Crimson Qi, Exiled Beautiful Lady Falls in Love with a Shy Demon

Scandalous Behavior

~TIEN LYN~

Tien Lyn darted for the back of the banquet hall, intending to flee through the servants' doors. She did not even see the door, as the lights and the colours all got smothered by the yet unspilled tears. But it was there, and once she was through it, she could cry over her ruined life. Just a few more steps--

Iron fingers shackled her wrist, stopping Tien Lyn in her tracks.

"Sit," Lady Chen Guang commanded under her breath.

Tien Lyn obeyed out of habit. She dropped down on a cushion with all the grace of a sack of rice. Good thing there was a cushion, otherwise, she would have hit the floor. Her sight and hearing returned with the impact, the room came back into focus.

Nobody really moved since the Thirty Claw's voice thundered down on her. Was she fleeing for only a few heartbeats? It felt like she should have been half-way to Sutao after her desperate dash, or at least by those doors, but no...

Her father moved as smoothly as ever. An amicable smile playing on his lips, he toasted the Admiral: "What a refreshing way of putting it, my Lord. We are fortunate to have you to enliven our humble gathering!"

Thirty Claws looked at the faces turned towards him, said "Aye!" and laughed. The noblemen surrounding Lord Chen Xi and Thirty Claws let go of the cautious half-miles in favour of laughter with palpable relief.

The pleasant hum of the banquet room resumed, the tense moment passed, but Tien Lyn found herself a place far away from the pirate, and from everyone for that matter.

The incident would be repeated, word for word, a thousand times. As unpleasant as it was, she did not think it would amount to much. Thirty Claws would say something even more outrageous soon, and it would all be forgotten. But the thought of a small horde of pirates apparently lined up for her handmade her weep inside.

If her father was maneuvering to improve his position at Court by marrying her off to the Laughing Men Islands' Pirate clan, her life was over. She'd be better off throwing herself into the lotus pond in the garden.

Surely her mother would never allow it? The Admiral was only in Emperor's favour as long as the Emperor was intent on his conquests! All the reasonable men expected the Son of Heavens to lose interest quite soon. Her own father, Lord Chen Xi, was chief among them, always speaking against wars beyond the Imperial borders. Mother would never let her be packed away to marry a pirate... would she?

Ancestors, did I jinx my foretold marriage to a prince of the Imperial Family?

Tien Lyn was so engrossed in her worries, that she did not notice the young man who sat on the other side of the screen until he called out a cheerful greeting. "Salutations, Graceful Lady Tien Lyn!"

Tien Lyn did not have a chance to return the gentleman's greeting, because he pressed on too quickly: "We only have a moment before your esteemed lady mother intervenes. But hear me out. Your honour will be restored. Tonight. This I swear."

A smug grin accompanied the words, but the man's hand rested on a handle of a pistol, an outrageously expensive novelty. He turned a little to reveal the second pistol at his other side, an almost unheard of luxury outside of the Imperial Family. Yet there were no Wo Jia's dragons anywhere on his clothes.

Caught between curiosity and caution, Tien Lyn actually felt relieved to see her mother approach.

Lady Chen Guang had not lost her voice the way her daughter did.

"Young Master Han Zheng!" she exclaimed in a wonderful imitation of sincere joy, "How is your father's health? You must be gravely worried about him to delay your departure to your new post in the Quantong Province."