The Emperor Chases His Wife

Chapter XVII

CHAPTER XVII: I'm Not Going

Five days flashed by in an instant.

It had been five days since Huang's engagement to the Crown Prince and the Great Merchant's manor had been a flurry of activity. Guests were constantly flowing in and out of the residence and there was always a banquet being held in the large dinner hall.

Since there were so many people visiting at a time, the Emperor had sent a few of the imperial guards to the Merchant's manor to search the guests going in and out of the manor.

To Nian, this was a nuisance.

She thought she would have been able to sneak out with just her father's usual security but with the imperial guards also present, it was impossible. So much to her frustrations, she was stuck at the manor for five days.

But even though she was stuck, she did benefit a lot.

The constant activity meant that everyone in the manor was busy and on their best behaviors. Nian's siblings paid little to no attention to her and since Madam Shanghai was to be the hostess of all the events, she couldn't pull any tricks from her sleeves so Nian was left to her own devices.

The meals prepared in the kitchen were top notch and while Qing and Nian got the leftovers, to them it felt like they had entered the palace and were sitting on a table next to the Emperor himself.

Nian had gained a little on her skinny bones and her cuts and bruises had healed and many were already starting to scab.

It had also been five days since Liuyun had left Nian standing on the roof. Although she had felt strangely empty at the time, she brushed aside the feelings and continued on.

Why should she care about a hot tempered prince?

That night, she was lying on her bed and reading with the light of a candle. She'd been absorbed in the book Qing had managed to sneak out of the manor library so she was unaware of the shadow which landed on her roof.

Tap. Tap.

The soft noise from her window caused her to look up. It was quite late at night and as far as she knew, everyone was in the large dinner hall for another banquet. Had someone wrongly enter her courtyard and mistook it for the servant's quarters?

Nian frowned and swung her feet off the bed. Qing was lying on the floor near her bed but with a small mattress and a rug from a Four Horned Bear. Nian had helped her sneak it out of the manor while everyone was being entertained in the big hall. In fact, Nian and Qing had helped themselves to quite a bit.

The brought it two chairs and a small table, they got better dishes – not good enough to make the kitchen staff suspicious but not bad enough either – along with a thicker sheets and tiny mattresses.

Now they were a little more comfortable and while Nian still hated the idea of Qing sleeping on the floor, she was glad that the smaller girl wouldn't be catching a cold from the freezing wood at night.

Tap. Tap.

The sound came again.

Nian picked up the candle next to her bed and grabbed a small pocket knife she stole from one of the stable boys before slowly making her way towards the window.

One the other side of the window, the shadow let out a sigh of relief when he saw the shadow of Nian approaching from the other side. He reached into his clothes and brought out a two bamboo slips which were neatly stuck together and finely polished. Words were written vertically on them in neat characters with black ink.

His master had personally instructed him to hand this over to the girl. He didn't know what was written on the strips and he dared not to read it.

Nian was careful as she approached the window. Without a trace of fear she held the small knife out in front of her. She placed the candle on the sill before using her free hand to slide open the window, holding her knife in such a manner, that if she were to find anyone suspicious, she'd be quick to swipe at them.

And surely there was.

A man stood on the other side of the window dressed in all black. His hair was tied into a ponytail and Nian couldn't make out his face as a cloth covered everything but his eyes.

A cold feeling rushed through her.

Wasn't he one of the men who chased after her when she left the manor the first time? Why was he here?

Thinking that he was an assassin, Nian pulled her hand back before lashing out at him.

The shadow jumped back in shock and quickly avoided her path. Just as he thought he was in the clear, Nian turned her hand and swiped at him the other way.

What on earth...

Why was he being attacked? All he came to do was deliver a letter.

Surely, if the shadow was the one in Nian's shoes and he had been approached by himself, he would understand why the little girl was taking such violent actions against him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Nian pointed her sword towards his neck. "If you don't tell me I'll scream."

The security at the manor had doubled and several guards were on patrol. If she really was to scream and alert them, he'd be in trouble. Quickly he held out the bamboo slips to her.

"Miss, Prince Li sent me to deliver this to you." The shadow quickly blurted out.

Prince Li?

Nian raised a finely arched eyebrow in confusion. Why would Liuyun send a person dressed like an assassin to deliver a message to her? Was this person lying?

Noticing her suspicious gaze, the shadow took out a small jade token from his belt. It was the symbol of Prince Li. After seeing it, Nian was still a bit skeptical so she kept her hand aimed at the assassin as she took the bamboo slips from him.

The first thing she noticed was the neatly carved characters in black ink. The lines which formed them were full of confidence and even thought they were just words, the authority in them couldn't go unnoticed. But, under the dominance was a trace of gentleness. The words were carved with little to no effort and they were as delicate as a Lady of the Night.

This is how Prince Li writes?

Nian was a bit intrigued. When you heard of Prince Li you'd think he was someone with a bold and heavy writing. Instead, his writing could almost be compared to that of a distinguished princess of a royal family.

Shaking her head free of the thoughts, Nian focused on the words written.

'This king has sent Lei to get you. Meet me at the tea house. Li.'

Lei?

Nian looked up at the masked man. Qing had told her that Liuyun had four special bodyguards, Lei, Yun, Mu and Dian.

Lowering her knife, she stared at him sharply, still on her guard. "Are you Lei?"

Lei, who was under disguise, nodded his head. "Yes."

"Why does Liuyun want to see me?"

"I don't know Miss. His Highness' only orders were to deliver the message to you and take you to meet him."

"Where does he mean?"

With a lopsided smile Lei replied to her. "I'm sorry Miss. I can't say until we get there."

"Then I'm not going."Nian shoved the bamboo slips back at him and started to close the window.