Fumes before the Fire (III)

Finally reaching to the room she intended, Hui Lan quickly opened the door without thinking much.

It was a small tearoom on the west side of the Kunning Palace that was left unscathed. There was a wooden tea table placed neatly at the centre of the room.

Hui Lan tilted her head slightly before giving a big grin underneath her veil at the state of the room. Without thinking twice, she gleefully walked inside with her fingers playing silent tunes in the air.

...This place was just her type. If her mother was to see this, she too would agree. It was indeed perfect for a place to stay for tonight.

Within a swift, she was already seating herself at the tea table. A variety of tea was placed into small different pots in front of her with a teapot placed over a small oven that was not lit.

...Hm, if she recalled it correctly, this Empress seemed to also like drinking tea. Then, that is also good. Finally, there was a common taste she had between her.

After sitting down, Hui Lan nimbly poured some water into the teapot and brought a few small firewoods and placed it inside the small oven underneath the pot. Afterwards, she brought a few kindling and made a small bundle at the bottom. She then looked around and found something that looked very similar to a modern-day match.

Full of curiosity, Hui Lan picked up the stick that looked like a match and began observing it.

...Hm, if she was not wrong then this would be a pine stick that had been dipped in sulfur. Then all she needed to do was…

With a quick brush of the stick on the table, sparks grew and not long the pine stick caught on fire. Then, she chucked the stick inside the pile of kindling and brushed her hands off.

...There

"Niang Niang! Please don't play with fire!" Su Rong exclaimed worriedly.

On the other hand, it gave Hui Lan a good fright.

Then, from the rooftop, a figure in black appeared in front of her eyes.

...Aiya, these two siblings were truly good at giving her surprises…

Hui Lan looked at Su Rong with a slightly blaming eye, "I wasn't playing with fire. Look, I was only making fire for some tea." To that, she nodded her face towards the direction of the small fire.

Both Su Jou and Su Rong looked at each other awkwardly. It seemed they were overly worried.

Without saying a word, Su Jou gave a nod towards Hui Lan and was about to leave again when Hui Lan called out, "Wei, don't go yet. Both of you, quickly come over here."

However, there was a slight pause in the atmosphere. Both of the Su siblings did not move for a split moment as if they had agreed before.

"Ey, quickly ah." Hui Lan quickly urged them to come over while she picked her dried tea and placed it in her teacup.

As if woken up from a dream, Su Rong and Su Jou stepped forward towards Hui Lan and stood straight in front of their Empress.

Meanwhile, the small snowy owl made its way inside the tearoom and did not forget to close the door. It had seen many humans do this, so it was best to learn to survive here.

It was just in time to see both of the Su siblings stand in front of the human that had saved him,

...Oh? What were they doing? If that human saw how the two looked like in front of her, she would probably laugh. Why would they be standing like that and why was she sitting as if she was the Empress or some important person?

Hui Lan looked up from the tea that she was making to the Su siblings and spoke, "What are you two doing standing there? Quickly come and sit down. I need to let you two do something for me." She then looked at Xiao Mao with a small smile.

...If that little owl knew she was the Empress, what would the little fella think, keke.

"Eh? Niang Niang…"

"Quickly-ah." Hui Lan persisted.

"Alright alright, just this time. Su Jou follow jie."

At the same time, the two sat down in front of Hui Lan. However, it seemed they looked like they were trying their best to hold in their stiffness that was coming from their toes to their body.

"What's wrong with you guys, hm? I asked you two to sit not to torture you, please."

"But Niang Niang, you are kind of…"

"Kind of what? Torturing you? How is it like that? I'm letting you guys rest if it were my studen…ahem, nevermind."

...Aiya, Hui Lan. You almost slipped it out of your mouth.

"Students?" Su Rong asked puzzledly.

"It's nothing, now listen carefully." However, just then, Hui Lan felt a sharp pain in her head. She had to quickly hold onto her head and slowly she lowered her head as the pain grew. It was as if time had slowed down.

Both Su Rong and Su Jou were getting on their feet, but again their actions were all slow with the time. On the other hand, Xiao Mao was screeching in slow motion at the door side. Just like Hui Lan, Xiao Mao too was engulfed in pain.

As Hui Lan's head was still lowered, her eyes that had been closed suddenly opened.

However, her eyes that had been as dark as the dark side of the moon became a golden yellow colour. Moreover, the sight that she was supposed to see was not the view she saw in front of her. All Hui Lan could see was three figures while the sight kept tunning back in and back out.

However, it was of someone else's, someone small.

Then the pain went away and both Hui Lan and Xiao Mao grew silent.

Finally, Hui Lan's sight became still and she could finally see clearly. However, what she saw was not what she expected.

The sight she was seeing was the back of Su Rong and Su Jou, most peculiarly was that she was seeing herself with lowered head.

...This...what was going on?

A small scared voice rang in Hui Lan's head, "Erm, w..w..wei, what just happened?"

While the golden yellow colour in Hui Lan's eyes was beginning to disappear and they became the same colour, she was still seeing the same sight as the little owl.

Hui Lan quickly answered through her mind, "Xiao Mao, what were you thinking just before this?"

The small owl began recalling and a spark came up in his eyes, "That if you saw what I was seeing, then…"

"Then, I would laugh?" Hui Lan finished Xiao Mao's sentence for him.

"How did you know that?" Xiao Man demanded.

"Well, you were thinking so loudly. I was bound to know…" Hui Lan replied without thinking much.

"Hmph! Whatever, now what do we do?"

Just as Hui Lan was about to reply back, in the corner of Xiao Mao's sight, she could see a fuzzy silhouette of someone jumping away from her rooftop. Within a split second, she closed her eyes and her sight returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Xiao Mao could feel his head swirling in circles and ended up on the floor. It broke into a cold sweat all over its small body and began shaking.

Time went back to normal and Su Rong was already sitting beside Hui Lan, "Niang Niang, are you alright? Look you're sweating."

On the other hand, Hui Lan brushed Su Rong's hand away gently, "I'm alright. Just a small headache." She then turned to look at Xiao Mao and became worried for the little fella. With Su Rong's support, Hui Lan was supported as she got up, "Thank you."

Right after, Hui Lan went over to see Xiao Mao's condition. The small owl had its eyes closed and was shaking as if it was cold.

...Sigh, whatever just happened then must have taken both of hers and Xiao Mao's strength away.

With gentle hands, she slowly lifted Xiao Mao up from the floor and into her arms.

...Ayoo, still a small baby.

Hui Lan then quickly brought Xiao Mao to sit with her near the small fire that she had built in the room. Once she sat back down on her seat, Hui Lan then gently wrapped Xiao Mao closer to her so he could get some warmth.

She was holding Xiao Mao as if it was a baby boy. Meanwhile, Su Rong and Sun Jou could only watch as Hui Lan took care of the baby owl.

After having settled Xiao Mao in her arms, Hui Lan thoughtfully looked up, "Su Jou, I think we should tighten the security in Kunning Palace. Can you take care of that for me?"

"Yes, Niang Niang." Su Jou did not question his task and replied immediately.

"Very well. It seems someone wants to know more about us." Hui Lan's eyes grew cold on the thought of who it could be.

Since they want to eavesdrop on her, then she would not be merciful.

Hui Lan turned to look at Su Rong and instructed, "Tomorrow, spread some words in the capital for me, the more people the better. I want them to say....." Hui Lan instructed her close acquaintances carefully without having any holes in her instructions.

.

.

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Qian Xing Palace

In the Emperor's study room.

The owner of the Qian Xing palace had long returned from the trip at Kunning palace. However, though it had long passed night time, he still did not prepare himself for bed and was working on the official rolls on his desk. His hand was moving fast as he wrote with his brush.

Meanwhile, Eunuch Wu was serving the Emperor tea right beside.

"Eunuch Wu, you seem like you have something to tell Zhen?" Emperor Yang Long spoke without looking up from the wooden rolls.

With hands cupped together, the Eunuch replied, "Ahem. Bixie, forgive me for saying this, but the Empress, she looks...slightly different."

The brush in his hand came to a pause before he continued to write some more, "Oh? How does she look?"

The Eunuch tilted his head slightly when he thought of their recent encounter with the Empress, "Empress Feng, she looks rather off. This servant has seen the Empress many times, but this was the first time I saw her eyes look so frightening, I fear…"

Emperor Yang Long's brow was raised up slightly, "Hm, she must blame Zhen for the little prince's death."

"Forgive me once again Bixie, but would any harm fall upon you, your majesty? Since the Empress' father is…"

Emperor Yang Long's hand halted once again, "Harm? Hm, that would be interesting."

"Your majesty, I believe, the Empress should know that Bixie was also sad for the little prince's death. You even prepared an official name for him, but it was too sad that he did not make it through the night."

Eventually, Emperor Yang Long put his brush down. He turned to look at the window that was left open, "Maybe we were not meant to meet each other."

To this, the elder Eunuch remained silent.

...Maybe, they were both to blame for the little prince's death. However, he cannot save everyone. Let this pass by quietly.

"Well, eunuch Wu, you can go now. Zhen wants to rest."

"Yes, Bixie."

After the Eunuch was gone, Emperor Yang Long was left alone in his study room.

"Won-ah" The Emperor spoke into thin air.

In no time, a figure in black fell down from the rooftop and showed respect to the Emperor.

There was a brief moment of silence in the room before the Emperor found himself saying, "Find the cause of the fire."

"Yes, Bixie."

Another thing came into mind, "How did it go?"

"Replying to your majesty, it seems the Empress is still weak and there seemed to be nothing suspicious."

"Good, send Yi Qin to keep an eye on her and report to me her every action."

"Yes, Bixie."

"What about tomorrow, has the right prime minister Li said anything?"

"Yes, your majesty. At first, he was very shocked about the news, but he is more than overjoyed and is more willing to work with us."

"Hm, good. Tell Xie Ye to help out tomorrow in the hall."

"Yes Bixie."

"Hm, that is all for tonight." The Emperor went back to the official rolls in front of him and continued where he left off.

It has been 7 years since taking the throne, but nothing has changed much.

It has always been him in this room alone underneath the moon.

And in the future, it looked no different from tonight.

Tomorrow would be a big day for his beloved person. Hopefully, everything will go as planned.