Taoist Master

One Reason

It took some time for the party to finish and having organized the special event for her, Bai Qians mortal friends gave no care to the man in the back room despite the lack of smiles from the birthday girl who looked as if she might cry at any given moment.  But they had spent a lot of gold on her special day, so they forced her to endure the fun and laughter and the enormous quantities of dishes they had all slaved over for her.

She was grateful of course and she did her very best to remain calm and smile as often as she could while also forcing herself to join the many conversations while also wondering what Mo Yuan was doing there and what exactly he would say to her seeing as her pregnancy was well under way.

Over the past two years, she had thrown herself into many of the charity works that the town ran.  From books in schools to assisting with food parcels for the poor and it was because of her generosity and kindness, that saw many of the towns women flock to her.  She might be a sole women without a husband, but to their minds, she was not only very wealthy, but she was also a good woman.  One with high morals and ethics.  

So the day she found out she was pregnant after a long spell of morning sickness, then her friends were well entrenched in her life.  Because of her good deeds within the community, she had gained their respect and compassion and her birthday party was the proof of it.  Usually a woman who gave birth outside of marriage would be shunned and shamed while the men would treat her as a whore, someone to take their pleasure because that is what breeding outside of marriage meant.

Only her women friends stuck by her, protected her and kept her safe from the roving eyes of every man within hands reach including Mo Yuan.  She really couldn't complain, because she had found lasting friendships with honest women of good standing, so after an hour, she allowed herself to enjoy their company even though Mo Yuans presence remained a constant reminder of what she had left behind.

It was a good four hours before she finally began to wrap the party up and shoo her friends home.  A lot of wine had been drunk, so it took some time, yet Mo Yuan remained in the back room silently pondering on what had gone so wrong between them.   That she would avoid him for two years and pregnant on top of it, said he had not only created a near impossible situation to fix, but she had moved on without giving him a chance to explain or to make things right.

So by the time her guests heavy footsteps slowly begin the thin out and the last of the stragglers were being ushered out the door, then he straightened his back and lifted his head high as her light footsteps approached the room he was in.

Barely making it through the door, she came to a halt at the way he was staring straight back at her.  His entire demeanor was closed and unapproachable.  His eyes were steely cold and his stance rigid and unforgiving.  Yet in his hands was one of the babys toys which he had been blankly staring at, so with her eyes only on that toy and the way he was gently holding onto it, she took three steps towards him before coming to a halt again.

"Why are you here?" she asked looking pale and tired.

"Who's child is it?" his soft voice remained calm even though she could definitely feel the rage in the room.

She honestly didn't know what he would say to her or how the lines of communication would open, but that question was definitely not what she was expecting, so she merely stood gaping at him as if he had asked a sick question.   The look on his face spoke volumes.  There was the anger of course, but in those cold eyes was an accusation so vile that she wanted to slap him.  The jealousy too was hideous to look at only moment she opened her mouth to speak then Mo Yuan was on his feet and storming towards her.

"Who's child is it?" he suddenly barked right into her face.

Recoiling at the violence of his temper which she had never seen so volatile before, she once again found herself in tears and this time her hand did come up to slap him.  It was a reaction to the violence of his anger and she hadn't meant for this to be their reunion, but the question only made her feel like that whore in the mortal world that the rest of the world shunned.