The Southeastern mountain case was handled successfully by the Water Master who had returned to the Wudu Palace for a meal before going to Jun Wu to report, ShuîYuê took a bath and changed her clothes as Souxin filled her with the various things that happened during her trip away in the heavenly court, It was the usual officials quarrelling, maids gossiping and just trivial things happening.

"And so I told him to keep his fat mouth close and mind his own business," Souxin narrated arrogantly.

"Souxin, you are getting more defiant as the days go by he is a junior official's guard. You can't just say anything to him, especially in public," ShuîYuê berated.

"So what if he is a junior official's guard? I am Water Master's one and only maid," she declared, pouting.

"That's why you need to be more careful," ShuîYuê advised.

"Okay, fine, don't be mad now, okay? I made cream puffs for you," she said, which instantly brightened up Water Master's mood.

"ShuîYuê!" Yìfēi shouted as she barged into her room.

"What?" ShuîYuê asked bored.

"Where's my present?" Yìfēi asked, plopping down next to her.

"I went there to fight evil spirits who were frightening the people living on the mountain, I wasn't in a nice place to buy you souvenirs," she replied, unbothered.

"YueYue!" Yìfēi whined.

"Just kidding, the villagers gave me some nice robes; Souxin has put them away, so ask her," she joked, pushing Yìfēi, who was inclining her head on ShuîYuê's shoulder.

"Really? Thanks," Yìfēi beamed dashing out the door to go see her presents.

'Silly girl,' ShuîYuê thought shaking her head.

Jade entered the study with a tea tray in hand. "Welcome back," she greeted softly

"Hmm," ShuîYuê said, thinking about something.

"Master I found out what you asked me to," she whispered.

"Go on," she turned her gaze to the maid, interested.

"This hair chain is indeed from that merchant collection, and she told me that a red-clad man bought this."

"What did that man look like?"

"She said that he had long black hair, and he also was with a female who was dressed in white when he bought this. She had purchased an expensive belt hook from her."

"Thanks, Jade," she said, lost in thought.

"Welcome," she replied, placing the hair chain on the table.

"She didn't find you suspicious?" ShuîYuê asked suddenly.

"I said that my master wanted to gift the same hair chain to his wife, and this is from an acquaintance of his in case she has something of similar design," she answered nervously.

"Smart move," ShuîYuê praised, putting the hair chain in her hair and leaving the palace.

Jun Wu's study

She gave him the reports about the evil spirits scaring the villagers, "There's this nature spirit which keeps on haunting the North forests, but His Majesty has dispatched Earth Master there already," Ling Wen stated seriously.

"A specific feature of this natural spirit? " ShuîYuê asked curiously.

"Not really, but it smells woody and refreshing whenever it is nearby. The travellers all smelled this scent before they were attacked," Ling Wen informed calmly.

"You have just returned from a long journey. Please relax yourself," Ling Wen added, bowing and leaving Water Master alone.

She was near the koi fish pond when she saw Ghost King standing there; he didn't turn away from her this time; she passed by him, dropping the hair chain purposely as she moved her hair in the front.

"Water Master!" Ghost King called.

She turned around, all surprised, "Yes?"  she asked with a smile.

"You dropped this," he said, holding out the hair chain.

She looked at the hair chain before touching the back of her head, "Oh, thank goodness you saw it. Otherwise, I would have lost my favourite hair chain," she remarked, walking to him.

"No worries," he replied, giving it to her

She took it back from him, putting it in her hair but failing, "Could you please put this in my hair?" she asked, looking up at him.

Ghost King was surprised, 'I thought she was shy, but who cares?' he thought to himself.

He pinned the hair chain in her hair gently; she turned around to thank him but lost her balance, falling into his arms, which caught her easily.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled quickly,

'Something is weird, she's not pushing me away nervously, and she is talking like she planned it,' he thought suspiciously.

"Please be careful," he advised gently.

She stared into his eyes, trying to find out why he was being so nice to her, "Did I do something that day to anger you?" she asked genuinely confused.

Ghost King stared at her, "You have no regard for your life whatsoever," he reprimanded.

'I don't even care about living,' she thought to herself, "I was just worried for Jīnyú," she reminded.

"Is the Prince that important to you?" he asked calmly.

"Of course, he and Yìfēi are the most precious to me and I won't spare anyone who tries hurting them," she responded, there was a dangerous glint in her eyes screaming, I don't care if you are the Ghost King if you ever think of hurting those two I'll murder you to a horrible death.

'That's not my plan, Water Master, It is probably going to hurt you the most,' Ghost King thought.

"You almost killed Zìxìn just because he had slight intentions of harming anything in his way, and that involved Wind Master so of course I know that already," he pointed out.

"It's wonderful that you understand this so easily, it's much more difficult to explain this to anyone who thinks it's a good idea to harm Yìfēi or Jīnyú," she said sweetly, her voice sounding like she was giving a warning.

"Of course, I promise that from my side, those two will never be harmed," he promised honestly.

"Thank you, I think of you as an alright person, so please don't break that image by doing anything with them," she advised carefully.

"You think I am alright?" he asked, amused

"Yeah," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I think you are nice too," he said, smiling.

"Thank you," she replied, smiling at him as she walked away. 'My suspicions were right. This hair chain tracks my location, and that nature spirit has something to do with Shù Zìrán,' she thought, 'Can't trust even your shadows these days, you can't even be sure it's your own.'

'I am sorry, Water Master but it's you who'll be getting hurt. Don't blame me for it,' Chéng Huá thought, planning what he would be doing.

Eastern Palace

Water Master stood outside of Crown Prince's study fiddling with her rings, 'Fuck it, put your stupid pride aside and ask for his help, those innocent children would lose their lives if you don't get the fund, I'll beg him if I have to today,' she thought thinking of the best way to ask for the fund.

The Crown Prince's servant noticed Water Master standing outside of his study, "Good morning, Water Master," he greeted politely.

"Good morning," she replied nervously.

"Eastern Palace isn't visited by officials usually," he commented as ShuîYuê nodded her head.

"Is Crown Prince available?" She asked hopefully.

"He's in the study, please follow me."

GuānYû scowled at the scroll in his hands; these senior officials never agreed with each other and always opposed the other person's ideas; how was GuānYû supposed to make a conclusion if all the generous help he received from senior officials was them arguing even in letters, "Your Highness?" His servant called as GuānYû hummed, distracted, "Water Master requests an audience with you," GuānYû looked up, a smile appearing on his lips.

"Allow her inside," the Crown Prince said unconsciously, patting his already crease-free robes; his servant bowed, and two minutes later, the Water Master appeared as the Crown Prince feigned to read a letter.

"Good morning, Your Highness," ShuîYuê bowed her head, holding a bunch of scrolls.

GuānYû looked up from the letter that he was pretending to read, "Water Master what a pleasure to have you in Eastern Palace."

"I need some help, Your Highness," she responded nervously.

"Of course step closer," he told as she reduced the long distance between them before standing seven feet from him, "How may I help you?" He asked interlacing his fingers as ShuîYuê gulped anxiously.

"Your Highness, last year, West territory port was destroyed in the monsoon season. I had requested funds, but it has not been sanctioned," she answered.

"Senior official Wu Yu must have found some drawback in the request, Try again," the Crown prince said airily.

"I have tried many times, Your Highness, but he won't even accept my funding request," she replied, keeping her eyes glued to the floor.

"Are you saying Senior official Wu Yu is purposely declining your request?" GuānYû asked narrowing his eyes as Water Master shook her head immediately.

"Not at all, Your Highness," she took a deep breath, "I can't ask senior official Jang for help. Those two don't get along much, and I don't have any intentions of disrespecting Senior official Wu Yu."

"So you came to me believing that I would allow it to be sanctioned because I was lenient of you not collecting tax once?" The Crown Prince asked sternly.

"I came here in hopes that I could get the fund sanctioned," she rectified politely.

The Crown Prince leaned back in his seat, "Song Yan, bring me some tea, Ask Water Master what she would prefer."

Song Yan placed the tea for the Crown Prince on his table gingerly before approaching Water Master, "What would you like Water Master?"

"Thank you, but I am fine," she answered with a small smile before holding up a scroll; Song Yan took it and handed it to the Crown Prince, who glanced at it.

"Have some tea, Water Master," the Crown Prince insisted, sipping his.

Water Master knew he was ordering her to drink tea, "Anything would be fine just not too sweet."

Song Yan looked towards the Crown Prince, "Osmanthus flowers are blooming beautifully, Make Water Master some Osmanthus tea," GuānYû said.

Song Yan handed ShuîYuê her tea cup without a saucer. She held it awkwardly, her fingers burning from the hot tea cup. GuānYû was testing her resolute; the Water Master kept balancing the tea cup by alternatively holding it with her fingers.

The Crown Prince finished his tea, "Senior official Wu Yu is the first ranked official," he stated as Song Yan picked up the empty teacup, "His decisions have been advantageous to Heaven for the last twenty years."

Water Master was certain GuānYû wasn't going to sanction the fund, but with the way he was speaking she realised it, 'Nevermind, I'll sell all those pearl and amethyst boxes I have received as New years gifts from Emperor over the years, it'll get us going for three months, I'll find some new business-boosting strategy in the meantime,' she thought wondering which jewellers would give her the best price for the pricey pearls.

"Your fund request has been denied twelve times since last year," he spoke looking at the scroll.

She didn't reply, keeping her head lowered; there was no use in saying anything anymore; ShuîYuê would just have to either sell those gems to some high-paying jeweller or traders or if it came to worse, she would have to rob money from the other territories.

"Your ports didn't have huge damages. Naturally, Senior official Wu Yu denied the funding," he added, rolling the scroll.

'Well, of course, the entire port was destroyed, but that fucker Wu Yu didn't let the damage reports be checked by anyone else; he made a new report and has been denying the funding based on the false report since then. I don't have another correct damage report because Yìfēi was taking care of West territory when I was busy getting cuts and bruises in the southeast forest, and Yìfēi doesn't give a fuck about proper scroll work,' ShuîYuê thought with a sigh.

"I agree with him as well; funding denied," he declared, stamping the scroll with a red mark.

ShuîYuê laughed inwardly at her wonderful luck, 'Yeah, let's go hunt for some generous traders, or if they don't agree, let's threaten them for money,' she thought, still holding the hot tea cup.

"Anything else?" The Crown Prince asked, giving the scroll to Song Yan, who took it to the Water Master.

"No, Your Highness, thank you for your time," she remarked, taking the scroll from Song Yan and almost dropping the teacup in the process. When Song Yan took it from her hands, she instantly clenched her fists, trying to ease the burn.

"You may leave," he said, going back to reading his scrolls. For a moment, ShuîYuê thought of begging him; the hoard of children who were being fed in the West territory was a lot more than last year.

Water Master was certain the money from gems wouldn't last long, and since the Mid-autumn festival would be approaching and families returning for the festival, more grains were going to be bought, and the only port they were operating secretly wasn't fetching them many goods at a reasonable price.

Last year's rain had destroyed the harvest quite a lot and importing wasn't possible, firstly West territory didn't have a functioning port the most they had managed to repair wasn't much and secondly Water Master didn't have enough money to get imports at a higher cost since she's been supporting the port construction for a whole year now.

"If Your Highness could be generous and take another look-"

"What's there for me to look for? You didn't collect tax, I was lenient and ignored it for your kind thoughts, but now you are just asking for fund money without a valid reason," GuānYû interjected calmly.

"Last year's harvest wasn't good, and importing is out of the question because our port is under construction," she spoke quietly.

"You already received a fund for the damages from Senior official Wu Yu, that's how construction is going on," he informed sharply.

ShuîYuê gulped nervously, "It's Wudu Palace's own money, Senior official Wu Yu didn't grant any funds."

"It says clearly that he sanctioned the fund for the little damages West territory port had; if you officials keep asking for funds, how is Central Palace supposed to work!" He snapped as Water Master flinched back.

"Damage report has been altered Your Highness, Senior official Wu Yu didn't give us any funds," she replied carefully.

"Accusing Senior official Wu Yu now, do you know how much power he has? He can buy ten West territories if he wants," the Crown prince hissed losing his calm.

"Your Highness, He's not approving a simple fund; I only request you to inspect West territory port and see for yourself how much fund money he has permitted," Water Master answered, bowing her head.

"Request renounced," he repeated sternly getting irritated with Water Master's behaviour.

"Please Your Highness, the port isn't working and business is down-"

"Water Master do not test my tolerance," he warned.

"Water Master, it's time for His Highness's meeting with Emperor; please leave," Song Yan chimed in hurriedly; ShuîYuê bowed her head, leaving the study with a sigh.

"Your Highness, even though Water Master isn't a very likeable official, she's still one of the only ones who can get things done with just her presence," Song Yan spoke, waving a fan at GuānYû, who buried his face in his arms.

"I am Crown Prince of Heaven before GuānYû; I have to prioritise my obligations and responsibilities before my individual feelings," GuānYû grumbled, rubbing his face.

"You were quite harsh with her, I saw that her fingers were burnt from holding the hot tea cup as you gestured me to do," Song Yan offered GuānYû some water.

GuānYû stared at his reflection in the water, "I was extremely coarse wasn't I? Snapped at her even though I knew she gets frightened of yelling suddenly."

"Senior official Wu Yu has a history of bullying younger officials a lot. I am certain he didn't spare Water Master either, and since she never had a good working relationship with him, I believe he dislikes her a lot," Song Yan conveyed his thoughts.

"She punched him in front of the whole Heavenly Court for recommending Jīnyú's punishment, in father's presence, when those ghosts were still there, You think he merely dislikes her?" The Crown Prince asked with a scoff.

"Senior official Wu Yu has many juniors; he could have easily altered the damage reports; chances are Water Master is speaking the truth about not acquiring any funds," Song Yan answered.

"Not chances, she is speaking the truth; I only refused her request because she needs to learn that locking horns with senior official Wu Yu never ended well for anyone; he can get her killed efficiently and without a suspect," the Crown Prince rectified caressing the rim of the cup.

"Water Master loses calm only when it comes to Prince Jīnyú or Wind Master," Song Yan reminded as GuānYû sighed loudly.

'When will she lose her calm for me? When will she not fear anyone for me? Jīnyú and Wind Master are so lucky,' he thought bitterly.

______________________________
Author's note duty on Prince Jīnyú:

Closes his working of Heavenly Court book, and smiles tiredly,

" Hello, long chapter? I understand, take you time reading it, I just finished my homework for today and will have dinner with Master, I'll see you soon! Lots of love from me,"ᰔᩚ ( ᜊ°-° )ᜊ .ᐟ .ᐟ

Word count: 3k, Hey, hope you are well? Dont forget to wear suncream people, it's important, and take care of yourselves, eat some 🥗🥗 salad today, and drink adequate water. Thank you for reading. Have a great day, Bye bye ୧((〃•̀ꇴ•〃))૭