Monochrome Paradox

 "Do you want some of that?" Gong June pointed at some candied hawthorns being sold a few feet away. Ming Ran was being carried under her arm like some sort of sack and looked up to see the stand. He shook his head and pointed to the ground hopefully. Gong June had already lost interest and trotted over to a stall selling roasted peanuts. She bought a few bags and made her way to a tree before setting Ming Ran down and handing him a bag to munch on. She leaned back and fiddled with the stalk of hay between her teeth. Looking at her, one would think she was a brutish thug from one of the bigger gangs. She wore her blazing hair high in a ponytail with a simple (but by no means cheap) golden head piece, a crimson robe with a black belt and hunting boots. From far away, she not only looked like a thug, but also a young man. Her mother, Gong Mei, would have already fainted looking at her daughter. Still, one had to admit, her ability with a spear and sword were nothing short of impressive. She let out a long sigh, and closed her eyes.

 "Let me know if you want to get any more snacks, 'kay?" she said. Ming Ran nodded, but wasn't sure if Gong June had noticed. The marketplace was as busy as ever and with the coming of age ceremonies of the crown prince coming up, things were busier than ever. Servants from just about every household were purchasing wares from about the market. One of the daughter of the Fa family, one for the song of the Ming family, one for the son of the Ming family, and one for the crown prince. Then, there were some gifts for the young master of the Wei family who had the emperor, two generals, and a powerful court official backing him. Not to mention the immortal master they had to impress before their young masters and young mistresses made their way to the Twelve Mountains! There was much to do, gifts to give, and outfits to buy! Servants from every household were doing their best to keep up with the busy schedules. Merchants were trying their best to keep up with the onslaught of people coming in and out of their stores. Several maids followed a young woman with light pink hair and blue eyes. She wore a dress from light pink silk with rows upon rows of pink pearls and a white jade hair ornament. She looked haughtily from side to side as she strode down the street. Ming Ran watched the crowd with interest, munching quietly on the roasted peanuts. The bag was very soon empty of its contents, Ming Ran dusted off his hands and looked around for some place to dispose of it. He stood and patted off his pants before checking on Gong June. She slept peacefully in the sun, and every once and a while the piece of hay would twitch and move about in her mouth. Ming Ran carefully stepped into the streets after find one such trash can. 

 There was a merchant selling ornaments at a stall not too far away. Gleaming gold, fair jade, and illustrious pearls decorated the accessories and caught Ming Ran's eyes. He wondered over and peered curiously at the bobbles. Ming Ran reached out to look closer at the hairpin with a dragon carving on it, but just as he picked it up a set of pink dyed nails snatched it away.

"How dare you try and steal Lady Khan's hair pin!" One of the maids piped up in outrage. Ming Ran looked up and saw the young woman from earlier, his mind freezing. 

—Six Months Ago—

 Fire crackers popped down the street as a giant dragon was paraded down the street. Winged horses, acrobats, majestic spirit beasts, and rare animals lined the streets. Cultivators roamed about and made merry amount the many citizens of the mundane world. Boats crowded the river, cheers were heard all around, and many tasty snacks were being peddled by merchants. Gong June whistled in appreciation, she wore the fiery red robes of a young master of the Gong Household, a golden insignia wrapped around her ponytail. 

"Everyone really went out of their way today! Guess I have to hand it to Wen Quinn! This is pretty fricken' awesome!" she said. Ming Cheng held onto Ming Quan's hand and made certain Ming Ran was stable on his shoulders. 

"Is that really something to be surprised about? He was never lawyer material, more of an arts major." he said. Ming Quan pulled a little on his hand, 

"Brother! Brother! There are acrobats over there! Let's go look!" he gazed longingly at the performances. Ming Cheng sighed.

"Hold on a minute! You'll get lost."

"I won't." Ming Quan puffed his cheeks. Gong June ruffled his hair.

"We have to wait for his royal highness to come and your Lin-jiejie. I'm sure you know what happened the last time we went off to play without her." she smiled, but her eyes were looking a thousand miles away. Ming Quan shuddered and even Ming Cheng had minor goosebumps sprouting on his arms. That was an unpleasant memory. Ming Ran craned his neck to get a good look around him. There was a man walking on stilts throwing out flowers. Ming Ran tried catching one but almost tumbled off of his brother's shoulders. Ming Cheng caught him. 

"Careful there!" he chided softly. Ming Ran nodded and stayed still, but his eyes— large as saucers— never left the fluttering flowers raining from the sky. 

"Ming Ran!" a voice like a bird in the first sign of spring called out to him. Khan Qing waved her hand as she bounced like a rabbit over the crowds. She found her way over to them and managed to poke his cheek before being swatted away by his formidable older brother.

"Careful!" Ming Cheng hissed, stepping away and protecting his brother. The bells placed in Ming Ran's hair chimed gently. Khan Qing grumbled,

"C'mon. There's no harm in a little poke on his chubby cheeks." Gong June laughed in response to her friend's grumbling. Ming Quan looked around hoping to see either Wen Quinn or Fa Lin somewhere in the crowds. Instead, a white, pristine robe with a jade green sash appeared from the crowds. Wei Ning made his way through the crowds, a tired pallor flushed over his face. A few young cultivators hung off of his arms, and followed him through the crowds. He approached the group and Gong June tried her best not to laugh. He gave her a withering look and looked up at Ming Ran. 

"Shixiong! Who are these people?" one of the girls whined, pressing her chest into his arm as she looked darkly at Gong June. Gong June crossed her arms and raised her eye brow. Khan Qing hid behind Gong June looking shy. Wei Ning said nothing and bowed to them.

"Sorry I'm late." he said. Ming Cheng shrugged, but Ming Quan puffed out his cheeks.

"Where is Lin-jiejie? I wanna go play!" he whined. Wei Ning ruffled his hair before his brother could say anything.

"Soon." was all he said, but Ming Quan nodded. Ming Cheng growled.

"I have to tell you to do something ten times before it gets anywhere near done and all he has to say is a word? Unbelievable!" Ming Quan giggled and hugged his big brother, Ming Ran hugged him from above. Wei Ning managed to shrug off the female cultivators and looked around.

"Sorry we're late!" Wen Quinn hurried through the crowds with Fa Lin. He was dressed in a simple purple robe embroidered with phoenixes. His long, chestnut hair was tied back with a simple, cream ribbon. Fa Lin was dressed even darker in a robe that looked almost black, if not for the sudden explosions from the nearby firecrackers that revealed a night dark blue. Silver thread was used to embroider peonies. Dark hair was pulled up into a scholar's knot where a black jade hair pin simply (but perfectly) adorned her hair. A beast held a purple gun in its jaws as it's right paw was raised in attack. Dark red eyeliner and dark lip stick gave her the aura of death and doom. It was the exact opposite of the playful and excited atmosphere at the Dragon Boat Festival. The group stared at her incredulously. Ming Cheng and Wei Ning looked over at Wen Quinn. He held up his hands,

"I tried to get her to wear something more festive…" he said, sighing. Fa Lin sighed,

"…and I tried to get your highness to finish his work on time. I had no time to change into something more lighthearted." she scowled at him. 

"…" the group stared at her.

"Jie..? You wear that to work?" Ming Quan asked quietly. Fa Lin smiled, making everyone shudder. She pinched his cheek.

"Look whose learned to speak disrespectfully to his elders…" she laughed quietly. Wei Ning stepped silently forward, and picked Ming Quan up. 

"Let's go."

 They began to enjoy the festival, Ming Quan and Ming Ran gaped at the acrobats. Gong June laughed as Ming Ran leaned so far forward on his brother's shoulders that Ming Cheng was having trouble balancing. Ming Ran's tiny hands were trying to reach out and pop some of the bubbles that were being magically created from thin air. The female cultivators watched as Wei Ning reached out to gently take Ming Ran from his brother's shoulders. 

"Shixiong! Who is this little gongzi?" she coquettishly reached out to him, only to be blocked off by Ming Quan, his heckles raised.

"Don't touch my little brother, you old hag!" he snarled. Ming Cheng sighed, and pushed him into a bow before the cultivators could take offense.

"My apologies. My little brother is just a little wary of strangers approaching our youngest." he explained. The female cultivator forced a smile.

"Of course, of course! Such a lovely young gongzi. It makes sense that you'd be wary of any threat." she smiled. Gong June saw some meat skewers roasting nearby and grabbed Wei Ning's arm. The female cultivators froze. 

"Hey, Wei Ning. Buy us some of those, yeah?" Wei Ning raised his eye brows.

"Why should Wei-shixiong buy you anything?" One of the female cultivators asked.

Fa Lin nodded, and pointed over to the roasted peanuts near the skewers.

"Yes, buy us those too. Wen Quinn will go with you. Make sure you bring something to drink as well." she said. Wen Quinn's mouth fell open.

"Why should we go buy you all stuff?!" he asked.

"You were late. We had to wait for you so long! Right, Ming Quan?" Gong June looked over the at drooling Ming Quan. He swallowed hard,

"Big brother? Those smell really good…"

"Then, why don't you help out too? You were also late!" Wen Quinn asked Fa Lin.

"…and whose fault was that?" she sighed. Ming Ran's stomach growled. 

"…"

 Gong June waved enthusiastically to Wei Ning and Wen Quinn, laughing as they made their way to the long lines.

"Make sure you buy enough for all of us!" she called after them. Ming Cheng picked his youngest brother up and shook his head.

"Making the crown prince of the empire run errands for you?"

"He'll live."

"Unless he forgets to turn in his assignments again." Fa Lin said. Ming Ran and Ming Quan shuddered at the unsaid threat in her voice. There was a stand set up nearby that had many lanterns hanging down and set out across the counter. There were many dragon shaped ones, phoenixes, lanterns with dragons painted intricately on their surface, almost dancing across the paper. Ming Ran wandered over and looked at one that was shaped like a lotus flower. This lantern would be very pretty lit up above the water. Ming Ran stood on his tippy toes trying to get a closer look, when a hand snatched the lantern away. Ming Ran came face to face with a frightening looking young woman wearing a bright pink dress and ruby hairpins. She looked down with undisguised scorn,

"And who are you to stand in this miss's way?" she glared at him so hard that Ming Ran burst into tears. While he still was unable to make a sound the bells adorning his hair jingled as he hiccuped, bringing attention to his big brother. Ming Quan rushed over and hugged Ming Ran.

"Xiao-Ran! What's the matter, who bullied you? Want me to knock 'em dead?" Ming Ran only cried harder, the bells shaking along with his trembling body. Ming Quan looked up at the young woman and glared. "What did you do to my brother?" he yelled. The young woman only scoffed, lightly fingering the lantern in her hands.

"What is it to you?" she turned up her nose, "This Young Miss wanted this lantern, how dare you raise your voice at me?" The lantern dealer sweated profusely watching this scene. He was well aware of who these two young masters were, and knew the consequences of upsetting them, however, he also knew that they weren't usually as troublesome as the other young mistress. Spoiled and arrogant and unwilling to relent. Even the slightest insult could end in him needing to flee the city. On the other hand, the young masters had quite the fearsome backing, could anyone ever forget the story of the scam artist and how faired under the Fa household's Young Mistress? Or the drunkard who pushed the youngest master of the Ming family? The Gong family's reaction was brutal— even more frightening was the duel. Then again, the eldest young master of the Ming family was probably the scariest. However, wasn't he alright? He wasn't the one who upset their youngest, right? Best to stay as inconspicuous as possible, and let the young lady of the Khan household dig her own grave! Just as he was thinking that, however, one silver coin was tossed in his face.

"I'll be buying this." the young mistress said, turning away. She stalked off without even collecting her change. The merchant stared at her in shock, and looked down at the massive hot potato she'd thrown him. Ming Quan was still hurling insults at the young mistress, and the tinkling of little bells was still coming from below the counter. The merchant sighed, feeling rather guilty. He had no more lotus lanterns! He looked around trying to find something suitable.

 Ming Ran was hiding under the table, still crying. This was really too scary! The more he cried the louder everything became, and there was so many people, and there was a terrifying pink monster out there, and she glared at him, and… the soft peck of paper landed on his cheek startling him. The lantern merchant held a delicate bird lantern, its tiny beak lightly kissing him. He wiped his eyes and softly pet it on the head, his face brightening. The merchant smiled,

"Come on out, young master! This one's on the house." Ming Ran crawled out from under the table and pulled out one of the golden coins he had gotten from his eldest brother. He held it out silently to the merchant. The merchant took it and handed him the lantern. 

"You like that one?" Ming Quan asked. Ming Ran smiled brightly and nodded. "Alright, then I guess it's fine." Ming Quan ruffled his hair and picked him up. Ming Ran waved good-bye to the merchant who was left with one gold coin at least ten thousand times what the lantern was worth. Mouth agape, he waved back.

As the two of them made their way back to the others, they found the pink clothes mistress from before hanging shamelessly onto Wen Quinn. 

"Your Highness! It really has been too long! Will you really be so cold as to send me away?" Wen Quinn wrenched his arm free, and sighed.

"You just visited the palace yesterday, with your father." he grumbled. 

"Yes! However, it feels like it's been months!" the young girl whined. Fa Lin rolled her eyes.

"If only that were true."

"I'm sorry, did you say something Miss Fa?" 

"Only that your Khan family seems to be lacking not only in common sense and shame, but the ability to read the room. Khan Lang, how much longer will you cling to fantasies?" She opened her fan and held it primely with her middle finger raised high. Ming Ran gaped at the scene. Ming Quan, however, was quick to make a scene.

"It's the hag!" Ming Quan screamed, pointing at Khan Lang. Ming Cheng sighed, rubbing his temples. This little brother of his lacked manners, but he couldn't deny that this was a proper use of the word. 

"A-Quan, you shouldn't speak to a lady this way. It's improper." he half heartedly scolded. Khan Lang stared at the two young masters from before, quickly putting two and two together. Then, the sniveling brat covered in snot with swollen eyes was the beloved youngest child of the Ming family? And the one His Highness cherished like a younger brother? Before she could even think to rectify the situation, Wei Ning picked up Ming Ran and examined his face, his own darkening.

"Did you cry?" he said, his voice almost silent. Loud enough, however, to make Khan Lang and the female cultivators shiver. The others quickly zeroed in one the swollen face of a crying child— no longer crying, and holding on to his lantern like a coveted treasure. Ming Quan puffed his cheeks, angrily.

"That old hag stole Xiao-Ran's lantern and glared at him." he glared at her, "Really hateful!" Khan Lang laughed, nervously.

"Misunderstanding! Your Highness, just a little misunderstanding! I hadn't realized that the young masters had already purchased it." she held out the lantern to Ming Ran, "Here, if you want this, you may have it, Young Master." she tearfully added. A crowd was gathering. 

"Hey, isn't that the Ming youngsters?" one asked, "Did their lantern get stolen?" Another snorted, halfway drunk already.

"Nah! That young lady purchased it way before they even had their hands on it. Saw it myself!" 

"I saw the same thing!" another piped up, "So entitled!" Khan Lang added fuel to the fire, "I really had no idea you wanted it so much!"

"But you made him cry!" Ming Quan yelled.

"Cry? Did he? I don't remember anything like that happening." Khan Lang looked away.

 Ming Ran looked at the lantern that Khan Lang offered him and shook his head, showing his lantern. Trying his best to smile despite how scary this pink gauzed monster was, he hugged his lantern, petting its head. Ming Cheng sighed,

"Well, I suppose he doesn't want that one. Many thanks to Lady Khan for offering."

"What? And yet he was crying so pitifully just awhile ago because he didn't have it?" Khan Lang did her best to look confused.

"That because you snatched it from him while he was looking at it!" Ming Quan piped up again.

"Snatched? What a word to use! Was he holding it at the time?" she batted her eyes confused. Ming Quan took a step forward before Ming Cheng held him back. Fa Lin stepped forward, fanning herself leisurely.

"Lady Khan, you said that you didn't see Ming Ran cry earlier?" Khan Lang flinched.

"I wouldn't know if he did, but look at his face. It's quite obvious that he did." 

"How do you know he was crying pitifully because he didn't have it? He could have cried for another reason, no?"

"What other reason could there be? Didn't this young master say that he was crying because I snatched it?"

"Hm. Was it because you bought it or because something else happened to upset him?" 

"What else could it be?" Khan Lang was sweating, seriously what else could it be? 

"What's going on? I mean, it doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with that logic. She bought what he wanted, why is that young miss asking these questions?"

"Ah, that? It's because she glared at the boy and startled him. Kid didn't even start crying until she glared at him." a new passerby said. 

"So he was frightened?"

"Yeah, it's no wonder! If looks could kill! Another vendor that set up next to the stall was terrified for his neighbor! Said that the young miss was always causing trouble!" 

 Wen Quinn took Ming Ran in his arms and smiled at him, "Would you like another lotus lantern? We can find a stall that has them?" Ming Ran shook his head and showed him the bird lantern. "Then, I suppose that is settled. We shall be going first." Khan Lang glared at Ming Ran, startling his into the hiccups. Wen Quinn whirled around and glared at her, "Lady Khan, I hope you will stop glaring at Xiao-Ran!" Ming Ran rested his chin on Wen Quinn's shoulder, exhausted, Why are you all using me as an excuse to wreck havoc? I'm never leaving the house with any of you again! 

—Present—

 Ming Ran shrank under Khan Lang's intense glare, and took a few steps back. The incident at the Dragon Boat Festival still fresh in his mind. His brothers and sisters were definitely using him as an excuse to get rid of Young Miss Khan. Technically, he should bow to her and be civil, but under that intense glare, he felt tears threatening to spill over again. Why was this woman so scary?!