That Day I Found The Strangest Egg

7.6 The Language Of Flowers

The night is dark.

Lou MuLan finished taking a bath with the help of her maids. After her bath, she will then stay on her room alone to read scriptures. She has been doing this routine for years. The scriptures are poems from the longest of times - considered classics by the old people. It's like reading a book or a web novel before going to sleep.

The first concubine sat on a cushion carefully. In front of her is a low table complete with scrolls, an open parchment, a bottle of ink, and an ink grinder. A candle stand is flickering on the side to give more light on the writing table. Taking the brush, she elegantly took the tip, dipped it unto the black ink, and then returned to the empty parchment. She then started writing characters, writing the poem she read last night.

Her strokes are beautiful. It's a standard ability for the concubines. Writing poems is a usual past time so there's no doubt that their writing skills will improve. Lou MuLan moved her brush is such a manner that it did not leave any blot of unnecessary lines next to the characters. Is ever she existed on the modern times, she might won the national calligraphy contest.

The wind during the night is cold so the windows are closed. However, the flickering light of the candle suddenly wavered. The movement of the flame caused the fluctuation of light slightly darkening the surroundings. Lou MuLan accidentally missed a stroke and dropped a blot on the paper. She halted with the brush and her hand floating in mid-air.

The wavering of the light ceased and the candle light returned to its calm state. However, the precious work of the Lady has been disturbed so she decided to stop writing. She rolled the parchment and set it on the side. Another parchment was opened, replacing the earlier paper. She started writing again with her beautiful writing posture.

"Aiya? Is it right for the lady to ignore my presence?" A voice coming from the shadowed part of the room said.

But Lou MuLan did nothing but to ignore the voice. It is as if she wasn't surprised that the 'person' was there. She continued writing, thinking that the 'person' is a trifling object. She must first finish her poem.

"What an arrogant lady. My heart hurts. After all the things, I did to make you win the contest... I even sabotaged the person I love... really, how ungrateful," the 'person' said.

From the shadow, the image of the black masked man appeared. He walked from the corner of the room towards the first concubine. However, he was stalling his own movements as he wandered around the room. He went to the vanity table where a mirror and some face paints are placed. There are also combs and beads on the table. He took one of the beads and studied it.

It is a real pearl.

"I didn't say that you are welcome inside my room. This can be considered as a crime," Lou MuLan said, still writing her poem.

"A crime ba?" The black masked chuckled. "Of course, your way of dealing things just to win the competition is a crime. What was the punishment again? Ten lashes? Expulsion from the harem?"

The black masked man pocketed the bead, walked to the side of the writing table, and leaned to the nearby post.

"... or maybe death for associating to a person from the other realm?" The masked man added.

Lou MuLan finished writing the first part of her poem. She looked at her own work and nodded with satisfaction. She scrolled the parchment and took a fresh one again. She will continue writing. Nobody can stop her.

"I only accepted your proposal because both of us will benefit in this plan. I will get the emperor's favor and you will get your man. Isn't that fair?" Lou MuLan said.