Chapter Four
Absolute Power
Zhou Mi's head was bowed; he tried to ignore the throbbing ache in his legs, his voice pleading as he spoke, "Please, Father. This is all I've ever wanted. Please, you know this has been my dream since forever, so please just-"
Zhou Jinquan slammed his hand down on the table. "No! No way! You're my successor, my only son. And you want to run away to some godforsaken mountain to become an insignificant little martial artist?"
"The Shushan Sect is not insignificant, they are the saviours of our country and I-"
"Leave the saving of our country to others, Zhou Mi. You have a role to play, and your place is here, with your family. You must take over the family business, not just run around chasing after childish dreams."
"Jiameng can take over the family business, she has always been far better at economics than I have anyway, the family business would do better under her-"
"Enough!" Jinquan roared, a vein throbbing in his forehead. "You...you immature, idiot, selfish fool! You have to be the successor, you are my only son!"
Sitting behind Zhou Mi, Jiameng stirred but stayed silent, her eyes studying her brother and father.
"I have had enough of this nonsense." Jinquan said abruptly. "Servant Lee!"
There was a short pause as the Head Servant of the Zhou household hurried in. "Yes, sir?"
"Inform the rest of the servants that my son is to be locked in this room at all times. He cannot take one step out of this room. Food will be brought to him, and any servants who disobey any of my orders will be given a hundred of the cane!"
"Father!" Zhou Mi stared at his father in horror, but the older man was furious and resolute; he shook his son's arm off. "My decision is final, and nothing you say will change it!"
And he stormed out of the room, leaving Zhou Mi on his knees.
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Yifan glanced over at Yixing. "You were wrong. He did not set out at once. It cannot be possible that he set out for Shushan immediately and was unable to arrive here even father a week."
Yixing gave a small smile. "Perhaps I was over-confident in assuming that he would be instantly ready. After all, one needs much preparation to continue on to the next stage of his life. But he will come."
"There's is a chance you may be over-confident in that assumption as well." Tao replied matter-of-factly. "Maybe he doesn't really have the dedication to this, maybe he's scared to fight, who knows why he hasn't come yet? I highly doubt that he has the guts to come."
"Simply because he did not grow up as one of us, and did not train as one of us, does not instantly make him untrustworthy, Tao." Yixing chided gently, but Tao just snorted. "Yeah, and you know what they say: trust must be earned, not given." Without waiting for Yixing's response he stormed out of the room, leaving behind only Yixing, Yifan and Qian.
Qian shifted her gaze from the window for the first time. "Tao has a point."
"Does he? The trust we give to each other was just that, given. It was only earned at a later date. Is it possible for someone to earn your trust if you are unwilling to give it in the first place?" Yixing enquired. "Why don't you trust him? He has no connections with the Demon Sect. And more than anything else, he seems to be a good man."
"Considering," Yifan interrupted before Qian or Yixing could speak. "That you both seem to realise that he is not versed in martial arts, nor connected with the Demon Sect, I'm surprised it has not yet occurred to you what is most likely to happen to him next."
There was a short silence. Then, sharply, Qian demanded. "What do you mean?"
"If he truly is the Saviour, then he is the one meant to defeat the Demon Sect. And they won't like that now, will they? And, in their position, the most obvious course of action would be to kill him."
Qian and Yixing stared at each other; there was nothing but numb horror in Yixing's face, it was clear he had not considered that possibility
Qian leapt to her feet. Yixing called after her. "Where are you going?"
"Out!"
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Luhan dragged at the younger man's arm as he struggled to keep the annoyance out of his voice, "Sehun, come on - we shouldn't be seen in a place like this, it's unbecoming. Come on, let's go back-"
Sehun wrenched his arm out of Luhan's grasp. "Unbecoming? Unbecoming? What's so unbecoming about someone like me visiting this place? These people," he indicated the brothel they were standing next to, "are scum. So what's the difference between them and me?"
Luhan shot a furtive glance at the passers-by, who by now had noticed them and were glancing at them, clearly wondering what the sons of nobles were doing at a famous brothel. Luhan kept his voice as low as he could without being inaudible, "We're still of noble blood, Sehun. We have a reputation to maintain-"
"What reputation?" Sehun's voice was scathing, his face twisted into a bitter sneer. "What reputation, exactly? Who doesn't know me? Who, in this damn kingdom, doesn't know that I'm the bastard sin if the Prime Minister, the one son he's ashamed to have?!" His voice rose to a shout; the passers-by cast him alarmed glances and seemed to speed up as they went by; if they hadn't realised who Sehun was before, they had definitely realised it now.
Before Luhan could stop him, Sehun charged into the brothel, yelling bullishly, "Isn't there a single damn person here? How long am I supposed to wait to be served?" He staggered, then grabbed onto a chair, staring blurrier through a drunken haze.
Luhan hesitated, his eyes darting back and forth for a moment. Then he entered the brothel.
Almost at once, he was struck by the scent, mixture of roses and freesia and god knew what else. It was an intoxicating combination, one that whispered to you to return, again and again...
Luhan caught sight of Sehun leaning heavily against a chair; already, there was a woman feeling him up, running a hand down his side.
Luhan's face twisted into a scowl. In three great strides he was next to Sehun, and he wrenched the woman away from him, his voice quiet and dripping with contempt. "Do not touch us. You are not worthy."
The woman stared at him for a moment; then she regained her composure, and put on a bright smile - so fake, so manufactured, in Luhan's opinion - and purred, "Sir, why don't you and your friend-"
"Didn't you hear me the first time?" Luhan interrupted, dropping her arm like it was a hot coal. "You're scum, not even fit to clean the soles of our shoes. So scram. Just looking at you makes me feel filthy-"
"If you're simply here to spew insults at us, you're welcome to leave."
The voice was distinctly female, yet strong and melodic, the cultured tones surprising Luhan. He whirled around and stared at a woman, suddenly and strangely familiar. Her waterfall of long hair tumbled down her back, her doe-eyed brown eyes steely and cold as she faced him. Dressed in more elaborate fabrics than the woman whom Luhan had pushed away from Sehun, he had no doubt that she was of a high rank in this brothel.
Her brow arched. "Well?"
Luhan shut his mouth with a snap; rearranging his features into an expression of polite iciness, he turned back to Sehun, who was now seemingly dead to the world. He heaved Sehun up, then staggered a little, muttering a curse. "Why the hell are you so heavy, Sehun?"
He turned to the doe-eyed woman, who indicated the door. "Go ahead."
Luhan took a ate forward, then nearly stumbled; another hand reached out, supporting Sehun's other side,
Luhan glanced briefly at the doe-eyed woman, who had lunged forward to grab hold of Sehun; her eyes met his but briefly, and she raised her voice, calling for a servant.
Within a minute, a male servant appeared. He took hold of Luhan's other side, inclining his head respectfully at Luhan. "Where to, sir?"
"The Prime Minister's residence." Luhan replied. He made to leave, then paused, his eyes flickering back to the doe-eyed woman. Slowly, grudgingly, he inclined his head in thanks.
And she smiled in response - brightly, beautifully, unforgettably.
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Zhou Mi stared at his food, rolling his chopsticks in his hand listlessly. He'd been trapped in here for an entire week, with absolutely no chance to get out. He was bored.
But more than that, he was worried. What did the warriors of the Shushan Sect think, now that a week had passed and he had not appeared? Had they begun to think that he was not coming? Did they think that from the start? Would they be disappointed? Or would they just shrug it off and say they'd expected it from the start?
Zhou Mi bit back a bitter sigh; he had only wanted to leave with his family's blessings, and yet he had not anticipated that letting his father know of his intentions would lead to this...
Suddenly, a scream.
Zhou Mi's head shot up, his expression shocked at the high-pitched noise. He leapt out of his chair, over-turning it, as the locked doors of his room were suddenly flung open, and Servant Lee charged in. Servant Lee was doubled over for a moment, huffing and puffing; breathlessly, he told the younger man. "We're...we...under...attack!"
"What?" Zhou Mi was aghast; nothing like this had happened in his city for years! "By who? Who's attacking us?"
"Demon Sect!"
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A/N: Hey guys, I'm back!
So poor Zhou Mi is locked up and banned from leaving for Shushan; and actually comes under attack! This is more of a setting-up chapter, where I'm setting up for the next arc of the story, so there's really not much action this time around
Luhan got a lot more "screen time" than usual in this chapter - yes, the story will be kind of split, like 50% focusing on Zhou Mi, 40% on Luhan and about 10% on Changmin(changmin's screen time kind of intersects with Zhou Mi so he appears rather often) As for that mysterious woman - well, it should be pretty easy to guess who she is, right?
i'll try and update the next chapter by the end of the month, if I can - I may not be able to, cos my Block Test 2 is coming up, and it's all kinds of a . Till next time, guys!
and remember, comment and subscribe!
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