CHAPTER 9, REVEALED SECRET OF WAG
The Emperor raised his eyelids, revealing his clear brown pupils, finding himself laying on a bed. His right hand was held firmly by her daughter, Feng An Xin the queen of Wei Zhuang sleeping.
"An Xin," he called, smiling with a loving tone. "I'm awake now, it's fine,"
He tried losing the grip but still failed. Even when falling deep in sleep, she couldn't bear letting go of his hands as well as the past.
"Don't leave me again, please" she begged, reimagining the bitter past of their royal family of Da An inside her very own mind.
--
"Li Zhang Ke greets fellow generals and ministers" He bowed to the line of Wei Zhuang spies as soon as they met face to face.
It was a good day so far and it got better when the line of spies called upon him. He had been acknowledging that Li Zhi Jian was a spy from Wei Zhuang but Li Zhi Jian never knew what's inside his mind.
"Li Zhi Jian, your grandson is a warrior now. You must be proud of him" General Wang Xuan hit Li Zhang Ke's back, playful.
Li Zhang Ke forcefully smiled together with the lies, not trying to make things awkward.
"Thank you, gentlemen" Li Zhi Jian passed everyone a cup of liquor to celebrate his grandson's return. With a smile, he said, "Bottoms up!"
Even before drinking, he sounded drunk already which hit Li Zhang Ke with a smile.
"Grandfather, I shouldn't drink right?" He slid the cup away, back to the center of the table.
The spies went silent, reflecting on themselves. They could have thought that Li Zhang Ke was still underaged and the meeting's main purpose was not for celebration instead, a negotiation.
"Aiya, Li Zhi Jian." General Rong Zhe laughed. "Young men, shall we start talking about the serious matter now?"
"Let's get straight to the point, generals" Li Zhang Ke grinned, not wanting to delay. He scanned the spies and found them startled for a moment.
"Have you seen the king's poisonous garden?" Sun Lai Zhe questioned, determined. He knew the matter shouldn't be delayed.
Li Zhang Ke was stunned for a hot second. He thought, how would they even know the existence of the garden. But then, the realization hit him that the generals and ministers in front of him weren't commoners. They were the only royal spies of Wei Zhuang the magical land.
"Answer, kid" Li Zhi Jian encouraged, tapping his back repeatedly.
Li Zhang Ke started smirking, pulling his chin down. "Gentlemen knows the risk right?"
His eyes rolled upwards to them with such a psychotic angle. With the raised cheeks and his sharp chin, the spies knew something is wrong with him.
"Hahaha" Minister Sun Lai Zhe laughed, breaking the awkwardness. "Elder Li, so this is what your grandson can be?"
"Elders, don't get me wrong" Li Zhang Ke claimed. He stood on his feet, putting on such a convenient look on the face. "To hit the bullseye, we have to focus on it and keep the string tight. That way, we have the full force."
"But sometimes, the one that ruins our plan is the wind itself" He gave a speech, ending it with a disappointed tone of voice and a sigh."My point is, I know where the garden is, and I'm free to share as long as"
He stopped, giving a hint of fear and suspense to the spies.
"Nevermind," he smiles, "I don't know the garden location while I'm awake. However, every time I fall asleep, I always sleepwalk in the same direction even while at a military site. "
"You were the one stealing the food at night?" General Wang Xuan exposed, enlarging his eyes. His tone was furious at first.
Li Zhang Ke walked past him, tapping the general's shoulder.
"Exactly. I never got caught"
Later the next morning where the fresh cold breeze flow around the training base,
"Focus on the target. Breath slower, pull the string tighter and, GO!" Li Zhang Ke guided, standing a few steps away from Wei An Ge.
The arrow ended up not hitting the board at all. She suddenly walked towards him, offering her right wrist to be hit just like how General Rong Zhe always did.
"What is this for?" He asked, confused. He exchanged looks with her bruised and her facial expression.
"General not going to hit me?"
"I should?" He panicked. "That's how they trained you? Hitting your hand? No wonder you never improved."
"You're not trained the same way?"
"No," he held her wrist, bringing her to the stone table set. He took out a bottle of white drug given by the Wei Zhuang spies in case of any injuries. The drug was only limited to the spies and we're only available in the Wei Zhuang training camp. "At least they don't hit us. They ask us to cook dinner instead"
"What you think you're doing?" She tried escaping her left wrist, the one covered with a glove from his grip.
"Applying for medicine" deadly, he replied.
"Don't, you will get punished like Li Zhi Jian. It's not even the right hand you're putting the medicine on" luckily she escaped, running to her bow and starting aiming to shoot.
"So that's why the wound didn't recover. The reason why Crown Princess is so weak" he walked with his hands at the back, smirking.
Wei An Ge was alarmed. She turned towards him with a serious dared look, shooting the arrow which ended up falling on the ground, again.
The intense moment broke when the young general himself broke into laughter. Confidently Wei An Ge passed her thumb through her nose.
"I'm so awesome" she then flipped her tied hair, also holding into her laughter.
----
"Gan Xin, you saved them okay?" Wolfie persuaded, sitting in the arms of his mother.
"We need to find the Jade Ring fast, even the Emperor is dying." Gan Xin whispered to himself, anxious.
After returning from the campsite with the Emperor fainted, Gan Xin couldn't stop concerning and feeling the guilt of poisoning the people and even the Emperor not once but twice.
"Xin'er, he's not dead yet." Gan Xie Le continued, passing him a plate of cakes.
finally, he sat with his mother, shoving the cakes into his mouth with furrowed eyebrows and slouched posture.
"Our spies are confirming the crown princess as the Jade Ring soon. I heard they got a new plan."
"Let's hope that it's good enough. I might have poisoned Wei Zhuang twice." he facepalmed himself and continued shoving the cakes directly into his mouth.
--
"You're drawing again?" Jing Nu questioned, preparing the crown princess her bed.
She nodded, hesitantly. It wasn't a drawing she's making but Jing Nu's guess was close enough.
"But it's very simple" She added water into a small basin and threw it on the blank piece of paper hanging on the entrance door.
"HAHAHAHA" she laughed. "Jing Nu let's go to the training site and hit this bullseye." She ran to the outside excited to hit the large bullseye she drew while Jing Nu can only chase her,
The night falls beautifully decorated with stars and a present moon. The spies, General Rong Zhe, Wang Kuan, Li Zhi Jian, and Sun Lai Zhe was in all-black outfits, hiding at the roof of the Li Manor. They were pasting their attention at Li Zhang Ke's room waiting for him to start sleepwalking and guide them to the poisonous garden.
There was no movement until Wang Xuan, the daughter of Wang Kuan suddenly appeared. She knocked on the door as it opened itself. She entered the room effortlessly.
"General, why is your daughter there?" Sun Lai Zhe complaint, hitting the roof once with his balled fist.
A loud sound was produced, getting her attention. She step out of the room, scanning the roofs, and found the four spies with half of their faces covered. She didn't alarm anyone instead she chased them herself.
"General Rong Zhe, your daughter is a hard one" Li Zhi Jian complaint as they all start running on the roof.
At the same time, Li Zhang Ke has begun walking out of the room being asleep.
Every step of his was counted perfectly upon any holes on the road and rocks. He walked across their garden, catching the eyes of Li Hua Rong. She was witnessing the stars.
"Brother?" She called, being surprised. She followed him, every step.
It was their plan. They knew Li Zhang Ke's sudden return has something weird to it.
They walked out of the Li Manor through their guards effortlessly as Li Hua Rong permitted. They were walking to the imperial castle and Li Zhang Ke jumped to the roof and start running all of sudden, leaving Hua Rong to face the palace guards.
"Miss Li, what can we do for you?" The guards greeted,
"Nothing, I'm just passing by" she smiled, turning away.
In fact, she was actually climbing the wall to get in. She did it with bare hands which took a long time. However, she can still see where her brother is aiming to go.
Li Zhang Ke continued his journey as he ran on the roof. He was fast yet no noise was made.
He finally went down in front of the King's manor.
Li Hua Rong saw the scene as she was finally on the roof. However, she didn't have the gut to enter His Majesty's room. Staying in her position was the key choice left as she continued observing.
Walking through the entrance door, he walked to His Majesty's study room and stroll around the closets, finding a paper envelope containing a letter hidden between rolls of drawings.
Confusion filled her head. Li Zhang Ke took an envelope but returned it back to the original place as if it was never been touched. Luckily the King haven't finished with his report reading session, the room was empty.
He jumped back to the roof, running. He knew his next destination, on the bed, sleeping as if nothing ever happened.
At the same time, the crown princess and Jing Nu were in the training base which is in the imperial castle, in front of the King's manor.
"Jing Nu, I'm going to hit this bull's eye" the crown princess pasted her all-black painting on the board, excited.
"Are you drunk, crown Princess?" Jing Nu laughed. "What if you can't even hit that large bull's but?"
"That would be impossible, right?" She doubted herself, stretching the bow and aiming the drawing. "In one, two, HIT!"
The arrow flew quite fast before it hits the ground.
"Argh" Wei An Ge sighed, "Jing Nu don't laugh, one more shot"
Jing Nu nodded, holding her laughter.
"Focus, SHOOT!"
The arrow flew faster, to the ground again.
"Maybe try not shouting, Crown Princess" Jing Nu advised, collecting the arrows.
"Good point" She aimed at the full moon in front of them, she start reciting the words Li Zhang Ke taught her.
"Focus on the eye's bull. Breath slower, pull the string tighter and, GO!" The arrow flew high above the roof and struck into someone's chest.
The person fell off the roof, not moving anymore.
Wei An Ge eyes enlarged, shocked. She knew the rules, she might be hung to death if she killed a soul. At a glance, she knew it was General Li Zhang Ke. She ran towards the falling general and was bowing her back, half her height, trying to reduce the falling impact.
The general fell on her back and finally to the ground, both of them. The arrow hit his right chest as it started bleeding.
"Jing Nu, did I kill my own teacher?" She panicked, having his head on her arm.
"He should be fine, the arrow didn't hit his heart. Press the area, avoid excessive bleeding" Jing Nu instructed, also confused about the situation.
How the hell does a general fell off the tall roof at such a time. As if he didn't have anything else things to do for good, she thought herself.
"Let's go, General" she placed his right arm to her shoulder, assisting him to walk.
"Jing Nu, why is the General here late at night?" The crown Princess questioned as they continued walking.
"I'm clueless too, crown princess"
Li Zhang Ke was half awake. He tried to move but failed to for the sake of the pain of an arrow in his chest. He struggled with his body control and fell to the ground again dragging the crown princess with him. Both fell playing on their stomach.
"General, what's wrong?" Jing Nu asked, panicking.
The crown princess eyes enlarged, "he's a ghost now. General want to eat us, Jing Nu!" She tried standing up but her left hand, covered with a glove was held tight by Li Zhang Ke the general.
"Jing Nu," her face was hideous, crying to Jing Nu.
She proceed to get away that the glove was pulled of revealing her left hand covered with wreaths of cascading drawing between her fingers from her arm.
*view picture for reference*
"CROWN PRINCESS!" Jing Nu shouted, shocked. Her eyes were pasted permanently on the crown princess's patterned left hand.
"Li Zhang Ke!" Wang Xuan, daughter of Wang Kuan appeared out of the thin air.
She ran to them, worried while Jing Nu stood in front of the crown princess, hiding Wei An Ge's revealed hand from other people.
"Crown Princess, let me take over" Wang Xuan placed Li Zhang Ke's arm on her. Her tone was convincing.
The crown princess nodded, agreed.
Both Jing Nu and her watched Wang Xuan and the general walking away.
"Let's go back to Chang Ge," Jing Nu furrowed her eyebrows, torning her own dress to wrap the Crown Princess's arm.
Li Hua Rong on the other side braved herself to enter His Majesty's room, checking the paper envelope.
It was revealed that the envelope consists of a letter written "garden of "
Immediately she placed the envelope back to the origin and unrolled one of the rolled paintings.
Li Hua Rong's jaw dropped, surprised. The painting was a very realistic figure of the Hogweed plant moving as it grows.