Chapter 11

Dong Manor;

A few days later, Boran was seen walking down the halls of his manor towards the front exit.

"Boran piao-ge!" Lushi chased after him.

He turns over his right shoulders and saw her coming in, "What?" He stops for her to catch up to him.

"Where are you going?" She asked and grabs hold of his right arm, out of breath. “I want to go too!”

"… A child like you, just be a good girl and stay home." He begins to again.

Lushi frowns, "I'm not a little child no more! You're so mean!" She squeezed his arm and he flinches in pain.

"Aiya!" He gasped and shakes her hands off his arm. "That hurted!" He rubs his right arm with his left hand with a sour expression.

They were close cousins who grew up together. He always loved teasing her regardless what her response was.

Lushi crossed her arms on her chest, "Humph!" She looks away.

Boran knew his teasing went a little far, "Hao le, what do you want?" He tried to sugar coat her.

She peeks at him with a cute frown for a moment. "... I know that you are going into town today, and I need some stuff... So, I was wondering if you can take me with you?" She said and grabs his right arm again, gently this time.

Boran debated for a quick second in his head, "But..." He paused.

"But what?!?" Her eyes flustered in sadness.

"I'm not going out to play. I'm going to meet with Weiting and talk about important things."

"I'm fine with it! We can meet him together and then head out to play." She smiles ear to ear.

"No, if your parents find out that you're here, they'd come drag you home." He tried to scare her by using her parents.

"Using my parents on me won't work..." Her eyes squenced at him, "And they won't find out because I'm dressed different today!" She added in and showed him her outfit. She twirled around a few times and then stops. "How do I look?"

She was dressed as a young man today: a green robe with her hair done neatly into a high ponytail on her head. He took a quick glance at her and shakes his head.

"No, you still look like a girl. Stay here and be good." He said and turns to walk away.

"Wait!" She stops him by grabbing his arm again, "I have to go with you!"

"No, how about this, I'll have Su-Su go with you instead." He mentioned one of the Dong's manor servants name.

"No!" She shakes her head side to side. "I want to go with you!"

"... Madam Yan?" He whispered and she shakes her head again. "This can't do... I really can't take you along with me." He frowns at her, kindly.

"I'll be good! You won’t even notice me with you!!" She continued to beg, "Please, please, please!" She rubs her hands together.

Boran grew annoyed of her high-pitched tone of voice, and he knew for sure that even if he leaves without her, she will find a way to track him down.

"Hao le," He silenced her. "... But you must be good and listen to me," He sighs as he gave in.

"Yah!" She jumps with joy. "Let's go," She yelled and pushes him out the front. "Don't worry! I'll be on my best side today!"

Sunshine Restaurant;

Just a few blocks away from the Dong Manor stationed a huge, well known restaurant called Sunshine.

 "Wait for me!" Lushi hops down from the carriage after Boran.

He sighs deeply and then turns to face her. "Listen, I have to meet Weiting here, you can go and shop over there for a few hours and meet me back here." Boran gave her directions.

"No! Why can't I go in to see Weiting too? It’s been a while since I last saw him, I want to say hi at least." She asked and placed her hands on her hips.

“No,”

"What's so secretive that you and Weiting Ge have to exclude me?"

"Because," He paused and bit his lips. "... Why do I have to tell you? It's adult stuff... You promised me that you were going to listen to me if I bring you along... What's this? You want to go back to my Manor and be locked down?"

She rolls her eyes and looks away.

"… Xiao Feng," He calls over his servant as he raises his right hand for him to come over and take her back to the Dong Manor.

"Yes sir," His servant bows.

"Eh!" Lushi gasped and grabs his right hand to bring it down, "Hao le, I will go play on my own! No need to be so mean." Her eyes furrowed in annoyance.

Boran smirks, "Go," He points with his eyes.

"I will! Humph," She sneered and turns to leave like a grumpy little child.

Boran laughs at her secretly as he watched her leave the area and walks through the front doors of the restaurant. There was loud music of the zither, flute and drums playing in the background as a group of beautiful women dressed in lacy outfits were seen dancing in the middle of a stage, held on the first level hall.

Older men were seen sitting at their tables drinking wine and chatting with smiles across their faces, as they watched the group of women perform.

"Mr. Dong," The middle aged female owner of the restaurant walks over, waving her pink laced handkerchief in the air, "You're here," Her voice was so high pitched and sweet it almost gave him a few cavities.

She was happy to see him again.

"Madam Cui," He greeted her with a bright smile.

She was dressed in a hot pink lacy outfit that showed the line of her . Although her age was a lot older than all the girls in the room, her beauty was still youthful to the public's eye.

"Here to meet your friend again?" She said as she wraps her small right hand around his left arm.

Boran was a regular customer there.

"Yes," He nods.

Madam Cui walks him over to the stair case that traveled up to the second level, "He's in VIP room on the second floor to the right." She said and releases his arm. "Aiyo, I say," She paused with her hands on her hips, "You have to make better friends."

"What did he do this time?" Boran crossed his arms on his chest. "Did he hurt your feelings again? Aiyo~ let me guess how did he anger our young pretty looking madam Cui," He flattered her for a moment.

She blushed from his flirting, "You~ always know what to say to me..." She swayed her voice and gently hits him on the arm, "Hao le, I was just saying... This friend of yours is too cold. He doesn't react to anything I say." She said and threw her lacy handkerchief onto her chest.

"He's like that. Don't mind him."

"Aiyo, if I didn't know better, I might think he likes you, seeing that he only listens to you..." She joked about his friend and they both laughed it off, "Hao le, hurry up and go see him. If I keep you any longer down here, he might blame me. I'll have the servant bring you one of our house special wine to enjoy." She joked and turns to leave his presence.

Boran turns to walk up the stair case that held about 56 steps, he counts it every time he goes there, to reach the second floor.

"You're here?" Weiting saw him coming through the door to their VIP room.

"You waited long?" Boran asked as he closed the door behind him and walks over. "Sorry, I was held up." He takes his seat.

"It's okay." Weiting frowns and places his cup of wine onto the table in between them. "I didn't wait long." His eyes were calm, it seemed.

As they both adjusted themselves to a comfort spot, Boran pulls out from his chest a yellow envelope, "Here," He reaches it over to Weiting. "Are you sure you want to look into it? The 4th Princess will be angry."

Weiting grabs the yellow envelope and shuffles it into his chest, "I don't care. I need to know the truth." He said and picks up his cup of wine again.

"Weiting." Boran called him and he stares over after sipping onto his wine. "It's been 5 years, don't you think... It's time to let go?" He looked worried for his friend.

"Let go?" He gave Boran a sturdy look. That word didn't exist in his book, "... If it was you, would be able to let go? If it was your family member, are you willing to let go?"

Boran bit his teeth together with annoyance. Of course, he understood Weiting’s feelings, but he still felt like something is going to happen if Weiting was to stick his nose too deep into the problem.

"I thought you didn't like Princess Taiyang? Why are you getting involved in something that you shouldn't be involved in?"

Weiting had previously asked for Boran to help him look into Taiyang's murder case. To try to find anything that could link anyone or anything, just something, anything!

"I never said I hated her." He glared and sat his cup back onto the table, pouring more wine into the cup. “Why does everyone think I hate her?”

“Who else said so?” Boran asked, looking a bit curious.

Weiting didn’t reply and instead he took another shot of his cup of wine.

"Even so, I don't think this is something you should involve yourself into. 4th princess already told you to wait... Wait a little more. She will find evidence!"

"Boran, you've known me since we were kids. My temper, you how it is... Taiyang was someone I treated with respect because her heart was pure and innocent." He explained. “She was someone special to me. Although I harbored no feelings towards her…” He paused for a moment and then picks up his words, “I think the right thing to do is find the murder and seek justice for her. Because we all know very well that she didn't die of a sickness.”

“... Is that why you gave her a Chan family memorial offering?” Boran asked and he looks over with alluring eyes.

Boran smiles, “You claim that you didn’t have any feelings for her, but you went ahead and did the Chan family memorial offering for her… She wasn’t your legal wife, why did you do it? Isn’t it against to do it outside your family?”

There were too many things that couldn’t be done outside the Chan family. They had a lot of traditions and rules! But everything was on the table now. Weiting rolls his fingers onto his lap and takes in a deep breath.

“Yes, she wasn’t my legal wife, but I had the responsibility of protecting her like family… I feel like, giving her that offering was the least I could do to make her feel not alone….”

Boran felt a kind of warm sensation overcoming his body, just by hearing those words.

“But if you think about it, she was basically like my wife.” Weiting’s eyes glittered in the dim light to the side.

25 years of their friendship, this was the first time Boran ever witnessed Weiting’s soft side. To hear that he acknowledges a woman as his wife was something different! Boran knew Weiting had carried some kind of feelings towards Taiyang to feel that way. He felt happy for his friend.

“Hao le,” Boran broke the ice between them, “In the envelope I wrote down the names of the maids that served Taiyang the day she was poisoned…. It was hard to get it, but I managed to ask Ke Chi to make a copy of the list for me... Some of the maids on list already passed away, but there are 3 that are still alive… You can start there.”

Weiting looks back over to him.

“Cui Ning, Ling-Er and…” He gave the names of the maids.

“And?”

“Taiyang’s personal maid… Cui Feng,”

Cui Feng was still alive after all these years, it made Weiting feel a bit hopeful.

“Cui Feng?” Weiting sighs. “Yes, she was there. She was the one who told everyone that Ruyang was the one who made the soup, blaming me that I had a servant deliver it to her… Cui Feng must have noticed something off, she had to.” He rubs his right fingers together as he leans to the side of the table.

“Then… Why is princess Feiyang being blamed when Ruyang was the one who served the soup?” Boran thought as he rubs his chin, “Could it be… They both played a part in it? Ruyang became the Crown Princess… And Feiyang wanted to be it too…”

They both thought long and hard on the matter.

“Regardless, I think finding these maids first and questioning them will have to be the first step.”

“Hao,” Boran nods, “I will help you. I--”

“No,” Weiting shakes his head as he stops him. “I need you to do something else for me.”

“What?”

“I need you to go to Luo City.”

“Why?”

“I received information from someone there. My father might have gone there to seek refuge after the battle in the south… There are words describing my father’s uniform being spotted in Luo City.”

Weiting couldn’t travel out the Main capital at the moment since he had just arrived back home and because there are too many eyes set on him because of the recently royal decree the Emperor had bestowed on him. He could only ask Boran to make the travel for him.

“His armor?” Boran’s eyes widen a bit. “Why would his armor be there of all places?”

Luo City is known to be a city with outlaws living. It was a dangerous place to be in!

“You don't know, and less you know, the better for yourself... But I need you to make the trip there for me. I can’t trust anyone else for this task. I’ll have to bother you for a few more days…”

“Oh, no worries! I will set out tomorrow morning then.”

“Thank you,” Weiting thanked him and they both took in more wine.

An hour later, Weiting and Boran exits the restaurant after having lunch together.

Weiting headed towards his carriage and turns to look at Boran, “I’m counting on you,”

“Don’t worry. We’re friends, I will definitely help you!” Boran slightly jabbed his left arm to rest his friends worrying heart.

Weiting nods and climbs into his carriage. “Oh, and tell Lushi I say hi.” He peeks out his windows.

“I will,” Boran waves and watched as his carriage returns back to the Chan Manor.

Boran watched as his friend’s carriage disappeared down the path way and he then roams his eyes around the area with his hands at his waist.

“Speaking of Lushi, where is she?” He looked around for her. "She's late," He noticed the Sun high in the sky that afternoon.

Lushi was doing some alone shopping in the nearby market for the last hour and half. She had bought a few things and eaten a few snacks along the way. She giggles as she walks upon some masks that she found interesting. They were in many different colors: yellow, black, red, orange, white and green.

“Oh, green!” She picks a pretty mask off the rack and holds it up against her face to try it.

It was a pretty green mask that had pink flowers on the left side cheek. It could go both ways for a man to wear and a woman as well.

“Buy a mask!” The old owner of the stall smiles at her. “They’re all handmade by me… Look! It matches your robe, young master,” He completed her.

“Young master?” She thought and smiled. “Tsk… And he said I didn’t look like a man today.” She whispers to herself and turns back to the old man, “Hao, I’ll buy this mask!” She said and handed the old man a few copper coins.

She skips down the road with her bags and the mask on her face, heading back to the restaurant to meet up with Boran when suddenly she heard a crashing noise coming ahead of her that stopped her movement completely. Lushi saw a young woman dressed in a purple robe standing there in the middle of the road being yelled at by a middle aged herbal shop owner.

“You sold me some rubbish! These plants are all rotten and spoil!” The middle-aged man screamed at the young woman.

“No, I didn’t!” She denied it, as she kept her cool.

“Then what do you call this?" He shook the dried out and spoiled herbs infront of her. "All the plants you sold to me a few days ago are already spoiled!” He threw the spoiled dirty plants into her face. “You probably did something to it and then sold them to me! I won’t buy from you ever again!” He growled loudly and everyone who walked by stared at them.

Lushi took off her mask and frowns, “This old hag!” She bit her lips. “How can he yell at a weak woman in broad daylight this? It’s so embarrassing!”

“I sold you well off herbs, I didn’t sell you anything spoiled!” She cried a little.

The middle-aged man rolls up his sleeves and approaches her with anger, “You’re raising your voice at me now huh? I’m the victim! Why I outta slap you for thinking that I’d be stupid enough to believe you!” The middle-aged man raised his hands and tried to slap her.

“N-No!” Lushi takes a few steps forward but noticed Boran stepping into the scene already. “Piao-Ge?” She stared at him.

“A man like yourself, hitting a weak woman in broad daylight?” He said with a manly voice, “Aren’t you embarrassed?” His eyes glazed into the middle-aged man’s eyes.

“W-Who are you? Don’t stick your nose into someone else’s business!”

The young woman peeks at Boran and noticed who he was right away.

Boran was holding the older man’s right hand in the air with his left hand, “Are you okay?” He peeks over his right shoulders noticing the young woman as well.

“Y-You… I’m fine,” She replied and brushed her eyes back to the ground in embarrassment.

It was the same young woman who he had saved previously, a few days ago in the bamboo woods.