seul’s Reviews > To Sway A Soul > Status Update

When the boy felt compelled to return to his family, the girl followed him back, because he had followed her.

It was there, surrounded by bustling streets and swaying bamboo stalks, they married and lived happily for many years.

It was a perfectly fine thing to be, because he
had a girl to protect him. In her steady companionship he found safety, and in his she found the same. Some days he wished his sister were there to experience such happiness with him, but she lived on in his heart, and though a part of him knew it may never be enough, he found comfort in her memory nonetheless.

Zhi Lan pushed his shoulder. "Don't be so forward." But she couldn't help but plant another kiss on his lips.

Zhi Lan's heart stuttered. She had vowed once to never marry a man for money's sake, and yet here was a man with money asking to marry her, and she was not unwilling to be with him.

Had her principles changed? No. Only her circumstances.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "I won't tell you no. But I would like to go home and paint first."

"Whatever you wish for, wife."

"Who has ever heard of a magistrate's grandson marrying a farmer's daughter? I'll be your concubine at best and I'd rather avoid that title" Zhi Lan finally said. It was her one last objection, though a weak one at that. He already had her.

"I don't think my father objects. And... I prefer you as my wife."

When Zhi Lan had stepped through the gates, she expected this to be their last meeting. After this confession, however, she no longer had the heart to leave him—perhaps she never did.

He was certainly in better spirits now. Zhi Lan realized she wanted to know this lighter version of him. Even if the version shed known had been tortured, contrary, and soulless, Zhi Lan knew that at his core, Shao Qing was truthful and honorable. He had stuck by her when he didn't have to. He was capable of compassion, with and without his soul.

She raised a hand to her mouth. She would let him kiss the rouge off her lips. Because curse him, she had painted it on for his sake.

"Scoundrel" Zhi Lan said without heat.

Shao Qing smiled.

His lips met hers. She leaned into him, seemingly on instinct, unable to hold back a sigh when he deepened the kiss. It was more restrained than their first, but she felt this more acutely. When Shao Qing withdrew, his eyes were full of promises that made Zhi Lan blush.

"Stay and I can show you." Shao Qing leaned close. Zhi Lan's breath caught when she saw the depth of feeling in his eyes. Carefully, he lifted her chin. She knew what was to come next.