Chapter 74 - Help From An Unexpected Place

In a luxuriously appointed dining hall an elegant family meal had been disrupted by the clattering arrival of Zhang Bai, dragging the barely conscious Zhang Bo by the collar of his expensive robes. Both young men's robes were sodden from the rain and their hair lay plastered to their bodies but Zhang Bai seemed to be almost steaming as he struggled to keep his temper tightly leashed. 

Around the table sat three of Zhang Bai's six younger brothers and a delicate girl not yet ten years old, the only sister in the entire gaggle of children. Zhang Bai's eyes, however, were fixed on his father's cold measuring gaze that took in every detail but gave back no impression of what he felt. 

Turning to his father's side he looked at the delicate woman not even ten years older than Zhang Bai himself. Despite spending little time away from the books that consumed any time she wasn't caring for her children or tending to her husband, every element of her appearance reflected exquisite attention to detail from precisely placed hair pins to perfectly matched accessories. The City Lord's most junior concubine had caughther husband's attention with her erudite ability to recite classic literature and hold conversations about history and politics but she never forgot that her favored status would evaporate the day she failed to present herself as the 'pretty young one' among the City Lord's vase of flowers. 

"Third Mother," Zhang Bai said, tossing the sodden and shivering Zhang Bo at the concubine's feet. "You should burn a stick of incense to the fallen Rage Queen that your son is still alive today."

"Rage Queen?" the youths gathered around the table gasped. 

"So the rumors were true," the City Lord said, setting his chopsticks down and wiping a stray crumb from his mustache. "Explain what happened to little Bo," he said, his gaze briefly turning to his youngest son. "He doesn't look like he suffered injuries from an oversized Blood Rage Cougar and my formations would have prevented such a nightmare from entering our town."

"No, the Rage Queen is dead and has been for days. The problem is that Seventh Brother here went to the home of the cultivator that dealt the killing blow in the hunt against the Rage Queen to pick a fight with that cultivator's family, going so far as to call the cultivator a slut and strumpet in front of her father. I can protect Seventh Brother from many things but to protect him from himself, this... I can only do so much," he said, shaking his head and glaring at his youngest sibling. "His fortune is that Drifter Ao's left arm was broken in the fight against the Rage Queen and she wasn't able to draw that massive sword of hers to sever his head when he kept insulting her to a gathered crowd. She settled for kicking him in the chest and knocking him into one of her father's stone lions," Zhang Bai said turning back to his father. "He also tried some inane swindling scheme against Master Ao Yang, claiming that he'd cheated him out of Extraordinary grade jade in making totems he commissioned. I don't for a moment believe that there was truth to the accusation. I've announced his punishment as five lashes from Drifter Ao or Fifty Lashes from Master Ao Yang. Does father approve of my justice?" Zhang Bai asked, his eyes flickering in challenge. 

The City Lord grinned behind the tails of his mustache. He had yet to see this side of his eldest son but it seemed like this mission had accomplished much. "Insulting a woman's virtue before her father is a grave offense," the City Lord said slowly. "Insulting a cultivator when one is still mortal is the height of stupidity, even if the rules of the city prevent a cultivator from using their cultivation to strike at mortals, a flare of energy from lost temper can be enough to cause grave injury and few could say he didn't deserve it. Was I to find fault with your judgment it would be that you were lenient on Little Bo. You've arrived, however, at the end of a much longer story that I'm interested in hearing the entirety of," he said, gesturing for Zhang Bai to take a seat and waving a servant over to bring food for his eldest son. "While I'm curious why you're addressing her as Drifter instead of Brawler, I imagine you'll arrive there at the proper point in the sequence of events, so start from the beginning."

Zhang Bai took the seat his father indicated and began to narrate the story, starting from what he'd learned of Ao Wen's group's hunting trip, their battle with the cubs and the Rage Queen, Ao Wen and Tang Jin's injuries, and the shocking news that Ao Wen had concocted an Elixir using the hearts and beast cores of the slain Blood Rage Cougar cubs. From there he described their meeting with her group while Tang Jin fought the Thunderclap Black Bear, the way Ao Wen danced on flames to prevent them from interfering in Tang Jin's hunt… he explained all of it as factually as he could, ending on the encounter with Zhang Bo and the Fairies rushing off to treat Feng Lieren. 

"So you suspect Mo Yan or the Mo family of starting the rumors about using an aphrodisiac," the City Lord questioned. "Your suspicion isn't misplaced and if it's true then we owe the Mo family a reckoning for turning Zhang Bo into a pawn in this scheme but you'll need far more evidence to make that accusation stick," he explained. 

"I know father," Zhang Bai said, his dark green eyes flickering with steely determination. "Your son is incapable and asks for guidance in this matter," he continued cupping his hands formally. "The Mo family has many agents both inside and outside of Turning Leaf town, tracking their activities will be difficult but this is a matter that cannot be allowed to go unpunished." 

"Oh? You care so much that you and your little brother were manipulated?" the elder man asked. "Somehow I think there's more to it than that. Be honest with me and with yourself." 

"I," Zhang Bai said, hesitating before plunging forward. "Father, yesterday for the first time I felt my heart truly stir at the sight of a woman. Not because of the size of her assets or the curve of her buttocks but because of the intrinsic poise and intelligence that forms the core of a complex layered woman. Drifter Ao is like a lotus flower, each row of beautiful petals hiding yet another mystery and unfolding to even greater beauty. When I saw Seventh Brother insulting her, I made the first move to strike him not because I was enacting family justice but because…" 

"Because you were moved by a man's instinct to protect the honor of his woman," the City Lord supplied. "You wish to court this woman? You've deemed her worthy of your pursuit?"

"Father, it's not a question of deeming her worthy or not," he said, hanging his head. "It's a question of whether or not I'm worthy enough to enter her eyes. I'm stuck. This will be ten years since I awakened as a brawler and my third year as a late-stage brawler. If I cannot reach her level, how can she feel that I could protect her when she needs a strong man to stand for her?"

"Do you think that you need to match her cultivation to be worthy of her?" the young concubine said softly. "When a woman is truly capable what she seeks is often someone around whom she doesn't need to be strong. Be the man with hands that hold her heart like a dove. If you do that, does it matter whether or not those same hands can swing a sword?"

"Yes, it matters," Zhang Bai said with determination. "Ao Wen isn't a dove, she's a phoenix, one that will burn anything that threatens her or the people she cares for," he said, praising the intensity of feelings that drove her flames. "If I can't be strong enough to ensure that she feels safe, she'll always be wreathed in fire that keeps me away. I need her to know that she doesn't have to keep burning all the time, and that someone else can share her burdens and keep her safe, even if only when she rests. I can't tell you how much I've envied Tang Jin these past few days. She trusts him to keep her safe when her arm is broken and she can't fight on her own. That's power that I don't have and…."

"Good," the City Lord said with a smile. "A man should have his strength and his pride. Good that you do not lose those. Now, take this," he said, withdrawing a small box from his spacial ring and handing it to Zhang Bai. "That's an Ordinary Grade Bone Mending Pill," he said simply. "Take it to Ao Wen. If she's as good of an alchemist as you say she is then she'll need both of her arms in working order to treat Feng Lieren. Go," he said, gesturing towards the door with his chopsticks. "Time is the most precious thing to a doctor, don't waste a moment of it." 

"Thank you, Father," Zhang Bai said, bowing deeply before rushing back out into the rain, all thoughts on Ao Wen and the hope that she would be able to save her sworn sister's father. 

"Now," the City Lord said, looking over the rest of his progeny. "There are four reasons why I gave your eldest brother a pill that costs as much as the tax revenue of this entire town for a year. Who can tell me one of those reasons?"

"You wanted to reward Eldest Brother for his work on the investigation. Giving him a method to help the woman he's pursuing is worth ten times more than the pill to him and the value of the pill won't be lost on him later," the second eldest son said. "The reward will reinforce brother's commitment to Father and place him in debt towards Father. The next time you give him a mission, he will be less likely to present his usual objections."

"That's the easy one," a younger brother chimed in. "Father also did it to make his own move on Ao Wen. Whether or not Eldest Brother's romantic intentions are well received, Father will have helped her save her sworn sister's father. If Ao Wen is an alchemist that could produce a breakthrough in Tang Jin then she's a better alchemist than the ones already in Turning Leaf town. Having her as an ally will pay dividends for years." 

"Didn't Father say that Feng Lieren was his friend?" the little girl at the table said. "Helping big sister Ao Wen to save him lets father help Feng Lieren without damaging Feng Lieren's pride and their friendship. If Feng Lieren gets better, father gets his friend back." 

"You're all missing the biggest reason," the young concubine said, placing her chopsticks down on the table. "It's about Dragon Soldier Long Ma. Children, remember that an ambitious person who chases after a position as a trusted deputy is very different from a stalwart friend who must be persuaded to take the responsibility. The latter can be counted on to do their duty while the former only sees being a deputy as a stepping stone to taking your own position. Your father knows this but he also hasn't been able to resist the public pressure to appoint a deputy. Without healing Feng Lieren, Long Ma is a much greater threat from within that's too powerful to ignore and too useful to eliminate. Countering him with an equally strong Feng Lieren is in the best interests of the city," she concluded. 

"And that, children," the City Lord said with a smile, "is why it is never sufficient to marry a beautiful woman. Marry a capable one and you will travel twice as far in half the steps. Perhaps your Eldest Brother will soon learn this lesson for himself."