82 Whispers of Treachery (2/2)
”Get out!”
”How you can stand that guy around you, I'll never understand. He will enrage a saint.”
”He's actually my cousin,” Nian Zhen blandly explained.
”What?” Kang Jun goggled at him then sighed. ”Don't bother explaining. I don't want to know.”
”So, you think this Yi Hai likes the empress?” The voice was very casual, like the boy really didn't care about the answer.
”Anyone can see just by looking at him. He practically eats her with his eyes.”
Nian Zhen's hand tightened on the glass he was holding.
”And does she likes him?” The look he threw at at oblivious Kang Jun was sharp and cold.
”She likes him but not in the way he likes, I think. The empress is always too busy. She's always on the move. She finds so many things to interest her that she can't sit still. It's actually very hard to pin her down. The only one she really pays close attention to is the emperor.”
”She must like this Yi Hai character, too, since he always sticks by her side wherever she goes.”
”Maybe.”
Nian Zhen nearly speared him with his glare.
”What? Did I say something wrong?” Kang Jun was confused.
”Never mind. Tell me more about the emperor. Tell me about how he spends his day, his schedule.”
The questions came fast and furious after that. Kang Jun didn't thought anything of it. It was just like telling gossip anyway.The emperor was very disciplined. He wakes up at five to spar with one of the guards, then he spends breakfast with the empress, then they go together to court, then he winds his day down by reading the books and doing the assignments assigned to him by Mu Xing, then he has dinner with the empress, and goes to bed.
”No women?” Nian Zhen asked.
”The only woman he spends more time with is the empress,” Kang Jun said, then blinked as Nian Zhen speared him again with a cold glance. What the hell is wrong with this guy, he thought, a bit annoyed.
And now, he was standing outside the palace back courtyard, wet and cold and shivering and waiting for this idiot who should have been here hours ago.All this cloak and dagger business was not really his cup of tea.He really shouldn't have involved himself in this shenanigans in the first place. But he remembered what Nian Zhen told him about a famous doctor in Chengdi who had the ability to cure his mother, and his feet refused to move, even when the fog enveloped the surroundings and the cold seeped inside his clothes and dampened his toes.
The cry of a bird shattered the silence and the silhouette of a tall man wearing a heavy cloak suddenly materialized in front of him.
”Fuck! You scared the hell out of me,” Kang Jun gasped, feeling as if his heart just dropped to his feet. ”Where the heck have you been? I've been waiting here for hours.”
”Sorry,” Nian Zhen said, ”Something came up.”
”What is it? You sound different.”
A somewhat shorter silhouette appeared beside Nian Zhen.
”Oh, it's you. What? You're going to clean the whole courtyard this time?” mocked Kang Jun.
”The master is injured so state your report quickly,” Ban Chao said, glaring at Kang Jun.
”Injured? You've been injured?” Kang Jun asked, turning frowningly at the Nian Zhen. ”Shouldn't you be resting somewhere instead of meeting me here in this god-awful weather? What the heck is wrong with you people? Why can't you knock on a person's house at a decent hour when the weather is fine and dandy?”
”Never mind that,” Nian Zhen said impatiently. ”Tell me about the Battle of Talents.”
”The Battle of Talents? Ya, what about it?”
”How is the palace going to handle it?”
”They're not handling it. The school does. They're updating and renovating some of the buildings they made use of during previous games so it's entirely their ballgame. The palace will not interfere.”
”Are the emperor and empress staying in the school during the entire competition?”
”They can but they don't want to.I think they've decided to stay in the house where the empress is currently staying. It's closer to the school and I heard the chef is very good.”
”Tell me about the schedule for the opening day.”
”The emperor and empress will open the games at six in the morning. Then the men's archery competition will start, then the women's. The day ends with a boxing match between teams then everyone is invited to the empress' house where a state banquet has been prepared.”
”What about the last day of the competition?”
”The last day is the hunting competition which will take place in the imperial hunting lodge about a mile or two away from the capital. Game will be released into the forest and hunters will enter the forest to hunt them. I heard the biggest prize is a full-grown tiger which his majesty is really excited about. Whoever gets the tiger is to receive 50,000 taels of gold, plus a full scholarship at the school for two years.”
Nian Zhen was silent, lost in thought.
Kang Jun waited, feeling very cold and damp.
”We'll do it around the time of the hunt, I think. Gives us plenty of opportunity. It's far from the capital so not much of a chance of anyone catching up to us.”
”What about the guards, your highness?”Ban Chao asked.
”Wen Zhuo sent us packets of that special medicine, right? Just put it in their drink or food,” Nian Zhen said. ”The problem is how to separate the emperor from the empress.”
Kang Jun listened to them in gathering distress.
”What is this about?” he asked.
”The girl tactic?” Ban chao asked.
”No. Except for the empress, it seems the emperor doesn't find them interesting enough,” Nian Zhen said then turned to Kang Jun. ”Does the emperor likes gadgets or things like that?”
”He collects antiques, especially weapons and stuff.What is this about again?” Kang Jun had a very bad feeling about where all this was leading.
Nian Xhen's smile was almost feral.
”I have exactly the thing that will interest him,” he told Ban Chao. ”Remember that box I asked you to bring?'
”Yes.”
Did you bring it?”
”I put it in your bag,” Ban Chao answered, meeting Nian Zhen's smile with his own.
”What thing? What are you talking about?” Kang Jun asked, looking at the two young men with apprehensive eyes.
Nian Zhen transferred his gaze to Kang Jun.
”We'll use it as bait to make the emperor fall into our trap.”
”Fall into your trap?” Kang Jun asked, dreading the answer.
Nian Zhen's unnerving smile flashed again.
”We're going to kidnap the emperor, Kang Jun, and you're going to help us.”