~~~
Ceaselessly Refining Breath.
That is what Lu Mei called the method Liu Jin uses to purge his body of poisons and impurities. Though he learned it from Old Jiang a long time ago, Lu Mei took it for a technique of the Red Sky Pavilion and threatened him because of it, thinking him a spy sent by her parents.
If Lu Mei could come to that conclusion after knowing him for a few months, it is only natural that someone as strong as Patriarch Wu would not need nearly as much time.
“You say you learned it from your master?” Patriarch Wu asks, echoing the explanation Liu Jin just gave him. The two have moved into Patriarch Wu’s study. Unlike Lu Mei’s father, Patriarch Wu prefers to line his walls with bookshelves full of plays and medical texts instead of the heads of his vanquished foes.
It makes for a far more soothing atmosphere.
“That is so. My master taught me the technique to defend myself against poisons,” Liu Jin says, smiling a little as he remembers those times. He can feel Lotus’ Qi a small distance away, paying attention but not interfering. He will only act when Liu Jin’s Qi gives him a signal. “It was only after I met Lu Mei that I realized the Red Sky Pavilion taught something similar to their disciples.”
“Not similar, and not to any disciples,” Patriarch Wu says in a severe tone. “Ceaselessly Refining Breath is taught to a select few. Can you imagine my surprise when I met you and noticed not just your breathing pattern but that of young Lu Mei? She has always been gifted, but not to the point where she can teach herself a technique she does not know. I wanted to be absolutely certain before I confronted His Majesty, and there is no doubt in my mind now. You are using Ceaseless Refining Breath.”
“I see,” Liu Jin says.
He’d suspected it for a while. Usually, he’d have been too focused on the threat posed by Lu Mei’s parents to consider the implications, but after seeing that memory jade…
Lately, he’s starting to think a lot more about his master’s life.
“Is there any chance Lu Mei’s parents could have noticed it?” Liu Jin asks.
“They do not lack the skill, but parents are often the last to notice the changes in their children. It is a common blindness,” Patriarch Wu answers, crossing his arms. “You said you were taught the technique to deal with poisons. Do you mean to say it was taught to you using poison?”
Liu Jin nods.
“Naturally. Is there any other way for it to be taught?”
“Of course there is!” Patriarch Wu sounds offended he even asked. “Ceaselessly Refining Breath is a breathing that seeks to purge the body of impurities and, through that, increase one’s physical abilities and cultivation speed. With proper time and practice, one becomes able to selectively target substances within the body. The purging of poisons is an [advanced skill!] It should not be how one is instructed in the technique! What sort of madman would do something like that?”
Oh.
If Liu Jin has to be honest, he is not even a little surprised that his master chose to teach him through the most troublesome method. He does, however, feel somewhat guilty that he instructed Lu Mei in the same way.
At least, he used weaker poisons.
“Patriarch Wu, while I understand your surprise, I would ask that you do not speak ill of my Master,” Liu Jin says. “Though his methods were often severe, his memory is precious to me.”
Patriarch Wu looks highly skeptical. “This master of yours... Did he ever mention the Red Sky Pavilion?”
“Once,” Liu Jin says, nodding. “He told me that other than the Four Great Sects, the Red Sky Pavilion was best in medical and alchemical knowledge in the Crimson Cloud Empire. However, I do not believe he was ever a disciple of your Sect.”
“Why is that?”
“Because my master was in the Emperor Realm when I met him,” Liu Jin says. “If he was a disciple of your Sect, you would already know who he is.”
The number of Emperor Realm cultivators in the Crimson Cloud Empire is somewhere around a hundred. If one were to add the other countries on this side of the Dead Plains, the number would not double. That is how rare Emperor Realm cultivators are. Even the Red Sky Pavilion, whose reputation is among the Top Fifty Sects within the Empire, has only produced five Emperors in its entire history.
A disciple with the potential to reach the Emperor Realm is not something they would have ever overlooked.
Patriarch Wu stands up abruptly, and Liu Jin readies his aura on instinct. He can feel Lotus tensing as well. However, there is no need for either of them to do anything. Patriarch Wu merely turns around and walks to one of the cabinets behind him. He takes out a wooden box and places it on his desk.
“There is,” Patriarch Wu begins, blowing the dust from the box and opening it, “a special game those of us who have mastered Ceaselessly Refining Breath like to play. It is not something the young ones know about. It’d give them the wrong idea if they did.”
Inside the box, there are several small bottles made of dark glass. Liu Jin reaches for one but stops and looks at Patriarch Wu.
“Go ahead,” Patriarch Wu says, motioning him to continue.
Liu Jin does.
“Poison,” Liu Jin says, recognizing the nature of the liquid inside the bottle the moment he holds it. He blinks. “You drink poison?”
“Not just drink. That would not be any fun,” Patriarch Wu says as he takes a seat. “In front of you are over three dozen poisons of varying degrees of lethality. Some are capable of leaving a cultivator of your caliber quite ill. Others will give me a headache that will last an entire day.”
Since Patriarch Wu is an Emperor Realm cultivator, there is no need to speculate what a poison like that will do to Liu Jin.
“I do hope you will forgive me if it seems lopsided in my favor, but survival is not the goal, merely the prerequisite.”
“You want me to identify them,” Liu Jin realizes.
“I want us to take turns identifying them. It is, after all, a game,” Patriarch Wu says, grabbing a bottle and opening it. “Will you play?”
Liu Jin thinks it over for a moment.
“This seems reasonable.”
Grabbing a bottle, Liu Jin clinks it with Patriarch Wu’s as though they were cups of wine.
~~~
“Do you really think there is anyone who will pick you over a stable alliance with the Eternal Flame Clan?”
Hours have passed, yet her mother’s words still gnaw at Lu Mei’s thoughts. It is an all too common problem. For as long as she can remember, her mother’s voice has always been there as an annoying thorn in her side and the occasional source of good advice.
There is sense in what her mother says. Lu Mei’s origins are too problematic. It would be natural and even expected to shun her once the truth is found. That is, after all, what people do every day. The people they stand to gain from are embraced and loved while those that are a hindrance are shunned and abandoned. It is all incredibly trite.
It also does not matter at all in this situation.
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No matter how strongly Qing Jin fixates on his goals, he will not cast her aside. Even if their relationship wasn’t what it was, he would not separate himself from her. He would dare ignore what the world calls common sense. That is the type of person he is.
That is the problem.
Lu Mei frowns as she turns on the bed. Qing Jin. Her parents. Lord Feng Shang. She has to be missing something. As things are now, she cannot get the outcome she wants. As long as her father is willing, her identity will be revealed, and when that happens, she’ll…
The heat rises.
A proper lady does not resort to violence to deal with her emotions, Lu Mei reminds herself as she immediately sits up and tries to control her breathing. It does not matter how tempting the Eternal Flame makes it sometimes. She cannot lose control.
The heat goes back down.
Her eyes settle on Qing Jin’s belongings. There are not many of them. Though they arrived with several bags, that was only to make an impression. Austerity might be what Qing Jin prefers, but an Emperor needs to be perceived as owning several things.
Though she knows it is a bad idea, Lu Mei reaches into one of Liu Jin’s bags and takes out a clear mirror made of ice. It is cool to the touch and more valuable than any item in the room.
After all, how can a way to directly contact the Divine Frozen Palace be worth anything less?
Something so valuable would usually be kept inside Qing Jin’s spatial pouch, but the mirror has proven an exception. Perhaps it is guilt that prevents him from doing so. Putting it away would feel too much like deliberately ignoring it.
Even if that is technically what he has been doing.
Qing Jin has had the mirror for two weeks, but he has yet to use it. Lady Dai had not been happy about it, but she knew better than to press the issue. Starting an argument with Qing Jin when her Sect was after his favor would have been foolish.
Lu Mei’s fingers trace the edges of the mirror, feeling its inner workings. She may lack Qing Jin’s impossibly precise Qi control and fine senses, but that does not mean she cannot appreciate the work put into the item. It is truly a marvelous gift. A single burst of Qi is all it takes to be face-to-face with a Disciple of the Divine Frozen Palace. Sound transmission crystals cannot compare.
Her fingers tighten around the edges. The voice of her mother grows louder as the heat rises in the room.
Two things happen at once.
One, Lu Mei abruptly stops herself before the mirror can suffer any damage, quickly doing her best to get her Qi under control.
Two, a face that is not her own appears reflected in the mirror.
“Husband!” the girl in the mirror cries out with almost painful amounts of hope and yearning. However, all of it vanishes as soon as she lays eyes on Lu Mei.
“No,” Lu Mei says. “I am afraid not.”
The girl is, begrudging as Lu Mei is to admit it, undoubtedly beautiful. Her hair is white like snow. Her features are delicate, her skin looks soft to the touch, and her eyes are blue sapphires. Even the small sigh of disappointment that leaves her lips is something Lu Mei knows men would find enchanting.
“Crimson hair and golden eyes,” the girl says. “That would make you Lu Mei of the Eternal Flame Clan, is that not so?”
“Correct,” Lu Mei says, “And you must be the famous Xiao Shuang of the Divine Frozen Palace, disciple of one of the Five Fairies. I am honored.”
Lu Mei is not surprised Xiao Shuang can recognize her by sight. If Song Daiyu didn’t give her a full description, then Lady Dai most certainly has by now.
“You are not who I expected,” Xiao Shuang says.
“It might have activated the mirror by accident,” Lu Mei says. Admitting a mistake is not like her, but Xiao Shuang’s disappointment is so painfully obvious that Lu Mei finds herself feeling bad for her.
“I see.”
Under most circumstances, Lu Mei’s actions would have gone unnoticed. For Xiao Shuang to immediately answer the call means she must be carrying the mirror on her person at all times. From what Lu Mei can see behind Xiao Shuang, the girl seems to be in her room.
Has she been sitting by the mirror waiting until Qing Jin called?
How unbearably sweet.
“If you wish, I can easily take the mirror to Qing Jin.”
“Liu Jin,” Xiao Shuang corrects her.
Lu Mei raises an eyebrow at her.
“It is the name he was born as,” Xiao Shuang says. “It is also the name I met him as.”
“And yet, he has taken the Qing name and responsibilities,” Lu Mei counters.
A moment of silence passes between the girls. Gold and sapphire match wills, yet unlike with her mother, Lu Mei finds herself enjoying this.
“That is fair enough,” Xiao Shuang says at last. “I must admit some surprise. From what the others told me of you, I would not have expected you to make such a kind offer.”
“Consider it a measure of how pitiful you look right now,” Lu Mei tells her bluntly.
“Now that is closer to how you were described.”
“I am glad my character comes through so strongly,” Lu Mei says, allowing herself a gracious smile. “However, what about yours? Don’t think I have not noticed you have yet to answer my offer.”
“...It would… It would not be proper.”
“I beg your pardon?”
The white-haired girl looks down, nervousness visible in her gestures. “When he survived the fall of Eastern Port City, Liu Jin sent me a letter. When he met Song Daiyu years later, he sent me a message. Now, he’s met Lady Dai Jie and received the mirror. Despite that, he has yet to make contact. I… I must respect that decision.”
“How surprising,” Lu Mei says. “I did not take you for a coward.”
“Excuse me?”
It is striking, really, how quickly the girl’s entire demeanor changes. Gone are the hesitation and nervousness, replaced by glacial cold.
“I do not believe I stuttered. He might not have used the mirror yet, but neither have you,” Lu Mei points out, matching her cold with burning gold shining through her eyes. “You did not want to call him and find yourself unwanted. What is that if not an act of fear?”
“I will not have you–”
“To think you are both worrying about the same silly thing. How annoying,” Lu Mei says, timing her interruption just right. It works. The cold in Xiao Shuang’s eyes lessens, replaced by a glimmer of confusion. Lu Mei brings a hand to her lips in mock surprise. “Oh dear, did I say that aloud? Please ignore my indiscretion.”
Lu Mei has a good idea of why Qing Jin has not yet talked to Xiao Shuang. However, she is not so kind that she will go out of her way to solve that issue for them. A hint is more than enough.
“I did not expect you to try to encourage me,” Xiao Shuang says.
“Is that what I did? Perhaps I felt guilty for raising your hopes. Besides, if Qing Jin were not dealing with an emergency caused by my parents, he might have contacted you already.” Lu Mei shrugs uncaringly. “My parents are trying to extort us by revealing a troublesome secret of mine, you see.”
If there is one thing Lu Mei has learned from Qing Jin, it is that there is something incredibly satisfying about bluntly stating an unexpected truth. Xiao Shuang’s reaction does not disappoint. Though she is not bad at controlling her emotions, that only makes the minute changes in her facial features all the more noticeable to someone like her.
“If you are being so open about it, it means the issue is either solved or going so poorly your secret will get out,” Xiao Shuang deduces. “However, that is still no reason to speak to me about it.”
“Why not?” Lu Mei says with a fake cheer. “You are someone thousands of miles away. Your judgment is completely immaterial to all this.”
And, annoying as it is to admit it, between mostly solved or going poorly, Lu Mei would have to pick the latter. No matter how many times she has thought of it, short of having her parents killed before they can speak, there is no leaving the Red Sky Pavilion without her secret being revealed.
“Hear this,” Lu Mei says. “My parents seem to think my secret will cause Qing Jin to abandon me.”
“You know better, obviously.”
“Naturally,” Lu Mei says. “But that is the problem. Others know better than to keep that which is inconvenient. He is too virtuous for that.”
If her secret gets out, Qing Jin will not shun her.
And that will turn her into a burden to him.
The girl in front of her only reinforces that notion. Talented enough to be chosen as the direct disciple of one of the Five Fairies of the Divine Frozen Palace and not burdened by a complicated ancestry. She offers a direct link to one of the Four Great Sects. Meanwhile, Lu Mei can only offer him potential complications. The potential of reigniting the feud between Lord Feng Gui and Lord Feng Shang. The potential of drawing the ire of Lady Feng. The potential of earning yet more distrust from everyone around him.
When she compares herself to Xiao Shuang, it is Lu Mei who comes up lacking.
“Pitiful,” Xiao Shuang says, making Lu Mei’s eyes burn with flame. “You have been at his side for so long, yet despite enjoying such a privileged position, are you really such a small woman? Is it so easy for you to doubt him and to doubt yourself? No, I do not believe that. He would not treasure you if that was the case.”
Lu Mei’s golden eyes glow. The certainty in Xiao Shuang’s voice, the confidence she has in someone she has not seen in years. All of it makes her angry. She wants to tell this girl that she does not understand her situation at all…She is…She is…
She is much better than this.
“Goodness,” Lu Mei says, shaking her head. “I suppose I am being rather silly. How unlike me.”
If it is going to be like this, then…
Fine.
She’ll be greedy.
“If I helped you realize it, consider us even for easing my own worries,” Xiao Shuang says. “However, there is one more thing I wish to say.”
“Oh?’
“My master recommended I do this, and though my master is not the best with words, her wisdom is undeniably profound, often in unexpected ways,” Xiao Shuang says. “After speaking to you, I believe I should follow it.”
The white-haired girl clears her throat and makes her declaration.
“I am the first wife.”
A smile appears on Lu Mei’s face. It matches the one Xiao Shuang is wearing perfectly.
“Oh? Is that so?”
~~~