Third Sun

Chapter 3

"Pay up! I won the bet."

"What bet? Oh, that bet. Hah. You didn't win shit. The announcement was new, and the agreement we have is by the end of last year."

"Tsk. I didn't know you remember. I was right though."

"It's just a matter of when, anyway. Or maybe it's because of those rumors too. You know, from before. When they said Chifeng-zun brought home his bastards."

"His bastards?" A scoff. "Sounds like bull. I did hear he took home a couple of people and one of them a kid. I doubt it's his though. I mean, Sect Leader Nie looks older for his age but he's young."

"Right?" Another voice piped in. "It's just naysaying anyway. And you know him. I don't think he's the type to sire a kid and not take responsibility."

"But there's a woman that came with the kid, didn't you hear? Aiya, they even say she's a courtesan. I doubt Sect Leader Nie will marry a woman like that and ruin his reputation." Someone shook their head. "It happens to men of his standing more often than you think."

"Shush, you. My uncle knows this older woman whose nephew's neighbor's friend works as a kitchen helper. He says Chifeng-zun saved this woman and her son and the boy along the way and took them to his sect because they have nowhere else to go. Don't believe those nasty rumors. Sect Leader Nie is an honorable man!"

"Come, now. You make it seem like he can't commit any mistake. It happens! At least he has the sense to take responsibility. It's more than what you can say to most men."

"Hmm, I don't know about that. I kinda agree with her there, and say you're right that he can't marry the woman, he'll at least recognize the boy as his son officially, which he never did. Besides, if Chifeng-zun is marrying a man now, isn't it odd then that he got it on with a woman?"

"You haven't met someone who goes both ways before?" A snort. "Amateur."

"Shut up. Just tryna make sense of it all. It's a good bit of news though that he's finally marrying. It'll be another big gathering. I should stock up for the couple of months before the wedding."

"Ah, you're right. I'll have my father arrange larger hauls. Gods, I hope this means the market will expand. They say Qishan has wealthier customers."

"Idiot. If that happens, the competition will just get worse. Pray for another huge event in the next few years instead. For their first child, maybe."

"How will that even work? They could adopt, I suppose, but that's not exactly continuing the bloodline, isn't it?"

"How the heck will I know? They're cultivators with their ways and magic and stuff. Making a child is probably not as difficult as convincing the Chief Cultivator to hand over his own son."

Another nodded solemnly in agreement. "You'd think he'd rather castrate Chifeng-zun than allow him to marry his son. Pretty sure that's what would've happened back then. Remember? When they showed up at the gates?"

"Oh, yeah. That. They said we better expect them to duke it out. False alarm, thankfully."

"That's one reason to hope for a prosperous union, alright. There will be peace for as long as those two are together, but once something happened..."

"I won't worry about that if I were you," said a new voice. "It's no question how besotted Chifeng-zun is with the Chief Cultivator's son. They said that even after Wen Ruohan came unannounced, they continued meeting in secret outside Qinghe. Chifeng-zun probably had enough of hiding and just wanted to get it over with, Wen Ruohan be damned."