The Legend of Moonflower

Chapter 4 - Moonflower Assassin?

Translations and reminders: 

Shichen = A unit of time equal to two hours.

Xiao Hu = Little Tiger

The Palace of Supreme Cultivation = The emperor's palace

The Palace of Harmony and Light = Where the Jin convoy is staying

The rustling in the tree caused Lan Wangji to stop mid stride. The autumn leaves, already loose from the season, were now wholly knocked off from their branches from a presence in the trees. The emperor had Bichen raised even before Nie Huaisang was yelling for the guards.

"Assassin!" shouted the head eunuch coming to stand in front of the emperor.

Guards flooded in from all sides and formed a circle at the bottom of the tree where through the leftover foliage of leaves, they could see a swirl of black and red cloth.

Lan Wangji sighed and was about to lightly move his head eunuch aside, but he decided it was fruitless with all the other servants and guards in front of him. He knew all the palace servants were taught from a young age to sacrifice their life for their sovereign, but he was never one to agree with those lessons. He was fully capable of protecting himself and those around him.

"Come down from there immediately!" Nie Huaisang shouted. "You're fully surrounded."

It was but a second before the would-be assassin floated gracefully down from the tree.  In his hand, instead of a weapon, was a fluffy cat hissing and meowing ferociously.

"Now is that the way to treat your saviour," the man said to the cat. Although his tone was disapproving, his eyes crinkled up in merriment as he gazed fondly at the cat. The cat let out another disgruntled meow before settling in his arms with a grumpy face.

"Xiao Hu?" A concerned voice called out. In a flurry of deep blue robes, Nobleman Zizhen came running over. "Is that my Xiao Hu?"

"Xiao Hu? Well, you definitely act like the animal you were named for." The man in black stared down at the orange fluff ball that had started struggling and trying to fight him upon hearing his owner's voice. "I heard him meowing up in the tree," he said, handing the cat back to the nobleman.

Nie Huaisang cleared his throat loudly and both men turned to look at him. The eunuch took a step to the side and suddenly Ouyang Zizhen dropped to his knees. "Your m-majesty, he stammered. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you standing there."

"Your majesty?" the man in black blurted.

Ouyang Zizhen gave his black robe a hard yank and mouthed the word kneel to the man.

"Your majesty, please forgive me," the man said, quickly falling to his knees and bowing to the ground.

"Stand," Lan Wangji commanded.

Xiao Hu wriggled and the nobleman struggled to stand while trying to calm the cat.  The manservant giggled and leaned back down to help Ouyang Zizhen rise to his feet.   Lan Wangji took the opportunity to look the assassin turned cat saviour over. He was quite tall and very handsome, with large eyes, high cheekbones and a sharp jawline. The black robes he wore fit nicely on his lean frame, but what interested the emperor the most was the black flute tucked into the belt that cinched the man's small waist.

The breeze picked up, causing more leaves to fall and the man lifted his head to look up at them. Oddly, Lan Wangji caught a light scent of moonflowers. He looked around and frowned, as far as he knew the only ones still alive were in pots in his palace.