Once Wu Ling and Su Jixin came to an understanding they returned to check on Zou Suyin and Su Yao. Both women looked like they'd spent several minutes crying and their eyes were still slightly red and puffy but they sat holding hands and when the men entered, Su Yao was excitedly explaining the suite she would be sharing with Yao Meifeng.
"It seems like you approve of her decision?" Su Jixin asked his wife.
"I do. I was afraid that she'd be mistreated if her sect discovered the truth of our bloodline but it seems like she's found a sect that not only accepts it, they value her for it," Zou Suyin said in reassuring tones.
"I'm sorry for not bringing this up earlier," Zou Suyin apologized, looking at her husband with watery eyes. "When Yao'er awakened I sent a letter to my father so he could come and explain things. He'll be arriving in a few days. I thought that I'd have time before Little Yao made a decision but…"
"I'm sorry Mother," Su Yao said quickly, her head lowered. "I, I know I should have come home to speak with you first but once I saw what things were like, I just…"
"No, it's fine," her mother insisted, placing a finger on her daughter's lips. "I've told you, to be an Artist is to follow your heart. I followed mine to your father and I've found nothing but happiness and the most wonderful daughter I could ever ask for. You found a sect that welcomes you for your own talents and it will give you opportunities you couldn't find elsewhere. I'll miss you," she said with a slight catch in her throat. "But I'm proud of you."
"Eh hem," Su Jixin cut in before mother and daughter could devolve into more hugging and sobs. "Does that mean you'll explain things to me too?"
"As much as I can, yes," Zou Suyin said. "I'm not trying to hide things on purpose, I don't really know very much about it. Father actually spent time with Great Uncle Fan so I want you both to hear things from him."
"What about hearing directly from your Great Uncle?" Su Jixin asked. "Is it that he's too far away?"
"No," Zou Suyin said softly, looking down at her hands and squeezing Su Yao's hands as though she needed a reminder that her daughter was still present and still fine. "Someone discovered Great Uncle Fan's talents. They blamed him for a number of things that weren't his fault, but people believed it anyway," she said softly.
"He was declared a Demonic Cultivator," she finally managed to say, looking at her daughter with a face full of worry. "They sealed him in his home with his wife and children and burned it to the ground. My grandfather rounded up what was left of our family and fled here. We've been hiding things ever since."
"Oh," Su Jixin said. The pit of his stomach dropped away like it was in free fall from the summit of Sword Peak. For the past hour, he'd focused on his feelings of being lied to, he'd allowed the hurt and anger to cloud his thoughts like cotton stuffed in his ears preventing him from hearing anything that didn't sustain his own pain.
Meanwhile, how must his wife feel knowing that the secret that cost her Great Uncle's life and forced her family into hiding had been discovered by one of the second rank sects of the city?
"Darling, I've wronged you," he said, shoulders slumped and head hung low. "Tell me what you can, and if we need to wait for Father-in-law, I can wait. I won't insist."
"Thank you," she said, standing to wrap her arms around her husband, clinging to him like a pillar of granite that held up her world. "I'll tell you. I promise. But before that, since Aesthete Wu is still here, I have a question for him."
"Call him Nephew," Su Jixin said, pulling back from his wife and wiping away her tears with a soft handkerchief. "He's Xiang'er's sworn brother and he's shown himself to be man enough to step up for our family. I still haven't entirely forgiven him," he added with a pointed look at Wu Ling. "But I can at least acknowledge that he's family."
"Well then Nephew," she said with a smile. "The Fang family sent over several lavish gifts along with a request to discuss a formal betrothal now that Yao'er's awakened. Any ideas for how we should handle that now that you've swept our little treasure away to your sect?"
"Oh, that's easy," Wu Ling said with a smile. While he couldn't precisely read the emotions of Su Yao's parents, he could see enough to know that the small family was on the mend. The consequences of Su Yao's visit to the Bamboo Silk House and her decision to join the sect had inflicted wounds, and everyone felt a little tender, but those wounds were already beginning to heal. Now that the crisis had truly passed, they could turn their attention to other matters.
"I'm sure you don't want to offend the Fang family," Wu Ling continued. "They might not have a path to the Inner City but they can still make life hard for you in the Outer Wards. Since that's the case, just send all of the gifts back and let them know that Cousin Yao has joined the Bamboo Silk House."
"Any matters related to her betrothal will have to be approved by the Elder in charge of her Hall," Wu Ling explained. "The bride price of a disciple of the Bamboo Silk House is never low but as a new disciple, the sect can't even set a price until she's been in the sect for a year."
"The sect won't turn the Fang family down, not directly, but they'll lead them on for months or years," Wu Ling said with a grin, imagining the way people like Warden Mu could drag on a negotiation endlessly. The idea of seeing Fang Muchen humbled by the powerful women of the Bamboo Silk House cleansed away the last of the bitterness from his confrontation with Su Jixin and left Wu Ling feeling almost eager to see how things would play out.
"In the end, Cousin Yao owns her own decisions," Wu Ling promised. "The sect only rarely arranges marriages between disciples and outsiders, and the elder who may become her master won't easily let her go," he added with a wink at Su Yao. Since his mother had already staked her claim, it was unlikely that any other sect elder would be willing to overrule her.
"You're sure that will work?" Su Jixin asked, slightly hesitant about trusting the Bamboo Silk House after everything he'd learned from Wu Ling about the sect's shadowed activities. At the same time, if what Wu Ling said was true, then it would be virtually impossible for the Fang family to force their hands.
"I'm positive," Wu Ling said, placing a reassuring hand on Su Jixin's shoulder. "Remember, it's a sect full of trained courtesans. They have vast experience managing the marriage proposals that flow through the sect like water. This actually makes it easy since the rejection won't have anything to do with the Su family and while you may not want to offend the Fang family, they equally won't want to offend the Bamboo Silk House."