Chapter 155: Shizun, Aren’t You Surprised?

As the wedding of Rufeng Sect's young master drew near, a rumor

 began to circulate. In no time it had reached the ears of guests from all

 major sects, causing quite the stir.

 "Zhang-gongzi, listen, I heard something outrageous a few days ago.

 But the more I think about it, the more I'm sure it's got to be true. Wanna

 hear?"

 "What a coincidence! I also heard a shocking secret about Rufeng

 Sect. Could it be the same?"

 His companion waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Does Zhang

gongzi's secret involve two particular people?" he asked, voice heavy with

 implication.

 "Indeed it does."

 After exchanging a meaningful glance, one of them said quietly, "I'll

 go first: I heard Rufeng Sect's Ye Wangxi and…"

 At this, his companion couldn't keep a straight face, much less

 maintain the dignified bearing of a young master. He guffawed and slapped

 his thigh, eyes sparkling with the thrill of sharing secrets. "Yes, yes! Ha ha

 ha, I nearly laughed my head off—that's it! Rufeng Sect's Ye Wangxi and

 Song Qiutong are having an affair!"

 "As they say, bad news travels a thousand miles before good news

 makes it out the door. I wouldn't have guessed that even someone like

 yourself who avoids petty gossip would've heard about this. We should

keep it down, though. We are in Linyi, and there are Rufeng Sect members

 everywhere—the walls have ears, you know."

 Whether the walls had ears or not was hard to say. But a rumor

 repeated oft enough soon became indistinguishable from fact. Though

 nobody could claim they'd actually seen any evidence of this affair, the

 rumor swelled like a wad of cotton in water, the details growing lusher and

 more lurid with each telling. As it spread, even commoners in the small

 villages outside Linyi heard it whispered in their paddies and fields.

 "Goudan-ge, I'll tell you a secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else"

 "What secret? Don't be coy—tell me! My lips are sealed; I won't

 speak a word."

 "Then you'd better listen good. There's a shocking scandal going on

 at Rufeng Sect. That Song Qiutong—you know her, right? The girl who's

 about to marry Nangong Si? Turns out she's quite the little vixen, heh.

 Maybe Goudan-ge hasn't heard—she's already turned her back on her

 fiancé and hooked up with Ye Wangxi!"

 "What? Why?!"

 "Why not? Don't you know when Song Qiutong was auctioned off at

 Xuanyuan Pavilion back in the day, Ye Wangxi was the one who fancied her

 first and bought her for dual cultivation? I bet he had all sorts of nasty

 ideas!"

 Flabbergasted, Li Goudan's mouth fell open. Only after a long while

 did he manage to stammer out, "H-heavens above… How could such a

 thing happen…"

The humble villager's mind was turned upside down. That night, Li

 Goudan hugged his wife close as they chatted with their heads on pillows.

 "Chunhua, you're the best," he said with feeling.

 His wife, Zhao Chunhua, blinked. "What's wrong—why are you

 saying this all of a sudden?"

 "Look here, you might be a little bit fat, short, and ugly, but at least

 you work hard and bear children. Not like some little ladies who cheat on

 their husbands and don't know a woman's place."

 Zhao Chunhua was peeved. "How am I ugly? My complexion's a

 little sallow is all!" Nevertheless, her curiosity had been piqued. "Whose

 wife is sleeping around? Why haven't I heard about it?"

 "They're not from our village—it's a Daoist lady and master from

 that lot always flying about on swords."

 "Who?" Zhao Chunhua asked in astonishment.

 "Those two who are about to have a big wedding," replied Li

 Goudan.

 It took Zhao Chunhua a moment to think of Nangong Si. She stared

 blankly for a while before understanding hit. "Heavens, no!" she exclaimed

 and sat bolt upright in bed. "Seriously? You better not be pulling my leg."

 "Why would I?" Li Goudan puffed out his chest. He wanted his wife

 to trust him, so he said solemnly, "One of my buddies saw Rufeng Sect's

 Ye Wangxi and Song Qiutong getting it on with his own two eyes! They've

 been sneaking around behind Nangong Si's back since ages ago!"

 In all this vast world, talk of love affairs traveled fastest. Everyone—

 the rich and the poor, cultivators and ordinary folk alike—happily seized

 upon this new topic of conversation. In the blink of an eye, the guests

gathered within Rufeng Sect had all heard of the scandal. By the time the

 tale made its way to Chu Wanning's ears, it had sprouted a truly splendid

 pair of wings. The year, month, and day of all Ye Wangxi and Song

 Qiutong's secret rendezvous had been precisely determined. It was even

 going about that Song Qiutong was hurrying to marry Nangong Si because

 she'd fallen pregnant, but Ye Wangxi was a heartless reprobate who refused

 to damage his future prospects by acknowledging her and the babe.

 "If you don't believe it, wait and see for yourself who that kid takes

 after—Nangong Si or Ye Wangxi!"

 Chu Wanning knew Nangong Si but not Ye Wangxi or Song Qiutong.

 He couldn't say whether the rumor was true or false, yet felt extremely

 irritated by it. Unfortunately, he was the type who was much more effective

 against clearly defined threats. When it came to these more nebulous

 matters, and in particular anything of a romantic nature, his hands might as

 well have been tied behind his back. He had no clue what to do.

 Thus, when Nangong Si paid a visit to Chu Wanning in the guest

 courtyard, Chu Wanning subtly tried to probe him. But Nangong Si failed to

 catch any of his implications. As before, he only blithely regaled Chu

zongshi with anecdotes about his faewolf, Naobaijin.

 "I found a mate for him a while ago—it went pretty smooth. The

 bitch should birth a litter next month. I wonder how many pups we'll get,"

 Nangong Si mused with a grin. "If any of the whelps are particularly good,

 I'll have Father send one to Sisheng Peak."

 Chu Wanning saw an excellent opportunity, so he replied, "Mn, but

 I wonder if the blood of this wolf pup will be pure."

"Why wouldn't it be? Naobaijin and the bitch are both from the same

 breed of cultivational snow wolves. Can't get any purer than that."

 "Are you sure the mother hasn't been mated to another faewolf

 before?"

 Nangong Si blinked. "No way. That she-wolf was raised by Bitan

 Manor, and she was the only faewolf in the whole place. She couldn't find

 another mate even if she tried. There's only been our Naobaijin."

 Chu Wanning thought he couldn't be more obvious with the hints he

 was dropping. He was plainly drawing a parallel between people and

 wolves, and thus implying that Nangong Si should take care regarding those

 rumors. Why didn't he get it? After some thought, Chu Wanning concluded

 that he must not have made himself clear. He deliberated further and added,

 "Even if she was the only faewolf at Bitan Manor, she must have stayed at

 Rufeng Sect for a while when you brought her here to mate with Naobaijin,

 right? You keep so many faewolves, could it be possible that…"

 "No way!" Nangong Si laughed brightly. "So this is why Zongshi

 was worried? The she-wolf and Naobaijin shared the same kennel—how

 could the other wolves even have a chance?"

 Chu Wanning was at a loss for words. Forget it—hopeless idiot!

 Nangong Si didn't notice Chu Wanning's dark mood. He stood and

 extended an invitation. "Zongshi, the Moonwhistle Fields were unfinished

 when you left. Since then, they've been expanded twice. Why don't I give

 you a short tour, and you can take Naobaijin for a ride?"

 "I'll have to decline," said Chu Wanning.

 "Why?" Nangong Si asked, visibly crestfallen.

"I don't know how to ride anything but horses," said Chu Wanning.

 "Anyway, stop playing around so much; you're about to become someone's

 husband. You can't spend all your time raising wolf pups and cavorting

 about the training grounds. You ought to spend time with Miss Song

 whenever you can. People and animals are alike this way—if you don't

 spend time together, you'll drift apart."

 "Nah—Qiutong's always good to me, and she's very obedient too."

 Chu Wanning leveled him with a long stare.

 "If Zongshi thinks I'm neglecting her, I'll ask her to join us,"

 Nangong Si continued. "I talk about you all the time. I'm sure she'd be

 delighted to meet you."

 Since Chu Wanning wasn't familiar with Song Qiutong, he couldn't

 guess what of the rumors was true and what false. It occurred to him that it

 might not be a bad idea to get to know this young couple before the

 wedding. Chu Wanning nodded and stood up. "Very well, why don't you go

 fetch her then? I'll wait for you at Moonwhistle Fields."

 On his way out, Nangong Si ran into Mo Ran on his way in. They

 exchanged bows beside the partition wall of the courtyard. Mo Ran spotted

 Chu Wanning as soon as he entered, standing beneath the branching

 osmanthus tree. Before him was a small red clay stove with threads of

 steam rising from it, and on the stone table sat two cups of half-drunk eight

 treasures tea.

 "Shizun, did Nangong Si come for a visit?"

 "Mn. He invited me to Moonwhistle Fields to see his faewolves."

 Chu Wanning turned to head into his room. "These clothes aren't suited for

 riding, so I'll get changed."

Faewolves were formidable creatures. Even if Mo Ran knew Chu

 Wanning could handle them, he didn't feel comfortable letting him go

 alone. "I'll accompany Shizun," he offered.

 Chu Wanning stopped in his tracks and shot him a sidelong glance.

 "Do you know how to ride wolves?"

 Mo Ran grinned, his black eyes dancing. "Why not? I'm good on

 horseback; by extension, I should be good at riding anything. Wolves

 included."

 Chu Wanning was about to sneer when he realized there was

 something suggestively, dangerously ambiguous about the phrase, I should

 be good at riding anything. Those scenes he'd dreamt suddenly flashed

 before his eyes. He remembered the position of those two figures in his

 dreams—the sheen of sweat on Mo Ran's sturdy torso, Chu Wanning

 himself helplessly sprawled on the bed, letting Mo Ran have his way, like a

 plaything trapped beneath Mo Ran's body that the latter rode at a headlong

 gallop.

 Chu Wanning's face burned red. "Absolutely shameless!" he huffed

 under his breath. Whether he was reprimanding Mo Ran or himself was

 unclear. Chu Wanning turned on his heel, threw open the door to his room,

 and stalked inside. The rolled-up curtain over the door swayed in his wake,

 mimicking the juddering heart of the man taking refuge within.

 Moonwhistle Fields was a vast clearing. Its dry vegetation rustled in

 the biting air, the yellow-green plain glazed with a layer of frost. The winter

 sun hung indifferent in the sky, chilly behind a screen of clouds, its light

 half-hearted and lifeless.

In contrast, Rufeng Sect's private hunting grounds lay at one end of

 the clearing, lush with pines and cypresses. Their thick needles glowed gold

 at a distance, like the soft down of a baby bird. Nangong Si stood before the

 field's wooden fence in conversation with Song Qiutong. He caught sight of

 two silhouettes approaching through the mist—Chu Wanning and Mo Ran.

 After a start of surprise, he grinned. "Mo-zongshi, did you come with your

 shizun because you were worried about leaving him in my care?"

 Mo Ran smiled back. "No. I came in case Shizun comes across

 anything that displeases him. If there's no one to take the brunt of his anger,

 he might vent it on Nangong-gongzi, and that would be unspeakably rude.

 I'm here as his punching bag."

 Chu Wanning glared at him. "Seems to me like you're here to start

 trouble."

 "Pfft." Song Qiutong, standing behind Nangong Si, let out a tinkling

 laugh. She lifted her lashes, fine as a chick's feathers, and gracefully

 stepped out from behind her fiancé. Everything about her was achingly

 beautiful: hair luxuriant as clouds, face charming as a flower in bloom.

 She glanced at Mo Ran and Chu Wanning and said sweetly, "I've

 always heard that Chu-zongshi and Mo-zongshi share a deep master

disciple bond. Now I see it really is just as they say."