Chapter 119: A Family Solution
Paike and Taka turned to face their foes, shoulder to shoulder as they had done so many times before. Only it felt different.
It wasn't just that Taka didn't hold the same trust, but also that there wasn't the assurance that they would win no matter what. Part of that was that Paike couldn't even picture what winning would be.
Leaving Sheng Yue to die out here in the mountains felt bad. Their sect would probably find a better place, but they wouldn't be trying to give their young and promising members a future if things were good. But at the same time, he wasn't going to just marry the first beauty who seemed interested in him when it wasn't even in his family's interests. Sure, Father had said... but that wasn't the same thing.
The four stopped in front of the twins. Sheng Yue's countenance was firm, but the others seemed to have trouble meeting their eyes. Sheng Bai kept flicking glances at Taka, but couldn't seem to hold his gaze.
"We clearly approached this wrong," Sheng Yue spoke for all of them with a slight bow. It was odd to hear anyone admit fault like that, but Paike thought he could understand it. Their position was bad. As Taka had said, there was no trap, as the two of them had feared. The girls were clumsy in seduction, and when the young men hadn't folded, they didn't have the practice to sway them with pure guile. So they were changing tactics.
"How so?" Taka didn't seem to agree with Paike's evaluation as he asked a challenging question. This was why Paike listened to his brother in situations like this. He was far better at seeing through people's motivations.
It wasn't unreasonable to ask someone to explain a vague statement they made. Especially if it was an apology. Some might become offended or think they were being mocked. But those were the ones who didn't really mean it. They were just trying to smooth things over. Father's philosophy was that if you wanted to keep the business relationship going, just ignore them and pretend they apologized, but know they never meant it.
If the apology is important to the future of the relationship, you need to know what they are actually apologizing for. The tone of voice you use when asking for clarification is extremely important for that, too. Taka was more confrontational than Paike would have been, but that had benefits too.
Sheng Yue took a deep breath, gathering herself for a hard truth. "First, we didn't know enough about you or your family. Despite our sect holding the Kongs in such high regard, we were apparently still ignorant. That alone was enough of a problem. But we also underestimated your..." She seemed to search for a word and couldn't find it, so she tried to explain it differently. "I think the courts of the empire might have a different standard for social maneuvering. I'm afraid we might be becoming more barbarians than we would like to admit."
The last sentence seemed hard for her to get out. But at the same time, Paike felt he had never received such a thorough and heartfelt apology before, and it was for something that was honestly very small and didn't even require one for them to be on neutral or even good terms for him to move on and not seek satisfaction. Even if he was looking for a duel. Heavens, he really wanted to test out his new cultivation, and this was getting in the way. Didn't any of them have jealous suitors that he could fight? That would be worth a story.