“Dad, come and play with me,” I called from the courtyard of our home.  I wanted to try the new flags out that my father had given me for my 8th birthday but I couldn’t find him anywhere.  

 

“Li-Li, your father is busy at the moment,” Ping-Ping, my mother’s maidservant scolds me. “You must not disturb him.”

 

If my father is busy, I thought to myself, he must be in his study. I ran in the direction of the one room in the house I wasn’t supposed to enter without permission. I ran up to the closed door but thought better of barging into the room and disturbing my father. If the door had been open, I would have gone in without hesitation. The closed door however signaled that privacy was needed.

 

I decided to sit and wait at the other end of the hallway for my father to emerge from his study. As I began to sit, I could feel a person standing behind me. I looked up cautiously as I was sure I was about to get in trouble with Ping-Ping. To my relief it was old Mr. Hu, our money manager looking angrily down at me. He would scold me lightly in comparison to Ping-Ping or my mother.

 

“Go outside and play, Li-Li,” Mr. Hu shooed me away from the study. “I’ll tell your father you were looking for him.”

 

“Alright,” I said glumly as I walked slowly down the steps. I turned and gave Mr. Hu the saddest face I could muster, hoping to persuade him to me into the study. Mr. Hu shook his head at me and continued to walk toward the closed door. The matter my father was attending to must be serious if Mr. Hu was unwilling to help me get into the study.

 

I quickly headed toward the main hall where guest were greeted to see if my mother was there. It was still early in the day and lessons would not begin for another hour. Mother would have tea in the main hall with my tutor before lessons began.

 

On this day, to my surprise, my tutor was not the one having tea with my mother. Her companion was Lady Cao Sheng, the wife of my father’s sworn brother Cao Deng. If she were here then her son and husband must also be here. My mother waved me over to where they were enjoying their tea.

“Good Morning Auntie Cao,” I said politely. “How are you today?”

 

“Good Morning, dear Li-Li. It’s nice to see you,” she responded with a generous smile. “You grow prettier every time I see you.”

 

“Thank you,” I said blushing. “Are Uncle Cao and Cao Feng also here?”

 

“They are in the study with your father,” my mother answered. “They should be coming out soon.”

 

“Good!” I said. “I want to practice with my new flags before my lessons start. Do you think there will be enough time?”

 

My mother’s eyes glanced at me sideways in a disapproving manner as the words fell off my lips. I wasn’t supposed to let anyone know that I practice martial arts with my dad. Proper Chinese girls only participated in tasks that would make a good wife. I should be learning how to sew, sing, play an instrument, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the household. My father thought I should also learn how to protect myself as being the daughter of a hero could be dangerous. I also had no older brothers to protect me.

 

Auntie Cao giggled at  my statement and  my mother’s disapproving look.  

 

“Your secret is safe with me,” she promised. “I would expect the future wife of my son to know some martial arts. After all, her father is famous.”

 

My mother let out a sigh of relief as my father, Uncle Cao and his son entered the main hall. Cao Feng was older than me by two years and had been learning martial arts since he was 5. He was always so serious and I didn’t like when he came to visit. My father spent more time with him than me and that made me dislike him even more.

 

“Li-Li, come greet your uncle,” my father commanded.

 

“Good Morning, Uncle Cao, Cao Feng,” I said sweetly with a smile plastered on my face. “It is nice to see you again.”

 

“Good Morning,” Uncle Cao and his son said in unison.  

 

“Let’s go out and talk business,” Uncle Cao said turning to my father. “Son, you stay here with your mother.”

 

“Yes father,” Cao Feng said disappointedly.

 

“Li-Li, come,” called Auntie. “I have something for you.” She was holding out a red box in the palms of her hands. It was a birthday present for me. Inside the box was different colored hair ribbons. A girl could never have too many of those I thought. I was always in trouble for losing mine.

 

“Thank you, Auntie,” I said as I hugged her. “Mommy, please, tie the blue ones on. They match my clothes today.”

 

“Mr. Lau Tien Chen has arrived.” The servant announced as an elderly man walked into the main hall. Mr. Lau was my tutor and very old and very slow. He taught me how to read and write as my mother was busy running the household.  

 

“Good Morning, Mr. Lau,” the women said when he finally made it to the table where they were seated.

 

“Good morning.  I see I am too late for tea.” Mr. Lau smiled at my mother and aunt.

 

“I will make sure a servant brings you tea and fruit,” my mother said. “Children, have a seat at the other table.”

 

After my lessons were complete and Mr. Lau had gone, Cao Feng and I went to the pavilion to play with the coi in the pond. On the way I grabbed a piece of bread so we could feed the fat, orange fish. I was the one who fed the fish while Cao Feng practised the new skill set he had learned. Showoff, I thought.

 

He began low to the ground with his left knee bent at a right angle and his right leg stretched out to the side, Tiger stance.  His right hand was out in front with the fingers curled and the left was positioned was slightly above his head with the fingers curled.  His eyes were focused on a point straight ahead and I could tell he was imagining an opponent about to attack.   His movements were precise and graceful as his arms sliced the air and his paw struck his imaginary foe.  The only flaw that tole me he had not practice this skill set much was his balance as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.  Once his balance was stable and he was sure of his foot placement, he would be unstoppable.

 

I got up quickly and ran to my room where I collected my flags and my flute. I was going to play a little music as he practised and then maybe I would challenge him to a little duel.

 

When I returned, he had started practicing a skill set I have seen before. I had seen my father practice many times. My father had taught me this also and how to defend against it. I decided to start with the duel first and then play my music. I gently placed my flute on the table and waited for Cao Feng to finish this set. I positioned myself so that when he turned around, he would know what was about to happen.

 

I stood with my right foot slightly in front of me with only my toes touching the ground. My left leg was was firmly planted below me.  My brand new flags were held about shoulder width apart in front of me with the spearheads pointed directly at Cao Feng. I had a small smirk on my face as I waited for the annoying boy to turn around and face me.

 

“You challenge me,” Cao smirked as he realized my posture was that of an attacker. “You think you can win?”

 

“No,” I replied truthfully. “But I would like to try my new flags on you since my father was busy this morning.”

 

Cao Feng stood in a defensive posture with his arms raised in a “W” formation in front of him. His stance was confident and strong as he waved at me to attack him. I spun toward him as I twirled my flags in a circular motion. He blocked my first strike easily with his right hand and caught a flag with his left. I turned away from him and tried to hit him with the flag in my right hand but he ducked. I repositioned myself and attacked his feet but he easily flipped away from my constant barrage of strikes.

 

I could feel the anger building because he could easily out maneuver me. I charged at him one last time. He spun away from me and removed the flag with his left hand while tripping me with his right. My other flag fell to the ground as I struggled to keep my balance. I ended up on my bottom and feeling a bit embarrassed.

 

“First rule is never to get angry,” he reminded me as he held out his hand to help me up. “When you lose your temper, you lose the fight.” As I grabbed his hand, I tugged hard trying to bring him down to the ground but he was stronger than me. He smirked at me again as he pulled me to my feet.

 

I walked over to the table, picked up my flute and began to play. Music was my way of calming down. It melted the growing anger that was inside of me. The tune was fast at first echoing my heartbeat and my anger. The longer I played the softer and gentler the music became and my mood returned to happy and positive.

 

“What have you two been doing?” My mother questioned us as she entered the courtyard that housed the pavilion. I am sure she knew that we must have been fighting from my dirty clothes, messy hair and the flags lying on the table. She just wanted me to tell the truth.

 

“I wanted to try my new flags.” I began sheepishly. “I challenged Cao Feng to a duel. I lost.”

“Go to your room and get cleaned up for dinner!” My mother commanded me. She turned to Cao Feng and said, “Thank you for not hurting her.”

 

I grabbed my flags off the table and followed my mother back into the house. I glanced over my shoulder at Cao Feng one last time and saw that he  was smiling at me.  One day I was going to wipe the smug look off of that annoying boy’s face.  Ijust needed to practice a bit more.

The Caos stayed not only for dinner but overnight as well. I played my flute for everyone in the pavilion under a very full and pale moon. It was a beautiful, relaxing night. This night was very different than the night we would all experience in a few weeks.