Chapter 2 A flashback

Nineteen years ago, a young lady Yin, at the height of her iconic beauty, was yearning for love.

She had managed to date a few boys for a while but none of them seemed to understand what her desires were,

To many, she was a pearl that was worth introducing to everyone.

And to Yin, they were playboys, childish and immature so she had to move on even if it meant breaking their hearts a thousand times.

How she wished they would grow up quickly and catch up with her !

But they were so dull and stayed right where she first met them.

They came and went with the same topic everyday,

Her favorite color, the food she loved most, the dreams she had for her career, the kind of house she wanted etc.

None came up to talk about the responsibilities of courting.

Some even felt pressured when Yin tried to entertain the idea whenever there was a private time between them.

It only ended up with another subject at the table.

How absurd.

Yin hoped for someone who was ready for a lifelong journey and to lead with her everyday,

But none of these Ex's bothered to know all of this?

Only a few that seemed serious at first before they started slacking off,

It was evident that they were still infatuated with her as the only questions they gave yin were about their appearance and charisma,

As if trying to understand her taste in men to which she was left to feel utterly disappointed.

Most of these questions left Yin a thousand miles away from her own thoughts.

Is that how they thought of her? A beauty after vigor and bride price?

Never !

Not her because she has both the etiquette and wealth without having to be desperate.

Were all men like this or did she have to meet an experienced one?

On one market day, her friends came over to pick her up for a lunch buffet at the trade fair which happens annually in the town square .

It was only half an hour's drive and the roads were guarded safely by the town guards, security was tripled to avoid any surprise.

Yin had been attending it with all her friends every year but nothing special had happened for her.

Looking at them pretending to be fine, She told them boldly wanting to avoid further conversations about the topic,

"I don't feel like coming around this time, besides we have already seen everything."

Her friends stared at her in doubt and came closer to find out what she was fearing about that day.

"Nothing, I am a bit grown now." She told them,

But they insisted she come along and at least seek some new connections as there were tons of newcomers every year.

"What newcomers?" She teased, laughing off cheerfully,

What her friends were referring to were the new faces of good looking merchants who appeared every year which only made the trade fair swell in numbers,

As many died in their hearts to have a look at all these young entrepreneurs.

The fair had even been renamed by some people as "The beauty eclipse" citing the number of gorgeous faces and the relationships that had sprung out of the fair each year.

And on top of that, there was an influx of handsome cool men from even the city whose number only kept growing per year,

Most girls and boys changed themselves for these few days.

The fair had been inaugurated by the king seven years ago in efforts to boost the business climate of every region but things were moving in its own course,

Each region was given four days of grand business communications.

So yes, many people saw this as a big day and an opportunity to meet new people, new things and possibly the love of their lives.

Yin's friends were right to say she still had a chance waiting for her to get unlocked.

The fair came with a number of things apart from the goods that were being sold, a number of games and contests were initiated at noon,

Tarot games, hide and seek, martial arts display, Divination, Riddles, Fine Art, Sculpting etc

A huge number of men and women participated in martial arts contests while a few were part of the poetry and fashion nova contests.

Weren't these the three things she enjoyed doing in her free time?

They asked her but received no word for a while, instead they observed a glowing smile on her face and together they concluded that she was going to come.

Her friends rushed to get the best clothes from her closet while dismissing all the possibilities of the day turning out the same as the previous ones.

"You will never regret this Yin, Slap me if you do." One said as she changed Yin's hairstyle to something cute (as she believed)

Because if it was me, I would never do such a style.

It made Yin look like a Fairy and a teenager at the same time but all she did was giggle and relax as everything was being done for her.

But deep down, Yin only craved a belonging, an intimacy and a responsibility with someone who was mature in thoughts and this trade fair was only going to make that feeling worse.

Most of the men on that day were either engaged, married or simply scumbags I should say.

They would travel from far towns, come for shopping at the fair and head back home to surprise their darling wives.

But the scumbags only walked around, sending invitations on where to find them when the night came.

If you turned them down, they would hurl insults and even follow you around for a while, you were only lucky when someone came to confront them on your behalf.

So who was she going to meet?

Yin stood up after everything was done and went out to inform Marquess Ryu (her mother) that she was interested in going to the trade fair and her friends were already in the house waiting for her.

Well, Marquess didn't have a problem with it, but she had to first inform Marquis Gu who didn't welcome the idea the moment he heard it.

"Stay at home or take your time at the shop to learn some business."

He requested but she showed no interest in his words.

Lifting her eyes in the air, as though feeling defeated, she clung on Marquess's shoulder

"Mother, I told you that he won't accept."

It broke The Marquis's heart to hear his daughter speak of him like this,

She didn't see the danger because the need in her clouded all her senses.

Yin could not feel the Manipulative Aura that liked to surround her.

Marquis's greatest fear stemmed from the fact that her daughter lacked self control emotion wise,

He knew what most boys wanted to do,

To make her fall in love and use Yin as a social ladder, times were not hard but many sought after the easy way.

But Yin insisted

"Father, I am a grown lady now, let me go out, I will come to the shop tomorrow."

Forcing himself not to teach her a lesson, he decided to leave the ultimate decision to the both of them.

"You two should finalize this matter by yourselves."

His wife had always supported her daughter so he had only one request from her,

"Kindly do not embarrass our clan name, it has been built for more than a century. Your siblings and everyone in the house survives by it."

He told them before walking out to give them privacy as it was improper for him to listen to their female talk.