In Love With the Master's Wife?

"Yang Baitou! Do you admit to your crime of falling in love with your master's wife?" a man wearing decadent black robes asked.

He stood from his throne, the beads atop his head adornment made a rattling as he pointed at the figure kneeling before him.

Angered by silence he received as a reply he bellowed, "Were you not my sworn senior brother, I'd have beheaded you and offered your head to teacher as payment for your sacrilegious thoughts. To covet teacher's wife is a crime against our very beliefs."

Kneeling in silence a couple of meters away was a rather plump, scholarly, and somber looking man by the name of Yang Baitou.

Accepting of his crimes and punishment, Yang Baitou sat patiently waiting for the man in front of him to finish his rant.

After the man finished, Yang Baitou stated calmly, "I have come to accept and admit the errors of my own ways. You may punish me any way in which you see fit Bohe. You and I have grown up alongside teacher together and throughout your many tragedies, You know of my attitude very well."

Indeed, the fancily dressed an in front of Baitou was no other than Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.

Their master, given the title of grand tutor, was one never mentioned in books or tales of modern times: for he liked to live life in a humble manner.

They had been fellow students from childhood and only called each other informally when in private. Yang Baitou despite being younger, was the senior disciple and was thus made the senior brother disregarding age entirely as he proved so in ability.

Shocked by Yang Baitou's insolence and disregard for status, Bohe knew that Yang Baitou was acting like so on purpose. His true intention lie in him getting beheaded as he felt death was necessary repentance for his crimes.

Meanwhile in a corner, a youthful looking man with a beard and head of white hair lightly shook his head. This was their master, Xue Bai.

"Why must you be so stubborn and crass with your decisions, Biming? It is natural for a manto like a woman. I know that you never meant for this to happen. At most your crime is punishable by confined meditation." he said while pointing his finger at Yang Baitou.

Clearing his throat with a cough he said, "You shall be punished severely and allowed to reflect upon your thoughts and actions until you can give me an honest explanation of your feelings. Do you have any thoughts on this your highness?"

Obediently nodding, the emperor added, "Yes, I agree with master. But we shall seal you away until a time in which we feel you have learned you lesson."

Now to briefly summarize how Yang Baitou came to this point we must start at the beginning.

Yang Baitou's name was given to him by his master. He was an orphan as a result of the wars. He was found near the Nanzhong Region in the State of Shu.

His master, during his travels in Jianghu; had given him food to bring to his dying mother. As a result of his teacher's goodwill he was robbed of his food, beaten to within an inch of his life. His own mother had bitten and swallowed her tongue so she would die and that he may save the food for himself.

His teacher saw a karmic fate between them and took the boy under his tutelage gave him his name. Thus starting their platonic father-son dynamic relationship.

Xue Bai taught Yang Baitou many things in his youth. He taught him everything he could until the boy was aged sixteen, at which point he sent the young boy on an adventure into the world of Jianghu to broaden his horizons.

He had merely taught the boy the basic foundations of every aspect that the boy would learn for himself. A person's philosophies are bred from the experiences and world from their perspective.

And six years later, the boy came back a new person in all aspects. When he first arrived his master did not recognize him.

Thinking him to be a fat man who wanted an alchemic tea for slimming his waistline, his teacher tried to sell him a number of remedies.

He had gone along with it until he broke character and started laughing. Noticing his distinct laughing pattern, Xue Bai was not amused in the slightest.

Yang Baitou was lectured and spent half a day kneeling in front of the ancestral tablets as his sworn brother, the emperor, came to entertain him with stories and news of what happened in the imperial city while Yang Baitou was away.

Bohe was having fun making Yang Baitou laugh with stories about his children and bickering concubines.

"Oh, have you met master's wife yet. She's rather young, around your age actually. You two may get along fairly well."

As he finished his sentence his master alongside a female walked in chatting playfully. Noticing the attention they had, the chatting men straightened up and coughed dryly.

Xue Bai's wife introduced herself as Dong Bai: she didn't quite meet the beauty standards of the era but she had a graceful and charming aura about her. She wasn't as slim as Chao Fei-yen or as beautiful as Chao Hede, but she made up for it in many other aspects such as her aesthetics and her approachable personality.

She was the granddaughter to a certain warlord and had received the upbringing that a noble would have received. Her grandfather doted upon her thus he never made it necessary for her to do things that would harm her like bind her feet. Things like martial arts and scholarly subjects that were regularly reserved for males were permitted for her as an exception based on how good of a pouting face she could make.

Due to her ability to get along with just about anyone, she had no trouble getting accustomed to an arranged marriage. Speaking of which she had only met Xue Bai the night before their wedding.

Xue Bai was forced into this wedding, but he was willing considering he was aging and had neglected the matters of expanding his family lineage earlier on in his life.

He knew Dong Bai was an exceptionally talented and learned individual with humble looks. They held their wedding and shortly after that Yang Baitou returned home.

Xue Bai could not be happier than he was currently.

Later that day the group consisting of the emperor, Xue Bai, Dong Bai, and Yang Baitou were seated at a small table.

They were having a small feast of Yang Baitou's favorite foods: Fried Rabbit, Mussels Stir-Fried with Leeks, a jar of Xinjiang wine; brewed and refined under the emperor's direct supervision, and a plain bowl of wheat noodles seasoned with salt and vinegar.

The party of four ate and drank the night away as they listened and laughed at Yang Baitou's wacky adventures in Jianghu.

He told the tale of how, for half a year, he was forced to work as a tea brewer for a famous tea-house after getting scammed by two rather-friendly women.

While working there, he came to hear tales of heroes throughout the warring states and revere them as idols.

He especially emphasized the fact that he hated the intermissions that occurred as a result of the storyteller's bathroom breaks. Various messengers from the three states would shamelessly recruit new soldiers with bold promises during these intermissions.

Knowing full well the casualties that came with war, this served to awaken him from his reverence of the so-called heroes and their fabricated tales. He came to understand that even villains can be easily glorified, given the right price.

After working off his debts, he ventured across the various warring states and lived an ascetic lifestyle while performing alchemy he learned from his master to save various towns from disease, drought, and hunger.

These little towns would throw a feast for their unnamed hero and eventually Yang Baitou had eaten too much and had become twice the man he ever was, literally.

Towns that had very little, were still situated atop dragon veins and thus presented Yang Baitou with whatever treasures he may have desired.

Some even had treasures dating back to the Xia Dynasty or claimed to have belonged to the Yellow Emperor himself; at least that's what some locals believed.

Out of respect for the villagers, he would always take a single object out of obligation.

Being given the "treasures" he had, there were bound to be bandits around each corner. But the biggest mystery of all was where he kept all his "treasures."

Every time a group of bandits would stop him, they'd be furious as they thought he had already been robbed right before encountering them.

What they didn't know was that before Yang Baitou had ventured into Jianghu; his master had gifted to him a spatial storage ring that he had used in his youth also. It had runes engraved in it that allowed it to become part of the body, seemingly becoming part of the skin of it's wearer. Thus without the wearer's will, one could not take it off.

Pleased with his stories, Xue Bai nodded with satisfaction. They continued to chat until dawn.

Morning had come and the two were still awake; reminiscing of days past.

Interrupted by light over the horizon, Xue Bai told Yang Baitou to rest up as he had errands for him the following day.

Yang Baitou, with weary eyes, made his way to his room and ended his six year adventure on a k'ang and ceramic pillow.

When he awoke later that evening, he got dressed and exited his room. His master was sitting in the courtyard sipping tea, waiting for him.

Noticing Yang Baitou's presence Xue Bai set his cup down and looked at his student.

"My next task for you involves protecting your master's wife as she makes a trip to pay respects to her grandfather in Xi'An then you will make your way back. Take your time as you won't be travelling alone and try to avoid any trouble if you can. I can't make this trip for I'll be busy overlooking the gathering of materials in Chang'an."

With a fist-hand salute and bow, Yang Baitou replied, "Disciple understands. I shall carry out my task with utmost care."

Xue Bai nodded with satisfation.

The next day Yang Baitou and Dong Bai set off before the roosters crow.

Yang Baitou had bought a horse-drawn carriage for his task. The trip to Xi'an from Chang'an would not take long but it felt like forever.

On the way there, Yang Baitou and Dong Bai had maintained an awkward silence. It would only get worse as Dong Bai and Yang Baitou would turn their heads and blush at the slightest eye contact with one another.

The two knew nothing much about the other. They both didn't want to assume things based on rumors heard from others.

Eventually mustering up the courage to initiate a conversation to past time, the two simultaneously turned to each other and spoke.

"What wonderful weather we are having today, wouldn't you say?"

Noticing how ridiculous they had been, the two began to laugh. It was a truly cringeworthy scene.

They were not people who favored cliché ice-breakers, and thus they only laugh at their current situation.

With the mood lightened, they started to get acquainted with one another. They talked about the types of food they liked to eat, poets they admired, and lengthily discussed growing up with Xue Bai.

Yang Baitou told Dong Bai of his master's habits and secrets while Xue Bai herself would discuss her own values and philosophies. Time seemed to go slowly and a brief moment felt like an eternity in Yang Baitou's eyes as he felt his heart beat faster.

He was a great listener and liked to ask questions more often than give answers. This was because he was a man with controversial ideologies that might could result in him being branded as a heretic. But with Xue Bai, he felt like he could listen for an eternity.

They eventually came to a stop at the foot of a mountain.

"Eh? Miss Dong? Are you here with your husband to pay respects?" asked a passing villager with her child.

Yang Baitou heard her statement and smiled shortly before realizing that he had no reason to be happy.

This was his master's wife; he had no right to claim her as his own, much less have the thought of it in the back of his mind.

He stood up quickly and bowed to the villager.

"Please don't joke. I am but the student of the young mistress' husband."

He looked at Xue Bai and noticed that she was blushing. In the back of his mind he pondered why his mistress would blush at such a comment.

A rather big question also came to mind and that was, "Am I in love with the master's wife? No, it can't be we've only known each other a mere two days and didn't even start talking until today."

Being a man who studied, kept busy with martial arts, and traversing the world of Jianghu during puberty; Yang Baitou was never given enough time to ponder the mystery of love.

He had read many love poems as well as the numerous tales of tragic love; but he himself had yet to find his muse to paint and become a drunkard spouting sweet nothings and toasting to the moon and his shadows.

His train of thought was eventually interrupted when the villager's child pointed at him.

"Mama, this man's master must surely be wealthy, he's able to have such a fat student. May I go study under his master too?"

The innocent looking child smiled and laughed as he looked at Yang Baitou's round face.

Afraid for her child's safety, the woman hurriedly covered the child's mouth.

"Hush! We commoner's must know our place. Apologize right now to this mister here."

Yang Baitou waved his right hand while sighing.

"Forget it, we were all children once. What lessons can we learn if we never make mistakes in life. Here is a tael of silver inscribed with the Grand Tutor's crest. Take it to Chang'an and ask for Xue Bai. When you meet him, present him with this and state that Yang Baitou sent you. My master should arrange for your son to enter a school, free of cost."

Bowing their heads, the mother and child thanked Yang Baitou and scurried away towards Chang'an.

Realizing that he'd gone on a tangent,he looked to see where his master's wife was.

He saw no one in sight and nodded his head. Then he stopped abruptly as he noticed that "no one" was there at the moment.

"I've lost the master's wife. What do I do?"

He found that he had lost her.

While he was distracted with helping someone of the lower class; Dong Bai thought it would be a good idea to head towards the cemetery by herself.

She made her way into the cemetery grounds until she stood in front of a mound with a headstone carved out of limestone. It's engraving read, "Dong Zhuo."

And there she knelt and kowtowed three times for her grandfather. After speaking a few words and placing her offerings; she started cleaning. In the midst of cleaning she cried; she cried for the grandfather she loved.

The man that most knew as a villain was, in Dong Bai's eyes, just a loving and doting grandfather.

Before he was executed, he had exiled her from the family and declared her dead to prevent her persecution.

She had come to terms with the fact that he had committed the many heinous crimes he was known for. And thus she had resolved herself to right his wrongs as much as she could.

Hearing the cries of a woman, Yang Baitou did what any great superstitious person would do and investigated the noise.

He found the cheerful wife of his teacher's had been reduced to such a weakened state, and it saddened him greatly. He understood that those who seemed the most happy always hid their sadness behind a mask of smiles and laughter.

Yang Baitou approached her silently, making an effort to not disturb her.

*Snap*

He stepped on a twig, scaring her. She was shocked and jumped to her feet as she desperately wiped her tears as to appear like nothing ever happened.

Knowing the pain of being an orphan, Yang Baitou felt it better for a person to let out all tears of sadness and have a shoulder to cry on. This was what happened with him when he woke from his coma after being saved his master and hearing the news of his mother's desperate sacrifice.

And thus he pulled on Dong Bai's wrist and hugged her. Her emotions hit her like a tidal wave against a wall of sand; needless to say she began to cry a bucket load of tears. When she finished crying, the sun was beginning to set and it was time for them to return home.

Along the way home, Dong Bai was still sniffling and rubbing her sore eyes.

"Thanks for giving me a shoulder to cry on. You remind me of my grandfather, I just feel like I can trust you. Now we must keep this a secret. I have a reputation of being positive at all times to uphold."

She chuckled lightly as she made that joke.

While rubbing his nose, Yang Baitou confidently replied, "Of course, these broad shoulders will always be there for you whenever you want to cry. I know the pain of losing everything seemingly overnight."

After that they returned home to Chang'an in a boring and uneventful fashion.

Typically in the world of Jianghu, they would have encountered bandits or some sort of assassin(s) but everybody seemed to have been preoccupied.

A certain assassin's child had just earned the opportunity of a lifetime to become a scholar with hopes of passing the Imperial Scholar Exams and making a future for their family. His wife had ran to him holding a token that would ensure his child's future; he no longer needed to do dirty work to feed his wife and child. So he returned to the countryside to become a peaceful farmer again.

Unknown to himself, Yang Baitou had already begun to act and even think differently.

When his master's wife was within his range of vision, he'd change in all his mannerisms: he spoke with a higher and happier pitch, with gentle words. He was pretty much the personification of the word, glib.

He and his teacher's wife got along especially well after that, their friendship blossomed over the course of a year. He began joking and plotting pranks on his master with Dong Bai as his accomplice.

This was something he had not done since he was twelve and had gotten tired of the same pranks everyday.

Strangest of all was that he only acted like this during the daytime. When night came and his master and mistress went to bed, he sobered up to the reality that his master's wife would never his to hold.

He could only ever love one-sidedly her from afar and could never have her to himself. Such thoughts gave him insomnia, and he'd sit in bed until daybreak slowly transforming into a panda bear.

Next came the self-hate and drinking.

He hated himself for even coveting his master's wife. His master was his father figure and as such it was a crime punishable by death. He drank as a remedy for his depression for he loved her with every passing moment they laughed together.

He could not appear sad in front of her for fear that she may blame herself for his troubles. Thus he put on a happy facade and resolved himself to love her one-sidedly and from a distance. But every man has a breaking point and he went to the bottle to find companionship.

He had turned into every tragic poet whose work he had read; he was the wolf that cries in anguish to the heavens ,"Why?"; the painter that obsessed over his muse; the songwriter that cries to his own melody; and finally he who toasts to the moon.

And so in his stupor he cursed the heavens, as loud as he could, for the fate it had given him and for not tying the red string of fate around him and the one he had fallen for.

This would have not mattered much had his master not upheld such a status as a grand tutor; and had such event not occurred in Chang'an, these happenings could have been written off as mere rumors.

But seeing as there were too many witnesses to such a late night disturbance; the emperor had to get involved for Yang Baitou seemingly didn't know his place of standing.

Now flash forward to the day after his nighttime outbursts. We go back Yang Baitou's sentencing and hearing.

"Yang Baitou, you are guilty of coveting your master's wife. A crime in which execution may be to lenient of a sentence for you. I punish you with immortality and shall confine you to a space for an undisclosed amount of time. You can reflect on your thoughts while sealed away. If ever teacher finds you have learned your lesson thoroughly; his blood will be the key to your early release. I will also be giving you the mark of obedience; it shall be inked in master's blood and will force you to do master's bidding at the snap of a finger."

The emperor's words struck like lightning as his eyes widened and roiled like thunder to his ears: loud and unforgettable.

But, Yang Baitou felt no hatred towards his teacher or sworn brother. For this was a lesson to learn from.

The mark of obedience was done first, it's process was dreadfully long as it involved tattooing of the mark first and then sealing it with a gold branding by a monk chanting mantras. Yang Baitou's mark was placed behind his right ear.

The pill of immortality was not one to be messed with. It was not one that saved lives and it did not induce feelings of warmth or refreshing life.

It allowed a human to skip all the steps of cultivation and access great heaven-shaking power, yes. But every great power in life comes at a cost; the payment here was the requirement of going through all nine tribulations: each worse than the last.

The nine tribulations are divided in to categories: one of the body, one of the soul, and one of the mind.

The first tribulation involved the body and bones transforming which called for blood and bones to be broken and repaired.

This process made the body feel as if it stuffed with molten magma alongside having ever bone be crushed and reformed overnight.

The second has to do with forming of the Dantian. The upper, middle, and lower dantian would simultaneously erupt as an enormous amount of qi filled its reserves and compressed itself into its purest form and quality.

From there the third tribulation occurs in which the meridians and organs are flooded with qi and explode one by one until all meridians and organs have been opened and effectively reformed until they become indestructible.

The fourth tribulation tore the soul out of the body and refined it multiple times in a phantom version of the eight-way trigram furnace. The process would make one scream unlike any human could possibly scream.

Then the fifth tribulation activates, one which lightning strikes and fortifies the soul.

The sixth comes when soul is forged in to a gold core; and based on the destiny of the cultivator, any variation of a gold core could form.

Unlucky enough as he was, Yang Baitou was cursed with terrible luck. His luck was one that put him in danger but gave him very good gains. And in this situation, it sought to give him an excpetionally rare gold core. He received the core of five principles.

First the gold core formed, then the mythical beasts of the five principles began to etch themselves into his core. They appeared in this order: first; Azure Dragon of the East, second; Vermilion Bird of the South, third; the White Tiger of the West, fourth; the Black Turtle of the North, fifth; Yellow Dragon of the Center.

Each one felt more agonizing than the last as it felt like a drill was running amok inside of his body. when it finished, the detailed and life-like qualities of each beast could clearly be made out.

The seventh tribulation hardened the mind, all past incarnations and memories are brought forth like a torrential flood upon a dam built from twigs.

Yang Baitou saw his many lives' happy moments, sad moments, births, and his many deaths. This made him scream as tears flowed unceasingly from his eyes.

The eighth tribulation consists of facing your demons in a battle of illusions of which Yang Baitou accepted all the blows that destroyed his spirit form. But his demons would ultimately dissipate and transform into shards of energy that melded into one and formed the image of himself.

The ninth and final tribulation consists of a wish granted by the powers above. It allows you to meet deceased loved ones and say your goodbyes as the cultivator would never be allowed to see them in the afterlife as they would turn immortal, escaping and being banished from the eternal samsara of life and death.

Yang Baitou was reunited with his parents for a brief and painstaking moment. His mother was happy her son had grown old enough to have accomplished many great feats; knowing he never starved let her soul move on the next life with no worries.

His father was proud that his son was able to at least explore Jianghu and find a girl he liked, despite that girl being his master's wife. Kowtowing three times to the two souls, he felt a jolt of electricity enter in his mind. He opened his eyes to see himself kneeling in his prison cell.

The entire process took only a whole three days and nights. When he was done the guards all feared him; they had heard his screams of pain and anguish. They had long wanted to leave, but couldn't defy the emperor's direct orders.

After giving him a new set of clothes, an army and several carriages left Chang'an heading North.

It took them two weeks but they finally arrived at their destination in the Shandong Province.

Noticing what seemed to be a rock in the dirt he asked, "This is the mountain I'm going to be sealed away in? You must be lying."

As he finished asking he was pulled in by an invisible force that felt like shackles even his immortal strength couldn't break. And in the darkness he sat, alone with only his thoughts to keep him company.