Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume #1)

109 A New Trend

While the two dragons worried about their king, Hong Bao went to the God of War's palace to get the dagger Yin Lin Lin had told her about. She stood in front of the gate but didn't know what to do. She had the resolution to accomplish the task but ... Where was that study? How would she find it? She had never been here but she couldn't waste any time! Shun Tao needed her help as soon as possible.
The two Heavenly Guards next to the gate exchanged a glance. Looking at her dress, this woman was obviously a servant girl. But why was she standing in front of the God of War's palace? They waited to see if she would announce her identity and tell them what she wanted but nothing happened.
One of them couldn't take it any longer. He cleared his throat and looked over, effectively pulling Hong Bao out of her thoughts.
She grinned and hurried over to him. "You look like you know your way around here!"
The Heavenly Guard glanced at his armor and then looked back up at her. He was obviously a guard at the God of War's palace. Why was she talking to him as if he was a random passerby?
"It's like this: I'm new here and I got lost on my way. Could you point me to the study of the God of War?"
"The God of War's study?" The god raised his brows but still pointed her in the direction. "It's over there. Just ask again when you're inside, else you'd get lost again."
"Thank you, big brother!" Hong Bao smiled at him again and hurried to the building. She couldn't lose even one second. She had to save Shun Tao as soon as possible!
"Hm ..." The god watched her leave. "Why would she go to the God of War's study if she's new?"
"Maybe it's some kind of new trend?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" He turned around to the other god but the man only shrugged.
"You know, an accomplished man in a good position and a servant girl."
"Why would that be a trend?" He furrowed his brow. Could something like that even become a trend?
"Well, the Fate's Scribe did it. Why not the God of War?"
"What did the Fate's Scribe do?"
"You don't know about that? Let me tell you, it's like this ..." And thus, while Hong Bao was on her way to save the love of her life, the rumors about her and Shun Tao were once again brought up. She had even managed to create another rumor at the side.
Hong Bao asked every second guard she met to make sure that she didn't go the wrong way and lose some of the precious time she needed to save Shun Tao. One day wasn't long and more than half of it had already passed. In fact, night would soon fall.
Following the directions given by yet another one of them, Hong Bao finally arrived in front of Qiang Yan's study. She looked around sneakily but nobody could be seen. The God of War didn't seem to be in and there were no guards around either.
Hong Bao smiled brightly. How could she have this much luck? Heaven had to be on her side!
She crept up to the window next to the study and peeked into the courtyard. The building that Yin Lin Lin had described to her stood right in the middle of the courtyard and couldn't be overlooked. It wasn't what Hong Bao had imagined though.
The building out there was small, not much bigger than the entrance hall she had passed through earlier. It wasn't pretty either. The roof was a little arched but that was everything. There were no stone carvings, not even any lacquered wooden beams or anything. In fact, the building didn't even have windows.
Hong Bao pursed her lips. "Why would anyone build such a thing in the middle of his courtyard? Wouldn't that be a waste? You have such a big palace, why don't you store your things somewhere else? You could have planted some flowers here or build a pavilion for drinking tea or something like all the other gods are doing it." She shook her head. As a servant girl, she had been to a lot of the palaces in the capital already, delivering messages or bringing things over. She had seen many beautiful buildings and gardens.
Even if she didn't consider that building, Hong Bao still felt that the God of War's courtyard was of a rather low standard. There weren't any intricate paths with bright red beams holding up a beautifully decorated roof or those strange-looking stone-statues. He didn't have a pond either. There was only a paved square paved with big stone slabs. Only the outer most part of the courtyard actually had a little bit of green. There were some low trees and several big bushes. They weren't very pretty though.
Hong Bao shook her head. Whatever. If the God of War had no taste, it wasn't her problem. No, she had to take care of her task now and save Shun Tao. She couldn't see anyone in the courtyard and when she looked the corridor up and down again, it was the same. Heaven really was helping her. She should make use of the situation!
With that thought, Hong Bao slipped through the door a few steps down the corridor and entered the courtyard.