" Xichen said, still holding her princess style.

Before she could greet him, he quickly pulled her in for a hug.

"I was so worried. I...the doctors weren't sure.. If you would wake up." He whispered, burying his head in the crook of her neck.

TaiFeng wasn't really sure what to do so she just rubbed circles on his back whilst inhaling his soothing chamomile scent.

"How... for how long was I asleep?" She gently whispered.

"Three days." He quietly replied.

Coming face to face with him, she could see the heavy bags under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept this entire time.

"Xichen-ge, when's the last time you slept? You look worse than me." She sadly chuckled.

Awkwardly averting his gaze, he solemnly looked down at his feet.

"Nevermind, I won't pry."She said in a soothing tone.
"..What happened while I was asleep? I'm sure you have a lot you want to tell me...Um, uh, do you know what happened to that weird looking sword I had?"

TaiFeng carefully sat down on a chair by her table, Xichen sitting in the opposite side.

"It was filled with resentful energy, so your head disciple took it back to YueYang to put in your vault." He answered.

"Oh, thank goodness. It would be catastrophic if the Wens got their hands on something that powerful." She sighed, feeling rather relieved. "I'm just glad nobody was hurt."

"But you were hurt! Using spiritual energy alongside resentful energy could have killed you! And what exactly was that power you showed back in the cave?!" He yelled, before quieting back down again.

".... I.. I just don't want to see you constantly risking your life anymore. You almost died once...isn't that enough?"

Feeling extremly guilty about making him worry so much, she looked at her hands in shame.

"I'm sorry for making you worry so much. I'll try not to do anything reckless in the future. And as for the power I used...um, well."

'He doesn't need to know, he'll just worry... Nobody really needs to know, I'll just trouble them.'

"...I honestly don't know what that power was. I don't remember anything after I got thrown across the cave and passed out. It was kinda like my brain sort of switched off and my body just started moving on its own.. If that makes any sense."

"It doesn't... But I guess it can't be helped." He sighed.

"What happened after we all killed the Xuanwu?" She asked.

"Well when you killed the Xuanwu," He said, enunciating the fact that she had singlehandedly killed it, which made her roll her eyes in dismissal.

"Wangji went and escorted your disciples back to YueYang before returning to Gusu. Since you were so heavily injured we thought it would be best if you were brought back to Lotus Pier, as it's closer."

"Mn... And is there a paticular reason that your in Yunmeng instead of Gusu with your brother?" She questioned, raising her eyebrow, a trace of a smile playing on her lips.

Xichen panicked. He was hoping that she would overlook that small detail, but as expected, you can't get anything by the great Yuzhao Long.

"Well... You were exposed to resentful energy, so I needed to play Cleansing." He managed to get out.

"Oh. I see...In that case, thanks a lot." She said, a little disappointed at his reason.

'Why am I disappointed? What was I even expecting anyway? I bet he doesn't see me as anything more than a friend.'

"I, uh, we should probably go and greet the others. I'm sure they've all been worried sick these past three days."

Slowly putting on one of her old red outer robes she walked down the familiar hallways of Lotus Pier with Xichen.

"Aaah, I've missed the smell of lotus flowers." She dreamily sighed, taking in a breath.

"I almost forgot how beautiful Yunmeng Lake was."

"It is quite a sight to behold." Xichen agreed. "Yunmeng is nothing at all like Gusu."

"It has a pretty lively community, I can tell you that." She chuckled.

"One that your definitely a big part of, that's for sure." Xichen said with a cheeky smile.

'Can he just not smile like that! It makes my heart do things!'

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" She said, calming down her racing pulse.

"You'll see."
He said, walking into the side hall where Wei Ying, Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli were.

"A'Hong!"

"Er-jie!"

"Can you just stop doing this?! Our hearts can only take so much!" Jiang Cheng yelled.

"A'Hong, I'm so glad your okay." Yanli sighed, bringing her in for a hug.

"Jie, I missed you."
She sniffed, before turning her attention to the massive hord of boxes behind them.

"...Did Jie's betrothal gifts get delivered already?" 

"These aren't betrothal gifts." Jiang Cheng smiled.

"..Then?"

"They're get well soon gifts!" Wei Ying yelled, popping out from under a pile of boxes.

"...Were you under there the entire time? Wait, wait, "get well soon gifts." What do you mean?"

"The townspeople found out that you were staying at Lotus Pier, and they sent a whole bunch of gifts." Jiang Cheng explained.

"Ah, don't worry. They don't know that you were injured, only that you were staying for a few days." Xichen added.

"Yeah, but surely this can't all be for me... can it?"

TaiFeng was bewildered, there were at least sixty different boxes and baskets filling up the  hall.

"Just look at all this great stuff they sent! Red bean buns from Shopkeeper Duan, topography charts from Librarian Sun, and fine liquor from Mr Yang." Wuxian said, holding up lots of differnt sized boxes.

"Even Madame Han who runs the songhouse (brothel) at the outskirts of town sent over some premium fur to make winter cloaks! Admit it, Er-jie, your popular~."

"Wow, I don't know what to say, I mean....Who sent those boxes?" She said, eyes narrowing into a irritated scowl as she fixed her gaze apon four large gold and yellow boxes.

"....Sect Leader Jin." Jiang Cheng sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why me?!" TaiFeng dramaticlly wailed, plopping down on the floor. "What atrocious sin did I commit in a past life to deserve this?...Oh, well, maybe I'll just donate these to Madame Han, because that's where dresses like these belong!"

Opening the crate with a single finger, she begrudgingly peered inside.

"Oh.....Oh~."

"What do you mean "Oh~", what's inside it?" Wuxian and the others asked peering into the box.

Inside were the same thing as always, dresses and jewellery. Except this time the dresses were elegant and tasteful while the jewellery was sophisticated and refined. It all looked like it was fit for the Mother of the State herself.

"Well, this isn't anything like what he sent last time." Xichen said, examining some hairpins.

"Oh, there a note as well."
TaiFeng said, unfolding the piece of paper.

Hey, Tiger. If your reading this it means that your probably awake by now. If your wondering why these gifts are significantly less tacky then the previous ones, it's because this time I convinced my mother to select the gifts instead.

Sincerely, Peacock.

P.S
Don't worry to much about your disciples back at YueYang, I sent some of my trusted servants and aides to help out while you recover.

"Well, that makes me feel better. YiZhang is extremely capable for his age, but he can't do everything by himself."She sighed.

"I just hope I can get back to YueYang as soon as possible."

"But before that you need to rest." Xichen kindly said.
"Your wounds haven't fully healed yet, so you shouldn't overdo anything."

"Ugh, I feel so useless right now." TaiFeng mumbled. "Oh, well, it could be worse."

"Sect Leader Qian." A servant announced, walking into the side hall doors.
"Sect Leader Jiang and Madam Yu are  requesting an audience with you in the Swords Hall."

'Why do I open my mouth and say these things?'

"...Tell them I'll be there right away." She gulped.

"Er-jie, are you okay? You look a little pale." Wuxian said.

"The last time I saw Sect Leader Jiang and Madam Yu, I was a homeless orphan girl you found passed out on the side of the road." She sighed, head hung low.

"Now I'm of equal, if not higher, status as Jiang Fengmian. And to top  it all off, I didn't even tell them about it, they probably found out from others!... This is going to be the most awkward family reunion ever!"

"..Didi, quickly, pass me that red outer robe!" TaiFeng said, scrambling to fix her hair.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Wei Ying said, throwing her the robe.

"Uh, why exactly are you getting dressed now?" Jiang Cheng questioned.

"I haven't seen them in months. I have to look presentable!" She said, putting on another sheer red outer layer with lillies embroidered on it before tying a gold sash around her waist.

"This hairpin would look nice with that." Yanli said, handing over a hairpin with forget me nots on the end.

"Thanks Jie. Well, wish me luck!"She said, before speed walking out the door.

'Okay, you've got this. Just be polite and nothing should go wrong. Your a sect leader now, so at the very least Madam Yu should show some decorum... Although when has rank ever stopped her from speaking her mind.'

"Sect Leader Qian has arrived." The servant announced before opening the doors to the Swords Hall.

'Here goes nothing.'

Without missing a beat, she gracefully walked in and deeply bowed to the to of them.

"Qian TaiFeng respectfully greets Sect Leader Jiang and Madam Yu."

"Hmph, so you still know how to be respectful!" Madam Yu hissed, while TaiFeng just stared at the oh so interesting floor.

"Calm down, San-niang. It can't be helped." Jiang Fengmian chuckled.

"This one apologizes for their transgressions." TaiFeng said, bowing as far down as her injuries would allow her. 

"I should have told you both sooner about my becoming of a sect leader, I'm deeply sorry."

"Alright, that's enough bowing. Since YueYang Qian Sect is now a major sect, we're of the same status. And besides, there's no need for such formalities between us."

Rising from her bow, she she let out a breath of relief and smiled.

The rest of the conversation went smoothly, and TaiFeng could of sworn she saw Madam Yu smile from out the corner of her eye, but she was most likely just hallucinating.

"TaiFeng." Jiang Fengmian said in a serious tone.
"How long do you think it will be before the Wens make a move?"

Placing down her teacup, she grimly replied.
"At this point, we should be counting down the hours. I'm not too sure as to where they'll strike first, but my intuition tell me that it'll either be YueYang, Gusu or Yunmeng. Gusu is the furthest away from Qishan, and YueYang has already been targeted. But they failed to get past the wards... and they were eaten alive."

"I beg your pardon?" Madam Yu questioned.

"They were eaten alive? By what exactly?" Jiang Fengmian said sweatdropping.

"There's a snake elemental living in the north side of the sect." She nervously chuckled.
"It's under my control through, and it won't attack unless I give it orders... And I did put up signs, so really it's not my fault that those Wens were chewed to bits."

"...I see. Then that leaves Yunmeng as the most likely choice for them to attack." He contemplated.

"Sect Leader Jiang! Sect Leader Qian! Madam Yu!" A disciple yelled as he burst through the doors, panting and out of breath.

"What is it?" The three of them simultaneously said.

"I was practicing on the outskirts of the town, when I saw a huge group of people in red marching towards Lotus Pier."

"What?!" Madam Yu yelled.

"How many were there?" Taifeng said, now standing up.

"Replying to Sect Leader Qian." He said, finnaly catching his breath

"At least two, maybe even three hundred. I flew back on my sword as fast as I could."

TaiFeng went pale and her heart was going a million miles an hour.

'Two hundred? It was never this severe before. Where's Wang LingJiao? Why hasn't she captured one of the junior disciples? Is Wen Zhuliu here as well? What about Wen Chao then?' TaiFeng's head felt like a screw that had been tightened too many times.

'Would Wen Xu be here as well? It wasn't this early on, was it? Shouldn't it be a little later in the day? We didn't prepare. No. I didn't prepare. It's all my fault. I knew they were coming from the very beginning, and I just sat by and let it happen. I've let everyone down.'

"Did..Did you see anyone you recognise? Perhaps one of the Young Masters? Or maybe Wen Zhuliu?"
She said, barely pulling herself together.

"I happened to hear someone being addressed as First Young Master Wen. I don't know about anyone named Wen Zhuliu." The disciple replied.

"Your dismissed. Tell everyone that we will shortly be under attack, and to set up wards around Lotus Pier." Jiang Fengmian ordered.

The disciple flew out of the room and shortly afterwards you could hear the commotion from outside.

"I need to tell A'Cheng, A'Xian and Yanli. Where's Xichen-ge?" She frantically said, running out the door.

"Qian TaiFeng!" Madam Yu yelled, making TaiFeng stop at the threshold.

"Protect A'Cheng and A'Li! Get them somewhere safe and protect them with your life!"

She slowly nodded before running away to find her siblings.

'I have to protect them. I owe them my life, I have to make sure there all safe no matter what.'

Halfway through running she stopped in her tracks.

'Wen Xu is here...He knows I'm here. We can't win. There's no way on earth we can win no matter how many barriers we put up. Two hundred,no, three hundred, is far too many, we can't win this, there's no way. Our barriers aren't even that strong, and we have too many weak points. They'll use the waterways to get in. That's how they were able to take us down so easily the first time. It's midday, half of the disciples are probably training in the back fields or by the lake. I have to protect them, I promised Madam Yu that I would keep them safe. But, they won't make it in time, it's impossible. It's impossible. It's impossible. It's impossible. It's impossible.... Unless.'

"TaiFeng!"

She was snapped out of her thoughts, by a pair of hands clasping each of her shoulder.

"What happened!? Why are you crying? Are you in any pain?" Xichen frantically asked.

'I was crying?'

"Lotus Pier is under attack. Three  hundred Wen soldiers are heading this way, and Lotus Pier will burn to the ground... Unless I stop them."

Without saying a word, Xichen dragged her into the nearest room and closed the door.

"Unless you stop them ? What do you mean? We can defend your home together, you don't need to do anything on your own." He pleaded, hands now firmly clasping hers.

"Xichen-ge, Wen Xu is leading them.  There no way that we can win this, no matter how hard we fight, we're severely outnumbered. He knows that I'm here and it's me that he wants."

"No! I won't let you do this! There's no way in hell that I'm letting you go towards that bastard!" He yelled.

"I don't want to do this either! But I don't have a choice!" She yelled back.

"It's either I go, or I watch everyone I  care about get killed! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just did nothing and let that happen! I promised Madam Yu!"

Hearing this he thought back to something Jiang Cheng had said in the past.

"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!"

"TaiFeng listen to me." He said, hugging her like she was going to evaporate if he let go.

"We will find a way around this, you don't need to keep sacrificing yourself like this...So please don't do this."

Returning the hug, she melted in his warm arms, and soaked in his chamomile scent.

"Lan Huan." She brokenly whispered through her tears.

He was stunned.
She had never once called him by his birth name. For a brief moment, time had stopped, and nothing else seemed to matter. It almost made this entire situation all okay.

"...Y-yes?" He finnaly replied,still quite shocked at the sudden intimacy.

"I'm sorry."