Zhen Yi's Arrival

Yun was sitting in the courtyard when his future father-in-law stumbled through the gate to the manor holding a jug of wine in one hand while the other was trying to keep him standing by touching the wall so he wouldn't fall to the ground from his drunken stupor.

Some servants rushed over but Zhen Yi seemed to be in a bad mood as he reacted angrily at the attempts of his servants to help him. Yun seeing this walked over seeing the servants shaking in fear because of Zhen Yi when Yun grabbed Zhen Yi's left hand which had the jug of wine in it.

Zhen Yi looked at Yun confused but couldn't make out who he was because he was seeing everything a bit blurry. Yun continued pulling the hand towards him before placing it on his back while taking the jug of wine from him at the same time.

Yun placed his arm under Zhen Yi's arm before placing his hand on Zhen Yi's shoulder and he stabilized him before moving again towards the manor.

"It seems you have a bad day," says Yun while helping Zhen Yi walk.

"A day? It would be fine if it was only a bad day. I have been having two to three bad months. Ever since my daughter was pushed out of Ye all my businesses have plummeted if it wasn't for the people of Lunu I would already be broke and my family would live in the streets," says Zhen Yi angrily complaining about everything going wrong in his life at the moment.

"Didn't she settle again in another city?" asks Yun trying to find out what Zhen Luo told her father with her letter.

"She did but in enemy territory. How should I continue my business if my daughter is with the enemy of the Warlord ruling this Province? It was already hard enough when my oldest married into the Sima Clan which seemed to have a deep connection with the Zhao Clan.

The Yuan Clan was suspicious of my Zhen Clan so I offered my youngest to them to show that we are loyal to them but they just threw her away the moment they didn't need her for their own benefit while taking my grain for a lower price until I found out about my daughter's fate.

I lost too much gold to those cheap bastards of the Yuan Clan which claim to be the richest Clan only behind the Emperor himself," says Zhen Yi still angry and complaining about his situation as they entered the manor.

One of the servants was guiding Yun since he wasn't familiar with the manor to bring Zhen Yi to the master bedroom. Soon the women arrived and saw Yun helping Zhen Yi to get to the master bedroom. They all wanted to laugh at what they were seeing because Yun was too tall and almost lifted Zhen Yi off his feet if it wasn't for Yun walking with a crook back.

Then Zhen Luo and her sisters walked toward the two men and took their father from Yun since it wasn't the first time he came drunk back home while Yun kept the jug in his hand.

"Thank you for helping my husband inside," says Madam Zhang as she slightly bowed to Yun before leaving behind her daughters.

Yun was a bit disappointed since he hadn't finished his interrogation but he couldn't continue with all those eyes on him and he went outside again to drink a bit since his future father-in-law gifted him some free wine.

Once outside he sat in the courtyard again watching Rin now combing Thunder with a brush while Fei was looking at her and Thunder from a little distance between them out of fear since Rin warned him before of Thunder's temper.

Yun was drinking directly from the jug when he notices Zhen Luo beside him. She sits down and leans against his big frame and sighs while watching Rin and Thunder.

"Do you think I will be able to do the same one day?" asks Zhen Luo looking up at Yun who was looking down at her.

"Don't think so," says Yun before offering her a gulp from the jug which she refused when he continues, "Not even my children can get near Thunder without feeling fear that one of his hoofs will strike them. The only ones able to touch Thunder can be counted with one hand. The first one is me, the second one is Shadow, and the third one is Rin. I wouldn't get my hope up for another person to appear."

"What about your late wife?" asks Zhen Luo curiously since she heard that Diao Chan could reign over all the Tigers in the mansion.

"Thunder would have attacked her if I hadn't ordered him not to," says Yun lying to Zhen Luo who was already jealous enough of Diao Chan and didn't need to add more jealousy to it.

"What about your mother?" asks Zhen Luo as Yun began to think about it seriously.

"It is more like a compromise between both of them," says Yun since it felt like it every time he saw both of them together.

Zhen Luo didn't want to pry deeper into it and stops before sighing and saying, "Thank you for helping my father."

"Nah, I got a reward from him even if he doesn't know it yet," says Yun shaking the jug of wine in his hand.

"Anyway, what did your mother say about moving away?" asks Yun curiously before taking a sip from the jug.

"She agreed to help us convince my father tomorrow," says Zhen Luo informing Yun who smiles after hearing that.

"Good, they will be helpful in Guangling," says Yun happy that Madam Zhang will help them while Zhen Luo looked at him completely confused before realizing what Yun wanted to do.

"I see, you want to use my father's knowledge to cultivate the land around Guangling since the land around Xiapi isn't suitable enough to cultivate a lot of grain," says Zhen Luo thinking that this was Yun's plan.

"I can see that you have a good head on your shoulder but that is only one of the reasons I want them in Guangling," says Yun sounding cryptic to Zhen Luo when they notice Rin walking towards them.

"I want to go to sleep," says Rin feeling exhausted when Yun grabs her and puts her on his shoulder before looking at Zhen Luo.

"Where will be our room? We can't let our little Rin sleep in the dirt," says Yun in a funny tone which made Zhen Luo smile.

"We will be sleeping in the guest room since my former room now has a new owner," says Zhen Luo guiding Yun toward the room they will be staying in while Rin was rubbing her small eyes trying to stay awake.

They arrived at the guest room and Yun saw the bed and placed Rin on the bed before Zhen Luo changed her into the new nightgown. Then Yun placed her in the middle of the bed before covering her body with the blanket.

"I like it here," says Rin exhausted from playing with Fei and Thunder.

"Oh, you will like it more when we arrive at Xiapi and you meet your siblings. You will be able to play every day as you did today," says Yun laying beside Rin when Zhen Luo joined them laying on the other side of Rin looking at the small girl with interest.

"But you should sleep now. Do you want to hear a night story or should I sing you a lullaby?" asks Zhen Luo as Rin wanted to hear a lullaby making Zhen Luo sing for her while Yun watched everything.

Rin fell asleep halfway into the lullaby but Yun didn't stop Zhen Luo since he began to like her singing voice. Once she was done she saw Yun staring at her which made her blush since Yun normally wouldn't do that.

"We should get changed tomorrow we will have to deal with your sober father," says Yun as he leaves the bed slowly to not wake up Rin.

He removes the top half of the clothes he is wearing and Zhen Luo could see his big back full of muscles but not one scar on it when she asks, "Why don't you have a scar on your back?"

"A scar on the back is a Warrior's Shame. If someone is really able to wound me then I want him to scar my front. Then I can at least say I face him with honor instead of running like a coward showing him my back," says Yun explaining to Zhen Luo quietly as he turns around leaving the bottom half on.

She saw no scar on his front either when she hears Yun say, "You should get changed instead of gazing at my body. You are making me blush over here."

"Right sorry," says Zhen Luo as she moved fast leaving the bed to get her nightgown which was prepared by the servants when she notices Yun holding Rin's hand.

"Is she having nightmares again?" asks Zhen Luo seeing that Rin was holding onto Yun's hand tightly as if her life depended on it.

"She won't be over the loss of her father even if she won't remember him in the future but for now we will have to keep an eye on her. Maybe I will have to sleep with her so she doesn't feel alone at night when her nightmares get to her," says Yun warmly as he softly caresses Rin's hair to calm her down.

"She should sleep with me instead of you or many might misinterpret it instead of seeing it as what it truly is," says Zhen Luo worried that people might slander Yun's name.

"They could try but the people I know would never believe those stories," says Yun looking at Rin trying not to look at the beauty that was changing right before him since she was still underage in his mind.

After changing she joined Yun and Rin and lays down beside Rin when she says, "Tomorrow will be a new day with new challenges. Let's hope we can convince my father."

"Let's hope so," says Yun as he closes his door before falling asleep.