WARNING: Physical and emotional abuse!
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With a long-winded sigh, Master Tao slumped right down onto his cushion and pressed his fingers against his forehead. "Disaster. What a complete disaster."
Tao Hua refused to look at him, but he couldn't seem to understand what it was about that interaction that made the emperor sound displeased?
Was it a personal thing?
As if the life was completely drained out, Tao Hua just stared at his hands placed on his lap, trailing along the smooth pale—the pale that had never seen a day of work, nor met a scratch in its life.
"I'm very sorry, Master Tao," Gui Chang frowned, bowing in Tao Hua's place.
Waving his hand in the air, Master Tao said, "No, it's fine. You did all you could."
He turned to Tao Hua. There wasn't necessarily anger, nor resentment, just disappointment in the way he sounded.
"I don't get it, Tao Hua. How many times had Young Lady Gui, the servants, and me—if I could ever even find you—reminded you many times over to read up on your duties? You could have at least done it last minute. I know you're capable."
"I'm sorry, sir. As his soon-to-be-wife, this is entirely on me," said Gui Chang. "I should have hounded him more, and I didn't. The responsibility is mine to bear."
"You should have, but there's only so much you can do yo help someone who's somehow fine with amounting to nothing," Master Tao sighed. Lowering his hand, he turned back to Tao Hua, who still refused to look his father in the eye. "Why didn't you study, Tao Hua? I'm not asking."
In an attempt to hold it together, Tao Hua squeezed his thumb into the palm of his hand. He had the intention of studying last minute, but he'd been so completely distracted that he'd forgotten. Now, he wasn't even sure how he could keep the reason quiet from his father, especially with Gui Chang knowing.
He'd just have to pray she'd keep her promise.
"Let's not play this game, Tao Hua. Isn't it already enough that you embarrassed your own father in front of the emperor? I need an answer—"
"It was my fault!" Gui Chang blurted, bowing once more in desperation. "My sincerest apologies for interrupting, but please, before Master Tao interjects, hear this humble one out. Tao Hua had every intention of studying, but I ended up taking my anger out on him for yesterday's events. More than I should have. Perhaps he was shaken up from it, enough to forget."
The room went quiet. Swallowing, Gui Chang continued. "This doesn't absolve him of his responsibility, but I wholeheartedly hope it helps you understand his position."
Tao Hua glanced up at Gui Chang, who just had a difficult look on her face. She, like Tao Hua, was trying hopelessly to keep it together.
Even if she didn't see it, what she'd done had meant the world to Tao Hua. No one had ever stood in his place for him in such a way.
"…" Master Tao's shoulders slumped, and his face softened. Gui Chang somehow managed to ease the situation, allowing the two soon-to-be-wedded couples to nearly collapse in relief.
But that couldn't be further from the truth. All of that was broken by a servant who just had to open their goddamned loud mouth.
Siyue Town, working at its best.
"This lowly servant is shocked, Miss Gui—you haven't heard any of the rumours? It's being said you and Young Master Tao were out in the town, earlier! No one mentioned anything?"
Gui Chang and Tao Hua froze up entirely.
Swallowing, Gui Chang said, "No…I…I didn't hear anything. Rumour mills aren't where I usually get my information from."
Another servant jumped in, as gossip was the only thing Siyue Town was capable of succeeding at. "Oh! That's right! My son was mentioned something as well! He and my husband run a stall just north of the market street."
"Rumours?" Brows furrowing, Master Tao sat up straight and asked, "Go on, someone explain."
"Well, your lordship, there's been talk of a random stranger gallibanting around the street. Tall, good-looking, even had a sword! It was hard not to miss him!"
The word the servant meant to use was gallivanting; however, most were highly uneducated in Siyue Town, therefore it was expected.
Stop, stop, stop, stop stop! Tao Hua cried internally.
Why were the people of this town so desperate to garner his father's attention!? Couldn't he have kept Lord No-Name his own little secret for just a moment longer?! None of this was fair, and these idiots were no better than a man threatening to drown him.
"A sword?" Master Tao squinted his eyes, turning to look at Tao Hua who could have sweated an entire river sitting in that shook position of his. "Pray tell, why would someone need a sword in my town? Are you certain it wasn't a guard?"
"Very good-looking, wearing gold, dressed in black silk…I think." The servant just waved his hands wildly. "Nevermind that, Your Lordship! How could someone like that be a guard?!"
"Mm, you do have a point," said Master Tao. "Most guards don't usually dress up. Especially not in silk."
"Oh! This stranger also apparently entered that old, patched-up building near the Northern Gate and came out with Young Master Tao! Hand pressed to his back and all! Coulda sworn it was husband and wife, given how close they were! Luckily, my husband knew immediately that it was the Young Master of the Tao Estate!"
Looking away, Tao Hua almost rolled his eyes. Perhaps husband and wife was taking things a bit too far. He was getting married after all.
Even so, why didn't it bother him as much as he acted like it did?
Hand now atop the low table, Master Tao rapped his fingers along it a few times. Disdain crowded him, and after a moment longer of the tapping, he ordered, "Leave. This is intimate time between my son, Miss Gui, and me."
At the wave of his hand, everyone immediately rushed out without question. Given the look on his face, it was clear Master Tao was no longer in the mood for gossip. Despite their desire to continue, orders were orders, and they couldn't go against the strongest man in the village.
And within that dreary room remained three souls.
Gui Chang's eyes shifted between Master Tao and Tao Hua, mournful horror dawning on her as she lifted her hand. This was absolutely awful, and none of it was supposed to play out this way!
"Sit. Don't speak a word, Young Lady Gui."
So, she did just that and quietly replied, "Yes, sir."
"Tao Hua. You've always been such a creative child. Go on, explain this stranger to me. In detail," Master Tao asked, placing his hand on his cheek. "Why was he more important than pleasing your own father?"
"I'm sorry…" Tao Hua stuttered, trying to choke everything back. In an attempt to change the subject, he said, "A mishap. I swear, it won't happ—"
"Of course it won't," said Master Tao, emotionless. "Do as you're told; it's the least you can offer for making both me and Young Lady Gui look bad in front of the His Majesty. I'm waiting, Tao Hua."
"…" Gripping the red fabric on his lap, Tao Hua frowned immensely. "Yes, Father."
Why did it have to come to this? Every part of Tao Hua felt like he'd be ripped apart at the flesh, and all for a small sliver of friendship.
"He...He's a scholar," Tao Hua began, speaking in a volume lower than breathing. "Writing a paper."
"A scholar? How odd," said Master Tao. "Why come to Siyue Town if he's a scholar? We're not brimming with institutions worthy of intellects. You didn't find this odd at all?"
Though a part of him did, he wanted to trust Lord No-Name.
So he did just that. He'd trust him and offer him his trust in return. Yet, his mind was so scrambled that he just couldn't seem to come up with any lies worthy of protecting this man.
How ironic of him, given how well he could do it to the one person he didn't want to do it to.
"I don't know, Father…I didn't think to ask," he mumbled, avoiding eye-contact completely. "We mostly discussed books."
"And why would he be interested in you of all people? Tao Hua, none of this is making sense." The comment was like a gut-punch to the stomach, but his father was right to ask that question. Why was Lord No-Name interested in him when there were people like his father around?
"Be honest. You have a pesky little habit of lying," said Master Tao. "I'm not going to punish you if you just tell me the truth. You know this, right?"
Tao Hua didn't know—he wasn't certain anymore what was right or wrong, good treatment or bad. He glanced up at Gui Chang, who had an awfully sombre look on her face, as if witnessing the first stages of a terminal illness.
Tao Hua sighed. It wasn't as if Lord No-Name was doing anything wrong, nor was he quiet about what he was doing.
What harm was there in gloating a little bit?
"He was investigating the relic situation here in Siyue Town."
Dead silence.
"B-But…he also knew a lot on stories, the world. He mentioned I would do amazing in the Imperial Capital, Father." Tao Hua droned on, awkwardly smiling. "H-He even called me nice names, and told me we'd meet again."
"I see." Master Tao toyed with the golden rings on his hands, staring down at them with a questionable indifference to his expression. Coldly, he said, "Hollow compliments. Describe his sword. You mentioned he had one. Don't leave out any details."
Hollow…? Tao Hua felt his heart slowly shatter.
"I…" Leaning into his knees, he choked back any and all emotion. "Black and gold, with a ruby pendant on top. He...tied my bookmark to it."
Master Tao stopped playing with his ring, his eyelids lowering.
"That insignificant thing?" he asked. "Didn't I tell you to stop messing around with those, Tao Hua?"
"…yes, you did."
"No matter, I'm sure he threw it out. What else?"
Tao Hua's sanity gradually deteriorated, becoming vacant. "I'm not sure. I couldn't get a good look at it—"
"What colour were his eyes?"
It was an eerily specific question. Typically unnoticed and unimportant, but Lord No-Name's eyes weren't natural by any means. They were unique, and the only other person Tao Hua had seen with eyes similar was the emperor.
This had to be a pointed question. Perhaps it was a common trait within the Imperial Capital?
"White—"
Master Tao immediately got to his feet, and the air changed from humidly dreary to tragic in a matter of seconds.
Gui Chang and Tao Hua didn't know how to react, and both jolted at the same time.
"Thickheaded child!" he angrily shouted, marching over to Tao Hua and grabbing him by the back of his collar. "Do you understand what you've just done or who that person was?! What did you tell him? Tell me, Tao Hua! Did you reveal anything about the estate?! ANSWER!"
He removed his hand from Tao Hua's collar as soon as he was sitting upright, grabbing the back of his hair. Yanking it, he knelt to Tao Hua's height and glared at him.
All Tao Hua could do was squeeze his eyes shut and try to grip what he could, struggling to minimize the pain.
"Answer me!" he fumed, his fingers tangling within the black strands and coiling them around his fingers. "Are you so hellbent on destroying all I've built? All the hard work I put into giving us—giving YOU a good life that you'd trade it for your own father's head?! Wasn't taking my wife enough?! Fucking answer me, child!"
"M-Master Tao!" Gui Chang cried, rushing up to the pair. Though he'd seen Master Tao disappointed with Tao Hua, this was the first she'd ever seen him fully reprimand him and in such an aggressive manner.
It wasn't anything new for Tao Hua, however.
"I'm sure he didn't know! This…this sounds like an honest mistake on his part, sir," she said, holding out her hands towards the two. "Please! Is this necessary?!"
Whipping his head in Gui Chang's direction, his eyes bore violently into her, enough to make her take a step back. "What happens between a father and son is nothing a woman should involve herself with. Know your place and leave."
Tao Hua just looked at her from his sorry position, before offering possibly the weakest smile he could. It was the type of smile written on a man who'd been there and done that, knowing exactly what was yet to come.
He was well prepared for such treatment, yet feared it all the same. But she didn't need to know that.
There were no words to explain how Gui Chang felt, but every part of her now understood why Tao Hua barely wanted to remain in the Tao Estate, and why he slipped out every afternoon, avoiding his father.
It was as if her eyes had been officially opened, seeing Tao Hua for the very first time. He wasn't a measly, weak invalid—he was a tortured child crying for someone to save him.
Yet she couldn't do that.
So, after some hesitation, Gui Chang turned and left the room, not once looking back.
And the night would drift by slowly, as the two spent quality time bonding together as father and son.
Chapter end.