One Tail at a Time

Trial of the Spirit - 9

Leaning against his desk with a hardened glare in his eyes, General Liang listened carefully as his subordinate informed him of a riot that had hit the same tavern they had all but destroyed.  Apparently the owner had been blessed in the night with a bag of gold which he had determined came from the Gods.  And with the gold he had used it to rebuild his business which was now back up and running smoothly.  Only it seems that one of his soldiers had returned for the owners daughter only to be told that no such woman lived there, because he had no daughter.

It was such a common occurrence that normally he would have paid it no mind, after all, they were all young men with hearty libidos who fell in love with every woman their eyes fell on.  So it wasn't unusual for fights to break out when a pretty maiden passed their way.

Only something about the daughter had his mind going back over that day with a deep frown now etching his brow.  The main reason being, was why a young girl would even be in that kind of establishment and secondly, why she would lie.  Only women of ill repute worked in those kinds of taverns and none would turn down the chance to earn more money by lying, which only had him thinking harder about the young woman he himself had seen.

She had certainly been a rare beauty, and of course a woman with her looks could start a war, but he had a hunch and a very strong one.  The boy that had been seen by several witnesses entering the tavern, could not be found, even though it had been surrounded almost immediately.  There was only one way in and with a clear picture in the minds of his guards, tehy all knew who they were looking for.  So for this boy to suddenly disappear without a trail had his mind now moving to the woman.

The woman his soldier had see, had been in a state of undress, her bust had been visible or so he said, but what he detailed most clearly was her face.  According him, she was angel on earth, exceptionally beautiful with a face one would not forget too easily.  Which brought to mind the woman he himself had seen.  She too had been exceptionally beautiful, enough to hold his gaze longer than necessary, only she had been in a maids outfit and according to the young man kneeling before him, the tavern only had three maids and none of them came close to describing what he and that soldier had seen.

So that left him with only one explanation.  Te woman and the boy, were one and the same.

And that instantly had him creating a profile.  If she was really that boy, then not only was she sharp of mind, but she had broken several laws.  War scavenging was a crime, as was making a profit from the dead.  But dressing as a male was an even worse crime and could see her stripped, whipped and hung.   And that didn't even come close to what she might have to do with the disappearance of the Crown Prince which would not only see her whipped and hung, but she would be tortured for months before she would be allowed to die.  

This was the law.  No one was exempt from hurting the royal family, even by association, only he had a strong suspicion that she might be working alone.  The more people involved in a crime, the more likely they were to be caught, that was why he was highly suspicious of the woman he and his soldier had seen.  It made no sense to lie, much less hide in the abolution block pretending to wipe up urine while claiming to the tavern owners daughter when she wasn't.

And the more he thought about that, the more he realized he was up against a mind that might actually be very difficult to counter.  She was obviously educated going by how quickly she was able to navigate around his men without getting caught.  She was also fearless, in that she not only thought on her feet despite the enormous risk she faced, but being both, meant she was possibly going to be his most difficult adversary yet.

And that wasn't all that was bothering him. Prince Mo Yuan was just as intelligent and fearless, after all he entered his army under disguise and literally got away with it.  But even more concerning, was the mans mischief which was legendary.  There was a possibility that Mo Yuan had chosen to hide himself and was using the girl to sell his priceless belongings for goodness knows what end.  After all, not many of the pawn shop owners would care where they got their riches even if they recognized the Emperial ring or sword, to them it was just business.  So there was that possibility he also had to consider which was not likely, but couldn't be ruled out.