)) Encyclopedia Li Feinnica ((
History:
Li Fei is a Wen deserter trying to just live. She is formerly known as Wen Fei, and is related distantly to the main branch with no big-name close relatives of note.
Family? Her mother was kind, her father a good man, and they were simple farmers who tended to the land and worked tirelessly to provide for Li Fei, their only daughter to survive to adolescence. She loved this life despite its hardships, there were many, but both of her parents died when she was ten due to a sickness that swept through her home village like fire during drought. This brought an end to what she refers to as her "golden years" of childhood. After, Li Fei lived on the streets for a short period of time before she became a Wen disciple out of necessity during her tween years.
After deserting years later, but still before Nie Mingjue is taken captive, before the Cloud Recesses burn, she once again found herself living on the streets and doing whatever work she could find: physical labor (yuck), busking (fun but not sustainable), stealing (desperate times call for desperate measures), brothel-work that she ditched as soon as she could and now she's pretty sure the owner might be trying to find her because of fleeing and owing him money (bad AND the owner was an ass), and errands (safe, but again not sustainable). You name it, she's probably done it.
She's exhausted from this difficult life and just wants everything to. Stop. She wants to rest. She wants to be happy.
Mun calls her a "charity case" because she was taken in by Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang after they stumbled across her while trying to literally steal money from Huaisang. It didn't work; Mingjue noticed her poor pick-pocketing attempt immediately and Huaisang caught on mere moments later, smacking her hand away with his fan. The brothers whirled on her in a flurry of sleeves and anger.
She was slowly wasting away, days from death, and begged for mercy, sobs already starting with no actual tears to back them up due to chronic dehydration. Huaisang immediately decided she was like a lost puppy with her sad eyes and Mingjue has a hard time not helping those in need, so an arrangement was made to have her travel with them to a few towns over so they could drop her off at a sort of halfway house to get her to a place where she could try to start a new life and get some help.
They grew attached though, and this plan was scrapped rather quickly thereafter. The two simply offered her the Unclean Realm as a new home, complete with a new identity that wasn't just "destitute street rat." Her emphatic yes was best decision of her life.
A fairly promising cultivator at one point, Li Fei has a damaged golden core from improper training when she was scrambling to catch up with her Wen peers. (She hated them with every fiber of her being; they were cruel and heartless, two things she could never be though she pretended convincingly enough to stay alive). Humiliatingly and disturbingly, still she envied them for their power and control over their technique. Li Fei does not speak of this envy to anyone. She's probably around equal footing with Meng Yao if not a bit less powerful, so she understands him well in that regard.
Due to her weakened state, she struggles to feel useful to the Nie and finds herself wondering what the point of her actually is. She's not used to the Nie fighting or cultivation style, and frankly, they scare her. Because of this, she's created her own modified version of what she learned growing up mixed with their techniques to try and balance everything out. It's hard. she knows it is. She's not good at it, and it's a massive sticking point. Her saber, Mǎn Xīn ("from the bottom of one's heart"), whispers in her mind, but she can't quite make out its emotions just yet.
Still, the question remains: why is she even here?
stage whisper Unbeknownst to her, it's because da-ge takes in strays like rent is due, Huaisang is a sweetie-pie who finds her interesting, and her upset expression is pretty powerful when put to use. They have her stay as a sort of "guest of honor" situation. She doesn't receive an official title or anything, but she does gets a nice room a few halls away from the main family's lodgings (swanky!) and she's treated with respect, albeit confused respect, by the other Nie disciples and servants. Notably, she's trying to befriend the aforementioned groups, but is generally pretty pathetic at human interaction and fails more often than not.
Li Fei keeps her Wen heritage an absolute, heavily-guarded secret from everyone. If anyone found out, she'd be dead, she'd make sure of it if Nie Mingjue didn't first. She's very aware that she is everything her beloved new sect leader despises without a second thought, and the mere idea of him or Huaisang, or anyone else finding out her roots terrifies her beyond compare.
~~
Relationships:
She is incredibly fond of Nie Huaisang; they share so many interests and hobbies so they've often joked that they were always meant to be best friends and that fate brought them together. (Li Fei isn't sure she actually believes in fate, but it's fun to speculate about). When Mingjue is in one of his Moods, Li Fei is at Huaisang's beck and call, keeping him company while da-ge collects himself once more. Sometimes, they take bets on how long it'll take and Feifei wins most of the time. Gossip duo. Chaos duo. She's very ride or die for him.
Nie Mingjue is the first person to make her feel as if she's flying. How could she not fall for her handsome, rugged sect leader who helped save her? Give her a reason to exist? Offer her a world she'd never have thought she could ever deserve before? She feels that she owes him her life and should he ever ask anything of her, she'd do it in a heartbeat, even if it meant destroying herself eternally. She admires his sense of justice and morals, but knows that he's not always in the right. His good heart keeps her steady and grounded, and though she worries about his health, Huaisang has helped assuage some of these fears by helping her research musical healing techniques to help him.
The second to capture her heart is Meng Yao. She empathizes with him immensely and fell victim to his soft smiles and sweet demeanor. She knows a bit about his history and how he's related to that utter scumbag Jin Guangshan who she despises almost more than Wen Ruohan, but none of that matters to her. What matters is how Meng Yao always has a snack for her, how both of them try to out-respect and out-bow each other when they cross paths, and how when Meng Yao's eyes meet hers or when his soft voice calls her name, she feels her heart race.
Li Fei looks up to Lan Xichen and harbors a massive admiration/"oh no he's HAWT" crush on him. He is the third and final person to have her catching Feelings. He's just so kind and honest, she can't help but quickly fall in love. She adores just being around him, soaking in his presence, and listening to him play the guqin. She's had him try to teach her, but she's a bit too clumsy with her hands to feel comfortable, so she opts to sing along instead; her voice is her best instrument. It's in these moments that she's most at peace. She's familiar with Lan Wangji and finds him to be a confusing boy, but ultimately charming and very, very pretty. She fully understands why Lan Xichen dotes on him. It's always amusing hearing about his crush on someone called Wei Wuxian (he sounds like fun!) and how certifiably bad he is at showing it. Feifei wants to have a sit-down with him to get the hot tea about his feelings, but she knows enough about the younger Twin Jade to realize that that will probably never happen. This doesn't stop her from trying to ask about it sneakily though! She admires his poise, grace, and strength; she wants to ask him about cultivation, but is too intimidated. Feifei would be remiss if she didn't immediately befriend Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang's sword sister, Nie Kexin. It wasn't long after she was brought back to the Unclean Realm that she met the woman who she'd share very nearly every secret she has with, save for the Big One. Kexin had been…. hesitant at fist, unsure of Li Fei, but her trust in her sworn brothers' collective judgement quickly soothed any concern away. Well, that and the second that Li Fei opened her mouth to introduce herself, Kexin, ever the gracious shijie, found herself wanting to take on the entire world to keep this weird little gremlin cozy and safe. ("H-hello," Li Fei had started, voice raw from sword travel. She'd folded into a low, polite bow, hoping that this strange woman who'd been given minimal introduction wouldn't immediately suss her out as a threat to the Nie's integrity. "My name is Li Fei, and…" At this, she'd looked up into Nie Kexin's eyes and her own widened, "… by the gods, is everyone from here so beautiful? What the hell?!") Unfortunately, she's not too familiar with many other people outside of this small, insular group. She's trying to work on this so that she can prove useful to herself the Nie. Maybe if she knows enough about other sects and their people, she can assist Meng Yao in his reports, or offer off-the-record advice, or just… feel like she contributes at all. Nie Kexin has told her about a man from the same clan as Lan Wanji's paramour, and Li Fei finds herself very invested in this fledgling (if it can be called that) relationship. She cheers her dear friend on in her endeavors. ("If that Jiang Cheng can't see how amazing you are, he's just not worth it, sis, trust me.") ~~
Personality & More:
She leads a dizzying daily routine of hiding her history and her feelings at all times though she can't help but sigh and giggle and stare when she thinks it's safe to.
Personality-wise, she is a gremlin extraordinaire who pouts to get her way. She's sarcastic and silly in equal measure, and extremely empathetic and full of love. She clings to hope like the dying embers of spent incense, falls in love hard and then doesn't look back. She'd sell her enemies and people she even vaguely dislikes for a singular grain of rice, but sell her soul to protect those she loves. She enjoys looking at hot people and will journal about it later. Li Fei enjoys flowers, her favorite being the plum blossom, and animals: dogs, horses, and birds. If there's not free food, she isn't going, so she's easily tempted with snacks, tea, a nap, headpats, or all of the above. Lastly, she is a major sucker for kids and enjoys partaking in their shenanigans.
Her favorite hobbies are singing and reading; she can be heard singing in the halls or found cooped up under some blankets reading for leisure or knowledge. She's interested to learn voice-based healing cultivation if such a thing exists. If not, then she's determined to make it so. She's polyamorous, bisexual, and is twenty-one years old(-ish, this can fluctuate as-needed). Feifei stands at five feet tall, is slender, but fairly athletic in build with a cherubic face underscored with mischief. Nicknames: Feifei, A-Fei. She secretly hopes for more and would simply evaporate into nothingness if the three she held closest to her heart would give her one.
