~~~


    Somehow, the door to his fiancée’s room seems bigger than it should be.


    Logically, Liu Jin knows there is no reason for him to be nervous. The wedding has been revealed to be a mere formality. The person behind the door is not the one he will spend the rest of his life with. They will be husband and wife in name only. They will live together for a month and then go their separate ways.


    That is all there is to it. In a way, the knowledge is rather freeing.


    Yet, Liu Jin’s hand trembles as he knocks on the door.


    Xiao Zheng has told him his daughter is expecting him. Still, when an unmistakably female voice comes from the other side of the door and tells him to enter, Liu Jin jumps a little.


    He is being foolish. There is no reason for him to be so nervous. Liu Jin is someone who has been in the presence of Nine-Headed Snake God. Compared that, meeting his betrothed should be a simple matter.


    Yes, that’s right. Liu Jin takes a deep breath and nods to himself before opening the door.


    The room behind it is spacious, easily larger than an entire floor of his house. There is a bed, a window, and walls. All proper things for a bedroom to have. The wall opposite to the door is lined with bookshelves. To the side, there is a desk with an open book on top of it. It is a little far, but Liu Jin can identify it as a manual of some sort. However, he doubts all the books in this room are instruction manuals.


    A girl who has never left her house is bound to need something more interesting to read.


    “You are here.”


    Her voice causes him to finally look at her. She seems to be about his age. Liu Jin notices he is taller than her, but only by an inch or two. Her skin is white like porcelain, and her face has a nice oval shape. Her eyes are blue like those of her relatives, but hers are a shade lighter. Similarly, her hair is a shade of brown so light it is almost blonde.


    Although she’s still young, there is no denying she is someone who will surely become a beauty once she grows older.


    She is his fiancée, Xiao Shuang.


    “I hope I am not intruding,” Liu Jin finds himself saying. The words immediately become stupid the moment they leave his mouth.


    Even if the marriage is only for show, Liu Jin wishes the first words he said to his fiancée could have been better. Unfortunately, wordplay is not an area he has much skill in. By nature and nurture, Liu Jin prefers silence.


    Even so, the long second during which he waits for her response is undeniably uncomfortable.


    To his surprise, Xiao Shuang smiles and shakes her head. “Not at all. I was told you would come. I have wanted to meet you for a long time, husband.”


    Liu Jin chokes.


    “Husband?!”


    Immediately, Liu Jin hates how high-pitched his voice sounded just now.


    “Of course, you are my betrothed, the man who will become my husband. Whether I call you husband in a few weeks or now should make no difference, husband.” Xiao Shuang nods with a serious look on her face, finding no flaw in her words. “Unless… has the engagement been canceled? Has this wife perhaps done something to offend you?”


    Seeing her worried look, Liu Jin is quick to answer. “No. Nothing like that. My lady just… surprised me. That is all.”


    Xiao Shuang smiles brightly.


    “Thank goodness. Please, husband. Do not scare me so. ”


    Husband. The word still sends a little jolt of something down Liu Jin’s spine.


    He is way too young to be called husband!


    “Oh, where are my manners?” Xiao Shuang brings her hands to her mouth for a moment. “Please, take a seat, husband. I apologize for not having anything to offer you. I must also admit that I am not particularly skilled in the culinary arts. Still, I hope that, now that my identity is out in the open, I can convince Father to let me practice in the kitchens. It would be quite unseemly if I did not prepare my husband at least one meal before our parting.”


    Liu Jin sits down. Not just because she asks him to, but because he’s suddenly dizzy. Of all the possible ways this meeting could have gone, something like this did not even once cross his mind.


    Master would probably laugh if he were here.


    He’s never going to tell him about this, Liu Jin decides.


    “I must admit I was not expecting this.”


    Xiao Shuang looks at him curiously. “What is it, husband? Is something not to your liking? Is my appearance displeasing to you?”


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    “No! Nothing like that,” Liu Jin replies, panicking a little. “I just was not expecting my lady to be so… accepting of our engagement.”


    It is only once Liu Jin says it that he realizes the truth of it.


    What had he expected then?


    He had expected Xiao Shuang to be like her brother, Liu Jin realizes with a start.


    He had expected her to be like those people who whisper and mock him and his father behind their backs. He had expected her to be completely against the engagement. After all, why wouldn’t she? Xiao Shuang is the daughter of the Xiao Sect’s Patriarch. She wouldn’t be wrong to think there are matches out there in possession of far more power and riches than he.


    At most, Liu Jin had expected her to be resigned to the engagement, to recognize it as a necessary measure but no more than that.


    “You call me husband so easily, but our engagement is merely a formality. For you to gain a measure of protection before leaving for the Divine Frozen Palace and for my family to be tied closer to the Xiao Sect. Surely, my lady understands that.”


    “Husband forgets one reason.”


    “What is it?”


    “For Father not to lose face,” Xiao Shuang replies seriously. “Father promised my hand to your father. If I were to throw a tantrum until the engagement broke, then Father would lose face. This Xiao Shuang refuses to shame her father’s name no matter what. I will not make Father a liar.”


    Just like that, Liu Jin decides he likes Xiao Shuang.


    Marriage and other such topics are still beyond him. Love is not something he has any experience in. However, filial piety is something Liu Jin can understand and respect. The young child breathes a sigh of relief.


    “I see. Is that all?”


    “No.” The reply surprises Liu Jin. “Unlike husband, this Xiao Shuang has known about the engagement for a long time now. I truly had meant to spend my life with you.”


    “Why? How?” Liu Jin looks at her, confused. “You didn’t even know me.”


    Xiao Shuang motions to one of the corners of the room. “I grew up knowing my life was one granted thanks to you.”


    He follows the motion of her hand and finds a small tree growing there. Or rather, Liu Jin saw it from the start and just didn’t want to acknowledge it.


    The Tree of Never Ending Vigor.


    Had Liu Jin grown up with this tree, he would have been far stronger than he is now. That is something that has been clear to him for the past week and is only reinforced by being in the tree''s presence. The tree looks frail and small. Perhaps due to Xiao Shuang steadily siphoning off all the Yang Qi from it, the tree could never grow to its full power.


    Yet the energy he feels coming from it is undeniably strong.


    Had this tree grown properly and had he eaten the fruit from it then…


    No, it does not bear thinking about it.


    “This one has grown under the shade of this tree, husband.” Xiao Shuang smiles gently as she looks at it. “I am rarely allowed to leave this room, and so, this tree has been my constant companion. With this tree, I have shared my problems, and it is thanks to it that I draw breath. That would not be possible without you, husband. It is thanks to you giving up your strength that this one now stands before you.”


    Liu Jin shakes his head.


    “It was my father who gave yours the tree. There is no need for you to be grateful to me for something I had no control over.”


    “Perhaps, husband is right.” Xiao Shuang nods, humming. “Yet the truth remains the same. The tree that should have nurtured you nurtured me instead. That is something I have known for a few years now. When I first learned of it, I was shocked. There was someone out there I had never met whose loss had become my gain. From that moment on, I wished to know about the one whose luck I took.”


    “That would have been difficult while confined to this room.”


    “It wasn’t. My brother complains about you quite often.”


    Liu Jin stares for a moment.


    “My lady, forgive me for saying this, but if all the things you know about me come from your brother’s mouth, then I cannot imagine how your opinion of me can be positive.”


    Xiao Shuang giggles.


    “He really doesn’t like you,” she says as if sharing a secret. “He rants quite often about you and your family. Learning of the engagement has been quite hard on him.”


    “Then how…?”


    Baffled as he is, Liu Jin cannot bring himself to finish the question.


    “Xiao Fang speaks badly of you… but cousin Nan has never once said anything bad.”


    “Elder Brother surely gives me undue praise.”


    Xiao Shuang giggles again. “He said you would say that.”


    As expected of his Elder Brother. Or rather, should Liu Jin worry that he is so predictable when it comes to accepting praise?


    Master may very well have a point about the value he places on himself.


    “Regardless, I have heard much of you before today. Xiao Fang said bad things. Xiao Nan said good things. Of course, knowing the two, it was much easier for this Xiao Shuang to trust Xiao Nan’s words.” She smiles. “It was a relief.”


    “How so?”


    “I knew we were to be married, and I accepted that. I drew breath thanks to what was taken from you. To live my life alongside you to repay that seemed only natural. Furthermore, my father had already promised my hand to you. This Xiao Shuang would never dare disgrace him. Those two factors alone ensured I would wish to marry you, husband. However, I didn’t know whether you would be a good person or not. I am ashamed to say that scared me. Hearing Xiao Nan’s stories comforted me.”


    “There is no need for you to apologize, my lady,” Liu Jin says. “I had similar concerns after learning of the engagement, so if you must apologize, then I must apologize as well. I can only hope I am half the person Elder Brother made me sound like.”


    Xiao Shuang smiles. “You really are like Xiao Nan said. I am happy. I truly wouldn’t have minded living alongside you, husband.”


    “Your words are more than enough,” Liu Jin says, smiling. “Still, I must point out that Xiao Nan’s stories are merely his point of view. I also cannot claim everything Xiao Fang said was a falsehood.”


    “Then maybe, husband should be the one to tell his story?”


    “Huh?”


    “I have heard of husband from my brother, and I have heard of husband from my cousin. However, I have yet to hear of husband from husband. We may not be together for a long time, but at the very least, this Xiao Shuang wishes to know her husband. Is there a problem with that?”


    “No,” Liu Jin says after a while. The smile on his face is growing. “There is no problem at all, my lady. However, be warned, my stories are not exciting stories. I am just a doctor’s son who goes around helping his father heal people.”


    “That sounds lovely.”


    At that moment, Liu Jin thinks that what is lovely is Xiao Shuang’s smile.


    ~~~