Inside and outside the gate of the SunRain Hibiscus Garden felt like two different worlds. Within the walls it was desolate and cold, the ground littered with fallen branches and dead leaves with no one to sweep them away. Outside, however, it was lively and bustling, people coming and going, lanterns and decorations everywhere.

For a moment, it felt like stepping into another lifetime.

Liu Xiaolou made his way toward the main storehouse. Along the road he passed members of the Su clan, stewards of the manor, servants and maids. Every one of them wore a cheerful expression, hurrying about with no sign of what exactly they were so busy with.

When he reached the storehouse, he saw more than a dozen stewards and bookkeepers carrying in and out crates tied with red flowers and bundles wrapped in red silk. Some shouted out the contents of each chest or bundle, while others wrote with flying pens, recording everything in the ledgers without pause.

“From the Jia family of Dongheng Town: ten catties of gold, three thousand taels of silver, thirty spirit stones, twelve eastern pearls, one six-foot-high coral branch…” Read full story at novelꜰire.net

“From the Qian family of Fuzhou: one hundred bolts of Shu brocade, ten loads of lake silk, ten dan of spirit rice from Lotus Mountain, ten dan of spirit rice from Ewe Ram Mountain Mountain, twenty spirit stones…”

“From Lotus Fort on Wutong Mountain: one pair of triangular sheep, six black spirit pigs from Black Mountain, two oxen from the Small Park pasture, twenty spirit stones…”

“From the Xiong family of Huagou: eight catties of Golden Mountain honey, ten jars of Bamboo Leaf Green spirit wine…”

The one in charge of the main storehouse was the uncle of Su Zhi and Su Xun. Among his generation he ranked third. His cultivation talent had been limited, and he stopped at the early Foundation Establishment stage, never advancing further. Since he couldn’t establish a household of his own, he ended up with this task—one of the most important, but also one of the most tedious, in the clan.

Back in the day, several of the Su clan’s elders were far more powerful than him. Yet one by one they fell: some lost their minds during closed-door breakthroughs, some vanished forever while exploring the void, some were gravely wounded in duels and never recovered. Ironically, it was this ordinary cultivator who lived the longest. Now at a hundred and fifty years of age, he was still vigorous, and people said he had already gone through three rounds of concubines.

At this moment, he stood stroking his beard, watching the household servants as they sorted and stacked goods outside the storehouse.

Liu Xiaolou came up beside him and respectfully addressed him as “Third Granduncle.”

The old man glanced at him, studying him for a moment, as if suddenly recalling who he was. Stroking his white beard, he said with a hint of surprise, “Xiaolou… it’s been so long. When did you come back?”

Liu Xiaolou smiled. “I’ve been in the garden all this time. Haven’t left at all.”

Third Granduncle chuckled. “Ha, everyone thought you’d gone off traveling… So what brings you here to me today?”

Liu Xiaolou bowed with a guilty look. “I’m ashamed to say it, but my cupboards are bare. I must trouble Granduncle for this month’s allowance.”

Third Granduncle was clearly in a good mood today. He waved over a bookkeeper and told him to check Liu Xiaolou’s monthly stipend. Right there on the spot, Liu Xiaolou received seven spirit stones and seventy taels of silver.

With his allowance in hand so smoothly, Liu Xiaolou was in good spirits too. He edged closer to Third Granduncle and asked what all the commotion was about.

Third Granduncle laughed. “Second Branch’s Third Son is getting married. He’s marrying the youngest daughter of Guan Xingzhou from the Plum-Breaking Sect. Today’s the grand ceremony, so of course we’re busy checking through all the gifts each household has sent.”

“Getting married, huh…” Liu Xiaolou felt a twinge of melancholy. He had gone to so much trouble to rescue Tan Bajhang, only to end up indirectly helping that fellow Su Fan get what he wanted.

The trouble was, what Tan Bajhang wanted was to marry into another family, to be taken in as a son-in-law, to change his lot in life. It wasn’t really about Guan’s daughter as a person. Nothing could be done about that. All Liu Xiaolou could do was watch helplessly while that scoundrel Su Fan achieved his long-cherished wish.

When he reached the Guahu Hall, he looked from a distance and saw it was even more lively there. After all, this was the wedding of the Second Branch’s legitimate son. It was nothing like last year’s hastily arranged son-in-law ceremony for Su Wuniang. This was a proper dual cultivation wedding rite. Not only had all the prominent figures from the Su line turned up, but many from the Cai, Mao, and Wang sects as well. Altogether, there were easily two or three hundred people gathered inside and outside Guahu Hall to witness the event.

Liu Xiaolou lingered for a moment, then turned away. Passing by the main kitchens, he saw household servants already carrying baskets of food in steady streams toward the hall.

He immediately spotted Chef Wang, the head cook, standing with her hands on her hips, shouting orders and driving the servants to work.

She caught sight of Liu Xiaolou as well, but quickly looked away. Instinctively she tried to sidestep and slip off, only to have her path blocked by the busy servants rushing past. Anxious and frustrated, she dared not raise her voice, and for a moment she was left flustered.

The more she tried to avoid him, the more fate seemed to push him toward her. In just a few blinks, Liu Xiaolou was standing right in front of her, staring straight into her eyes.

“Chef Wang, it’s been half a year. In all the time I’ve been in the SunRain Hibiscus Garden, not once has anyone sent me a meal. Do you have any idea what I’ve been living on for these six months?”

She dared not answer. The fat on her cheeks twitched as she stood there torn between pride and fear, utterly uncomfortable.

Liu Xiaolou pressed her again. “Did you really think no one watches over the SunRain Hibiscus Garden?”

She avoided his gaze, her eyes sliding off to the side.

“I’m hungry,” Liu Xiaolou said. “You know what to do. And don’t even think about spitting in the food or slipping in filth. My cultivation is in the nose; if I catch the slightest trace of your tricks, then we’ll settle it in a duel.” With that, he flicked his sleeve and strode away.

After Liu Xiaolou left, Chef Wang spat viciously. “Hah! Starve you? You think you can cross me?”

She fumed for a while, but in the end still called over a servant and handed him a food basket. “Take this to the SunRain Hibiscus.”

“Should I bring all the main dishes?” asked the servant.

She shot him a glare. She wanted to say no, but finally snorted, “Bring them. Just think of it as feeding a dog.” Still unwilling, she snapped, “Wait!” She opened the basket, ready to spit a mouthful of phlegm into it. But then she remembered Liu Xiaolou’s threat. In the end she swallowed it back down.

She waved her hand. “Go on!”

The servant had barely walked a few steps when the basket was suddenly taken from him by a young man in white.

Chef Wang recognized him at once. She forced a smile. “Young Master Yun, this is…”

The newcomer was none other than Yun Ao, the White-Robed Swordsman. The Yun family wasn’t a vassal of the Su clan, but they were old family friends. When Yun Ao was younger, he often visited Shenwu Manor, so Chef Wang knew him.

Yun Ao said, “I overheard just now. This meal is for the son-in-law in the SunRain Hibiscus Garden, isn’t it? Why isn’t he attending Su Fan’s wedding ceremony?”

Chef Wang muttered, “With Fifth Lady away, he’s just a live-in son-in-law…”

Before she could finish, Yun Ao cut her off. “As it happens, I have business with him. I’ll take the food along the way. And what about wine? No wine?”

Chef Wang hurriedly ordered a jug of Osmanthus Spirit Wine to be stuffed into the basket. “How could we not?”

Yun Ao took the basket and left. When he reached the gates of the SunRain Hibiscus Garden, he hesitated for a moment, then clenched his teeth and stepped forward to knock.

A gust of wind rose, and with a creak the great doors slowly swung open. Yun Ao stepped inside and looked around. The garden was cold and deserted. Only a single white goose remained.

At its feet lay a heap of dead leaves and broken branches. The goose turned its head toward him, a few leaves still clamped in its beak.

Even the household fowl have nothing to eat, scratching about in dry leaves for scraps? How harshly the Su clan treats their son-in-law… alas…

So he thought to himself, though his face gave nothing away. Aloud he called, “Su Liu, Yun has come to see you!”