In the few moments that have passed, Zhi Wei has already combed through everything that has happened since she left Qiu manor. Everything that originally seemed simple and natural no longer appeared so. It seems she has been walking a path arranged by other people from the very beginning. She had thought she was the one in control, it is not a good feeling to find out now that she might be the one being controlled all along. 

 “Why?” After a bit of silence, she asked without mincing words. 

The man bends down to take Chun Yu’s pulse and answers easily “Miss, I was forced out by you today. I will still go back to not appearing after this. So why pursue this. Isn’t it better to just pretend today never happened?”

“No.” Zhi Wei says “One should not accept what one has not earned. I can’t just accept the privilege of being protected but not ask the reason for it.”

“It’s not time to tell yet.” The man answers “But Miss, please believe that we don’t have any intention of harming you.” 

“I know. You even saved my life.” Zhi Wei smiles “But people will often do things with good intentions that lead to bad results, don’t you think?” 

“Miss, you don’t have to worry about that.” The white robed man smiles “We will not interfere with any of Miss’ actions. We are just here to protect you.” 

“Just that? That makes me even more nervous.” Zhi Wei sighs “I am just an orphan girl. How do I deserve all of you and your men’s protection?” 

“Deserving or not, that’s for us to judge.” The white robed man refuses to let Zhi Wei tease any more information out of him, lays Chun Yu flat and pulls out his bag of needles (for acupuncture) “Miss, you still want me to save him? If you don’t want to anymore then we might as well move to the front room and continue our conversation.” 

Zhi Wei gives the man a sneering laugh then immediately turns around and walks out “It seems I should just work diligently with Brother Gu. One day he will eventually explain it all clearly to me.” 

With a hint of sadness in his eyes, the man glances over at the oblivious Gu Nan Yi who is still munching away on his walnuts “If it’s possible, I am willing to use all the secrets, in exchange, for him to come into this world.” 

========= 

Leaving the room to the white robed man, Zhi Wei stands in the courtyard under the sunlight. Closing her eyes to feel the warm fall sunlight on her face, Zhi Wei’s posture looks calm and relaxed yet her heart is a mess. The fuzzy guesses she has been harboring all these times were finally confirmed today but it doesn’t provide any feeling of relief. Instead, an added weight has fallen on her– there is no pure good luck that would fall from the sky, all things must happen for a reason. Yet, it doesn’t look like these people will be willing to give her an answer right now. 

Suppressing the anxiousness inside, Zhi Wei takes the two ink monkeys with her to take another look at the dead bodies from the prison. The scratches on the dead bodies were what had reminded her of the monkeys originally but now she can deduct that these people are the same group of assassins who had chased them around. These people must have tried to do something after Ning Yi’s army started marching but were probably hindered by the South Sea government’s recent raids but why didn’t they head for Minnan’s direction and instead head straight for South Sea where it would be the most dangerous for them? Focusing on the dead bodies’ eyes, Zhi Wei finally figures out what had seemed off to her. They were killed by “the king” (the Minnan eye, the creature our lead had encountered before) which meant they must have been blinded before they died and that would explain the strange hollow expression. But where is “the king” now? Every time the creature opens its eyes, someone will be blinded so what would happen if the creature was brought in front of someone?  

  • While Zhi Wei is trying to puzzle out the assassins’ strange death, Official Tao brings her a small stack of documents Ning Yi had left her that apparently has something to do with a case where sons of noblemen had forcefully taken over some lands. Her expression turning serious when informed the case ended up involving the army and has been turned over to a certain Official Lu who is well known for being straight laced and competent. Her attention caught when she noticed that Ning Yi had made a small red mark under the name of an Official Qian who is part of the group of officials being investigated by Official Lu, Zhi Wei falls into deep thought as Official Tao assures her that despite the fact Official Lu and Official Qian have been feuding for years, Official Lu will certainly be fair when it comes to handling the case. 

Zhi Wei closes her eyes and slowly thinks back to how once they arrived in South Sea, Ning Yi had gone over a bit with her the backgrounds of the South Sea officials. Ning Yi must have felt something was off when he had Ning Cheng read to him concerning this case but had no time to figure it out so he had only made a mark. So what is off? 

  • Zhi Wei asks Official Tao to bring her all of 4th Level and above South Sea official’s personal files. Official Tao was unwilling at first because it was against regulations but Zhi Wei pulls out her royal envoy seal and orders Official Tao to obey her commend after assuring him that she will handle all the consequences. 
  • Zhi Wei ignores the mountain of files Official Tao brought her and head straight for Official Lu’s personal file. Sneering coldly as she read Official Lu’s file, it took no time for Zhi Wei to see that Official Lu’s resume is shockingly similar to Official Qian’s. 

Walking out of the library, Zhi Wei asks the waiting Official Tao “Sir, where did you say you caught that group of men? (the dead assassins) 

“By the mountain border between Minnan and South Sea.” 

Zhi Wei nods then quickly walks towards the door but suddenly stopped. After thinking for a moment, Zhi Wei says “Official Tao, please immediately take your seal and my royal envoy seal to arrest the officials involved in the land case. At the same time, immediately send a group rushing as fast as possible to bring back the army grain provision. They are to destroy the grain provision if bringing it back is not possible.” 

“You have gone crazy!” Official Tao could not believe what he just heard as he stumbled back a step “Do you know what you are saying? Interfere with military affairs? Arresting government officials without proper authority? To rob the military provision even to the point of destroying it? Any one of these is severe enough to have your head chop off!” 

“I have not misspoken a single word.” Zhi Wei remains unmoved “Official Tao, you and I might be of the same level but royal envoy does have the authority to make decisions during an emergency. I will bear all the consequences, you just need to carry out the order.” 

“This is not like getting some files! This is something that will end up getting your whole family killed!” Furious, Official Tao turns to leave “I won’t stop you if you want to commit suicide but don’t drag me along with you!” He furiously marched towards Zhi Wei, planning to walk past the crazy person. Zhi Wei doesn’t move but smiles just as he goes past “Sorry.” 

Without any sound, Zhi Wei’s hand strikes towards Official Tao who only felt a cold wind before blacking out. 

Catching Official Tao’s limp body with one hand, Zhi Wei drags him back to the library and closes the door. After a bit, Zhi Wei pulls on the gold bell by the door used to summon the working subordinates. Before long a few junior officials rush over only to see the door is closed tightly. Not daring to intrude, the junior officials could only see from the shadow on the door that Official Tao and the royal envoy seem to be leaning close discussing something earnestly. Their voices were muffled and unclear but from time to time some words could be heard such as “If that’s the case…I will trouble Brother Wei…” “This is urgent…” Sensing this seems to be of vital yet mysterious matter, the men backed away from the door a bit. In no time, Zhi Wei opens the door, back out of the door half of a step and nods towards the inside “Official Tao, don’t bother sending me off. You can rest your mind and hand this matter to me. You should instead focus on writing an express letter and report the matter to the palace. That’s the most important thing.” 

Closing the door behind her, Zhi Wei turns to hand a few letters that have both hers and Official Tao’s seals stamp on it to the waiting junior officials. “Official Tao has other important matters to attend to, so you all will have to personally attend to this matter.” 

She had carefully divided all the “beheading” tasks back in the library. A portion of the men will be sent to arrest the officials and the rest will be sent to stop the army provisions. She didn’t explain the grains are army provisions but had told them that it was grains illegally transported out by one of the fallen clans. The junior officials did not suspect a thing and quickly rushed off earnestly to their assignment. 

Zhi Wei pulls out another letter and tells Gu Nan Yi “Brother Gu, please go find Yan Huai Shi and tell him that no matter what method he uses, even if it meant emptying all the clans’ private held grain storages, he needs to send a shipment of grain provision to Minnan immediately.” 

Gu Nan Yi shakes his head then suddenly snaps his fingers. A figure in grey immediately appears from the rooftop beams and takes the letter before dashing off. This is the first time Zhi Wei has seen the invisible guards (invisible= in hiding) who are stationed by her side. It seems after her confrontation with the white robed man, these people are no longer trying to hide their presence from her anymore.

Standing under the eaves, Zhi Wei watches as the inspector officials leave in their different groups. Right now she is the only one who knows that she has committed the world’s most daring deed…based simply on guesses. If any of the things she has set in motion goes wrong then even if she has ten heads it wouldn’t be enough for the beheading that will be waiting for her. Still, knowing all that, she is more afraid that she wasn’t daring enough and she didn’t react quickly enough. Grain provisions are vital to an army, the ten thousand soldiers in Minnan is already engaged in a battle with Cheng clan. Under Ning Yi’s commend, good news has been coming from the battlefront with Cheng Clan’s control shrinking fast. Under the current circumstance, once something goes wrong with the grain provisions it would not only change the tide completely on the battlefront and cause Minnan to be covered in bloodshed but South Sea or perhaps territories even further than that would fall as well.

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

Related Posts