Chapter 26 - Fool Me Once...

After thinking it over for hours, I came to a conclusion: Whatever I did, I would get innocent people in the crossfire, but I couldn’t sit and do anything either.

That’s when I was struck by genius.

I needed time to find the wizard behind the curtain and I needed them to keep them thinking their plans were working so that they wouldn’t think of changing them. Which meant that what I needed to do was to pretend I didn’t know anything.

But to catch the mastermind and bring it to justice, I needed to connect the dots, and for that I needed proof… just in case they too had some influence within the walls of the palace.

So, I needed to begin gathering my own intelligence.

Before we were invited for breakfast, I asked Min and Ling to cover for me while I entered the kitchen to look for the poison and, if I could get away with it, interrogate the chef.

Finding the poison was relatively easy, but the chef proved to be a hard nut to crack… until I broke his mind. The poor guy had only been told that the poison was a special condiment for the guests by one of the daughters of the lord. I hadn’t wanted to do it, but the man was too much of a liability to be left alive.

I took the poison bag with me, changed clothes and joined my party at the breakfast table.

Ling still looked somewhat pale when I sat beside her. I placed my hand over her beverage and scanned it for toxins. There hadn’t been any, so I handed her the cup with a reassuring smile, advising to ingest more liquids. For some reason, her eyes lowered to her tea and her cheeks turned pink.

After that, I went over Min’s breakfast “I’d avoid the meat for a day or two, my friend. They don’t seem very healthy.” He smiled thankfully and began eating everything but the meat.

“Good morning, your majesty!” the lord’s wife entered the room and smiled brightly at me “I must apologize, there will be a delay with your food. It seems that our cook has deserted us overnight.”

“How very strange” I lied through my teeth “Has this happened before?”

The old woman shook her head sadly “not even once. The man loved his kitchen too much to stay separated from it for any period of time. He even had his own bed inside the pantry.”

I knew this, of course, after having searched the place for the poison.

I shook my head “I hope you find him soon. And do not worry about breakfast, we are in a bit of a hurry, so I might just eat on the way.”

She pouted, but I was cured against such tactics. Growing up with Zhi Shen, the master of cute faces, had proved useful in life.

“We’d hate to see you off with an empty stomach.”

I chuckled and shook my head “you have already done much for us. I thank you deeply. May the heavens pay your care ten-fold.”

Her façade cracked a little, telling me that she had been aware of the poisoning. And so were three of her daughters, at least. But was the lord in it too or was he just a fool?

I waited until Min and Ling finished their food except for the items that were poisoned and, in front of the woman, thanked them for saving some food for me. Then I proceeded to eat the offending items.

Ling sent me worried glances the whole while, but I kept my hand over hers trying to comfort her.

We then retired to our rooms to get our bags and left the house, between hypocrite wishes and crocodile tears. Once on the road and as soon as we were out of their sight, I took a moment to empty my stomach on the side road and took a moment to flush the toxins from my system.

“Ugh. I’m going to need some real food and drink once we leave town. I don’t particularly trust anyone here.”

Min nodded. He had been quiet since we left the house, which was odd for him. He was the one who spoke most of us three.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him after a fashion.

“What you did for us…. How you took care of…” he glanced around us, clearly not wanting anyone to eavesdrop on us, but despite the hour, there were few people on the streets. “How did you do it?”

I shrugged, “It’s one of the basic forms of Chi medicine.”

“Can you teach me?”

I raised an eyebrow “How far are you in the Elemental Path.”

He shook his head, visibly bothered. “I chose to challenge wind and fire, but haven’t worked up the courage to test the next level, why?”

I nodded “Chi medicine is more effective the further you go from the fourth element, but you basically need wood and water to make the best of it.” I scratched my chin. “Although I know of a few remedies that use air and fire elements.”

He stared at me like I had grown another head. “Where do you find the time to study so much?!”

I shrugged, smiling. In truth, since I didn’t have any official responsibilities, I spent all my time between the library and meditation. Every morning I would practice martial arts and spent every other night refining my control of Chi. “I rise early and sleep late every day. You should try it.”

He crossed his arms and mumbled under his breath.

Shaking my head, I turned to Ling who handed me the reins of my horse.

When our eyes crossed, she blushed and looked away.

I chuckled and climbed on the animal’s back.

Riding to the river, I had the feeling that my story had turned into a new chapter, and that it wasn’t going to be an easy one.

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We rejoined the crew of the ship at the port, only to find that the transport was being inspected by the local authorities on the suspicion of smuggling.

I shook my head and ordered the captain into an empty room inside the inn.

“Tell me, captain. Is there truth to the accusation?” Yesterday I would have defended him without thinking, but now my trust was not freely given.

The man kowtowed to me. “To answer the Prince, I swear that my crew and I have never done anything of the sort!”

I glared at his prone form “If I find you have lied to me…” I let the threat hang in the air for a moment.

“This servant is telling the truth, Master! I swear it on my ancestors!”

I sighed. “Stand up and follow me then.”

I exited the building, barely noticing the captain jumping to his feet and scurrying to follow me.

Fa Min saw me coming and he smiled, rubbing his hands and cracking his knuckles, eager for a fight. I didn’t know if I was going to oblige him or not, but I couldn’t deny him the chance for a little fun and fireworks.

I walked confidently to the ship but was stopped by a guard whose wand went to his sword.

“Be careful what you do with that” I glared at him “and bring me your captain.”

Clearly, the boy didn’t know who I was, because he sneered back with a haughty expression.

“It was reported that a boat was taking contraband to the north. You will wait here until we finish our inspection.”

I scoffed and stepped forward.

The boy tried pulling his sword, only to find himself flying backward. I watched as he moved in slow motion through the air and over the ship, only to land with a splash in the middle of the river.

When the guards on the boat saw one of theirs fly past and land on the river, they turned toward me with wide eyes.

“What, aren’t you going to stop me?” I teased, smiling.

Just like Fa Min, it seemed that I too needed to kick some asses to make up for the previous night.