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Jin Guangyao was having a week.
He couldn’t even call it a bad week, because such implied the existence of a good one, when the truth was that there was never a day where Jin Guangyao didn’t feel overworked and stressed.
Xue Yang’s disappearance was not helping his nerves.
“Chengmei, we talked about this. No explosives,” he said to the empty room, or what remained of it anyway, cloaked in a thick smog of ash as it was. Very little of the floor could be seen, with all the singed papers and other things strewn about.
It was really asking too much of Xue Yang to keep his workspace clean, but Jin Guangyao at least wished he wouldn’t toss around the rare (and dangerous) artifacts they brought it for study. He picked up a few, carefully wiping away the soot, and placed them back in their rightful places. Then he picked up the brocade tossed in the corner and sighed. It wouldn’t do to leave it – they’d never be able to wash out the smell of smoke. Jin Guangyao folded it up and took it with him.
Xue Yang might throw a fit later, but he needed to learn how to take better care of his things.
He was halfway to his room when he crossed his father’s path. Surrounded by an entourage of fawning women, Jin Guangshan’s typical reaction to spotting his illegitimate son was to ignore him. Yet this time, their eyes met, and Jin Guangyao found himself beckoned over.
In spite of himself, Jin Guangyao’s heart skipped a beat. He knew he was only ever acknowledged to be yelled at or ordered around, but each time his father spoke to him, he thought maybe, just maybe, he had done something right.
“What have you got there?” Jin Guangshan ended those hopes immediately, his eyes now solely on the folded cloth in Jin Guangyao’s arms.
“It’s a brocade, Father.” Jin Guangyao cast a furtive glance at the amused ladies. Perhaps if they were gone, he might have said a bit more.
“I can see that, ” his father replied and reached to touch it, brushing his fingers across with a gentleness he never reserved for his son. “Such a beautiful design. And just what are your plans for it?” His eyes showed greed, his voice, expectation.
Jin Guangyao really ought to have said something then. The impatient tut of his father’s tongue cut him off and prompted him to hold out his arms.
“A gift for you, Father. Please accept it.”
Ling Wen was having a week.
She couldn’t even call it a bad week, because such implied the existence of a good one, when the truth was that there was never a day where Ling Wen didn’t feel overworked and stressed.
Shi Wudu’s appearance was not helping her nerves.
“No,” she said to the previously empty room, her voice echoing across a chamber that might have been spacious if it hadn’t been covered floor to ceiling in scrolls. Very little of Ling Wen herself could be seen, hidden among the stacks as she was.
It was really asking too much of Shi Wudu to take the dismissal graciously and turn back around. He approached her desk and used his fan to slide aside one of the stacks, so that they might look at each other face to face.
“I’m busy now,” Ling Wen said, as though she could be otherwise. “Wherever your little brother has gone or whatever he’s done this time, I don’t know, and I’m not dealing with it.”
This was Shi Wudu’s typical reason for seeking her out. Yet this time, their eyes met, and Ling Wen found herself on the receiving end of his chuckle.
“Aren’t you a cynical woman. Why must you immediately assume I’m here about Qingxuan? Why can’t it be that I’ve come here for you?”
Ling Wen waited.
“I did come here for you actually,” Shi Wudu fanned himself. “I heard something I thought you’d find interesting, but seeing as you’re so busy, I’ll take my leave.”
He turned around then, but the impatient tut of Ling Wen’s tongue kept him in place.
“Just say it,” she said with a sigh, knowing that at least Shi Wudu’s idea of interesting was better than most. He wouldn’t bother her with idle gossip or details of his sordid affairs.
Sure enough, Shi Wudu’s expression sobered and as he leaned in close to whisper into her ear, Ling Wen’s heart skipped a beat.
“I’ve located the general …”
Xue Yang was laughing again.
No matter how many warning looks Jin Guangyao shot him, he continued to do so, removing his hand from his mouth for a full on hysteric guffaw the moment Jin Guangshan had left his earshot. The novelty of seeing his sect leader adorned in the cursed brocade had yet to wear off.
Jin Guangyao had anticipated trouble the moment his father put that garment on, revealing itself to be an elaborately ornate robe made of the finest silk with woven in jewels, but what he hadn’t expected was just how attached his father would get to the robe, refusing to wear anything else. He became the subject of endless compliments and envious looks, a fact which pleased him greatly.
And then Xue Yang finally reappeared from heavens knew where, cheeks stuffed with candy, and burst out laughing on the spot.
Jin Guangyao wished the floor would swallow him. Caught between his furious father and a doubled over Xue Yang spitting chewed bits of candy onto their nice carpet, he hurriedly rushed to smooth the situation.
“Don’t be mad, Father. Chengmei is just like this. Pay him no mind.”
Those words, said in a soft placating, pleading tone, had been the first order. From that moment, Jin Guangshan didn’t look at Xue Yang, and didn’t show any ire.
Jin Guangyao was fraught with anxiety. Xue Yang happily dug up all the notes he had on the brocade and shoved them into Jin Guangyao’s hands.
“Make him do something really funny! Like, like – make him go up to every disciple and tell them he can’t get it up.”
“I’m not going to do that,” Jin Guangyao snapped. He had already promised himself he would not take advantage of this situation, if only because he had no idea what would happen when his father took the robe off and realized what they’d done.
His father obviously took off the robe to sleep and bathe. It was something of a miracle he hadn’t caught on already.
“Where’s your sense of fun? Your ambition?” Xue Yang complained. “You can make your dear old dad do whatever you want. Make him give you the sect!”
“I won’t give him any orders,” Jin Guangyao said in a firmer tone.
And he had meant it.
At least, until one late night when he became an unfortunate witness to his father’s usual antics with the maids, and in the heat of the moment, calmly said, “Father, kindly stop looking at women.”
Ling Wen did not look good in yellow.
She didn’t look good in any bright colors – there was a reason she preferred to wear black – but yellow was particularly disagreeable with her, completely washing her out. It was in this scraggly sickly-looking form that she couldn’t even meet the lowest of low bars, and it was making her feel quite discouraged.
“Nah, you’re just not trying hard enough ,” Pei Ming said inside the communication array. He was laughing again, and Ling Wen could picture him wiping tears from his eyes.
“Did you have to call him?” she said irritably to Shi Wudu, the other person in the array and who was supposed to be the only one aware of this outing.
“You’re the one who said you needed help with this. Who else was I supposed to call?”
She hated that he was right. Their resource pool was extremely limited, especially when they needed to keep the whole thing under the Upper Court’s noses. Shi Wudu had already done his part in sneaking her out without anyone noticing.
It was supposed to be such a simple task too. Get in, get Bai Jing, get out. Ling Wen had done her research. She knew everything about how the Jin Sect of Lanling operated, and the character of its clan leader, the latest target of the Brocade Immortal’s curse. She had been disgusted by what she’d learned, but it served her purposes well enough. She’d thus disguised herself as a simple maid, searched for opportunities to get near the clan leader, and then batted her eyes and sang honeyed words.
Except to her shock and immense confusion, that bastard Jin Guangshan wouldn’t even look at her!
She wished she could have asked Shi Wudu to get the robe. He would have succeeded, but the problem was he wouldn’t have been subtle. And asking Pei Ming had been out of the question – he might have done it for her, but he would have required an explanation. He was still awaiting one now although it was outweighed by his amusement in having been called in to help Ling Wen in the art of seduction.
(Or, more specifically, the art of getting a man alone into a room so she could knock him out, steal his clothes, and disappear without a trace.)
(There would not be any actual seduction.)
(Or else.)
“Try opening your robes a little more. Wiggle your hips when you walk. Put on some rouge. Speak less. You’re supposed to turn heads towards you, not away.”
Ling Wen wanted nothing more than to smack him, but Pei Ming was the expert in this. She added a little more color to her cheeks with a spell, and then awkwardly took a few exaggerated steps.
“Well? Are you seduced?”
“I have standards, Noble Jie.”
“Maybe the problem isn’t you ,” Shi Wudu cut in, possibly trying to sound comforting. “According to our notes, he can’t go three days without a woman’s embrace, but have you noticed him with any women at all in your surveillance?”
“No,” Ling Wen said with a frown. Granted, she couldn’t watch him continuously if she wanted to maintain her cover, but she realized she had witnessed the same phenomena that she experienced – of Jin Guangshan refusing to look at any woman. Some female disciples had even reveled in it.
“I think we can make a guess as to what kind of orders he’s been given,” Ling Wen said with a chuckle, suddenly feeling more impressed than annoyed with the puppeteer. She thought of Bai Jing and how pleased he must have felt to enforce such an order.
“Do you have any idea who’s pulling the strings?”
“Yes, actually. I do.”
Jin Guangyao knew the face of every person in Golden Carp Tower and had pegged the unfamiliar maid as an intruder immediately.
He chose not to act on it right away. Not while she was interested in little more than awkwardly fawning over his father and trying to get him to look her way. Her attempts were painful to watch. Jin Guangyao was left wondering if she was trying to get them to drop their guard, or if she was just that inept.
He had noticed one thing though – her eyes were always glued to the cursed brocade. Did she recognize it for what it really was? While everyone else had countless things to say about it, she hadn’t even mentioned it once during her questionable flirting attempts. How odd. It was the single most eye-catching thing about him now. Certainly more than his eyes which she’d compared to copper coins after an exceptionally long pause.
Jin Guangyao had started planning the moment he saw her. Took care to look and sound as soft as he could in her presence and made sure not to give any obvious orders. He kept his head down and played the part of the invisible bastard son, all the while preparing for his confrontation with her.
Thus, it had caught him slightly off guard when she confronted him first.
For all the care and veneer of respect she’d shown his father, she didn’t waste a moment grabbing him by the robe and shoving him into a small empty room.
Jin Guangyao realized he’d underestimated her. She clearly knew his position in the sect well enough to know that such a brazen act would be neither noticed nor punished.
But it also meant she had bought into his meek, compliant act. Jin Guangyao made himself look suitably frightened before forcing his best smile.
“Is there something I can help you with, Miss?” he said, brushing himself off, trying to seem like someone who was trying not to look put out.
“Let’s drop the masks, shall we?” she responded in a cold tone. “The brocade. Give it back.”
So she was indeed after the cursed robe. Jin Guangyao’s eyes widened, and he looked down at himself. “What brocade do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“I’m a very busy person. I don’t like to have my time wasted,” her voice grew colder. “The robe you graciously gifted to your father. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? Give it back at once.”
“My father’s new robe? Oh no, I’m afraid he loves it too much. He’d never bear to part with it.”
Calm down, Jin Guangyao told his pounding heart. She can’t possibly know. I was careful.
“You think yourself too clever. Did you think no one would notice how the illegitimate , unfavored son, struggling so hard to gain any recognition, is suddenly able to propose bold new ideas and have his father accept them with nothing more than a saccharine little “please approve this, Father”? Even saying “please”. How kind of you.”
Or perhaps Jin Guangyao hadn’t been that careful. He really, truly hadn’t meant to use the robe in such a way, but after fixing the worst of Jin Guangshan’s vices, he thought, maybe he could take the chance to do a little more good in the world.
He really did want to do good.
“I’ll commend you for not taking the chance to have him sing your praises. I can only imagine how much restraint it took not to order that .”
“What good would it have done?” Jin Guangyao replied in spite of himself. “You don’t understand what my father’s like. He would never do such a thing.”
“So you do understand at least that much.”
For some reason, Jin Guanyao’s knees suddenly gave out. He knew instinctively he could not win against this woman, and worse, he was forced to think about all the things he’d done since his father donned the brocade. He’d made his father pay attention to him. Listen to him. Agree with him.
And none of it made him feel even a little loved.
“I had no choice!” he cried out. “Father demanded the robe from me. How could I have refused him?”
“No one made you give him orders.”
“I hadn’t wanted to… but the way he behaves sometimes… I hadn’t meant it as an order, but I had to step in. It was for the sake of young ladies like you.”
“Don’t act as though you weren’t enjoying it. You think I don’t know how using the brocade feels?”
“You don’t understand at all,” Jin Guanyao insisted. He also insisted to himself that he really hadn’t enjoyed it. “I am his son, but you don’t know how he treats me.”
“You gifted your father a robe that forces him to obey your commands. It’s not hard to guess how he treats you,” her voice thawed as she spoke, the bitter coldness now only bitter. She crouched down, and Jin Guangyao could suddenly see a well of exhaustion in her eyes. “Do you know why you were able to control him for so long, when any sensible person should have guessed they were being influenced?”
“I… have an idea.” Jin Guangyao had thought it was part of the brocade’s curse at first, but none of their research supported it. Instead there was a much simpler reason. For Jin Guangshan to think that his son was puppeteering him, well, he would first have to think of his son.
“You won’t get what you want doing this,” the woman continued. “Even if you get bolder and have him publicly acknowledge that the new projects he’s been approving are your ideas, the one who’ll get all the respect and praise will still be him, for perching you up onto a higher branch. No matter how hard you work, you’ll never be seen as anything more than an ungrateful brat who should know their place.”
Jin Guangyao knew all this. He had for years now. Truthfully, he didn’t need it spelled out, but to hear her say it with so much scorn told him she was speaking from experience.
She was someone who truly understood him.
It made her next words all the more uplifting.
“Give me back the brocade. In return, I’ll help you get the recognition you deserve.”
His heart soared.
Jin Guangyao would have been the first to admit that he was not a powerful cultivator. While he could understand a person’s abilities through observation, he could not innately feel their spiritual power. However, this woman was different. From the moment she’d dropped her mask, her aura pressed down on him mercilessly, tightening itself around him like a hand in a vice grip. It was not the aura of a regular cultivator. It did not even compare to the aura of the strongest cultivator Jin Guangyao knew.
It was… more.
She was not a martial artist, but she didn’t have to be. If she wanted to, she could end Jin Guangyao in a blink.
And she had offered him – him – her aid!
Jin Guangyao’s smile turned genuine.
“What do I need to do?”
Ling Wen felt very satisfied knowing that a small-minded man like Jin Guangshan would never admit to being knocked out and having his extravagant robe stolen by a woman.
She patted down Bai Jing with a fond smile as she sent a message to her friends that she would stay in Lanling for a while longer.
“And just what are we supposed to tell people when they realize you’re gone?”
Ling Wen looked over to where Jin Guangyao was, once again trailing behind his father, but with a new determined glimmer in his eye.
“Tell them I’m training my future deputy.”