Sacrificing…? Twenty-year-old…? Tao Hua's fingers tightened around each other, still pressed up to his chest. Both Shan Si and Master Tao were staring down each other, and just as Tao Hua examined them both, his eyes fell on Shan Si.
His hair was a mess. Typically, it would have been fastened in place with a golden crown, but for the sake of their "disguise," that wasn't the case. It streamed straight, flooding down his back, with strings confusedly switching their flow every so often.
Even his lapels were askew, completely out of place; his collar was propped up more pronounced than ever before. It wasn't hard to tell this man was in a rush, regardless of his cool demeanour. Warmth engulfed Tao Hua's body—was he this way for him?
Bending his neck and looking down at his hands, they trembled against his pounding chest, sending a shock of red straight to his ears, nose, and cheeks.
Now wasn't the time for such affection, nor should this have been what he was supposed to focus on! But in all truth…he was already used to his father and already guessed that his father would have preferred him dead.
He had known this for quite some time already. But now he wasn't so helpless to his onslaught of manipulation. Through his hair, he glimpsed at Shan Si, watching how directly he aimed his scowl in Master Tao's direction, and how little he feared him.
How lucky…it was for the two of them to meet in such terrible circumstances. Goodness, now certainly wasn't the time for Tao Hua to smile foolishly, and it was especially not the time for him to flash that infamous, crookedly placed smile that loudly stated his feelings.
So, he just hid under his bangs until the moment passed.
"Nothing?" Shan Si continued, now lowering his sword. The end of the scabbard dug into the brick with a clink, rendering as the perfect weight for Shan Si to lean his body on. "I've grown used to those eyes—they're the only part of you that resembles him. Tell me, Lord Tao, why was the palace barely guarded if you knew I was going to be here?"
Master Tao remained poised, his stare toward Shan Si's indifference as snooty as a noble could possibly make it. It was like he was trying to tell Shan Si, just with his eyes, that he had much better things to attend.
If that were so, then why not just leave? Shoo! Let these two lovers bask under the moonlit evenings of lanterns and mooncakes!
"Hah! Do you think I'm an idiot or something?" Shan Si inquired, a light cackle slipping through his lips. "Go on, speak. We're all aware you enjoy hearing yourself talk."
"On the contrary, you did fall for it," Master Tao responded, his eyes flattening. "I just gave those useless guards more credit than they deserved. Aren't you afraid of getting caught?"
Shan Si just laughed more. Though Master Tao had a point, knowing fully well that at any moment he could summon as many Imperial Guards as he wished, being the right hand of Emperor Gaifu, none of it slighted Shan Si.
"If that was your goal, then we would have been caught by now. But…you haven't brought any with you, and we're still here." Shan Si glanced at his fingernails, flicking the dirt from out from under them. His hands had scuffs on them, probably from his time sneaking into the palace. "Clearly you want something and gambled between two potential scenarios. One with me here and the other without."
Next to him, Gui Chang was finally coming to her senses. She scanned far and wide, trying to find an opportune chance for Tao Hua, which each passing minute, she'd lean closer.
"Is this him…?" she asked, her eyes on the pair, just as she felt Tao Hua's head nod. Face tightening, she suggested, "Then maybe…you should run. He looks like someone who will be fine—"
But Tao Hua just gripped her arm and stared at her, shaking his head. "I'm fine. It's better if I'm here than not."
Unable to understand him, Gui Chang was at a loss for words, but she couldn't deny the vibrancy in those peach-coloured eyes—were they even the same dull eyes from back in the Tao Estate?
The thing was…she hadn't yet understood the power in security; she was like Tao Hua just a few months prior. Had Tao Hua run away just now, then what faith had he have put in Shan Si, and how would his father perceive it?
Regardless, any guard, noble, or even disciple could have caught him with ease had he run away. So it was safe to say that as long as he was near Shan Si, his safety was assured, and as long as Shan Si stood alive and well, then so would Tao Hua.
Suddenly, his father wasn't as scary as he once thought—rather, looking at him and the way his twitching eyes stared back at Shan Si, he looked nothing more than a terrified prey in the hands of a beast.
And that beast was there to protect Tao Hua.
Many people would have argued with this sentiment of his, putting all his faith in a single person, one who angrily dragged him out of the Tao Eatate and burnt all he knew. But Tao Hua would be the first person to disagree.
So…what would happen if this person betrayed him? Died? Disappeared without a sound, leaving him to his own devices.
Perhaps that was asking a question of trust, one Tao Hua struggled with for so long. But watching Shan Si face the one thing in his life that frightened him to his core, taking it lightly, without a tremor, he finally understood its meaning. If Shan Si could trust himself in this matter, then Tao Hua had to trust in that trust.
It was finally beginning to make sense, what Shan Si meant the night before, when finally grazing the elephant in the room; the thing that drew each person to each other so fervently.
Trust wasn't as simple as writing out your deepest secrets and regrets and hoping they would take it to the grave without a single murmur. Trust was in believing that no matter the circumstances, the honoured person would always follow through. Every action, statement, to the unsaid promises made to keep him safe, all of those empowered the very meaning of trust.
It was a feeling that sent a course of confidence through Tao Hua, and with another squeeze of his hand, he smiled at Gui Chan, alarming her. "Everything will be fine."
"I see," Master Tao laughed, his composure withering with each syllable. "Look at you, so confident. It's true I've come for my son—what father wouldn't? But do you really think I wouldn't come to negotiate without having something of worth?"
"What father wouldn't, indeed." Shan Si scoffed a laugh. "What makes you think I'm so willing? Are you trying to piss me off?"
"Whether or not you're willing, I'm unsure. If life were made up of certainties, then we'd all be living happily ever after in this wretched country. But alas, our world is vanishing at the hands of greed," Master Tao replied. "All I can do is offer it to you in hopes you'll consider it."
The corner of Shan Si's lip twitched into a smirk, as if all that Master Tao was spouting was mere bullshit. What…was he trying to trade silver for jade? Stupid.
"I don't care," Shan Si said, straightening himself from his lounged position, gripping the scabbard midway, and making his way toward Tao Hua. He waved his hand in the air as the bookmark swayed and the coin clinked against the metal of the sword. "Go find those guards you're hiding—feel free to have them track us down. Fucking waste of my time—"
"The curse."
Just as Shan Si carelessly nudged aside Gui Chang, his hand resting on Tao Hua's shoulder, it tightened around the red fabric of the outer robe gifted by Feng Jian.
"Information about the curse," Master Tao repeated.
Chapter end.