Brother Feng walked through the orchard, appreciating the sight of hundreds of colorful trees in full bloom, indulging himself in the aroma.
"Little Feng Hui, it's a pleasure to see you here," Brother Feng turned and bowed towards Sister Rong, waiting for her to walk to him.
"How are you, Little Feng?" Sister Rong asked, wrapping her slender arm around his shoulders.
"I'm fine Auntie Rong. And you can just call me Hui," Brother Feng replied, walking along with Sister Rong. Over his own mother, he liked Sister Rong better. Sister Rong had never made him feel inferior to his half and step-siblings. She never made him feel like the bastard child he was.
"Auntie Rong, do you think I am inferior to my siblings?" he asked. Sister Rong squeezed his shoulder, smiling into the distance.
"Of course not. Just because your siblings may be better cultivators, it doesn't mean that you are worse than them. Your father loves you just as much," Sister Rong assured. Brother Feng smiled bitterly, his inside thoughts much different than his outside demeanor.
'Auntie Rong, you may love us the same, but I doubt that father does. He doesn't even look up to see me unless you tell him to,'
"Auntie Rong, is dad a good person?" Brother Feng asked, pinching his robes. Sister Rong sighed, lips pursing.
"To me, his first wife, he is the scum of the earth," Sister Rong said honestly.
"I knew it. How can you stay married to a man like him?" Brother Feng asked, his voice bitter.
"Well, to me, he is scum. To his other wives, and to everyone in this city, he is a kind and benevolent person. All of the people in this city are under his protection and he spares no effort to protect us. All of his wives are women who have lived hard lives. He's saved them from an otherwise hopeless life, you got that?" Sister Rong explained, reaching up and plucking off a flower that had bent down.
"But, doesn't it make you jealous of all the women he marries?" Brother Feng asked, irritation leaking into his voice. Sister Rong sighed, tucking the flower behind her ear.
"Well, I can't say that it doesn't bother me now, can I? But, I'm sure that he loves us all equally," Sister Rong replied, reaching up and plucking another flower. She tucked the flower behind Brother Feng's ear, smiling at him.
"But, don't you sometimes doubt that? That maybe father might favor one of his wives more than the other?" Brother Feng pushed. Sister Rong stopped walking, swiveling Brother Feng to look at her.
"Little Feng, if I cannot have faith in my husband, then who can I have faith in?"
"I don't know, maybe emperor Liang Shui. He seems like an upright person, worlds better than father at least," Brother Feng spat out. Sister Rong's laugh was like a chime, clear, and sweet.
"Emperor Liang Shui is in the higher realm, it is merely a dream that I would be able to meet an esteemed person like him," Sister Rong said.
"What about my siblings. It's like my father favors them more than me. My older siblings have shown more promise than me when it comes to cultivation, and my younger siblings aren't old enough to cultivate," Brother Feng asked.
"I'm sure that's not the case. How about you come inside and help tend to my garden? I'm sure it will take your mind off of things," Sister Rong suggested, pulling Brother Feng with her. Brother Feng followed, glad to have something to keep his mind off of his thoughts.
"Come along. I've been meaning to move some plants around but I haven't been able to find the time to do it," Sister Rong said, pushing open the doors to her greenhouse. She grabbed a watering can, watering a couple of plants that were placed at the front. She put it down, pulling Brother Feng to a small corner of the greenhouse.
"I want you to move the blue herbs next to those yellow flowers and then move the green trees that are over there next to the yellow flowers," Sister Rong instructed.
"After that, please get water from that fountain and water all of the plants," Brother Feng nodded and took off his outer robe, rolling up the sleeves of his inner robe. He picked up the potted plants and carefully carried them into place, reinforcing his arms with Qi.
'This is more difficult than I thought,' Brother Feng thought, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead.
'I wonder if Auntie Rong really believes what she says. She seemed a bit tense and doubtful when she said that,' Brother Feng recalled Sister Rong's face which did look a bit tired and worn.
'Maybe I'm overthinking. She may just be tired from the duties of being the main housewife,' Brother Feng contradicted himself.
'But she has the time to read an autobiography of the emperor, so maybe not. And it's not like we're a huge city, so the work can't be that taxing,'
'Maybe, father really is giving her a hard time,' Brother Feng grabbed the watering can, walking over to the fountain and filling it up.
'Would Auntie Rong ever lie to me? She's never lied to me, she's always told me how it is,' Brother Feng watered the plants, absentmindedly watching the dry soil soak up the water.
'Auntie Rong cares for me, so maybe she might lie to me to not hurt my feelings,' Brother Feng's head hurt from thinking.
"Little Feng, are you okay? You look green," Sister Rong said, leaning down to look at his face. Brother Feng sneezed, his nose twitching.
"I'm fine, it might just be all the pollen inside here," Brother Feng said. Sister Rong quickly took the watering can from Brother Feng and ushered him outside.
"Aiya, I should've remembered about your allergies. I'm sorry," Sister Rong said, swatting at Brother Feng's robes in an effort to remove any pollen particles.
"Auntie Rong, is father really not giving you a hard time?" Brother Feng asked, rubbing his nose. Sister Rong sighed, running a slender hand through her long hair.
"To be honest, your father has been quite difficult lately, but no marriage is without its troubles, is there? I'm sure that we will be able to work it out," Sister Rong said, her shoulders slumping from their perfect posture into a slouch
"What types of problem?" Brother Fend asked.
"Well, your father recently came back from a trip to another city, and he brought back a woman from one of the rouge villages on his way back. He's been taking care of her for a while in our home and all of us are a bit tense,"
"Us? Tense?"
"Us as in all of his wives. And we're always tense when it comes to a new mistress entering the fray. He has more than a dozen wives. To be able to provide for all of us, we are fearful that it might cause his finances to be spread too thin between us and our children," Sister Rong explained.
"Auntie Rong, where are your children? I've never met them," Brother Feng asked. Sister Rong bit her lip.
"I do not have children. It was learned very early into our engagement that I was barren. This brought great distress to both mine and his parents. After our marriage, Feng Huan insisted on trying. He said that the diagnoses might not be accurate," Sister Rong said quietly, solemnly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know," Brother Feng said. Sister Rong shook her head, smiling indignantly.
"We tried for two years. During those two years, I lost all hope of ever being able to have my own child. I insisted on Feng Huan to take on another wife. He refused every time I brought it up, became angry when I brought it up. Eventually, I ran away from the city in anger. He spent three months looking for me all over the lower realm," Brother Feng listened intently since he's never heard this story before.
"After he found me and I returned with him, he finally agreed to take another wife. I offered him one of the new handmaidens' who had run away from home and had a small child. The wedding ceremony happened a week later and she gave birth to a child 9 months later. She offered to give the child to me, but I refused as it wasn't my child,"
"But then why would father get more wives if the problem of you being barren was solved?" Brother Feng asked. Sister Rong scoffed.
"That's where his harem started. Feng Huan got drunk off the feeling of helping people. He married three more women after that, each wedding ceremony a week from each other. Those women also gave birth to children not long after. While Feng Huan still treasured me, his attention was also taken by the other wives," Sister Rong admitted. Brother Feng clenched his fingers, teeth grinding against each other.
"Oh, look at the time. I'm sorry for having kept you for so long! Please, go wash up before dinner," Sister Rong said. She wiped at invisible tears and pushed Brother Feng away, swiftly walking back into her greenhouse.
She walked over to the plants that Brother Feng had rearranged, cutting off a couple of leaves and flowers. She brought them over to a corner in the greenhouse, putting them into a pestle. She quickly washed her hands, rubbing off the sticky pollen from her fingers. She dried them and returned to the pestle, crushing it up, the powder turning a dull cyan.
Sister Rong dipped her finger into the powder, bringing it up to her nose and sniffing it. She smiled in satisfaction and put it into a sachet, stuffing the sachet with other herbs and flowers. She tied it off with a bright red ribbon, putting it into her robe pocket.