Volume 2 Chapter 11-12 (1/2)
-----
Silver was often used for royalty in terms of everyday objects from cutlery, dishes bowls, combs, as it was believed to be able to detect poison The surface of the metal becomes tarnished after immersed in suspected poisoned food or liquids
-----
The next day, the weather suddenly intensified and the chills soon turned into icy deposits The courtyards were now heavily cloaked with a thick layer of snow
Early in the , Gui Sen had uests at their stay
Perhaps it was an unspoken standard for Fan Jia, even the men of were not an exception to the rule of ‘beauty’Gui Sen had presented himself, dressed head to toe in black Even his cape wasmaterial that was jet black Gui Sen’s pale skin was translucent and flushed with blood fro the cold His coathered on his cape One couldn’t deny that he was handsoht and his presence deinally intended to hibernate longer in his cosy bed However, his plans were disrupted when Chiu Lan and his two other ed the weary Prince out of bed and he certainly didn’t go without a fight When they eventually dragged hi hiuest, naturally it was best if he received his visitor than keeping him at bay
“You are quite an early bird,stepped out froht of Gui Sen sitting casually sipping on a cup of tea Feng Ming cupped his hands together and raised the had woken fro warm and toasty indoors hence there was no plans to leave this co an exquisite purple silken gown His neck, wrists and waist were girted with tris from a deer pelt that Chiu Lan had especially chosen to co was decided on the spur of the race and a noble temperament which was very unique to his overall appearance
Upon lifting his head to look at the Prince, Gui Sen’s eyes lit up, he arose frorinned
“Gui Sen has purposely paid a visit to congratulate Prince An He Yesterday, Prince’s unparalleled talents and prestige has already made the Third Princess yield The display youher heart towards Xi Rei The Third Princess has expressed her wishes to our great King, so that she e”
To everyone’s surprise, the turn of events was running very smoothly, no one would have fathomed that the Third Princess would scra pace
All that escaped Feng Ming’s lip was a stunned noise, “Ah!” He turned his head towards Official Xia and General Tong, and they both had an equal expression of disbelief drawn on their faces
“Additionally, the King believes that the death of An Xun and Xi Rei’s involveiven orders to Fan Jia’s army to immediately withdraw”
In an unhurried roup the hed out whole heartedly, clapping in delight and proclaireat!”
Official Xia saluted Gui Sen, and sincerely spoke, “Thanks to the generous assistance of King Gui Sen, otherwise our success would have not been possible Xi Rei will never forget your Highness’s benevolence”
Gui Sen returned with a s his head in denial of his part, “You flatter me Gui Sen naturally had to help fa and an a will personally surand feast Meanwhile, for the next two days, Prince An He can enjoy his time and appreciate Fan Jia’s winter scape How does it sound if Gui Sen introduce you to areas of interest?”
Feng Ming didn’t really have anything he could or could not do whilst he was in Fan Jia, but hearing that he would be able to go out and play, he quickly recalled Gui Sen’s fine-looking looking stallion he had met earlier and was just about to nod his head when Lie Er interrupted
“Prince, during these next two days perhaps we can slip out and head off and blend in, so we can try out all the delicacies ast the civilians? “
Official Xia iht, if everybody knew that we are an envoy from Xi Rei, then on’t be able to experience the everyday lifestyles of the people in Fan Jia We’d certainly miss out on the daily customs”
“If this is what you’d like, naturally I can take the Prince to visit the commoners”
Lie Er interjected with a dubiously statehness, you stand out with your inised in this country, hoould you be able to play a re civilian?”
Gui Sen face blanked, “If that’s the case, then perhaps Gui Sen will not accoive Lie Er a disdained look before directing his attention to Feng Ming In se voice he finished, “Prince, Gui Sen has other matters to attend to today, I shall takescratched his head and swivelled to focus his confusion onto his servants His face scrunched up in a frown, “For what reason were you all treating Gui Sen with such a terrible attitude? He was going out of his way in kindness to accoet his permission to ride his horse”
Official Xia kept an enigmatic expression on his face as he patted his whiskers and persisted in his silence
Lie Er ignored Feng Ming’s antagonising glare, and for a while he didn’t reply but he finally answered with a degree of respect for hisyesterday and he was completely dejected and depressed, so ould he appear nor Ming was perplexed hat he wasfrom Lie Er’s words, and he wasn’t ashamed to ask his subordinate the answer, “Tell lance at Official Xia, and offered the Prince a s, “I’m just a lowly servant, hoould I knoever, Official Xia should certainly know”
Feng Ming immediately placed his attention to the old man
Under many sets of watchful eyes, Official Xia paused in his therapeutic strokes of his whiskers Sighing, he finally submitted, “The Third Princess is excessively impatient Gui Sen is overly enthusiastic about it all, and the Great King of Fan Jia is acting too war under these circuest the inner workings of this dilemma However, it is not a simple one Prince must take caution and proceed with care”
General Tong reinforced, “That’s right, Fan Jia is very different fro at will”
Inwardly Feng Ming cursed, even if I was in Xi Lei, I couldn’t even leave rave expression on their faces, Feng Ming couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear He arched his shoulders in disco is always suspicious, did King Rong send you to scarerong with the s, so he could only be obedient and stay in the hotel, only to watch the snow fall on to the landscape fro, Chiu Yue and Lie Er acco the Prince entertained General Tong and his men remained indoors to secure the premise and only Official Xia slipped out to carry out business No one knehat he was getting up to
----
When night fell, Official Xia scuttled back in a hurry
General Tong immediately pulled the oldwhispers in a private area
Feng Ming and Lie Er received news of Official Xia’s return, and the two young ed pair and quickly joined the party
“Official Xia?” the Prince prompted
The advisor abruptly turned to the Prince and gave hihness”
“Official Xia you’ve been absent all day”
“That’s right, and it has been quite rewarding” The old man stroked his beard, and motioned his audience to settle down on a seat around hihts
“There are two matters at hand, firstly, the inforht, the great king of Fan Jia suddenly fell ill to a strange disease, he al and it has been a miracle that he has recovered After his brush with death, he immediately su’s eyes wedged wide open, he scratched his head in disbelief, “To knock on death’s door the night before and to be soundly alive by theHey, it looks like Fan Jia’s medicine is well developed” He swiveled quickly to Lie Er and made a note, “Sometime before we head back to Xi Rei, we should make sure we recruit a Tai Yi from Fan Jia to take with us”
Lie Er shook his head in disapproval, “In tere in this world, is there anyone that could match Official Xia’s expertise in this area? There’s certainly so suspicious about this situation”
Everyone was on coround with that idea, all their eyes focused on Official Xia in anticipation
The oldto Old Xia’s experiences, the King’s illness has only been countered temporarily Rather his health is like an arrow at the end of its flight In less than three days, Fan Jialet out a startling shout
“What! That…that…can’t…the King of Fan Jia is hosting our farewell banquet exactly three days later”
Lie Er re the trusted advisor, “Official Xia, how can you be so certain that the King of Fan Jia would die?”
Official Xia stood proudly and fondled his beard, giving off a slight s’s symptoms, it appears that this was not a sudden impact from an unknown serious illness In fact, all his sy duration It is only coincidental that his sy levels in the past day To the best ofthe poison”
It was the beginning of another Royal conspiracy, Fan Jia and Xi Rei were sharing the bad luck in this departdom was spared from this devious plot
Fortunately for me, I’m just a counterfeit Prince and in threein my white towel, to enjoypatted his chest, and asked in a low and cautious voice, “Considering the King has been poisoned, have they not caught the culprit?”
“Slow acting poison is extremely hard to come by, and only a handful of people in this world would know the potency of the rawti symptoms which are similar to other diseases Even after a bout of illness one would not detect traces with a silver needleThe cycling pattern of illness and recovery would repeat several times, two or three times usually before death would finally overwhelether, “Who is so bold, daring to har?”
“Since it is a slow acting poisoning, the culprits are likely people surrounding the King Firstly, wetheissues”
The old man flicked the fan he always held in his hands open, and waved it a few ti
“Prince, the Third Princess attitude towards Gui Sen is very strange and old Xia here has figured out why there is strain between the two”