I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "I don't discriminate against homosexuals, and I would never tell anyone. Fine, you should just break off the engagement with me."
Jiang Chen looked at me, both amused and exasperated: "Xiao Mo, didn't you know I'm gay or not?"
I gritted my teeth and said, "I don't know." I didn't believe him at first, but last night he held me and acted like a saint all night, and tonight he did the same thing again. Sigh, I'm already confused.
From behind came Lady Qi's clear and melodious voice: "Xiao Mo, you'll know whether he's gay or not once you try!"
I quickly turned around, and Lady Qi, accompanied by several maids, gracefully walked down the corridor, her demeanor as elegant as a fairy.
"Mother is absolutely right!"
Jiang Chen nodded with a smile, looking at me earnestly with anticipation, as if hoping I would give it a try.
As expected of Lady Qi, her nonchalant remark immediately left me speechless.
How am I supposed to try this out?
I returned to my room, my face flushed and my head spinning.
I could only hear Madam Qi talking to Jiang Chen next door. I couldn't make out what she was saying through the door, but I guessed she was asking him about the masked man. Strangely enough, I'd encountered a masked man once, and he'd encountered one too. Although we were considered江湖人士 (jianghu figures), we'd always lived outside the martial world and rarely encountered anything strange. To encounter two masked men in a row was truly baffling.
After all that commotion in the middle of the night, I was really hungry, so I took my little purse to the kitchen and found some snacks to tide me over.
When I returned to the bedroom, Jiang Chen was actually sitting upright on the bed.
What are you doing in my room?
He leaned lazily against the headboard and said with a smile, "My mother said you should give it a try, so that you won't have any doubts in the future."
My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly declined his "kind offer": "No, there's no need to try."
He persisted: "Then you have to promise me one thing before I leave."
I had a bit of a headache: "What's wrong?"
“Starting tomorrow, you must practice the Chongshan Sword Technique. I will spar with you, and if you lose once, you must let me kiss you once.”
The first half of his sentence sounded normal to me; he had mentioned it once before when I met the masked man, asking me to practice the Mandarin Duck Sword Technique. But the second half made me both ashamed and angry: "I won't spar with you!" What kind of competition is this! I'm already worse than him in martial arts; if I agreed, the result would be obvious, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
"If you don't agree, I won't leave. I'm a grown man, and you've falsely accused me of being gay. Tonight, I'll make sure you clear my name." He leaned back, propping his head up with his hand on my blanket, looking at me with a half-smile, half-serious, half-mischievous.
When I saw his half-hearted, hesitant manner, my face flushed and my heart pounded. How could I clear your name? If I clear your name, would I still have a clear name?
Jiang Chen looked at me with a smile and said, "If you don't agree, I'm not leaving tonight!"
Although he smiled warmly, his tone was half blackmail and half threat. And yet, I dared not pull him up; otherwise, I would surely be walking right into his trap, offering myself to him...
I was at my wit's end, so I gritted my teeth and said, "Fine, let's have a sparring session. I'm not afraid of you!"
He sat up and laughed, "You promised me last time, but I haven't seen you practice. You'd better keep your word this time, or else..."
As he spoke, his gaze lingered on my lips, a sly smile playing on his lips.
My face flushed, and I was about to kick him out when Madam Qi came in from outside the room and said softly, "Chen'er, Xiao Mo is shy. It's alright if you suffer a little injustice. There's plenty of time in the future to prove whether he's gay or not."
These words make me surrender once again.
Lady Qi smiled gently at me and said, "Xiao Mo, go to sleep early. We'll go watch the dragon boat race tomorrow, and then come back with your uncle to discuss the wedding date."
My heart sank. So fast?
I saw Madam Qi and Jiang Chen out the door, and stood by the window for a long time, stunned. Was there really no hope for this marriage? Did I really want to spend my life with Jiang Chen?
The image of a person involuntarily surfaced in my mind. That night, he stood under the eaves, looking at me with a faint weariness, sighed softly, and turned away sadly.
That night, I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. When I finally drifted off, I dreamt of Yunzhou. He and I were looking at each other across the river. The river was shrouded in mist and rain, and I felt a light sorrow in my heart. He gazed at me silently, while I hesitated to speak.
This dream was completely silent, like a very clear and light landscape painting with large areas of blank space.
The next morning, I was woken up by noises from next door. Upon closer listening, I realized it was my cousin Shao Rong.
"Cousin, we can finally go out and have fun today! After watching the dragon boat race, you have to take me to other places to explore. Father is going back to Fuzhou the day after tomorrow, and you haven't properly shown him your hospitality yet!"
Jiang Chen said lazily, "Well, if Uncle agrees, I'll take you out."
I sighed and decided to ask Jiang Chen how many cousins he had when I had some free time, especially those who were still unmarried.
After breakfast, Madam Qi took Shao Hua and his sister, while Jiang Chen and I went out to watch the dragon boat race.
Naturally, Lady Qi arranged for me to ride in the same sedan chair as Jiang Chen. Once inside, I pressed myself against the side of the chair and looked out.
The streets were filled with vendors selling bamboo leaves and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). I remembered when I was little, my master would wrap eight-treasure zongzi for me and feed me from a small bowl. In my heart, he was like a father. Sometimes I really wanted to call him "father," but I was afraid of startling him, who was still unmarried, and even more afraid of damaging his reputation.
Jiang Chen leaned forward and asked, "Xiao Mo, what are you thinking about?"
"I miss my master."
"Oh, you miss him? Then I won't be jealous. Besides your master, who is the man you love the most?"
I truly admire Jiang Chen's unbridled and audacious nature. I've always thought that such cheesy love talk should be reserved for a dark and stormy night, after the lights are out and the tent is closed, when the two people are really pent up and can just hum a couple of times under the covers to relieve themselves. How could he possibly ask that in broad daylight, in front of everyone?
My face was burning hot. I coughed lightly and turned my head to look out of the sedan chair.
He raised his voice again: "Xiao Mo, besides your master, who is your favorite man?"
When I saw his persistent attitude, I figured that if I didn't name someone, he would jump out of the sedan chair, put his hands on his hips, and stand in the street to question me.
I quickly hummed in apology, "Someone."
Who is this person?
I continued with a hum: "Family."
"Family, sir?" His tone rose two notches, and I vaguely heard the sedan chair bearers chuckle twice.