A few days later, Hong Nian Niang left silently. Anji did not have a chance to bid her goodbye, but the Vermillion Bird Leader left a gift behind. It was a long red ribbon.
At first, Anji was confused. The ribbon was not long enough to be a hair accessory. However, when Yan Ping pointed out she was already eight years old and adding another ribbon was only right, Anji realised it was a gift to be added to her longevity locket.
Everything else about her special locket was silver and white. Only one ribbon stood out like a lotus in the muddy pond. The single strand of red ribbon swayed in Anji's hair proudly, reminding her of the cinders that Hong Nian Niang would rise from again.
Without other matters to settle, Anji called home one last time to inform her family that she would now undergo serious successor training and would no longer contact them regularly, if at all, until she was ready. Although the Zhaos were sad, they wished their youngest daughter all the best.
