18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Mu Fanqing
“Governor,” Shu says his tone calm and respectful.
Outwardly, he is perfect. One would hardly suspect that the man standing in front of them is guilty of preforming illicit deeds and being a smuggler.
After all, why would they? He’s a lord, which is one of the highest positions in all Da Xian, what does he hope to gain from smuggling?
It’s laughable, ridiculous. And yet it only serves to make me angrier the more I think about it.
“General,” he continues, turning to the woman who came out with the governor.
So, she is not the governor’s wife. I suppose that makes sense, the governor’s wife is noted for being a rare beauty.
At least according to the Yanzhou gossip my mother filled me in on before I came here.
And while this female general is quite fetching, she is beautiful in a harsh way.
Like the ice. Cold and unyielding and yet breathtaking in a way that it is difficult to remove your eyes from.
He holds out his hand, palm up toward me.
I stare at it for a second before I realize that he wants me to take it.
I consider not doing so just to be obstinate, but my goal is to keep us from being suspected of being anything but above board.
Like it or not, I’m now Shu’s partner in crime and partially responsible for maintaining his ruse.
So instead, I force a smile and slide my hand into Shu’s.
He gives my hand a little squeeze before he moves me forward so that I am standing beside him.
“Allow me to introduce my wife, Lady Xiao.”
“My lady,” Governor Ji says and then a governor of the land, a man in charge of a whole city clasps his hands in front of him in a sign of respect.
“Lady Xiao,” the female general says, she spits out the words with a bit more venom than the governor. Almost immediately, I had noticed how tense she was when she came out of the governor’s manor. Does she have a feud with the Xiao family?
I glance at Shu out of the corner of my eye, wondering if maybe that’s what he had been trying to say when I kept interrupting him.
I was probably too hasty earlier, but I was still sore over discovering that he was a smuggler.
I still haven’t quite forgiven him for lying to me, but that’s a personal matter.
In the front of everyone else we are allies.
Bound by a contract and now united in a secret that he doesn’t know I’m keeping for him.
Shu had called her General Gao and even showed her deference. That can only mean one thing, she comes from the Gao family. The third family in Da Xian, the Gaos are a family of military generals, holding vast swaths of military power.
They’re a very powerful family, and very bad people to make enemies of. But it seems Shu didn’t care to take that into consideration before he made an enemy of this General Gao.
I tighten my smile, sliding my hand from Shu’s and folding it before I drop into a pretty little bow. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Governor. General.”
The governor hurries to righten me, telling me that it isn’t proper for me to bow to him, but Gao continues to regard me sternly, not the least bit impressed.
Shu clears his throat, continuing as he gestures to Quanyu. “And this is my sworn brother and personal guard Zhan Quanyu.”
The governor’s eyes widen in surprise, likely wondering why Shu, who is a lord himself, is introducing this commoner to a governor and a general of the third family. To be honest, I cannot quite wrap my mind around it.
“Liying, it has been a while,” Quanyu says with an easy smile.
Governor Ji chokes, Shu sighs heavily, and General Gao narrows her eyes. Her fingers flex around her sword and I half expect her to draw her blade and cut him down, but she simply glares at him. “Impudent as ever, Zhan Quanyu.”
“Please, is that any way to greet an old friend?” Quanyu asks, smirking when Shu loudly clears his throat.
She rolls her eyes, shifting back a step. “Barely an acquaintance.”
Shu delivers a swift elbow to Quanyu’s side. He moves so fast that I almost miss it, I think to the governor on the other side of Gao Liying it looks like a simple adjustment of his arm. Quanyu wheezes, moving his hand to his ribs and doubling over slightly.
However, Liying doesn’t miss it at all and smirks.
I watch the three of them wondering what their connection is and wishing I hadn’t been too hasty to misunderstand Shu in the carriage and miss out on his word of warning for how to act around this Gao Liying.
I’d taken out my bad mood out on him and now I’m left completely in the dark.
Shu turns to the governor. “But I’m not here today to make a social call. As you know, I am on very important business sent by the emperor to help you rid your beautiful city of the spirit that plagues it.”
Governor Ji nods enthusiastically. “Of course, please.” He waves his hand toward the stairs for us to start up toward the governor’s mansion.
I glance over my shoulder to see Qu Ting and Yan Yi are both led away by the governor’s servants to prepare our rooms. For our time in Yanzhou we are to be staying in the governor’s mansion.
I wish I had gotten more information from Shu before I decided I hated him and never wanted to speak to him again.
I have no idea what reception to expect here or even if Shu has allies or enemies here. There could very well be people who might associate me with him, no matter how unjust such an assumption would be. I want nothing to do with Xiao Shu, and yet I am bound to have everything to do with him.
Fate is cruel and twisted.
My eyes dart down to the golden bracelet. I still can’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that I am wearing a dragon on my wrist. In all the dragon legends, they never played out like this. But Chenghou has remained true to his word and has been completely still.
And if he can pass on his magical skills to me then perhaps that is my way of denying my fate. I was fated to live a grim life of a loveless marriage to a liar and manipulator, never able to see my dreams realized. But with this dragon, perhaps I can change all that.
It’s worth a try anyway, because I do not relish the thought of actually accepting my fate.
I pull my skirts up, starting up the stairs.
Shu quickly braces my elbow to help me up.
I consider yanking my arm out of his hold, but the contract holds me in place.
I agreed to not disgrace him in front of others.
No, I promised that in front of the outside world that I would carry the image of a loving wife.
And Shu’s smuggling endeavors cannot be considered a breach of contract; they don’t actually go against anything that we agreed to. I won’t be the one to break the contract. Whatever this marriage is, that contract is the backbone that holds it up.
It’s the reason for civility between us.
I was the one who was foolish and mistook Shu’s politeness for the possibility of a happier marriage.
I can’t believe that I would be so foolish, but I was legitimately beginning to feel something for him simply because he showed me basic kindness.
I am fortunate I caught it when I did before I became too far gone.
Now I know that the Shu I got to know in the first days of our marriage does not exist. Xiao Shu is actually reckless and dangerous, a liar who never actually cared for me in spite of his actions. After all, if he had loved me then he would not have kept such a huge secret from me.
Still, I won’t break the contract. If it’s the reason that Shu treated me well, then I have no reason to remove that and make my life miserable. Especially when I am going to need more freedoms and luxuries if I’m to secretly cultivate under a dragon.
So, I allow Shu to help me up the stairs and maintain the illusion of a loving couple.
I don’t miss the pointed glare that General Gao throws my way as she reaches the door. Governor Ji leads us toward his study, apologizing because his wife is unwell so she cannot receive us. Once in the study, Shu leads me to a small seating area situated to the right of the main path in the study.
The left wall is made up of shelves and many scrolls. A large table is along the backwall, with an ornate low chair, clearly set up for Governor Ji.
The two extra seats appear to be the only other seating available in the room, besides the governor’s desk. Shu stops right in front of it and gestures to it. “My dear, have a seat.”
I bite my tongue and slide into the low seat. There is a low square table to the right of it with a set of tea already situated on it. I begin pouring myself a cup since I think I will need to steady my nerves to get through this.
Shu goes over and slides into the other seat. He braces his arm on his knee, turning to the governor with an impatient gaze. Now that he is seated, it gives the illusion that he is the one in control, like an emperor holding court with Governor Ji squirming in front of him.
“Now, tell me about your spirit problem,” he drawls out slowly, blinking once as he studies the governor.
General Gao has taken up a position beside the governor, with her arms clasped loosely behind her back.
Quanyu for his part has moved over to stand behind Shu and help him stare the governor down.
I take a hesitant sip of my tea, not quite sure what is going on.
Is Shu setting a precedent, reminding everyone here that he is the Fourth Lord?
Or is this simply how he conducts himself when he is spirit hunting?
All I know is that this is a very different Shu than the one that I share a bedroom with. I am sure it’s different than the reckless Shu that smuggles as well.
It makes me wonder just how many masks Xiao Shu actually wears.
And which version of him is his real face.