Volume 3, Chapter 432 – The Xiyan Flower Hairpin

Chi Residence. Before the eldest young lady’s hairpin ceremony banquet.

Candlelight flickered before the gilded bronze mirror.

Chi Muxue was barefoot, her feet lightly treading over the silk strewn across the floor.

Her pale undergarment, embroidered with silver flowers, hung loosely off her shoulders. She pursed her lips and scolded softly, “Xiyan, you fool! This wretched sash is going to strangle me!”

Chi Xiyan looked at the girl before her and sighed helplessly.

There was an indulgence in her expression that she herself hadn’t noticed.

She set down the comb, her gaze sweeping across the scattered hairpins on the dressing table.

At last, her eyes settled on a wooden box covered with red silk.

She hesitated, her fingertips pressing unconsciously against her sleeve.

She sighed quietly to herself and reached out to cover the box again.

She stepped behind the girl and reached out to straighten her clothes. “Lift your arms.”

“Mm hmm.” Chi Muxue obediently complied.

“Turn around, let me see.”

The girl took a light, graceful step, raising her sleeves as she turned in a circle.

Suddenly, her feet stumbled, and she fell backward, lightly into Chi Xiyan’s arms.

“Ah! I tripped. Xiyan has to hold me so I can get back up!”

“…” Chi Xiyan looked at her with a speechless expression. “What are you playing at?”

“That’s what I should be asking you.” Chi Muxue leaned against her, tilting her head up. “You promised to help me get ready, but you keep drifting off.”

“What are you thinking about that’s more important than my hairpin ceremony?”

Chi Xiyan went silent, her throat moving. She protested, “I, I wasn’t.”

“You still say you weren’t!” Chi Muxue turned around, leaning her head in to brush her nose against her.

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“I smell it. There’s a strange, unfamiliar floral scent. It’s not your usual scent.”

“What are you hiding, Chi Xiyan?”

Chi Xiyan felt uneasy from her movements.

When the girl brushed lightly against the side of her neck, her body stiffened for an instant as though struck by lightning.

“Stop fooling around.” She immediately stepped back and pushed the girl back onto the stool.

She drew a light breath, her fingers running through the girl’s cascade of dark hair. “If you keep this up, you’ll be late for your hairpin ceremony.”

Just then, Chi Xiyan saw, reflected in the bronze mirror, the girl’s sly smile.

“Xiyan. You really are hiding something.”

“Let me see what you were just hiding!”

With that, the girl suddenly reached out and pulled away the red silk on the table.

“Wait! Don’t!” Chi Xiyan instinctively tried to stop her.

But it was too late.

Once the red silk was pulled away, a plain little wooden box was revealed.

“What is this?” the girl asked curiously.

Chi Xiyan picked up the box and clutched it tightly to her chest.

“Xiyan.” The girl looked up at her. “Is it something important?”

“This thing.” Chi Xiyan hesitated for a moment.

But in the end, she still took the box out of her arms and placed it in front of Chi Muxue.

“This is the hairpin ceremony gift I prepared for you.”

“Ah!” An expression of surprise crossed the girl’s face.

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She looked thoroughly excited.

“Xiyan, can I open it right now?”

The tips of Chi Xiyan’s ears warmed slightly, but she nodded anyway. “You can.”

Chi Muxue opened the wooden box.

Inside was a hairpin.

On the silver body of the hairpin, five glossy white petals layered and unfurled, with a touch of jade green at the center.

It was a very beautiful hairpin.

Chi Xiyan looked at the hairpin, her mind drifting slightly.

Giving Chi Muxue a hairpin at her coming of age ceremony was something she had planned long ago.

Originally, as far as gift hairpins went, picking one out from the merchant guild would have been enough.

But Chi Xiyan had, on a whim, made one herself instead.

Though the craftsmanship couldn’t compare to that of a professional jeweler, it truly was Chi Xiyan’s own design.

To Chi Xiyan, this hairpin carried a special meaning.

“This is a xiyan flower, isn’t it.” Chi Muxue asked softly. “A flower that shares the same sound as your name.”

“Yes.” Chi Xiyan answered.

Since the girl had already recognized the flower, she saw no reason to be coy about it any longer.

“Do you like it?”

“Thank you, I love it.” The girl held it clasped in her hands, pulling it close to her chest. “Can I wear it? Right now!”

“Wait until after the crowning ceremony.”

Before Chi Xiyan could finish speaking, the girl before her had already undone her elaborate hairstyle.

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Her dark hair spilled out like ink, brushing across the back of Chi Xiyan’s hand like willow branches.

“Xiyan! Put it on for me!” The girl sat up straight on the stool.

“Ugh.” Chi Xiyan’s face was full of helplessness. “Fine, I’ll let you try it on now. You’ll still have to put it on again at the banquet later.”

“Mm hmm!”

Chi Xiyan gathered up Chi Muxue’s hair and slid the silver hairpin into place.

“There, it’s on.” Chi Xiyan said.

The girl looked at the bronze mirror before her.

The silver flower hairpin, nestled among her jet black hair, looked perfectly fitting.

“Xiyan! This looks so good! Did you really make this hairpin yourself?”

“Mm, I made it myself.” Chi Xiyan nodded. “The craftsmanship is quite plain, but that’s only because you’re already beautiful enough on your own.”

Chi Muxue raised her hand and lightly touched the end of the hairpin.

A faint smile curved at the corner of her lips.

“Xiyan, this is the best birthday gift I’ve ever received in my life.”

“I’ll treasure it forever.”

Chi Xiyan lowered her eyes slightly, her gaze deepening.

Did this girl truly understand the meaning behind this flower hairpin?

Chi Xiyan felt her emotions grow complicated.

She wanted to know the answer, yet she feared what would happen if she truly received it.

But, perhaps things being as they were now was already good enough.

Perhaps this, right now, was exactly the way she had hoped things would be.

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Just then, a maidservant’s voice came from outside the room. “Young Miss, are you both ready? The hour is almost here!”

“I’m ready!” Chi Muxue answered.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror, gave a small laugh, and took the hairpin out of her hair again.

“Xiyan.” She turned around and pressed the hairpin back into Chi Xiyan’s hands.

“At the hairpin ceremony later, I want you to be the one to put this hairpin on me again.”

Chi Xiyan stared blankly at the hairpin in her hand, momentarily stunned.

The hairpin used at the actual ceremony was supposed to be one prepared by the Chi family elders.

Far finer than the one Chi Xiyan had made herself.

What did Chi Muxue mean by this?

***

In the banquet hall prepared by the Chi family, guests had already filled every seat.

Aside from the Chi family’s own elders, there were also many distinguished guests from various circles and factions.

The eldest young lady’s coming of age ceremony had drawn many powers on good terms with the Chi family.

Even the governor of Beihe Commandery had personally sent a gift for Chi Muxue.

All manner of gifts had piled up like a small hill in the side hall.

The moment Chi Xiyan and Chi Muxue arrived together at the hall, they immediately drew every eye in the room.

“She’s here! Tonight’s star has finally arrived!”

“That’s Chi Muxue? The most outstanding prodigy the Chi family has produced in a thousand years? They say she reached the Fifth Realm three years ago?”

“Heh, even calling her that undersells it. The eldest young lady of the Chi family is a genius the likes of which the entire Beihe Commandery hasn’t seen in ten thousand years!”

“And the one beside her, could that be the infamous ‘hunting dog’? The Chi family’s youngest steward, Chi Xiyan?”