Monochrome Paradox

It was a hot, summer day when Ming Ran sat sobbing silently in front of the mirror, startling both of his brothers who had come in from training. He was buck naked surrounded by all of his clothes, sobbing in front of the mirror alone. The boy was only four years old and had yet to speak one word, let alone make a single sound. This latter part made his family worry, as the boy was indeed an enchanting beauty: long, silver hair like light shining down from the moon on a bright night, big red eyes more exquisite than the finest gems, rosy cheeks that blushed a hue of cherry blossoms at the peak of spring, and pale skin like expensive china. The amount of attention he garnered was astounding, a number of servants had already been charged on accounts of abuse. None were more brutal in their torture than his older brothers, the bodies of these criminals were so badly marred a passing constable had thought wild dogs had eaten the bodies. His brother's weren't the only frightening guardians this young boy had on his side: Gong June had used one such despicable servant as a training dummy, Fa Lin had tortured another more brutally than the embroidered guards (she had been scouted by the prison warden after that). A few families had lost considerable face after having their scandals revealed by some anonymous hero after their sons had paid a little too much attention to Ming Ran. Ming Luo and his wife on the other hand, were more about preventative measures: their beloved youngest was to wear clothes with bells on them, so they could find him even if he wondered off to play with the other children, and a whistle to blow if he ever needed help. One that would summon a spiritual beast to protect him (curtesy of Wei Ning and Cang Yuan). 

Watching their brother sob naked in front of the mirror had made his brothers assume the worst, but just as they were about to hunt down the scoundrels responsible Ming Ran ran over and hugged Ming Quan, sobbing harder. 

"A-Ran, what's wrong? Who did this?" he asked, picking him up. Ming Ran only pointed at the mirror. The two brothers followed him over and looked in the mirror. They couldn't find anything wrong, and looked at each other in dismay. Ming Ran pointed at the mirror.

"Um… Ah! Yes! You are very pretty, Ming Ran!" his older brother stuttered. Ming Cheng stayed silent for a moment.

"Which part of the mirror makes you upset?" he asked. Ming Ran pointed down towards the lower half. Ming Quan tilted his head, looking at the base of the mirror. 

"You're a boy, A-Ran." Ming Cheng said, searching for a reaction. Ming Ran flinched and began to cry harder, "Did you think you were a girl?" He asked. Ming Ran paused. He had been called "third young master" for as long as he could remember, and his father and mother called him their "son", so obviously he should be a boy, but somehow seeing his naked body in the new mirror today made him realize: he was male. His second brother began to laugh very hard once he realized what was wrong, before hugging his little brother. Ming Quan scooped him up and wrapped him in a sheet.

"Where are you going?" Ming Cheng asked. 

"To mother." he ran off before Ming Cheng could say anything otherwise.

"Brat." Ming Cheng muttered, walking after him. Ming Quan had become more and more unruly with his new little brother shielding him. However, did this mean what he thought it meant?

Three hours later, five guests arrived at the house, breathless to see Ming Cheng standing at the entrance waiting, looking serious. 

Ming Ran looked at himself in the mirror, feeling utterly miserable. Ming Quan had dragged him into the family room and told their parents that he wanted to be a girl and was quite upset that he wasn't. His family was— for the most part— quite mischievous and playful, and when both mother and father heard this, their eyes lit up.

"Ah! All those clothes I bought for A-Ran before he was born have not gone to waste!" Ming Qing sighed, dreamily getting out some more accessories to adorn her son's long hair. Ming Ran was wrapped up in fine silk dresses with matching shoes and accessories for the last three hours! First was a blushing pink dress, followed by a pale jade dress, then the violet dawn dress, the latest dress was the fair blue of the sky above with silver flowers blooming in his hair and sapphires. Ming Cheng entered first to see his youngest brother become a younger sister and froze. Ming Ran sighed, indulging in his mother's bout of dress-up. Wei Ning peeked in and froze, a blush spreading across his cheeks to his ears and crept further still down his neck. 

"Wei Ning? Why'd you stop?" Wen Quinn asked. Gong June pushed passed him, 

"What'd you see?" The door opened wider giving them all a full view of Ming Ran whose blush went from cherry blossom pink to a deeper shade of a rose. The two groups stared at each other for a while before Ming Ran shrunk behind his mother.

"A-Ran?" This is too embarrassing! he screamed internally. 

A few more agonizing hours later, the hellish session of dress-up had finally ended, and Ming Cheng held his youngest brother, rocking him slowly and trying to stop him from pouting. The manor had witnessed the early caresses of spring in the last few weeks, pushing small buds out from their winter slumber from the trees to the bushes. The garden was slowly being rejuvenated under the warm guidance of the spring sun. When spring came upon the land, the garden was incredibly serene— the perfect place to meditate and train. Ming Quan was practicing beneath one of the flowering trees, feeling the energy of the budding spring warm his bones and bring him to new heights. Ming Quan had been doing very well recently in catching up to his brother. At eight years old, Ming Quan was considered in his own right a genius, and a weapons enthusiast. He had collected a vast amount of techniques in his study— located in the East Wing of the Ming Manor— and had almost mastered two of them. At 10 years, Ming Cheng had already started training with his father's troops. Ming Ran, on the other hand— was much more sickly than his siblings, yet he seemed to have grasped something much more than his siblings. There were a few religious texts and scrolls in the Ming Manor's library— Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and philosophy texts— these were the books that Ming Ran devoured. The boy seemed to soak up spiritualism like a sponge, and as he read he remembered some of what he had taken from the void. 

Ming Cheng watched their brother and couldn't help but see the heart he was searching for, but there was also something that kept him from truly believing that this was the one soul he had been so desperate to find: the fear of hope. Yet today, something told him that he had a reason to be hopeful. Something about the tantrum in front of the mirror, gave him that push. So, while looking out at the pond where the koi had just begun to wake from their dreary slumber, he sat with him, watching the fishes. 

"Do you know about The Twisted Root?" he finally asked. His younger brother stared at the water awhile before shaking his head. He swung his legs back and forth, enjoying the warm breeze blowing across the water's surface. A few mayflies landed on the water, rocking on the subtle ripples. Ming Ran watched them with a strange solemn expression, one could almost see a bit of knowledge blur his concentration and awareness of the world around him. The koi penetrated the surface and swallowed the mayfly whole. Ming Cheng flinched, sneaking a peek at his brother— the child was worryingly kindhearted, and death often seemed to upset him, even over the tiniest and most insignificant of beings he would begin to sob. Today, he watched with almost a look of resignation, before forcing his gaze away and pointing towards another part of the garden.