His train of thought stalled slightly. The new information Ruan Su provided completely overturned Qin Yi's previous judgment of the entire situation.
The young master's marriage proposal could be dismissed as the impulsive infatuation of youth, but the old master personally coming in person meant it was a decision made after careful deliberation, representing the will of the entire Immortal Guest Lodge.
He didn't understand.
Instinctively raising his head, the front of his cotton jacket was instantly soaked through with water stains. Qin Yi opened his mouth, about to ask a question...
Smack!
Ruan Su slapped the back of Qin Yi's head directly, her beautiful eyes glaring at him:
"Clothes... are.. wet! Don't.. move!"
"......"
Qin Yi winced in pain and obediently lowered his head.
Ruan Su rubbed the spot she had hit, swapped for a dry towel, and gently swept it through his damp hair, blotting away the lingering water droplets one by one.After drying the water, she turned around, pulled a cotton jacket out of that old wooden cabinet, and casually tossed it onto Qin Yi's lap:
"Change.. into.. this."
Qin Yi glanced at it but didn't move.
The clothes were Ruan Su's, her only defense against the deep autumn chill besides the hemp garments she wore, which were already soaked through with blood.
Ruan Su's brow furrowed, her dark eyes glaring at him, loose strands of hair falling across her cheek, partially concealing the burned half of her face:
"I.. won't.. get sick, you.. change!"
Not getting sick didn't mean not feeling cold.
But Qin Yi didn't say that out loud, because even if he did, his sister wouldn't listen, and he might even get another flick to the head for his trouble.
After a pause, he said softly:
"Sis, you can get yourself another piece of clothing."
"...No money!"
Ruan Su's bare feet pressed against the cold muddy ground: "Change.. first!"
Qin Yi fell silent.
Compared to those days when the two of them had fought people bloody over a single bite of food in the flood of refugees, life was now better by more than a notch, but this sister of his was still as frugal as ever.
At least when it came to herself.
Knowing her temperament well, Qin Yi thought for a moment and then said:
"There's a decent piece of clothing in the hidden chamber beneath the ruined temple. I'll wash it tomorrow, take it to the town to have it tailored, shouldn't cost much."
Ruan Su thought about it, not minding in the slightest that it was a dead person's clothes, and nodded in agreement:
"Okay."
These roaming bandits all carried a fair amount of silver on them, and those weapons could fetch a good price too... oh right, Xiao Yi also said there was a stash of private goods under the ruined temple east of town.
If she could convert all of that into silver...
Ruan Su's eyes curved slightly, her dark pupils reflecting the moonlight like two shards of silver.
This time, she should be able to take Xiao Yi to the county, no, even to the prefectural city to find a proper doctor for his brain condition.
Ruan Su felt a little happy.
She went out to fetch another bucket of water, then reached behind her neck and untied the sash of her gray-blue short jacket.
Her movements were natural and unguarded, showing not the slightest hint of shyness around the boy beside her.
The coarse cloth garment, stiffened by blood-soaked fabric, made a faint tearing sound as it was peeled away from her body, revealing the thin linen breast binding beneath and large expanses of pale, gaunt skin.
The girl's figure was tall and slender, her flat stomach already beginning to show delicate lines, but at a glance, she appeared overall thin and bony.
Qin Yi paid it no mind, sitting quietly on the wooden chair, using the dry towel to wipe the lingering moisture from his hair.
Silent, yet harmonious.
After a moment, Qin Yi set down the towel and suddenly spoke:
"Your... facial burn was because of the old master's marriage proposal?"
Ruan Su nodded, not denying it:
"Mhm."
"There was no need for that."
Qin Yi rejected her choice, saying:
"You could have simply refused him openly."
Ruan Su's hand gripping the wet towel tightened slightly:
"But the master's family... has been very good to us. I couldn't find a reason to refuse."
Seeing her reaction, Qin Yi let out a soft chuckle:
"We do indeed have the old master to thank for our footing here, but his kindness to you isn't a gift, it's a transaction. You bring him benefits, he gives you returns in kind. No need to mix feelings into it."
At that point, Qin Yi raised an eyebrow slightly, as if something had occurred to him, and asked hesitantly:
"Wait... the position the old master offered you, was it as the legal wife?"
Ruan Su's hand paused mid-motion with the cloth, the wet fabric pressed against her flat stomach, droplets of water tracing winding paths down her toned midline:
"Huh..? How.. did.. you know?"
"......"
Qin Yi didn't reply immediately.
That explained why Ruan Su had to disfigure herself to refuse.
But why?
Why would a man like the old master stake his heir's marriage alliance on Ruan Su?
Qin Yi tried to piece together the clues in his mind, but with insufficient information, he could only form a vague hypothesis.
Pinch...
Lost in thought, Qin Yi suddenly felt his jaw being gripped by someone, rough and cold fingertips pressing against both sides of his cheeks before forcibly tilting his head up to meet her gaze.
The girl stared at him without blinking, her brows slightly furrowed:
"I'm.. asking.. you a question! Don't.. ignore.. me!"
"....."
Ruan Su was now wearing only a linen breast binding, the coarse strap looping around the back of her neck, its lower edge barely covering the faint curve of her chest. What drew Qin Yi's attention, however, was a fresh knife wound that ran from her abdomen all the way up to her ribs.
Qin Yi's gaze lingered on that wound for several breaths, and he instinctively reached out to touch it.
"Does it hurt?" he asked.
His fingertips brushed across the girl's lower abdomen, and Ruan Su's body gave a slight tremor, her abdominal muscles instinctively tensing for a moment before she released his jaw and turned her face away:
"I'm.. fine. A month or so.. and it'll heal. It won't.. leave a scar. The... the burn on my face might heal too."
She said it lightly, still with that sandpaper-scraping-throat hoarseness, the tail of her voice rising, as if making a promise, though without much conviction. Then, seemingly remembering her authority as the elder sister, she stressed:
"Don't.. don't change the subject. Answer.. my question first."
Qin Yi withdrew his hand, unconcerned with that promise, and answered her question softly:
"Taking a concubine is such a trivial matter that the old master wouldn't need to come personally. And if he truly were proposing to take you as a concubine, you could have simply refused outright. No need for such drastic measures."
"Oh..."
Ruan Su took two steps back, reached behind her neck, and after untying the knot, casually placed the narrow strip of cloth on the table beside her. She picked up the wet cloth and began wiping the lingering bloodstains from her shoulders, neck, and chest, saying softly:
"He.. did indeed.. say.. he wanted me to be.. the young master's legal wife..."
At that, Ruan Su's hand paused for a moment, and she asked:
"Should.. I have agreed?"
"No."
Qin Yi's gaze was calm, his answer utterly decisive.
Though he had only met the man a few times, he had a remarkably clear read on that old master.
A man of common birth who, by his prime years, had established influence spanning several counties around Nianci Mountain on the border of ancient Shu, and who even had a voice in the prefectural city. Yet despite all that, he wasn't content to rest on his laurels, still constantly seeking to expand his power.
An ambitious man seeking a path to greatness in turbulent times.
Such a man would naturally value Ruan Su.
But such a man would never consider forming a bond of shared destiny with her.
A hired blade is always a hired blade.
Ruan Su's martial prowess was considerable, but the Immortal Guest Lodge housed no fewer than ten internal martial arts masters stronger than her.
The reason she had become an indispensable blade in the lodge's expansion was entirely due to her youth, or rather, her future that was still growing.
But at the end of the day, she was just a high-tier enforcer.
A child's marriage alliance, however, was a bargaining chip for the old master's continued expansion.
Marrying upward, or forming horizontal alliances, was the best choice for an ambitious man like the old master, and it was exactly what he had done in the past.
Yet now, he was willing to offend another wealthy family by breaking off an engagement, all to stake a marriage alliance on people of such lowly birth as them...
Qin Yi looked at the girl who was washing her body, and his gaze shifted.
Though he didn't know the reason the old master had broken off the engagement, one thing was certain... this adopted sister of his was worth more in the old master's eyes than the family he had been allied with through marriage.
In other words...
"Bam!"
Just as the thought formed, a flick to the head came flying at him, the dull pain of knuckles striking his forehead shattering his train of thought instantly.
Moonlight streamed through the doorway, falling upon Ruan Su, casting her pale, slender figure in a faint, cold-jade-like glow.
The girl furrowed her dark brows, her tone tinged with displeasure:
"Stop.. staring. Go! Help.. me.. get my clothes."