Chapter 15: Create Something From Nothing[1]

"I have just received some information about where Zhanpeng-shixiong may be," Ruijie announced as he entered the side hall where Fu Wanxi and I were enjoying a plate of osmanthus and almond cakes paired with green tea.

Both of us glanced up in surprise—but for different reasons. For Fu Wanxi, it was probably because she had not expected to hear about Zhanpeng so soon, especially not in a large populous city. For me, it was because I thought that we had agreed to release this "news" only after the celebration of the Moon Festival tonight.

"You've managed to locate him so quickly?" Fu Wanxi inquired, her mouth still full with the large bite of osmanthus cake that she had just taken. Placing down the half eaten cake on her plate, she hurriedly brushed the crumbs from her mouth and hands and looked at Ruijie with eyes full of hope.

"It's not that difficult to locate him." Ruijie sat down on the cushion with a shrug. "He has become a high ranking imperial guard so he is quite a high profile character now. At the moment, it won't be easy to approach him, so we need to come up with a plan to meet him."

"Shixiong has become an imperial guard? When? Why? How?"

Ruijie poured a cup of tea for Fu Wanxi as she swallowed her food hastily. "It seems that he has become a personal guard for the royal family. My informant said that Zhanpeng-shixiong has hidden his identity as a disciple of Wuchang Manor. If we approach him recklessly, it may put him in danger."

"But Father had taught us to never be involved in matters related to the imperial court or family," Fu Wanxi said softly, shaking her head in disbelief. "He said that we should never come close to the capital; and even if we do, to never get involved with its matters. So how could shixiong go against Wuchang Manor's creed?"

"Maybe the Sect Master had given Zhanpeng-shixiong this mission? If we insist on confronting him now, it would jeopardise the mission and put us all in danger."

"Secret mission? Why would Father give a mission that goes against our values?"

"Ah," I interjected, "if you knew the reason why then it would not be a secret mission anymore, would it?"

Fu Wanxi turned to look at me with her perplexed, doe-like eyes, searching my face for answers. "Can we still meet with him if he's in the palace?"

"He's not actually stationed in the palace. He's a personal guard for Anyang-junzhu,[3]" Ruijie clarified. "So he's actually in the residence of Prince Jing."

"That doesn't make it any much easier to approach him even if we can climb over the walls!"

"I have a plan on how we can meet with him without any suspicions," I offered, my mouth moving faster than my brain could catch up. "During the Moon Festival, everyone will be out on the streets celebrating—men, women, peasants and aristocrats. We just need to coincidentally bump into the junzhu's entourage. Shixiong would likely be somewhere near..."

"How we will find her in the crowd? And what if she doesn't leave the residence to attend the festival?" Fu Wanxi pondered intently before asking some very valid questions.

"Well, can we come up with a better plan then?" My mouth twisted into a grimace and my eyes sent Ruijie a signal for help. As part of the plot, Fu Wanxi and Liu Mengjie were eventually bound to have an encounter and they would become good friends, but I wasn't sure how we were going to make that happen as their meeting was not detailedly described in the book. In the book, the first time when both characters appeared in the same scene, they were already best friends after Fu Wanxi rescued Liu Mengjie from distress. Were we meant to be the catalysts for this plot point? If we didn't do anything, would the encounter not happen?

"I think Xiaoyu's plan is on the right track." Ruijie said after a moment of silence. "The intel that I received also mentioned that the junzhu would be joining in the festive tonight and Zhanpeng-shixiong would be guarding her. We just need to make sure that we will be able to encounter them in the sea of people. It may not be easy to find them if they are in disguise as commoners."

"Yea, will we be able to recognise them?" I looked at Ruijie meaningfully, hoping that he could hear what my inner voice was screaming through telepathy. It would an issue for them to be in disguise, but there was another problem. Even if Liu Mengjie and Gao Zhanpeng were standing in front of us now, we would not know that it was them! How would one be able to identify Gao Zhanpeng from just a few descriptive phrases?

"We just need to single out Zhanpeng-shixiong from the crowd. It doesn't matter that we've never seen the princess before."

Tilting my head to one side, away from Fu Wanxi, I frowned at him and mouthed, "we've never seen Gao Zhanpeng before either."

'That's right!" Fu Wanxi nodded in agreement. "Shixiong should be fairly easy to recognise. He's quite tall, handsome and has a remarkable presence around him every where he goes. Even if he's dressed up as an imperial guard, he would shine brighter than everyone else."

I looked at Fu Wanxi with a weak smile. That was because Gao Zhanpeng has a protagonist's halo around his head, though it would not be as bright as Sheng Yi's.

"May I propose that we encamp outside Prince Jing's Mansion before nightfall and wait for them to appear? I think we may have a higher probability of encountering them rather than aimlessly searching for them through the sea of people." I suggested rapidly and threw Ruijie another sidelong glance. He had better thank me later for helping to cover up the fact that we were fake disciples of Wuchang Manor who had never seen Gao Zhanpeng before.

"Yes, that sounds good," Fu Wanxi concurred before springing up to her feet excitedly. "Alright then. Shall we get ready to join in the celebration tonight?"

***

Prince Jing's Mansion was located in the heart of the capital, along the widest and straightest road which led from the South Gate to the Imperial Palace. The front gate of the residence was heavily guarded but commoners scuttled to and fro and noble people in their horse carriages drove past without paying much attention to the threatening aura permeating from the tall black doors and fierce looking imperial guards. The residence was flanked by other grand residences of wealthy families but there were rows of shops and restaurants just across the street that was decorated with lanterns of all shapes, sizes, colours and designs.

As the sun slowly bowed out in preparation for the full moon to take centre stage for the evening, lamplighters, shopkeepers and servants spilled out onto the street to light up the lanterns one by one. Seeing the flickering flames give the paper lanterns life from within, peals of joyful laughter and rapid footsteps from young children sounded out.

We sat silently around a table on the second storey of a restaurant, looking out of the window every now and then to observe if there had been any movements at Prince Jing's Mansion. We had long finished our dinner but on every dish on the table, we left a few pieces of food untouched. The waiter appeared once again and hovered around us with his eyes fixed on those untouched morsels of vegetables, duck meat and tofu slices. Picking up my chopsticks, I picked up a single peanut and popped it into my mouth.

"Won't they find us suspicious? We've been sitting here for the past one and a half shichen.[2] Can't we go down and walk around the streets now? This is so painful and boring." I chewed the peanut slowly and for at least a hundred times.

Ruijie looked over his shoulders surreptitiously and shook his head. "There are quite a few patrons here too that have been here for as long as we have. They should be waiting for the festival to start too."

"If only there is some form of entertainment now. I'm so tired from talking nonstop to pretend like we are still not done with our meal."

"And I've drank so many cups of tea and visited the restroom so many times ever since we got here. I admire how the both of you can remain in your seats for so long without fidgeting." Fu Wanxi chimed in with her fair share of complaints. "The tea has become plain hot water at this point."

"That's right," I continued, my eyes meeting hers with understanding. "What if we're so bloated with tea that we can't chase after Zhanpeng-shixiong later?"

"And my legs are getting cramped from sitting for too long. What if this prevents us from chasing after Zhanpeng-shixiong later?"

"Once it gets darker and the street becomes more crowded, we can leave and wait around the residence." Ruijie hissed in a brusque tone before sipping tea from the cup that he had been holding onto for the past half hour. "One Xiaoyu is enough, I can't imagine that I now have to deal with two."

Rolling my eyes at Ruijie, I held my palms out with a small shrug. "What's wrong with a Xiaoyu? There's nothing wrong with being like a Xiaoyu. Right, Wanxi-shimei?"

Fu Wanxi looked slightly perplexed for a short moment but she burst into a giggle as we made eye contact. "That's right. What's wrong with us, Xiaorui-shixiong? You can find no other in the whole of jianghu who can rival our beauty, wit and demeanour."

Sticking my nose in the air, I beamed at the sight of Ruijie's speechless expression. This was the result of Fu Wanxi having been influenced by me after spending three whole days with me. We were inseparable.

Resting her head on one hand propped up on the windowsill, Fu Wanxi scrutinised the layout of the street."What if they come out from a side gate instead? Won't we miss them?"

Even though we were on the second storey, we were still unable to peer over the tall walls of Prince Jing's Mansion. Only the grey overhanging roofs could be seen floating above the walls.

"Based on what we know about Anyang-junzhu, she is a very principled, virtuous and upright lady. If she has permission to leave the residence today, it is likely that she will leave through the main doors. It doesn't make sense to leave by the side gates as they will be guarded as well. The issue is whether her family would allow her to leave her residence at all tonight." I offered a reply carefully, watching Ruijie's expression. It was only when he nodded along that I felt more confident about our strategy.

"It'd be quite pitiful if she could not join in the celebration tonight. Back home, I'd never be kept imprisoned like that. I could go anywhere I wanted to—anytime and with anyone," Fu Wanxi spoke in a low voice, a sigh of sympathy. "And now Zhanpeng-shixiong is stuck in there as well."

"There's a gathering for noblemen and noblewomen today at the Murong family's Danbi Garden to admire specially crafted lanterns, recite poetry and sample mooncakes. As royalty, Anyang-junzhu will be heading there tonight to—"

The sound of constant and steady drumbeats reverberated through the city, interrupting Ruijie and causing us to immediately straighten up vigilantly.

"It's time, it's time!" breathed Fu Wanxi with excitement. She leaned out of the window and enthused over the slightly crowded street with colourful and vibrant bright lights.

Noticing that the front gate of Prince Jing's Mansion opened slightly to allow a servant to run out, I quickly suggested: "Let's go and wait around the makeshift carts and stalls. There's a horse-drawn carriage being driven to the front of the residence now."

Ruijie called for the waiter, gave him a whole purse of coins, and generously told him to keep the change. Shaking my head at his wastefulness, I wondered if the coins were counterfeit or did the members of the Association who went before us earn them from hard work?

As we left the restaurant, we found a makeshift stall selling lanterns right outside. Pulling Fu Wanxi along, we decided to take a look at the lanterns. Without a lantern, who would believe that we were here to join in the festivities and not actually waiting for an opportunity to kidnap the princess?

She pointed to a rabbit-shaped lantern and told the vendor to light it up for her. "Pick one, shijie. I'll buy it for you. The Moon Festival will not be complete without a lantern!"

"Many thanks, shimei. I won't refuse your offer then." I smiled at her and my eyes quickly swept across the various lanterns on display.

The vendor held up a beautiful lantern shaped as a lotus flower as a recommendation. I waved my hand slightly embarrassed and pointed to a red and yellow lantern in the shape of a gold ingot instead. "Please give me that one."

"The simpler the design, the better," I said to a baffled Fu Wanxi with a laugh.

We waited at the side of the lively street, our eyes constantly shifting between the flickering paper lanterns and the front door of Prince Jing's Mansion. Through the crowd, I could make out two figures emerging through the entrance of the residence. The taller figure was dressed in a black swordsman outfit and carried a long sword in one hand. The slender figure wore a orchid-coloured overcoat with a long intricately embroidered violet skirt. Her every step was even and elegant, the tassels on her hair accessories swaying slightly but not clumsily. It was too far away to make out the threaded details in their clothings, but we were near enough to catch a glimpse of their faces. Walking by the young noble lady's side with an intimidating aura, the young man scanned their surroundings for any danger but did not forget to offer this utmost care and attention to her.

"Hey, that person—," breathed Ruijie beside me, his gaze also affixed on the horse carriage bearing the royal family's flag; but he turned his head sharply to stare at me, a fleeting look of surprise on his face, before repeating in a flat tone: "That person should be Gao Zhanpeng. Let's go over slowly so we don't alert the guards."

I nodded and started to manoeuvre my way through the stream of people passing by when I felt something passed by me. Turning around, my startled eyes fell on a little girl who was holding onto her mother with one hand and a familiar looking lantern in the other.

"Huh, where did she go?"

"Oh heavens, Fu Wanxi!" Ruijie's suddenly shouted and I felt a strong pull on my elbow.

As Ruijie dragged me to the other side of the street, all of the schemes and preparations that we had spent hours discussing and debating over instantly flew out of the window.

A small petite figure in a pink and green dress was fast approaching the horse carriage, her arms wide opened. The imperial guards who were standing guard along the entrance of the residence immediately scrambled towards the horse guard while shouting, "Protect Anyang-junzhu! Catch the assassin!"

But they were too late as the "assassin" had already reached her target, seized him in her arms as she triumphantly exclaimed with an innocent gaiety: "Zhanpeng-gege! I've finally found you!"

***

Author's Notes: 
Wondering if anyone has noticed that the titles of this chapter and the last one have some relevance to Sun Tzu's The Art of War and an ancient Chinese military essay known as The Thirty-Six Stratagems? There will be more to come! :>

Battle, or war, is somewhat the main theme of Part 2 of the book. As you read on, perhaps you may be able to identify the different kinds of "wars" (both literal and figurative)? Do keep reading on!

Thanks for all your reads, votes and support! :-)

Footnotes:

[1]: Create something from nothing (无中生有, wú zhōng shēng yǒu): (From the Thirty-Six Stratagems, <<三十六计>>) meaning a plain lie; to make somebody believe that there was something when there is in fact nothing. 

[2]: About 3 hours. One shichen is an ancient measure of time, equivalent to 2 hours in modern day.

[3]: junzhu: this is the romanisation/pinyin of 郡主, which means Commandery Princess, generally used to refer to the daughters of the Crown Prince or First-Ranked Princes. (Cf. gongzhu 公主 is used for the daughters of the Emperor.)

Glossary of other words that are used as honourifics, generally seen in a wuxia novel / institutional setting:
- shixiong: Senior Brother
- shidi: Junior Brother
- shijie: Senior Sister
 -shimei: Junior Sister

Glossary of other words generally used in a familial setting, but can technically be used anywhere in the appropriate context:
- gege: Older brother
- jiejie: Older sister
- didi: Younger brother
- meimei: Younger sister