"You're so short, what a shame."
"It's a worse shame that you're tall, since one can always make themselves taller, but they can never become shorter." -Lu Caoli, 23, Lin Si, 13, bantering, as usual
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He began to tell her, and suddenly, several things that hadn't made sense in her own past finally lined up a little.
But at the end, "So no one expected him to get that powerful?"
Sage Gongli nodded. "Yes, indeed, at this point, the court fears more the power of the demonic city, that they'll reinvade the jianghu. If they choose to, at that point, it will once again be in Li Junlong's hands whether we can fight back. He is necessary to keep the current peace here."
"You told me this secret, aren't you afraid I'll mention it to Li Junlong?"
The old man chuckled, lifting up his glass. "I have watched you these past few days, your mind is more for the people than for a miserable young man."
She scoffed. "Not just that, you are scared,the demonic city has something he wants, and they are going to make a move soon. And what can the emperor do next if they do make that movement? You guys are getting backed into the corner, as for the Xu family hanging around, it has to do with this…"
The old man smiled mysteriously, not saying a word.
She clicked her tongue. "Unfortunately, I am to marry Li Junlong soon, and you really want me to keep quiet about this?"
The old man's face stiffened. He finally sighed, setting down his glass; it was empty now. "If he finds out, the younger brother, he must die."
Lin Si was struck silent. No. Why? Wait… "...You'll pin it on the demonic city?"
"It would be best if so, but not necessary."
He ordered more tea, she smirked. "And what if I say something?"
The man glanced at her, "Will you really choose to subject the world to chaos, over the life of one sickly boy, and the knowledge of a madman?"
She finished her tea, setting it down and stood up, walking over to him, she bent down, and to his unadulterated surprise, left a small peck on his bearded cheek. "Thank you, for telling me everything." she said, "It was very kind of you." She stood back up straight. "Even if you just want to use me to make sure your plans are a success."
Ah, Sage Gongli considered, it seems she is much too smart for this.
She turned to walk out, but paused at the doorway, and after a moment, finally spoke, "Just know this, old man, the harder you try to control the world, the less you'll find that you can actually control."
He shuckled, waving her away. "Who are you to advise a man so much older than you, hahaha."
She walked out to finish her shopping trip.
Meanwhile, Gongli was left considering in the tea shop. Lin Si, he'd looked into her, and to his surprise, this name matched the second daughter of the infamous Lin family. It was true that the Lin family were the only ones to take Li's side back then, but…to think they would choose to step into the scene again after their warning, this, wasn't it just asking for trouble? And their daughter…no matter how much he looked into it, all he could find was that she was a trouble maker who failed in her studies as a youth, and mostly kept to her room growing up. So what was she doing, as such an intelligent girl? Could a family really hide such brilliance all these years? And the Lin family, he knew better than any other that they couldn't practice martial arts. His eyes glowed. Adopted? Or did she just share a name? It was an interesting name regardless. Easily mispronounced. Whenever there was something he didn't understand, he grew in excitement, and this excitement is what he thrived on.
Well, since the Lin family got involved, their plans would have to change a little, but judging by her upright character and ruthless nature, he figured they had nothing to fear for disruption in their plans. But this Lin family…If she really was a part of them, now that they had joined, there was no retreat for them anymore. He should send word to the emperor.
+++
Lin Si arrived back at the residence, finding madam Wang tending to the flowers in the back courtyard. She watched for a while, before commenting, "You don't normally water the ones here, but you constantly water those in the front everyday, why is that?" She had walked around the residence several times, and only the back courtyard with Li Junli and Li Junlong's quarters didn't get watered often, unlike the front one with the servant's quarters (Sun'er and madam Wang), in that back, she hadn't seen them watered more than once. (to really understand the residence, look at the four-sided courtyard houses, it is a somewhat large residence, but it truly only has 2 courtyards, although the outer courtyard, is the front courtyard, and in this rare instance serves as servant quarters, due to Lin Junlong's preference of hiding his younger brother)
Madam Wang just spoke lightly, face as furrowed as usual. "Little dear, this is just because the flowers here and in the young masters' courtyard, they are all flowers which only require a little water, they bloom best if watered twice a week without rain, and once with, and if heavy rainfall, sometimes none at all. The others need water everyday to grow up healthy."
They began to make their way back to the kitchen, madam Wang kept speaking, her voice carried with it years of wisdom.
"This is much like some humans. Some need water and love poured into them endlessly, some get rotten by getting too much, all humans are born different, just like all flowers bloom under different conditions, so do humans."
How strange, thought Lin Si, I would never have considered comparing humans to flowers, they, afterall, are not the same, but it is true that all humans require different conditions to bloom effectively. She immediately thought of Li Junlong. How can I make him bloom more effectively? She shook her head, thinking to follow madam Wang in to learn how to cook something.
She got kicked out.
After cutting the vegetables all wrong, kneading the dough with the wrong consistency and burning the soup, and breaking several dishes while washing them, madam Wang gave up on trying to find a use for her today, and told her to return to make breakfast, and they could start simpler.
Lin Si sighed, making her way toward Li Junlong's office. This office was to the side of their bedrooms in the inner courtyard.
Entering in, she in fact, did find Li Junlong, she had brought with her some tea from the kitchen, getting a recommendation of Li Junlong's favorites while she did so. She approached him, poured a cup of tea, as he set down some documents he was looking over. She figured he might still be managing some land he'd bought and rented out in the vicinity, and also had a couple friends who brought him information of the outside world. Otherwise, this office was rarely used. She sat down across from him with her own cup of tea, blowing over it, even though it had been sufficiently cooled, as she thought about how to phrase what she was to say. She finally looked up, setting down the tea. She didn't like cold tea.
"I think it's about time, I'll tell you, what happened back then as far as the Li and Lin family were concerned, and what I understand to have happened." She had contacted her father after the first day of getting thrown out, and a lot of things were made clear to her. She had her father's reply in hand to provide evidence.
He nodded at her, for her to continue.
She became solemn. "Back then, it was indeed true that your father and mine were good friends, not close enough to visit commonly, but did send mail back and forth regularly. When my father heard your father was killed, he immediately attempted to come to your family's rescue but…"
She remembered that day, she remembered it well, her hand clenched into a fist. "Someone stopped him, and he almost died, if not for my mother, he still sometimes coughs up blood today. He, becoming incapacitated, and my mother, fearing for his life, could only send our servants out to protect your mother and the kids, and bring them to our mansion for protection, but…They all died enroute." She stopped for a moment, she could feel Li Junlong's eyes boring into her, but she couldn't bear to look up. She herself had only found out the details of what happened that day recently. She continued. "Later, he heard that three children ended up escaping, alive, he sent out letters, calling in all the old favors he'd developed over the years but..They only dared help you in secret."
A hand slammed down on the desk, causing her to jump. Li Junlong glared at her. "'In secret' what a great explanation, you expect me to believe that I was 'secretly protected' by your father all these years?"
She wasn't sure what to say, she couldn't say why they wouldn't move in the light yet, but, "How do you think you survived all those years, as just an 16 year old child?"
He glared at her still, "you think I can't survive against the measly Xu family?"
It wasn't just the Xu family….Lin Si wanted to speak but she couldn't move. In fact, if not for the Lin family, and how many favors they had for the pills they made, the Li family would no longer exist, this, she knew. But it also put her family in a terrible position to secretly align with him. Well, openly now, she supposed. She wished she'd hidden her identity when she came here now. Things only got more complicated with her in the picture. Her dad and his pension to keep promises…
Li Junlong also thought to himself, calling me a child back then, aren't you only 18 right now?
At her silence, Li Junlong sighed. "Fine, I'll accept your answer for now, it's better than nothing, and it would be nice to think of the 'infamous Lin family' to be on my side. However," he stood up, walking over to her. His hand placed down on the desk near her, he leaned over onto it. "How far on my side are they really? Do I have access to their information network? Their people? Their pills?" He wasn't expecting her to be of the Lin family, when he asked a couple friends to look into it, they came back with a name, as the younger daughter of the family, but even then he didn't believe it. Would the infamous Lin family really allow their daughter to run around, living like a beggar? And she was so strong, it was surprising that there were no accounts of it on any records. Was this a secret of the alchemist family?
People would not be happy if they knew such a powerhouse existed in the Lin family, he considered. People only like the rich Lin family, because they were also weak, even with the current matriarch, and easy to control because of that.
He reached out his hand, tilting her head up, he bent down his own, and suddenly her lips brushed against something cold and wet, but a little rough, and by the time she registered they were kissing, he had already pulled away. "How much can I ask for?" He asked.
She instantly fell backwards in her chair, blushing hard, "Um, ah, yeah, I'll send a letter to ask my dad, yeah?" And then she ran out. He smiled at her hurried exit before catching himself. Then, he thought for a moment, didn't she mention earlier about how choosing to be morose all the time was the enemy winning. Shouldn't he be allowed to smile? Hah, he would get revenge, yes, he would, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy himself until that time came, yes?
His face slowly stretched into a smile. It had been so long, the muscles on his face protested as he did so, and it came out extremely ugly and sinister. But, while doing so, suddenly something loosened in him, and he sat down hurriedly to train his qi, quickly circling it inside of him. The bottle neck he'd been under had finally loosened, and he was ready to take advantage.
+++
The truth was, Lin Si still had questions, so when dinner came around, she, while sitting as close in proximity to him as possible now that he'd stopped avoiding her, finally asked. "Say, the lihuo flower, why did you ask my buddy for it back when I first visited?"
Li Junlong paused for a moment, but Li Junli, already accepting her as family, quickly responded. "Ah Si, this…my brother needs it to make a cure for my condition."
Her eyebrows raised.
Li Junli elaborated. "There is a certain pill that can cure me entirely, but the recipe includes the lihuo flower. By gathering martial artists here to fight him, he can ask around for any sightings of it."
She glanced over at Li Junlong. "You must know that the somewhat accessible information that Heixuan city still has one in their possession?" Another unique trait about the lihuo flower, is, if picked at the right moment after blossoming, as long as given continuous qi, it would never wither.
Li Junlong looked away, and Li Junli elaborated again. "He tried this, but…the demonic fortress is too strong, he can't take it on alone."
Ah, he had probably done kidnaping, hostage situations, but going directly in to get it, would indeed be suicide. Heixuan city, also known as the demonic city, used to rule most of the central plains jianghu, unchecked, until Jingsheng and the Black Jaguar appeared.
The remaining forces in Heixuan however, were a force to be reckoned with.
She slid her hand over, to rub Li Junlong's, glancing up at him. "If you ever find a chance to get it, let me help, yes?"
"Mmm" he grunted. Li Junli smiled from across them, his eyes on their hands that crossed. He wanted to reach out and join it, but, at that moment, he suddenly shuddered.
His body shook violently, the two across from him instantly sprung into action, catching his limps to avoid him from hurting himself, or causing a mess. Eventually the violent shaking of his body calmed, and he fell down to lay limply on Lin Si's chest. She glanced at Li Junlong. He looked like he wanted to cry. But she knew he wouldn't. She spoke gently, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Let's get him ready for bed?"
They worked together; to wash him, undress and redress him and lay him down in bed, he was still awake though, just unable to move effectively. Lin Si felt bad, staying close to him. Unlike Li Junlong, she wasn't afraid to touch others, and took his hand. "Little one, let me tell you a story."
She had always been a little clever since young, and whenever her sister or brother were bored, would often tell tall tales to them. Clever renditions with tricks at the end. Tonight, she told a tail of snake and a crow, trying to outsmart one another, and making fools of themselves, and by the time she was done, seeing his eyes grow relaxed, she blew out the candle, waiting for his steady breath, and gently stood up, almost stumbling over a piece of furniture, letting Li Junlong catch her, and they both exited to stand outside the room.
"You're good." He complimented her for once.
She just sighed. "I wish I could help more." She suddenly felt him hold her hand. Excitement jolted through her, and she glanced up, she saw a sinister smile on his face, and instantly burst out in quiet giggle, "Your face, ahahaha, I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh, hahah, but your face, why does it look like that?"
He immediately corrected it back to the usual smolder. "Fine, fine, I won't smile, just trying to take your advice, geez."
She immediately backtracked. "Wait, no, smile, smile more, it's absolutely wonderful, I want to see it everyday!"
"What? So you can make fun of it?" He joked back. She just stopped in shock.
"Wait."
"Yes?" He was confused.
"You can joke?"
He let go of her hand, and brushed ahead. "I don't feel like talking to you anymore."
She quickly chased after him. "No, no, I didn't mean it, let's keep holding hands, hey, where are you going!"
She got kicked out of his bath, but found a book in his room to read languidly laying on his bed, until he returned, wet hair dripping, half-hazardly drying his hair. He immediately looked at her in disappointment. "What are you still doing here?"
She yawned, stretching back, leaving the book open. "It's too early to go to bed, and there's nothing to do outside." Suddenly her eyes turned mischievous. "Say, do you want to drink together?"
He considered, before shaking his head. "I don't know if I dare." He didn't fully trust her.
"Don't worry, don't worry." She advised. "It'll be fun, and besides I pass out drunk after only a couple drinks!"
He considered again, would this cause her to go to sleep?
Lin Si: got 'im.