No glossary at the end. Enjoy!
Bloody Mary: The Essence
Chapter 7: When He Tries for his Wife
Even though Da and Xiao were the visits of Quan's home, the next day they woke up and helped Lianshi clean around. It was the first time both sisters shared their time with the other woman, but soon enough all three of them were enjoying their time.
It was after everyone had eaten that the events of the day were beginning to advance. Sun Quan spent a morning full of leisure as he quietly read a few scrolls that his superior had sent him. Things were peaceful but anything that was really related to politics wasn't one of his favorite pastimes. He found it to be boring, yet still he kept in mind that it was his responsibility. What he did not know was that his responsibility was to grow in a couple of months.
He knew the women were around the house, sharing and doing small talk of things he never bothered to understand. He was a man after all, but just by thinking of the reason behind the Qiao sisters' visit he felt his mood turn sour.
Some would say that he loved Li Hua just as much as he loved his wives, but no one ever understood him. What he felt for her was never something more than a friendship, yet it wasn't a family association. Sure, as many men could say he was attracted to her and if given the chance he would have married her. But he never felt the need to have that with her. They shared together wonderful moments, their most deepest thoughts and weren't shy to be seen holding hands or sometimes hugging each other.
And while people on the outside saw all of that and thought they were in love. They were never in love. They had fallen for their significant others while young, and thus the attraction that could have existed between the two of them was voided. They could tell what the other was thinking, they had their own private language and both felt in bliss every time they spend some time together.
For Quan and Li Hua there were no dramas. True it was that their last years were turbulent, but in the presence of one another, they left the world to the one both shared. He missed her dearly, but as he stayed locked in the memory of his past, a visitor decided to surprise him. It was more than a surprise; his older brother friend arrived with the company of a few others.
Zhou Yu could not come alone. He was a coward. He knew that his wife had heard and seen his interactions with Jen. And he knew that their marriage was hanging by a thread with a looming sword floating around it, an elephant being held by it on a giant cliff. He truly had no hope. It was only with the help of Mary Jen and Lu Meng that his bravery grew.
"Come on Zhou Yu! Enter the goddamn house!" Mary Jen yelled at him as she tried to push the man to move forward. Lu Meng stood besides her, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he entertained himself with the thought of watching two women fighting. "Lu Meng!"
"What?" The man asked as he blocked all expression from his face. However he stayed in his own spot waiting to see the next action.
"Come and help me with this faggot!" Jen yelled knowing that she was clearly insulting Zhou Yu.
"This what?" Lu Meng asked as he moved from his spot, his eyes staring in confusion at the strange vocabulary the woman utilized.
"What is a faggot?" Zhou Yu asked as he finally pulled his weight against the woman, thus making her crash against his back. "Lady Lu, what do you mean?" He turned around, his gaze curious as he had seemingly erased the reason for his visit.
"Umm… yeah…" Jen paused, her light colored eyes trying not to stare at the man in front of her. "A faggot…"
"Jen," Lu Meng did not spoke any more words. He did not understood what she said but knowing her as he had gotten to he knew that the woman was looking for a lie. At that moment everything became a war of eyes, as she looked at both men. They knew she must have been up to something, so when she tried to back away, Lu Meng took a hold of her arm. He was never forceful with her, but he knew there was more to that word than meets the eye.
It was with Lu Meng's hold that Jen began to perspire. She knew it was wrong to insult someone that had become her ally. And she knew she was in deep trouble when she received the heated glare from the one friend that she wished to back her up. She looked at both of them, her eyes moving quickly from man to man, but as she felt a hand tighten around her she knew that her time was coming to an end. She had to speak something or she would have to fear the wrath of the beautiful man. But luckily she knew that they had such a tiny idea of what her word meant that she decided to arm herself with confidence.
And it was with a strained expression that she explained, "a faggot is a really beautiful man. It's like saying The Beautiful Zhou Yu, just a tiny bit more casual." And feeling confident, she grinned with the back of her teeth locked together. Something that both men noticed but decided to ignore, they were about to question her some more, but someone interrupted their casual conversation. Because during that time there seemed to be nothing wrong with man handling a woman in public, or so she thought.
"Zhou Yu, my friend!" Quan's voice came from the entrance to his home as he greeted his newest guests. "I wasn't expecting you to be here." And it was a flat lie. Because when Zhou Yu received a letter from his wife, he instantly noticed the handwriting had been forged.
"I received your-," Zhou Yu never got to finish because Lu Meng made sure to elbow him hard enough to notice his wrong doing. "I mean Xiao's letter… you know… my wife."
Quan looked at the trio weirdly before he shrugged. He had seen their interactions, but as a future leader in training he decided that it was not worth it to be brought to attention. "Well come on in, she's eagerly waiting for you." It was a horrendous lie. And just as he said that someone coughed in the background. "Ah Lady Lu, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Knowing the monster that was waiting for him, Zhou Yu entered the house, leaving all introductions to a heavily coughing Jen. But as he was behind Quan's back he made sure to stare at the woman with a promise of vengeance.
Zhou Yu moved around the house knowing that if he made too much noise he would end up disturbing the dragon wrath. He moved slowly, making sure to step of the boards that made no sound as he walked along the corridors. His hands were sweating and his heartbeat was as fast as a hummingbird, but he kept moving towards the sound of a wonderful laugh. He smiled to himself as he thought of the early days where he used to wake up with that sound.
He thought that everything was going to be all right. His wife was calm and relaxed and nothing could possibly go wrong with their reunion. But as a failed strategist in the matters of the heart, he entered the room surprising the three females that sat around a table talking.
Xiao was right there staring at him. He saw as if it were in slow motion how her eyes widened at seeing him. He saw exactly how she paled down to Lu Meng's skin color. And he saw how the other two women turned their heads to stare at the intruder only to give him a blank look. But he was completely fixated on his wife, he barely heard when the women said their excuses and left the two of them alone. He barely noticed how his wife's eyes turned to steel as he moved closer to hold her hand in his.
And he never expected his face to be turned to the side as he stared at the floor, his cheek stinging from the impact of Xiao's tiny hand.
From then on everything moved too fast for him to comprehend.
"How dare you!" Xiao yelled at him, she was no longer sitting next to him. Instead she had taken hold of his shoulders and with strength he did not know she had, she pushed him. "You knew I was there!" He was sprawled on the floor as he stared at a ceiling blocked by his wife's face. "I married a pig! You lied to me!" And he felt her foot crashing against his ribs, his side hurting but before she could do anymore damage he evaded her and stood up.
"Xiao please," he could never finish. Xiao was hitting him with all her strength, most of her yells being unheard by him since he was more worried with covering his body from her punches.
"You told me I was the only woman," he felt her hand hitting the back of his head.
"Xiao! I never said that!"
"When I asked you of her, you told me she was a servant! You told me she was Lady Wu's servant!"
"It was true!"
"But you never told me she was Cheng Pu's daughter. You never told me you knew her since she was young." By then Xiao was no longer hitting him, instead she was crying.
"Xiao, please don't cry." Zhou Yu said as he moved closer to his wife, he tried pulling her into his arms only to be pushed away.
"You lied to me," Xiao said as she turned her back to him, her hand wiping away her tears, but they were quickly replaced.
"I never lied to you," he said as he tried once more to pull her to him, but she pushed him away. In the momentum she lost her balance and fell to the floor. "Xiao! You okay?" He asked as he kneeled next to his wife his eyes sweeping with worry and a pain she could not see. He did not wanted to see her cry.
"But you lied to me," she whined as she cried with her eyes closed. And thinking that she would accept his touch, he tried to console her. "Don't touch me!" At that he backed away, in his mind repeating the time when Li Hua had said those same words.
"Xiao please listen to me."
"No!" And as quick as she responded she was once more on her feet. "You lied to me, you married me and you never loved me. You don't love me."
"No, no, no. Xiao please don't say that." But he didn't try to change her mind, still his hand moved slowly towards her
"Zhou Yu, what is a marriage without love? I thought you married me because you loved me." At her words Zhou Yu stopped, his face fully ridden with guilt. And Xiao saw right trough it, and she remembered exactly the pure reason he had married her. "You asshole! You married me so that Ce could marry Da!"
"Now Xiao stop coming to conclusion, we can still make it work." His words had the complete and contrary effect he intended. He had tried once more to hold her to him, but an even bigger slap stopped him from trying.
"Don't you dare touch me! I don't want to see your face ever again!" and with a seemingly childish tantrum she ran away. She felt strong at that moment but as she ran out into a courtyard, falling on her knees to only to cry harder did Jen, Quan and Meng began to feel bad.
"Ziming," a soft yeah was responded in the background. "Did we do the right thing?"
"I believe so, they are married Jen."
"That doesn't mean it will work. They could always separate," Jen said as she remembered a childhood with divorced parents.
"They will make it work. Marriages don't simply break." Meng said as he looked at the woman standing next to him. "Xiao is just acting like a child. Love is not needed for a successful marriage. But Xiao is thinking as if a marriage were a childish fantasy. She needs to learn her place, Zhou Yu is just being too patient with her."
"I don't a marriage can do any good without love."
"Jen," Quan interrupted the two guests. "Both of them will come to terms. Xiao is still young, but Zhou Yu is the right man for her. He cares for her and she cares for him, they just haven't found the right ground. Give them a few months…" and just like that Quan led them towards his home and to his office to share a few drinks.
And it took Jen a bit more time to move; her eyes were still locked on Xiao's body on the floor still crying. "It's just so sad." Jen muttered to herself.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Now do your thing.
*This has not been edited.
