It had been 4 days since Prince Ke left the Song capital city.
He should have already made it to the Song-Jin border to reunite with his Jin tribe. But he did not show up yet. Uncle Bai and the Jin emperor had been waiting for him for 2 days already. They knew something was wrong, very wrong. The Jin emperor sent a troop with Uncle Bai and Qian Qian to go scout out the roads that Prince Ke would have traveled, to see if they could find him. He was their top spy, their prince, their future leader, their hope, and undoubtedly the one who had all first-hand information about the opponent. They could not risk losing him under any circumstances.
Qian Qian was very smart. She remembered seeing Prince ZiShu and Prince Ke's interaction at the Fragrant Saloon, and she could tell they were very close. As long as prince ZiShu did not know about prince Ke's identity, he would be the best choice to help them find and rescue their prince, should anybody want to harm him. And so she disguised as a maid and sneaked into the Song palace, first to see if anything big was happening - meaning they had discovered prince Ke's identity - or if things were quiet - meaning they had not.
The palace was extremely quiet. Prince ZiShu's pavilion was even quieter, morbidly so. After Cao died and Ah Xiang got locked up, the prince felt guilt and remorse, and had since stopped teaching classes to his servants. Once Lao Wen left the capital city, the prince further halted his nightly chess games, his flute playing, and his walks under the moonlight, all of which he used to enjoy with his prime minister. It was as though the prince's pavilion had become a dead town.
The royal palace was huge. But using the maps that Wen Ke Xing drew for them, during his weekly meetups with Uncle Bai at their wood shed, Qian Qian easily found her way to prince ZiShu's chamber.
She knocked on his door and announced that she had brought tea. The prince signaled her to enter, and to leave the tea on the table and dismiss herself.
She stepped into the room, and through the privacy curtains, she saw the prince was lying in bed. He looked like he was fighting some kind of pain. That's right, it was raining outside, only a drizzly fine mist, but raining nevertheless. It was the fall season, and rain was common.
The humidity triggered his arthritis. She felt the urge to use this excellent opportunity to assassinate him, as Wen Ke Xing had told them that he could not even stand up on his left leg when the pain emerged.
So she put the tea down, "Prince, would you like me to summon the imperial doctor? You look like you could use his assistance." She walked closer.
"No"
"Can I bring you any medication?" She said as she pulled out her sets of 3 small daggers, one set per hand.
"I have some on me, I'll take them before I sleep. It's too early now, I don't want to sleep yet."
"Can I get you anything else?" She asked, lifting her 2 hands and 2 arms, and preparing to throw the 6 daggers at the prince at any moment. She was targeting his chest. If anyone of the 6 daggers pierced his heart's artery...
" ... Can you... go ask around if Prime Minister Wen had any update or news? I worry about him. He should be over there by now... Or heading back soon."
Qian Qian realized prince ZiShu didn't know that prince Ke had been delayed. She lowered the daggers for a moment, and decided to resume her original plan instead.
"Prince, I heard from other servants that the minister did not make it to the border, they think he might be in some kind of danger. Should you send somebody to go look for him?"
The prince immediately sat up from his lying position in bed, and let out a gasp of pain from the sudden move.
"... Bring me some ice right away, I need to wrap it around my knee. Ask the staff to get my Sweats Blood horse 汗血馬 - get him ready, gather my sword, some water and dry food, I need everything all set within the half hour, hurry up. Quick! Don't tell anybody else, I need to go alone." The prince commanded.
