"That's what this worthless one thought," Xiao Tai summarizes her reasoning. She's half-lying in bed, on pillows, and looking at Head Baoshu, who sits on a chair opposite and smiles. What's so funny here, she thinks, everything is clear after all. The final legitimization of his bride replacement trick is, of course, adopting this worthless Xiao Tai. Of course, any other girl would have grabbed such a chance with both hands, and even added a foot to the grip - becoming an adopted daughter in such a good family! Here they don't really bother with procedures - someone just comes out and publicly declares that so-and-so is now his son/daughter. And that's it. Just like how Dong Zhuo recognized some Lü Bu as his son and even gave him a horse. Among people - Lü Bu, among horses - Red Hare, yes.
So for Lord Won Mi to recognize this worthless one as his daughter costs less than slurping down a bowl of noodle soup. And there are no consequences except moral-ethical ones. Well, in the unlikely case that the Won Mi family all die to the last one - then she might become an heiress, but young Lady Liling has four older brothers and all of them are quite healthy young men. Two older ones are in the army, the middle brother is in the capital's civil administration, and the youngest is still at home, being raised and learning from the same teacher as her. Besides, there are Lord Baoshu himself and Lady Mei. By the way, the eldest brother is also married, his wife is pregnant, so there's absolutely no chance, unless the Mongols attack and put all of the Middle Kingdom to the sword. But before Genghis Khan's riders, whether you're the heiress of the Won Mi house or a poor thief in stocks - it makes no difference.
So personally, all this fuss is completely purple to her. With speckles. Why would a goat need a button accordion. But Head Baoshu in this case gains the opportunity to swear on the Bible (or what do they swear on here? The Book of Changes?) that he married off his daughter. And if he preliminarily renounces his daughter (secretly, so no one knows) - he can even swear that it was his only daughter. What a Colorado beetle.
And by wisdom, by local custom, if you can count to ten - count to seven, let them think you're a fool. But Xiao Tai chose a different tactic. All these "I think that he thinks that I think that he thinks..." - she's not strong in that. Such things often lead to excessive scheming and subsequent living in your own universe. In an imagined information bubble.
The simplest way to find out is to ask directly. You might not get a truthful answer, but any reaction to a direct question already reveals the truth. That's why she laid out everything she thought - about the daughter, young Lady Liling, about the Azure Phoenixes, about the supposed wedding, about an attack on the road, and especially - that no one needs her so good and alive. And that in her humble opinion, such a well-identifiable body would remain on the dusty road, moderately mutilated, but so that it could be identified. When she spoke, she carefully watched the Head's facial expression, catching his reaction a couple of times. He twisted his mouth, something flickered in his eyes, but overall this cunning bug should only play poker, his face is simply stone. Finally she finished and leaned back on the soft pillows placed behind her back to keep her in a sitting position.
Silence fell. Through the open windows covered with white netting, the chirping of a cicada could be heard from somewhere far away. The summer night was quite cool. Outside on the netting sat several night moths attracted by the light of the oil lamp.
That's it, thinks Xiao Tai, the cards are laid on the table, let's see how he plays them. Will he confess? Will he say "I have no other choice, Xiao Tai, you'll have to die for the Won Mi family, but we'll never forget you, and while you're not dead yet - we'll take care of you. Dress you beautifully and feed you well"? Or will he deny everything? Now the situation resembles litmus paper; her behavior will depend on how he behaves. No, of course, she could pretend to be an enthusiastic fool, "oh, is this really all for me?! What for?! Just like that?!" but... who is she kidding. She couldn't. She would only arouse suspicion. But this way at least she'll know what to expect. Here in Han, such nonsense is happening that you might as well carry out the saints. Intrigue upon intrigue and driven by intrigue. Manipulator upon manipulator. And what does any manipulator fear? Truth. Direct conversation and clear positions. They need twilight, fog, shadow on the fence, muddy water. Any light, any clarity hits them like a sickle in a well-known place.
"Well then," Head Baoshu shakes his head: "at least I can't deny you wit and imagination. And yes, you're right about some things. I need your services, your cooperation. However... everything is not as you think. You're right about much, but you don't know the whole picture." He settled more comfortably and slightly closed his eyes.
"Yes, that demon spawn from the Azure Phoenixes sent matchmakers. But the Phoenixes don't need Li Li. They need the dowry. The accelerated cultivation technique of the Lotus Pearl. The Ninth Scroll of the Moon. For this scroll they're ready to kill, marry, and especially - to accept a wife into the clan. So the Phoenix heir, that bastard Xian Fenghuang - is ready to marry even a goat, as long as they give him this scroll with the dowry. And right now we can't refuse him this request. So there's no great need to pass you off as Li Li. I'll officially recognize you as my daughter, and the Phoenixes will take you, even if you're an adopted daughter, but with the dowry. As for the reason I'll ask you to take Li Li's place, that reason should be clear. Xian Fenghuang is a vengeful and inventive son of a bitch and will surely want to take revenge on my daughter for previous humiliations. But you're just an adopted daughter, so there's no point in taking revenge on you."
"Forgive me. Did this worthless one correctly hear that a replacement is still needed?"
"A replacement is needed. There's no point in passing you off as my daughter, this deception would be immediately exposed. But you... it's immediately obvious that you're of noble birth. You can't hide your eyes, you don't tremble before high rank, you're accustomed to wealth and comfort."
"You're obsessed with my eyes... that is, this worthless one doesn't understand what her eyes have to do with anything?"
"Your eyes, your technique of twenty-four forms and this angular power form... I think that in the Phoenix palace no one will touch you. Looking at your techniques, I myself think we should keep you with us, you're talented, a real natural talent. But there's no time, the harvest festival will be soon. So... no one will kill you, no one will set up an ambush on the road. Think for yourself, how would I pull this off so that no one would find out? The wedding escort will be accompanied by an armed convoy, simple bandits can't handle it. I would have to take the family's best warriors, and such a thing is impossible to hide. Someone would have blabbed anyway. An attack on the convoy would inevitably arouse suspicion from the Phoenixes, so instead of peace I would have war on my hands. And the Imperial Silent Cry units would be sent to my estate. To conceal such a thing... it's like ringing a bell while covering your ears. No, there will be no attack."
"What will happen then?" asks Xiao Tai.
"Here's what will happen. Lady Mei and I will adopt you, recognize you as our daughter. Then I'll announce the engagement with the Phoenixes and give them you and the dowry with the condition of postponing the marriage to check the compatibility of the newlyweds. Such a thing is possible. Since they don't particularly need you, and they'll get the scroll immediately, they won't object. You get a one-year reprieve, but you'll have to spend this year living in their castle. No one will touch you, because in a year at the wedding you must be alive and unmaimed. And a virgin."
"Hmm."
"What?"
"This worthless one said nothing," she replies, calculating how many ways there are to cause a girl pain, lots of pain, while leaving her alive and unmaimed. And a virgin. Interesting, is there something like electroshock in the qi world? Something like a qi strike to the body that leaves no traces? And to hell with electroshock, after all, water torture alone is worth something. No traces of violence, nothing. You can lock a claustrophobe in a coffin, run an air tube and bury them for a day or two, they'll go insane. Again, no traces. No, we don't need such hockey, better to die standing than live like that. In a year of complete power over a person with the conditions "don't kill, don't maim, and leave a virgin" - such things can be done! Break them, drive them insane, turn them into a nervously twitching slave trembling at every sound, shaking in a puddle of their own urine. No way she's going to the Phoenix stronghold, even if it's smeared with honey. And then - what happens after a year? After a year they'll play the wedding properly and that's it. Now you can kill, maim, and forget about virginity. Right?
"In a year, the Azure Phoenix clan will cease to exist," Head says calmly: "I can promise you that. And even if not, if you don't believe my words - I can break off the engagement and request you back."
"What will prevent these same Azure Phoenixes from arranging such a merry life for me over the year that it would be easier to die?" Xiao Tai throws unnecessary politeness aside: "especially if war begins. Or for example - what if they don't follow the conditions of the engagement deal and kill me anyway? What will happen to them for that? I understand that you and they mix together like water and oil anyway."
"Xiao Tai," Head Baoshu sighs and furrows his brows, frowning: "if not for me, you would have long ago died of thirst and sun on that square. You wouldn't have lasted a month there. Which means you owe the Won Mi family your life. I can still return you to that very square, I'm sure they even kept your stocks. You can refuse the adoption, and I'll send you back. Today. They'll tear the silks off you and return your rags, since you're so ungrateful."
She grits her teeth and straightens her back. So the threats have begun. The head of the Won Mi family, Lord Baoshu, has finally shown his true intentions. He's not going to argue and prove anything to this worthless one over trifles. He'll simply order. And, as he just noted, she can refuse to carry out the order. Which immediately returns her to the stocks. Her hand almost jerked to stroke her neck, once rubbed raw by the stocks. No way, she won't go back to the stocks, better to die right here, on the spot. That terrible feeling of helplessness and dependence on others, the burning sun and thirst, stone strikes...
"But if Lady Mei and I adopt you - no one will ever put you in stocks again. Because our daughter, descendant of the glorious Won Mi family - is not subject to punishment for commoners. Even I won't be able to send you back. No one says that paradise conditions will be created for you in the Phoenix stronghold. Most likely they'll put you in distant rooms and forbid you to leave, possibly they'll torment you subtly, spoiling food or clothes, mocking and insulting. But they definitely won't execute or hang you on the wall. Because that's not how it's done, after such a thing Heaven will turn away from them. You don't understand this and probably won't understand, Little Wolf, but even the greatest clans obey the Will of Heaven. And to execute or torture an innocent girl, especially when the Won Mi family went halfway and gave their daughter in marriage to Xian Fenghuang, essentially making her a hostage - this is definitely against the Will of Heaven."
"I see." Xiao Tai understood. In this world, not yet familiar with Kant's categorical imperative, the Will of Heaven serves as its substitute. Everyone obeys the Will of Heaven - so they say here. But there are no canons, no laws, no commandments of the Will of Heaven. It's like moral righteousness, everyone has their own. There are some general concepts, and they're guided by them. They say you don't need to be taught this, just stand up and think, are you acting correctly? Do your words and actions correspond to the Will of Heaven? At another time she would have laughed at this blind faith in the categorical imperative, but not now. Now her life depends on this abstract concept. And anyway, all this Will of Heaven can be easily circumvented if you come up with justifications for yourself. It's not right to torture a young and innocent maiden who was sent along with the dowry to visit her future husband and real fiancé? Yes, it's not right, the Will of Heaven is against it. But what if the maiden is a spy and assassin who was sent to kill this very fiancé, learn the Azure Phoenix clan's plans, and drown the patriarch himself in the outhouse? And that's it, ready - they drag her to the rack, and the Will of Heaven only smiles contentedly. She'll confess immediately, just hoist her up and call a good executioner, they're craftsmen here, they have a real art of skinning people alive. Well, if she doesn't confess and dies under torture - then she's definitely a spy and assassin, look how tough she is. So the Will of Heaven is a good thing, but she personally would prefer the right to legal defense and a good lawyer, too bad they don't provide such things here. And Lord Baoshu himself believes (or thinks he believes) in this very Will of Heaven, for example, so as not to deceive the Phoenixes and be clean before Heaven - he's adopting her. From a moral point of view, he's now clean, didn't lie, didn't deceive, didn't make anything up. The ball will be on the Phoenixes' side, and if they pull something in a bad direction - they'll expose themselves. Why bother with a pawn if the (even if adopted) daughter of the Won Mi family dies from torture in their stronghold - it will cast a shadow on them. On the other hand, nothing prevents them from tormenting her over trifles, you don't even need to give orders here, the servants will do everything themselves. They'll tear her clothes and spit in her tea and say cutting remarks to her face. They can do a lot. But whatever they do - it's still better than going back to the stocks. There's also a third option - run away from everyone, plague on both your houses, burn in blue flames both Phoenixes and Won Mi, sort it out yourselves. But escaping from here isn't so simple, and the search and pursuit skills of those who use qi are much better than ordinary people's. Endure for a year - says Won Mi, endure a year in the Azure Phoenix castle, be a victim, a damsel in distress, suffer for the family.
"If everything goes as needed, according to your plan... what will become of me in the end?" she asks quietly, watching night moths beat against the white netting in the window, trying to fly to the alluring light.
"What could become of you? From the moment of adoption you'll become my daughter. Forever. And I don't abandon my daughters in trouble. I don't leave them in the clutches of bad people. And as soon as the Phoenix clan falls... or I call you back - you're free to choose what you'll do. That will be your choice. You can stay in the family, as a full member of this family, and a little later we might even arrange a real marriage for you, not a fictitious one. With dowry and wedding. Or you can leave this house and go wherever you want, travel, cultivate, study, trade... the family will give you enough money and servants to take with you. But wherever you are - you'll still remain a member of this family and can always come back." the Head says and rubs his eyes: "Xiao Tai, understand, I can't force you. You must make this choice yourself. However, I can promise before Heaven that from the moment of this adoption - I will treat you as my own daughter. You can choose, and I'll respect your choice, what now - become my daughter or go to the stocks in the square. What later - stay in our house or go traveling. But you must also obey me - if you choose correctly. There are rules, and if you become my daughter, then I become your father."
"I understand," she bows her head. The choice is poor and there's nothing to bargain with. Head Baoshu is certainly bluffing when he says he'll send her to the stocks, he doesn't want to do that, not after investing so much in her. However, if she becomes useless, he won't bother with the magistrate, court and stocks, she's still a rightless being here, he'll send her to the stable to old Weidun and order a hundred lashes and that's it. The old executioner will grieve and deliver a hundred lashes. And that's guaranteed death. It will tear her back to shreds and that's that.
She can only be useful to the Head if she plays her role. Weidun was right, a father's heart did waver after all. Probably Head Baoshu is a good father, but that doesn't make it any easier for her. Not at all.
"This worthless one will joyfully become the daughter of such respected people," she bows her head: "for her this is the greatest honor. This worthless one will make every effort to bring glory and not disgrace the Won Mi clan."
"I'm glad to hear that," Head Baoshu nods: "rest today, and tomorrow we'll conduct the procedure. And don't think of running away at night!" With a smile and squint of his eyes he makes it clear he's joking, but Xiao Tai bites her tongue in dismay. Run away here, yeah. A guard at the door and under the window, signal charms around on paper strips. Security like the Pope's. Alright, here and now she's made her decision. As Hodja Nasreddin, specialist in delaying his execution, used to say - "in this time either the shah will die, or the donkey will die, or I'll die. In the end, maybe the donkey will learn to talk after all!" Dum spiro spero. While I live - I hope.
"Well, that's excellent. I've stayed too long with you," the head of the Won Mi house gets to his feet, brushes an invisible speck of dust from his knees and shakes his head: "rest. Tomorrow we'll change your training program, I see we need to approach you differently. And I'll also introduce you to my daughter. You're sisters now."
"As you command, most honorable Head." Xiao Tai barely manages to bite her tongue so something like "I'm already acquainted with her!" doesn't slip out. Yeah. Of course she's acquainted, last time after the old fart's lashes she stood on her knees for an hour under young Lady Liling's bright eyes, staring at the floor. So she wouldn't do it again, apparently. Interesting, if they're now on equal terms - can she kick her in the ear now?