[Young Master Xian]—❈—70:: Family Dinner [IV]

“You don’t know if you want congruence?” Mother asks, voice quiet in that fake calm way people use when they know if they let themselves feel the annoyance they’re feeling, they’ll likely kill someone.

And since I’m the someone who will be getting killed if Mother Dearest let’s that anger out, I thank her very much for putting in the effort.

Much as I don’t want to die though, this conversation does require honesty. So I guess I’m walking that tightrope.

“No,” I say, meeting her gaze steadily. “I don’t know if I want it.”

Mother takes a visible moment to close her eyes and let out a slow breath; the room shakes with it and my teeth tingle like I’m biting on a live wire.

Oh. Wow. This news has really upset her.

“Why?” she asks, opening her eyes once again.

I sigh.

Where the fuck do I start?

Actually, scratch that. Forget where to start, a more important thing is figuring out what is safe to tell her.

After all, with how annoyed my not being eager for congruence has made her, I certainly can’t tell her now that the number one reason I’m hesitant is because having that much power scares the crap out of me.

She would probably punt me into space.

“Why, Qigang?” Mother asks a second time, and again, I sigh.

“Multiple reasons,” I say. “For one, if I do it Sunny dies. He says he doesn’t mind. He says it’s not really death. He says it’s an honour. But he’s a person. I don’t feel comfortable consuming him for power.

“And then there’s the fact that congruence will change me. I know it will. Which is all sorts of problems because I like me. I like the man that I am. He took a lot of work to create and I like him. And if for any reason I change as a person, it will be because I lived life, made new memories, got new experiences, learned new things, made mistakes. Not because I traded off portions of myself for power.

“I don’t want to be an Emperor. I certainly don’t want to be a dragon either. The way you see the world disturbs me. I mean, for Heaven’s sake, Mother, one of your daughters almost murdered one of your sons right on your doorstep barely an hour ago, and I wonder if you even felt anything.

“So, no, I don’t know if I want congruence yet. I don’t know if the power is worth the strings attached to it,” I finish, then take a sip of noble rank tea.

Mother says nothing for several seconds, then finally, she speaks. “Meng Yi will be congruent soon.”

I stare at her. “What?”

“The gift you gave her, weaving part of yourself into her cultivation, we’ve uncovered it’s primary function, and it is to make her cultivation method uniquely suited to her. She couldn’t escape congruence if she tried.”

Ignoring how pointed that last statement sounds, I ask, “So, essentially, you’re saying I created a Path of Meng Yi?”

Mother sighs in a way that sounds suspiciously like disappointment. “No, Qigang, that is not what I am saying at all.”

“Right. But Path of Meng Yi or not, this is good, right?” I ask. “She’ll only be benefitted by this?”

Mother nods and I smile at that, happy and relieved.

“Good for her,” I say.

There are a thousand different ways my thoughtless act that evening could have gone very bad, so it’s great news to hear that Meng Yi is only getting positive rewards from it.

“I assume replicating it comes with greater risk,” Mother says, in that way that requests more information without actually being a question.

“It does. Sunny even warned me not to try it again. Said I already dodged a four in five chance of a worst-case scenario the first time.”

“Four in five,” she says, considering the numbers. “I expected worse.”

“You expected worse?” I ask.

“I did,” Mother says. “As would you if you understood the significance of what you’ve done.”

I shrug. “I guess enlightenment didn’t give me a better head for the mechanics of qi and cultivation,” I say. “Though I have to admit that it sucks that it’s so dangerous. If it wasn't I could have used it on Xiuying too. Maybe even get her a sage or noble rank method and then use it with that…”

My eyes widen as the idea settles in. Why don’t I just get Xiuying a better method?

Of course, I can’t alter it to be ‘uniquely suited’ to her like I did with Meng Yi, but it will still be better than what she’s currently working with.

In fact, thinking about it, that was sort of the plan with Meng Yi, especially after I discovered that I lost her method manual to the Wild Qi storm.

That’s off the table now though. What she has now is worth more than any sage rank method. Maybe even more than any noble rank, seeing as it’s much cheaper to cultivate it if nothing else.

Xiuying though doesn’t have that issue as far as I know.

“Can we get Xiuying a sage rank method?” I ask Mother. “Or noble, if you’re feeling generous.”

Mother gives me a long, silent look. “You really do not understand how expensive cultivation is, do you?” she asks.

I roll my eyes. “Really? That’s the argument you want to use?” I ask. “While sitting in front of a dinner table laden with all this wealth?”

“Wealth or not, expenses must be earned, and the kitten has hardly shown enough talent to be worth a sage cultivation on the family’s dime,” she says.

“She has definitely shown enough talent to be worth a sage rank cultivation,” I say. “I know it, and you know it. Sure, she’s no freakish genius like you, but if Mei who looks to have less talent for cultivation than a dead rat can be worth a sage rank method, then Xiuying has earned it three times over.”

“Less talent for cultivation than a dead rat?” Mother asks, giving me a look like ‘really?’

“She almost killed me,” I say. “I think I’ve earned the right to badmouth her.”

Mother look like she very much wants to massage her temples.

“So, you’re going to give Xiuying a sage rank method, right?” I ask. “Maybe throw in a noble rank technique too, for that extra boost.”

Mother says nothing for a moment, then finally, she says, “Very well.”

“Wait, really?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yes, your servant will get a sage method and a noble technique,” Mother says.

Holy crap, I hadn’t expected her to actually agree. Not so easily, at the very least.

“Wow, thank you,” I say. “Truly. Xiuying will be ecstatic. You know, if it won’t be any trouble then maybe we could stick to the tiger theme she’s got going already. I don’t know but it kind of suits—”

“In return,” Mother cuts me off, heavy emphasis placed on the two words.

I pause. “Shit,” I mutter.

Her lips twitch in a manner almost like a smile. “Indeed, Son.”

I pout at her, then sigh. “Fine. What do you want in return?”

“You accept congruence without any more complaining,” she says simply.

“Seriously? You’re still on that? I thought we already resolved that issue?”

“You cannot have a congruent servant while being incongruent yourself, Qigang,” she says seriously.

“Why not?” I ask, genuinely curious. “Like you said, she works for me. Her power is, in many ways, my power. Just as my power is her power.”

“If that is so, then is it not imperative that you have as much power as you can get to better protect them?” Mother asks, and from the look on her face, she can undoubtedly tell that she’s got me. “After all, with how loyal those women have shown themselves to be, I doubt there is anything that would keep them from attaining more power if it meant being able to better serve and protect your interests.”

“Are you seriously trying to manipulate me by using my affection for my friends?” I ask, though without any real heat.

It’s hard to muster any when I know that she’s right.

“Power has found you, Qigang. And with power comes responsibility. You can run from it, and hide like a coward, but that would mean forsaking the people who stand beside you.”

“You say that like accepting the power is an automatic guarantee that I’ll always be able to protect them. Like it ensures that I’ll be able to weather any storm. No one is unbeatable, Mother. Not even you.”

“No,” she agrees. “But if I fall, I will do so with my head held high, and with the knowledge that my enemy never saw my back. I will go to my grave knowing that I gave it my all. Can you say the same, Qigang?”

Interesting of answering, I pivot, “This doesn’t resolve my issues with it though. I told you; I don’t want to be changed by my cultivation.”

“Then don’t be,” Mother says simply. “You are an Emperor, Qigang. No one decides what you get to be but yourself.”

“You say it like it’s that simple.”

“It is that simple,” she says. “Not easy. No. Never that. But it is that simple.”

She rises. “You don’t have to answer tonight,” she says. “You have time. Think about it.”

“All the while knowing that a sage rank cultivation for Xiuying hangs in the balance,” I point out.

Mother smiles at me. “A good incentive, no?” And then she exits the room.

Servants troop in then, but they wait with heads dipped, giving me space.

I sigh and push back my chair, and it’s only as I rise and step away from the table that they move in to clear up.

“What will happen to all this food?” I ask, looking at the table full of qi-rich, high-quality food, most of it untouched.

The ostensibly highest-ranking housekeeper, a peasant rank, bows and says, “They will be disposed properly, Seventh Young Master.”

 “And by disposed, you mean thrown away?” I ask.

“Yes, Seventh Young Master,” the man says, looking unsure for a moment. “Is there something else you would like us to with them?”

I stare at the sage and noble and divine rank food on the table. So much wealth, just sitting there.

They can’t be given to charity, because the people who need charity can’t eat them. And they can’t be sold, because the people who can afford them won’t buy leftovers.

“No,” I say. “Thanks for your hard work.”

They bow again, and I leave the room.

As soon as I meet up with Meng Yi and Xiuying, we leave the house.

Outside, I see Mei’s carriage pulling away, the asshole throwing one last glare my way before her carriage rides off.

Our coachman, who is actually a woman, brings our carriage to us and we board, Xiuying and Meng Yi sitting across from me.

Once we’re off, Xiuying asks, “What did your mother talk to you about?”

I sigh. “Congruence.” And then I tell them everything, from how close I am to it, to why it terrifies the crap out of me, to what my mother had to say.

They’re quiet for a while, and I let them think.

Finally, Meng Yi says, “If you ever become cruel, I promise to stab you in your sleep.”

“Nah, with his ridiculous healing, cutting off his head will work better,” Xiuying says.

“A beheading is much harder than a stabbing though,” Meng Yi points out.

“I know,” Xiuying says. “But that’s why you have me. I’ll handle that part. If he’s asleep and unprepared, one good solid swing should do the trick.” She actually mimes the slash. “Just need a good blade.”

I watch them. “You guys aren’t joking, are you?”

Both women shake their heads, then Xiuying looks at Meng Yi.

“Maybe we should make it official,” she says.

Meng Yi nods and they make a gesture of promise, the equivalent of a pinky swear basically.

“If you ever become like him,” Meng Yi begins, “we promise to kill you,” Xiuying finishes.

I roll my eyes at their antics, but the heavy weight of the fear does suddenly feel lighter.

“Are you even strong enough to kill me?” I ask jokingly. “Even if I’m asleep.”

Xiuying gasps dramatically in mock offense. “Meng Yi, our Young Master has questioned my ability as a warrior. I apologise but I must take his life for this disrespect.”

“Maybe wait a few days first,” Meng Yi says. “We get paid then.”

“Very well then, next week. Count your days, Seventh Young Master Xian Qigang,” she declares and I can’t hold back my laughter anymore.

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A/N:: thanks for reading. And sorry this took so long, but my head needed to be screwed on right, as I'm sure some of you noticed from how wonky the writing was in the last chapter.

Speaking of, that chapter has been edited. You don't have to reread it, but you can if you want.

Take care, everyone. Look after yourselves.