“Remember to spend more time with Her Highness and build a good relationship with her.
Your father’s official position might even be able to rise a little higher.” The moment Mai returned home, her mother’s nagging filled her ears.
She felt a trace of irritation, but the education she had received since childhood told her that she must not talk back to her parents.
“All right.
I know.” Even so, her expression remained gloomy.
Then again, Mai always seemed to look that way, making it hard for anyone to tell whether she was in a good mood or a bad one.
“Don’t think your mother is being too calculating.
That’s just how the world works.
You want fine clothes, good food, and complete freedom?
Where would you find that kind of life?” Seeing Mai’s attitude, her mother frowned as she spoke, then reached out to straighten Mai’s collar for her.
“Uncle became warden of the Boiling Rock through his own ability, didn’t he?” Mai said, neither salty nor mild, taking a jab at her mother.
“Your uncle has a screw loose.
A place like the Boiling Rock is scorching hot and bitter as anything.
People offer him gifts and he refuses to accept them.
He deserves to suffer.” Mai’s mother finished straightening her collar.
Clearly, she did not think much of her brother-in-law’s upright conduct.
“Those who rise through nepotism without the virtue to match their position never sit there for long,” Mai said coldly.
“Officialdom has its own rules.
What could a child like you possibly understand?” After brushing the dust from Mai’s shoulder, the mother and daughter walked into the house one after the other.
“When I find a boyfriend in the future, I definitely won’t choose anyone connected to officialdom,” Mai said, lifting her eyes slightly, her tone still cold.
“What nonsense are you talking about?” When her mother heard that, her brows twisted tightly together.
Her daughter, who had always been obedient and well-behaved, seemed strangely rebellious today.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, her mother stopped and turned to look at Mai.
“Right.
I saw you rush off with an umbrella just now and give it to some boy.
Whose child is he?” “…A classmate of mine.
But both his parents are gone,” Mai answered honestly after a moment’s hesitation.
“Oh, I see.” At the first half of her answer, Mai’s mother gave a slight nod.
But upon hearing the second half, her brows locked together, and she shook her head.
“Then you should have less to do with him.” Mai had long since grown used to her mother’s snobbery.
She said flatly, “By the way, Azula seems to think highly of him.” “Someone Her Highness values?” Her mother was visibly taken aback.
She quickly took Mai’s hand and said, “Then the next time you see him, remember to be polite.
Smile more.” “I know.” Mai had long since become immune to the way her mother changed her attitude depending on the situation.
There was no helping it.
That was simply the kind of person her mother was.
Her mother looked at Mai.
Her daughter still wore the same cold, indifferent expression, making it impossible to tell whether she had taken a single word to heart.
Shaking her head, she turned and went off to attend to other matters.
After her mother left, Mai finally allowed herself to relax.
She let herself sink into the chair, rested her chin on one hand, and gazed wearily at the endless drizzle beyond the window.
What I like, what I hate, what I should do, and what I shouldn’t do…
none of it is mine to decide.
… Under the same night sky, Ty Lee returned home hugging the little bear plush.
Although a few unpleasant things had happened today, they did not affect Ty Lee’s good mood.
She placed the plush beside her bed, then looked at her sisters’ beds.
Now she had a little bear plush of her own.
She was no longer part of the same old matching set.
Thinking that, Ty Lee hummed a little tune as she headed to the bathroom to wash up.
But when she changed into her nightclothes and returned to the room, she found her little bear plush being fought over and thoroughly “ravaged” by her sisters.
Ty Lee put her hands on her hips angrily.
“What are you doing?
That’s mine!” Hearing this, Ty Lin and Ty Liu wrapped their arms around Ty Lee and said, “What’s the big deal?
Haven’t we sisters always shared everything we eat, wear, and use?” “I don’t want to be the same as all of you!” Ty Lee was clearly very angry.
This was also the main reason Ty Lee had told Ren and Mai that she wanted to become an acrobat.
She had six identical sisters, and all seven of them had exactly the same height, weight, and appearance.
They were practically stamped from the same mold.
That was why Ty Lee wanted to walk a completely different path.
If she did that, her parents would no longer be able to compare the sisters to one another.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ty Woo folded her arms, her face full of displeasure.
“We’ve always been the same.
What’s wrong with that?
You’re just being oversensitive!” Ty Lee was so angry her face turned bright red.
She snatched the little bear plush back, flopped onto her bed, and sulked.
She did not understand why she was so angry, but she was just very, very angry.
Her sisters all had their own strengths and were better than her.
She only wanted to become a little special.
Why was that so hard?
Ty Lee looked out the window at the drizzling sky, and her resolve to become an acrobat in the future grew even firmer.
In any case, she absolutely would not obey her parents’ arrangements and become just like her sisters.
… Ren put away the red umbrella Mai had lent him, carried the ingredients into the kitchen, then shook himself off to drive away the lingering chill.
Ren did not have so many sentimental thoughts about spring sorrow and autumn melancholy.
Naturally, the first thing he did when he got home was cook.
Only after comforting one’s own stomach did a person have the motivation to think about the future.
After dinner, Ren brewed himself a pot of tea and sat leisurely by the second-floor window, admiring the night view of the capital.
When people said the Fire Nation was wealthy, they truly meant it.
Even deep into the night, the lights had not gone out, and the streets of the bustling market district were still extraordinarily lively.
But behind that prosperity lay a severe population decline.
Most of the young men had been sent to the battlefield.
Even in the capital, it was rare to see young men walking the streets.
The country had already entered a state of pathological fanaticism.
Ren had read quite a few historical records.
He remembered that when the current Fire Lord, Azulon, had first ascended the throne, people from the colonies had not even been allowed into the capital.
Xenophobia had been rampant.
But as the war dragged on, those harsh exclusionary policies gradually eased.
At first, colonists were confined to designated districts.
Then the restrictions on holding official positions were relaxed.
In the end, even schools in the capital no longer refused to admit students from the colonies.
At most, they still looked down on people from the colonies, their words tinged with the arrogance of those born in the capital.
In another respect, however, the Fire Nation had indeed invested heavily in universal education.
Its emphasis on cultivating and valuing talent far surpassed that of the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom.
But no matter how one looked at it, the Fire Nation’s war potential had already been nearly exhausted.
It was only that General Iroh had been winning battle after battle, suppressing all domestic contradictions completely.
When you kept winning, any attempt to advise caution would be treated as nonsense.
But if they lost even once… Ren thought of the siege of Ba Sing Se.
It had been a full three years, and the only result so far was the capture of the outer wall.
But Ba Sing Se had three walls in total.
They’re probably going to lose… Ren sighed.
He should not keep slacking off either.
It was time for him to work hard as well.
Ren glanced at the night view outside the window and saw that the rain had already stopped, so he set down his tea.
Then he changed into his training clothes and began practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard.