Chapter 197: The Past of Aunt Liu

Hongxiu Fang, Xiao Wu Xiaojing Wang Xuan.

"Auntie, you're here—did you pay homage to your sworn father today?"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu flicked her wrist lightly; her long sword transformed into a white rainbow, flashing across five or six zhang in an instant, and sank with a *clang* into the scabbard hanging beneath the grape trellis.

She herself descended like a waterborne immortal, feet untouched by dust, her skirts fluttering, strands of hair dancing, landing steadily beside Liu Liu Gugu.

"I'm not like you lot with your scattered minds," Liu Liu Gugu said. "Today you swear allegiance to one, tomorrow to another—how can that show sincerity?"

Well, she wasn't refusing to swear allegiance to a sworn father.

Liu Liu Gugu had not even been touched by the "Divine Mirror Craze."

She had sworn allegiance to Long Po in the most orthodox manner.

"Little Little Fengxian, you can't keep living in Hongxiu Fang forever!" she sighed.

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu wanted to sigh too.

Since swearing oaths by the Qingshui River, several days had passed, and she had lived in Xiao Wu Xiaojing Wang Xuan without once being granted the chance to take a sworn father.

Liu Liu Gugu flatly forbade her from appearing in the front courtyard.

"Auntie, I've eaten a few bowls of your rice, but I've also been diligently teaching Sister Ziying, Du Juan, and Xiao Mudan swordplay—how can you say you're losing out?"

Liu Liu Gugu looked at her face and said softly, "Even if you were utterly useless and lazy, just for saving my life (ps), I'd be willing to support you for life—but your status is different now.

Staying in Hongxiu Fang is no longer appropriate.

Before you swore oaths by the river with the Young Master, even if you had shown peerless talent, I repeatedly hinted, urging you to understand propriety, know your place—no matter how outstanding a woman from our Jiaosifang might be, there are always nobles above her.

Before those nobles, even the top courtesan is no different from a common prostitute serving the masses."

A bittersweet, melancholy memory surfaced on her face. "You might think I'm humiliating you, degrading myself—but everything I've said are truths I've learned through a lifetime of blood and tears.

You've met Lady Huo—she's a woman of fortune.

But let me tell you, thirty years ago in Hongxiu Fang, she was at best the 'Du Juan' among you, Sister Hong Qu, Sister Ziying, Du Juan, and Xiao Mudan.

She couldn't even be called 'Sister Ziying.'

As for me, I was probably even worse than 'Xiao Mudan.'

Above me and Lady Huo stood 'Heavens Yu Little Fengxian,' 'Sister Hong Qu,' and 'Sister Ziying'—women of peerless beauty and celestial grace, not much inferior to you, but certainly no less gifted than Sister Hong Qu.

Hongxiu Fang is a Jiaosifang.

In Shu's court intrigues and external wars, the wives and daughters of the defeated either entered Jiaosifang or were reduced to slavery.

Hongxiu Fang remains the leader of the Qin pavilions and brothels in Tianmen Town; when other houses produced exceptional daughters, Hongxiu Fang could pick them at will.

In short, don't think you and Sister Hong Qu are exceptions here.

Hongxiu Fang follows the saying: 'Each generation produces its own talents, each stronger than the last.'"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu's lips twitched; she wanted to retort.

But Liu Liu Gugu's tone was heavy now, and she held her tongue.

"Did they all die young?"

Liu Liu Gugu shook her head gently. "Dying young counts as a 'good death'—at least they had coffins and a lonely patch of grave soil.

Actually, when I was young, my relationship with Lady Huo wasn't good at all.

The girl I was closest to was named Qingling.

Qingling was like you; I was like Sister Ziying.

Your generation is named after flowers; ours took names from boudoir ornaments and writing tools—I was 'Liu Ruyi,' Lady Huo was 'Xinmo.'

Qingling was the daughter of a Feng Xian. Her father was the 'General of Annan' for Shu.

Due to some matters I don't fully understand, the General of Annan betrayed the former monarch, causing nearly nineteen southern commanderies of Shu to fall—but he was ultimately crushed and executed by the then-Crown Prince, now the Qinghe Commandery Prince.

Along with Qingling, seven or eight southern tribal princesses entered Jiaosifang.

They were far more authentic than your 'Sand Dune Princess,' yet they were clumsy and dim-witted, reduced to second-class maids.

You know that old woman Sun who you saw in Yangfeng Jia Dao? Yes, she was one of them!"

Liu Liu Gugu chuckled darkly, then quickly suppressed her smile and sighed, "Qingling also had innate divine talent; at thirteen, she entered the True Yuan realm and mastered two levels of killing intent.

Her pride was like the bright moon in the sky—radiant but not blinding. She—ah, never mind. You've left Hongxiu Fang; these dark memories should stay buried, rotting slowly in the shadows."

She shook her head, her gaze complex as she looked at Seeing Xiao Yu Yu, speaking gently: "I tell you this to say that to live well, one must find their proper place, recognize their identity.

If you were still in Jiaosifang, I'd urge you to be obedient, to avoid repeating the fate of my old friends.

Now that you're a Da Qin Qin Shangzao, I still urge you to be obedient—to do what your status demands."

"What do you think I should do?" Seeing Xiao Yu Yu asked.

Liu Liu Gugu said, "Return to Huxiao Shanzhuang, stay quietly for two or three years. When the heat dies down, as you grow older and your features mature, move back to the city, rent a small courtyard, change your name, and enroll as a female student at the newly opened 'Heichi Confucian Academy' for a few years.

At eighteen or nineteen, once your literary skills are refined, join the poetry gatherings organized by noble ladies.

Then no one will mention 'Hongxiu Fang' in your presence.

With your talent and gifts, they'll truly accept you as one of their own.

When the ten-year period ends, with your full store of poetry, refined bearing, and martial arts capable of slaying immortals, even in Da Qin, you can find a good family.

Only then will your life be truly complete and perfect."

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu smiled and asked, "What if I stay in Hongxiu Fang?"

Liu Liu Gugu said immediately, "Then your 'Da Qin Qin Shangzao' label will quickly lose its luster, and the title 'Hongxiu Fang's Heavens Yu Little Fengxian'—this identity—will cling to you for life."

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu sighed. "I seek the Dao!"

Liu Liu Gugu nodded. "I understand. Precisely because your devotion to the Dao is firm, Li's family believes you won't return to Sand Dune to join the dynastic struggle.

But you must face reality.

Even Li's family has severed ties with you—how much more so the immortals, who fear complications and karmic debts? Will they accept you as a disciple and shoulder all your accumulated sins?"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu blinked. "Did the Young Master tell you this?"

Liu Liu Gugu sneered. "You may look down on me, but don't look down on the title 'Great Auntie of Hongxiu Fang.'

If I wanted to compete, my chances of gaining immortal favor and taking a celestial master would be higher than yours."

"Is the immortal favor connected to Tianmen Society?" Seeing Xiao Yu Yu asked.

Now it was Liu Liu Gugu's turn to be startled. "What have you heard?"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu said, "Before you mentioned immortal favor, I hadn't paid much attention to Tianmen Society.

But you get one Yiqi Pill every month worth a hundred taels of gold—and you speak of immortal favor."

Liu Liu Gugu hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, the immortal favor is tied to Tianmen Society. Otherwise, why would dozens of potential Feng Xian candidates fight desperately for the position of leader?

Each Tianmen Society leader gains the chance to train under an immortal for ten years.

Not a Feng Xian—true immortals from Wanshou Mountain!

I don't know if any past Tianmen Society leaders became immortals.

But several did go to Wanshou Mountain—and never returned."

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu narrowed her eyes. "You never told me this before.

You were injured, furious at certain commanders, eager for me to kill them—but when you regained your composure, you hurriedly told me to stay away from Tianmen Society.

Was it all because you feared I'd steal your leadership position?"

Liu Liu Gugu's face flushed; she turned her head slightly, fingers unconsciously twisting her sleeve.

"I said—I have no interest in the leadership position," she stammered.

"Then is it for Lei General Guan Tianyang? Who is he to you?" Seeing Xiao Yu Yu stared at her face.

Liu Liu Gugu shook her head fiercely. "He's the Young Master. Old Master Lei Zhen once saved me—I can't forget that debt."

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu gave a strange look. "That short-lived bastard—could he be your son?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Liu Liu Gugu first denied urgently, then exploded in anger: "How dare you insult someone? Curse someone's life? The Young Master never wronged you!"

"Ah, your guard's down—just one trick and you gave it away," Seeing Xiao Yu Yu rolled her eyes.

Actually, no trick was needed.

The moment she saw Lei General Guan Tianyang on the pleasure boat, she was certain he was Liu Liu Gugu's child.

Because their "vital energy" was linked.

That day, she silently activated the Xin Hai Gao Jue, opened her "Spiritual Eye of the Heart," and while vigilantly scanning for Chi Jiu Luo, she also swept the scene for everyone's "disease qi."

Her medical cultivation was no match for Min Min Shenyi's, but she didn't need pulse-taking—she simply looked with her heart.

Liu Liu Gugu froze, then grew even angrier. "You tricked me! Little Little Fengxian, you have no conscience!"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu snapped back. "How dare you play the victim? I saved your life, yet you deliberately hid the Tianmen Society's immortal favor—and now you say I have no conscience?"

Liu Liu Gugu spoke with righteous indignation. "I have no obligation to explain to you. Even within Tianmen Society, not all commanders know the secret of the immortal favor.

And you? You're merely a 'daughter.'

You're still years away from becoming a 'girl,' a 'red Pai,' a 'famous courtesan!'"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu was startled. "Even Jin Jin Lian has the right to know?"

Liu Liu Gugu shook her head. "Jin Jin Lian must first reach the pinnacle of True Yuan realm, then inherit my position.

Only after another ten years will she be eligible to learn Tianmen Society's core secrets."

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu sighed. "You're a pitiful mother.

You've poured so much into Lei General Guan Tianyang—and he doesn't even know you're his mother."

Liu Liu Gugu was stunned. "How did you know that?"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu said, "The way you look at him—even a fleeting glance—your eyes hold tenderness.

He looks at you—even when smiling face-to-face, voice gentle—his eyes hide contempt and faint hatred."

Liu Liu Gugu fell into a daze, murmuring: "He believes I, a whore, stole his father's soul, made him neglect his wife—and that's why his mother died of sorrow."

It doesn't matter—he's ultimately a filial good child, though not filial to me. In truth, Lady Lei treats him well, and it's only right he honors her.

Few know the truth of Lei General Guan Tianyang's origins.

But Lei Zhen's relationship with Liu San—back then, Lei Zhen openly visited Hongxiu Fang to take her, with no attempt to hide it.

Liu San's pregnancy was purely accidental.

At the time, Lei Zhen felt little for her—nothing more than a client and a courtesan. He never considered marrying her again, nor even taking her as a concubine; had she not become pregnant, taking her as a concubine would've merely added another romantic anecdote. But now that she was pregnant, granting her status was impossible.

He could give her the Hunyuan Hunyuan Wuliang Scripture, wealth, and power—but never status.

Because he was nearly sixty, and had only this one child.

The mother of the Lei family heir could not be linked in the slightest to a courtesan.

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu mused, "Have you noticed? Your son looks just like you."

"Really? Where?" Aunt Liu's lips curled upward, a genuine smile lighting her face.

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu said, "He's just like you—both of you are abysmally terrible at both immortal and martial talent."

Aunt Liu was about to fly into a rage, then suddenly paused, sneering, "So giving him the immortal opportunity is useless. Why not let you become the Tianmen Society's leader? Go to Wanshou Mountain and study under the immortals for ten years?"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu replied calmly, "Exactly! In ten years, if he learns ten immortal arts, I could learn a thousand, ten thousand."

I swear again by water: when I become an immortal and descend the mountain after ten years, I will take your son as my disciple and impart all I've learned.

Then he will have the chance to master a thousand, ten thousand immortal arts."

Aunt Liu shook her head. "Stop dreaming. You no longer belong to Hongxiu Fang, Great Qin Qin Shangzao!"

"What if I join Busi Gui—or another hall?" Seeing Xiao Yu Yu asked.

Aunt Liu sneered, "You've already forgotten what I said: only a Helmsman may know the secret of the Tianmen Society's leader, and only a Helmsman may compete for the position."

"What if they admit their own inadequacy and willingly step down in your favor?" Seeing Xiao Yu Yu asked.

Aunt Liu continued sneering. "If you can think this way, why have none of the other immortals in Tianmen Town, who crave immortal fortune, ever done the same?"

"Why?"

Aunt Liu replied with a question: "Why do you think the immortals on Wanshou Mountain grant the Tianmen Society's leader a chance—not once, but every generation?"

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu said, "Could it be that the immortal once belonged to the Tianmen Society, and was once its leader?"

Aunt Liu shook her head. "I don't know. But I know the rule—the opportunity is given only to true members of the Tianmen Society."

You once qualified."

Had you replaced me, subdued the other Helmsmen, you might have claimed that immortal fortune."

But now you've left Hongxiu Fang."

She paused, then added bitterly, "Now you're a Great Qin Qin Shangzao. The Tianmen Society's opportunity exists to give those of the 'lowest nine classes' a sliver of a chance to ascend."

Why should a phoenix on the phoenix tree fight a stray dog for a dead rat in the gutter?"

"Enough. Don't play the victim. I'm not taking your son's chance."

Seeing Xiao Yu Yu waved her hand, speaking clearly, "I might return to Huxiao Shanzhuang for a while—but I will never follow the 'lady's path' you've laid out for me."

Even if the immortal path is steep and treacherous, I will walk it without wavering."

The immortals fear karmic ties and refuse to grant me fortune—I will create my own martial arts and cultivate to immortality myself!"

I stayed in Hongxiu Fang because it's familiar, comfortable—and because I hoped to once again follow Jin Jin Lian as we visited great martial heroes."

How can I create immortal martial arts without observing the martial styles of ten thousand families?"

"You truly aren't ordinary," Aunt Liu said, her tone complex with awe, then mused, "You won't be getting Jin Jin Lian, though—she hasn't left Yihong Academy in the past two months."

And your current status makes it inappropriate for you to serve her as a maid."

The banquets she attends are far too low-class."

If you're willing, you could go to Hou'er Alley."

"Shao Yao of Tianbao House in Hou'er Alley?" Seeing Xiao Yu Yu mused.

Aunt Liu said, "On the pleasure boat, Shao Yao said she wanted to learn swordplay from you."

But after you became Great Qin Qin Shangzao, she was too ashamed to mention teaching swordplay again."

Yet since you yourself don't care about the dignity of 'Great Qin Qin Shangzao' and still wish to mingle with our 'lowest nine classes,' Tianbao House is a perfect place."

There, she will treat you as an honored guest."

You may choose which of her banquets to attend."

Any martial hero she meets will be a true hero."

(PS: I designed Aunt Liu never to say things like, "You saved me, I owe you gratitude.")

Those who constantly speak such words rarely truly value a life saved."

What's easily spoken rarely takes root in the heart—unless in dire need—like Duan Duan Yuhan, who once said Seeing Xiao Yu Yu had helped his father and son—only when parting, when Seeing Xiao Yu Yu herself brought up the debt, and he felt compelled to deny it."

Aunt Liu, without doubt, has her own interests."

She's a veteran madam."

Aside from Lei General Guan Tianyang, her cunning and experience have no weakness."

If such a person were to open her heart completely to Seeing Xiao Yu Yu, it would be unnatural."

Aunt Liu has self-interest—but she's not evil."

I explain this because some readers complain: Seeing Xiao Yu Yu saved Aunt Liu, yet Aunt Liu gives no return, only shouts at Seeing Xiao Yu Yu."

I mean, I never intended to portray Aunt Liu as ungrateful."

Nor did I intend to make her a saintly good person."

A saintly good person could never be the boss of Qingshui Bay or the Great Aunt of Jiaosifang."

She's a 'madam' with outstanding business sense—cold and heartless when necessary (in her line of work), yet not utterly monstrous—a 'normal madam.'"

Also, one more thing: don't say the oath-brother ceremony in these two chapters has no plot significance."

After just having gambled with the Heavenly Emperor over fate, no gods or buddhas would pay attention to Seeing Xiao Yu Yu. But she submitted her oath-brother petition. If she ever meets that person again—even as an enemy—what do you think the enemy would use to humiliate her?"

Today's oath-brother petition—