~~~
“I thought it would take you longer to contact .”
“As your daughter, it is my joy to exceed your expectations, dearest mother.”
Mother and daughter.
Lu Yuting and Lu i.
The two stand a re twelve feet away from each other in a small park close to the residence of Lu i’s maternal grandparents. At such an early hour, there is no one around to interrupt them.
“As your mother, I know those words cannot an anything good,” Lu Yuting says, giving Lu i a thoroughly unimpressed stare. “Nevertheless, I will ask this: Have you convinced your husband-to-be to agree to the treaties?”
Lu i smiles brightly. “Of course not, mother!”
Her mother sighs. “You disappoint . I am sure he must have reassured you that the nature of your birth will not prove an impedint. However, you should know that is nothing but overly idealistic nonsense, daughter. As soon as the realities of your situation assert themselves, your union will crack and shatter.”
“Is that the voice of experience talking?”
Her mother glares at her, and though she has yet to raise her Qi, it takes all of Lu i’s self-control not to falter.
One’s mories can be so hard to overco.
“Careful, girl,” her mother says. “I do not allow you to speak to like that.”
“Of course, forgive my indiscretion,” Lu i says, bowing her head like her mother taught her. “It is just… sothing has been in my mind lately. It is the reason why I called you here, mother. Ever since this all began, there has been sothing that doesn’t quite fit. Sothing that is not right about this.”
“Your preambles are nowhere near as interesting as you believe them to be.”
Her mother’s words actually sting a little, but Lu i does not let that deter her.
“I will be blunt then,” she says. “How long has it been since Father got tired of you?”
Her mother’s aura rises in an instant and strikes her across the face. Lu i’s head turns to the side as the sharp crack of wind echoes through the park.
“I see your ti away has made you insolent.”
“A proper lady does not anger easily,” Lu i says, quoting one of her mother’s old lessons while holding her reddened cheek and fighting the sting in her eyes. “My question was not ant as an insult, mother.”
“That makes it all the more foolish,” her mother says, coldly glaring down at her. “My marriage to your father survived your birth. Why would you think you can cast doubt on it?”
“I truly cannot compare to you, mother. You sohow made my birth sound like my fault instead of yours,” Lu i says, shaking her head. “However, I know enough to recognize soone trying to avoid a question.”
“You call your own mother a liar?”
“Mother, you taught to lie,” Lu i points out. “However, if you have no interest in answering, I will instead tell you why there is no aning in keeping it a secret. The first clue was your threat. For you to reveal everything makes no sense, mother.”
“Oh?” Her mother’s eyes glimr with amusent. “Do you perhaps think I care for you too much to place you in danger? A proper lady uses the ans available to her. You are not special enough to be exempt, daughter.”
“I do not think you care about at all, mother,” Lu i says. “I think you care about yourself too much to attempt sothing like this.”
Her mother’s smile falters.
“All this ti, you have made focus on how revealing your little affair will affect . How it will make people abandon . How it will make shunned. You have done all this while neglecting to ntion your own sins,” Lu i says, putting a hand on her hip. “You are the one who seduced Lord Feng Shang. You are the one who slept with him, took his seed inside her, and bore him a daughter.”
Lu Yuting chuckles. A breeze blows through the park. “Daughter, it is already known I had an affair. Whether it is with Feng Dianzuo or Feng Shang does not matter. At worst, it will give people another piece of gossip to occupy their worthless lives.”
“It matters because Lord Feng Shang’s wife is Lady Feng,” Lu i says, enjoying how quickly her mother’s smile is snuffed out. “The woman takes pride in her husband’s sterling reputation, and you plan to announce his infidelity for the world to hear? You might as well go to the Eternal Fla Clan and slap her in the face. That will be less insulting. Do you really think she’ll focus her ire on over you?”
“I am the granddaughter of an Elder of the Red Sky Pavilion and one of its most influential mbers,” Her mother says, drawing herself to her full height and putting a hand over her chest. “You are-”
“A wielder of the Eternal Fla who will soon break into the Earth Realm, the daughter of Lady Feng’s husband, and the wife-to-be of the Emperor of the Storm Dragon Empire,” Lu i says, mimicking her mother’s gesture. “Between the two of us, it is obvious who is the easier target.”
Her mother’s eyes flash with anger. “Are you implying your status is superior to mine?”
“I am stating it, mother,” Lu i says. “Lord Feng Shang and Lord Feng Gui are vying for Qing Jin’s favor. Killing is the sa as conceding to Lord Feng Gui. Lord Feng Shang will never allow it. You, however, are just a mber of the Red Sky Pavilion. No matter how important you believe yourself to be, do you really think anyone in the Red Sky Pavilion will pick you over a stable alliance with the Eternal Fla Clan?”
“You…arrogant… girl…”
Her mother’s Qi lashes out like a whirlwind, threatening to uproot the trees around them.
Lu i is unmoved.
She has seen a real storm.
“You are not ignorant of this,” Lu i continues, raising her Qi to protect herself and make her voice heard over the wind. “That is why it makes no sense for you to be so willing to reveal everything. Unless, of course, you were already backed into a corner. Unless you were in desperate need to prove your worth to soone.”
Slowly, Lu i advances, fighting the wind until she is only three feet away from her mother.
“When did father grow tired of you?” Lu i asks, relishing the anger in her mother’s face. “When did his eyes begin to wander? Considering how you treated him, it is a wonder he wanted anything to do with you after overcoming his bottleneck. Well, I guess you still had so value back then, but that is no longer true, is it? I should have noticed it from the start. Mother, you are still in the First Level of the Heaven Realm.”
There is no anger this ti, no sudden threats, no sense of imminent violence. After having her weakness pointed out, her mother can only look caught. Exposed. Almost fearful.
It is not as enjoyable as Lu i imagined it would be.
“All this ti, I thought you were being cautious about your advancent. Everyone else probably thinks the sa. However, your husband knows differently, doesn’t he? It is so very hard to hide things while dual-cultivating,” Lu i says. “It is not the potential sha of dying to tribulation lightning that stops you, mother. You can’t advance. You have hit a bottleneck.”
Her mother has been in the First Level of the Heaven Realm for as long as Lu i has known her.
Her father has not.
“Father has already decided you are not valuable. His eyes must have already begun to wander in search of soone more suitable,” Lu i says. “That is why you proposed this idea to him even though it could place your life in danger. You wanted to prove your worth, a temporary asure until you overco your weakness. However, that’s not going to happen, mother.”
As Lu i finishes, an angry burst of Qi spreads over the whole of the Red Sky Pavilion.
“What is this?” Lu Yuting asks, eyes widening as she recognizes her husband’s angry Qi. “Foolish girl, what have you done?!”
“That, dearest mother, would be your husband learning that all those precious treaties you tried to entice him with are not going to happen in the way he wants.”
~~~
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Lu Junjie trembles with rage.
“What is this?!”
“That should be self-evident, father-in-law,” Liu Jin says, eting the older man’s anger with complete calm. “Those are the agreents that you wanted. I thought about it and realized that the Red Sky Pavilion and the Storm Dragon Empire could benefit from so trade. The flying items your Sect produces would be of great aid to my country.”
Communication and travel in the Storm Dragon Empire are greatly underdeveloped, especially in Murong Bang’s forr territories. Flying items would help expand the army’s reach and efficiency. There would no longer be any uncommunicated areas.
“Don’t mock , boy!” Lu i’s father shouts, slamming the contracts on his desk. His aura sends the door flying off its hinges. “These… These are not the contracts I gave you!”
“Obviously not, those were terrible,” Liu Jin replies. “It was only natural that I changed them to sothing fair.”
The docunts Lu i’s father gave him the other day were only fair superficially. However, the more one read into the many clauses of the trade agreents, the more unfair they beca. In essence, they sought to turn the Storm Dragon Empire into an eternal custor of the Red Sky Pavilion, one subject to very high interest rates. While not the sort of thing that could ruin the country, it would give the Red Sky Pavilion and, by extension, Lu Junjie far too much power.
“This…” Lu Junjie says, holding up one of the contracts. He breathes so heavily that the air in the room is sucked out. “... is a joke! This seal has to be fake… There is no way you could have…”
“I am afraid not. That is, in fact, my seal,” Patriarch Wu says as he enters the room with the impeccable timing possessed by those with high cultivation. “After the young Emperor showed the contracts, we agreed they were a tad harsh, and a more equal agreent would be of greater benefit to both parties.”
Lu Junjie’s Qi is blown away. The man looks wide-eyed at the Patriarch of his Sect, not quite able to believe he is really there.
“Patriarch Wu… Why would you do this?” Lu Junjie asks, taking a few staggering steps toward the man. He holds his hand up towards him in confusion. “Why would you sabotage my efforts like this?”
It is a completely natural question. If Liu Jin had submitted to the original contracts, the Red Sky Pavilion would have benefited imnsely. From Lu Junjie’s point of view, there is no reason why Patriarch Wu would have helped Liu Jin, so he can only take it as an act against his person.
He cannot possibly know of the ga of poison shared by the two.
~~~
“Three-tailed scorpion venom with spirit tree leaves and the tear of a one-eyed behemoth,” Liu Jin says, rubbing his chin as he puts down the bottle. “I must confess I do not know the na, but this seems to like a slow-acting paralyzing agent. If used in large enough quantities, it will kill slowly. The victim will be completely aware of their body dying but be unable to do anything about it.”
“The Long Death is the most common na,” Patriarch Wu says. “To think you would be able to determine the ingredients so easily. Your skill is truly astounding. I wish we could continue this ga, but…”
He looks down at the table and all the opened bottles.
“It seems we have run out of bottles.”
“That is no issue,” Liu Jin says, taking out his spatial pouch and pulling out several bottles of poison from it. “We can continue with this if the Patriarch does not mind.”
The Patriarch looks at the new bottles on his desk.
“Your Majesty, if you do not mind saying it, you carry far too many poisons.”
“I enjoy making dicine. Occasionally, I make poisons as well,” Liu Jin replies. Ever since he began Lu i’s training in Ceaselessly Refining Breath, he’d been making more of them, many of which he had no intention of using for her training due to their lethality. “The line between the two is not nearly as clear as people like to believe, and skill in one helps in the other.”
“Well said,” Patriarch Wu says. “However, as these are your poisons, won’t you already know what they are?”
“That was your box, Patriarch,” Liu Jin points out. “Are you going to tell you did not know what each bottle was?”
“Those poisons were randomly sorted by a disciple,” Patriarch Wu protests before looking at the new bottles with interest. “However, who am I to turn down a challenge from soone who has matched mine so well? Shall we?”
They clink bottles and start drinking once more.
“Profound Annihilating Venom. Quite rare. I believe you have added a touch of black jasmine. Very intriguing.”
“Fool’s peach, the leftmost fang of a many-headed tiger, common spirit roots, and a cinnabar lotus. I believe the official na is Bliss of the Foolish.”
“Oh! You even have Light Devouring Poison. Blind eyes and five-hundred-year-old spirit lilies. You are using the crystallized blood of a feline instead of a fox. Curious, but there is sothing else. I detect a touch of...”
Again and again, the two take turns analyzing the poisons and sharing experiences and advice. Hours pass like that until, once more, all the poisons at the table have been sampled.
“Your skill is amazing, Emperor,” Patriarch Wu says. “I believe we could have used far more lethal poisons, and you’d still have been fine. Such mastery of Ceaselessly Refining Breath is not sothing even I possess. Thus, I can only conclude that you are right… Your master was not a disciple of our Sect.”
Liu Jin cocks his head at the way Patriarch Wu says it.
“You have an idea,” Liu Jin says.
“There is a story passed down among the leadership of the Red Sky Pavilion,” Patriarch Wu says, steepling his hands. His forehead creases in a frown. “The founder of our Sect was once a sickly child who would have died at a young age if not for a doctor appearing in his house one day. The doctor not only healed his malady but also taught him various things. He taught him dicine. He taught him stories to keep him entertained. He taught him to cultivate. One day, the doctor vanished, but the knowledge he left the founder behind allowed him to create the Red Sky Pavilion. We call that man the Western Sage, but he also has another na.”
Patriarch Wu looks expectantly at him. Liu Jin sighs.
“Patriarch, my master probably used many nas. If you are asking if the man who taught ca from the other side of the Dead Plains, then yes, he did. However, if you are asking for a specific na, I can only say that I knew my master as Old Jiang.”
Patriarch Wu’s head bows so deeply and so suddenly that his forehead hits the table with force, sending many of the bottles rolling down the floor.
~~~
Patriarch Wu sighs and shakes his head.
“Lu Junjie, you have always been brilliant and overwhelmingly tenacious. You have surpassed every challenge you’ve faced and beco one of the shining jewels of our Sect. However, the adversity you have faced and your success in the face of it has given you a bad character,” Patriarch Wu says, folding his hands behind his back. “Take this loss and consider it a lesson.”
Lu Junjie’s face convulses with anger and confusion. His Qi twitches erratically. His eyes keep darting from Patriarch Wu to Liu Jin.
There is only one thing the man’s pride will allow him to do.
~~~
Lu i and her mother are still standing in front of each other when they hear it.
Lu Junjie’s declaration.
“Red Sky Pavilion, hear ! You have mocked for years, but today, I reveal the truth I kept secret for the sake of my wife! The man she slept with, the man whose daughter she bore, his identity is none other than the great and venerable Lord Feng Shang of the Eternal Fla Clan!”
Lu i closes her eyes. Patriarch Wu could have stopped her father from speaking, but they had agreed to let it happen beforehand. What point would there be in stopping him when he could easily try again later? Short of killing him, there was no other way.
And killing him is not what Lu i wants.
She might be able to sleep easily after doing it. A part of her might even enjoy it. However, doing it is not how she is going to get what she desires.
“What have you done?” Her mother asks, collapsing to her knees.
“I don’t see why you are so shocked. This was what you threatened to do all along,” Lu i says, even though she knows the truth.
Her mother hoped it would never co to this.
She might have threatened to do it, but she always hoped Lu i would submit to their demands. In that way, Lu i would remain their puppet, and their secret would be safe.
“Why?” Her mother asks her.
“Because now there is nothing that ties to you,” Lu i replies.
Her mother attacks.
Bottleneck or not, her mother is still a cultivator in the Heaven Realm. The strike that cos is nothing Lu i can defend herself against.
Lotus does not have that issue
Her mother is blown back several yards before she can finish her movent. The Heaven Realm cultivator coughs weakly and holds her belly in pain.
“I suppose there are benefits to you being Senior Brother Lotus instead of Senior Brother Mud,” she says to the Senior Disciple at her side.
“I am pleased my journey of self-discovery has aided your personal crisis,” Lotus replies, echoing the words she said in anger a few days ago. Lu i smiles.
“Mother,” she says, taking a few steps forward. “This daughter of yours thanks you for all you have done for her.”
She bows in front of her dazed mother, rising as elegantly as she can and walking away.
Lu Yuting does nothing to stop her.
That is fine.
With Senior Brother Lotus at her side, Lu i walks out of the park where she and her mother used to play when she was a child. As she reaches the park gate, she finds her half-brother waiting by a tree.
“Sister,” he says, waving awkwardly at her.
“Brother,” she says, the word feeling awkward on her lips. “I wondered whether you were going to do anything.”
“I saw mother leave and followed her from a distance,” he says, casting a look in the direction of their mother. “I did not expect this.”
“Are you angry with ?”
Her brother shakes her head.
“No, sister. I am not,” he says. “However, and take no offense to this, I think it would be fine if we never saw each other again.”
Lu i smiles sadly.
“What a coincidence. I was thinking sothing similar.”
Her brother bows his head to her.
“Goodbye, sister. Have a good life.”
Her brother dashes off to console their mother. Perhaps she was a better mother to him than to her. Lu i does not presu to know such things. She walks away from the two and leaves them to their own issues. The Lu Family is no longer her concern.
Only when she is near Qing Jin does her expression brighten.
“I take it everything went well,” she says.
“It went as we thought it would. I am not sure if that can be called well,” he says, searching her face. “Your secret is known now.”
“It is,” she says. “I give it a day before the news reaches the Eternal Fla Clan. Rumors are so tediously fast.”
“Perhaps it would be better if we are not in the Eternal Fla Clan for the foreseeable future.”
“Perhaps,” she replies.
The two look at Senior Brother Lotus.
“I am but a humble Lotus who cannot hope to command to the whims of the Emperor of the Storm Dragon Empire,” the Senior Disciple says. “If you wish to go elsewhere, I cannot stop you. I will return to the Eternal Fla Clan and simply explain I acted in the way that was most proper.”
Liu Jin and Lu i smile at him.
“In that case, I think it is ti we return to the Storm Dragon Empire.”
~~~
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