Siblings (Part 2)

Ruan Su's thoughts stalled slightly. The new information she had provided directly overturned Qin Yi's previous judgment of the entire situation.

The young master proposing marriage could be dismissed as a young man's budding affection, but for the old master to come in person meant that, after careful consideration, he represented the will of the entire Immortal Guest House.

He did not understand.

He subconsciously raised his head. The front of his cotton-padded coat was instantly soaked through by water stains. Qin Yi opened his mouth, just about to ask something...

Slap!

Ruan Su smacked the back of Qin Yi's head and shot him a glare with her beautiful eyes:

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"The clothes... got... wet! Don't... move!"

"..."

Qin Yi winced in pain and obediently lowered his head.

Ruan Su rubbed the spot she had hit, replaced the towel with a dry one, and gently brushed it over his dripping hair, soaking up the remaining beads of water little by little.

After drying the water from his hair, she turned and pulled a cotton-padded coat from the old wooden cabinet, casually tossing it onto Qin Yi's lap.

"Change... into it."

Qin Yi glanced at it but did not move.

The clothes belonged to Ruan Su. Aside from the coarse hemp garment on her body, soaked through with blood, they were also the only clothes she had that could ward off the late autumn chill.

Ruan Su frowned, her dark eyes glaring at him. Stray locks of hair hung beside her cheeks, concealing the burned half of her face.

"I... won't... get sick. You... put it on!"

Not getting sick did not mean she would not feel cold.

But Qin Yi did not say it aloud. Even if he did, his sister would not listen. He might even earn another flick on the forehead.

After a pause, he said softly:

"Sis, you should get yourself another set of clothes."

"...No money!"

Ruan Su's bare feet stood on the icy mud floor. "Change... clothes first!"

Qin Yi fell silent.

Compared to when the two of them had fought others until their heads were bloodied over a single bite of food amid the refugee tide, their lives had improved by more than a little. Yet his sister's thriftiness remained unchanged.

At least, when it came to herself.

Knowing her temperament, Qin Yi thought for a moment before saying:

"There's a decent piece of clothing in the hidden chamber beneath the ruined temple. We can wash it tomorrow and take it to town to have it altered. It shouldn't cost more than a few coins."

Ruan Su thought about it. Not minding in the slightest that it had belonged to a dead person, she nodded in agreement.

"Okay."

Those wandering bandits had carried quite a bit of silver on them, and those weapons could fetch a fair amount too... Oh, right. Little Yi had also said there was a batch of contraband beneath the ruined temple east of town.

If it were all exchanged for silver...

Ruan Su's eyes curved slightly, moonlight reflected in her black pupils like two fragments of silver.

This time, she should be able to take Little Yi to the county seat—no, perhaps even to the commandery city—to find a better doctor for his brain ailment.

Ruan Su felt a little happy.

She went outside and fetched another bucket of water. Reaching to the side of her neck, she untied the sash of her gray-blue short shirt.

Her movements were natural and open, without the slightest attempt to avoid the boy beside her.

The coarse cloth had stiffened after being soaked in blood. As it peeled from her body, it made a faint tearing sound, revealing the thin hemp chest wrap beneath and a large expanse of pale, lean skin.

The girl had a tall, slender figure. Her flat abdomen had already begun to take on graceful lines, but at a glance, her entire body still appeared thin.

Qin Yi did not pay it any mind either. He sat quietly in the wooden chair, using a dry towel to wipe away the moisture lingering in his hair.

Silent, yet harmonious.

After a while, Qin Yi put down the towel and suddenly spoke.

"The burn on your face... was because of the old master's marriage proposal?"

Ruan Su nodded without denying it.

"Mm."

"There was no need for that."

Qin Yi rejected her choice.

"You could have simply refused him openly."

Ruan Su's hand tightened slightly around the wet towel.

"But the master's family... has been very good to us. I couldn't find a reason to refuse."

Seeing her reaction, Qin Yi gave a faint laugh.

"We were indeed able to establish ourselves here because of the old master, but his kindness to you was not a gift—it was a transaction. You could bring him benefits, and he gave you something in return. There was no need to mix feelings into it."

At this point, Qin Yi raised his brows slightly, as though he had recalled something. He hesitated before asking:

"Wait... the position the old master offered you wasn't that of the principal wife, was it?"

The movement of Ruan Su's hands paused for an instant. The wet cloth pressed against her flat abdomen, and the water seeping from it wound down along the lines of her stomach.

"Eh...? How... did you... know?"

"..."

Qin Yi did not answer immediately.

That explained why Ruan Su had been determined to disfigure herself to refuse.

But why?

Why would a man like the old master stake his descendant's marriage alliance on Ruan Su?

Qin Yi tried to link the clues in his mind together, but with too little information, he could only form a vague guess.

Pinch...

As he pondered, Qin Yi suddenly felt someone grip his chin. Rough, icy fingertips pressed against both sides of his jaw, forcibly lifting his head until his eyes met hers.

The girl stared at him without blinking, her brows drawing together slightly.

"I... was... asking you something! You're... not... allowed to ignore me!"

"..."

Ruan Su wore only a hemp chest wrap. The coarse-woven straps looped behind her neck, its lower edge barely covering the faintly rounded contours of her chest. Yet what drew Qin Yi's attention was a fresh knife wound that stretched from her lower abdomen to her ribs.

Qin Yi's gaze lingered on that wound for several breaths before he reached out and touched it unconsciously.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

His fingertips brushed across the girl's lower abdomen. Ruan Su's body trembled faintly, the muscles of her abdomen instinctively tightening for a moment. She released his chin and turned her face aside.

"I'm... fine. It'll heal... in a month or so. It... it won't leave a scar. The burn... on my face might heal too."

She made light of it. Her voice was still hoarse, like sandpaper scraping across her throat, its final note lifting as though she were making a promise. Yet she did not sound very confident. Then, remembering her authority as his elder sister, she emphasized:

"N-no. Answer... my question first."

Qin Yi withdrew his hand, paying no attention to that assurance as he softly answered her question.

"A trivial matter like taking a concubine would not warrant the old master coming himself. And if he had proposed to you as a concubine, you could have simply refused. There would have been no need to go so far."

"Oh..."

Ruan Su took two steps back. Reaching behind her neck, she untied the narrow strip of cloth and casually set it on the table beside her. Then she picked up the wet rag and wiped away the bloodstains still clinging to her shoulders, neck, and chest as she said softly:

"He... did say... he wanted me to be... the young master's principal wife..."

At that, Ruan Su's hand paused. She asked:

"Should... I agree?"

"You shouldn't."

Qin Yi's eyes were quiet, but his answer was exceedingly decisive.

Though he had met the man only a few times, he had seen through the old master very clearly.

Born a commoner, the man had gained, by the prime of his life, influence over several county towns around Compassion Mountain on the border of Ancient Shu. He even had a place at the table in the commandery. Yet even so, he was not content with the status quo and still sought to expand his power.

An ambitious man seeking a path to the heavens amid troubled times.

Such a man would naturally value Ruan Su.

But such a man would never think of becoming a community of fate with Ruan Su.

A fighter was forever just a fighter.

Ruan Su was highly skilled, but Immortal Guest House had no fewer than ten internal martial arts experts stronger than her.

The reason she had become an indispensable blade on Immortal Guest House's road of expansion rested entirely on her age—or rather, on the future in which she was still growing stronger.

But when all was said and done, she was merely a high-class fighter.

The marriage alliances of one's descendants, however, were chips the old master could use to further expand his power.

For an ambitious man like the old master, marrying upward or forming lateral marriage alliances was the best choice. That was precisely what he had done in the past.

Yet now, he would rather offend another wealthy Lineage by breaking off an engagement than stake a marriage alliance on people of lowly birth like them...

Qin Yi looked at the girl washing herself, and his expression shifted.

Though he did not know why the old master had broken off the engagement, one thing was certain... In the old master's eyes, his adopted sister was worth more than the Lineage he had been allied with by marriage.

That meant...

Thump!

The thought had barely arisen when a flick struck his forehead. The dull pain of knuckles knocking against his brow instantly shattered his train of thought.

Moonlight streamed through the doorway and fell upon Ruan Su, casting a faint gleam over her pale, thin body, almost like cold jade.

The girl furrowed her delicate brows, her tone displeased.

"Stop... staring. Go! Help... me get... my clothes."