A Wuxia Tale: Blades and Flowers

Arrest

(DAYU)

I watched as my bone tired daughter dragged herself to her room after a whole day of training and studying. I have no doubt in my head that Hua will plop down on her bed without bothering to take even her hairpins off, much less change into her sleep gown.

My stubborn daughter is killing herself. And my lover and I are part of the reason why Hua is close to exhaustion.

I entered the bedroom I share with my lover and, according to the documents I kept on a safe place, spouse. "You stopped her from passing the test again?" I asked my lover.

Captain Wang is standing by the open windows of our room with a glass of clear liquor made from rice on the window sill. "Yes, I did." My lover confirmed that with a nod as well.

I sighed, "Maybe it's time to let Hua be an official part of the Arrow Division. I think that will be good for her..."

"That's what you think. I have a different opinion." Captain Wang gulped every drop on his glass before facing me. "Let me handle our daughter's training on the base. You should concentrate on finishing her lessons so she would be a paragon of a noble woman some day..."

I snorted at that as I held my hand for my lover's glass. "A paragon noble lady? Our daughter is being talked about by the whole kingdom. Your mother penned a letter to me asking what Hua is doing with her life. The news of Hua's postponed wedding has reached ShangHai. Sooner or later, your whole clan will descend upon us here in the estate. What do you suppose I should do with them, Captain?" I waved the empty glass he handed to me on my lover's face.

I didn't bother to hide the distress I am feeling. When I received that letter from Captain Wang's mother, a feeling of panic that I have never felt for a long time descended upon my whole body. One thing I love about my lover is the fact that every member of his family is living away from us. The fact that I don't have to contend to or do works to please the in laws is part of Captain Wang's charm. But now, his mother and sisters, not to mention some members of Captain's extended family, are threatening me with appearance to my estate.

It's giving me an itch to sharpen all my weapons.

"I will write to my mother. Don't worry about that." Captain Wang tried to reassure me.

But I am not in the mood to be reassured. "We lied about Dao's location to your family. We lied about Hua's engagement status to them as well. Please, don't lie to me. I have the rights to be worried."

"You don't have to be," Captain Wang pulled out a piece of paper from the inside of robe and handed it to me. "Some news about your son."

My eyes widened as I snatched that paper from him. I also handed back the empty glass to my lover. I opened the paper to read the words there.

It's a report from one of Luau's spy. "It says here that Dao is safe and he is fully cooperating on a mission with Prince Jin." Those are the words on the little letter. I frowned at my lover, "Do you know anything about this mission?"

"No," Captain Wang shook his head. "I think this mission is between the Emperor and Prince Jin. The only people who know exactly what this mission is about are the Emperor, Prince Jin and Dao. No one else."

"Can't you guess?" I prodded my lover.

Captain Wang shook his head. "I tried but all my guesses make no sense. But they have some form of communication. The Emperor and Prince Jin. I don't know how they do it but I have a strong feeling that the Emperor receives constant report from his son and our Dao."