Ten Thousand Books, But Only One You

15 Create Something From Nothing

Chapter 15: Create Something From Nothing[1]

"I have just received some information about where Zhanpeng-shixiong may be," Ruijie announced as he entered the side hall where Fu Wanxi and I were enjoying a plate of osmanthus and almond cakes paired with green tea.

Both of us glanced up in surprise—but for different reasons. For Fu Wanxi, it was probably because she had not expected to hear about Zhanpeng so soon, especially not in a large populous city. For me, it was because I thought that we had agreed to release this "news" only after the celebration of the Moon Festival tonight.

"You've managed to locate him so quickly?" Fu Wanxi inquired, her mouth still full with the large bite of osmanthus cake that she had just taken. Placing down the half eaten cake on her plate, she hurriedly brushed the crumbs from her mouth and hands and looked at Ruijie with eyes full of hope.

"It's not that difficult to locate him." Ruijie sat down on the cushion with a shrug. "He has become a high ranking imperial guard so he is quite a high profile character now. At the moment, it won't be easy to approach him, so we need to come up with a plan to meet him."

"Shixiong has become an imperial guard? When? Why? How?"

Ruijie poured a cup of tea for Fu Wanxi as she swallowed her food hastily. "It seems that he has become a personal guard for the royal family. My informant said that Zhanpeng-shixiong has hidden his identity as a disciple of Wuchang Manor. If we approach him recklessly, it may put him in danger."

"But Father had taught us to never be involved in matters related to the imperial court or family," Fu Wanxi said softly, shaking her head in disbelief. "He said that we should never come close to the capital; and even if we do, to never get involved with its matters. So how could shixiong go against Wuchang Manor's creed?"

"Maybe the Sect Master had given Zhanpeng-shixiong this mission? If we insist on confronting him now, it would jeopardise the mission and put us all in danger."

"Secret mission? Why would Father give a mission that goes against our values?"

"Ah," I interjected, "if you knew the reason why then it would not be a secret mission anymore, would it?"

Fu Wanxi turned to look at me with her perplexed, doe-like eyes, searching my face for answers. "Can we still meet with him if he's in the palace?"

"He's not actually stationed in the palace. He's a personal guard for Anyang-junzhu,[3]" Ruijie clarified. "So he's actually in the residence of Prince Jing."

"That doesn't make it any much easier to approach him even if we can climb over the walls!"

"I have a plan on how we can meet with him without any suspicions," I offered, my mouth moving faster than my brain could catch up. "During the Moon Festival, everyone will be out on the streets celebrating—men, women, peasants and aristocrats. We just need to coincidentally bump into the junzhu's entourage. Shixiong would likely be somewhere near..."

"How we will find her in the crowd? And what if she doesn't leave the residence to attend the festival?" Fu Wanxi pondered intently before asking some very valid questions.

"Well, can we come up with a better plan then?" My mouth twisted into a grimace and my eyes sent Ruijie a signal for help. As part of the plot, Fu Wanxi and Liu Mengjie were eventually bound to have an encounter and they would become good friends, but I wasn't sure how we were going to make that happen as their meeting was not detailedly described in the book. In the book, the first time when both characters appeared in the same scene, they were already best friends after Fu Wanxi rescued Liu Mengjie from distress. Were we meant to be the catalysts for this plot point? If we didn't do anything, would the encounter not happen?