Secrets 3

Qin Feng was just about done checking all of the weapons of the assassins, and was not in the least surprised to find that all of them were simple and unmarked. And that most of the assassins had a similar amount of coin on their bodies and nothing else. Clearly, they had already removed everything that might give their identity away, before they took this particular job.

Well, it was nothing out of the ordinary, he decided, as he tossed the money that he had found into his purse. Fortunately, most of the currency was in the form of bank-issued notes, rather than actual coin. So it was more convenient. For him, as well as for the assassins. That had been the way that they did things in the past, and he doubted that it had changed, although their targets may be different.

Or, as he looked back at the Second Ducal Prince, standing with his soldiers, perhaps not.

Well, whoever they were targeting, the money that they carried on them now belonged to him. It did improve his financial situation significantly, for which Qin Feng was grateful. It was only going to get more expensive, where the group was headed, given that it was the Kingdom's Capital City. He had a better understanding of the financial situation in Shu Kingdom now, and he had to say that it was enough to depress him.

Qin Feng wondered about that. The goods that one got in the majority of the Cities were the same, but the prices that one was expected to pay for them were different. Which was something that he didn't altogether understand. Something that he would have to ask about, if he did not wish to make any mistakes when he got to the Shu Kingdom Capital.

And the best person to explain that to him was undoubtedly Lin Liushui. Although he had a tendency to add peppers and hot chillis to his telling to spice things up, he was very well informed with regards to such matters.

But Qin Feng found himself intercepted, when he started towards the now morose-looking fellow. Which made him wonder who had thrown him into such a bad mood, as though he had been splashed with water from a midden.

But it was the Second Ducal Prince who was pulling him aside, so Qin Feng didn't make too much of a fuss about it.

Li Changhai had tugged on Qin Feng's sleeve as he approached, and signaled the younger man to step aside with him. Qin Feng was naturally curious as to what the Ducal Prince had to say, that could not be said in the presence of his brothers. Or, from the look of it, only Lin Liushui.

Did it have something to do with the enemies that they were going to face?

As it turned out, he wasn't far wrong:

"Brother Liushui has a knot in his heart, and I think you might have noticed that it has something to do with the Snow Swallow Palace, in the Northern Mountains. Something that bothers him from time to time. And this is, as you can see, one of those times.

"It affects him greatly, and he would lose control and drink heavily, if he dwells on it. Hence, we are usually very careful around him at this time. I thought I had better tell you to avoid mentioning the Snow Swallow Palace. And your Heaven Sword School."

Li Changhai's warning was delivered in his usual smooth tone, that told Qin Feng that the Second Ducal Prince was probably being very careful now. It seemed he was afraid of offending him as well? But that didn't seem right, did it? And what did this have to do with him? After all, what was he but a simple Outer Disciple of the Heaven Sword School, and an itinerant trader?

But the Ducal Prince was concentrating on explaining Lin Liushui's situation, so Qin Feng pushed that particular curiosity aside, and focused on what he had to say:

"I had discussed this with Du Yan, and we decided that we better speak to you about this, now. Before you accidentally say something that upset him."

Qin Feng agreed, nodding back at Li Changhai. "That would be best. I do not wish to offend him inadvertently. However, you cannot expect me to be so calm if the Heaven Sword School is brought up in conversation. I had spent three, almost four years there. So I have had both good and bad times there.

"It would be impossible for me to pretend that my ties to that place did not exist."

The Second Ducal Prince gave out a lusty sigh, as soon as he heard that. "I know, I know. That is what I am worried about. You see, Brother Liushui has spoken of his feelings for the girl involved, but he has never mentioned her name. Only that she had been recently accepted into the Snow Swallow Palace, after training in all of her childhood in the Heaven Sword School.

"Since you were there, you should know that the older women associated with that place have a ... certain reputation. At your Heaven Sword School. At least, in the Changqing and Yanyun Cities, we have a better understanding of the situation. Elsewhere in the Kingdom, and beyond our borders ..."

Qin Feng understood immediately. The girls in the Rear Gardens of the School were mostly casual lovers and such, that had been brought in by the School Elders and Main Disciples. And all of them had a rather poor reputation.

Something that he had intimate knowledge of, after dealing with them for so long.

"Ah! So he had met with some objection? With regards to his choice of ... the girl?"

He was about to say wife, or concubine. But he did not know what exactly was Lin Liushui's intention. So he changed that last bit there.

Li Changhai, if he noticed, didn't mention it either. "That is what we understood, when he let out his feelings the one time that he got terribly drunk. There was a fool that provoked him then, and Brother Liushui effectively crippled the poor bastard because of an idiotic comment that he made. Naturally, Brother Liushui made an apology in public when he had sobered up. But the fool still had to spend close to two years in bed, to recover from his injuries."

The younger man raised his eyebrows when he heard that. To need that sort of time to recover indicated that his internal organs, along with his bones, were probably damaged. And to a very terrible extent at that. Little wonder the Ducal Prince and Du Yan had been so carefully shielding him.

Then he frowned. "But if she has been accepted into Snow Swallow Palace ... Doesn't that mean that she would not be bothered by the poor reputation of the women in Heaven Sword School? Why is he still so bothered? So long as he does not mention it ..."

"Unfortunately, it was Snow Swallow Palace that she transferred to," sighed the Second Ducal Prince, shaking his head at the younger man, "And I have only just realized that you don't really know the reputation of that particular Sect. That is why I had come to speak to you about it."

"Oh?"

"I take it that you are really unaware? That Snow Swallow Palace has a tradition of ... not marrying their disciples to anyone? That they are as good as Daoist Nuns, once they have been inducted into the Inner Sect ranks?"

Qin Feng's eyebrows rose once again. He hadn't heard that! Didn't that mean that Xuan Mei had just become a nun herself? She was headed there, wasn't she? That was what Elder Xuan had claimed, when he broke the engagement officially.

Since his reaction was so obvious, Li Changhai simply went on, without too long a pause. "So you can see how upset Brother Liushui is. And how he must be missing his beloved at this time. So I had to warn you to be careful, and not to say anything that you shouldn't right now."

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