Zhi Wei sits and leisurely sips her tea. She had talked it over with Ning Yi and decided that Governor Shen has apparently gotten wind of some news which is why he has already sent his trusted henchmen here to gain control of this area. They had hoped to ask Magistrate Peng to give them some guards but it seems like this whole place is already under the governor’s control. They had not expected the Cheng clan to brazenly be in cahoots with this many officials…which is of course why they were so underprepared and almost lost their lives. Deciding to go the safest route now, Zhi Wei has already asked Gu Nan Yi to send his men to various places to summon backups. Helian’s Eight Braves, Ning Yi’s right-hand man Ning Cheng and armies belonging to officials who are loyal to Ning Yi should all have been contacted by now. So, now they just need to wait. Since they still can’t show Ning Yi’s or her identity as Wei Zhi, naturally it is up to Helian and Gu Nan Yi to throw their weight around. Luckily, the Emperor is the only one who knows Prince Helian had followed Zhi Wei out of the Captial as a member of the academy and Governor Shen would not know who Gu Nan Yi is. Just in case people here might also have drawings of Ning Yi and herself, both of them have already started wearing face masks.

Zhi Wei’s words stunned those in the courtyard. All of them know clearly that while Imperial Censors’ ranking might not be high but they report directly to the emperor. In the years past, Imperial Censors were already treated with the utmost respect by Governor Shen, so how much more important now that this particular Imperial Censor is actually a crown prince!

Staring blankly at Helian who is holding out a gold pendant hanging on his waistband with a smirk, Official Liu could clearly see the eagle on it with the seal that indicates it is the real deal made by the royal palace.

Helian picks up his boot and puts it on…a collective sigh of relief could be heard as everyone is freed from death by suffocation.

Still sipping her tea, Zhi Wei doesn’t raise her head as she asks “What arrogance! You all have the honor of seeing Crown Prince Helian but you would not bow?”

Too shocked by this sudden change of event, the two officials and their guards who had quickly tossed away their weapons, promptly bow down and yell in unison “Greetings to Crown Prince Helian!”

Helian turns around and walked away without another word. Zhi Wei had told him that he could throw his weight around a bit but he has no patience to deal with these idiots so that woman Feng Zhi Wei can deal with them herself.

Resigned to do all the hard work herself, Zhi Wei walks over to the window with her teacup in hand and says with a bright smile “I am official Tao, Imperial Censor over salt. Greetings.” Her words were polite but Zhi Wei made no move to bow. The two officials didn’t think Zhi Wei’s action was abnormal at all. All Imperial Censors act like this, they don’t even bother to bow to Governor Shen.

(Salt was big business back in the day so this made our heroine even more important in the two officials’ eyes.)

Exchanging a nervous glance, the two officials quickly bowed to Zhi Wei and laughs “Apologies, we have offended Official Tao…”

Taking in the two men’s reaction, Zhi Wei sneers coldly behind the mist of hot steam rising out of her teacup and says “It was a misunderstanding just now. It was me who didn’t announce my identity first so how can I blame you.”

Relieved, the two men twist their stiff facial muscles into a smile and replies “Thank you Official Tao for understanding.” Their smiles turned genuine when Zhi Wei adds “Even though I am charged with the task of being an Imperial Censor over salt but I have no right to interfere with magistrate business…”

“But then since it just so happened to land right in front of me…” Zhi Wei frowns with dismay, her expression is one of “I totally want to cover up for you but this is just so difficult, yap, so difficult “…I really can’t just ignore it…”

Blinking blankly for a moment, the two official exchanges another look then promptly reply with a laugh “This is just a temporary change of post. The accusation against Magistrate Peng hasn’t been determined yet so of course now that Official Tao is here, we need to ask you to take the lead on this. I will immediately order my men to prepare a feast to officially welcome Crown Prince Helian.”

Sensing that his job is safe for the time being, Magistrate Peng looks around in a bit bewilderment before going back to the front of the magistrate manor to carry on his daily duty as usual.

With half of a smile, Zhi Wei follows the two officials into the dining room while Helian ignores everyone, swaggers to the head of the table, sits down then gives a Ning Yi a taunting smirk. Ning Yi didn’t spare Helian’s direction a glance- not that he could see anything anyway. Master Gu sits himself down and promptly clears the table setting on either side of him…which means the rest of the people have to squeeze to the one remaining table.

Zhi Wei is not planning on touching any wine this time around especially since she has been avoiding them like the plague the last few days. (This is just poking fun at the fact our heroine is feeling a bit guilty for getting Ning Yi so drunk that he had a difficult time protecting himself when the assassins came.) Smiling apologetically, Zhi Wei tells the waiting officials “Sorry, sorry, I am not good with wine” as she also reaches out a hand to clear off the wine cup in front of Ning Yi. Hiding a smile, Ning Yi takes a sip from his tea cup. Ning Yi might be blind but no one would be able to tell from his mannerism. His eyes don’t have the unfocused look, moreover, he usually keeps his head lowered so no one thus far has been able to discover that there is something wrong with his eyes. THAT really is the thing Zhi Wei admires the most about him- His Highness could pretend to be anything. Ha.

“I can only use this cup of wine to express my…” Official Liu is still too stunned from getting beat up so Shen Jun Xin is left on his own to make the best of the situation. Before Shen Jun Xin could finish his toast, Master Gu grabs the plate of braised pork belly and walks right past like he was sleepwalking.

“In honor of….” Shen Jun Xin begins to stutter.

Counting the pieces of meat, Master Gu says in a flat voice “One, two, three…”

“In honor of…” Holding his wine cup, Shen Jun Xin has completely forgotten what he was planning to say.

“Four, five, six…”

“In honor…” Shen Jun Xin’s hand starts to tremble. That person is only counting the pieces of meat but why does he feel a chill creeping up his back spine?

“Seven, eight, nine!”

Helian grabbed a bottle of wine and jumped on the window sill. Zhi Wei tugged Ning Yi back three steps, not forgetting to grabbed His Highness’ tea cup at the same time. Official Liu and Shen Jun Xin’s mouths dropped open in surprise, unable to figure out why everyone had left their seats in a blink of an eye.

“Bang!” a plate of braised pork belly is slapped upside down on the table. A hole about the size of a plate instantly appears on the table sending two very innocent pieces of pork on the two officials’ shoes.

“Eight pieces.” Master Gu says slowly.

“………..” Completely confused by the situation at hand, Official Liu and Shen Jun Xin don’t know how to respond. They want to get mad, but after looking at the hole in the table, they can’t help and wonder how their heads would’ve handled the same impact. Swallowing hard, the two men could only comfort themselves that those from the Capital are always a bit particular.

“Eight pieces” Master Gu patiently repeats again. He likes braised pork a lot but nine pieces…that can’t be forgiven.

Eight pieces…eight pieces of what? Fortunately, Shen Jun Xin’s head is still quite useful under duress and after looking around had the presence of mind to ask tentatively “Too much meat?”

Master Gu gives Shen Jun Xin a “how are you so slow when it only took him saying the same thing one time before for Feng Zhi Wei understood?” look.

Understanding Master Gu’s “look” perfectly, Zhi Wei smiles and thought: You two foolish mortals, a plate is nothing. Back in the days, in the academy, the braised pork always comes in large sizes so I was the one who had to eat all the extra pieces of meat which resulted in me gaining eight pounds in one single month. Master Gu’s temper has really improved lately.

The unforgivable nine-piece braised pork was quickly cleared away. Shen Jun Xin obviously learned from his experience so the rest of the dishes came in this manner: Eight quail eggs, eight steamed crabs, eight steamed taro root, and finally, to fully comply with the rule of eight, four more legs were taken from another turtle to tacked on the turtle dish so the turtle would by miracle of miracles, have eight legs.

Tragically, Master Gu doesn’t even spare the other dishes a glance but plows away at the braised pork on his own plate. Zhi Wei stares at the one and only in the world- eight-legged turtle with amazement- this cook is sure talented…unfortunately she had forgotten to mention earlier that Master Gu’s rule of eight only applies to meat.

 

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

Related Posts