Jin Mulan rolled her eyes lightly. "There's the arrogance again." She said. "I chose you first," Luo He continued proudly. "So remember that properly in the future." He said as it decides the outcome of the life of millions in the future.
"That sounds less romantic and more like you're claiming territory." She said.
"I am claiming territory. You are no longer just any woman. You are mine." Luo He said confidently.
She pinched his sleeve lightly. Luo He only smiled afterward. "Yes," he said quietly while looking at her beneath the moonlight. "You are a very attractive woman."
The cold winds slowed around the shuttle as his spiritual energy stabilized once more. "And I'm happy I have you."
Jin Mulan looked at him silently. Perhaps because Luo He rarely spoke so directly without hiding behind jokes.
He continued more calmly afterward. "I don't do these things simply because you are my wife." His fingers brushed lightly across hers. "I do them because I genuinely like you." That answer hit far harder than his usual teasing ever did.
Jin Mulan's expression softened slightly despite herself. "So don't change too much," Luo He finished quietly. "I happen to like this version of you." For several moments neither of them spoke.
Only the sound of the winds remained around them. Then Luo He casually sat down atop the floating lamina letting his legs hang over the side as though sitting on the edge of a rooftop rather than thousands of feet above the ground.
The blackwood remained perfectly stable beneath him. Golden engravings glowed faintly across its surface like flowing rivers of light. Then he looked back toward her and patted the space beside him. "Come here," he said calmly. "The view looks better sitting down."
"It's somewhat my fault we ended up here," Luo He admitted suddenly while the dark cloud shuttle floated silently beneath the stars.
Jin Mulan glanced toward him curiously.
"What is?" She asked. Luo He laughed softly to himself. "The room." He said.
A strange expression crossed Jin Mulan's face immediately.
Then the memory returned. It happened few days ago.
Luo He always treated the Jin family traditions like elaborate comedy material designed specifically to entertain him.
Jin Mulan had been seated quietly beside a lantern that night inside the mansion library one leg folded beneath her while several thick ancient texts rested around her.
The largest among them was bound in dark blue leather reinforced with brass corners worn smooth from generations of use. The Jin Way of Life. The ancestral rule book of the Jin family.
Part history. Part philosophy. Part political doctrine. And part extremely questionable marriage advice. Luo He had originally ignored it completely. Until one specific line caught his attention.
Jin family women shall never raise their hands against their husbands. He immediately looked up from across the room. "There's absolutely no way that rule is real." He asked unbelievable amazed.
Jin Mulan did not even bother looking up from the pages. "It is honey. Would I lie to you?" Luo He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You?" He said in weird way. "Maybe not but I don't fully trust you." Luo He said .
"You obey that because it's in the stupid book?" Luo He asked as if it's a joke.
"Yes why else honey." She answered with her voice as smooth as honey.
Luo He stared at her silently for several long seconds.
Then slowly rubbed the side of his face thoughtfully. "You know," he murmured. "Suddenly I respect your ancestors far more."
Jin Mulan immediately threw a rolled paper scroll directly at his forehead. He dodged. "You deserved that." she said.
"You just violated tradition!" Luo He accused her.
"That rule applies to wives. Not to annoyed husbands." Luo He gasped dramatically. "The hypocrisy of noble society." Jin Mulan ignored him completely before sliding the heavy book toward him.
"You should read it too." She suggested.
"No way I am reading crap like that. It is top notch propaganda. Showing your family as something it's not. Believe me I know, I married into it." He said proudly.
"There will be questions about Jin family history during the Wu Kingdom wedding gatherings." She said. "Still no." Luo He refused firmly.
"You should at least know references to past lords, succession disputes, family alliances, major failures." Luo He raised a hand confidently. "It took you how long to read this?" he asked mockingly.
Jin Mulan looked up calmly. "A month the first time." she said. Luo He laughed.
"A month? Good luck wasting a month of your time." He laughed maniacally.
Then he said proudly, "It would take me less than an hour." Jin Mulan looked entirely unconvinced. "You aren't even going to try reading it properly." She said.
"Of course not but that doesn't mean I can't. I just don't want to," Luo He replied shamelessly. "I plan on playing the role of a pathetic freeloader husband living off his wife while shearing her bed for nothing but good luck."
He leaned back comfortably afterward.
"Think about how wonderful that sounds. I have a beautiful wife. I do nothing. She feeds me. Shelters me. Lets me sleep beside her for free."
"Best life a man can have." He placed a hand over his chest emotionally. "Taking responsibility truly is exhausting." Jin Mulan stared at him expressionlessly.
"Sometimes I genuinely regret marrying you." She said with a sigh. "Don't be such narrow minded. Women would kill to be my concubine let alone my wife. Too late for you now anyway." He laughed mockingly.
Then suddenly Luo He snatched the book from her hands. "Wait." His eyes narrowed sharply. "Where's the section about wives not being allowed to hit their husbands?"
Jin Mulan sighed heavily. "You are impossible." Luo He immediately began flipping through pages randomly while reading sections aloud in the most dramatic voice imaginable.
" 'A Jin lord must carry dignity even within the private chambers.' Ah yes very inspirational. "
Flip.
" 'One must never allow outsiders knowledge of the master bedroom' pretty suspicious. "
Flip.
" 'The authority of the heir is recognized through wisdom rather than force' boring. "
Then suddenly he stopped. His eyes narrowed. "Wait." He said. Jin Mulan barely reacted. "What now?" she asked.
Luo He slowly lowered the book.
"This section about the Jin Master Bedroom." Luo He said. "Yes?" she asked carelessly.
"Isn't that technically your parents' room?" He asked. "The old one." She said. Luo He blinked. "The old one?"
Jin Mulan shrugged carelessly.
"There used to be another chamber generations ago. Nobody uses it anymore." She said ignorantly. "Why? He asked. "No one could open it." She said.
Now Luo He looked interested. Very interested.
"Explain..." He said. Jin Mulan instantly regretted speaking. Apparently generations ago the original master chamber of the Jin family had been sealed behind both a mechanical lock and a coded password system designed by one of the early Jin patriarchs.
The heir of the family was traditionally determined by whoever successfully opened it. But Jin Quan's grand father had departed for war decades earlier and never returned.
Taking the key which is one half of the password to his grave. At the time Jin Quan himself had only been a child. Unable to open the chamber. Unable to solve the mechanism even though he solved the puzzle. Not that he can of course.
Eventually the old entrance had simply been covered by a new wall by his father and forgotten. Rather forgotten by everyone till Luo He. Approximately three seconds after hearing the story.
"Take me there immediately." He sprinted out. Jin Mulan closed her eyes slowly. "I knew this would happen." She sighed.
An hour later half the family was standing inside a dusty abandoned hallway watching Luo He enthusiastically destroy a wall with a chisel.
Jin Quan stood nearby with folded arms looking deeply conflicted. "This feels disrespectful." He said. Luo He immediately shook his head. "No. This is archaeology."
Chunks of old stone crashed onto the floor while dust filled the corridor.
Then finally behind the broken wall a massive ancient door emerged.
Black iron reinforced with dark wood.
Covered in faded golden engravings.
Even Jin Su looked shocked. "It was real." At the center of the door sat two mechanisms.
A physical locking system opened by a key and underneath it a rotating numbered puzzle. Luo He's eyes practically lit up. "Oh this is beautiful." He said. Jin Mulan crossed her arms.
"You're enjoying this far too much." She said. "Your ancestors were insane geniuses." Luo He admired the work.
Jin Quan stepped closer slowly.
"My father tried to open this for years."
Luo He knelt before the mechanism carefully. "And he also had the key.
"You have neither the key nor the password. So how can you going to open it even if you solve the puzzle after trying for ages." Jin Quan questioned. In his eyes it was impossible.