52 Volume 3: Unknown (1/2)
”Mommy, Mommy, another song! Let's do another!”
”Goodness Little Lu, that's ten songs in a row. Mommy's fingers are going to fall off at this rate.”
Lu Shao, the fourth son of Lord Jin, was currently sitting in front of his Mother learning to play the pipa lute. Shan Hui had long since left the home, only occasionally visiting, and her twins (Yan Li and Shi Ji) had begun leaving the Palace for longer and longer stretches of time as well. That meant that Lu Shao was raised as practically a ”single child” (that is, he ended up slightly spoiled) and got the bulk of Mei Hua's attention.
He was barely six years old and had been given a specially designed pipa lute (for the regular size was too big for him) after he'd begged his Mother for one. Since the moment he was born, he'd loved music. As soon as he could speak, he sang, and as soon as his chubby fingers got big enough, he'd begged to learn to play the pipa lute.
Mei Hua was absolutely astonished at the boy's thirst for music. Her other sons had only had a passing interest in her musical talents. They enjoyed listening to her, but weren't interested in learning themselves, much like Jin. Having a child who wanted to learn had taken her by surprise.
Today, like many other days, she was exhausted from playing. She was by no means an amateur when it came to the pipa or singing, but even at six her youngest son was really pushing her to the limits of her abilities. And yet he still wanted to learn more!
At her last birthday party, all he'd talked about was the musicians and their instruments. Seeing him so excited, she realized that soon he'd be asking to learn how to play those instruments as well. Rather than wait until later, she'd gone directly to the musicians before they'd left and asked about finding a teacher for her son. She had them spread the word about her interest in finding a teacher and to contact Wu TengFei for further details.
It turned out the isolation of the mountains was a deal killer. Master Musicians, those musicians that knew how to play many instruments expertly, toured the world to show off their skills and acquire new ones. Later in their life, they would settle down and find a wealthy patron to support them. But it was expected to be some place where they could raise a family or get many students and continue practicing their talents publicly. To be shut off from most of the world was considered an extreme negative, and despite the large compensation, no one seemed interested.
The months ticked by without anyone taking up the offer and Mei Hua began to wonder if her expectations were just too high. Perhaps she should offer short term contracts for musicians skilled in specific instruments instead. If it was only 6 months to a year, perhaps they'd be more willing to come. It wasn't what she wanted for her son, but it was an acceptable alternative.
Just as she was about to do that, much to her surprise and delight, someone finally accepted and was willing to come teach. The Master Musician offering his services was an elderly man, recently widowed, called Shen Zhou. He had one granddaughter named Shen Syu who he wanted to bring with as well as all his servants… plus any of their families who wanted to go with him.
Jin hadn't been pleased upon hearing this part of the deal. It was one thing to allow the teacher and his family, but why did they need the servants AND the servant's family? The fairy servants were excellent, and with his enchanted masks they could be seen by adults when needed. There was no reason to bring more humans on the mountain.
Wu TengFei, their middle man for the negotiations, tried to get this part changed for Lord Jin but failed. The Merchant himself did not understand why the Master Musician was so insistent on taking such a large group of people with him. But it was either the whole lot or the Master wasn't coming.
Jin had been ready to say no, but Mei Hua was more lenient on the matter. Firstly, it would be hard for the old man if he came by himself with only his granddaughter. The more company for him, the better he'd feel, longer he'd live, and the better he'd teach. Secondly, Mei Hua had secretly started missing human company. Most of her sons were gone. Pei Zhi's occasional visits and letters weren't enough anymore and she found herself getting restless.
Lastly, even Wu TengFei admitted Shen Zhou was renowned on both sides of the mountain for his skills. It was why he could make such demands to begin with and keep a straight face. He was supposedly retired; no one had expected him to take up an offer to teach on an isolated mountain.
Mei Hua had to be cunning (which didn't come naturally to her) to get her husband to agree to the terms. She'd wheedled, he'd scowled, they argued and bickered. For a whole week they were a standstill and couldn't come to an agreement.
Then Mei Hua had an epiphany.
”How often do I ask you for something?” She'd said one night before they went to bed still angry at each other. ”Didn't you say you'd give me anything I asked? Is it possible that was just a flippant promise and you really only meant to give me things YOU wanted?”
This was a low blow and Mei Hua knew it, but it worked. Jin was both feeling wounded and offended that his wife would think of him that way, to the point that he couldn't sleep. After a restless night and some soul searching, he finally (though begrudgingly) agreed.
That didn't mean he wanted foreign humans wandering around his Palace and home night and day. He decided, instead, to just build them their own little place to live. Since he could create enchanted paths, there was no need to build the Master Musician's house anywhere near the Palace. So he built it several mountain peaks away, and then made a path that would require only five minutes walk to get from the new house to the entrance of the Palace.
Mei Hua wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when she saw the final product. He'd made a ”simple” housing unit, but it was based off the Palace. So even though he was trying to be stingy, what he'd ended up making was still hugely extravagant. They'd never know he only begrudgingly let them on the mountain based off the house he'd built for them.
With Little Lu in hand and Ye on her shoulder, Mei Hua took a leisurely stroll to the meet up destination to pick up the Master Musician and his people. Jin, having felt bullied by his wife into the whole thing, refused to come with them and instead decided to find a corner of the mountain to sulk.
They were going outside the forests but still staying on the mountain proper, to the south east. Usually a trip like this would take days if not weeks, but it took just a few hours walk. This was the magic of the Fairy Emperor. Where ever Mei Hua wanted to go, a special path was created just for her to walk. She could go as fast or as slow as she wanted.
When it'd first started happening, she'd been really astonished. Even Ye's magic wasn't that good. When she mentioned it to Jin, he gave her a self-satisfied smile and said: ”Since you know I'm the Emperor, there's no reason to hide what I can do. So why not show off a bit? Do you like it?” and then he'd given her the ”praise me, praise me” face so of course she'd praised him.
After arriving at the meet up spot, a barren hill surrounded by large stones, Mei Hua and the Master Musician introduced themselves politely. As always, Mei Hua insisted on a relaxed form of conversation, and as always the other person took a few minutes to accept she was being serious about it.
With Master Musician Shen were a fairly large group of people. Most were older grannies and grandpas, but there were also some younger folk with children. They all carried their own luggage, plus the Master Musician's things as well. If Mei Hua hadn't known who they were, she'd have mistaken them for a nomadic tribe with the amount of people and things they were hauling.
One of the children was a young girl about Little Lu's age who was hiding behind the Master Musician. She turned out to be his only granddaughter, Syu. Apparently her parents had tragically passed away some years before and so the Master and his (now deceased) wife had been raising her.
Unlike her other sons, Little Lu was naturally social and immediately took to Syu and the other children. He'd started making friends immediately, asking questions and chattering away to anyone who'd listen to him.
While the adults were talking, Lu Shao stopped playing with the other children and looked up, feeling something strange. There, hanging in the air far above them, was an arrow. It was a very odd looking arrow too, much bigger than a regular one used for hunting, with it point viciously barbed and stained black. Having never seen an arrow floating in the air before, he simply stared at it curiously and wondered what it was doing there.
This unfortunate lapse in judgment would plague him for years afterward.
”What's that?” He barely got out when the arrow suddenly plunged down to the earth and pierced through his mother.
It hit her between her collar bone and left shoulder. The impact was so strong it pierced right through and shattered her shoulder blade into pieces instantly. A sickening crunch sounded and blood splattered everywhere.