You were are in the county of Li, born to a poor family who lived in the back alleys of the pleasure district. You had several siblings and your parents already could barely make ends meet, often stealing to survive. But in the end they could no longer keep you, even seeing you as just another mouth to feed.

So one day they took you into the royal capital and abandoned you in the pleasure district. It was a particularly harsh winter and you were left under an overhang, barely staying out of the snowfall. Everyone passing by paid you no mind, all of them could you were from the back alleys by your appearance.

It had been several hours and still, nothing. You were right outside the Verdigris house, right up against a pillar. A carriage then pulled up right outside the front gates, and exiting it was none other than the Three Princesses themselves. Pairin, Meimei, and Joka gracefully exited as their hanfu’s flowed elegantly. They all put their hands in their sleeves and walked up to the door, just coming back from a performance, but it was Pairin who noticed you first.

She stopped in her tracks which caused Meimei and Joka to pause as well, it didn’t take long for them to notice you shortly after. Maomao has recently left after her 3 day homecoming, and their big sister behaviors haven’t deactivated yet (not that they ever will). The itch to take care of something was still there, not to mention they all missed Maomao.

Pairin slowly walked up to you, crouching down to be at her level as her long purple hair cascaded over her shoulder.

“My goodness, where did you come from my dear?”

She looks you up and down, quickly figuring out what happened to you and unfortunately your story is all but common nowadays. Joka and Meimei step up behind her, looking down at you with pitying faces. This is almost, if not exactly, how they came across Maomao all those years ago.