The Demon Sparrow

The women's courtyard was packed.

Flowers lined the paths well-dressed women walked along. Maids flitted between the groups of chatting guests. Voices, exclamations, laughs rang out as people greeted, bowed, and smiled.

Lu Yan watched it all from a corner at the entrance. She'd never been to a gathering like this before.

She pulled nervously at her dress, gathering the courage to walk into the courtyard.

Behind her, Luizhu too was nervous. She glanced behind her, and urgently whispered to Lu Yan, "The eldest miss is here."

Lu Yan looked over her shoulder, right at Lu An, who slanted a furious look back at her, before hurrying forward.

Without waiting another moment, Lu Yan grabbed Luizhu's hand, and pulled her into the courtyard. They walked briskly through into the groups of guests. No one payed any attention to them.

Lu An had to give up her furious chase, though she whispered something to one of her maids.

Having successfully prevented one effort to toss her back into her dreary courtyard, Lu Yan was determined to make the most of her time out.

Spotting a couple of maids carrying trays of beautifully decorated pastries, Lu Yan felt her stomach rumble. She nudged Luizhu.

Luizhu looked over, and immediately understood. She went over, and returned in a few minutes with a plate filled with pastries.

Lu Yan looked at the plate in satisfaction, found a deserted seating area against one of the courtyard walls and dug in with relish.

Luizhu disappeared again, and returned with more snacks, both sweet and savory, as well as a pot of tea.

Lu Yan ate her snacks, and watched the people around her, catching occasional snatches of their conversation.

As morning passed, more guests arrived, and the courtyard got more crowded.

Lu Yan's deserted seating area also began to fill up.

The new arrivals- two young women- offered her smiles in greeting, and Lu Yan smiled politely in turn. The two women took seats and continued their conversation. Lu Yan concentrated on her snacks and continued people watching while eavesdropping on the whispered conversation of the two women.

It was truly the best time Lu Yan had had all year.

Unfortunately, after the guests had all arrived, her mother was also free to look for Lu Yan.

Luizhu, who had been on watch for this exact moment nudged Lu Yan.

Lu Yan looked up to see her mother approaching with a cold look on her face.

Without further ado, she stood, and left the seating area in the opposite direction.

Let's see how long she can spare to chase me around, Lu Yan thought sneering inwardly.

It was hilarious. Lu Yan walked in big circles around the courtyard, ignoring her mother's gestures for her to stop or her attempts to catch up with Lu Yan.

Her mother couldn't be too obvious either. All the guests were watching the famous General, wanting to draw her into conversation. On the other hand, no one knew Lu Yan.

Lu Yan was free to roam and eat snacks while Luizhu kept watch and warned her every time her mother managed to extricate herself from another admiring group of women.

The snacks were truly delicious.

Lu Yan caught snatches of interesting conversations, and the autumn sun shone brightly over everything.

As noon approached, Lu Yan's aunt emerged and began guiding the guests into the hall for the ceremony.

With that it was time to disappear. Using groups of women as a cover, Lu Yan stealthily walked out of the courtyard. Luizhu, trying to balance two plates full of snacks, followed.

---

Outside the women's courtyard, the walkways were strangely deserted. All the guests had gathered into the main hall for the ceremony.

Lu Yan and Luizhu walked aimlessly around the gardens of the Lu ancestral home, still eating snacks and chatting together.

"Let's go to the lake," Lu Yan said suddenly.

The lake was close to her grandmother's residence, and usually Lu Yan was not welcome there. Today, everyone was too busy to keep an eye on her.

"Miss, the old madam's maids will still be there," Luizhu reminded her.

Lu Yan shook her head, "No one will be keeping watch today. The maids will be out looking for fun and snacks."

Luizhu looked at the plates of snacks she was carrying and followed after Lu Yan.

The lake didn't truly deserve to be called lake, Lu Yan thought. It wasn't that big. At most it was a big pond. But the Lu family liked being dramatic and important.

They sat in shade and looked out over the water.

Silence settled over them, and with it came a gentle peace. The water rippled quietly in the autumn sun, the leaves of the tree above them swished softly, shadows danced soundlessly. The sky was bright blue.

Lu Yan, more than full after hours of eating, sat there, doing nothing but looking at it all.

Luizhu too was quiet as she ate some of the delicious looking snacks.

"It's just a big pond, but it's not that bad," Lu Yan murmured softly.

---

The peace was suddenly disturbed by loud voices.

Lu Yan perked up and listened, as someone said, "You're such a disgrace. Why did you even come?"

There was a dull thump, then the sound of someone crying out in pain.

"I heard there's a lake here. Let's dump him in the water," a second voice said.

"Can't even shoot one arrow straight! We lost all face for the Chen family."

There were more thumps and pained sounds.

Lu Yan watched as not far from them, two young boys were dragging a third towards the water. The third was covering his head with his arms to protect himself from the blows raining down on him, while trying to dig his feet into the ground.

They didn't look much bigger than her.

"What are you doing?" Lu Yan called out in a clear voice.

The struggle immediately stopped as the two bullies looked over at her. The boy getting beaten took the moment of distraction to try to get free and run away.

He managed to free himself, but before he could run, one of the bullies immediately lunged at him and knocked him to the ground. The two of them continued struggling on the ground.

The other bully looked over at Lu Yan, "Mind your own business or I'll throw you in too!"

Then he turned back, joined the ongoing struggle, knocking his closed fist on the boy's head.

Lu Yan winced in commiseration.

The boy stopped struggling, looking dazed.

"Quick, let's throw him in before anyone comes."

"I'll tell my mother what you did, and she'll have you beaten with military rods!" Lu Yan threatened.

The bully who had spoken to her before looked over again, and scoffed, "Who's your mother?"

"General Jiang"

At the name, the bullies paused again.

Then one of them looked her over from head to toe, before sneering and advancing threateningly on her, "You're dressed like a maid, and General Jiang doesn't have a daughter. Do I look stupid to you?"

Lu Yan didn't back away from him. Her ears seemed to be ringing with the words he'd said: General Jiang doesn't have a daughter.

He came closer, grabbed her collar, and pulled her towards the water's edge.

General Jiang doesn't have a daughter.

Echo suddenly awoke. Laughing madly, she screamed inside Lu Yan's head, 'General Jiang doesn't have a daughter.'

Lu Yan's head spun. Burning hot fury rose inside.

She raised her hands and using all the force she could muster, punched the little bully under the chin just like Shan had taught her.

He cried out in pain, stumbled away from her and fell into the water.