The Emperor's Concubine

Chapter 12

The next morning, Fortune woke up with a start. She saw Sage sleeping next to her. It was a wonder how she got on the bed in the middle of the night.
Lynne and Rei walked in and bowed. Then Lixing Ji walked in as well. She kept her gaze down as she thought of what happened the other night.
"What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Lixing Ji said. She could only raise her head to prove him wrong.
"You're the ghost, hmph!" She looked away and it got him wondering about what she was thinking.
"Alright!" He sighed and dismissed them.
"Why did you send them away?" She asked seeing them leave without a word.
Lixing Ji moved closer to her.
"Are you good at calligraphy?" He asked and she looked at him confused. He decided to break it down to her understanding "Can you write fluently with a brush and ink?"
"Why'd you ask me that? Of course not! I'd rather spend my time using a pen than a brush!" She said.
"Then you're unlucky! The empress dowager wants to test all the concubine's calligraphy skills and you have no knowledge about it, what are you going to do?"
"Hey, you're the one who signed me up for this so, think of a solution and let me know!" She shrugged her shoulders like it wasn't her concern at all.
Lixing Ji sighed. This little girl was really capable of murder and she was going to murder him by making him worry.
"Then I'll teach you." He said and she looked at him.
"Its today and you're busy with royal stuff. When are you going to teach me?"  She asked.
"I won't take too long in my stuff and come to you as soon as am done." He said
Fortune folded her arms. Mere words were not enough to convince her, even if it was coming from him. She stared at him with a dull look and asked;
"What do you think I'll do to you if I enter the 'test' and you're nowhere to be found?"
"I don't know!" He answered plainly "But you're too silly to do anything serious so I'm not worried."
"Oh really?" She sat on the bed "Why don't you test me to see what am really capable of?" She suggested.
Lixing Ji shakes his head.
"That won't be necessary. I'll be there as soon as am done with my stuff." He assured and she nodded.
"Well, if you say so. I can't argue with that anyway." She finally let it go.
"Now have your food. Your kitty cat looks kind hungry." He said and Fortune looked at Sage, she stretched restlessly on the bed.
"You're right! I some... " Fortune looked but didn't see Lixing Ji there anymore. "Man he's fast!" She exclaimed.
Fortune ate the food that was left there by Lynne and Rei. She got some milk for Sage and got help dressing.
Lixing Ji had finished the court briefing and headed for the empress chambers. All the maids were assembled there and the assassin was asked to point out the maid that gave him the job.
Earlier on, that specific maid had heard that the assassin was being interrogated and immediately reported it to the empress. She sent the maid away so as to avoid any further suspicion.
The assassin looked carefully but couldn't find the maid.
"She's not here!" The assassin said
Lixing Ji turned to Meng Meng, who was trying to keep her cool.
"Are these all your maids?" He asked even if he knew about the possibility of her hiding  one somewhere.
"Yes, except one. She went to visit her sick mother a few days ago. She has not been in the palace." Meng Meng answered.
It was a bit strange. Since when did this cruel empress care for her maid so much to let her leave the palace on account of visiting her sock mother? There was definitely something off, but he had no clue what it was.
"Take him away!" Lixing Ji ordered.
"Your majesty, please spare me. I was telling the truth, please spare me." The assassin pleaded but Lixing Ji turned a deaf ear to his pleas.
He wanted to get to the bottom of this case and punish that person who wanted to harm his little girl.
Just then, he remembered that Fortune was going to start the test at that moment and thought of how much trouble he was going to get in, if he didn't help her.
Fortune clenched her fist tightly and gritted her teeth. Everyone had started writing while she could only cause Lixing Ji in her mind.
'That jerk! He said he'd teach me on time, but I see no shadow of him. He's gonna pay for this' she cursed.
Lixing Ji sneezed.
"Your majesty, are you cold?" A eunuch asked and he shook his head.
"No, am fine!" He answered and smiled. 'This silly girl is probably cursing me!' He thought. "I need you to do serving fore." He said to the eunuch and whispered what he needed.
Out of patience, Fortune decided to give it a go. But as she was about to dip the brush into the marched ink, she heard that the emperor was unexpectedly outside.
"I would like to borrow one of tour concubines." Lixing Ji requested.
"Sure, you can take anyone!" The instructor said with a lot of respect.
"I only need her." He pointed at Fortune and everyone looked at her disappointed.
Fortune walked up to him with a calm expression.
"Your majesty!" She bowed her head and looking up, she stared daggers at him. "You're so dead!" She whispered and smiled as she walked out.
Sure he was. He put her in a situation that felt like going to an exam hall without reading. But she always read, so that was not a possibility. Straight 'A' student and a very devoted one at that.
"Start talking if you don't want my wrath!" She threatened with her fist. They were away from the rest and were now alone.
"I have a good explanation for coming late but its not a good news." He said and she stared at him expectant. "The maid who sent the assassin after you couldn't be found and hats what delayed me!" He said hoping she would take that excuse as reasonable.
"Why do you stress yourself so much? We all know that the empress was behind this. Once she saw that the assassin was caught, the best thing was to send the maid away and act like she knew nothing about it. That's a really cliche move. Where I come from, such plot was easily detected. Its a really old trick. I don't care at all anymore!" Fortune concluded and Lixing Ji heaved a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad you understand!"
"I do understand but, that's not an excuse for you to ditch me in such a critical moment. Once I scale through this, I'll release my wrath on you. Right now you have to teach me!" She demanded and he sighed wearily.
"Come with me. I've prepared for it already." He grabbed her hand and led her to a gazebo in the middle of a lotus lake. It looked really beautiful that she completely forgot about the test.
Being held by the hand towards such a beautiful place was all so magical. She looked at Lixing Ji hand, it was the first time to be held so passionately by a boy. Other than her grandpa, she didn't remember ever walking hand in hand with anyone. Suddenly, she felt her heart beat unsteady. It was so strange and felt like a wonderful bliss. She didn't want to let go of him at this moment.
In the middle of the gazebo was a board as well as a brush and marched ink.
"Come on. Pick up the brush!" He said. Fortune looked at his hand still clasped in hers and cleared her throat. He immediately released her hand and looked away rather embarrassed.
Fortune picked the brush and waited for further instructions.
"Dip the tip onto the ink completely." He said and she did so. "Now gently move it on the plain white board." She tried it slowly but her lines we're unsteady. It was really awful.
"Tsk, its too hard." She complained. "Now I've ruined the board."
"Don't worry, there's another one!" He said and moved the ruined board aside and replaced it with a new one. "This time, try to increase your pace!" He said and she nodded.
She tried to do it a bit faster but ended up ruining it again.
"Argh! Its so frustrating!" She exclaimed and frowned dissatisfied.
"You need to write as swift as the wind. Its a lot easier that way." Lixing Ji said with an encouraging smile.
"Pfft! That's easy for you to say." She scoffed and lifted the brush to try again but this time, got a little help from Lixing Ji.
Unexpectedly, he placed a hand around her waist and the other hand on her brush hand. He was so close to her that she could feel his heart beat.
'He's so close. Doesn't he know that such intimacy is dangerous? Now my heart beats like its gonna pop out from my chest' she thought and bit her lip gently.
"You're not paying attention!" He said waking her from her world of fantasy.
It was great to have him help her our like this. It was extremely effective.
As soon as the test was over, Fortune came out with a smile.
"How was it?" Lixing Ji asked and she chuckled.
"It was great!" She answered and Lixing Ji held her hand
"Come, I gave something to tell you!" He said and pulled her towards the gazebo.
"Instead of you saying something, I'd like to speak first and its really important!" She said with a stern expression. She was finally going to say it.