Where the Wind Blows

When all else Fails

Valley of the Wolves.

Zheqiang listened to the report in stunned silence.  Not only was he hearing the gossip that was in full flight across their entire world for the first time, he had to stop his General several times to allow the information to sink in over the roaring laughter coming from the rest of his war elite, some of who were working undercover and had already heard the whisperings coming in from the Celestial Palace.

"The Crown Prince has lost the respect of his men, The War God and the Crown Prince are at odds with each other, and both have offended The Queen of Qing Qiu who as you know are the our worlds largest land owner.  From the reports we are receiving, the Queen of Qing Qiu allowed the Celestial Heavens use of their lands for training purposes, however High God Mo Yuan is on the hunt for a spy sent by The Queen herself, and in his search, he ransacked her home.  Though we are not sure of all the details, what we do know, is the Celestial Heavens and Qing Qiu are now at odds."  His General informed him, while keeping some of the details back, because this news was worth something, The Crown Prince had his sights set on the Queen of Qing Qiu, while dallying with her male spy, and he had every intention of selling it.

But Zhiqiang was no fool, his General was not the only one bringing in information, and having just learned a little more, he was now piecing the full story together for himself and the story he was piecing together was better than any play he had ever read.  He was quite partial to plays because many of them were written from experience, so there was always little gems of useful knowledge hidden among the hilarity or sorrow.  And this story had such an unbelievable plot, he could bet Mortal money it would sell very quickly.

But much more was at stake than wealth, their lives depended on the decisions he made, and if he was correct in his summation of what was going on between Qing Qiu and the Celestials, then he had important decisions to make and quickly.

"This spy, is it the same one you mentioned last time?  The child with exceptional fighting skills, has access to the barriers and is under possible investigation?" he asked next.  His General had been undercover in Qing Qiu for some time now, and seeing as he too had never met the boy and going by what he knew about him already, and having just learned the boy was the direct cause of what was happening now among the Celestial Twins, he now had a very good idea who the boy really was, and if he was correct, he was now in a position to turn the tide in his favor.

Giving his general his next mission, one he was to implement the moment he returned to Qing Qius encampment, he then closed the meeting, he had some thinking to do.

He knew Bai Zhi from their childhood, and though he was never considered a friend, he was never considered an enemy either.  The man had always kept himself apart from all dissension and he had assumed that this war was one of them.  But he and the Celestial Twins were friends, so to learn they were using Qing Qius lands for training, had not come as a shock, however, to learn it had been their Queen who gave permission, and being just as reclusive as her father, he did find her decision to be somewhat unusual.

However, it was the sudden appearance of a boy who did not fit into a world of men that had him wondering if he was indeed their Queen who had perhaps joined for the fun of it, something new to do or even to just satisfy herself with the safety of her own men and lands.  And being so reclusive, she was not so worldly, so perhaps caused untold damage without even realizing it until it was too late.

And it was this that had his mind working furiously as to how he could utilize this information and what role she would play in gaining him an even greater advantage over Mo Yuan, a man he hated more than any other.

Taking up a brush and scroll, he wrote a special missive, before placing it into his missive bag.  Then with a little magic, he sent it automatically.