Chapter 280: Appeal

~~~

“We should kill her.”

“Lu Mei!”

“I am serious,” Lu Mei says, pacing around his room with a blank look on her face. Dog, demonstrating his increased intelligence, has chosen to hide in the corner. “My parents are merely Heaven Realm cultivators. My grandfather might be an Elder, but that is unimportant. No one involved in this matter is an Emperor except the Sect Master of the Red Sky Pavilion. I am sure he would be willing to overlook a few indiscretions if it pleases the Eternal Flame Clan.”

Merely Heaven Realm cultivators.

What an outrageous thing to say. It is a good thing that Liu Jin’s room is lined with protective talismans. Who knows what people would think otherwise?

And yet, there is some truth to Lu Mei’s words. Certainly, Liu Jin and Lu Mei are nowhere near the might of a Heaven Realm cultivator, but that does not matter as much as it once did. They have connections and, in Liu Jin’s case, the loyalty of one Emperor Realm cultivator. The threat of a Heaven Realm cultivator and the possible machinations of a decently-sized Sect are not as intimidating as they once were.

However, feasible or not, Lu Mei being so quick to suggest such a brutish solution is a sign of how rattled she is.

“Lu Mei,” Liu Jin repeats, his voice gentle and soothing as he can make it. It seems to work because Lu Mei stops pacing. “What exactly did your mother write?”

Liu Jin eyes the letter in Lu Mei’s hand. Her fist has been clenched tightly around it all this time. It is a wonder the letter has not yet burst into flames.

“She…” Lu Mei takes a deep breath. “She greets me and hopes her letter finds me in good health. She also congratulates me on my upcoming nuptials.”

Liu Jin’s eyebrows rise up.

“Yes, news travels fast,” Lu Mei says dryly. “My mother goes on to talk about how things are going in the Red Sky Pavilion and hopes my position does not make me forget my roots.”

Liu Jin waits for her to continue.

She does not.

“She does not directly threaten to do anything?”

“She’d have to be a fool to write it down. Anyone looking through my correspondence would find out, making the threat null,” Lu Mei says, waving the letter and throwing it at him to read. “I know her. I can hear the words in her snide voice. She knows this is the best time for her to take advantage of this. Because I am… I am…”

Because Lu Mei is Lord Feng Shang’s illegitimate daughter.

The circumstances of exactly how that came to be escape Liu Jin. However, it is undeniable that Lu Mei’s mother somehow seduced Lord Feng Shang, and Lu Mei is the product of that union. It is a secret known only by an extremely small number of people. As far as most are concerned, Lu Mei is the illegitimate daughter of Feng Dianzuo, Branch Master of the Soaring Sparks Valley Branch of the Eternal Flame Clan.

Under more auspicious circumstances, Lu Mei being acknowledged as the daughter of one of the strongest members of the Eternal Flame Clan would be a good thing. Unfortunately, as things are now, it would only bring complications. Lord Feng Gui may have been chosen as the next patriarch of the Eternal Flame Clan, but that does not mean the enmity between him and his brother has ceased to exist. If it were revealed that, after everything that has happened, Liu Jin is marrying the daughter of Lord Feng Gui’s chief rival, illegitimate though she might be, it would be…complicated.

In the worst-case scenario, it might even be seen as a betrayal: Liu Jin choosing Lord Feng Shang over Lord Feng Gui. There are also the problems that the reveal of Lu Mei’s identity would cause with Lady Feng. Liu Jin vividly remembers the hate that shone in her eyes when discussing the Divine Frozen Palace. He does not want to know what she will do if she ever obtains proof of her husband’s infidelity.

There are so many issues that Lu Mei’s origin could cause for everyone that Liu Jin sometimes wonders if maybe Lord Feng Shang and Lord Feng Gui have already figured it out and are just pretending not to. He wouldn’t put it past them.

“It is fine,” Liu Jin says.

That, he realizes immediately, is the wrong thing to say.

“It is not fine!” Lu Mei snaps at him. “She wants to hold this over my head so she can dictate my actions! Use me to gain power in the Red Sky Pavilion! If I refuse, she’ll reveal everything, and I’ll become a bu-”

Lu Mei immediately stops herself. She takes a deep breath.

“Do you remember Night Forest Nation?”

Liu Jin blinks at the question but nods.

“You threatened to kill me,” he says, smiling at the memory before he realizes where she is going with this.

“Because I thought one of my parents sent you,” Lu Mei says, sitting beside him. Her energy seems to have left her. “You knew Ceaselessly Refining Breath. It was the only thing that made sense to me then.”

Other matters took precedence, so Liu Jin did not think much about it back then, but that Lu Mei had reacted so violently to the idea of her parents sending someone after her… It meant Lu Mei had no trouble believing her parents would send someone to hurt her… or worse.

“Would she really go through with it?” Liu Jin asks. “Revealing the secret could place you in great danger.”

Lu Mei smiles. She can hear the question that Liu Jin cannot bring himself to voice.

“I have been an inconvenience to my mother’s life since I drew breath,” she says. “Trust me when I say she would not mourn me.”

Liu Jin does not know what to say, so he does not say anything. He merely holds Lu Mei’s hand in silence. The two stay like that for a while.

“I have to get rid of them,” she says with finality.

“As I recall, you have a younger sibling,” Liu Jin says. “Do you really want to deal with the aftermath of taking away his parents?”

“The number of words I have exchanged with my half-brother would not even fill a page,” Lu Mei says. “He is not an issue.”

Lu Mei smiles her usual haughty smile that Liu Jin has grown so used to seeing.

He does not need to feel Lu Mei’s Qi to know this one is fake.

“When I entered the Storm Dragon Empire, part of me knew there was a possibility I might repeat history,” Liu Jin says, carefully choosing his words. “I had never met them before, but I feared I might have to kill members of my family. You have no idea how relieved I am that it did not come to pass. I am not sure how I would have dealt with it.”

“That is because you are overly kind and care for people more than they deserve,” Lu Mei says. “It is a flaw I am willing to overlook.”

“Is that so? You once told me I do not particularly like people. I was put off by it at the time, but you were more right than you realize. I have no attachment to your parents or your brother. It is not for them that I speak.”

He squeezes her hand.

“You should not be forced to turn on your family.”

“Do you think you can stop it?” Lu Mei laughs with anger. “How arrogant of you! You do not understand my circumstances or those of my family! Do you really think you can intrude and fix everything to your liking?!”

She tries to sound dismissive of him, yet Liu Jin can hear something hidden under her scorn. He can feel its embers burning in her Qi.

Hope.

“I am arrogant,” Liu Jin agrees. “It seems I am not immune to that vice. I have lived my life forcing myself into situations where I was not wanted, often with little idea of what I was marching into. However, consider this: I have been successful so far.”

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He holds Lu Mei’s chin with his free hand and gently makes her look at him.

“I can be successful again if you help me.”

Lu Mei holds his gaze. Her golden eyes challenging him, attacking him, and even insulting him.

However, the strength with which she holds his hand tells him the answer before she voices it.

“Very well.” Lu Mei takes a deep breath, and her lips curl into a familiar smirk. “It is not how I thought I’d introduce you to my family, but let’s be greedy.”

~~~

Though their resolution has been made, Liu Jin and Lu Mei cannot just put everything aside and depart for the Red Sky Pavilion. That would look too suspicious. Lady Dai Jie might even take it as an insult. Considering the number of people they already risk offending, there is no need to add one more to the list.

“We have time to prepare,” Lu Mei reassured him. “My mother is not expecting me to cave in right away. I have already sent a letter to delay. That should give us more than enough time to figure things out.”

Liu Jin hopes so. The number of things that require figuring out are quite numerous.

“I am pleased you agreed to meet me alone, Emperor Qing,” Lady Dai Jie says as she welcomes him to her residence. “Many would be too needlessly wary of the Divine Frozen Palace.”

There are also a great many people who would only be too eager to be alone with a woman of the Divine Frozen Palace, but Lady Dai Jie is trying not to draw attention to that aspect of her Sect, so Liu Jin does not mention it.

“You have been nothing but courteous, Lady Dai Jie,” Liu Jin says, taking a moment to enjoy the gentle breeze that flows through the porch. “There is no reason for me to distrust you.”

Besides, there are entirely too many people in the Eternal Flame Clan who would notice if anything was done to him. It would be foolish of Lady Dai Jie to attempt anything untoward.