The Last Hope

26. Confrontations

"What are you doing?" In surprise, Liu watched as Xiang closed the door after Liu entered the room.
"Are you going to go out today?" Xiang asked inquiringly, without answering her question.
Liu shook her head. "No."
"Good."
Liu raised an eyebrow in wonder as Xiang pulled a chair and leaned it against the door. "Are you okay?" she asked, worried. "We have a key for the room."
"You never know," Xiang said and locked the door. Then he hobbled to the window and closed the shutters. Liu began to worry about his behavior. "Why are you closing the window? It's not cold."
Xiang tensed his shoulders so tightly that they began to tremble. Then he glared at her. "I'm just barricading us so nobody breaks in!"
"Who's going to break into our house? Nothing has happened all weeks. Why did you come up with such a thought right now?"
He turned to her harshly. "Who all came to the dump today, huh?"
Liu's eyes widened. Did Xiang really think, Shen would storm their room? She had hoped he would keep quiet until... But then another thought struck her. She looked at the egg, which was still lying on the blankets. "You think he..." She didn't want to say it. "I can't imagine that."
"I don't care what you imagine!" Xiang slapped the shutters with his feathered hand. "The windows will remain closed today!"
Liu let out a deep sigh. "As you wish."
"I know you may not like it..."
"It's okay, I get it," Liu relented. "But please calm down."
Xiang snorted. "How can I calm down now that he's near me again?!"
Liu looked at him for peace. "Even if it were, Yin-Yu certainly wouldn't approve. She would never consider killing a baby."
Xiang's expression darkened. "You forget that my ex-wife hates me."
Liu shook his head wistfully. "But only because she couldn't love you. She was already in love with another man before you were married. But she doesn't hate you... At most, she's very hurt because you didn't treat her well back then."
Xiang's feather comb began to tremble, but he controlled himself to deviate from the subject. "Whatever! But that doesn't change the fact."
"What fact?" Liu asked, even though she already knew what his answer would be.
"Same principle," he replied bitterly. "You kill my children, I kill yours."
Liu said nothing. Although she didn't believe Shen would do something like that, she didn't want to talk Xiang into it any longer. He wouldn't want to admit he was wrong anyway. The blue peacock narrowed his eyes and looked at Liu in punishment. At least she didn't argue, but went to the bathroom. "I'm getting ready for bed," she said calmly. "If you want me to put something on you to relax, let me know." With that, she left the room. On the one hand, she was disappointed by Xiang's distrust, but on the other hand, she was somehow relieved. Was he worried about the baby after all?
Xiang, meanwhile, stayed behind in the bedroom, putting on a scowl, his finger feathers digging into the wall where he was leaning on.

Just a few houses away, someone was also staring darkly ahead. Shen stood silently in the guest room, which was on the second floor, and looked out of the window with a stern expression. He listened up when he heard someone walking down the corridor towards him. When the person stood in the doorway, he didn't turn around, he just asked: "Did you know about this?"
Yin-Yu looked down. "Shen, they were just together, he never mentioned anything like that to me." Slowly, she walked towards him. "Zedong must have misunderstood something. He's still a child and doesn't know when it's really time to take this step."
She stretched out her wing to him. But before she could touch him, he grabbed her and held her in an iron grip. "I know, he wants to get married someday," Shen said with a pressed voice. "But not with anyone who has a connection to him." He narrowed his eyes before letting her go. "Who knows if she's even worth it."
"Just to be clear, she's a very nice girl," he suddenly heard Sheng's voice behind him.
Shen turned. His older son stood in the doorway and looked at him, partly hurt, partly forgiving. "We know each other for a few days," Sheng continued. "We haven't even talked about marriage yet."
Shen folded his wings. "Then why are you still with her?"
Sheng stamped his foot. "Why does everyone think I'm marrying her?! Can't I be with a girl like everyone else?!"
Shen looked down sternly. "Anyone, I don't care - but not with her."
The beak of the piebald peacock remained open for a short time. "Are you going to forbid me to do that now?"
Shen struggled with himself to answer and instead said, "You get married faster than you think. Especially when you're wealthy like you."
"Are you trying to accuse her of...?" Sheng didn't say it out loud, but he probably didn't even want to think it.
Fearing that things might escalate, Yin-Yu gently pushed Sheng aside. "Better we talk more about it tomorrow. Your father is just tired."
"Yin-Yu!" This time, Shen couldn't control his anger. Yin-Yu noticed this and quickly, she pushed Sheng out of the room. He ran loudly down the stairs to the outside.
"Why are you interfering?!" Shen scolded.
Yin-Yu took a deep breath. "Shen, I know what's on your mind..."
"You don't know anything!" he yelled. "Or do you think I'll just watch this fat panda marry into my family?"
Yin-Yu calmly raised her wings. "Shen, first of all, he's not marrying any of our children. He would only have an indirect family connection with us."
"That alone is bad enough!" Shen growled.
"But darling, it's not even sure if they're getting married. The two are just getting to know each other. Maybe nothing will come of it."
Shen let out a loud snort. "And how fast did that happen with us?"
"Shen, these two aren't living in exile like we were back then. It was quick for us, that's true. But did we have a better alternative then? We only had each other, and no one else wanted us in the outside world."
Shen avoided her gaze. "Do you regret it now?"
She searched for his eye contact. "And what about you? Don't we think the same? If so, then you know what I would say."
He sighed and stroked her cheek. But then he pulled his wing back again, but she held him tight.
"Come now," she said. "It's already late. Don't think about that today. Better focus on how you can help your brother first."
Shen made a face. "How am I supposed to help him? He doesn't even want me around."
She snuggled up to him. "All the more reason to sleep on it. The world will always look a little different tomorrow."
Shen conceded defeat. "Okay." Nevertheless, the topic from earlier was still not off the table for him.