Gift of the Fox

Chapter 42: Disaster

Jong indeed held his promise - he sneaked out of the palace every day, now even without Kokoro, and frequented the Yi Restaurant where he could meet his secret sweetheart, Ming. Now even the old man, Yi Zhu, could easily recognize Jong and even greeted him as a young friend:

"Oh, who do I see? You came again, huh, Jong? Private table again, I assume?"

"Uhm, if your daughter is free, sir," Jong would answer and bow politely.

"Haha, for you she's always free, Jong!" Zhu would laugh and give his daughter and Jong a private table in a single coupé in his restaurant, where the young lovers could freely pass time, chat, and have fun.

Jong told them that he was of a rich but middle-class family, was orphaned and had three elder brothers, all of whom were married. All of them had private lands they owned, but the eldest brother had the most wealth and was the strictest and scariest of the three. 

"We barely interact with each other. He is often busy with his landlord affairs. It is good though that I can make decisions independently. It gives me more freedom."

"Oh, that is truly unfortunate, to have such a distant relationship with your brothers..." Ming said.

"Well, what can one do? Being a rich man is hard..." Jong chuckled, "And, after all, the eldest brother, Shao, is only a half-brother of mine. We had different fathers but the same mother."

"Oh, what a pity..." Zhu said. "Good thing our gracious emperor established the law to only marry once. It helps solve a lot of family problems."

Jong got astonished, hearing the word "gracious" as a new epithet for his brother. He had never heard such kindly descriptions of his brother before!

"Y... You like the emperor?"

"All he does, he does for the sake of us, the poor people. It is truly remarkable how a man with such a high stance cares so deeply about his people."

Zhu's answer stupefied Jong greatly - so, there actually were people who liked how his brother ruled?

"I... I often hear bad things about the emperor..." he murmured.

"It is because many rich men and nobles hate him for his severity. We too often get scared of the cruelties he does, but as my father says, in the end, it is all needed for a good cause." Ming shrugged. "However, I can't understand either, how a man can kill so many..."

"You are still children." Zhu beamed at their innocence. "Once you grow, you'll understand that this twisted world doesn't run so smoothly. In order to beat the injustice, one must either apply the harshest methods sometimes or get squashed under the boots of the strong forces. It is the wild law of the world, unfortunately."

However, the young couple couldn't really notice the harshness of the world around them. All they could see now were pink clouds of love and friendship everywhere they looked because the same love and friendship dwelt in their hearts and filled them with happiness. All they needed was each other to feel joyful for the whole day. But soon, they came to know that even this happiness was not eternal and life would bring both ups and downs on their way...

Once, when Jong, as usual, sneaked out of the palace and accessed the Yi Restaurant, he found it closed. Ming was fallen on her knees before it, crying and sobbing. 

Shivers ran down Jong's spine. He realised something really bad must've happened. He immediately ran up to his sweetheart:

"Ming! Dear! What happened?" 

He placed his hand on her shoulder, with the desire to show her his utmost compassion and support.

"F... Father! He couldn't pay the loan..." Ming's sobs turned into hiccups as she cuddled with his chest, crying her heart out, "Our restaurant g... got robbed, and then, the next day, the landlord came. Father was arrested! They're going to hang him tomorrow evening!"

Jong froze in shock. He pressed Ming to his chest, and asked with trembling lips:

"Who sealed this order?"

"T... The ruler of our district, Lord Zhong Xiang... The landlord who owns our restaurant building is his cousin, Zhong Tang."

Jong widened his eyes - the Zhong?! They were one of the richest noble houses! They owned a lot of lands and buildings in the city of Tiancheng.

Alone, I won't be able to defeat them... he thought, and shuddered at the idea of addressing his bloodthirsty brother. If I bother him over this, he will say it is too trivial of a matter for a 'grand emperor' like him and will probably punish me rather than those scum... However, I do know how it feels to lose one's parents. I do not want Ming to feel the same. It is worth a try. I'm doing this for her.

"Don't you worry, Ming." he hugged the girl tightly. "I will settle this."

"B... But how?" Ming stared at him with surprise - what could a middle-class man like him possibly do? It was a noble family matter. He was not of enough rank to settle this!

"Trust me, Ming." Jong beamed. "I'll do everything in my powers to help you. Tomorrow morning, we shall ride to Zhong Xiang's department together. I shall make him change his mind."

"W... What?! You can't! They will kill you!" Ming clutched his shoulders and burst into tears anew.

"Trust me... I will settle this. I will do anything for you, Ming." Jong smiled and let go of her. "I will come for you tomorrow."

Ming wanted to stop him but his determined look reassured her that he truly had something in his mind, so, she nodded, although with a bit of fear, and let him go. 

Jong, once he got far enough from the Yi Restaurant so that Ming could no longer see him, immediately darted off to the palace.