“You really let me down!”
Leaning against the doorway, Su Wan threw the words at him without warning. Liu Xiaolou was stunned. He rubbed his eyes and asked, “What do you mean, Ninth Lady?”
Her chest was full of anger. She glanced outside the door, then snapped, “Get up, now. I’ll be waiting for you at Yunhai Pavilion!”
With that, she turned her head away and left.
Liu Xiaolou was baffled. After washing up and getting dressed, he glanced upstairs as he headed out. There on the second floor, Su Xi stood by the window. She gave him a small nod, and so he left SunRain Hibiscus Garden and set off for Yunhai Pavilion.
The maid Xiaoqin led him inside, her expression sour. She pointed upward. “Miss is at the Sea-viewing Hall.”
“What’s wrong with your young lady?” Liu Xiaolou asked.
Xiaoqin rolled her eyes, her face tight. “Please, young master, just go up.”
Still completely at a loss, Liu Xiaolou followed the stone steps to the highest point of Yunhai Pavilion. There, inside the pavilion, Su Wan stood gazing down at the mountains, her whole bearing cold as frost.
“When did you get back, Ninth Lady?”
Su Wan turned around, teeth clenched, and demanded, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
Her anger only flared hotter. “That you don’t like women. Why didn’t you say so from the start?”
Liu Xiaolou was dumbfounded. “Who said that?”
“Does it matter who said it? Everyone knows, and yet I was kept in the dark. A whole year, hidden from me!”
“That’s not true! Since when do I not like women? Who’s spreading this nonsense? I’ll find them myself!”
“How long did you think you could keep it up? Now the whole household knows. The Su family’s son-in-law doesn’t care for women, only for men! Liu Xiaolou, if you only desire men, why did you agree to marry into my family? Do you mean to ruin my fifth sister’s life, make her a widow in all but name?”
“I… Who started this rumor? Was it that Dong from Qishan? It must be that bastard!”
“You still remember him? Are you still thinking about him?”
“Why would I be thinking about him?”
“I didn’t know what kind of man Dong Wei was before. Not until I happened to see him that day. Only then did I realize what he really is.... disgusting!”
“You saw him in the Grotto-Heaven? What did he say to you?”
“He said it all himself. He even claimed you and he are the same kind. Only, he’s the ‘Great Joy,’ while you don’t even measure up to him. You’re just the ‘Small Joy’!”
“I swear to—”
“The day my family took you in as a son-in-law, didn’t you say you’d always been his closest friend? And now it seems you really were as close as you claimed!”
“No, that’s not it! Back then, the only reason I said those things was to hold him back, to stop him from marrying into the Su family. I said it on purpose!”
“So you got what you wanted. You became my family’s son-in-law. But I’ve asked Fifth Sister; she still hasn’t consummated the marriage with you. She’s been living like a widow for a whole year!”
“How is that my fault? I promised your father I wouldn’t speak of it. If you have doubts, go and ask your father yourself, ask him exactly what he demanded of me back then!”
“What did he demand of you?”
“Go ask him yourself!”
“I will, of course. But whatever it was, don’t you feel guilty for hiding the truth just to marry into my family? We’ve treated you well. We never looked down on you just because you’re a rogue cultivator from Wulong Mountain. But now, with things as they are, what’s to become of Fifth Sister?”
After a fierce quarrel, Liu Xiaolou and Su Wan locked eyes, glaring at each other in silence.
At length, Liu Xiaolou suddenly gave a crooked laugh. “Yes, I come from Wulong Mountain. So what if I do? We from Wulong Mountain live by our own skill, we rely on our own cultivation. I don’t believe that makes us inferior to anyone. If others look down on me, that’s their problem. I have never looked down on myself. As for what kind of man I am, whether I’m this so-called ‘Little Joy,’ I can prove it to you right now!”
With that, he stepped forward, grabbed Su Wan by the arm, pulled her toward him, and lowered his head to kiss her.
“What are you doing?” Caught completely off guard, Su Wan felt his lips touch hers. The moment she came to her senses, she let out a startled cry. A surge of pure true qi burst from her body, flinging Liu Xiaolou clear out of the pavilion. He crashed to the ground outside, sprawled flat.
The gap in cultivation was far too great. Liu Xiaolou couldn’t resist at all. His chest churned, and blood welled at the corner of his mouth. Struggling to his feet, he burst into wild laughter. “And this is my fault? Fifth Sister never consummated the marriage with me. Is that my fault? Aren’t you the same?”
Su Wan pressed a hand to her lips, staring at him wide-eyed, both alarmed and furious. For a moment she wanted to strike him dead on the spot for daring to offend her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She stood there, torn and unsettled.
Still laughing and coughing, Liu Xiaolou stumbled down from Yunhai Pavilion and made his way back to SunRain Hibiscus Garden.
The true qi of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was both pure and powerful. If Su Wan had truly meant to harm him, Liu Xiaolou would already be gravely injured. Luckily, it had only been an instinctive strike, so the wound wasn’t too serious. Still, it had damaged the Kidney Meridian, which was troublesome. He sat cross-legged on the bed, regulating his breath to smooth out the chaotic flow of qi.
“No… Young Master, I’ll eat…”
“Good? Tasty?”
“Yes… it’s good.”
“Susu, how did you end up as a maid in the Su household? Su… Su… Susu. You originally part of the Su family?”
“No, I was bought from the market when I wasn’t even four years old. I’ve grown up here in the Su family ever since.”
“So you’ve been a servant since you were little. Must’ve been hard, right?”
“Not at all. If you call that hardship, isn’t that just what I should expect? Master and the young ladies have always treated me kindly. They raised me, even taught me cultivation methods. If the stewardesses were a little strict, it was only for my own good. I’m very grateful…”
“If you think it’s good, then it’s good.”
“Susu thinks it’s very good.”
“Susu…”
“Young Master?”
“Are people outside really saying it? That I’m… bent? That I don’t like women, only men?”
“Ah… Young Master…”
“Tell me the truth!”
“Words are just words. Let people say what they want, you shouldn’t let it weigh on you…”
“Heh…”
“In fact, Susu believes you’re not like that. You’re just sick. When you first entered the Su family, you wanted to cure your illness, so you pulled Susu close and tried to… Isn’t that right, Young Master? But things like this, Susu asked a doctor in town, he said change can’t happen overnight. So you mustn’t lose hope. Susu will help you!”
“… cough, cough …”
“Young Master? Was it Ninth Lady who injured you?”
“I don’t want to eat anymore. I’ve lost my appetite.”
“Young Master, what are you doing?”
“I’m going back to Wulong Mountain. I’ve got no face left to show anyone!”