CHAPTER 4
Gan Xin was hugging the King tightly, afraid he might fall off the horse. The King was riding the horse at a high speed, worrying about Wei An Ge's survival. Even the top generals didn't manage to surpass the King and his horse.
While then, Gan Xin started creating the foxglove poison plant as the King commanded as soon as he sits on the horse with him.
Gan Xin realized they were heading to the dark and scary kingdom his mother has warned before. Being afraid of unfortunate things to happen to him, he secretly planted another type of poisonous plant along the way so that he can return to Wei Zhuang alone if he needed to.
Hei An Guang border was just ahead. It was indeed as what Gan Xie Le told, dark and cold. The black gates were decorated with snake figures twirling around each pole. The trees were also exactly like what was pre-described. Dark green and dead.
Gan Xin was stunned by the surrounding that he didn't notice he's already in front of a manor, the Chang Ge Manor. It's the brightest color he has seen along his short trip to Hei An Guang. The manor was pale brown decorated with gardens of flowers at the side.
"Young boy, let's go in" the king pushed him inside. Gan Xin found himself walking hurriedly into a room, just beside the garden he saw. He can see from afar, the princess told laying on the bed with the anxious maids trying to stop the bleeding of her forehead. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes were still swollen red.
Gan Xin ran to Wei An Ge himself, hurried and concerned. He scanned her condition within a glance and was surprised by the scene, a long thread of cascading plant and pieces of sharp glasses on the floor.
"Why would you poison her?" He inquired turning to the king as the princess started stretching her chest again accompanied by furrowed eyebrows.
"The foxglove poison is the only way to save her" the king explained briefly, scrunching her forehead. "Just do it, young boy. Take it out"
Light green dust started to follow his fingers, drawing characters to summon the plant he made but the dust was not as bright and vibrant as it was at Wei Zhuang. Gan Xin was confused as the plant appeared on his palm. He felt as if there was a barrier holding on to his power.
"Here you go," he passed the purple poisonous plant to the King.
"Get him all of our Hei An Guang treats!" The King finally smiled in excitement. As soon as he had the grip of the foxglove, a hint of relief covered his whole body with chills.
"Treats!" He jumped. He couldn't be more excited to try new desserts from foreign kingdoms.
Gan Xin followed the maids leading him to the dining hall where short tables were aligned.
The desserts were placed on his table. Gan Xin's eyes enlarged in shock.
"Why are they all black and brown?" He questioned, analyzing each angle of the cakes and treats one by one.
All of the desserts whether it's the moon cakes, glutinous rice balls or even the drink were all black and brown.
"These are our Hei An Guang desserts, young savior" the maid, Jing Nu explained with a friendly tone of voice, smiling at him. "Why don't you try the sweet rice balls,"
With the spoon in his fingers, he gets one of the black balls, soaked in another brown syrup.
"Hehehe" Gan Xin smiled to the maid, fearing that the dish might not taste any good.
"Continue," the maid convinces.
He knew he had to face the fear and started chewing the ball with his eyes closed, unwilling.
"Wow," he was impressed with a widened eye, he turned to Jing Nu, smiling. "What is this bittersweet liquid in this? It tastes sweet at first but then a little bitter at the end. Yummy!"
"We call it chocolate. You can only taste these at Hei An Guang," Jing Nu explained, pleading him to have more. "Although our deserts are either brown or chocolate, they still taste amazing"
"So they are black to match your kingdom name?" Gan Xin confirmed, shoving another ball into his mouth straight.
(黑Hei is black in Chinese)
"Exactly" Jing Nu smiled. "Those rice balls with brown sugar syrup is our Crown Princess favorite"
Gan Xin turned a deaf ear to Jing Nu's words after. He obviously couldn't care less about other people's appetite when he's filling his own. He proceeded to taste each dessert presented to him, being amazed at how dark colors have a sweet and bitter taste at the end of it.
The King plucked the flowers of the foxglove plant as he noticed that another batch of cascading plants grew again under Wei An Ge's skin and now it's not only on her forehead but also at her cheeks.
She started to sweat and slowly moaned at the burning pain of her heart. Foxglove's poison focused on attacking the one's heart. She started to scratch her chest while the other hand was finding the shattered mirror.
"Argh!" She screamed "WHERE'S THE GLASS?! I CAN'T FIND IT"
She was moving around and crying, pain. The generals can only witness the scene with a heavy heart.
"It hurts" she stopped screaming but started crying even with her eyes closed.
The King immediately plucked the foxglove leaves that were torn into pieces and added water to form a paste. He used it to cover Wei An Ge's bleeding forehead.
She stopped moving since. The cascading plants retreated, no longer causing harm. The generals bowed in relief.
"Get me Li Zhi Jian!" The king commanded, shouting after a sigh of relief.
"NOTED, MY KING" the generals replied. Instantly the room was emptied and filled with relief.
"Huh," The king sighed, tired
"Wei An Ge, who let you know it was the foxglove poison?" He held her hand, gripping tight. "Sure, it is a poison but it only applies to commoners. You are Wei An Ge right, you're not one of the commoners."
"The foxglove poison can only give you strength, not harm"
He revealed, patting the leaves paste on her forehead.
"Stay here, safe and sound." He stood up, wiping his sweats away. "Your King still needs to send the young savior back to Wei Zhuang. We can't have any more conflict with them."
He walks out of the room, reaching for the dining hall where Gan Xin was. As soon as he arrived, the only figure to be seen was Gan Xin's mouth filled with chocolate and brown sugar sauces. He didn't even bother using spoons or chopsticks anymore.
"Young boy, let's go" the king called, holding his laughter. "Pack him some more treats"
Gan Xin smiled ridiculously nodding, exchanging looks with the king and Jing Nu.
"GO!" The king whipped his horse as Gan Xin had his hand gripping tightly on the bag full of dessert and treats, sitting on the horseback together with the king.
The journey of returning to Wei Zhuang started as the king was furiously riding the horse while Gan Xin has started eating the treats. Due to the bumpy road, most of Gan Xin's attempts to get the dessert into his mouth failed but ended up being smashed on his fluffy cheeks.
The journey to Wei Zhuang was the same as before as the cactus tree planted by Gan Xin were all seen. It shows that he was going home, back to his mother.
They arrived at the border of Wei Zhuang.
It looked different. Previously, the hemisphere barrier was covered with cascading plants and colorful flowers but now the barrier is covered with the common plant, foxgloves. As soon as Gan Xin noticed the changes, he fell off the tall horse in shock.
"Father and mother?" He crossed through the barrier effortlessly while the king had his face slammed face on it
"Foxglove poison?" The king tried to stand up again, confirming.
"Argh!" Gan Xin panicked as he suddenly start floating in the air, reaching for the castle of Wei Zhuang.
"YOUNG BOY!" The king shouted, still unable to stand.
"Wei Guang, the king of Hei An Guang" a tall man suddenly appeared out of the thin air, smiling creepily to the fallen King. "The matter of our Wei Zhuang has no connection with you, please leave"
"But-"
The man disappeared again. The King sighed in worry of the young savior but he knew foreigners like himself can never enter Wei Zhuang.
"GAN XIN SON OF GAN LUO YI!" a feminine voice lingered around the large hall. "How dare you cross the barrier and get the Flower Bone fairies to give you power!"
Gan Xin found himself kneeling. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Looking at the left side were rows of Wei Zhuang top generals while the right side was his parents, kneeling.
Their faces were serious and cold as rocks while the mother, Gan Xie Le was holding onto her tears.
"May the Queen forgive Xin Er!" Gan Xie Le started begging by shouting. "Xin'er is still a little boy unknown of anything"
"Forgive him? What a joke!" The Queen of Wei Zhuang laughed. "The foxglove poison is all over Wei Zhuang! People are getting their hearts tangled with cascading plants!"
"But the foxglove poison saved the princess of Hei An Guang!" Gan Xin defended himself, confidence was all over him.
The queen smiled in surprise. She walked through the generals just to get a closer look at Gan Xin.
"You escaped Wei Zhuang to create poison for the Crown Princess of what?" She held Gan Xin's chin up to the ceiling.
"The dark castle, Hei An Guang"
"MARVELOUS, MY BOY!" she smiled in satisfaction. "you've done a great merit!"
"THANK YOU MY QUEEN FOR LETTING GAN XIN OFF" his parents bowed in gratitude.
"Gan Xin, the son of Gan Luo and Gan Xie Le will have to live at the Ming Yun brick until he reached fifteen years old" The Queen commanded, turning back to her throne.
Gan Luo Yi was speechless he could barely move. His body posture remained straight as his eyes were getting teary in the loss of his son.
"NO!" Gan Xie Le refused, running towards her son crying. "My Xin'er!"
"MOTHER!" Gan Xin's figure disappeared out of the thin air when he was trying to reach for his mother's hand.
"WHY?!" Gan Xie Le rebelled punching the wood floor. "XIN'ER DID NOTHING WRONG! HE FOUND THE JADE RING DIDN'T HE?!"
The generals of Wei Zhuang including Gan Luo Yi can only witness the scene, unable to do anything.
"He only brought me a step closer to the Jade Ring" the queen returned to her throne, crossing her legs elegantly. "I lightened his punishment didn't I?"
"I COULD HAVE KILLED HIM IF HE RETURNED WITH AN EMPTY HAND!!"
The queen raised her left hand upwards as Gan Xie Le was lifted to the air and started invisibly getting strangled.
"Gan Xie Le was careless of her words, Gan Luo Yi hoped that Your Majesty can forgive her" he begged, bowing to the ground repeatedly.
"General Gan Luo Yi, you on the other hand" she lifted the general, smiling. "Better find the cure of the foxglove poison fast before me and Wei Zhuang lose their patience"
Gan Luo Yi was choked to the level where his facial veins appeared, proving that he's out of breath. He still managed to place his palms on each other and bow his head down as he tried speaking.
"Your command is my wish,"
The queen broke onto a smirk. "A Wei Zhuang general indeed"
The couple fell to the floor, hard.