Qi Liu was the sixth son of a groom in Governor Rostov's Mansion. According to his old father, who was also a groom, he had two elder brothers and three sisters. However, Qi Liu had never seen any of them. His father, reeking of alcohol and his voice always slurred, would often tell him stories when drunk; how his two elder brothers tragically died on the battlefield, how one of his sisters perished helplessly in the bitter cold of a Deep Winter Season, and how the other two became maids in the homes of the upper class.
"I always wanted to change your fates," his old father would often say, his voice thick with unshed tears and the smell of cheap wine. He would heave sighs, heavy and sorrowful, like old wine held too long in the mouth, unable to be swallowed.
But fate is predestined, and we can't change that, Qi Liu would think, most of the time staying silent, absorbing his father's drunken musings.
