5 Sorting Things Out

"Don't go out again!" Lu Qing Yu whispered loudly from outside my window, after depositing me back in my room. I waved at him to go away as I felt about my bed again. Good. My cushions and note were still in place. No one noticed. I changed and stealthily put back my things before I fell asleep.

"Young Miss! Young miss! The Emperor sent some things over!" Qiu Le said excitedly, running into the room. In private, Qiu Ci and Qiu Le still called me young miss. I put down my spoonful of soup slowly and flipped a page in the open book. As soon as I got up, I asked them where Ling Yue – er, where I usually kept my military strategy and martial arts books. From what I remember, she should have been quite healthy.

I wasn't very fond of exercising besides a morning run every now and then, but I had no choice. After practicing a few moves which this body remembered, I felt a bit better. If I wanted to travel alone secretly, I had to be able to protect myself. It was too dangerous to be a woman in this world, especially after the wake-up call I had last night. After my meal, I went into the next room to look at the gifts.

Glittering boxes of fans and hairpins were open on the table as the eunuch preened expectantly. I hadn't expected him to actually replace my fan. My hairpins too, had been thrown out after having given their lives honourably last night. These things looked quite expensive. The palace sure spent money like water. "So... I choose one of each?" I asked. "No, Noble Concubine. All the boxes are for you." the eunuch replied. I gasped. This was too outrageous.

Never mind. Just accept them, Ling Yue. At least I can pawn or sell these off later. "This concubine thanks his Highness for the gifts." I said, and waved him away. Qiu Ci and Qiu Le couldn't stop talking excitedly once he was gone. "The Emperor never gives the harem anything, apart from the usual New Year's, Mid-Autumn and necessary gifts! Looks like he has taken notice of you! This is a good occasion!" they said.

I rummaged through the box, attempting to pick out some plainer hairpins and more durable fans to bring out with me. Unfortunately, they were all made with precious material and weren't very suitable. "Are there any plain hairpins?" I asked. They were stunned. "Young miss..." "I just uh... am taken to using them as weapons lately." "Everything young miss owns is of value, but this servant can get some made." "That will be fine, thanks." "What about the daggers young miss has already asked this servant to find?" "I need those too." I said.

That afternoon, I tried out archery in the field. Apparently, Ling Yue had a background. Indeed, even though my brain was fried, this body still had superb marksmanship. In my previous world, I was terrible at archery. Seems like training and constitution really made a difference. Nevertheless, I wasn't very comfortable with using the bow and arrow. Those daggers would be a better idea. Just stab or slash – how simple.

Qiu Ci watched her young miss practice vigorously in the field, and felt very emotional. Since she got engaged, her young miss had been putting less emphasis on training and more on the literary and feminine arts, not like it was any use to the emperor. Only she and Qiu Le knew how much her young miss loved fighting and training – why else would she insist to go to the battlefield with the 2nd young master?

She had been worried when she hit her head, but seems like she had decided to practice regularly again, though she also started mixing in odd moves and coming up with blueprints of new weapons for them. Other than those she found for her, designs were sent to the Ling family's blacksmith to produce for her. She had also been devouring books and painting at random timings, even late at night. More strangely, her painting style seemed to have totally changed. But at least she was more cheerful and spirited now.

I gleefully skipped across the bridge, candied apple in hand. Since that time, I had leveled up in sneaking out. I bought civilian clothes and immediately changed, burning my conspicuous clothes from the palace. I had been sitting outside for sometime, watching the sunset. Under the pretense of an afternoon nap that was not to be disturbed (unless the palace was burning down), I had snuck out again.

The capital was different in the afternoon than in the night. Obviously, there were more shops open, and it was safer. I had gone on a food tour, merrily jumping from one good restaurant to the next till I felt quite stuffed. Imagine my surprise when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Was I being attacked again? Immediately, I twisted around and shot my arm out to hit.

Lu Qing Yu glared back at me, dodging my punch. I hastily retracted my arm sheepishly. "What are you doing here?" I asked, looking around. The Emperor was in better than usual civilian clothes, and was accompanied by 2 noble-looking gentlemen. "Again? I should be asking you that." he said. Considering he wasn't in his dragon robes and there wasn't a huge crowd of people around him, I bet he snuck out too.

Not getting the response he anticipated, he gave up. "I sent someone to ask what you were doing. As soon as I heard it was an afternoon nap that was not to be disturbed, I knew you snuck out. Since I was heading out anyway, I came to look for you. Just come with us. It's not safe by yourself." he said, grabbing my arm. "Where are you guys going?" I asked as I was dragged along.

"So this is Noble Concubine Ling? You're as beautiful as the rumours say." the gentleman in green smiled. This guy looked a bit familiar, but I couldn't place where. "The gentleman is being too kind." I said. "We're heading to have some good food." the other gentleman added. With us all stopping here, we were attracting attention. The 3 of them were young and good looking. There would probably be trouble again.

We talked as I followed them back into their carriage, which was the first I had used since I arrived. I was surprised at how spacious it was, and how good the ventilation was, although getting into the carriage was a feat due to the high step and my long skirt. Apparently, the refreshing gentleman was Advisor Yi Rong, while the other gentleman was General Si Gui, both outstanding talents. The issue was, General Si Gui was familiar with the previous Ling Yue. Thankfully, we seemed to be rather similar – added to the excuse of having hit my head, I was able to avoid tough topics.

"You're really something." Lu Qing Yu commented, as he piled more food into my bowl. I obediently ate it. "Did you like the fans and hairpins I gave you?" he asked. I nodded. "Very sparkly, but I was looking for something a bit more durable and sharp. Nevertheless, I appreciate the thought."

Advisor Yi Rong spit out his tea, coughing violently. Tears leaked from his eyes. His initial elegant and refreshing face was now red and puffy. He was choking! General Si Gui hit his back, clearly helping, as Advisor Yi Rong coughed harder, raising his hand in thanks.

"It's working! Hit harder!" I called. Encouraged, General Si Gui hit even harder, looking proud of himself. I wasn't able to help him as men and women had to maintain a distance in this era. Unable to watch anymore, Lu Qing Yu stood up. "You two are both wrong! You aren't hitting the right part, so you're just hitting him. Move over!" he proclaimed, moving to Advisor Yi Rong's back. "Stand up!" he ordered.

Lu Qing Yu put his arms around Advisor Yi Rong's waist, which was fuzzy since these people wear layers of long and thing robes, clenched his fist between the (presumed) belly button and the button of his chest and pulled sharply upwards. "Ack!" Advisor Yi Rong hacked, and a half eaten tea cake flew out from his mouth, landing on the table. "Ah..." looking visibly relieved, Advisor Yi Rong sat own. I hurriedly handed him a cup of tea. He drank it then narrowed his eyes at General Si Gui. "You weren't helping!" he pointed out wretchedly.

"Who? Me? I was totally helping." General Si Gui said innocently. General Si Gui had affable looking features and a wide smile, such that if you didn't see what had just happened, you would definitely believe him. "Thanks for saving me, Your Highness." Advisor Yi Rong turned to Lu Qing Yu. "It's nothing." Speaking of which, wasn't that a very modern technique he used? I didn't know they had it in these times.

"How did you know how to do that?" I asked, impressed. "An Emperor should always be prepared. In the last war, I often had to camp out in the fields with the men, and anything could happen." he said. "Did you guys always know each other?" I asked curiously. "Yes, Advisor Yi Rong has been a friend of mine since I was a prince. He's a very talented scholar and become an advisor at a young age." Lu Qing Yu explained.

"Don't say that. I'm not young any longer. I already have 3 children." Advisor Yi Rong said. "Huh? 3 children? How old are you?" I asked. "I'm already 25." he replied, surprised at my question. Right. I forgot people typically got married between the ages of 15 to 18 here. "Oh, how is Yi Hui doing? What does he think of me?" General Si Gui chipped in. "Yi Hui... he's a bit hesitant..." Advisor Yi Rong said slowly. "What? What's wrong with me?"

I looked to Lu Qing Yu for answers. "Yi Hui is Advisor Yi Rong's eldest son, and is 8 years old this year. General Si Gui offered to mentor him in martial arts." he explained. I watched as they bickered and bantered without restraint. Advisor Yi Rong was tactful, cautious and orderly, but talked without restraint in front of these two. Meanwhile, General Si Gui was rambunctious, strong willed, and compassionate. The two of them made for an odd combination.

It turned out that these young masters enjoyed going out for some tea and catching up, just like friends did in my previous world. This revelation made me feel much better about potentially being stuck here. I had the impression young masters were stuck at home and surrounded by heaps of servants and weren't allowed to go out to do anything.