Thanks to his little stunt they were bundled off into his carriage by the Lan Family and sent off back to the manor. Lan Fen had sat as far away from him as possible and they had passed the ride in silence. Arriving at the estate wasn’t much better. Mr. Goatee seemed well aware of whatever scummy deal his predecessor made with the Lan family and had two burly guards ready to escort Lan Fen to his room.

Despite the servants already doing their best to avoid him the manor was particularly desolate at the moment. What few servants he saw quickly completed their chores and made themselves scarce. Chen felt his heart sink with every further confirmation that yes, his new identity was a terrible human being and everyone seemed to know it.

Lan Fen was still unreadable beneath her veil. Her steps were slow and measured like a soldier walking into hell. Chen stopped just after the door and watched the guards escort her into the bedroom. Mr. Goatee looked indifferent to the whole affair and simply bowed when the guards exited.

“I wish you a joyous night Young Master. I will make sure none disturb you,” Mr. Goatee said.

“Have someone send up some water,” Chen replied.

“Of course Young Master I will have them send up wine as well-”

“No,” Chen interrupted forcefully “Just water.”

Mr. Goatee narrowed his eyes and, for a brief moment, Chen felt a thrill of terror that he had noticed something. Instead, Mr. Goatee bowed again.

“Of course Young Master.”

He checked the connection again to see if anything had changed but it still registered as valid. After tonight he’d have to confront Mr. Goatee and establish the connection no matter the risk, he was running out of options. Of course, that was assuming he made it through the night.

The door closed.

Lan Fen was standing at the foot of the bed facing him. He could feel her eyes follow him as he walked across the room and pulled out a chair across from her and sat down.

“So,” he said. Perfect opening.

Silence.

Off to a great start then.

“You can sit if you’d like?”

She did not move. Chen had to admire her self-control in the face of what is probably the worst day of her life. Still, it was getting them nowhere.

“I’m not going to hurt you I can promise you that.” This situation was skeevy as hell, even if it exposed him as a fraud this was a line he would not cross.

If anything the atmosphere seemed to get even colder for all that Lan Fen still did not respond to him. Idly checked the connection again and almost fell out of his seat when he read it.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Connection: Valid

What the hell? When did the connection change? He rubbed his eyes as if seeing things but the words remained the same. It had clearly been negative at the shrine and he certainly hadn’t gotten any closer with her since then. Was it the marriage? That made a little sense but still didn’t explain why Mr. Goatee counted.

Regardless, this was the opportunity Chen had been waiting for. So long as he played his cards right that is.

“I know you won’t believe me but I don’t know who you are or what’s going on here,” Chen said.

Lan Fen finally reacted.

“Do not insult me by thinking I would believe such a barefaced lie Chen Haoran,” she scoffed. Her voice was surprisingly deep and for a moment he could imagine her wearing steel rather than silk. “You and Lan Yao will regret this conspiracy. I swear it.”

“See that’s all well and good but I didn’t even know my name before today let alone any conspiracy,” he said. He needed her to believe it but where to even start? “Someone did give me quite a bit of money to give you a hard time though.”

“So you admit it.”

“That I know nothing? Yeah pretty much.”

This would have been so much easier if he could see her face but asking her to lift her veil would only send all the wrong signals.

“Three days ago I suddenly woke up with no memories of how I got here or who I was,” he said. “You called me Chen Haoran before, what more do you know about me?”

It was a huge risk to reveal his lack of memories but he couldn’t hide it forever, especially if he wanted to explore the use of the burning words. He couldn’t connect with someone he had to tiptoe around and as shitty as it sounded Lan Fen wasn’t in a position to exploit the knowledge. On her part, Lan Fen considered him in silence.

“You are scum, a lascivious waste, and a brute that humiliates women,” she finally said. “You cavort with prostitutes and offend the innocent. As a complete embarrassment to your family, it’s no surprise that they sent you away to save face.”

“Oh yikes, no wonder nobody said anything during the ceremony,” he said.

“You are… telling the truth?” Lan Fen said with what almost sounded like awe in her voice.

“How do you figure that?” He hadn’t said anything particularly convincing after all.

“Even if everything you said was some sort of ploy to lower my guard Chen Haoran lacks the mind needed to stand such insults.”

“So you believe me?”

“What are you?”

Good enough. He summoned up the burning words and… pushed for lack of a better term. It felt as if something was snapping into place and filling what was once an empty space.

Benefactor’s Everlasting Hundred Blessings Charitable Prosperity

Spouse Lan Fen

Well… it was different at least. Chen Haoran supposed it was his fault to assume that it would show him a user manual or something.

“Hey-,” he was cut off by a knock at the door. Chen Haoran opened it to find the water he had asked for, the servant held it high even as she bowed so low she was practically prostrating. “Thank you,” he said as he took the pitcher and cups from her. She ran without looking back.

“Would you like some?” He asked Lan Fen. She tilted her head at the water and didn’t say anything.

“Oh right, of course, you’d be suspicious of it.” Not surprising considering the circumstances but he didn’t think she was any less parched than he was. He made sure she could see the pitcher as he poured himself a cup and downed it in one go. He motioned the pitcher at her.

“Please,” she finally said.

He filled her cup and handed it to her at arm's length where she received it gracefully. She tipped a finger into the water and tasted it before finally lifting her veil.

Chen Haoran wasn’t ashamed to say that he was captivated. He had felt the power in her voice and saw that same power in her face. The kind a master craftsman would carve into a warrior statue. She had the look of eagles about her with golden eyes that pierced him. Needless to say, he lost that staring contest. Lan Bitch had said something before about Lan Fen being at the Ninth Layer of the Qi Realm he didn’t know how that compared to his own power but something told him that Lan Fen was much much stronger than he was before whatever accident she had.

After winning their impromptu staring contest some tension seemed to leave her shoulders and she finally drank.

Received Hundredfold: Pure Spirit Water