Chapter 2: 2

Chapter 2 - Live-in Son-in-Law, Su Yi

“Look, you guys! That’s Su Yi!”

“A year ago, he was the ‘Sword Chief' of the Blueriver Sword Manor’s outer sect, a rising celebrity. But then, due to some unexpected misfortune, he lost his entire cultivation and became the Wen Family’s live-in son-in-law. What a pity!”

“What a pity about Wen Lingzhao! With that peerless elegance, she’s Guangling City’s uncontested number-one beauty! Yet she had to marry a waste like him. Argh!” 

….

Class had just ended. 

When those exiting Pinecloud Sword Manor saw Su Yi off in the distance, their expressions changed, regardless of whether they were male or female. The sound of conversation soon filled the air.

A hint of resignation flashed across Su Yi’s face, but at the same time, he found it a bit funny.

It had been a long time since he’d “enjoyed” such treatment.

He recalled his past life. Starting from antiquity and continuing to the modern day, countless distinguished figures strove and competed for power.

The Six Great Daoist Sects towered proudly, looking down on the mortal world.

The Three Great Demonic Sects brought about war and turmoil.

Buddhas and gods commanded the wind and clouds, raising the curtain on a new world and dyeing the landscape red with blood. 

Yet one man reigned supreme as the sole sovereign of the Wilds, and his sword kept the Nine Provinces at bay for one hundred and eight thousand years. Only he, Su Xuanjun, had accomplished such a feat!

Those known as “imperial experts” stood at the pinnacle of destiny, but no matter how lofty and proud they were, even they had to avert their gazes and call him “venerate.” 

Su Yi inwardly shook his head. If those old fogies from my past life saw this, I’m afraid they’d laugh so hard, their bellies would burst…

The current him was tall and thin with handsome features. He wore blue cloth robes, and stood with his hands behind his back, emanating an air of aloof, leisurely indifference. 

But they’re not entirely wrong, either. It’s true; right now, I am indeed rather pathetic… Su Yi retracted his gaze and sunk into silent contemplation.

His current body hailed from the Great Zhou’s Yujing City, “the Jade Capital”. He was a member of the Su Family, but he was just the snubbed son of a concubine. 

When he was five, his mother, Ye Yufei, left this mortal coil.

At fourteen, he entered Cloudriver Prefecture’s “Blueriver Sword Manor” to cultivate.

In just two short years, he rose to prominence in a single bound, becoming the number one disciple of the outer court, the “Outer Sect’s Sword Chief.” 

But then, a sudden incident robbed him of his entire cultivation.

Shortly after, under the Jade Capital’s Su Clan’s forceful arrangements, he became the live-in son-in-law of the Wen Family, one of Cloudriver Prefecture’s Guangling City’s Three Great Clans. 

But then, the past is the past, and the present is the present. It’d be obvious to anyone that I’m no longer my former self…. A peculiar emotion surged through Su Yi’s heart, and an obscure, indescribable light coursed through the depths of his eyes. 

Clang!

As if sensing Su Yi’s mood, the cold, clear hum of a sword resounded within his mind, then immediately fell silent. 

It was a mysterious immortal sword, its title, “Nine Hells”!

It had nine layers of “Divine Chains” shackling it.

A year ago, the night before Blueriver Sword Manor’s “Trial of the Sword”, just as Su Yi’s cultivation broke into the “Qi Accumulation” realm, the illusory figure of the Sword of the Nine Hells silently surfaced within his sea of consciousness. 

The price he paid for this was his entire lifetime of cultivation.

This was the true reason behind his sudden fall from grace.

In the year following his marriage into the Wen Family, Su Yi spent day and night sensing the Sword of the Nine Hells within his sea of consciousness in an attempt to unlock its secrets. 

Just three days ago, during another attempt to connect with the Sword of the Nine Hells, he surprisingly managed to release its first seal. 

In doing so, he simultaneously reawakened the memories of his past incarnation as “Su Xuanjun.”

He thought to himself, It’s as if I dreamed those seventeen years, and only now do I realize who I truly am. There are stories of men waking after dreams of grandeur; they must have felt much the same way!

His current self was only seventeen years old, in the prime of his youth, with all the will and spirit of a young man. He perfectly resembled the sun at the beginning of its ascent, full of hope.

Despite my current embarrassing predicament, with the methods and experience of my past life, changing all this will be no problem at all. 

Su Yi stood with his hands behind his back, and as his gaze shifted, he occasionally gave off a feeling that didn’t quite match his age, as if he’d experienced all the profundities and vicissitudes of life already. It was the kind of calm indifference left behind after experiencing all the ups and downs of worldly affairs. 

There’s no rush. I reincarnated because I wanted to break through the barriers I encountered in my past life’s cultivation and prove the supremacy of my sword.

Today, all is well in the world, and I am still young. Sooner or later, I’ll naturally return to the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, find those devil spawn, and settle the debts of my past life!

Scene after scene of his past life silently floated up into Su Yi’s mind. 

There was War Emperor Pi Mo, Empress Qing Tang, the Golden-Winged Great Peng, the Levitating Sword Hall, the Six Great Daoist Sects….

Hm? Su Yi suddenly seemed to sense something. He glanced over at the Pinecloud Sword Manor’s main gate.

Classes had only just ended, so young men and women streamed through the gates. The atmosphere was bustling, and the students emanated the characteristic air of youth. 

But it was then that the vibrant atmosphere sunk into utter silence.

The crowd gathered by the gates of the Pinecloud Sword Manor parted, clearing a path.

Beneath countless gazes, a young woman stepped through the gate.

She looked around fourteen or fifteen. Her lustrous black hair flowed behind her, and her movingly beautiful eyes shone with intelligence. Her skin was as snowy-white as cream. She was a full-on beauty-in-the-making. 

Her flowy blue dress was seemly and appropriate. Beneath the sunset, her delicate and well-proportioned figure glowed with hazy luster. 

It was as if she were an immortal descending to earth!

Many of the nearby youths were transfixed. 

Most of them were around fifteen years old, just the right age to be fascinated with the opposite sex, yet too young to have learned to conceal the longing and fire in their gazes. 

Some of the more easily embarrassed young men lowered their heads.

The girls’ expressions were different. Some were jealous or envious, while others were dejected. There was no shortage of beauties among them, but compared to the girl in the blue dress, they were obviously lacking. 

They were like fireflies before the light of the moon; they simply couldn’t compete.

Amidst the quiet, the girl in the blue dress’s gait was neither leisurely nor hurried. Her complexion was fair, and her features were exquisitely crafted. Her big eyes were clear, and her gaze was penetrating.

However, her expression was frigid, like an aloof iceberg standing apart from the rest of the world, so cold that others dared not approach her. 

Wen Lingxue.

It had only been a year since she entered the Pinecloud Sword Manor, but every last instructor already saw her as a stunning genius. She was well-known as an icy beauty.

Xie Jiuwei, the head of the Pinecloud Sword Manor, had once sighed that she was bright and pretty, as pure as the ice and snow. She was like the pearl of the Pinecloud Sword Manor.

But in Su Yi’s eyes, this girl who attracted attention wherever she went was Wen Lingzhao’s little sister.

As well as his… little sister-in-law.

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“She’s getting prettier and prettier.” A hint of a smile flashed across Su Yi’s face. 

In the year since his marriage into the Wen Family, practically everyone had disdained and made fun of him, ridiculing him in countless different ways. 

Only Wen Lingxue really treated him as her brother-in-law, and she even regularly argued on his behalf.

“Brother-in-law, what’s the occasion?” When she saw Su Yi in the distance, Wen Lingxue’s gemstone-like eyes lit up with delight and incomparable surprise.

In an instant, her powdery lips curved into a smile straight from the heart.

It was a smile like a sudden sunbeam. Her “iceberg” demeanor melted in an instant. 

Quite a few male students were visibly dazed, and their hearts pounded in their chests.

“So pretty….” Some people couldn’t help but mutter.

“She…. She actually smiled….” Others were entranced.

Someone sighed, “You might not believe me when I say this, but this is the first time I’ve seen Pinecloud Sword Manor’s number-one beauty smile all year!”

Many others chimed in their agreement. Wen Lingxue’s name contained the character for “snow”, and they thought it suited her. Despite her beautiful appearance, her temperament was icy and aloof. 

Despite studying under the same roof, practically none of them had seen her smile before!

One of the girl’s expressions was complicated. “Ugh. If I were as good looking as her, I wouldn’t have spent a year chasing Senior Apprentice Brother Xiao to no avail.” 

Even the girls had no choice but to admit that both in terms of appearance and temperament, Wen Lingxue put inexorable pressure on her female classmates. 

Within Pinecloud Sword Manor, none of the girls were willing to spend time with Wen Lingxue unless it was absolutely necessary. They’d only serve as a foil to further highlight Wen Lingxue’s shocking beauty. 

Facing these varying gazes, Wen Lingxue changed her prior unhurried gait and dashed right up to Su Yi!

The young men’s pupils constricted. They seemed to have a sudden realization. “Did she… Did Wen Lingxue just smile at that useless waste?”

It seemed they didn’t dare believe it. They looked at each other. 

As far as they knew, although Su Yi was Wen Lingxue’s brother-in-law, he was still just a live-in son-in-law!

With that low, awkward status, it wasn’t just the major characters of the Wen Family that looked down on him; even the servants dared make fun of him.

This was common knowledge in Guangling City, too.

Yet Wen Lingxue’s attitude towards Su Yi was incomparably affectionate, and she even let slip an uncharacteristic display of delight when she saw him.

Anyone with functional eyes could see that Wen Lingxue was happy!

Strange!

Something was strange about this!

At first, the young men dared not believe their eyes.

When he saw her bright, beautiful smile, Su Yi smiled back. “So, is this how you act when you’re in school?”

This was the first time he’d come to meet Wen Lingxue after class.

It was also his first time seeing that icy, aloof demeanor of hers. 

It was nothing like his impression of her. In the year following his marriage into the Wen Family, she’d been vibrant and bright, cute and playful. There was nothing remotely “icy” about her.

“If I don’t act cold here, who knows how many irritating guys will follow me around and pester me. It’s way too irritating!” Wen Lingxue pressed her lips into a smile. Her voice was crisp and sweet, like the bubbling of spring water. 

Su Yi instantly understood.

It was true. Even by the standards of his previous life, Wen Lingxue was a first-class little beauty. Once she grew up a bit more, she was sure to be even more stunning. 

With that level of good looks, she was destined to have no short of admirers.

Wen Lingxue’s gaze swept around her dazed classmates. She suddenly felt a little guilty, and she pursed her lips in vexation, muttering, “It’s all over! A moment’s joy and I ruined the cold image I spent a whole year building up! It’s all gone to waste….”

But then, she chortled and waved valiantly. “Forget it. Who cares what they think? It’s fine so long as I’m happy.”

She affectionately linked arms with Su Yi, her face nothing but smiles. “Let’s go home, Brother-in-law.”

“Alright.” Su Yi smiled back and nodded. Then, the two of them left together.

The gathered students watched their departure. The area around Pinecloud Sword Manor fell silent.

“Who can explain why on earth Lingxue is so affectionate to that waste?” spat a handsome youth through gnashed teeth.

Everyone looked at each other. They didn’t understand either. 

“He’s a live-in son-in-law, the laughingstock of Guangling City, and a waste who lost his entire cultivation. It’s bad enough that he married a beauty like Wen Lingzhao, but now he’s extending his poisonous reach towards her little sister? How detestable!” 

Many of the youths were indignant, and their hearts were full of bitter envy.

Even the girls struggled to understand it. They too thought it strange.

Wen Lingxue was so proud, cold, and beautiful. She wasn’t just shockingly beautiful, either. Even her cultivation was at the peak of the manor’s current generation of disciples. 

She……

How could she take a liking to someone like Su Yi?

Even if he was her brother-in-law, rumor had it that her sister, Wen Lingzhao, hated nothing more than her worthless husband! 

Meanwhile, on their way home, Wen Lingxue batted her bright eyes and asked curiously, “Brother-in-law, you’ve never liked leaving the house. Why did you come meet me at the gate today of all days?” 

The young woman was bright and pure. Her delicate, graceful figure was vibrant and full of youthfulness. 

“Your big sister’s come back,” said Su Yi. He spoke casually, but hints of inexplicable emotion rose within his heart.

Wen Lingxue’s beautiful eyes lit up with delight. “Big Sister, she…. She’s finally willing to come home?”

A year ago, on Wen Lingzhao and Su Yi’s wedding night, Wen Lingzhao had disappeared without warning and headed to the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital to cultivate at Blueriver Sword Manor.

Everyone thought that this was Wen Lingzhao’s way of expressing her displeasure and resentment over her marriage. 

Even Wen Lingxue knew that her big sister loathed and rejected this marriage arrangement and that she’d never accepted Su Yi as her husband. 

Yet now, one year later, Wen Lingzhao had returned!

Seth's Thoughts

Seth again! Feel free to skip this, as it’s not needed to understand the story, but here’s a quick cultural note for those curious…

The concept of a live-in son-in-law doesn’t really exist in the west. If you’re curious to know more, or if you’re struggling to understand why the supporting cast are so disdainful about it, here’s a brief overview:

I can’t speak to modern Chinese marriages, but in ancient China, daughters traditionally married into the husband’s family, essentially leaving their family of origin behind to join his. This often meant living in his ancestral home and taking care of her new in-laws, especially if her husband was an eldest son.

Husbands marrying into their wives families instead was not unheard of, but it was an inversion of gender roles, with all the stigma that often entails. Furthermore, since taking on a live-in son-in-law was most common of wealthy families with daughters but no sons, the perception was that such husbands were burdens or moochers, living off a woman instead of supporting their family the way a man should. Any children born under such an arrangement would take on their mother’s surname.

In colloquial Chinese, the character used to describe such men, “赘” has taken on the additional meaning of “burden” or pointless.” That’s arguably the more common use of the character now.

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