My Liege And I

Wool

Chapter 2

Wei Li Lian
The Black Sword Academy

Li Lian woke up in a startle, jumping out of bed.

Had she dreamt it or was it real?

She quickly shook Fang Qing who slept on his stomach and refused to stir. Li Lian wildly looked around and noticed that Ruo Xi was not on her bed and neither were some juniors, Kong Cheng notably.

“Leave me alone,” Fang Qing moaned.

“Wake up!” she whispered aloud.

The light streamed through the curtains of their windows and the loud chirping of the birds was inevitable. Also, the chatter outside was numerous than normal.

“Fang Qing, please wake up. I am going to die today,” she begged him.

“Who will kill you here?” His eyes popped open.

“Did I imagine what happened last night? You didn't hear it?”

He groaned. “Hear what?”

“The emperor’s voice… in the middle night.” However, she could have dreamt it.

“If you heard it, why didn’t you wake up then?”

“I thought I was dreaming but now I am doubting it was just that.”

He turned on his bed to lie on his back. “You are noisy.” Fang Qing pulled his blankets and made himself comfortable to go back to bed.

“I am going to die a happy man!” Kong Cheng burst in, holding something made of wool.

The still sleeping juniors groaned and cursed about the noise before shoving their pillows above their heads.

Li Lian’s hackles rose. Even Kong Cheng never woke up before her.

He approached them and threw to her what he held. Turning it around, it was the white coat Li Lian gave to Dao as she was freezing cold the other day.

“Kong Cheng, where did you get this?”

“The emperor gave it to me, he said I should give it to you,” he grinned and looked quite delighted, the happiness not something she had seen on him before.

“The emperor… How? Impossible.”

“He is on the grounds practising with Ruo Xi some swordship. So I went there to watch with the others and they are amazing! It was out of this world! But to my amazement,” he held himself as a swooning girl fantasizing about her crush, “the emperor addressed me at the end. He asked me if I knew Li Lian, and whether I could go give this to her.”

Li Lian’s chest heaved and at that moment she felt faint. She was going to collapse, this was the end of her, but before that she needed to strangle a certain idiot to death. She knew she shouldn't have put all her eggs in one basket and handed it over to Luo Meng, that rat. Just wait till I lay my hands on him.

“Why is your complexion pale?” Kong Cheng observed her as if she had grown a pair of horns.

Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling clutched her body, the fangs of claustrophobic anxiety ceasing her. She was going to be locked up in that place when Yuwen Hong found out who she really was. She was still to come up with a plan and Yuwen Hong coming for her now was going to mess it all up.

Li Lian hadn't yet negotiated with Lance. She still needed to convince him not to tell on her, otherwise the truth would come out and what would happen to her then?

She tried to remember that the only real prison is fear and the only real freedom is freedom from fear, yet even the kind words to herself did not give her confidence, she felt doomed.

“Li Lian, are you all right?”

She blinked and realised she was in the washroom in a dish of cold water and some trickled down her body as Fang Qing scooped the water and continuously poured it on her head.

“What happened?”

“You almost fainted,” Kong Cheng answered.

“Is the emperor really here?”

Kong Cheng’s eyes enlarged in excitement. “Yes, he arrived yesterday night. You were asleep by then.”

“But… but didn’t Lance say we would know beforehand if he was on his way and I would be warned… Why wasn’t I told about this?”

Kong Cheng put the back of his hand on her head. “Are you all right? What is there to be warned about?”

Kong Cheng’s idolism made Li Lian want to slap him hard.

“Ruo Xi tried to stop him but he is the emperor. Who can stop such a force to be reckoned with?”

“What about Lance? Where is he?” He threatened to tell the emperor the truth if she went with him. She needed to talk to him and make sure he changed his plans to act against her.

“Lance and Master Oren are still not back from their mission. They will come back tonight or the day after.”

Just great.

“All right. Then both of you, please excuse me. I might as well take a bath.”

“Since you seem better, I will go back to the grounds!” Kong Cheng did not hesitate skipping out of the room.

“I am sorry for you, Goddess,” Fang Qing sympathised.

She shook her head. “This is my fate, to care so much for someone who has the keys to my demise.” Fang Qing, unlike Kong Cheng the air head, understood her predicament.

“If you do not want to go back, why don’t you buy time for Lance to come back before the emperor snatches you away? That way you will be able to negotiate with him when he arrives.”

“How do I buy the time?”

“By causing problems, pretending you do not remember him. Act up or anything to cause havoc. That way they will call the physicians to examine you and they will probably recommend you to stay here for a while for further examination.”

“Will that work?”

“Better than not trying. And remember, when the emperor is here, he is inclined not to exercise his power and status, but be a fellow student.”

She took a deep breath and reclined on the dish. “What else do you have to tell me?”

He blinked repeatedly. “What do you mean?”

“I can tell when you are hiding something. You can't even stare at me in the eyes. So out with it.”

He shyly massaged his neck. “Well, outside… Outside, a court lady awaits for you as she has been sent to come get you and take you to him.”

S.V