Civil official Ling Wen's Palace

ShuîYuê skipped toward Ling Wen's study in a bright mood, which occurred rarely. The reason was she got the funding for the repair of West territory ports and another box of gems from Senior official Jang for getting his shady work done, along with all the money they got from stealing Wu Yu's cargo.

She greeted the older woman with a smile, "Water Master, thankyou for sparing some time and helping me with working on these records; only a select few officials have researched the history of Heaven in detail, and I couldn't be more grateful for your generous help," Ling Wen thanked appreciatively.

Water Master waved her hand around, "You help everyone a lot if I can do something for you in return I'll be more than glad," she assured as Ling Wen took her to the side hall full of junior civil officials of third-ranked senior officials and Ling Wen was their supervisor, even though the dark-haired woman was not older than forty she was one of frightening intelligence a trait ShuîYuê admired a lot.

"Water Master is here to assist us as well," Ling Wen announced. Junior civil officials bowed their heads as ShuîYuê bowed back to show mutual respect before Ling Wen directed her to an empty lap table.

ShuîYuê pulled her sleeves up and began to study the papers in front of her, sorting them out in the correct order of events, but a whole year of events wasn't recorded in any of the scrolls, "Official Ling ?" Water Master called softly, Ling Wen approached her a few minutes later, "Why is there no record of the last fifteenth year?"

"Royal library had caught on fire, and we lost all records of that year; I tried to restore the records with the help of senior officials, but they had never been fully restored," Ling Wen explained.

"It's a bit difficult to arrange these scrolls with the loss of that one-year record," Water Master expressed her issue.

"I agree, Water Master; that's why these junior civil officials have been struggling with arranging the records for so long," Ling Wen remarked with a sigh.

"I'll try my best," ShuîYuê assured.

Water Master worked hard, using all her memorisation of the history of Heaven to arrange these scrolls in order. Her eyes were squinted, and her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. She made a few scowling expressions before smiling widely.

"Official Ling all done!" ShuîYuê announced all cheery as the junior civil officials whispered among themselves.

Ling Wen appeared out of the blue which startled ShuîYuê a little, "Let me check," Water Master fiddled with her rings nervously as Ling Wen checked if she had arranged the scrolls in the correct order or not, "Perfectly arranged," she added with a approving smile.

Water Master's head was on cloud nine, Ling Wen rarely said anything other than what she had to or intended to and to receive a compliment from the older lady.

ShuîYuê couldn't contain her joy. She was going to boast about it to everyone, especially Earth Master, who was famous for her sharp intellect. ShuîYuê didn't hate the emerald-eyed beauty but that lady didn't treat ShuîYuê well either.

"Thank you!" ShuîYuê smiled brightly which surprised the ever-so-calm, Ling Wen.

"I was certain Water Master would never smile," a female civil official commented giggling.

"Official Ling complimented her, who wouldn't be elated about it?" Her friend asked as ShuîYuê tried to school her expressions.

"Water Master, stay for dinner; it's pretty late already," Ling Wen requested, holding the scrolls in her arms.

"It's all right, I'll reach Wudu Palace in time for dinner if I leave now," Water Master dismissed the request of Ling Wen.

"I insist," the older woman repeated and ShuîYuê nodded her head, secretly excited to eat new dishes.

Water Master ignored all the junior civil officials and their whispers and focused solely on the food in front of her, the savoury taste of sesame noodles and the sweetness of pea jelly.

ShuîYuê was in paradise, and she was seized out of her dreamland by a civil official who was offering some delicious-looking drinks like the idiot ShuîYuê was, she downed it without a question. When Ling Wen returned, she found Water Master drinking the special sweet refreshment, which caused slight drunkenness.

Ling Wen hurried towards Water Master, knowing all too well Water Master couldn't handle anything with the slightest intoxicants or wine. "Why did you offer this drink to her?" Ling Wen asked in a stern tone.

The civil female official gulped nervously,
"I didn't, Water Master just took a glass and drank it whole."

"She can't handle alcoholic beverages," Ling Wen informed as Water Master blinked her eyes rapidly, "Call for a carriage!" She ordered trying to keep Water Master from reaching out for more drinks.

Wudu Palace

Jīnyú closed his eyes, trying to concentrate his powers into a small sphere, when he heard shouts of Aunt Rong Pei and Souxin. He stood up from his spot, noticing his Fēi JîeJîe hurrying towards the corridor; he followed after her, his eyes widening at the sight of Official Ling Wen supporting his Master, who was laughing while swaying from side to side.

"What happened?" Wind Master asked as she grabbed ShuîYuê by the shoulders.

"Water Master accidentally drank intoxicating beverages," Ling Wen answered a little guilty for Water Master's condition.

"We'll handle this; thank you for dropping her here so late," Yìfēi thanked, bowing her head as ShuîYuê played with the jewels of Wind Master.

"It was the least I could do after Water Master helped me so generously," Ling Wen replied appreciatively.

"I'll just-" Yìfēi swatted ShuîYuê's hands from playing with her earrings, "I'll take this one to bed first."

"I am leaving Wind Master, take care of Water Master," Ling Wen said before leaving.

"Master is drunk?" Jīnyú asked watching ShuîYuê poking Yìfēi's cheek.

"Apparently!" Yìfēi cried as Jīnyú helped her to take Water Master to her bedroom. They sighed watching ShuîYuê play with the curtains of her bed.

"Miss Yú, here," Aunt Rong Pei held up her hand holding a bowl of kudzu root tea and another bowl of red ginseng.

Yìfēi made ShuîYuê finish the two bowls, which took twenty minutes as the happy-go-lucky Water Master, under the effects of alcohol, delayed the task. Finally, Wind Master was done.

"Master sure gets energetic when she gets drunk," Jīnyú commented.

"You don't want this one to be drunk, a menace to deal with," Yìfēi warned as ShuîYuê giggled with half-lidded eyes.

"Thank you for the warning Fēi JîeJîe," Jīnyú gulped nervously.

"Let her sleep," Aunt Rong Pei said ushering the two out of the room.

Jade was busy helping Mei prepare rose water with distillation when Souxin appeared with a kettle in her hand. She criticized the spilt droplets of precious rose water before circling the apparatus to try and find faults, "You," she narrowed her eyes at Jade, "Place this in Master's room."

Jade closed the bottle cap, "But Master already went to bed."

"Don't talk back to me!" Souxin snapped sharply, "I have been taking care of Master for four years, How would imbeciles like you know of Master's requirements?"

Jade lowered her gaze as Mei chimed in hurriedly, "Souxin JîeJîe, don't be mad at Jade; she'll put the kettle in Master's room after she's done with this last bottle of rose water," Mei assured; Souxin glared at Jade with suspicious eyes before walking away.

"Don't mind her Jade, she's just hot-headed," Mei consoled the younger girl.

"How can Master find her acceptable and tolerating to work? She's always bossing around!" Jade glowered helping Mei with cleaning the distillation apparatus.

"She's Aunt Rong Pei's only daughter. Master respects Aunt Rong Pei a lot, and Souxin has always managed to get along with Wind Master," Mei answered, wiping the bottles dry.

"So you want Master to like you you impress Miss Yú?" Jade inquired in astonishment.

"As absurd as it sounds, Master treats those whom Wind Master and Prince Jīnyú are fond of way better," Mei spoke, counting all the rose water bottles.

"JîeJîe, I'll go put this in Master's room first or else Souxin JîeJîe will come to taunt me," Jade said before she hurried to West Chambers, grumbling under her breath, "She's asleep! Why put a kettle of water in the night? It's not like Master will get up and demand water because she's thirsty."

She walked inside the study to find it littered with paper smudged in ink, the walls and the desk were painted with silly drawings and Water Master was colouring the white fur black with her fingers while being covered in ink all over.

Jade shook her head. The horrible condition of the room slowly set in her mind; she placed the kettle on the table before hurrying towards Water Master, "Master, what are you doing?" She asked watching ShuîYuê dipping her fingers in ink.

"Clooooooringggg!" Water Master answered, rubbing her hands on the white fur; Jade groaned under her breath before grabbing ShuîYuê's wrists.

"You were fast asleep, Why are you doing this?" She asked the last part while looking up at the roof as if asking god why Water Master, who has Jade wrapped around her pinky, made the latter's life miserable.

"Fooooouuunnn!" ShuîYuê slurred blinking her eyes. Jade grabbed her shoulders, guiding her back to her bedroom, where ShuîYuê plopped on the divan.

"Whatever, you sleep on the bed or divan, just sleep," Jade mumbled to herself, wringing a wet towel to wipe Water Master's face and save the divan from getting stained with ink.

ShuîYuê was making animated expressions while pointing at the roof,
"Look here," Jade said holding Water Master's chin to clean her cheeks.

"Come paaaay tag bith me!" Water Master demanded shaking her head and making Jade's task even more difficult.

"It's late night; you shouldn't play tag at night; monsters will catch you," Jade tried to scare Water Master with the tricks she used with her baby brothers.

"Bub soouuun is out!" ShuîYuê pointed out of the window.

Jade sighed exasperated, "That's a lamp."

"Huh?" ShuîYuê tilted her head to the side staring up at Jade with sleepy eyes. Jade tried her best to avoid Water Master's adorable puppy eyes and just focus on cleaning the ink stains off her cheeks so she wouldn't ruin the pillow covers.

"Pleeeeeesssseeeee!" Water Master whined in the cutest voice Jade had heard and she was quite shocked with Water Master's behaviour, who knew this professionally reserved, always glaring at everyone, aloof Water Master turned out to be the most lovable person once drunk and wasted.

"No, go to bed," Jade told sternly and she made the biggest mistake of her life when she looked down at the Water Master's eyes. She knew exactly at that moment where Prince Jīnyú got all his pouty lips and puppy eyes from, it seems like Water Master trained the Prince in everything necessary for survival, including the skills of blackmailing by making endearing faces.

"Please misssss," ShuîYuê requested batting her sleepy eyelashes at the highly conflicted maid. That's when Water Master suddenly leaned her head against Jade's stomach sniffing the sweet rose water, "Youuu niiiice," she slurred her eyes going heavier by the second.

Jade stood frozen as Water Master snuggled her face in Jade's stomach assuming it to be a soft fluffy pillow. She even rubbed her cheek against it before sighing happily. Sometime later, Water Master's head began to slip, and that's when Jade held her by her nape and gently laid her on the pillow before putting a blanket over her.

"Who knew you are this adorable when you are drunk?" She rambled to herself as ShuîYuê hugged a pillow before comfortably sleeping, "I can't believe this, Water Master. Who doesn't fear any ghost? Can't sleep without hugging a pillow?" Jade asked, amused with ShuîYuê; she gently leaned down and poked Water Master's cheeks.

"Why are your cheeks so soft Master? It's like poking feathers," she sighed, looking around the study before rolling her sleeves and cleaning the whole night, not to mention Water Master woke up with a throbbing headache and the opposite attitude she had last night, grumbling and cursing first thing in the morning.

Central Palace

ShuîYuê returned from Jun Wu's study after he had assigned her to assist Senior official Jang with the new construction of houses and markets which were destroyed at the battle of East Gates.

She decided to get some books from the royal library to have a better understanding of where they should construct the new houses and markets; she greeted the old librarian, Mr. Song, who smiled at her as he continued to work.

ShuîYuê picked up a few books carrying them over to a table and trying to sort out the ones she needed instead of hoarding them all in her study. She frowned in confusion as all of them seemed important to her. She glared at the roof of the library when she noticed the Crown Prince sitting on the second floor near the window; she smiled widely.

'He'll know which ones I should study from,' she thought, picking her books and walking towards him, 'My work will be reduced to half; I can find some time to read my half-finished mystery book,' ShuîYuê grinned at her foolproof plan.

She climbed up the stairs as GuānYû looked up from the letters he was reading, Water Master was walking towards him, her eyes cast down and a small smile on her lips, 'She looks happy,' GuānYû thought to himself as she approached him.

"Good evening, Your Highness," she greeted bowing her head as GuānYû gestured for her to sit. She sat across from him and placed the books she brought on his lap table gingerly.

"How can I help you?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Would you tell me which of these books I should study to assist senior official Jang in the construction of houses and markets near East Gates?" She asked as he nodded his head taking the books from her hand.

"Gather keeps giving you a lot of work ?" He tried to make conversation with her as she kept her eyes glued to the pages he was flipping. He could tell her which book she should study from in a second, but then she would thank him and return, end of the rare time he got to spend with her.

"He's giving a lot of work to everyone," she answered, "Should I study from both Li Xiu and Yin Yu's books ?" She questioned, getting impatient as he was taking a little longer than she would have liked; her mystery book was waiting for her in her bedroom along with a plate of cream puffs.

"I'll tell you exactly what pages you should study in the room; give me some time to look through them; is that okay with you?" He asked smiling at her.

ShuîYuê, of course, agreed; if she got to study from exact pages instead of reading the whole book, why would she say no to the Crown Prince's generous help?

"How is West territory these days?" He asked once again trying to talk to her.

"It's all good," she replied as she leaned closer to the book, mentally taking notes of all the pages his fingers lingered on, Those were the ones she had to read.

GuānYû sighed, Water Master had always been difficult to get along with, you ask her something she'll reply and then get quiet, How was GuānYû supposed to get to know her more if she didn't talk to him more than one word, he was debating whether he should just tell her the pages and go on with reading the letters he was reading.

"Here, from Li Xiu's book, pages fifty-eight to eighty, and Yin Yu's book, pages hundred to hundred and fifty," he said, surprised at the speed at which she picked up all the books from his table.

"Thank you for your kind help," she said bowing her head as she stood up.

'GuānYû, think of something; she's leaving,' Crown Prince thought as ShuîYuê descended the stairs; he stood up hurriedly, 'What are you going to say to her when she turns around?' He wondered as he saw ShuîYuê climbing up the stairs as Ghost King followed after her.

She was walking backwards as Ghost King walked towards her, and she bumped into GuānYû, who had, in the meantime, sneaked behind her. She turned around to apologise, only to bump back into Ghost King, and as she bumped into Chéng Huá, the many books in her arm hit GuānYû right in his stomach. He gritted his teeth at the harsh pain he felt.

ShuîYuê's eyes widened at the pained expression on the Crown Prince's face, she had turned around too fast and just slapped him in his stomach with the books in her arms, since she was much shorter than them GuānYû received the full blow in his abdomen, "I am so sorry, Your Highness," she apologised panicking.

"You should,"

"You shouldn't," Ghost King and Crown Prince said respectively at the same time, as ShuîYuê looked between them half panicking and half worried.

"She was apologising to me," the Crown Prince told as he glared at Ghost King.

"She bumped into me first, so that apology is mine," he replied before he looked down at ShuîYuê, "And this is the second time you have run into me," he reminded.

"She wasn't apologising to you!" The Crown Prince hissed as ShuîYuê nodded her head in agreement.

Ghost King cocked his eyebrow at her, "So you can run into me as you please and not even be guilty about it?" He questioned as he walked towards ShuîYuê.

"I was going t-"

"You bumped into me first, so you should apologise to me first," he interjected as she backed away.

"What's your business here?" Crown Prince questioned as he followed Ghost King who was cornering Water Master.

"My assistant went to Wudu Palace, but you weren't there, so I came here looking for you," Ghost King spoke to ShuîYuê who opened her mouth to speak but Ghost King tripped her with his foot and she fell back, the books in her arms fell on GuānYû's foot who once again gritted his teeth in pain as he tried not to shout.

ShuîYuê closed her eyes, waving her hand around, trying to get hold of something, and luckily, she did; she grabbed GuānYû's arm, who lost his balance as he was clutching his left foot and standing on his right one.

ShuîYuê grabbed his left arm and pulled him along as he lost his balance. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for falling on the floor as her hand was still clutched to GuānYû's arm, but in the entire library, there was only one loud thud as GuānYû hissed in pain.

Ghost King stared at ShuîYuê's face whose eyes were shut tightly, he observed the mole right beneath her left eye, he had pulled her hand back from GuānYû's arm while he held her by the waist, that's how she didn't fall, he didn't let her, she peeked open one of her eyes as she didn't feel pain, then she opened her other eye as well blinking them as she saw Crown Prince on the floor hissing in pain.

Ghost King stared at her face which was turned away from him, there was another mole on the left side of her chin, his eyes glanced up to her lips which looked soft, he didn't realise how close he was to her face, she turned her head away from GuānYû and bumped her forehead against Ghost King's cheek.

Huá watched as she had a pained expression on her face; she rubbed her forehead before she looked at Ghost King, who was still staring at her; she placed her hand on his cheek and rubbed it to ease the pain, 'Why is her hand so soft?' Huá wondered as she leaned closer to his face and blew on his cheek before rubbing it.
He stared at her lips and wondered how it would feel to kiss them, his face leaning closer to hers as ShuîYuê didn't notice the closeness between them.

"Why did you push me?" GuānYû questioned as he rubbed his arm.

The worried look in her eyes and the redness of her forehead, along with the way she flinched at the Crown Prince's sudden voice, reminded Huá what he was doing; he immediately moved his hand away from her waist as she tried to steady herself on her feet before she could fall to the floor.

GuānYû saw how her legs wobbled around trying to stand still. Ghost King had one of her legs in front of his foot while the other one was crossed behind his other foot; GuānYû grabbed her by the back of her neck like she was some small puppy or bunny and pulled her away.

'What were you doing Huá?' Ghost King questioned himself as the Crown Prince pulled Water Master away. Huá did not like how he grabbed her by the back of her neck.

GuānYû wasn't cruel or anything, he couldn't find a better spot to grab as she kept waving her hands around trying to get ahold of something when Ghost King removed his hand from her waist which was the only thing keeping her steady, he may have grabbed her neck with a little more grip than he intended to as ShuîYuê knitted her eyebrows in pain.

The Crown Prince pulled her away far from Ghost King before he removed his hand, which left a red mark on the back of her neck. She rubbed it while frowning at the Crown Prince, "What happened here? I heard a loud thud," Mr. Song questioned as the Crown Prince looked down at him from the second floor.

"I lost my balance, nothing else," the Crown Prince assured as Mr Song walked away. Shaking his head, he turned to ShuîYuê, "Are you all right?" He asked worried.

ShuîYuê had both her hands folded behind her neck as she tried to ease the pain by rotating her neck, but when the Crown Prince spoke to her, she turned to face him and hit him in his face with her elbow.

GuānYû clutched his nose as ShuîYuê's eyes widened in a panic once again. He had bent down to her level to see if she was fine, and then he was smacked in the face.

She stepped towards him, holding his arms and trying to see where he was hurt when GuānYû pushed her back; he did not intend to push her so hard; he was only trying to keep himself and Water Master safe from her clumsiness.

ShuîYuê crashed into the bookshelf behind her, pain shooting from her back to her head as books from the bookshelf began falling. One of them landed right on her head. She covered her head and turned around to back away from the bookshelf, which was raining books, only to see the huge bookshelf leaning towards her at a quick speed, 'Oh no!' she thought as she closed her eyes.

GuānYû stared at the bookshelf which was falling on Water Master. He stepped forward only to feel something pass by him, and before he could turn his head around to see what it was, he heard a loud thud, dust filling his vision as he swatted his hands around, trying to see.

ShuîYuê felt something push her away from the bookshelf. She turned around to see Ghost King standing in front of the crashing bookshelf. Her legs grew a mind of their own and ran towards him. Huá was just about to hold off the falling bookshelf with his hand when he noticed Water Master running towards him, he shook his head at her, but before he could speak the bookshelf came crashing down on him,
ShuîYuê closed her eyes as the bookshelf fell on Ghost King.

Huá opened his eyes to see something black in front of him, he blinked his eyes checking if he had gone blind only to hear Water Master's muffled cries, he furrowed his eyebrows turning his head but being unable to, he felt her quick breaths against his neck, now he could feel the pain in his body.

GuānYû drew his sword slicing the bookshelf in front of him. It slid to the floor in half, and his eyes widened as he saw Ghost King who was withstanding the bookshelf on his back with his arms spread out, GuānYû's heart skipped a beat when he saw ShuîYuê right in front of Ghost King, 'She's fine, thank goodness,' GuānYû sighed in relief.

Ghost King could see things other than black, thanks to the moonlight and lamps in the room, and the first thing he saw was Water Master's shoulder; he turned his head to his left, but something was blocking his neck. A second later he realised it was Water Master whose face was buried in the crook of his neck, he was faintly aware of Crown Prince shouting in the background, he heard her muffled cries as GuānYû moved the bookshelf away from Ghost King's body, he brought his hands to her waist slowly pushing her away.

ShuîYuê was too scared to feel Ghost King's touch, so she didn't think of anything at that moment and just ran towards him. ShuîYuê didn't do things recklessly; she would always observe before intervening, but when she saw him pushing her away, trying to protect her, she didn't think once before running back to him.

"Water Master," Ghost King called, tapping her on the shoulder; she wouldn't move away from him; he could feel her shaky breaths on his neck, "Water Master?" He called once again, and before he could try to bring her out of the shock she was in, the Crown Prince pulled her away from Huá's hold harshly, Huá could feel how tightly she was holding onto him.

"Are you fine?" The Crown Prince asked the Water Master, who looked shocked; he grabbed her shoulders, shaking her, "Water Master!" He shouted in her face as ShuîYuê opened her eyes, she saw GuānYû's worried face peering down at her.

She tried to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth; GuānYû's eyes glanced down at her hands, which were bruised red; blood was also drawing from her knuckles, "What happened to your hand?" Crown Prince asked frantically.

Huá's eyes widened in realisation; his entire body was hurting except for his head; he didn't feel any pain in his head; he touched his head, trying to locate a place where he was hurt but couldn't feel anything. He shifted slightly as he looked over GuānYû's shoulder who was holding Water Master's hands, which were bruised badly.

'I protected her because I can't have her harmed in any way before I can get to know the secret, she has no reason to protect me,' he thought as GuānYû grabbed ShuîYuê's arm taking her to the infirmary.

Mr Song had rushed upstairs when he heard a loud crash. The Crown Prince had passed him on the way, and the Water Master's hands were injured; he panted as he reached the second floor to find Ghost King standing there, a half-cut bookshelf next to his feet while the other half was behind him.

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Authors note by author:

Hello everyone, I apologise for the inconsistency in updating. My practical exams and final exams started in November, and they are still going on, but I finished the difficult subject exams and can finally update.

I would update in my exams, too, because I have it saved in drafts already, but a lot of things came up one after the other, and I just couldn't do it.

Word count: 4700, thank you for reading. Have a great day, take care, and I'll see you later, Bye bye

~From Bun Bun the bad bunny