Runaway Flounderers

3.Nobody Knows About My Nose

Wen Kexing left the royal chancery around twilight, in a plan to spy on some military officials to find out about the connivance in the selection process. He noted it down in his mind to scold his father about being too careless on this. Then again, maybe his father had already suspected this collusion and had purposely sent him to solve this.

He sighed as he walked the corridor with pillars intricately sculpted. The wind was blowing in a calming way and rustled his hair gently, the sinking sun turned the trees into stark shadows and the birds were chirping while rushing back to their nests. Yet, all that Wen Kexing could think was, "who knows how many cuckoos slipped their eggs into crows' nests, though it might not do any harm, don't they have conscience? should the crow always look out for scammers?". He sighed again and quickened his pace.

At his chamber, Wen Kexing was applying rouge, yes, a very pink colour on his pale cheeks. He was dressed in baby pink from top to bottom. The cloth had subtle patterns of flowers in white and a darker shade of pink .If a-qing in red gave a bold appearance, this version of a-qing looked innocent and attractive. Ofcourse Wen Kexing would never skip the lipstick, he picked a red that made his lips look subtle yet plumpy. His favourite part of disguising is choosing ornaments. since it'd soon be dark outside, he chose a long chain with silver and pearls and a thin silvery hip chain that'd make pleasant chiming sounds as he walked.

The evening bell rang throughout the street, half the crowd who had to travel far started moving while there were the others who went about as if they didn't hear it at all. Slowly, flocks of men dressed in leather armors filled the street. They were on their way to home after the daily drill. The lowest rank had only leather, the next rank had metallic silver lining while the higher ones had more metal coverings for extra protection.

Among the ten ministers of the Wen kingdom, Wen kexing was waiting for Yu Quifeng, the wealth and welfare minister. Why wen kexing was waiting for this minister instead of a military officer was because Yu Quifeng was a gossip king. From who got kicked out of the army to whose cow gave birth recently to even whose wife is having illegal affairs, he'd know everything. Ofcourse, for holding the minister position, he'd also dig out information about the surrounding kingdoms which comes quite handy at times.

 Wen kexing, having grown up around them, and also because of years of spying around and keeping check on his people, knew their whereabouts like the back of his hands. So, he was standing towards the far end of the street opposite to a pork dumpling shop. Even if Quifeng skipped the drill due to illness he'd still come to this shop for dumplings. Wen kexing had brought some exquisite wine from his chamber to bribe him for information, but who wouldn't be interested in good wine? so he had to hide the bag away till he spots him.

Meanwhile, the store next to him seemed chaotic and Wen Kexing naturally perked up his hearing sense. "ha! who are you trying to bluff with that crooked nose?! show me something natural atleast!"

"aiyah! trust me it's real!"

Wen kexing was baffled- Is someone selling noses under his nose?! That too not even ten streets away from the main palace?! Wen Kexing puffed out a breath and went there to see what's the commotion.

On seeing what it was about, Wen Kexing rather wished it had actually been noses that were sold. What people  argued on about were actually rough paintings of his disguised faces!

Someone had collected many of his appearances from parties and public conferences he coudn't evade from going. The crown prince's appearance was still a mystery to everyone. Some believed that the king actually had many sons but some did figure it out as the secret skill of the royal family. The one these people were talking about was from an emergency meeting for border safety. Wen kexing had been ill with cold and was sneezing continuosly which had messed up his fake nose. Though people trying to find out his true appearance was not controllable, he didn't expect them to be this curious and actively scrambling for clues.