Inside the grand ancestral hall of the Wang Manor, Wang Changming knelt alone facing the ancestor spirit tablets. He hadn't left the hall since being brought back. In the evening, Wang Bo walked in with a plate of food and placed it in front of him.
Wang Bo apologized. "Gongzi, I'm sorry. I tried giving the chief the wrong direction to where you were."
Wang Changming shook his head sadly. "It's not your fault."
"What does Chief want?"
"He wants to send me away to Tibet," Wang Changming replied.
"Gongzi, do you want to go?"
Wang Changming's voice cracked. "Lao Bo, is it wrong to love someone of the same gender?"
"Gongzi, are you talking about Mu gongzi?"
Wang Changming nodded, biting his lip. "I love him. He promised to be my lifelong companion."
Wang Bo offered comfort. "It's not wrong. When I was your age, I was very serious about love."
"I don't want to go to Tibet."
"Where do gongzi want to go?"
Wang Changming wiped his tears, his resolve hardening. "I want to go with Jiao Long to a place far away from here."
Wang Bo decided. "Eat something to replenish your physical strength. I'll go find a way. I'll bring Mu gongzi here to see you."
Wang Changming's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you for real?"
Wang Bo smiled reassuringly. "Have I lied to you?"
Wang Changming shook his head. "No."
Wang Bo patted his head gently. "Wait for the good news."
The door opened, and a guard walked in. He shouted at Wang Bo, "Lao Wang, time to leave."
Wang Bo slowly got up. "I know... I know... don't rush these old bones." He walked out slowly, and the guard closed the door behind him.
The guard looked at Wang Bo. "You have no more business here. Leave at once."
Wang Bo slowly walked out of the ancestral hall. As he walked through the corridor, someone grabbed his neck. He heard a voice whisper to him to be quiet, or he would be killed.
Wang Bo whispered, "Mu gongzi?"
Mu Jiao Long loosened his grip. "Lao Wang..." He grabbed Wang Bo's hands desperately. "Lao Wang, Changming? Where is Changming?"
Wang Bo cautioned him. "Mu gongzi, do you know that breaking into the Wang household, the penalty is death if you get caught?"
Mu Jiao Long was undeterred. "I don't care. I want to see Changming. I came to take him with me. I am his husband, and he should be with me."
Wang Bo told him softly, "Chief Wang punished gongzi to kneel in front of the ancestral monument in Wang's ancestral hall."
Mu Jiao Long ordered, "Take me to him."
Wang Bo looked around at the empty servant's room they were in. He grabbed some clothes and threw them to Mu Jiao Long. "Put it on." He grabbed a blanket and pillow, waiting for Mu Jiao Long to change. He handed the bedding to him. "Hold these and make sure not to look up."
Wang Bo carried a small lantern and led Mu Jiao Long back to the ancestral hall. As they approached the door, two guards stopped them. A guard said, "Lao Wang, we told you that no one can enter without the permission of the Chief."
Wang Bo played his part perfectly, feigning righteous anger. "How dare you! You are just guards! Inside that room is the gongzi! It is cold tonight. What if gongzi becomes sick? Are you two willing to be responsible? You know that Chief loves gongzi a lot... aren't you two afraid that one day when gongzi becomes the Chief of the Wang household, you two might not have a place to stand inside this household?"
The two guards exchanged glances, intimidated by the thought of Wang Changming's future power. One guard relented. "You go in, but you'd better get out when the count reaches two hundred." The guard opened the door, then closed it from behind.
Mu Jiao Long quickly made his way to Wang Changming. He looked down at Wang Changming's defeated face, his eyes full of love. He smiled and teased. "My xiao xingan, are you praying for your lao gong to magically appear in front of you?"
Wang Changming looked up and saw Mu Jiao Long smiling down at him. He shot up and hugged Mu Jiao Long tightly. Tears flowed as he whispered, "I thought I would never see you again! My father wants to send me back to Tibet!"
Mu Jiao Long held him close. "No one can take you away from me. I will not allow anyone to take my xiao xingan away from me."
Wang Bo had quickly made the kneeling spot look like a bed. He stood up and handed his old black robe to Wang Changming. "Gongzi, take off your robe and leave here with Mu gongzi."
"How about you?" Wang Changming asked, horrified.
Wang Bo said, his eyes determined. "I will be you, sleeping here."
"If I'm gone, Father will kill you!"
"No, he won't. I have been a servant for a long time, and he won't kill me. Believe me. Hurry up, you're running out of time."
Wang Changming quickly put on Wang Bo's robe. He called out loudly, to establish the alibi. "Lao Wang, I'm going to sleep. Don't disturb me."
Wang Bo played along. "Yes, gongzi."
Wang Changming hugged Wang Bo tightly. He smiled through his tears. "Thank you."
Wang Bo smiled back. "Good luck, gongzi." He looked at Wang Changming and Mu Jiao Long. "Gongzi, I will leave the lantern here for you." He motioned for Wang Changming to place the lantern down, nodded, and gestured for them to leave. Then, he lay down on the makeshift bed, with his back facing the door, and pulled the quilt over himself.
As soon as the door was pushed open, the two guards walked in. Wang Changming and Mu Jiao Long rushed out past them. When the guards saw Wang Bo sleeping on the concrete floor, covered by the blanket, they assumed he was Wang Changming. The two guards hurriedly closed the door, and when they turned around, Wang Changming and Mu Jiao Long had already vanished.
Mu Jiao Long and Wang Changming fled the Wang Household and continued running. After an hour, Mu Jiao Long suddenly fell to his knees. Wang Changming hurried back.
Wang Changming asked, concerned, "Jiao Long, are you alright?"
Mu Jiao Long tried to dismiss it. "I'm fine, let's keep going."
Wang Changming looked around. "This is still within the Wang Household." Mu Jiao Long tried to get up, but he vomited a mouthful of blood. "Jiao Long..."
Mu Jiao Long quickly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I'm fine, let's continue."
Wang Changming supported him, and they slowly walked away. Suddenly, Mu Jiao Long pushed Wang Changming away, and Wang Zedong's fist hit him hard on the same spot again, knocking Mu Jiao Long into the air fifty yards away. Four guards rushed out from behind and stood beside Wang Zedong.
Wang Zedong's voice was cold and ruthless. "Kill him. Everyone in the martial arts world knows that anyone who breaks into the Wang Household without permission will be killed."
Wang Changming knelt in front of Wang Zedong and pleaded, "Father, please don't kill him!"
Wang Zedong demanded, "Why should I let him live?"
Wang Changming's face was resolute. "If Father kills him, I will kill myself." He looked directly at Wang Zedong. "Father, let him go, and I'll go back with you."
Wang Zedong paused, his heir secured. "Alright."
Mu Jiao Long slowly got up and walked to Wang Changming. He helped him stand. "Changming, I would rather die than live a life without you."
Wang Zedong gave his final condition, a challenge. "If you can beat me in five years, I will let him leave with you. Not only that, I will also hold a wedding for you two."
Wang Changming turned and hugged Mu Jiao Long tightly, tears streaming down his face. "I'm waiting for you." He then looked at Mu Jiao Long's hair, pulled the jade hairpin from it, and walked back to Wang Zedong.
Mu Jiao Long watched Wang Changming and Wang Zedong slowly disappear up the hill. He shouted into the wind, "Xiao xingan, wait for me!" He clenched his fists tightly, a burning vow in his heart. "No matter how long, I will never abandon you!"
Wang Changming was severely thrown to the floor inside the ancestral hall. He saw three dead men lying on the ground. The two closest were the guards who had been watching him; the third was Wang Bo. Wang Changming cried out, scrambling to the third corpse. Wang Bo's body was cold, and the blood had turned into ice. Wang Changming cried and hugged his loyal servant. He looked up at Wang Zedong, his voice breaking. "Why? Why Lao Bo?"
Wang Zedong's reply was brutal. "It is your fault for these three people to die. Blame yourself for their deaths. You are the heir to this household, so act like one."
Wang Changming looked at his father with absolute hatred. "Father, kill me. My loyalty no longer belongs to you, nor does it belong to this family."
Wang Zedong gnashed his teeth. "Then where does your loyalty belong?"
Wang Changming sighed, a haunting smile curving his lips. "With my husband, Mu Jiao Long."
Wang Zedong slapped Wang Changming across the face. "Do you have any shame?"
Wang Changming's expression was defiant. "No, Father, no more shame. You poisoned the abducted women in Yao Village with the Miao poison, and the one who went to save those women was Mu Jiao Long."
Wang Zedong grabbed Wang Changming's collar, pulling him close. He asked, dangerously, "You helped him?"
Wang Changming smiled, revealing his secret victory. "I saved him... We had sex all night in the abandoned temple in front of the statue of Buddha." Wang Zedong shoved Wang Changming to the concrete floor in a blind rage. "It's not just that, Father, we bowed to heaven and earth, and to each other as husband and husband!" He laughed hysterically. "How do you feel when karma comes back to bite you?"
Wang Zedong's fury was complete. "You don't like to be my beloved son, you don't like to be the heir to the Wang Household, fine... Maybe you like to be a prisoner. Guards!"
Two guards walked into the room. "Yes, Chief."
Wang Zedong commanded, "Take him away and lock him in a cave in the back mountain."
The two guards gripped Wang Changming tightly and dragged him away out of the room. Despite the rough treatment, a defiant, euphoric grin spread across his face. As he was pulled down the hall, his voice, far from broken, rang out happily for all to hear: "You can lock my body, but you can't lock my spirit, nor can you ever take away the love I have for Mu Jiao Long!" He began laughing, and his laughter echoed away from the ancestral hall, a final, joyous act of rebellion.