How To Polish A Pearl

Chapter 91 - Reporting (1)

Author's Notes:

Strap in, the beginning of the end starts now. We still have some way to go, but it all starts now.

Also - guess who's back?

⊂ (▀▿▀) つ

The memories from the night before are vivid inside his dreams. His heart flutter in a way that makes Zhou Zi Shu reluctant to wake up. He wants to stay in this feeling of warmth and belonging, just like he had felt when he was wrapped around Wen Ke Xing in the hot spring. Edged in his mind is the view of his man gazing back at him through dark eyes and the single sliver of moonlight illuminating half of him. The air around that ethereal face sparkling like black diamonds curtsey of the frosted flakes dancing around them.

Slowly, the warm feeling is replaced with a cold one and Zhou Zi Shu takes a few deep breaths of the winter air that has crept deeper and deeper into the bed chamber during the night. Since they hadn't found Wen Ke Xing's clothes when it was time to head back home, not that they had spent any real time looking, they had decided on Hua Men instead of Jianchan. It was closer, it was snowing and it had no guards.

It was the first night that they had spent in his pavilion since they had gotten back from Wuming and he started to understand why Wen Ke Xing had insisted they stay in Jianchan instead. That bed chamber had a natural flue which meant they could keep a fire throughout the night. Not that he generally needed one sleeping next to his man these days, since he wasn't that cold anymore.

Slowly his brain registers that it isn't just the winter air that is making him feel colder than usual. For the first time, in what feels like an eternity−the bed is cold. Wen Ke Xing is not plastered to his back. Nor is he wrapped within those long limbs. Blinking sleepily, Zhou Zi Shu can tell that he hasn't slept longer than usual by the natural light that is reflecting partly up the stone walls. Where did he go? Why didn't he wake me up?

Rubbing his hazy eyes, Zhou Zi Shu rolls out of bed along with the blanket and wraps it around himself as protection against the freezing air. The floor is bone chilling and he skips on his toes, even using part of his qi, across the floor towards his boots. It's going to take me an hour in the hot spring to get back to normal body temperature.

In reality, that hour is less than ten minutes. Zhou Zi Shu walks out from the hot spring dressed in a dark grey thick silk robe, his right hand trying to dry the last of the wet hair with a red towel. He feels restless and wants to go check why Wen Ke Xing had not woken him up before leaving earlier than normal that morning.

"Nu Zhuren!"

Daiyu's voice surprises him into a halt, the red towel left hanging on top of his head. He turns to see his maid placing the last of his breakfast dishes onto the table along with his usual hibiscus infused white tea.

She turns and walks slowly towards him before she catches herself. Halting a few steps in front of him, her voice as soft as her smile, "Nu Zhuren, you're back!"

Still with the red towel on his head, his voice is as firm as his eyes, "Daiyu, what are you doing here?"

"I heard the kitchen maids say that Guzhu ordered food to be sent here. So−here I am!" Her smile is wide and she takes one step closer to him, which means she is now looking up at him with her almond shaped eyes. "No one knows what you like in the morning as well as I do."

She pulls the towel off his head and Zhou Zi Shu swears that he hears a giggle. "Do you want to eat first or do you want me to fix your hair first?"

For a few seconds, Zhou Zi Shu contemplates if he is faster at fixing his own hair but realize that getting Daiyu to help him is probably the fastest way to be out the door. "You can help me with the hair. Thank you, Daiyu."

He sits down in front of the mirror and stares at his reflection, momentarily lost in thought. He shifts his eyes to meet Daiyu's, his voice soft but determined, "Daiyu, can you make a different hairstyle for me today?"

Daiyu tilts her head but nods, "Of course, what do you want?"

"Top knot."

Zhou Zi Shu has already looked away and misses the subtle shift in her eyes. His thoughts partly muddled from last night and the memories that had surfaced when he had kissed Wen Ke Xing under the cover of darkness. But he is also focused on what is to come in two days when he is scheduled to return to Wu Ming. Well−the appearance of returning.

"Nu Zhuren!"

"I'm sorry Daiyu, I wasn't listening. What did you say?"

Daiyu's voice is just a little bit frustrated but mostly curious, "What do you think of your hair?"

When Zhou Zi Shu's eyes focus on the reflection, he can't take his eyes off the man staring back at him. The man that is his former self. The man that he has slowly been learning about for the past weeks. The man that is as ruthless as his husband, if not more.

"Thanks, Daiyu." Unceremoniously, Zhou Zi Shu stands up and walks over to the table. He chugs down a cup of the tea so fast he doesn't even have time to enjoy the flavor. Whilst the tea starts to warm him up, he grabs two hot steam buns, a black cloak and heads out the door. As soon as he is outside, he shifts and lets his QingGong carry him over the roof structures towards Jianchan. Back in Hua Men, Daiyu's lips are in a straight line, her eyes turbulent.

O.o

When Zhou Zi Shu walks into Kuai He, five ghosts are bowing in front of their Guigu Guzhu, their heads firmly against the cold stone floor. Wen Ke Xing is sitting on his stone throne, the purple robe flowing around him. A large black crown has been fixed to the base of his ponytail to try and control the long black hair that is flowing down his back.

Without waiting, Zhou Zi Shu walks past them up on the platform to takes a seat next to his husband, his face marble as always.

"And where is the letter now?" Wen Ke Xing's eyes are hard like steel as he bores them into the leader of these underlings. The only thing that tells Zhou Zi Shu that his husband is frustrated, are the slightly parted lips. The rest of his face is pure Guigu Guzhu.

"We believe she must have somehow already delivered the letter, we just don't know how. We have been watching her at all times since the letter was handed over by Shanyuan."

The ghosts know that they will likely die for their mistake. Even though they have served Guzhu ever since before he climbed to the top, he isn't known for second chances.

They are his elite force that has always been guarding Zhou Zi Shu, ever since he started venturing outside Wu Ying in search of the herb. The ghosts that had covertly been around during their entire stay at Wuming. The ghosts that had been ordered to stay behind to monitor Shanyuan for the inevitable communication with Hongtao Huanghou.

Wen Ke Xing looks to his right and into those cold walnut eyes, "Ah-Xu~ What do you want to do? Do you want to question the maid or do you want to wait? The message has been delivered, which is all we really wanted."

Even though Zhou Zi Shu was late to the reporting, he believes that he has a grasp on the situation and thinks for only a few seconds before responding. His tone is flat and his expression unimpressed, "Let's not tip her off in case she tracks her servants. Leave her for now but keep her under strict surveillance."

"Yes, Nu Zhuren."

The leader of the elite ghosts looks from his Nu Zhuren to his Guzhu from behind the white mask, who nods and dismisses them with a wave of his hand, "Leave." The ghosts show nothing as they stand up and move in formation through the door with their leader at the front. They wouldn't be elite if they did.

As soon as the door closes behind them, Ah-Xiang, who has been watching from the side throughout the reporting, steps into the light of the candelabras with an unreadable expression on her face. She briskly walks onto the platform and stands in front of the two men on the stone throne, her eyes boring into Wen Ke Xing.

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