THE BOOK OF SUBORDINATES

POV: Prince Liu Xie: lord of the crannies

LOCATION: The imperial palace in louyang and the crannies

TIME: Early in the morning till the mid afternoon.

After that nerve raking negotiation with general Hanfu Song, you find yourself unable to sleep due to every inch of your body shaking. At first you thought it was just a temporary glitch and that everything would easily get back in order but you realize you were wrong when lady Su comes to wake you up as per her usual custom.

"You are awake my prince?" She echoes in surprise

"I could not sleep." You reply truthfully

"And might I why?"

"I am making powerful enemies Su Min." You reply

"Men who has my father dancing around their every whim. How can I sleep when I know full well that they can come for me in the dead of the night? When I can feel their eyes watching me?"

"Are you referring to repercussions that might come from the deal you made with general song?"

"It's not just him that wants me dead Su Min." You answer

"You and I both know that."

She keeps quite for a bit and then looks you in the eyes and asks

"How was it you knew of general song's plan in the first place?"

"You and your scorpions informed me." You reply

"And how did you take over the northern gates?"

"Your scorpions infiltrated the guards and replaced them at the crucial moment."

You answer

"Is there a reason for these questions?"

Without answering, she slowly walks to the window, opens it and becons you to follow.

When you obey, she puts her finger to her lips and blows out a sound that sounds exactly like the sound that every stray raven that frequents the palace wall makes. In fact if it is not for the fact that this sound is made in front of you, you would have argued to hell and back that that is a raven's sound.

This skill is quite shocking to you but that shock is nothing compared to what comes up next.

At the sound of her bird call, faces you recognize suddenly begins to appear from out of thin air into your line of sight. You could not see the bodies at all but the faces were there and they were full of smiles towards you. You also notice that the faces have accurately and expertly angled the entire area.

"You created the lin kwei to serve as your personal protection against hidden daggers did you not?" Su Min inquires

"Well I believe that this little show of force will show you just how seriously we take that obligation."

She sounds her raven call again and you watch intently as the faces disappears right before your eyes.

"Rest assure my prince, as long as you are under our protection no dagger or poison no matter how well hidden or how well placed will ever get to you and if you feel eyes watching you, know that they are the eyes of the lin kwei watching to ensure your safety at all times."

She then walks to the door and says

"The Lin kwei never fails my prince. Remember this. Now get some rest."

As soon as she leaves, you could feel the tightness of your chest that has been bothering you all night, leave with her.

This makes your body to not only stop shaking but also to feel the need for the missed sleep.

You were about to address this need but an annoying pain in your right hand put a stop to that plan. Groaning with displeasure, you reluctantly pick up the red letter and stumble unto the following words.

Are you afraid professor?

You clear your eyes expecting to see the rest of the letter but it seems as though those were the only words in the letter.

Then suddenly for the first time since you arrived in this timeline, the words of the letter begins to change as though someone was writing on them.

Answer me.

"No." You reply aloud

"At least not anymore."

Good. Fear is a very potent weapon professor and that is exactly why it must remain in your hands and not in the hands of your enemies. A lion can not be seen to lose sleep over the actions of mere sheep.

You could not help but nod in support of that last statement.

Anyways, congratulations on your successful completion of the last mission. Your promised reward is right on top your desk. Due to the great risk you have taken I decided to throw an extra reward. Now however you have just aquired a large piece of land that you have absolutely no time to leave fallow.

Your Mission (should you choose to accept it) is to make the best use of your newly aquired land for either agricultural or commercial purposes. It must not be sold

Reward: A harvest unlike the likes you have ever seen and a new far hear ability.

As always if you fail this mission professor, I will make sure you die a horrible and painful death and I will personally make sure you suffer ten times more in the afterlife.

Keep in mind that this is the last year of peace that your country will see in a long long time. The year after this one will see all hell let lose and it is only the man with the suffient wealth and power that will survive. China will go up flames my friend will you survive?"

GOOD LUCK PROFESSOR

You place the letter on the table as its cold word drive all thought of sleep from your mind. You are quite curious about the new ability that the letter rewarded you but since you know that there is no possible way to know or test it out now, you decide to let the sleeping dog lie.

In desperation you pick up the book of subordinates and begin to glance through it. At first you find the book a little confusing due to its random arrangement but a little more focus and you slowly begin to get the sense of it. Feeling as though you can now understand the book, you start back at the beginning page and begin to read.

NAME: SU MIN

POSITION: Head of the lin kwei and leader of your secret guards

LOYALTY: Ninety five percent (willing to kill or die for you)

CLASS: Dual: can serve as either a spy or an assassin (rear)

ABILITIES: A gifted spy master who has established a large network of servants and spies with the ability of quickly gathering information from every conner of china.

SKILLS: Deception (level ten Max), one kill strike (level six), far hear (level three), stealth (level nine) and trap maker (level seven)

WEAKNESS: Stealth: your surbodinate stealth makes it impossible to use them in open warfare. They are best used under the cover of the night.

ADVICE: Keep this women alive professor. She would prove to be crucial to your future plans.

NAME: SHANG (NO FAMILY NAME)

POSITION: Co-manager of the free flower tavern

LOYALTY: Eighty percent (willing to follow you anywhere)

CLASS: Triple class: can serve as either an official, a general or a strategist (very rare)

ABILITIES: A gifted archer and strategist with the rare gift of being able to accurately anticipate and predict enemy's movement.

SKILLS: Far sight (level three), Clever planning (level one), sword mastery (level two), predictions (level two) and command (level one)

WEAKNESS: Indecision: your surbodinate do not have the mental fortitude to make emergency decision.

Shyness: your surbodinate shyness keeps him from being able to inspire command.

ADVICE: Your surbodinate has the mind of a child and children can be taught. Keep him close to you and then maybe your courage and tactics might help him improve himself. Please note that this is not certain.

NAME: XU CHU

POSITION: General of the crown prince militia

LOYALTY: Sixty five percent (trusts you with his life )

CLASS: Single- can serve as a competent general for your forces and an observant body guard(common)

ABILITIES: A strong, simple minded man who has the ability to train, coordinate and inspire all sorts of men to action.

SKILLS: Bull strength (level five), sword mastery (level two), command (level three), and taskmaster (level one).

NAME: MING (NO FAMILY NAME)

POSITION: Co- manager of the free flower tavern

LOYALTY: Fourty percent ( trusts you but not too much)

CLASS: Fourple can serve as a general, strategist, official or assassin (epic)

ABILITIES: A stubborn headstrong woman who is not only good in combat but is proficient at persuasion, intimidation, foresight and stealth.

SKILLS: Innate speed (level one), intimidation (level four), master swordsman (level two), stealth (possible), persuasion (level three), taskmaster (level four), and prediction (level three)

ADVICE: Having that headstrong and resentful woman on your side is like having a tiger on a leash. You must constantly look to see that she is on the leash lest she tears you and yours apart. My advice to you, if her loyalty is less than twenty percent kill her.

Well that was cold

You think as you close the book.

To say the rewards were surprising would be quite accurate because a lot of what you read in the book is quite surprising.

True you have always known that Su Min is loyal to you but the low loyalty rate of the others is downright shocking.

And what should you even say about Ming who Liu Su is practically asking you to kill?

"My prince." You turn to see Su Min standing by the door with a worried expression

"The older prince requests your. He has summoned you the training yard."

"And why do you make it seem as though that is a bad thing?"

"Because my prince, whenever your older brother wishes to see you, it is never something good."